NEO Scavenger: You kicked my dogman

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > NEO Scavenger: You kicked my dogman

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Introduction

NEO Scavenger is a turn-based, isometric survival RPG set in a post-apocalyptic setting. It's currently in development by Daniel Fedor (BlueBottleGames on SA), an ex-BioWare employee who worked on AAA RPG titles for 7 years prior to setting up Blue Bottle Games. NEO is available cross-platform, it's accessible via the browser or downloadable as a Windows, Mac OSX or Linux binary.

Quick Links

Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2K3mihtzrA

Features:

Open world, turn based exploration (with hexes!):

The game world is large and completely open to player exploration. Including a fairly large (and growing) amount of unique encounters and progression.

Hand-drawn pixel art:

Encounter screens and locations have some gorgeous hand drawn pixel art.

Engaging Combat:

NEO has fairly involved combat. It sports combat abilities, weapons, movement, even intimidation and hiding. This coupled with an expanded combat log and various conditions like "Coughing Blood", "Concussion", "Severe Pain", among others, makes for an engaging combat system.

Perma-death and "Challenging Gameplay":

The game can be tough, especially when you are just learning the ropes and you will no doubt die many times before you begin to make any reasonable progress. Even the feature page on the official site "warns" players:

quote:

NEO Scavenger is not an easy game. You will not be told what to do, or how to survive. There is no hand-holding, and nobody's got your back. Mistakes quickly turn into death in the apocalypse. And when you die, that's it. Game over.

Resource and Inventory Management:

Remember the micro managing of resources and items in games of lore? It's back! Inventory slots and item weight play a large role. Player condition is paramount; hunger, thirst, temperature, comfort, sleep and injuries all need to be managed.

Character Customization:

NEO features an ability and trait system for character customization. Experiment with various character skills to unlock different options during regular gameplay and in various encounters. For the masochist, there is even the ability to gimp your character with negative traits, unlocking extra slots for abilities.

And more...

There is also an extensive crafting system, ability to set up player camps, scavenging and trapping. The best part is that since NEO is still in development, new features are added on a regular basis. You (the player) also have the ability to vote on upcoming features via feature voting.

Want in?

If you are convinced this might be something you are interested in, give the demo a go. It's kept up to date with the beta, so it contains all the major features. If after playing the demo you would like to buy into the beta, you can do so directly from the developer, via Desura or through Steam. Note that buying directly through the developer will net you give you access to the DRM free version and also Desura and Steam keys.

Xik fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Mar 26, 2014

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 18:40

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 13:59

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Wachepti posted:

I'm glad a thread was made for this. I played the demo a few days ago and really enjoyed it. Can anyone who has bought the game say how much further the story line goes after the demo ends?

Where does the demo end? I threw my money at it before actually doing any part of the story. The current story in the beta doesn't go further then after getting the visitor pass, the city is "under orange alert" so you can't actually enter it yet. I assume that is in place while the game is still in development.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 18:50

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

^^^^^ Beat me to it Wachepti, yeah I think crafting recipes and survival tips like that should probably be spoiler tagged.

Achmed Jones posted:

I was finally doing well, heading east with my backpack full of awesome and medkit and several melee weapons. I drank some water and settled down to sleep in an abandoned office building.

YOU HAVE DIED OF CHOLERA out of freaking nowhere.

This game rules.

If you want to know the probable source of your cholera:

It's quite likely the water you drank. You shouldn't drink the item which is named "water" it needs to be "purified water". You can find purified water in some drink bottles or you can purify the normal "water" yourself. To purify the water you:can either use purifying pills which can (very rarely) be salvaged or the easier method of boiling the water by putting it in a metal sauce pan or can and crafting it with a campfire. You'll have crafted purified water which is what you should then drink.

VVVV The game freely gives out recipes as a random item so perhaps you are right.

Xik fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Mar 16, 2012

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 20:20

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

^^^^^ Beaten again :argh:

Fintilgin posted:

I got a medkit in the first area where you wake up but I couldn't actually figure out how to USE it.

"Consume" it.

You can also put it in your hand to view the individual charges in it. Which means if you find multiple kits and they each have only one refill in them you can transfer it into a single kit to conserve inventory space.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 20:43

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Wildtortilla posted:

This game is making it impossible for me to play it. I've signed up for an account with both of my email accounts. Both times the NEO website tells me an email has been sent to me with my password in it and both times I have no received any emails. There's nothing in my spam folders either.

