Zam

[Alex.]

There will be other enemies besides the plain zombies, for sure.

The initial plan was to have the mutants be the player`s allies, the ex-human survivors in the infested world that hide underground. The player will depend on them for getting supplies like beer

and weapons, as well as jobs to earn the money to buy those things. Mutants will rarely be found on the surface world, instead the player will be contracted to do their bidding there, like battle zombies or deliver objects from one mutant base to another.

You will be able to attack any mutants you run into, but at the risk of falling out of their grace, resulting in lesser paid jobs or even retaliation.

Still, there`s no reason not to throw them all in one big fight in Arcade-Mode Thanks for your ideas Sam Apropos of the player turning into a zombie, I`m thinking of making that permanent, dividing each play in the pre- and post- zombie stages.

 

[Imerion]

QUOTE
The initial plan was to have the mutants be the player`s allies, the ex-human survivors in the infested world that hide underground. The player will depend on them for getting supplies like beer IPB Image and weapons, as well as jobs to earn the money to buy those things. Mutants will rarely be found on the surface world, instead the player will be contracted to do their bidding there, like battle zombies or deliver objects from one mutant base to another.


I like these RPG / adventure elements. Sounds be really cool.

QUOTE
Apropos of the player turning into a zombie, I`m thinking of making that permanent, dividing each play in the pre- and post- zombie stages.


Now that is a really cool idea! Perhaps somewhere in the world there is a way to become human again, so the zombie-quest is looking for a way to become human. Or perhaps the zombie-quest should simply be "eat brains".
I remember the online RPG Planeshift had something similiar, where you could end up in the realm of the dead and continue playing there. But I am not certain how that worked.

 

[jbrodack]

game looks coo so far l but control is a bit weird especially when trying to go backwards.

 

[Magic Sam]

Hi,

There is a new build available
CODE

http://artraid.com/alex/zam/Zam_2009_04_16.zip


Frame rate is really impressive ~70-90 FPS Sometimes you get stuck to a zombie, and it's impossible to walk away from it...Is it normal (the zombie catches and bites you) or is it a collision bug ?

Bye, Magic Sam

 

[Alex.]

It`s a collision bug, there are some inconsistencies here and there which I will need to straighten out. The news in this build is that I decided to make the viewport fullscreen, at least for normal levels.

I`ll have some more interesting updates once spring exams are out of the way, not much time for fun these coming days :mellow:

 

[fishybawb]

Wow, this looks great!

A bit of a cheeky request, but I don't suppose there's any chance of a quick and dirty Linux/Windows build is there? My GP2X is dead, no GPH-based fun for me until my Wiz arrives

 

[Alex.]

To be honest you`re not missing much for now, by the time this will start to take the shape of a real game your Wiz will have arrived already

Cheers.

 

[fishybawb]

Haha, fair enough

Looks awesome anyway, keep up the good work.

 

[Devilmandex]

Wow this sounds awesome! I won't be able to play it til I get my wiz but here are some ideas.

Stock/resource levels? Levels you can choose to go onto to get resources and supplies. i.e an army barracks populated by the undead troops. The rewards would be ammo and an awesome weapon. another example is a hospital populated by busty silent hill-esque nurses which would reward you with health items. these levels must be uber hard though or they'd be abused. randomly generated levels would be good for these so no one could get a stratergy going

Zombie types: Flaming zombie. dies after 30 seconds but is very deadly if it touches you.
Mutant zombies. Zombies of mutants. are both powerful and use long ranged attacks.
Flaming mutant zombie same as flaming zombie but lasts for 45 seconds.

A cemetry level. zombies. randomly get out of their crypts. This would be better random though so some graves will not open up. this adds to the "I don't know what will happen next feel of the game"

Vehicles: randomly appear. 3xs as fast as normal movement and can run down enemies but they're low on fuel. you get 15 seconds out of them and they disapear.

Fun modes: Boxhead/survival mode. classic boxhead gameplay.
Close combat. Survival with short range weapons
Long ranged. Survival with long ranged weapons
Fireworks. Survival Explosive weapons
Roadhog: kill as many zombies with your truck as possible before time runs out. Powerups spawn in the form of fuel to increase time.
barracaid: how long can you hold off the undead?

 

[Alex.]

Impressive ideas Devilmandex, can`t wait to work on this again

I stand by my plan to start small, go slow, and gradually build it up with as many nice things as time allows.

 

[gruso]

Just discovered this and grabbed the latest version, very cool! The auto-zooming really gives it a sense of urgency. Must keep moving!

Look forward to seeing where it goes.

 

[Alex.]

I wrote a post a short while ago about the map generation in this game. It's simple, but it works well and the levels it makes look interesting and different enough from one play to another.

Now I'm off to make the zombies smarter

 

[GoblinX]

I wrote a post a short while ago about the map generation in this game. It's simple, but it works well and the levels it makes look interesting and different enough from one play to another.

Now I'm off to make the zombies smarter

What an awesome thing to come back to the scene and see. I definitely look forward to seeing the development on this game, because I already love what I'm seeing.

 

[Tag5]

I hope it gets released soon.

 

[Magic Sam]

Hi,

The latest pre-alpha build: Zam_2009_04_16.zip

How is the work on ZAM going ? No new build for about a year now...
Bye, Magic Sam

 

[Alex.]

Hi Sam

I've been working on Zam on and off, though not much since last year. Plenty of things kept me busy, but I think I will have some updates this spring.

 

[Magic Sam]

Hi Sam

I've been working on Zam on and off, though not much since last year. Plenty of things kept me busy, but I think I will have some updates this spring.

Nice to hear from you Alex
If you need someone to beta test your future games, feel free to ask, I'd be glad to help !
Bye and thanks, Magic Sam
p.s: any news about a new version of Sqdef, "Skyroads", anything ?

 

[Alex.]

A small update. I rewrote everything this May, and things are looking good again. There's tile lighting now, and I think it runs faster than it did before (fps in the screenshots is from my laptop, not on gp2x).

Nice to hear from you Alex
If you need someone to beta test your future games, feel free to ask, I'd be glad to help !
Bye and thanks, Magic Sam

Thanks, I won't forget when things are ready

p.s: any news about a new version of Sqdef, "Skyroads", anything ?

I hope so, the plan is to rewrite Sqdef and make everything user-configurable. Upskyway is in the waiting line too

 

[jbrodack]

Glad to see an update from you alex. You've brought me a lot of fun times on my gp2x. Zam looks like it could be really cool. Is it playable as a game yet or pretty much the same status as the preview?

Also, that "psychedelic vertical shooter with fully scriptable levels" that you showed on your site looks really cool. Hope you continue with that.

 

[Alex.]

Glad to see an update from you alex. You've brought me a lot of fun times on my gp2x. Zam looks like it could be really cool. Is it playable as a game yet or pretty much the same status as the preview?

Thanks jbrodack! At the moment it's pretty much the same as the last preview, but a lot readier internally for becoming a nice game. My idea notebook grew a little in the meantime, too