Character Creation Prototype

too many options if you ask me. its a lil confusing. how all the options are interrelated. keep it simple. increasing aiming/weapon skills is cool. but all these suboptions. its seems overloaded.

of course i appreciate the level of depth and work you put in. but yea.. i think its very complex.

It may seem complex because of the presentation. You won’t ever see a screen that has all of this and this many choices to make at once. It’ll step you through it gradually. On top of that, you will be able to skip all this completely by playing the “Run n Gun” mode, where you’ll pick a character class and be done with it. It’ll even let you auto level.

- Con

Very nice, I think the added sneak and luck will play a large role.

Not too fancy, but that is to be expected.

Very, very cool. I can already tell there will be an argument about the best “build” like in Sonny.

Also, it looks like you’re at level negative one. XD

Very nice. Except for the presentation. And the fact that precision upgrades so many stats, but I guess the word Accuracy will be a big part in the definition of it in-game. Also, after reading the first comment I started thinking, There will obviously be safe areas, so do you lose food + water points in Survivor mode?

It’s a prototype. Final product will look nothing like this. Seems to be something that people don’t get, everything starts out rough and ugly, it’s just how it works.

Lose food and water points?
- Con

Ah I see how this works.
Not bad, should integrate really well with the game system alpha we tested!

It’s all integrated already, it’s just all set at certain levels at the moment.
- Con

Wow, this level of detail is great. I’m already excited for whenever the final game comes out, and you putting out alphas and other such development stuff is awesome. Keep up the good work!

And i love how complex the creation system is its badass for serious rpg fans also, lvling up nice addition

highly amazing i love it but it would be better if they were 15 instead of 16 y r they 16

Eeehhhhhh?
- Con

That’s really cool, brah. I like how Union City seems to have its own new art style, unlike that of TLS and TLS2.

So i assume that in the game you will be able to get knives and bats and stuff, so if i were to increase my sneak attribute a whole lot, would i be able to go through whole areas without being detected. I find that this system is cool, and i like having all the options. very exciting alpha…

Looks fine. i have no complaints with this one.

YESSSSS!!!
I’m having so much fun with just the alphas, I can’t wait for the full game!

And to all you people who can’t grasp the skill point system, stop bitching to Con about how ‘complexicated’ it is. After all his hard work, are you honestly asking him to remake the entire skill point system? I know it must be hard for you to extend your 5 second attention span, but you’re just going to have to use your brain for once and just figure it out. I hope that’s not asking to much of you, because it really isn’t that hard.

Thanks for all your hard work Con.

Great work Con. Just a question, i remember you said that speech will help you in talking to surviors or something. Well just how important is it?

I believe this game will be an instant hit, when i saw the poster in August- October i jumped out of my seat and screamed some gibberish great work so far on the alphas P.S. i understand the skill and attribute system am i smart?

Good idea for the character customization. Its a little confusing at first. I think you have stolen a little bit too much from Fallout 3. Yes fallout 3 was a brilliant game, no arguments there. But I think you should simplify it a bit more. I don’t really know how, I cant really think of anything at the moment, but you should try to come up with something a little bit more unique. Because you have basically completely copied fallout 3 apart from the fitness and survival stats. In one of your earlier updates I made that huge list of possible pre-sets for characters, like ambulance driver etc. Maybe you could make a wide range of characters, about 10 maybe, each being fairly unique. And each character be stronger in a certain sort of skill area than another. So a soldier would have good weapon skills and a paramedic would have good survival skills etc…just a thought. Its just the way it is right now, people in a few months time will play it and immediately think Fallout 3 when they see the character customization. That’s all im saying, its good and bad I suppose.

How many times do I need to say that these types of character sheets have been around since the 1970’s?

How many times do I need to stress that you won’t be forced to even look at these customising setups if you don’t want to in the final game?
- Con

Hi Con.

The character creation tool is very good! To present us different options of creation (either start from zero, use a archetype or simply Run’gun) is surely the best and more versatile choice. However, I have some questions and suggestions:

1)”traps” skill:
IF in this new game we will only have the same kind of “ready-to-use” traps just like TLS2 (just set or shoot and BOOM), then I would argue that such skill would be useless, since setting a bear trap or land mine are stupidly easy tasks and both have nothing to do with PREC (dragging gas cylinders/fire extinguishers can be determined by STR and shooting them, by the current weapon skill).
BUT IF we would also be able to create traps out of tools+fuel+etc., then I would argue that smarter people can make better traps than good shooters and hence “traps” should be a INT skill. How will traps really work in this new game?