How long has it been? If you want to preemptively white-list the email, your account details should come from the address

pre:

noreply@bluebottlegames.com

Jedrick posted:

I died of starvation, dehydration and heat stroke while fighting a looter. Amazing.

I didn't know you could have more then one death "trigger". Did it all happen on an end of turn?

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 21:11

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Naar posted:

I liked the demo a lot but the UI is terrible, if that gets sorted out I'll definitely support the dude.

Yeah, the UI is in serious need of some love, but I'm pretty confident it will be fixed up. He seems very responsive on the forums and has been listening to player feedback, making changes based on that.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 21:33

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Megaflare posted:

And yeah, since there appears to be no completely natural healing

There is definitely natural healing to an extent (the medic trait increases natural healing too), I've recovered from injuries without using a med-kit on numerous occasions. Perhaps if you get injured enough (down to red?) it may not heal unless you deal to it.

Looks like I was beaten by Dan while writing this so yeah, it's confirmed. There is natural healing.

Fintilgin posted:

Newspapers should roll up to water bottle size, not take up the entire backpack.

Newspapers probably should just always be rolled up and take up a single "line". You don't really need to carry newspaper around though, using newspaper is probably the least efficient way to light a fire. You can find twigs on almost every tile which you can use instead, which is why it's strange it takes up so much space.

I just tried to see how long I could survive taking all the negative traits. It went surprisingly well until I got shot by a raider by taking an unnecessary risk, serves me right.

I also came across this little gem:

BlueBottleGames posted:

And thanks to Xik for the thread!

No problem, I must admit, I'm becoming quite the fan of NEO Scavenger. It's great that you are so receptive to feedback and going out of the way to listen to the players. I hope you see much success from the game.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 23:38

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Achmed Jones posted:

If you have Track you'll want to use it in the first room - it'll let you completely avoid Hatter's quest: by using the skill in his office, you'll be able to get the Detroit ID bracelet without having to go up to the lake.

You don't need to do that in the first room for it to be an option when you visit Hatter. So far I've seen that you can skip the quest and get the bracelet immediately by using either tracking or trapping.

Can-O-Raid posted:

STALKER isn't really post-apocalyptic, the rest of the world outside the zone is doing fine. But the tone is really great; a lot of games set after the end aren't really about living after the apocalypse, STALKER and this game really feel like your out there, struggling to survive.

The STALKER series is loving great. I'm playing through Clear Sky again at the moment actually because I never did finish the story in it. It's probably why I like this game, there is certainly that feel/atmosphere of being out there trying to do your best to survive.

Can-O-Raid posted:

The game is really tough, but right now Athletic/Medic/Tracking/Night Vision/Feeble/Metabolism is hilariously overpowered.

Some abilities do seem to give you a huge edge. I'm not sure if I would want to see them become less powerful because I get the feeling abilities would no longer matter and play-throughs wouldn't differ as much from each other. Instead I think perhaps the "free slots" you get for being human should be removed and you should be forced to take a negative trait for every ability you want.

e:

News from Blue Bottle says the postcard supporter reward is ready and looks pretty sweet:

and a save game feature to store progress locally when closing the browser is stated to be up on Monday.

Xik fucked around with this message at 09:14 on Mar 17, 2012

# ¿ Mar 17, 2012 09:07

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

i poo poo trains posted:

Did someone move a decimal place on the canvas backpacks? I thought it was kinda weird that my top-quality one was worth $1500

That's how much the backpack + everything that is inside it is worth. It's your net worth :v:

Borvo posted:

Reading on other forums about this game, it seems that randomly dying of everything at once is a confirmed bug. You can wear up to two t-shirts at the same time but doing so will not cause you to explode like a tube of Pillsbury rolls left out in the sun.

You can wear 3 t-shirts, a hoody and another large overcoat on top of that (currently the only one I know of is made from squirrel pelts).

bromplicated posted:

How do you do that? I don't see inventory anywhere at this screen only until you get outside.

edit: You press 'i' of course. That certainly wasn't obvious!

Except now I can't close the items screen, despite clicking the button.

That "issue" is explained under the "player hints" section in the OP. After putting the item into your inventory click the encounter button again to go back to it.

