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[More_Badass]

Good to see people enjoying the game as much as Toma and I did. If you check out the official site, you see that the developer has a lot planned for the game and so far he's made good on his promises. Hell, we're going to get an entire new area that basically a futuristic post-apocalyptic city with crime and police and an economy, etc.

I just love how desperate and brutal the confrontations feel. I think the lack of visuals help that aspect because you can fill in the details in your head.

 

[d1rtn4p]

So if I buy from the dev website I'll get a Steam key? I'm ready to push the button but I don't see anywhere where it says that...

 

[Toma]

Previously:

Part 1: The Awakening
Part 2: The Beginning
Part 3: The Realization
Part 4: The Meeting

Part 5: The End

After the initial shock, I ran away as fast as I could. I managed to keep myself focussed enough to erase my tracks while running away wherever I was fleeing to. My heart was beating even faster than with my first encounter in the cryo chamber and I clearly didnt think strait and just hurried on. Eventually, I stopped moving and found myself back.. in the cryo chamber, which apparently instinctively seemed like the only somewhat safe place to me. I huddled into the corner behind pod 02 where I found the knife earlier and hoped this ... creature wouldnt be able to find me. No use, I thought, I feared he must be feeling my fear, seemed to be longing for it. I closed my eyes and buried my head into my lap, cowering in the darkest corner of the room, hoping for the best.

I heard one of the bandits screaming outside and silently hoped that this creature would be fine with ... taking other options. However, this meant that this thing was still following me ad hiding my tracks didnt exactly help. I assumed it indeed was looking for me, hoping I'd just be paranoid about the whole situation. I waited a few more minutes without hearing any other sounds and dared to look up from behind my corner, while this Death-like creature started to move into the cryo chamber. I panicked and ran around the chamber, while it followed me and used the first opportunity to ran towards the open window. I jumped and and started to run away once more.

After running for a few minutes, I noticed that my energy was leaving me and I didnt seem to make any progress running away. I turned around and faced it, looked at it and just stood there, waiting for the encounter to happen. I gave up. This shadow creature kept approaching me steadily until it reached me and slit through my body with his hands.

And that concludes me wasting time on something nobody reads anyway! Finally need to play around with some more mechanics and explore some areas I didnt get to yet.

 

[Toma]

So if I buy from the dev website I'll get a Steam key? I'm ready to push the button but I don't see anywhere where it says that...

http://www.desura.com/games/neo-scavenger/news/neo-scavenger-greenlit

There you go.

 

[d1rtn4p]

http://www.desura.com/games/neo-scavenger/news/neo-scavenger-greenlit

There you go.

Thanks!

 

[Toma]

I contacted the dev, and more or less just told him he made a very interesting game (plus some other stuff). Here his reply, in case anyone is curious:

Hey Marco,

Thanks for getting in touch! I actually saw a spike in web traffic when checking my logs this morning, and I believe that was thanks to your thread. So thanks for that!

And thanks for the detailed feedback. I was enthralled with reading your and other players' comments there. Very encouraging and helpful stuff!

Incidentally, I was going to post in that thread to say as much, but I'm still sort of trapped in the Neogaf registration process. Something munched my activation email, so I've pinged their support to see if I can get another one sent.

So far, I'm hearing more than a few echo the sentiments expressed on your thread. Namely, that the game can be fun, but the UI opaque. I've tried to smooth out areas that I can, without giving up functionality/control. But if there are other opportunities I'm missing, I'm eager to try. I may not be able to overhaul, but I might be able to tweak some things.

As for marketing, you're totally right. NEO Scavenger's still struggling to reach its demographic, as evidenced by your thread's impact. I tend to do marketing in bursts, usually after bugs have been cleared from the previous burst, and often after some additional content has been added.

I'm hoping to do another PR push once I get this next batch of content and fixes in. And I'm hoping I can make the final push in the next few months. A Steam release might be just what I need to "surface" for a new group of users.

