Dead State, a turn-based ZRPG

[taviow]

Dead State (aka ZRPG)

The ZRPG finally has a name, and it's Dead State.

It’s going to be called Dead State and we’ve got the first hard information, screenshots and an interview with head Doublebearer Brian Mitsoda.

 

[Shakermaker]

Dead State was supposedly announced about a year ago, but I hadn't heard about it until I read this interview on Rock, Paper, Shotgun. The game is a turn-based zombie RPG, set in a little town out in the Texan wastes. You make your own story by doing missions out of a hub which is a high school serving as a shelter for the non-infected. You venture out into the wilds to gather provisions and do that with a group of allies. According to RPS's Kieron "every person who can join you is a defined personality", so different group set-ups will result in different storylines. Except for the zombies obviously there is no real enemy. Friendships and animosities are based on your actions, inactions and interactions. More about that from lead dev Brian Mitsoda (ex Troika, ex Obsidian):

Most of the groups either don’t want to deal with you or they just want your stuff, so convincing them to work with you or teaching them to fear you will take some doing. Not everybody wants to be found and most people will see you as a potential threat. NPC groups will act against each other, so sometimes your help or inaction can have an effect on other groups. We let the player choose their allies and their enemies – there is no ultimate bad guy threat to all the groups, well, I guess unless the player manages that.

Sounds bloody intriguing if you ask me. I am not a big fan of turn-based RPGs but this one might be the exception. If you're not convinced, read the whole interview on RPS. That is also the only place where you can see a couple of screenshots. Dead State's site doesn't have 'em up yet.

Dead State is made by the indie developer DoubleBear. According to the FAQ the release is scheduled for "not in 2010".

 

[Shakermaker]

Meh, you beat me by one minute. gg's

 

[knut]

i had never heard of this until now and i'm suddenly very interested. i can hope it comes out for steam for mac, but i'd like to find a way to play this otherwise.

edit: from a developer on the forums

Attempts to make Mac and Linux versions are definitely planned.

cool

 

[Eejit]

Oh Zombies how fresh and interesting.

 

[VirusType2]

Turn-based RPGs: the Z stands for ZZzzz

Still interested because Zombies.

 

[Warbie]

Turn based pushes all my buttons. Want!

 

[Interface]

Ugh, turn based.

 

[Cpt Tenacious]

Ah **** this game sounded so cool, I don't like turn based or that camera angle/gameplay.

 

[knut]

i for one won't be playing this for the zombies nor the action/combat that just so happens to be turn based. i'd be playing this for the survival and leadership of people, resolving disagreements and keeping morale up, going out looking for supplies and the ilk... the zombies are just a nice background to set the scene with.

basically it sounds like a the walking dead game, sortof, and thats enough to interest me.

 

[Raziaar]

What is this... the sims with zombies?

 

[Paulaner]

Turn based + Zombies = Win

 

[Eejit]

How can people still find zombies interesting? They're the definition of one-dimensional to begin with, and with the overabundance of games and films based around them in recent years they're even duller.

Turn based RPGs can be good but the setting sounds meh.

 

[Remus]

How can people still find zombies interesting?

Replace zombies with vampires and I could say that I agree. :|

As for the game, turn based = MEH

 

[Lucid]

Former Obsidian AND Troika devs working on a zombie RPG?
Sweet mother.

Do want.

 

[Eejit]

At least vampires have the potential to be interesting

Spoiler

 

[Interface]

Well I think they were going to go with a non-zombie apocalypse setting and then they decided that it had been very overused in all mediums since the dawn of time.

 

[Eejit]

How about a goddamn Griffin apocalypse?

 

[Interface]

That would be spectacular in all three dimensions.

Literally!

 

[VirusType2]

I like to shoot off chunks of rotting zombie flesh and limbs, piece by piece. Arms and legs falling off, eyes pop out, holes in the chest and everything - but they don't stop coming at you. This is why real-time is vital for this sort of premise, in my opinion.

EDIT:

How about a goddamn Griffin apocalypse?

Hell yeah. There's probably no death more satisfying than an explosion of feathers and guts.

 

[falconwind]

What is this... the sims with zombies?

I agree... this looks kinda boring... interesting, challenging, and possibly rewarding, but not necessarily "fun".

At a certain point the social and political aspect combined with trying to survive in an apocalyptic wasteland just sounds like a huge pain in the ass.

Sounds like a good idea for a TV show though... oops too late.

 

[knut]

How can people still find zombies interesting? They're the definition of one-dimensional to begin with, and with the overabundance of games and films based around them in recent years they're even duller.

Turn based RPGs can be good but the setting sounds meh.

it's true that zombies are the staple thesedays but i don't they they have been nessecarily done well nine times out of ten which i think is why the market is so over saturated with them. i don't have to go far to prove that zombies make for a great setting - the original ...of the dead trilogy, the walking dead books, how much fun can be had with a sandbox of zombies in dead rising, the original resident evil games, the band (rip) send more paramedics, but i can name off even more terrible examples to do with zombies, aye, i just filter them out.

i just think about all those great pieces of film or other media up there and hope for something else to add to it.

 

[taviow]

I, too, am really looking forward to it. You don't see this kind of RPG anymore these days, so this is one of the games I'm looking forward to the most.

Also, zombies are fine.

 

[Acepilotf14]

What's with all the hate for turn-based in this thread?

TBS has the potential to be the deepest form of strategy, not reliant on build order or twitch or hotkeys, but how you use what you have effectively.