2)”sneak” skill:
The idea of the “sneak” skill is very good, but making it a PREC skill seems also not too much reasonable. In fact, PREC has nothing to do with sneaking, has it? How about END or LUCK?

3) “search” skill: several times, finding something is not a matter of cleverness, but a matter of luck. How about turning “search” into a LUCK skill?

4) “security” skill: How will this skill really work in the game? I mean: assuming that there will be special items like keys, passcodes and keycards, even if the character has found such items, if he hasn’t enought skill, will he still be unable to open the doors?

5) “first aid” skill: How will this skill really work in the game? Will it be possible to regain HP using nothing but the skill itself or the character will still need some kind of bandage?
If the character has lots of medical supplies and a very low skill level, will he still be able to regain HP?

6) Unbalanced?
OK, I know that STR and END will determine health, melee damage, jump and weight, but even so it seems to me that unless I wanted to use only melee weapons or spend the 60 days like a stupid fool dragging all my stuff with me to every corner of the city, those attributes have almost no importance at all!
Since (it seems more reasonable that) the character will first have to find a “safe house/hideout” in order to store food, ammo, weapons and sleep well, then spend the following days trying to survive (going out to search for supplies and survivors and returning quickly), then it would not be necessary to carry everything in the back.
Moreover, a high INT combined with “first aid” would replace a higher amount of health (eliminating the need of high HP) and will still give more bonuses in another skills.

One last question: will the total amount of food/ammo/supplies and zombies in the game be limited or not? If yes, then it would be (virtually) possible to survive for 100 days and finally eliminating every single zombie in UC? (and then getting the secret achievement bonus: “zombie genocidest”?)

Sorry for the long post. I hope it would be useful.

Best regards and good work!

I like it. it’s not hard to grasp like everyone says. in responce to comment 22, have you ever considered putting it on wiiware or iphone like crush the castle. (which you worked on). It could land you some more wonga! $$$

cool, do you think you would be able to link this to the shooting part so we can see how it controls game-play

Works really well, but when the final draft is out you should make it look a little bit smoother and nicer.

No shit. It’s a prototype…
- Con

I think that the survivor is a very unique character for Zombie based games. It was only a few years ago did the idea of putting survivors with the Hero instead of leaving him in No Mans Land came around.

Survivors should have individual personalities, names, very simple skills. Like Thomas McAllister can shoot better than James Johnson because he practiced at the range with his dad.

Also, what about bites? Have you considered the idea of bites? What happens when a survivor gets bitten? Does Thomas conceal his bite out of pride and James jump out a window out of fear?

Developing the simple details can make a game o so much better.

Thanks! CANT WAIT FOR THIS GAME!

Hey Con

first off, going back to an earier comment, i see the likeness to the fallout 3 stat system, which i think personally a great idea to incorperate into your game. its simple for anyone with ANY rpg experiance, and not hard to grasp for anyone who takes the time to experiment.

also like fallout 3, i like that the stats are split into major skills and minor skills, it offers more customisaton which for any game is great, youve hit the nail on the head with making the system flexable and simple.

NOW my input lol

I think luck should have a more visable outcome on your skills, i know its wont effect them much, but im sure most people will shy away from it without seeing any ’solid’ effects happen. my ones i would want improved would be searching / speech / survival, maybe 0.5, 0.75 skill added per luck? as well as all the behind the sceens stuff

Also i think that the health should be ’statable’, id rather spend a few points on health rather than use a precious att point on endurace.

lastly, another great release to look over and play with, keep up the good work and i look forward to reviewing more releases.
Rob

I do plan on making luck a visible factor. It’s one of the things about the Fallout games that irritates me, Luck seems to be hidden at all times. I plan on bringing it to the front. For example, if a luck roll succeeds while searching, the extra items that are found will be marked as “lucky finds”. Critical hits will work in much the same way so that you know that luck has come into play. Luck will come into play with speech rolls as well.