Anyway, thanks again for the kind words and encouragement. Hopefully, I can get into that thread soon to do so more publicly!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games

Its not really a private conversation, so I assume the dev wont hold any grudges for me posting it here. So yeah, if you have any suggestions regarding the UI, SPEAK UP! ;p

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

I contacted the dev, and more or less just told him he made a very interesting game (plus some other stuff). Here his reply, in case anyone is curious:



Its not really a private conversation, so I assume the dev wont hold any grudges for me posting it here. So yeah, if you have any suggestions regarding the UI, SPEAK UP! ;p

I say he make it how he wants, If it makes the UI a bit confusing at first I can deal with it.I mean if I can wrap my head around dwarf fortresses's UI, I can definitely make do with this

 

[EviLore]

I contacted the dev, and more or less just told him he made a very interesting game (plus some other stuff). Here his reply, in case anyone is curious:



Its not really a private conversation, so I assume the dev wont hold any grudges for me posting it here. So yeah, if you have any suggestions regarding the UI, SPEAK UP! ;p

Have him tweet @neogaf or some such and I'll take care of the account (don't know the username).

 

[CrunchyFrog]

I remember trying this out about a month or so back, enjoyed it. Look forward to the full release on steam.

 

[More_Badass]

I remember trying this out about a month or so back, enjoyed it. Look forward to the full release on steam.

I don't want to derail the thread, but why do you (and not just you, so many others) have this need to only get games from Steam? The current version is not like an early concept alpha, it's a deep functional game, and you get a Steam key by supporting the developer on his site or buying from Desura if Steam is just a critical factor in purchasing a game

 

[More_Badass]

I used to write regularly but it's been while since I put together anything. To my surprise, it seems that NEO Scavenger playthroughs are the perfect story prompts:
---
The bandits left you with nothing, nothing but the ragged clothes on your back and a glass shard. It had been foolish to rest in such an exposed location but the desperate search for shelter from the freezing rain had trumped your nagging exhaustion. And now your mistake had cost you dearly

You head west, away from the bandits and toward distant ruins. Hours pass, rain comes and goes. The terrain is flat, offering little shelter but easy on the feet. You cover the distance quickly and soon stand amidst the long-abandoned tenements. Once these towering structures housed society's poor and impoverished; now they were naught but desiccated monuments to a time long forgotten.

You shiver in the cold quiet. Scavenging turns up nothing but dust and skeletons. These building had been picked clean long before you arrived. You continue westward into uncharted territory

Another night, another restless sleep in the rain. Hypothermia is a given now. Have to find shelter, real shelter, and supplies...or else death would be coming for you sooner rather than later.

Movement. A lone bandit in the distance. You hurriedly cover your tracks and hide. From your vantage point, you can see the rusted crowbar, the patchwork hide clothing, the backpack. Supplies, warm attire, weapons. The opportunity is too good to pass up.

You approach through the low morning fog, moving low and cautiously as the terrain grows wild and treacherous. The glass shard gripped in your hand glints in the sun. Twenty meters, ten, five. Close enough to see the filth and blood and scars.

You have the advantage. You must not waste it. You will survive.

You lunge from the underbrush, shard poised to tear flesh and draw blood. Both of you fall to the dank wet ground. The bandit rolls out of range and stands, still reeling from the ambush. You rise to your feet. You clutch the shard tight.

The bandit charges. Maybe luck is on your side. Maybe he's still off balance. You duck beneath the wild swing of his crowbar and slash.

Blood stains the hard packed dirt.

The bandit faces you now. You take a step back to gain some breathing room.

He rushes again, closing the distance between you in a moment, swinging the crowbar again. But this time you're not so fortunate. You fill something snap. A rib maybe. Probably. Jagged pain and an odd sense of warmth blooms in your chest. Hurts to breathe now, each inhale like choking down barbed wire. A wet rattling cough leaves crimson spittle dripping from your lips.

You realize your hands are empty. The glass shard lies in pieces with the blood and dirt.

The bandit attacks again. You try to avoid the blow but the pain is so disorienting, so overwhelming that you barely feel the metal crush against your legs and back. You struggle to stand. Another cough rumbles within your chest. The world sways in and out of focus.

The ground rushes up to meet you. The bandit approaches. You try to grab for his leg, try to wrestle him to the muck, to fight, to do something, but you're too weak to manage anything effective. Your grasping fingers are easily knocked aside.

You know it. He knows it. It's over.