I put forward the hypothesis that all people who hate turn based games are bad at chess, or never tried to learn the game well.

Anyway this looks cool. Zombies are fine since it's not another

Spoiler

4player co op linear first person shooter with limited guns

 

[VirusType2]

I like turn based strategy and real-time RPGs.

I do not believe you are a super detective.

 

[falconwind]

What's with all the hate for turn-based in this thread?

TBS has the potential to be the deepest form of strategy, not reliant on build order or twitch or hotkeys, but how you use what you have effectively.

I put forward the hypothesis that all people who hate turn based games are bad at chess, or never tried to learn the game well.

Anyway this looks cool. Zombies are fine since it's not another

Spoiler

4player co op linear first person shooter with limited guns

I personally have nothing against turn-based games; played my fair share.

Its just I can see all the personal and inter-group politics and resource management easily dominating the game if the devs aren't careful. I don't see much appeal in that kind of task for long.

Freedom and open-ended gameplay always sounds good, but freedom to do what? Survival seems to be the only thing you can do. Zombie-killing crusade? Too dangerous. Amass army of followers? Nightmare logistics and diplomacy. The way things are described, your best bet is to simply eek out a meager existence. Combat, for example, seems to be something best avoided if possible. Ambitions seem curbed by circumstance. All challenging for sure, but will it be fun or feel like work?

That's just my first impression. Obviously things could change, but they seem to have a pretty clear idea of what they want.

All that said, the setting and circumstances are all very plausible and realistic. It would be hard to survive, and you'd have to deal with everything described.

But herein lies a truth... Realistically, surviving an actual zombie apocalypse would really SUCK.

So a realistic zombie rpg...? Right now has about as much appeal to me as MS Flight Simulator. That's just my opinion tho.

 

[taviow]

Its just I can see all the personal and inter-group politics and resource management easily dominating the game if the devs aren't careful.

Honestly, the game is not about the zombies, but about how people react to a crisis and what they are willing to do to other human beings and even members of their group to stay alive or protect their own. The zombies are just a cause, like economic collapse or a massive earthquake, and it’s really the human self-preservation instinct and the survivor mentality that we’re interested in portraying.

Sorry, bro. It seems that's what the game is about.

 

[Gargantou]

Still sounds like it could be interesting.

But, in terms of zombie-games, I'm more looking forward to Dead Island from the devs of Call of Juarez, the media blackout is rumored to be lifted later this year.

 

[Raziaar]

This game seems pretty cool. I'm interested in it.

The turn based thing doesn't bother me as long as the turns are reasonably long and I can chain a bunch of shit together.

I agree... this looks kinda boring... interesting, challenging, and possibly rewarding, but not necessarily "fun".

At a certain point the social and political aspect combined with trying to survive in an apocalyptic wasteland just sounds like a huge pain in the ass.

Sounds like a good idea for a TV show though... oops too late.

I really was just commenting on the screenshots, which reminded me of The Sims. I mean the game seems kind of like that too, but it could be interesting.

 

[Gargantou]

Raziaar, what do you mean chain a bunch of shit together?

You mean like in JRPGs? If so I doubt it.

 

[falconwind]

Sorry, bro. It seems that's what the game is about.

I know. Its not my cup of tea. It does look interesting, but its something I'd rather watch than play, if only because it sounds like a reality tv show.

 

[MJ12]

Zombie turn based game? What? Jesus christ that sounds boring.

 

[Raziaar]

Raziaar, what do you mean chain a bunch of shit together?

You mean like in JRPGs? If so I doubt it.

Well, what I mean is I hope the turn isn't so short like... TAKE STEP. It better be like... 30 seconds of simulation time per turn or something... and I should be able to queue my actions. Open door, move here... react to zombies here with gun... barricade door.

 

[Gargantou]

Well, I like the turn-based system in the Silent Storm series, basically you have a choice of spending all your points during your turn, or saving some for a reaction during the enemy's turn.

I.e. if you've spent all your points and an enemy walks into your view, you don't do nothing, but if you have points left, your character gets an Interrupt and you have the choice of using the points you saved to attack the guy who walked into your view.

 

[taviow]

Zombie turn based game? What? Jesus christ that sounds boring.

All zombies take their turns simultaneously.

 

[Warbie]

It is a sad day indeed when pc gamers shun turnbased games.

rip pc gaming. Long live the playstation generation

 

[VirusType2]

There are more games for consoles, but that doesn't mean I want to play any of them. (Ok, there's a few)

After playing Dungeon Master back in like 1988 (real-time RPG), I didn't want to play turn-based RPGs any more. I always wanted a House of the Dead 2 type of game but as a FPS.

I'll take a look at the game when it comes out. It may end up totally different than described.

 

[Ravioli]

I like how everyone is going batshit insane over an interview and a few shitty screenshots that looks like they were made in a 1998 Autocad architecture program.

Seriously whats the big deal about this? Concept might sound cool, but i bet once a video comes out everyone will just go "ohh....well....meh"

 

[Warbie]

Did you read the interview? Foraging for food and supplies, maintaining morale, looking after your shelter, having to make tough choices, fighting zombies and rival groups of survivors - sounds more interesting than most games to me. It's also very pc - don't get many proper pc games these days, mostly ports.

 

[Paulaner]

Seriously whats the big deal about this?

1. Turn-based. We don't see turn-based games anymore. As Warbie said, it's very pc.
2. Indie developers. Original and refreshing ideas usually come from the indie scene, where developers don't have to satisfy commercial requirements of mainstream publishers.
3. Troika and Obsidian legacy.