# ¿ Mar 18, 2012 08:39

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Daikoku posted:

I had a lot of fun with this! It seems like being a non-combat character is the way to go. Human enemies seem pretty random in their strength levels, so even with strong/tough/melee and a crowbar, some bandit with a wrench can 2-shot you.

Has anybody found any use for the mechanic, electrician and hacking skills beyond the intro scene in the demo? I understand that the full game is probably not going to be all wilderness, but just for loving around in the demo they don't seem worthwhile.

Also, are there any other ranged weapons other than the rifle? I never seem to find any scraps of paper with recipes so maybe there's a sling or something.

Yeah at the moment pretty much every play-through I do is non-combat, combat is too risky. Still, I never learn, combat is almost always how I die after getting a little too confident and thinking "gently caress it, I can take em".

Mechanic, Electrician and Hacking currently have no use outside the first encounter that I know of, if you have already seen the options they give you and read the resulting dialog there isn't much point taking them until the story gets developed.

The rifle is the only ranged weapon at the moment.

Seashell Salesman posted:

I have been taking Trapping in every game so far, and only in one of them did I ever find any animals (and in that game I only had a cleaver which apparently can't be used to butcher a squirrel). How can I reliably, or at all really, find animals using the trapping skill? Scavenging forests and fields over and over doesn't seem to ever yield animals for me.

Also the rifle is awesome, feels very powerful and ammo is scarce enough that I have to really think about when I want to fight or flee.

Are there any plans in the future to allow you to establish a hideout or stash or anything? Coming from UnReal world it feels a bit like half the survival experience is missing

As far as trapping goes, I admit :iiam:

I have found squirrels and can get the meat from them using the pocket knife/tool and I've found a recipe for a trap. I've created traps but then have no idea what to do with them.

There appears to be plans for a player camp. It's one of the options on the feature voting page and appears to be pretty popular.

im a girl btw posted:

I found half a dozen shoes and not a single right shoe.

You can put either shoe on either foot. The downside is apparently comfort, but it's possible that it's bugged/doesn't work or is so negligible there is no functional difference.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 09:14

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Seashell Salesman posted:

I am having a lot of trouble keeping myself fed if I avoid the city gate and just wander. I have tons of ammo, two scoped/slung rifles, a medkit, medicine, plenty of water, etc. However, I cannot for the life of me come up with enough food. Character is hiding, trapping, tracking, athletics, night vision, feeble FWIW.

Food is usually not something that is generally a problem in my games, I have no idea why. There are a few options:

The most obvious is scavenge for food. I just eat everything I see when I scavenge and keep some a bunch of crackers in my backpack for emergencies.
Cooked meat, but yeah, I have still have no idea how to trap correctly. I'll give it a go on my next game but try creating a trap and then putting it on the ground. Wait a couple of turns to see if you can catch anything.
Berries and mushrooms. There are always plenty of these either just on the ground on most tiles or scavenging forest tiles. Without Botany though you will have to rely on finding the recipe to determine if berries are edible. Which makes picking up scraps of paper important to check for recipes. Paper is everywhere, just check the ground of every tile, you'll find loads.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 13:13

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Seashell Salesman posted:

I figured out how to use traps, and I think that has solved my food problem. You just select them like a crowbar when you scavenge a forest area. Seems to raise loot by a fair bit and nets squirrels.

Ohhhhhh, that makes sense. Thanks.

Seashell Salesman posted:

I don't know about the berries in particular but you guys know that you can tell good mushrooms from bad ones by looking at the value, right?

It didn't occur to me to do that with berries/mushrooms. I use the value to quickly check if the water in my bottles is purified but not the berries/mushrooms. That should probably be removed from the game and should be considered a bug IMO. Ideally it should not show the item value until you have "identified it", similar to roguelikes.

Regarding the recipes, it's in the OP:

UncleSmoothie posted:

Is there a way to use botany to identify mushrooms/berries without finding the scrap paper that tells you how?

As Takanago says, you can take skills from your abilities page and put them in the crafting window.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 14:52

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Potzblitz! posted:

Btw how do you sneak in the beta?

I'm not sure anymore. I just loaded it up and noticed that it's no longer possible.