Blackness floods your vision as the crowbar rushes towards your face. You only feel the pain for a moment before the darkness takes you completely

 

[King Allant]

my god turn based survival sim?!!!! omg omg I want it. God I subscribe to this now

 

[bunbun777]

Looks fun I gave it a quick whirl to try and get used to the commands, ended up in a brawl with a bandit who was armed. Tried to drag him down to the ground with me and take his gun but all I ended up with was internal bleeding and unconsciousness. He must have felt pity for me...

 

[woo and indeed hoo]

what's your issue with the UI? I had some minor issues too at first, but once I got behind the way the UI works, it's actually working pretty well. Anything specific you have issues with? Maybe we can explain it?

I just didn't understand how it works. I managed to get

Spoiler

outside

through trial and error and move to another hex but then I couldn't work out how to pick up what was there. At that point I felt I'd had enough time feeling stupid for the day and put it aside.

Thanks for the offer of help but a very kind fellow GAFer has subsequently posted with what looks like a pretty thorough guide so I don't need you. Ner ner ner ner ner.

Spoiler

Thanks Toma

Oh and what a nice reply from the dev .

I still have the demo on my pc so I'll have another bash in conjunction with your post and hopefully that cracks it. Of course much of my difficulty may be because I am unfamiliar with games like this because I have only been gaming on a pc for four months or so [?]

 

[Toma]

my god turn based survival sim?!!!! omg omg I want it. God I subscribe to this now

There is a free browser demo, no reason to not just simply try it

 

[Nillansan]

I have been following this game for quite some time now, I haven't given it a spin yet. I will certainly pick it up once it is closer to completion. Thanks for the impressions!

 

[Toma]

I have been following this game for quite some time now, I haven't given it a spin yet. I will certainly pick it up once it is closer to completion. Thanks for the impressions!

Well it currently is already very playable though, and I actually dont want the dev to complete it

Going by his comment on the target audience he reached, I assume that he could be making money of this game for a long time still once he released it on Steam. So no reason to "complete" it anytime soon either (hopefully). I really hope its going to end up profitable enough for him to stash more things into it for years to come, unless he is fed up doing that at one point.

 

[More_Badass]

Spreading the word on Reddit and IGN, game deserves more attention. I've really taken a liking to the title as you've probably noticed by my posts and stories. I plan to follow Toma's lead and chronicle my journey. However my stories will probably be several pages long, so I'll post them as Google Docs. (I'm quite excited and invigorated by my return to writing)

 

[More_Badass]

I love how you're just a regular guy. You're not a combat ready space marine or a genetically engineered soldier. You're just a regular person thrown into a fucked up live-or-die world where life is short and bloody. This is Fallout by way of The Road, mixed with some FTL and realistic survival.

I can't praise this game enough. If you haven't already, at least give the demo a try.

 

[Kuntz]

Noooooooooooo !

Decided to play it veeery safe, stopping on good shelters and fleeing from enemies as much as possible, got huge reserves of meat, a backpack, pills, lighter, goggles, but died while fleeing from 2 unarmed bandits.

4 days, 3,69 hours.

I'm so proud of myself !

Still trying to figure out how to cook meat. (I'll get it eventually !)

This game makes me forget my surrounding so much it's unreal, no game has made me feel like this before.

I have become a survivor

 

[More_Badass]

How do I use antibotics and painkillers? I just started another playthrough, fought off the dogman, and got hurt. I found a med kit with supplies, but I can't figure out how to use them

 

[Kuntz]

Whenever your pain meter is low just right click on painkillers and use, be careful about not using it too often and too much, there are dangerous drawbacks (I think). Antibiotics are the same but for diseases/infections ?

Oh, and I just discovered

Spoiler

Zom Zom restaurant/arena place, need a though character with hack/mechanics to have fun !

 

[Toma]

Whenever your pain meter is low just right click on painkillers and use, be careful about not using it too often and too much, there are dangerous drawbacks (I think). Antibiotics are the same but for diseases/infections ?

Oh, and I just discovered

Spoiler

Zom Zom restaurant/arena place, need a though character with hack/mechanics to have fun !

So much stuff I didnt tap into yet. I made a bully type of player and am currently mashing my way through dozens of melon heads.

