New version of WZA posted:

http://wwflgames.com/zombies-attack/

Did some balance tweaks and bug fixes, mostly just getting re-acquainted with the code.  Also set up a google group for people to discuss the game:

http://groups.google.com/group/when-zombies-attack

Let me know what you think!

Jason the Physicist wasn’t surprised at all when Jason the Physicist walked through the door to his bar. Since that time travel incident back in college, he’d actually been expecting something like this to happen someday.  What really surprised him though, was when a third Jason walked through the door.  The arrival of the third Jason seemed to unnerve Jason #2 as well.  For a moment they all stared at each other.  The Original Jason broke the tense silence.

(more…)

Finally launched:

When Zombies Attack!

Enjoy. Only version 0.1, so likely lots of bugs and so forth.

My 7DRL, When Zombies Attack, is not dead. I have continued to work on it and have made good progress.  It will most likely be a 30-40DRL rather than 7, but I’ve reached a point where most stuff works and am now working on bugs on polish and a few small features that are left to be implemented.

I’m hoping to release in the next 2 weeks or so.

Sorry there’s been no updates or anything lately. Maybe after things blow over I’ll write some stuff again.

LOL:

Finally, a non-zombie game related post!

On April 1, the love of my life and I are going to get married.  The holiday from that point forward will officially be called “April Fools in Love Day” (I’m writing my congressman and everything).

We sent out an evite for the party on 4/4, if you didn’t get it, it’s probably because we don’t like you.  Just kidding. It’s probably because we didn’t have your email address.  Drop me a line on FB/email/twitter/whatever if you’d like to come.

I’m still posting this under 7DRL, even though, clearly, I didn’t make it in 7 days.

Anyway, latest progress screen shot, showing how walls will become transparent if you’re inside a room:

You can also see that I’ve switched over to my new macbook pro for development. Fun!  Now, doors.

Finally got the isometric drawing stuff mostly working.  Items are sort of working (melee weapons mostly).  You can switch weapons.  Still lots and lots to do, and 12 hours to do it, and I’m at work.  This may be a fail.

I never really posted anything about what the game I’m building will be like, so here it is in brief:

The story:

The “Zombie Virus” as it was called swept over the nation. Anyone infected died shortly thereafter only to rise up again and crave human flesh.  The virus seems to effect different people in different ways, some of the zombies come back with superhuman strength, others move lightning quick and some have other mysterious abilities.

For years the residents of Richmond Towers have dealt effecively with the Zombie menace.  They were well stocked with weapons and ammunition, and had an ample supply of anti-virus (which, when applied quickly enough, can reverse the effects of the virus).  Until things went horribly wrong.  Now, they are evacuating.  The last helicopter is on the roof of the building waiting for survivors but it won’t wait forever.  And to make matters worse, as people have fled the building, security has broken down and the unstoppable zombie horde has breached the building.

Gameplay:

• Level of difficulty and length of game is based on how many stories Richmond Towers has. An easy game might only be four floors, a hard game might be a 25-floor skyscraper.
• Two different time pressures are in effect — the helicopter will leave in a certain number of turns, and the zombie horde is filling the building from the ground up, literally nipping at your heels.  The only way to succeed to is move through each floor to the stairs and get to the next floor.
• The virus has also infected many of the inhabitants of the building, so you have to fight them to get through. Different types of zombies will have different abilities.  Most are the “typical” slow moving beasts of the movies, but the virus has caused some to become very fast, or hit very hard.   Players will have to figure out what types of zombies have what abilities (and I’d like to randomize this per game, if possible).
• Melee combat is dangerous, because every time you are attacked by a zombie in melee range, you might be infected! The only hope after infection is to have available a dose of anti-virus, or find one quickly!
• Weapons and ammo have been left behind in people’s haste to leave the building, but they are in short supply and may be hard to find. Use them wisely!
• Upon completion of each floor in the building, the player will be able to choose a new “Attribute”, which exist in this game in place of experience points and levels.  An attribute might be something like “Strong” (+extra melee damage), “Quick” (fast movement), “Sniper” (+rifle damage), “Ironman” (+resistance to the zombie virus).  In longer, more difficult games, it will be possible for the player to get stronger (via more attributes) than in shorter games.
• Movement is not typical for a roguelike, it’s essentially like hex-based movement, and facing matters (i.e. to turn around takes a turn).  The inspiration for this type of movement system comes from Squidi, of the Three Hundred Mechanics fame.  But bump-combat and range combat is pretty similar to many roguelikes.
• Perma-death, of course.

There you go. All of this in 7 days. If you’re skeptical, so I am. I aim to finish, no matter what, so even if this doesn’t qualify as a 7DRL, I’ll get it done.

My ultimate, secret plan is that this game is serving as a prototype for an iPhone version.  So the UI will be focused with an eye toward moving to the iPhone eventually with a version of the game.