It's normally a blue button in the corner with these:

It looks like the release has been rolled back, it's now 0.921b but according to the OP I had put that the latest is 0.921d a couple days ago. Maybe sneaking isn't in this build?

# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 15:12

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Can-O-Raid posted:

Are recipes a Beta only thing? I'm not getting them in the demo either.

There was an update last week which allowed you to hover over the recipe to view the items it requires but I thought the demo still had the system which the beta had before that.

I just had a quick go at the Demo and I think there may not be any scraps of paper in it, I couldn't find any. Which would explain the comment earlier about not being able to find them, in the Beta they are literally everywhere.

Still, you should be able to use the crafting system if you already knew the recipes?

beef express posted:

On this note, I managed to lose all my skills by "taking" them off this screen. Does anyone know if/how to get them back?

Is this on the Demo or the Beta? If the Demo, perhaps there is a bug that removes the ability because the crafting system isn't completely implemented? I have no idea how to get them back sorry, I've never had the abilities completely disappear before, are they completely gone from the abilities screen?

# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 18:30

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Potzblitz! posted:

I think I just "won" the beta.

Congrats. Out of the countless games I've had, I've only really got to a really comfortable spot like that once. I had nothing to do so I went around the edge of the entire map. Partly because there was nothing else to do and partly because I was kind of hoping there would be some edge that I could "fall off"/bug out, it would have been a fitting end for the character. In the end I just closed the browser because I was tired of going (quite literally) around in circles.

beef express posted:

Yeah, this was on the beta. I was trying to use Botany but accidentally dropped it before I moused over the encounter button. Then I idiotically repeated the process with all my other skills. It's my own fault really

Oh, this was during an encounter? I thought it was trying to craft something? Either way that's a pretty hilarious bug. "Don't misplace your abilities or you'll lose them for good" :v:

Also:

New Build :frogsiren:

Demo is now v0.912d
Beta is now v0.922b

Full news item is on the site but here is a conveniently parsed breakdown of the goodies for your enjoyment:

Demo and Beta:

Fix for player condition expiry and chaining. Medkit now correctly only lasts 6 hours, gastroenteritis and cholera expire correctly and there is a slight chance they will heal by themselves.
New hotkeys. Spacebar advances encounters and "E" scavenges.
Unidentified mushroom cost is fixed. All unidentified ones will now cost the same.

Beta only:

Saving. Press ESC to bring up the main menu. You can now save and load. Save games last as long as you don't override them.
Fix for hiding/sneaking, it was broke in the last build but is now working again. It takes one move to activate.

Reminder: For those of you that are getting a postcard (purchased the Yukon Edition) you have a day left to contact Dan if you want the card to have a name other then the one on the billing address used to purchase.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2012 03:41

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Seashell Salesman posted:

Is there any way to permanently delete items from an area?

I'm afraid not. I'm pretty curious though, what has lead you to this situation? I don't think I've ever gone back to previously "pillaged" tiles.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2012 13:38

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Seashell Salesman posted:

They respawn new scavenge-able areas pretty much constantly.

Holy crap, really? I didn't know scavenging respawned. Although in my defense, I don't ever stick around and am constantly out exploring, exploring and never staying in the same place is part of the appeal to me. This might change in the future though as player camp features are added.

tehsid posted:

Any idea if this will ever be downloadable? I really like it so far, but I would love to be able to play it without the need for a browser.

I read a response to this on the official forums (I think) by Dan. I don't want to put words in his mouth but I believe he is considering looking into it when the game is fully released, he used Machinarium as an example (that is standalone but is also built on Flash).

SynthOrange posted:

New character penalty: OCD, unable to leave a tile if it's in a mess.

Don't even joke about that. That's the type of trait I would probably take, at my detriment.

WarringPhoenix posted:

Is it just me or does loading not work sometimes?

What you described is exactly what happens when you load with no save data. I know because the first thing I did on the new build was try to load a game when I hadn't even played. So my guess would probably be that the data isn't being correctly saved in the first place. Are you sure Flash is allowed to save data? What about any installed addons that cleanup/block "Flash cookies"?

e: VVVVVV It's a known bug with the Demo. I know that doesn't help much but it doesn't change anything in the game, only the Game Over screen.

Xik fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Mar 20, 2012

# ¿ Mar 20, 2012 15:22

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Seashell Salesman posted:

Somehow this game is so great. I don't understand how much I enjoy it.