 

[dcfedor]

Hey Guys!

My name's Dan, and I'm the developer behind NEO Scavenger, and founder of Blue Bottle Games. I saw a pretty big surge of visitors from this thread, and wanted to swing by and say "hi." So "hi!"

Before I say anything else, I want to thank both Toma and More_Badass for spreading the word about NEO Scavenger. Their efforts, both here and elsewhere, have steered at least a few hundred folks to check out the game. Plus, this thread is a goldmine of both encouragement and useful feedback. So thanks, guys!

Also, thanks EvilLore, for helping me get registered!

Now, let me see if I can touch on a few of the more specific topics mentioned here:

How do I use antibotics and painkillers? I just started another playthrough, fought off the dogman, and got hurt. I found a med kit with supplies, but I can't figure out how to use them

Just out of curiosity, what were your first instincts here? Intuitive UI is one of the big failings in NEO Scavenger, so I'm curious if folks are trying one thing, but I built the UI assuming another. Did you try drag/dropping them some place? Double-clicking?

Kuntz's suggestion (right-click->use) is one way to use/consume an item. I also mapped the 1, 2, and 3 keys to different cursor modes, if you plan on using/destroying a lot of items in rapid succession. E.g. hold the 2 key to switch to the yellow "use" cursor, and click away. The 1 key switches between drag/drop and take/drop modes for moving items.

However, maybe that's not very clear. I think it works once folks learn it, but it's not obvious.

Well it currently is already very playable though, and I actually dont want the dev to complete it

Going by his comment on the target audience he reached, I assume that he could be making money of this game for a long time still once he released it on Steam. So no reason to "complete" it anytime soon either (hopefully). I really hope its going to end up profitable enough for him to stash more things into it for years to come, unless he is fed up doing that at one point.

I'll admit, I've resisted finishing NEO Scavenger for a long time now I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I'd probably noodle with the game design and content forever if money was no object.

However, I've set a deadline of January 2014 for myself, before which I plan to finish the main story, fix bugs, and add what content I can. There probably won't be any new features, but I'd like to add more stuff to play with, and more situations to use that stuff in. Come January, I'll hopefully be able to make v1.0 "done," launch on Steam, and recoup my investment. And with any luck, make enough extra to do this all over again.

I do plan on supporting NEO Scavenger post-launch, by way of bug fixes at the very least. However, I'm actually considering porting the game to a new technology (i.e. not Flash/AS3) for a sequel, which will let me do quite a lot that I can't now. For instance, Flash restricts file system access, has performance issues, is poorly supported on Linux (especially as a stand-alone player), and lost support on tablets. The tech I'm considering (Haxe/OpenFL) will remove those barriers, and might make it possible for users to mod the game, deploy to tablets, and do lots of other stuff.

Also, NEO Scavenger is meant to be the first of several games in the same universe. This game is a bit of an intro to the world, the way it works, and some people/places. However, the world is a big place, and I'd like to be able to tell more stories in it, from those of cross-prairie wasteland caravans, to gumshoes cracking cases in Detroit Mega City, and even the tales of roid miners stranded after Earth's ties to space were severed. NEO Scavenger is my RPG setting, my baby, and I hope that I and other "GMs" can tell the stories they want in it. Someday.

I just didn't understand how it works. I managed to get outside through trial and error and move to another hex but then I couldn't work out how to pick up what was there. At that point I felt I'd had enough time feeling stupid for the day and put it aside.

I'd be interested to know what things you tried here that failed, in case there was something intuitive that I'm not supporting. E.g. when you failed to pick up what was in the hex, how did you know you failed? What did you try? How did you expect it to work?

In an ideal world, I could float over every user and stalk them while they play, so I could learn from my UI mistakes. It's creepy, yes. But it's for the best

I can tell already it will live or die on VOLUME of content

You're right, and that point actually terrifies me. I've spent quite a long time on the system design, making sure there's a lot of interplay between the different mechanics. I think I've heard someone call it "orthogonality." I wanted the game to be fun regardless of story, in case my story ended up crap

However, I'm working on a story, too. And I'm trying to make it satisfying, but I'm hella amateur as a writer. So I'm hoping that I can cobble this thing together in a way that folks say, "hey, that wasn't too bad!" I'm pretty good at colorful writing on a small scale, but we'll see if the larger story plays out enjoyably or not.