- Con

Having read the comment and link about the 15 point allocation system, it leads me to wonder, how often are we going to get skill points to put in? I’m assuming its going to be pretty often otherwise I really doubt the sparsely located +1’s throughout the game will be as big as the initial game starting 15-point allocations, or anywhere near as influential in game play. Was this intended? Or, for the final product, will the beginning allocations be in smaller groupings, such as 5 or 10, or even 1?

Think I explained this in the Characters post, each time you hit a new level, the game will have kept track of your top 3 most used skills. You’ll be able to put 3 or 5 points (not sure yet) into one of those skills. Basically, I’m trying to promote the whole idea of “if you do stuff you get better at it”. At the moment the level cap will be 20, so it’ll happen pretty quick early on and then slow as the levels progress.
- Con

After reading your comments on the comments, I’m curious on how First Aid, Speech, Fitness, and Survival will play a part in the “if you do stuff you get better at it” idea. There all stuff that you don’t exactly realize your using.

Also, is the game timer going to be based on an active timer, or by doing missions/searching/using abilities outside of combat, or a mixture of both?

The game will let you know which you’ve been using when you come around to levelling. The idea is that it just naturally highlights the skills and tasks you’re preferring. If you’re running and jumping around a lot, then your Fitness skill will have the optional bonus points. If you’re searching every container you come across, your Search skill will have the optional bonus points. If you’re speaking to a lot of characters and using the optional skilled dialogue…bonus points available. I don’t want to make it so people can grind certain actions just to get particular skills up.

- Con

Hi Con. I’d be very happy if you could answer some of my questions:

1) Will LUCK have some kind of interference with the “AI Director”? I mean: if the character has a lot of LUCK, zombies will spawn less often?

2) Will the “AI Director” interfere with the amount of ammo, weapons and supplies the character finds in the game or only zombie spawning? (In TSL2, the shotgun, for instance, is always found somewhere in Whistler’s Grove. Will this be the same in TLS:UC - some weapons could only be found in some places?)

3) Will there be “respawning” in areas that were already explored? I mean: if you already explored some area and returns there later in the game, will there be new zombies there?

Thanks!

1) No.
2) No.
3) In a way. You won’t come back to rooms and find them filled with zombies as soon as you enter, unless it’s been a while since you were there.
- Con

The character customization screen seemed very well done, which is something not often seen in flash games. One thing I feel could use improvement was the increments of 15 for the skills section. Maybe setting it into increments of 5 or 10 so a player could have a weaker but more varied skill set could make it more interesting.

Yeah, nothing is quite final there. Specialising that hard early on might hurt your build so maybe spreading it out a bit is the way to go. We’ll see.
- Con

good but not easy I like the easy select of stats is good but I wuld like to pick how I look. I don’t mind my height and weight change due to my stats but its not hard.

will there be guns with melee attachments?
will you be able to hold a melee weapon in one hand and another weapon(like a pistol) in the opposite hand?
vibrating turkey carving knives?
flame throwers?
special ammo? (explosive, incendiary)
specialized zombies? (like in l4d)

No.
No.
Maybe.
Maybe.
No.
Sort of.
- Con

Dear Con-
I Think some good features would be Charisma and Health Regeneration because it would be difficult to constantly need health packs. Also, Ive always dreamed of being a game designer, do you have any tips? If so can you Email me?

please dont tell me its going to be a rpg cause i hate those

Who do you want to tell you? Is it easier to take if Morgan Freeman does it?
- Con

i love it no probs here

also con just want to say idk how the fuck u put up with all these comments that say same bullshit wow people fail i want to off myself after reading 1/4th of em

Yep…I don’t know myself.
- Con

The thing which is annoying is that you can add to skills, but you can’t lower them after you click + mark. Which mean if you click accidently, you’re screwd, as you can’t undo. The - mark would be really useful

pro⋅to⋅type
  /ˈproʊtəˌtaɪp/ [proh-tuh-tahyp]
–noun
1. the original or model on which something is based or formed.
2. someone or something that serves to illustrate the typical qualities of a class; model; exemplar: She is the prototype of a student activist.

- Con

hmm..all tha talk about ads had me thinking…how does firefox adblock make you feel? I mean that has got to have cut down on your income.

selling a game via steam or direct2 drive is also an option although you might not make as much…

anyhow, this looks nice and I am very curious how this will all look in final version, good luck.