It's great isn't it?

Seashell Salesman posted:

e: check out this hilarious buy/sell bug

Do tell us more :allears:

e: News update on the site.

Looks like that blank screen Save Game issue that WarringPhoenix posted about is a bug with the actual save feature and not something to do with saving flash data as I thought it was, sorry :shobon:

Player voting has a couple of new options.

Expand the wound system
Expand combat system

Also, I'm not sure, but is "Winter Tiles" and "Name your character" new? The News post doesn't mention them but I don't remember seeing them there before.

Xik fucked around with this message at 12:33 on Mar 21, 2012

# ¿ Mar 21, 2012 11:51

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

WarringPhoenix posted:

Also a tip for any new player to this with the urge to learn a ton of recipes. If you find any scraps of news papers with stuff on them, just keep putting them in your hand and putting them back. Usually they give you a new recipe every now and then and there is nothing like leaving the first area with four ways to make a hunting rifle.

Yeah it's a known bug which you can reproduce consistently when you have a stack of two or more scraps of paper. Move them from the ground to you and one or more of them will change every time you do it and give you a new recipe.

Pierzak posted:

What are the recipes, BTW?

I was considering compiling a list of recipes in the OP, I would probably spoiler tag them individually so you can just find the one you want without looking at others. Thoughts?

UncleSmoothie posted:

No kidding? Is there any way to get into Detroit?

Not at the moment, the story ends just before you can go in.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2012 20:08

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Terebus posted:

Does anyone know if the lockpicking skill actually gives you better loot when you search for stuff and if the mechanic skill is good for anything?

You need to use the Lockpicking ability + Lockpicks for it to have an effect on loot.

:frogsiren:

New Build: :frogsiren:

Demo Build: 0.913d
Beta Build: 0.923d

Full news item is on the site.

Demo and Beta:

Item consumption fixes, no longer possible to consume lighter fluid and medkits now only work if they have charges in them.
You can now cancel Rest+Heal by clicking the button again.
The AI should no longer walk into the junk store and loot it.

Beta only:

Save/Load Fixes. Loading will no longer send you back in time.
Loading should now correctly honor the remaining moves in a turn.
Context sensitive error messages have been added to loading so you know what has gone wrong.

# ¿ Mar 22, 2012 14:23

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

News update, but no new build.

The source code is a terrible mess of bugs
The encumbrance system (which was previously meaningless) will now work.
Warnings to those that use the "Feeble" trait as a "free" ability slot.
Status conditions will behave more reliably, including during save/load.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2012 03:59

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Build Update: :frogsiren:

Demo Build: 0.914d
Beta Build: 0.924b

Full news item is on the site.

Demo and Beta:

"Death by Everything" fixed.
Encumberance should now track correctly.
Fixed a bug in conditions getting stuck on player.
Fixed a bug in status bars that prevented conditions from returning to normal after dropping.
Item tooltips now show complete weight of container plus contents, rather than just the container item's weight.
Containers within containers no longer rotate when items are dropped into them.
Multitool Pocket knives now weigh 0.12kg instead of 12kg.

Beta only:

A whole bunch of fixes to Saving/Loading

# ¿ Mar 24, 2012 02:09

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Yeah, combat is..... lacking. I tend to not bother with it either, just run away. On the one hand I can see logic in being encouraged to run away, I know if I was out in a post-apocalyptic world I would run from everyone as soon as I saw them in the distance. On the other hand, it's still a game and always running isn't really that fun.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2012 07:46

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Build Update: :frogsiren:

This update's theme song is "Last Friday Night".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlyXNRrsk4A

Demo Build: 0.915d
Beta Build: 0.925b

Full news item is on the site.

Demo and Beta:

Fix for quests that failed to remove quest items when complete (e.g. hatter takes the urn/iSlabs)
Fix for encounters that showed partial response options. (e.g. scavenging a locked shed should only let you choose lockpicking if you have both the skill and the tools. Perviously, it would show the skill even if you didn't have tools to complete the recipe/input list).
Fix for a bug that prevented status from returning to normal when the bars are green (e.g. could never return to well-hydrated after bar dropped once)
Fix for rotated containers flipping upright again when an item auto-dropped into them.
Fixed a bug which caused item charges to spill on ground when crafting (e.g. the "magic lighter" bug).