I was bitching to a friend about not being able to push along one of the many shopping carts I was finding, and then on my next life, I figured out it counted as a vehicle. And don't ask me how long it took me to figure out the simple act of refilling empty bottles...

The UI is a bit...obtuse, but I can see where it allows for a lot of interactions.

I definitely need to read up more on how to play though.

You're not alone! As I mention above, UI is one of the major flaws in NEO Scavenger. I probably can't afford a major overhaul at this point, but if there was something you tried that I hadn't considered, let me know. Perhaps I can add it as an alternative method for doing those things.

I'm also considering adding a right-click option to everything in the game, so users can right-click, say, an item or button, and choose "More Info." Then, that'd pop up a window saying "this is a consumable item. Right-click and choose 'use' to consume it, or hold '2' while clicking it." Or, if it were a button, "click this button to enable 'run" mode, during which movement costs half as many actions, but you'll leave more tracks and fatigue faster." Etc.

Master of Magic had something like that (right-click anything for info), and it was a huge help for learning as one goes, rather than pausing to look at a manual/help page.

Ah, your other comments explain it. The city is currently not accessible. Awesome, so much stuff to look forward to

The DMC is accessible in recent builds, and the player sees the "animated dot" map when they pass through the gates into the city proper. On that map, there are a couple places to visit so far, and more are in the works. The "dot" map is just a fancy VFX map for letting the player navigate the city, kind of like Mass Effect's galaxy map.

There are a couple things to do in the "sprawl" outside the city, as well.

Whew! Quite a wall of text this has turned into!

Anyway, I just wanted to swing by, say thanks, respond to some bits, and so forth. This thread has been an absolute joy to read, and really helped bolster my self-confidence. I think I'm like a lot of devs/artists, in that I have "imposter syndrome," so it's always reassuring to know that folks enjoy what I create. And similarly, critique is useful for improving on what's there!

 

[More_Badass]

Welcome to GAF, dcfedor! Wanted to thank you again for this incredible experience. There's nothing else like it and as of now it's an indie GOTY contender for me.

About the medkit: Well first instinct was just click on it in the items menu, expecting a drop down menu or grid displaying its content. When that didn't work, I moved it to my hands, noticed that it now displayed the content. Then I tried the same steps with the painkillers. After that, I tried bringing the pills to the head area.
Nothing, so I just continued with the story

Personally I think that dragging the desired items to the logical body part would be the most effective. Especially since that's how you equip everything else. So to use painkillers, you'd just drag the pills to the face. And I wasn't aware using right click on items

Btw I left a suggestion on the game's official forum but honestly it seems a bit dead over there so I'll repost here:

I've been playing this a lot over the last week or so and I love it. But I wish the opening moments had some more variety. Some possibilites I was thinking of were:
- instead of a dogman, it's a friendly scavenger who helps you and gives you some supplies
- it's a group of raiders or bandits inside the facility
- the other cryotube residents have already awakened and are waking you up
- You awake to find there's a cannibal who's been feasting on the people in the cryotubes
- a family of deer have roamed inside the facility
- same dogman scenario, but you get saved by another scavenger
- same dogman scenario, but it's night and raining when you climb outside

Now that I think about it, such variety might be hard to implement because of all the variables and factors involved with skills. But it would be cool

 

[Brawl96]

Cant wait for this release!

 

[Toma]

Welcome to GAF, dcfedor! Wanted to thank you again for this incredible experience. There's nothing else like it and as of now it's an indie GOTY contender for me.

