Been playing the game for a few days, I am quite impressed.
I specially love the item system, it's terribly deep and interesting. Plenty of "interesting junk" as well, and over-the-top "fun" (not "Fun" as in DF's Fun) items. It's fresh after so many roguelike developers decided to be strictly realist or medieval to add a few implants.
The terrain generator is also splendid. I always wanted to see procedural generation applied to towns instead of medieval castles and other fantasy clichés. The houses make sense (except for the lack of furniture), the town placement makes sense, and I love that enemy deployment system. I hope you don't mind if I adapt my own algorithm to match yours a little bit :P
I am missing or wondering about a few things:
-I am having a severe issue procuring water. Is there anything else out of drinking from a toilet? Can I purify that water? (Water boiling is possible?)
-Or even better, how about taking the water from the water canister of the toilet instead of from the bottom with all the disease? :P
-If there isn't, there should be a way to procure rain water or from condensation that isn't bionic-only. (Rain collectors might spoil your water if acid rain comes, too, so they wouldn't be almighty)
-Is it possible to put items on a container? Are there container tiles such as chests (modern ones of course, not treasure chests :P) or just shelves/wardrobes?
-Is it possible to push shelves or wardrobes? Some of the generated terrain does contain doors blocked by beds or wardrobes, or is it merely coincidental? If not, would be a fancy thing to do, and would make sense (specially when more furniture comes in)
-Just a little bug report (latest git on linux), I unloaded a radio and it gave me...several stacks of .44 ammo. I wanted the batteries...
-I actually love the "alone vs the zombie world" theme of the game as it is now...will it be possible to simulate the current behavior in later stages of the game's development? Perhaps a generation option? On that matter, will it be possible to have any input on world generation later on? Or, at least, will it be possible to disable NPCs voluntarily?
(The reasoning of the later is, as others survival games showcase, human NPCs can be terribly overpowered, annoying or make the game extremely unfair (to the player), or if you work with them, they are just bait, or you need to babysit them, or make survival by resources impossible for two...so there are times I would have them, times I wouldn't.) What's your opinion on this?
-Will it be possible to use some sort of generator to power a fridge so you can keep food fresh for longer?
-Is it possible to build fences, or only boarding is allowed? Will it be possible sometime?
-A suggestion for defects: Narcoleptic, which can make you fall asleep while waiting and sleeping is less refreshing (don't fall in the hollywood cliché of narcolepsy being falling asleep while walking or fighting or such. It doesn't work that way (but does with driving, so if it's going to be implemented...))
-Dreams? Nightmares? Might be interesting small morale (+-5?) bonuses/penalties.
-Pr*ngles cans so we can make cantennas! It's a classic low-budget DYI thing.
-When furniture comes into play, how about gas burners in kitchens? Can be a replacement for hotplates. Portable gas burners also exist IRL, and might double as bashing weapon or explosive :P How about making a mini-burner with alcohol, a can and string?
-Portable consoles can be a stupid addition, but can be fun too. They can be addictive xD Maybe you can have them check the amount of hand encumbrance so playing with your hands fully covered actually gives a morale penalty.
-How about an alarm item? That way sleep schedules can be controlled. (Unless they already exist)
-Would it be possible to have notes around the game? They are a staple of survival horror, and can be interesting in the shared server, where players will leave notes around. Random generation can also work, you should be able to write a "apocalyptic log" generator in no time, using references to locations and items around the area where the note is generated. It might require "writing" items though. Also, it's a way to make literacy matter more. You can also have them point to stashes or even stuff like safe combinations if they are going to exist.
Author
Topic: Cataclysm: A Zombie-Survival Roguelike (Read 1316979 times)