Beta only:

Fix for save games which caused some creatures to be invisible on load.
Fix for save games which caused conditions to continue being saved after the game was saved (e.g. saving the game, and later getting crippled, would cause the save game to get crippled as well)
Fix for a bug which caused hex loot in save games to be invisible or colliding with other items on load.
Fix for a bug which caused recipe button tooltips to appear on the hex map screen.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2012 03:47

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Yes, that's intentional. Have a look through my past update posts and you'll see a little :staredog:

next to the bullet point about saving/loading. I honestly thought there would be a shitstorm in the thread but it never happened so I just assumed everyone liked the change and I kept my mouth shut. I already posted on the official forums in a thread about any future (this was before it was implemented) save feature and how it should only be a save on quit deal.

Since you brought it up I'm sure you've come to the realization that this means the game is no longer perma-death, you can just reload your save if you die. I must admit, I think it's a huge mistake and destroys a bunch of appeal and the "survival" feeling for me. Yes, I know you don't have to use the load feature, but you can say that about any game, it doesn't make it perma-death.

I know I should remove the part about perma-death from the OP but I was hoping we could all just pretend reloading doesn't exist and I am also holding out, hoping the load after death "feature" is removed before being released. Dan, if you are reading this please just make Flash delete the local data when the player dies. The sperg lords have their load feature, they can reload their game when they make a "mistake" or they are about to die, but if they actually die just delete it....

# ¿ Mar 27, 2012 08:08

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Yep, this is definitely good news, real glad to hear the way you want to take the game. Thanks again for keeping an eye on the thread and reading player input.

Chas McGill posted:

so I could review it.

You should post a link to the review in this thread when it's done.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2012 01:21

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Build Update: :frogsiren:

Good news everyone! For me and Seashell at least anyway.
Permadeath is back, now I don't have to remove it from the OP.

Demo Build: 0.916d
Beta Build: 0.926b

Full news item is on the site.

Demo and Beta:

Roof accidents have been balanced. Chance of collapse is lower in most cases except for ruined buildings.
A bunch of item weight fixes. Including the hilarious decimal place bug.

Beta only:

Fix to injuries on save game loading.
Saving and Loading is no longer on the menu, only a Save Quit option. Player death also deletes save game data.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2012 05:26

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

There is a news post up about a player camp feature. It sounds pretty cool, here is the basic gist of it:

Each hex has a predefined list of suitable camp sites.
Each of these sites has some base stats (eg. concealment, resting/sleeping bonuses, shelter, item storage, encounter chance).
The first time a player enters a hex, it has no camp sites available.
Player must search for sites.
Player chooses their preferred camp site (if any are found).
Player gets all benefits of that camp site as long as they are in the hex and the camp remains installed.
Certain item types count towards the camp's stats. (eg. fire, shelter, alarms/traps, camouflage)
Wandering creatures will have a chance to see any camps when passing through a hex.
If the camp has traps or alarms in it, the player should be notified or woken up.

# ¿ Mar 29, 2012 05:24

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Some more info about player camps is up.

It looks like it's going to be a fun addition.

Also, a possible update to the UI:

quote:

I dropped the text labels, so there would be room for the two new buttons (there are still tooltips to help new users). The first, with the tent icon, is player camp (pictured above). The second is actually a possible new home for crafting.

e: VVVV Yep, it's pretty great :swoon:

Xik fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Mar 30, 2012

# ¿ Mar 30, 2012 03:41

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

More news regarding campsites. Some interesting bits:

quote:

I just figured out a system for remembering which camps have been used in which hexes. I'm hoping I can use this not only for the player, but also AI.

quote:

I also did some rewriting of the status bar code [..] They're now fully reporting camp stats, and applying them to the player when camp is selected.

quote:

Finally, there was a pretty big change to the container data.[..] Now, the game recognizes item types, such as liquids, tiny objects, larger objects, fire, etc. Each container specifies which types of objects it accepts, and each object specified which type it is. [..] You may notice a few items fitting into new containers in the next build, as a result.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2012 03:27

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Another update you can read on the main site. Here is a brief summary:

Player camps are mostly functional now, except for two things: discovering camps, and AI behavior in camps. Dan throws around various ideas about this, read the full news for into on that.
Search has been added to the main site.
Crafting and Skills Interfaces have been changed. See screenshots below.
New hotkeys: The spacebar now confirms skill selection at the beginning of the game, as well as crafting when a valid recipe is in place.
The fan Wiki seems to actually have content now. Contribute! If you can stand the terrible Wikia design and layout.