About the medkit: Well first instinct was just click on it in the items menu, expecting a drop down menu or grid displaying its content. When that didn't work, I moved it to my hands, noticed that it now displayed the content. Then I tried the same steps with the painkillers. After that, I tried bringing the pills to the head area.
Nothing, so I just continued with the story

Personally I think that dragging the desired items to the logical body part would be the most effective. Especially since that's how you equip everything else. So to use painkillers, you'd just drag the pills to the face. And I wasn't aware using right click on items

Btw I left a suggestion on the game's official forum but honestly it seems a bit dead over there so I'll repost here:

Now that I think about it, such variety might be hard to implement because of all the variables and factors involved with skills. But it would be cool

I definitely agree that the beginning should have more variety to set individual playthroughs more apart. You sort of start building an identity with the character building and first moments of the game, and different starting moments would really help with that. I'd actually say that your suggestions all sound very, very feasible to do actually, because the dev wouldnt need to change anything about the story or map structure.

 

[Toma]

I was also thinking whether the game should have a better indicator of what actually happened if he was too loud while scavenging other than the obtuse "Someone might have heard you.", because not seeing any results from that, I stopped caring about it. I simply go full in strength with lighters all the time to maximize loot. Even if there is any danger from that, I dont know about or even notice it.

 

[Twinduct]

So finally started playing. Been playing the demo mostly so not sure what changes to the pay version.

Man this game is tough as nails! I've restarted quite a few times (well I say restart but getting killed kinda forces it). I have not met anyone friendly though (granted I've been restricted to the first 10 hexes or so).

I'm having a hard time running away from encounters. Really enjoying it though!

 

[Moobabe]

FINE Badass. FINE Toma. AND YOU Mr. Developer man - I'll get the stupid game. But if I have loads of fun and spend too much time on it then the three of you are to blame.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

Wow, game seems amazing. Thanks for the thread OP

 

[Toma]

FINE Badass. FINE Toma. AND YOU Mr. Developer man - I'll get the stupid game. But if I have loads of fun and spend too much time on it then the three of you are to blame.

Actually, the game lends itself very well to short bursts of play. I am currently trying 30-40 minutes per day for a single run. My current run went on a bit longer, but it still feels good to play it bite sized. Perfect even if you dont have that much time

Edit: And tsk tsk tsk for calling the game stupid. I am sure the game will get back to you on that

 

[More_Badass]

Actually, the game lends itself very well to short bursts of play. I am currently trying 30-40 minutes per day for a single run. My current run went on a bit longer, but it still feels good to play it bite sized. Perfect even if you dont have that much time

Edit: And tsk tsk tsk for calling the game stupid. I am sure the game will get back to you on that

Random aside: that's one aspect I love about roguelikes. They lend themselves well to short contained experiences that still feel deep and unique. As someone who's on the move a lot commuting or stopping to go to class, that's important

 

[woo and indeed hoo]

Hey Guys!

ohai! Welcome to GAF .

I'd be interested to know what things you tried here that failed, in case there was something intuitive that I'm not supporting. E.g. when you failed to pick up what was in the hex, how did you know you failed? What did you try? How did you expect it to work?

In an ideal world, I could float over every user and stalk them while they play, so I could learn from my UI mistakes. It's creepy, yes. But it's for the best

I had already intended to give you some detailed feedback in respect of the U.I. after my second attempt at your game so I shall happily respond accordingly . It might be a day or two until the stars align but I shall get back to you.

I'm glad reading everyone's comments in this thread has given you a lift. I can easily imagine what it must be like spending hour upon hour invested in something whilst secretly worrying that other people might not like it. However you seem to have struck a bit of a nerve here with quite a few of us so it will be exciting to see how this all unfolds!

 

[dcfedor]

Re: starting encounter, I agree that it would be interesting to have more variety with each playthrough. In fact, there are a few major encounters that vary from game-to-game, though they're later on.

What I've found from player feedback is that many are actually frustrated, or at least confused, if certain major things vary from game-to-game. E.g. they think there's a bug, or that they did something wrong, but not that the world just differs this time around.

The opening encounter might be an exception, given that it'd be readily apparent from the get-go that something was different, regardless of player choice (indeed, since there has been none yet).

There are two other factors to consider, though. The first is that the opening scene has a few story-related clues which might be disrupted with alternative starts. If the player is rescued by good samaritans at the beginning, then they are decidedly not released by the person who did so in the current game, and that causes some story conflict later. That could be fixed with some clever writing, though.

