Infected Caravan [WIP]

Introduction:

Hey guys,
I haven't posted much in the community forums yet but I know I would like to be more involved.
I guess you can count this as a start...
I'm developing a game called Infected Caravan. I feel I have many very intriguing features in development which I'm very excited to discuss. Ill be continuously posting screenshots and development videos as I make progress. You can also visit my website if you don't feel like scrolling through all the posts to find these previews.

Please note: Infected Caravan is still in a early stage of development.

What is Infected Caravan?

Infected Caravan is a story driven attempt to redefine the expectations of a zombie survival game. It's a game where the player gets immersed into an rpg based environment with third person shooter controls. The resources you gather and the characters you meet will affect your gameplay/alter your experience, however, saying its a zombie game is not a proper statement. Different forms of mutated zombies (a.k.a “monsters”) are introduced as the player progresses through the campaign.

The campaigns game-play will basically consist of you forming a caravan of survivors. Each survivor has there own abilities and require a certain amount of resources to survive. In the world map you will be able to deploy into missions with a couple people from your caravan. Some missions may require certain types of people to be successful.

Without giving away any spoilers I guess I would say the overall vision for the game is to mix traditional third person shooter controls with in-depth rpg elements in regards to weapons, armors and crafting all infused with different strategic gameplay aspects like managing your caravan/preparing for your next mission.

What have I accomplished so far?

1. Rough draft of the campaigns story script including characters, events and other background information
2. Art style
3. Main Menu
4. Basic third person controls (Keyboard/Mouse and Joysticks)
5. Basic zombie AI
6. Basic huds
7. Basic loading screen system
8. Item Pickups with Quick Inventory (Number Keys and Dpad)
9. Introduction cutscene and playable first mission level


Videos Screenshots:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

View attachment 71165
To view the full image (click here)
View attachment 71163
To view the full image (click here)
View attachment 71164
To view the full image (click here)

You can check out the latest videos and screenshots here - http://www.tokeninteractive.ca/projects/infected-caravan/

Links:
http://www.tokeninteractive.ca
https://www.facebook.com/TokenInteractive


Thanks for checking out this thread!

 

Voice over's need work, and you used a ton of words wrong, for example you say the world had vanquished...what did the world defeat? The maps look empty and some more detail on the ground would be nice as well as texture touch ups (higher res) on the truck, other than that, this doesn't really show us much...

 

Hey TonyNowak, thank you for your constructive feedback!
Thanks for pointing out vanquished. Ill need to rephrase that last sentence a bit and since I did the voice over, it wont be an issue. I will definitely be spending more time adding even more detail to the maps. Especially where the player begins controlling the character on that gas station level.
Adjusting the trucks texture to one of greater resolution has been noted.


I can always discuss what I have planned for this game but that's irrelevant because I feel results are much more important. I know there isn't much to see from this video but if you stay tuned ill be posting updates as I make progress. My intent with this video is to receive feedback, build excitement and gain motivation.

 

You showed in that video more than what 99% of the zombie projects manage to achieve.
Most of them are made by kids who play in Unity for three hours and then they call it a game.

What I saw there looks very good.
I would love more details regarding the gameplay, because if it will be how I imagine it, this will be a game I want to play.

 

Hi primus88, thank you for your most gracious response!
I really like to hear what someones first impression is of the game so thank you.
There does seem to be a large variety of zombie apocalypse related games in development.
I am in the midst of developing what I believe are a few, very cool, gameplay features that I expect will give Infected Caravan a unique perspective on the genre. Stay tuned to this thread/youtube channel where ill be sharing all further updates.

 

Well, this isn't AAA quality yet, but it's very good compared to what I've seen from many other Unity zombie projects. Keep up the good work.

 

Thank you StewartB, im glad you liked it. I believe AAA quality will be achieved, its just a matter of time.

 

Prototype Testing Level:
A little level that I put together quickly where I test all the features I develop before implementing them into the game. You are going to see this level and some of the features I'm working on in my future video updates. Stay tuned.

 

My website is now online. http://www.tokeninteractive.ca/
A new video is also in the works.

 

Here's a screenshot of the user interface and basic zombie ai in action. It will be showcased with this prototye level in my first video update. Stay tuned.


To view the full image (click here)

 

I know my updates aren't as prompt as I initially intended but that's because I'm working hard. Here's another teaser of the development updates video series I plan on putting together.

Video Details: http://www.tokeninteractive.ca/development-updates-trailer/

I hope this peaked your interest in the game a little more. I am interested in hearing first impressions, even though the game is in an early stage of development. Or if you have any questions I would be happy to answer them. Many more updates are on the way!