New crafting screen

New skill screen

# ¿ Apr 3, 2012 03:13

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Another update on player camps can be read on the main site. As always, here is a brief overview:

Each hex has a maximum number of campsites it can contain.
By default, there is only one in each hex before the player arrives
When the player scavenges, the results may include a campsite.
Which campsite is found depends on the scavenge location searched. (eg. Apartment complex => "burned out apartment". Stretch of forest => "dense thicket of trees.")
The player has some control over the sites they find, and can use certain specialty items and skills to get special sites.
Possibly: obscuring certain campsite data based on skills. (eg. Hide the "concealment" value of a site if the player lacks the "Hide" skill)

Also, got my postcard yesterday. I don't think it really occurred to me how creepy it is to get a postcard with a lip print from some guy who I only really know of because he is developing a video game I enjoy.

The wonders of the Internet....

# ¿ Apr 4, 2012 03:20

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Seashell Salesman posted:

Are campsites implemented fully yet? I was waiting for that to fire it up and have another play through.

Nah, no new builds yet. I'll :frogsiren:

the updates and make it clear when there are new buids to play around with.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2012 04:18

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Another update which you can read on the main site. Also a interview with Daniel over here.

I'm guessing from the lack of discussion between my posts that it's probably best if I only post news items when there are actual build updates so we have something to talk about? Is there anyone following the thread that would like me to keep posting news that doesn't include actual build updates?

e: Very well, I'll continue to post about non-build updates too, I'm happy to do it but wasn't sure if anyone was interested.

Xik fucked around with this message at 09:15 on Apr 5, 2012

# ¿ Apr 5, 2012 03:23

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Myoclonic Jerk posted:

xik - thanks for keeping the thread going. I've been lurking - I started eagerly anticipating a SA thread about this game ever since I saw the RPS piece on it.

No problem. Yeah, RPS is how I was introduced to the game too. They practically dictate what games I check out/which ones I buy. Also:

:frogsiren:

Huge Build Update: :frogsiren:

Demo Build: 0.916d (No change)
Beta Build: 0.927b

Full news item is on the site.

Beta only:

New Skills page. (As previously posted)
New Crafting screen. (As previously posted)
New Player camp feature. (See my previous post for an explanation of this.)
New Hotkeys. (See below)
Sleeping has been changed and now includes a "sleep quality" stat.
New trait: Insomnia, makes sleeping less effective.
Sneak button has been removed. You better scavenge for a good place to hide if you want to evade enemies.
Fixed traits: Apparently they were completely broken and the penalties weren't being applied in previous builds. OHGOD.
Creatures no longer auto-kill other creatures in their sleep.
Save/Load fix. Jar of Eyes should now be restored.
AI will now ignore creatures at range if it can't see them.
Campfires increase visibility and tracks/scent for creatures in the same space.
Scavenging now includes an explicit "Exit" option.
Spacebar now works on the skill selection and crafting confirm buttons.
Container code was updated as explained in a previous news update.

New hotkeys:

"E" opens the encounter screen
"R" opens the camp screen
"F" opens the crafting screen
"V" opens the vehicle screen

# ¿ Apr 6, 2012 03:31

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Myoclonic Jerk posted:

The separation of the crafting and inventory screens means that the only items visible on the crafting screen are items on the ground. If you forgot to drop, say, the pot you're carrying and don't have the "recipe" for boiled water, you then have to go back to the inventory, drop the pot, then go back to crafting. It's not a big deal, just a little sloppy.

You must not have been the only one bugged by that because there is another build update that changes it back:

:frogsiren:

Build Update: :frogsiren:

Demo Build: 0.916d (No change)
Beta Build: 0.928b

Full news item is on the site.

Beta only:

The crafting screen has been returned to the Items screen!
Rifle ammo now works in all rifles again.
Fixed a bug in swapping containers on the same slot
Fixed a bug in selling items to the store where the store would not credit items dropped onto a stack.
Fixed a bug with ammo display in the attack mode UI.
Fixed a bug which prevented wadded plastic bags from fitting inside opened plastic bags.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2012 00:01

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Build Update: :frogsiren:

Beta Build: 0.929b

Full news item is on the site.