Thank you so much for all of your effort and work I general, i apologize on behalf of some of the moronic comments, “it looks ugly”, “will this be the same as it is in the end” etc, etc I hope you are not put off in creating alpha and beta content that is available to the public pre-release. I like most people hope to see a larger chunk of the game i.e a demo pre-release but i’m sure that it will come in time in the meantime I am enjoying the rather frequent updates that we know and love. Keep up the good work!

I have a few questions: speech, is that oratory or something else. Also what is special weapons. k hope you can answer them.

i wonder of most of these guys will get it throught their thick, empty skulls that its a alpha prototype.

im really sad that you wont be making special ammo, i understand not making it for guns, but it would be cool for a fire arrow

keep up the great work, and by the way, merry christmas….Hanukkah… whatever you celabrate

Health regen to a certain point? Sounds kinda like Resistance, dunno if you’ve ever played it. It’s a guy who gets infected by a virus that allows an insane metabolism that allows him to regenerate health over time. There’s a health bar that is split into 4 equal smaller bars. Say you get damaged past the 1st bar, you only regenerate up to 3 full bars.

Won’t be blocked out, it’ll be exact to how much you lost.
- Con

I have one question, do you plan to put any easter eggs or have you put any in any of your games?

It’s a bit early for easter isn’t it?
- Con

Well there are really many options so could you please add next to every skill what it does? Cause I relly dont know what security does. (yes I know its just a prototype but I was afraid you wont add it later)

Be afraid, THIS IS THE WHOLE GAME, BUAHAHAHAH.
But yeah, security. It’s knowledge of security. Locks, keypads, computers etc.
- Con

Wow… People can’t read for shit it seems.
But anyways…

I really like the leveling system mostly because it’s a Fallout 3 copy but whatever it’s a great system. Also I’m really happy your going to take Luck into account for more things cause on Fallout 3 (at least for me) Luck doesn’t do all that much except level your skills up a bit.

Oh. My question is since the level system is Fallout 3 will there be Perks when you level up or Bobble heads that level up your attributes…something of that nature?

Thanks

No perks, bobble heads. Will be books available to bump up your skills though, like Dead Rising or Fallout 3.
- Con

Will you be able to remove points and reallocate them, or once you set them will they stay that way?

They’ll be set.
- Con

Im just putting this out there: blades dont need ammo.
Great system. Your games are always great because you seem to always incorporate elements from really popular games. Thank you for being good at what you do.

U tell him Con!

Also I think the skills system is working well but 1 thing I need to say you said earlyer that if ure level is high enough you could do first aid instantly. I get u may not mean THAT fast just you should make like a 2 second cap or something so u need to make sure ure far enough away from the zombies to use it.

No I didn’t and I’m not stupid, of course there’ll be a minimum time for healing. Realise that everything that happens in the game because I wrote the code to make it do that, it doesn’t magically do things on it’s own.
- Con

well the thing is it shouldn`t be a luck there because the characters don`t press their luck i guess…

pro⋅to⋅type
  /ˈproʊtəˌtaɪp/ [proh-tuh-tahyp]
–noun
1. the original or model on which something is based or formed.
2. someone or something that serves to illustrate the typical qualities of a class; model; exemplar: She is the prototype of a student activist.

ok Con, since iv seen you put these on atleast 3 peoples comments why not just put it on top of home page so everybody sees it even if they dont want to. I love it so far it seems to be doing pretty well for how long youv’ worked on it.. and yes im not sure how long that is but im sure its alot of your own willing time and i thank you for all your time to make games for people like me who actually enjoy playing them. keep up the good work.

thank-you
  /ˈθæŋkˌyu/ [thangk-yoo]
–adjective
1. expressing one’s gratitude or thanks: a thank-you note.
–noun
2. an expression of thanks, as by saying “thank you”: I never got so much as a thank-you for helping him.

- Con

a suggestion, don’t use the grenades from ls2 unless u make an auto - grenade feature (like in halo) also add other hand - held explosives

Yeah, thrown weapons are going to be an interesting thing to deal with. I agree 100% that they need their own dedicated button as opposed to switching to them.
- Con

This reminds me of Dungeons and Dragons. Looks good. Maybe a little more options with how many points go into skills though.

have a little more points on the right sided one the attributed for health and that stuff on the left are perfect.