 

Here are some screenshots of what I'v been working on lately. I have put much more detail into the introduction cut-scene and first mission level while optimizing visuals. I also have a fully functional main menu. Development update video coming very soon.

To view the full image (click here)

To view the full image (click here)

To view the full image (click here)

 

hey Euphoric,

First wanted to say thanks for giving feedback on my SUPER early prototype in my own thread.

I checked out your screenshots and videos and have to say I think you're making really impressive progress here. From what you describe in the concept it also sounds like something I'd be interested to play.

One area I am very interested in is the emotional component of games, and I feel like this survival theme could work with that in a great way. For example, one way that you could potentially raise the emotional stakes is that instead of a caravan of random strangers the main player character is a father trying to lead his wife and children to safety. Perhaps because I'm a father myself this feels particularly emotional but I think it would resonate with others too. Putting children you have to protect into a terrifying scenario like this seems like a great way to raise the stakes.

As constructive criticism while I know you are probably committed to the theme I would respectfully suggest that the Zombie theme is a little saturated in pop culture right now and may already have peaked. I feel like competing with IP like The Walking Dead will be a real challenge. Since your core mechanics seem to be more about survival in a harsh environment than zombies exactly I might suggest trying to find some less used apocalyptic survival theme to offer a twist on the format.

Maybe androids infected by a computer virus that makes them hostile? Humans who have all been driven insane? Starving humans who are not insane but very aggressive? Aliens? Just flinging off a few ideas, certainly better ones could be considered but I'd be worried about trying to compete against famous, well marketed IP and other games that achieve a very high level of polish on an indie budget. By doing something very different you can avoid some of the most obvious and direct comparisons like "these zombies don't look as good as left 4 dead" or "the zombie AI is not as good as game XYZ" I feel like one of the strengths we have as indies is our ability to try wild different ideas that might not get past a corporate marketing department and therefore can help us stand out in a crowded market.

Thanks again and congrats on your progress so far!

 

@newb_quest
Thank you very much for taking the time to write such an awesome post. I truly enjoyed reading it.
I agree with everything you mentioned in regards to the theme/genre I'm approaching with this game and your perspective is very accurate. Making a "Zombie" survival game is a very fragile genre to approach. Like you mentioned it's dominated by these massive titles like "The Walking Dead", "Left 4 Dead"..etc and they are practically impossible to compete with. However the genre existed prior to these games. Even with it being such a massive genre with many games degrading its value, these games became big by redefining it's expectations. When I say expectations I mean they took the comedic pop culture ideology of the genre and twisted it on its head presenting new concepts, while staying true to the old. For example, the walking dead developed a powerful, compelling, serious story between characters which was affected by the choices the player was presented with. Left 4 Dead played with the comedic aspect making it fun but still maintained many serious elements. Also in reality all genres have technically been approached.

I'm working very hard to achieve: a very serious, complex, gritty, emotional mood for the story. I'm actually in university right now studying language arts which I'm applying to the overall structure of Infected Caravans story. I do have a rough draft of the story with a little room to evolve as I develop the game. This rough draft will also be presented to the literature department in my university who like to get involved with their students. They have offered to lend me a constructive critical ear. I am committed to creating this game with zero uncertainty on what I aim to achieve.

Even though I'm working hard to achieve an emotional story that players can connect with, I truly believe Infected Caravans game-play will be what grabs a premature players attention. I'm developing what I think is achievable, powerful gameplay mechanics with allot of replay value. So I'm not just some kid screaming "I'm developing the greatest zombie game ever!" that's actually beyond my capabilities.

I've been developing this game for about a month so far. I feel during these few weeks I have accomplished an amazing amount of results considering the fact that I'm a university student and I'm currently developing this game by myself. Unity is a very powerful tool and I am committed/passionate about this project. I think my further development progress will speak for itself.

Your ideas involving the father leading his family is very intriguing. I do plan on having confrontation between humans as well, not just human vs zombies or monsters. The conversation you sparked with your post can really branch off and go in many different directions. I thank you once again for your great post, I'm quite excited to see other reflections. If somebody else has something to add to this conversation then please feel free to post it. I'm open for discussion.