Beta only:

Added different accident outcomes when scavenging. Of these new accidents, roughly half have no associated injury at all, and are simply "flavor."
Roof collapse and ravine fall should now be reduced by 80% under normal circumstances, replaced by minor or non-injury outcomes.
New items: An 8x10 plastic tarp, a sleeping bag, a tarp shelter, and a new size for the newspaper item.
New recipe: Tarps can be combined with 6x string and 2x sticks to form a lean-to.

Tarps help protect against rain, as well as provide slightly improved sleeping and healing rates when installed in a camp, but will have slightly worse concealment. Sleeping bags offer improved sleep, warmth, and healing rates when installed in a camp.

e: VVVV Whoops, I forgot to add (regarding feature voting):

quote:

Camp has been the next priority, obviously. And as that gets fleshed out/stabilized, I'll probably retire it as well to make way for the next priorities. At the moment, that appears to be larger resolution and fonts, so if you disagree, now's the time to vote!

Xik fucked around with this message at 08:02 on Apr 10, 2012

# ¿ Apr 10, 2012 07:23

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

BlueBottleGames posted:

I had a dream last night where some still-running facility was sending out random EM-like waves that caused cumulative effects in humans, much like rad dosages. I filed the idea in my list for reference later

Heh, that's the plot for STALKER: Clear Sky. The player is one of a few that can survive emissions, but each time they do they suffer from irreversible brain damage. You'll be forgiven for not playing it though, it's the weakest game in the series.

I'm late to the party but I am on Kiwi time:

:frogsiren:

Build Update: :frogsiren:

Beta Build: 0.930b

Full news item is on the site.

Beta only:

Inventory screen change: Using take/drop, top level containers have priority over sub-containers.
Save/Load Bug Fixed: Injuries being stuck even after healing.
New recipe: Reverse Tarp. Allow players to break down the shelter into parts again.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2012 02:37

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

Another news post. BBG is throwing out some pretty good ideas including some proposed changes to lighting/visibility and will include dusk/dawn. See screenshots:

Dawn

Day

Dusk

Night

quote:

You may see a few surrounding hexes with sources of light, as in the city tile above, or DMC tiles. But the map will be covered in nearly complete blackness at night, even the distant hexes you've previously visited. Stumbling around in pitch darkness isn't a good idea in the best of places, forget about a post-apocalyptic wilderness and ruins. Getting around without light is going to cost you.

A quick overview of some of the proposed changes:

Moving at night is going to be slower with possibly a slight chance of accidents.
Players in lit hexes avoid movement penalties.
Scavenging will be less useful at night.
Torches/Flashlights may be added to negate movement penalties.
Crafting may use a movement point for each completed recipe. The idea being that campsites should be the goto safe(er) spot for doing your crafting.
Possibility for creatures to have activity cycles and have to deal with light too.
Have some creatures try to avoid fights while others actively hunt.
Loot and scavenge icons to be hidden on hexes except those that are in your current view.

quote:

I'm aware that some of them might be too drastic or reduce the fun factor, so I'll be testing it myself, and watching for feedback after they're in.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2012 08:05

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 13:59

Xik: Mar 10, 2011; Dinosaur Gum

News post concerning changes to creature AI is up. It's worth reading the full thing, the explanation is short and also gives a bunch of logged entries of the cycle in action. A few examples:

Looter, looting:

code:

Looter wandering.
Looter approaching loot.
Looter looting.
Looter approaching loot.
Looter looting.
Looter heading home.

Raider, raiding:

code:

Raider approaching loot.
Raider looting.
Raider following scent of Looter
Raider looting.
Raider attacking.
Raider looting.

Man's best friend:

code:

Dogman sleeping.

e: Tacking this next news post on here:

News post, no new build today.

Found a bug in the wounding code which was causing insta-death.
Found a bug which caused items in the ingredients box to disappear if the player ended the turn while the ground had no space left.
Found a couple of bugs in camp items that allowed camp stats to achieve crazy levels.

Xik fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Apr 14, 2012

# ¿ Apr 13, 2012 02:41

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > NEO Scavenger: You kicked my dogman

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