Before you think “what, he has started yet another game?”, this game is not being developed by me, I am only publishing it. Also, this is not an announcement that “work has started on a new game”… but that the game is almost done! 🙂
Most likely in the next few weeks I’ll be able to start the pre-orders and beta testing. But what is exactly Dead But Alive – Southern England?
As the name clearly suggests, it’s about the zombie apocalypse. If you follow me, you know in the past I mentioned in my forums I wanted to make a zombie game. Well, a few months ago Highcliffe Media Publishing pitched an idea I thought it was cool, so decided to publish it. I might still do another zombie game on my own, but as you know, I have so many games going on that it won’t happen anytime soon.
Luckily, there’s this game now 🙂
The game pitch
Dead But Alive is a zombie survival adventure/simulation set in Southern England. A simple camping holiday for a former ex-military officer, looking to rebuild his relationship with his/her teenage daughter, suddenly turns into a fight for survival in a world devastated by the undead. Separated from his/her daughter, he/she must lead a small, ragged team of survivors, build a camp, scavenge for supplies and try to stay alive, all while trying to track her down. The game features a non-linear storyline with moral choices on despair, commitment and sacrifice.
the game “status screen” from which you can decide what to do each day
besides the normal survivors, there will be some “VIPs”, like Caroline… yes you can romance her!
the map will feature different locations, each one with bonus/malus
As you can see from those screenshots, the gameplay will be very straightforward for those used to zombie/survival games. The main goal will be simple: scavenge for supplies, improve your camp and try to survive! It’s addictive and easy to learn, but it won’t be easy… And of course it includes more than 120,000 words of storyline.
Obviously, I made sure that there are romance options! 😉 So in the game your main character is “genderless”, meaning that the game plays from first person view, and your gender is never explicitly mentioned. This means that when you romance a male or female character, if it’s a homosexual or heterosexual relationship it’s all about how you imagine your character.
Another thing that you can clearly see from the art, is that this time it’s not anime. We thought a more serious style for the art was a better idea for this setting, so we’ve decided to not make it anime artwork. It’s lovely handmade and in FullHD.
This game does not use Ren’Py and porting it to Mac and Linux would have been very expensive. That’s why we’ve agreed to only make it available on Windows for now. Depending on how successful it is, we might make Mac and Linux versions later. Theoretically you could get it to work with Wine. We haven’t tested this though.
OK I think I’ve said enough about the game for now. Of course, I will do more posts about it later. As I said, game beta/preorders should begin shortly, so watch this space and/or my social networks for the announcement! 🙂
It’s not really all about how you imagine your character if the game description outright says you’re a male SAS officer, though? maybe want to rewrite that part to be more gender-neutral?
The description says “a former SAS officer”, not a MALE SAS officer. I’ll change the next lines when says “his” into “his/her” now 🙂
maybe using “their” is less clunky and it’s truly gender neutral 🙂
Yeah, well anyway I think the important is what happens in the game and not in my blog post 😀
The game seems interesting. It reminds me of “Zafehouse Diaries”, 1st zombie survival game I’ve ever played. 😀
Hehe yes I remember that game too, though I didn’t play it (no time…).
Wow, this totally came out of the blue, which is a great surprise:)
Will totally consider an early preorder here.
Really curious about the quality of writing as this is made by a newcomer to Winterwolves?
Really really hoping this will live up to my expectations:D
Well I’ve played it and to me writing seems good, it was written by 2 native English speakers. It is not a simple VN, so there’s also some more gameplay involved, and some “tough choices” 🙂 Anyway I’ll also have a free demo as always.
It looks quite interesting and the graphics are really nice.
Is there going to be a demo for it?
Aww, dang. Only just noticed your reply to someone else! Sorry!
Yes of course I have demos for all my games and I will always do 🙂
It will come to steam I assume?
Yes, and like all games buying direct you’ll get DRM-Free and Steam key 🙂
Aww I wish I had a computer to play these games on but I only have a iPhone 🙁 so I only can play a few games but I look forward to watching game plays on YouTube! That’s just as good 🙂
So, in game, do other characters refer to you with gender at all? I’m a non-binary trans person and I think it would be really cool to have a playable character that never has gender referenced for them, because unlike binary male/female choices, this could include me too!
Yes it’s written in a way similar to some Telltale games, in which you choose everything your character says (he/she doesn’t talk a lot, but has a diary).
Saw this one on Planet EVN today, and had a few thoughts:
1. I’ve played just one video game featuring zombies, which was the SNES title Zombies Ate My Neighbors. It was a humorous action game, rather than drama or horror. Will your video game have anything to offer for people who don’t enjoy bleak / serious apocalypse stories?
2. Use whatever art style you want. That said, it might help to think about specific creators’ strengths and art styles, and then ask, “What sort of creativity would this artist bring to this video game?” For example, think about what Ryoichi Ikegami or Juan Jose Ryp would do *if* either person was part of the creative team.
About your questions:
1. the main game setting is serious, though there are some funny moments. But in general this is a more serious game.
2. well in this case I couldn’t decide the art myself, since I am only publishing it but was developed by an external team independently. Personally I like the western style art. As you know if you follow me, I’m going to experiment with other styles too, like the “realistic painted” style of Planet Stronghold Colonial Defense for example.
Man I’m still waiting for the iPhone release of season of the wolf. And the release of the game with the nagas, the yaoi game, and Loren 2! Now there’s another game to add to the wait list I wish all games would come out after they were announced:). But can’t wait to play! How is the combat system? Is it like we’re I click shoot and wait to see if it hit or not, like in Loren were I sent a army and wait to see the results of the battle?
Well hopefully SOTW will be on iOS this Fall. It’s taking longer because I’m using a new version of Ren’Py.
The combat is neither, is hard to explain, you can play it like a slot machine (but you can control the spinning wheel) or use auto-resolve based on your team. It’s not a full RPG though, if that’s what you’re asking 🙂
Hell yeah, this looks absolutely awesome!
I’m really looking forward to this game and Nicole yuri version! Speaking of which…Do you know when you’ll be done with Nicole yuri version? 🙂
Hopefully for next Halloween! 🙂
i like the look of this game i will most likely be getting it if its as good as it looks. do you know if there is a demo or one in the making? i know you said beta testing but i am not sure what exactly that entails. if i try it and like it i will know to buy it for sure. anyway keep up the good work on your games too i like how they look though i may not get them all not sure yet though i know i will get Queen of Theives
Yes in practice the beta testing will be the demo and you can already preorder it and unlock the full game. It won’t be the final version, but you should be able to see how the game is 🙂