Which brings us to the second obstacle: time to write more alternatives. For reference, here's a screenshot from the encounter editor:

That dense web of colored strings just right of center is the opening encounter. Part of the reason it looks like such a tangle is that it was my first attempt, and I had yet to learn a few things in making them manageable. But if you look on the left edge of the tangle, it branches out into 8 nodes, and those 8 nodes each branch into other nodes. Those 8 nodes are different player responses to the "dogman." E.g. lock the door, hide, fight, etc.

In my experience, it takes about a week to write/map an encounter of that size/complexity, including all the behind-the-scenes stuff like creating plot flags, setting/detecting them, item drops, creature spawns, etc. As a result, I've been avoiding alternative paths until one complete plot playthrough is finished. I'm maybe 40% of the way there at this stage.

This isn't to say that alternatives won't be added. I still think they're a good idea! I just wanted to share some of my reasoning for not adding any yet.

I was also thinking whether the game should have a better indicator of what actually happened if he was too loud while scavenging other than the obtuse "Someone might have heard you.", because not seeing any results from that, I stopped caring about it. I simply go full in strength with lighters all the time to maximize loot. Even if there is any danger from that, I dont know about or even notice it.

Up until a few months ago, the outcome in such cases was the spawning of one or more creatures into the current hex, and battle would start immediately. As you might imagine, this caused players to be extremely cautious about scavenging, which was good! However, it also felt unrealistic, and many complained that it broke suspension of disbelief to have creatures materialize into close proximity without seeing them coming.

As a result, I changed a few things such that these sneak failures alert nearby creatures (if any), and they'll come from several hexes away to check things out. It means fewer battles, in practice, but also feels less contrived. Creature populations take a little while to increase in the early game, too, so this becomes a bigger challenge as the game progresses.

I'm having a hard time running away from encounters. Really enjoying it though!

Athletics may be a good choice for you if you plan to run away frequently. The special "sprint away" move it grants almost guarantees escape.

Also, your comment about not finding any friendly NPCs is one echoed frequently in my forums (and elsewhere). I'm eager to add non-hostile NPCs, but they are definitely a challenge. The vocabulary of battles is significantly tighter than friendly conversation, and I haven't had time to add much other than fight or flight yet.

There are some NPCs who will converse with the player in the beta, but they're encounter-based, not wandering creatures. And more like those are planned. I also have a tentative "feature" planned for wandering creatures, such that some are at least on your side (e.g. DMC guards). They may not have detailed conversations, but they won't be out to mug/eat you (or run from you) on sight.

Actually, the game lends itself very well to short bursts of play.

Glad to hear it! Respect for the user is actually one of my business philosophies. I appreciate games that let me play on my terms. E.g. when I want, where I want, let me save and walk away when I want. Making NEO Scavenger turn-based, single-player, no DRM, etc. were all in support of those tenets.

Oh, and thanks More_Badass for the detailed info on the steps you tried in applying medical items. I know of at least one other user who thought the same, so that might be something for me to look into. And woo and indeed hoo, I'm looking forward to your recounts, as well.

Thanks again, guys. I appreciate all the thoughtful feedback!

 

[FaustsBoon]

Hey Dan...

As it stands, your game engenders loyalty at a shocking rate. Like Toma and others... i'm willing to throw my lot in, and support this absolutely incredible project in any way I can.

If you'd like a professional game-industry writer on board to help pad out the content, consider me at your disposal, gratis. I just genuinely believe in what you're doing here, and will happily give you as much of my time as I can spare.

Message me.

 

[More_Badass]

NEO Scavenger - A Chronicle of Desperate Survival
Part 1

Here's the first part of my journey, waking up to leaving the facility. Hope you enjoy and tell me what you think

 

[Toma]

Hey Dan...

As it stands, your game engenders loyalty at a shocking rate. Like Toma and others... i'm willing to throw my lot in, and support this absolutely incredible project in any way I can.

If you'd like a professional game-industry writer on board to help pad out the content, consider me at your disposal, gratis. I just genuinely believe in what you're doing here, and will happily give you as much of my time as I can spare.

Message me.

Oh, nice of you to offer. Would be nice to see guys getting in touch to see whether their style fits together. I'd love, love, love more content/encounters or even just text variants of the same encounters.

