[Project On Hiatus] Dead Cell Development

[Mister_Prophet]

You guys know how to ask questions!

I suppose I shouldn't attempt to oversell what you can do in Dead Cell, as we're still dealing with UEngine 1 here. But since you're asking questions based on comments made on the website for a change (which I didn't think anyone really read, which is why I haven't updated that section in a while) I may as well give you some answers.

Apologies in advance for the long reply, but given what's been discussed in this thread already I don't think anyone who is interested will mind.

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The thing I'm really trying to do here is accomplish non-linear gameplay in an Unreal SP campaign, so that no two players will make the same choices and play the pack exactly the same way. I very much like the idea of watercooler gaming, where players can arrive at game sequences totally contrary to what someone else might. So it's more deCyber Duel than Xidia.

There's some scripted stuff in the game. I'm doing my damnedest to convey the idea that you're really involved in a situation that's being monitored and your opponents are doing the exact same things you are somewhere else. In that sense, Dead Cell is scripted. In other most other cases, it is unscripted. Game events change depending on where you go and what you do. A cellmate that would normally appear in one room may not be there if you take an indirect route elsewhere and return there at a later time. In fact, they may be dead by the time you do that, or perhaps you will encounter them later in different circumstance (maybe someone who would have been hostile at one point no longer is after a different sequence of events happen). Also, different characters behave certain ways and have different personalities. Some go on the offensive as soon as they leave their cell. Others might try to ambush you. Some will simply reject Caesar's rules and attempted to plea with others non-violently, prompting the player with hard choices.

Think of it like this. Every time you encounter one character, everyone else does too. So it's like a series of interactions, and depending on who you meet and where you go, when you decide to do it, the situation will change. You'll be better or worse for it, or just as unlucky.

The biggest bit of unscripted gameplay is that all these elements are in place, but they depend completely on what the player does. Whole segments of the game can be ignored if you never notice them, whole options may never present themselves, meetings may never occur, and you may never find the bulk of Dead Cell's hidden provisions and weapons in the same order you did last time.

There are two difficulties; casual and serious, and playing on serious means you have one life and cannot save. Casual mode will probably have no option to get any achievements and I'll probably withhold a proper ending. This is all experimental, though, and depending on how my beta testers fare I may consider a third, intermediate difficulty that allows for saving but retains the harder settings.

This isn't deathmatch. This is a SP game with a theme of forced deathmatch. That's two very different things. As for multuiple .unrs, that's the backtracking/sublevel system at work and I've never specified how exactly this will translate on topography, but it won't be like every character gets their own map. On the contrary, The Arena is composed on one .unr, and the player will find exit/entry points leaving or entering this area from other sections. I think I have thirteen .unrs at the moment that comprise what can be explored.

There is no active scoreboard, per se. Caesar is always watching via a camera system and will periodically comment on what is transpiring, whether in relation to what the player is doing or what is going on elsewhere. In that sense, you will always know who is still alive. You shouldn't assume that it will be up to the player to make all the, erm, "frags," in some kind of kill count. That's not the idea I want people to imagine of how this will go down, but I suppose it is inevitable that this will be the case. The poll I posted on the RN website frames it pretty correctly how I hope potential players will see it.

[TheIronKnuckle]

Basically that's even better than i was hoping for. Kind of stuck for words (your post has succeeded in getting me hyperactive, bouncing up and down in the seat and that sort of stuff [I'm such a stereotypical shooter-gamer XD]). This is so unconstructive, but that all sounds... awesome. I think "like my dream mod for unreal" sums it up pretty well on my end. Thanks for making it

[UB_]

Is the Legion involved in Dead Cell? Will Vulpus sneak up to you for reminding you of the rules?

[Mister_Prophet]

How now, I used the Roman theme before I even knew New Vegas was in development

[zacman]

What kind of filesize will DC have? (I ask because I am on Prepaid wireless, and internet in australia is Teh Suck, so it's *EXTREMELY* capped)

[Mister_Prophet]

No idea, but make no delusions here. It's a small to medium sized pack of maps with two hefty .unrs for sure and a bunch of custom content, including an early version of Nemesis Core, possibly our sample editor for UT mappers, and other content.

[zacman]

Roughly, would it be in MB, hundreds of MB, or even up to gigs? (Just curious so I know if I have to budget to buy extra DL credit )

[Raven]

It depends on whenever new texture will be used or not. Extended UED will be included along with new ucc commandlets and NemesisFrontend which allows importing of new textures more easily. New textures with 8bit alpha and overlays (like UE2 shaders) were originally created for Canvas, but they're also works with BSP. Everything with 100% UED support (requires Dx9 for UED support).

[nikosv]

I'm very interested in the subleveling system featured in Nemesis Core. Will it (as well as other key features such as post processing shaders) see thorough documentation in time for the release of Dead Cell, or will that all happen in time wiki-style?

Also, has anyone showed interest in porting the Nemesis core to 227? It would be grand to see both in action. That, I think, also depends on whether or not the new functions in the extended editor can also be ported, in such a way that the 227 editor can continue to evolve independently... right?

Excited about all of this.

[Mister_Prophet]

I'm very interested in the subleveling system featured in Nemesis Core. Will it (as well as other key features such as post processing shaders) see thorough documentation in time for the release of Dead Cell, or will that all happen in time wiki-style?

I like a wiki-style approach. That's the thing I think most would-be users tend to prefer. I'll have more info on this probably when the project is closer to completion and we can tackle the idea of documentation head on. Something will be provided though, yes. Raven and I wouldn't release all this stuff without some manual to get it to work, especially since I've been pushing for it so hard specifically for mappers to get their hands on.

Also, has anyone showed interest in porting the Nemesis core to 227? It would be grand to see both in action. That, I think, also depends on whether or not the new functions in the extended editor can also be ported, in such a way that the 227 editor can continue to evolve independently... right?

Excited about all of this.

Well the idea right now is simply this; we get it to work on UT and hopefully vanilla U1 first (big if on the latter, as there are too many unknowns yet) and then once it is out and playable I want to definitely push for a 227 version since I think that patch needs as much legitimacy as it can get, and user mappacks are a good way to help. But having said that, I can't very well know just how a 227 version will come out yet. We may add more content. We may need to cut stuff in order to make a proper port. When it comes to Nemesis Core, the first and most important thing is, at the bare minimum, that Dead Cell plays the same for 227 as it does for other versions. We'll know exactly what can be ported with Nemesis Core when we get around to it. Some things, like the Nemesis Editor...maybe not be so necessary since the 227 team has their own editor to contend with. But as for everything else, I'd like to think we can get it to work. With Raven at the helm our chances are very high, and I have no problem sharing any version of Nemesis Core coming with DC after release. It's for everyone who wants to continue making SP maps, no matter what platform.

[Mister_Prophet]

Dead Cell Notice, March 2011

Some of you know my issues as of late and why I haven't been around. Just coming in to say that I am very much alive. While I don't have much to say about any projects, I wanted to show some WIP shots of a new Impact Hammer I want very much to appear in Dead Cell. It's got a place holder look to it for the moment for skin, but this is just to show you guys that we've got some ideas throwing around.

[Buff Skeleton]

Holy SHIT

Now THAT is a goddamn impjackhammer

[TheIronKnuckle]

niiiice

[UArchitect]

i does the impact hammer the justice it deserves, and i know alot of people hate it but yo, fuck the haters

[Buff Skeleton]

My question is how you hold it, though. Unless it's designed for a Nali.