I also seem to have created two ending statements in my last post. Sorry about that…

This just seems too much like Fallout 3 in how everything is affected by other skills. But thats one thing i love about Fallout 3, so, good work, now all you need is upgradeable houses and weapons….

character creation looks pretty good so far.
the only thing I would change is the Strength and Endurance Skills. I would just lump them together and instead of putting Blunts and Blades, just put Melee.

Will there be a weapon upgrade system implemented into the game?, such as scrounging up makeshift items and material to your weapon to strengthen them or add Assisting parts such as laser sights, bayonet, alternative firing modes.

Would ever think about adding in a multi-player aspect into the game? I’d understand if you wouldn’t given the amount of work that would have to be put in for it to be done. But Survival Mode would seem a whole lot more fun with another person.

Imagination
Imagination
Imagination!

Imagination
Imagination
Imagination
Imagination

Imagination
Imagination
Imagination

Imagination
Imagination
Imagination

Imagination
Imagination
Imagination
Imaginatiooooooooooon!

This is the song from south park.
Delete it if you want, because you can.

Oooooh-kaaaaay
- Con

1. barricades? 2. zombie boss? 3. 1 as in can i make a barricade 4. lol

loll

Awesome reminds me of the days of fallout or diablo. Only thing that a bit surprised me was that skills didnt have minus and that the points given to them are greatly absorbed. Just tweak that with the function of a minus instead of pressing reset a lot and it should be good.

hey how do you get rid of the atributes screen theres no close button or anything just wondering

For a prototype it’s awesome. Couple of questions regarding on some of the skills.

1)The Security; When I come up to a closed door, and suppose I have the right security level, will the door instantly open up or will there be some sort of minigame? Suppose I don’t have the right security level, what then?

2)I’m assuming sneak will affect chances of critical hit to happen more often, but will this be a passive skill?; I don’t need to worry about getting into ’sneak mode’

3) In one of you Alpha pictures, it shows the character with a flash light; Will it run out of battery? (personally, i’d find it more thrilling )

4)I know it’s too soon to tell, but can you make a rough estimate of how many weapons there would be? Will all the weapons from the previous games make a return i.e. the bow and arrow?

Thanks, and good luck with the game ^.^ Appreciate the work

oooooh i was skimming through the comments, and someone mentioned fall out 3, it would be sweet if you could add perks to the game, sorry this is probably too early but just throwing out suggestions looks sweet btw im a huge computer rpg, and re player so im pretty freaking excited for this game!

Do you think you could post some screenshots in a few weeks? (obviously not this week)(o, yea, merry christmas everyone

I dont get 2 things 1: what is weight for like guns ammo and armor? 2: speech the only thing I can think of is a church guy-ish scenario from L4D I get survival like less chance to be infected by bite or water source it would be interesting if you had to scavenge for food and ammo instead of just guns

mabey there should be a flamethrower or a 50. cal you can find off a down helicopter or something and will u be able to give survivors better wepons if u have extra guns

Plz write back i need to know

What I don’t like is how strength affects how much you can carry. I know it’s a staple of RPG games such as Oblivion and Fallout 3, but it was always annoying to have to manage my bag space if I didn’t go melee. I like how you made endurance give a smaller percentage to your bag space per point. However it still limits the player choice. Maybe you could make precision and strength affect your carrying ability equally. I know it doesn’t really make sense but it’ll allow more freedom in customization and less annoying trips to the vendor.

Don’t fret, I won’t let it get in the way. Oh and there probably won’t be vendors, this isn’t a loot the dungeon return to town scenario. It’s scavenging for survival…
- Con

i’ve read threw the comments and i have one question i dont think anyones asked, will you find guns in peoples house’s? or can you buy and sell guns to and from other Survivors? will zombies have guns you can take from them? or do you search threw house’s and find them that way?

i think this is a new question, if not sorry for wasteing your teim.

great system. but it’s sad how many people here are boneheads that don’t under stand the word “prototype”

and will the ammo take up space or will it be weightless.

i think i entered the wrong comment place but now that i know will u be able to change the skill of a partners in the game when they level up? If they do level up?

con, the chartaer creating is so awsome like that other guys comment my person has been in the swat team for 1 year his job ended beacause of the zombies now he’s mad with lots of power also he heard that his friend was just killed by one of those zombies now he’s trying to kill every one of these zombies and put them back to rest thats my guys history and its great to have a computer game deisigner like u have a good day con sea-ya!