 

[More_Badass]

Oh, wow, didn't notice Fausts' offer. I'd be down with that too. As you can see, I'm already writing stuff anyway.

 

[Toma]

Alright, lets see how far I am getting with my current macho build.

 

[Toma]

Anyone got an idea how to get water from a river into a bottle?

 

[CzarTim]

Anyone got an idea how to get water from a river into a bottle?

Drag it onto an empty bottle.

 

[Kyouji]

Anyone got an idea how to get water from a river into a bottle?

Put your Empty Bottles on a right side inventory (yourself or a shopping cart/any kind of container), switch to Pick-up mode, and click away.

 

[Toma]

Drag it onto an empty bottle.

Put your Empty Bottles on a right side inventory (yourself or a shopping cart/any kind of container), switch to Pick-up mode, and click away.

I tried that already because it was the most intuitive thing to do with the way the inventory usually works. I have the river on the left side, but once I pick it up.. I cant "click" on any of the bottles on the right side. The river just snaps back to the left side without any of the bottles being filled.

Curious, what is your game version guys? I am using the Desura one. v0.979b 9/16/2013

 

[CzarTim]

I tried that already because it was the most intuitive thing to do with the way the inventory usually works. I have the river on the left side, but once I pick it up.. I cant "click" on any of the bottles on the right side. The river just snaps back to the left side without any of the bottles being filled.

Curious, what is your game version guys? I am using the Desura one. v0.979b 9/16/2013

Oh, you need to go to crafting and bring the river to the right side. That turns into useable water.

 

[Toma]

Oh, you need to go to crafting and bring the river to the right side. That turns into useable water.

I cant bring the "river" to the right side, as its automatically shown as water on the left side for me on the crafting screen, but I still cant "use" it there (when I go back to the inventory, its back to being a river). If I drag and drop them on top another, nothing happens, no matter which side of the screen. Then I tried putting one bottle and one water into the crafting part to "craft" water in a bottle but that doesnt give me the crafting button.

I feel really stupid right now, considering it seems to be so easily doable for you guys.

 

[CzarTim]

I cant bring the "river" to the right side, as its automatically shown as water on the left side for me on the crafting screen, but I still cant "use" it there (when I go back to the inventory, its back to being a river). If I drag and drop them on top another, nothing happens, no matter which side of the screen. Then I tried putting one bottle and one water into the crafting part to "craft" water in a bottle but that doesnt give me the crafting button.

I feel really stupid right now, considering it seems to be so easily doable for you guys.

You need to have an action point left over to craft. Bringing the river (and only the river) to the right side of the crafting screen *should* turn it into several drops of water. From there you go to the inventory screen and drag the water into the empty bottles, or use the method Kyouji mentioned.

 

[Toma]

You need to have an action point left over to craft. Bringing the river (and only the river) to the right side of the crafting screen *should* turn it into several drops of water. From there you go to the inventory screen and drag the water into the empty bottles, or use the method Kyouji mentioned.

Yeah, but there is no river anymore on the left side. It instantly turns into water drops, but once I go back to the inventory, its back to being a river.

Bug I guess.

 

[Kyouji]

Yeah, but there is no river anymore on the left side. It instantly turns into water drops, but once I go back to the inventory, its back to being a river.

Bug I guess.

On the Crafting menu:

Following what CzarTim said, once you click the River on the left side and it ends up on the top right, you see the River and Droplets on the bottom right, then you have to click the Craft/Confirm key before it'll complete the action.

Return to Inventory (Q) menu:

Then you go back and do what CzarTim and I said to bottle it.

Your way of doing it (putting the bottle and the source of water together on the Crafting top right menu) is what I tried at first too, and was something I wanted to bring up with Dan. Just trying to organise my thoughts a bit before I post them.

 

[Narras]

I've been playing the demo for a bit and just rolling with characters randomly made. It's been very fun.

One of the things I've wondered about was the Surrender/Threaten command in battle. In one game, I had a rifle (not loaded) and I would issue this command against a few unarmed bandits. I thought issuing this command would make many of them surrender/flee especially the ones who were unarmed and threatening the bandit would mean showing my weapon. Instead, many kept rushing towards me. Is there a way to get more people to surrender/flee? Did the bandits know I had no bullets?