 

hey Euphoric,

My pleasure! Certainly as long as you keep in mind the idea of differentiation in moving into a saturated niche I am sure you will be able to find a way to stand out. I whole heartedly agree that your progress thus far is very impressive. Really looking forward to continuing to track your progress and see how you do, and if you'd like to bounce ideas around feel free to email me at newbquest AT gmail DOT com

I'm also looking to put together a 'mastermind group' to meet weekly online to help advise and support one another as we go through this development and learning process (not work on each other games, more like a discussion group). I submitted a post describing it to the collaboration forum but it's pending approval, if you'd like to see my pitch send me an email at the above address, I think you might be a good fit for the group if you're interested.

M.

 

Looking nice!

 

@newb_quest
Sounds good to me. I have sent you an email.

Thank you BrUnO XaVIeR, much appreciated!

 

Iles,

This is great stuff. Very impressive. I'd love to hear more about how you pulled it all together. Just from the preview cut scene, I got a very good sense of tone and mood. Despite the saturation and competition in the zombie survival genre, this is amazing progress and hope you continue to see it through.

Well done.

 

Sorry about the late reply robmabry, I didn't see your post. I thank you very much for your kind words!

It’s been a while since I posted something so I uploaded this updated preview of the intro cutscene/first mission level in the game. I felt the need to redeem myself especially since the other videos are outdated. I hope you enjoy this preview and continue to support the game.
Please Note: This is not the full intro cutscene!

 

I wanted to give this thread a bump. I'm interested in hearing some first impressions on the new video I posted.

There were a couple placeholders in it like the dead zombie in the intro cutscene still in a t-pose. There's also two bloodspots near the campfire where I plan on having a couple bandit bodies. The decaying zombie and two bandits are currently being modeled. The video is also faintly laggy in couple spots but that's from the video capture software I was using. It seems to do that with whatever screen recording I try to capture.

I only recorded half of the intro cutscene because I'm currently working on some animations for the second half. Preston (main character) and Jean (his sister) pull up to the gas station. Jean gets out and shoots a couple bandits, hence the blood splatters near the campfire. Then the first objective will begin where you (the player) start learning the fundamentals of scavenging for supplies.

 

Well, looks great for the early development stage that you're in at the moment im interested to know if you have a full story written out already for the game or if you write an act and then proceed from there, also what type of gameplay is expected? is it a hack n slash type zombie game where you run from one end of the level to the other or something different? Ive read your first post of the thread and i am intrigued to see how this develops Keep up the great work!

 

Hey PixelHeadHD, thank you for your great feedback post!
I do have a rough draft copy of the story fully written out already, however, I'm constantly learning something new as I develop the game, so I often find myself adjusting the story to accommodate new techniques or ideas. I would say the rough draft of the story best serves as a guideline for me to fallow and stay on track because it's very easy for me to get distracted or carried away.

Iv been working on allot of new artwork/animations lately to replace many of the prototype place holders I still have in the game. I could start posting some of my new artwork if people are interested.

For gameplay you can expect a world map as one of the main menus where you manage your caravan and select locations to travel. Each location on the world map is it's own individual level. Resources and enemy AI are randomly generated on each level. Some locations on the map will have resources other locations may not. You can expect to travel around many locations scavenging for items to craft weapons, vehicle parts and medications to meet the prerequisites for deploying into certain missions.
You can expect locations to consist of police stations, schools, hospitals, gas stations, sections of a town or city, farms, forest, campsites...etc
Some locations will offer side missions that don't necessarily relate to the campaigns story. A good example of this is survivors who are really skilled and would make a great addition to your caravan but require some assistance before they can join.

I'm very happy your intrigued! I hope this information helped answer your questions.

 

Sounds like a great game is in development then to me Please do post your concept art and if you could/want to a video of your new animations.

 

I'm not really a fan of zombie games - but I took a look anyway as I saw the website was a .ca.

Seems like a pretty good start though the intro cutscenes (I looked at both onyour website) raised a few technical questions:

1. The blood splotches - how long do they remain an obvious red colour? Should all the splotches be considered recent/fresh?

2. There is a rather neat, as in built by a boy scout, little fire in the forecourt of the gas station. Who built it - the zombies? The stereotypical portrayal of zombies (movies and film) characterizes them as severely motor impaired - could they build such a fire ? Would a player deduce a non-zombie person is around the gas station?

3. In the video, the motion of the wheels seems a little impaired - not sure if this is the fault of the wheel animation - or the video recording software.

And "supplies dried out" should be "supplies dried up" . To "dry up" means cease to exist, "dry out" means to become dry (unwet) or what alcoholics do in rehab clinics.

Finally, I see from your website that you want to "release this game on Microsoft Xbox Sony PlayStation". Are there not all kinds of hoops to jump through to do that ?

cheers, gryff