'Not Dead Enough'- a zombie apocalypse simulator- now in production!

Hey guys, I'm Dakota Grossman, Lead developer at KIA interactive and we are happy to annouce that "Not Dead Enough", a zombie apocalypse simulator, is now in production! Here is our gameplay ideas so far as well as screenshots of our work.
What is Not Dead Enough
Not Dead Enough is a survival game during the apocalypse. After thinking for a while, we’ve realized that so many games have been made where you stand around and blow endless waves of zombies’ heads off. I’ve decided that it’s time for a change. Our game will be less of a shoot ‘em up and more of a “simulator.” This means surviving by looting houses, eating, sleeping, drinking, boarding up walls, and basically, surviving the apocalypse.
Story
After thinking for a while, I’ve decided to integrate a story into this game. However, it will be your choice. For example, during the story, you might find someone who asks you to do a task that effects the game later on. Our story mode is still in the thought process.
Survival
This is where everything is. Like I said before, it’s not standing around blow endless waves of zombies’ heads off. It’s surviving. It’s eating, drinking, sleeping, shelter on several HUGE maps. You can explore different maps from forests to big cities. This isn’t an arcade game anymore, it’s a simulator. This game will also have a day and night cycle.
Multiplayer
This will be the best but most challenging part to make. However, it’s going to be the best part. During survival, you can choose to do single or multiplayer. If you choose multiplayer, you will be on a map with other people. The rest is up to you. Will you have them join your team, or will you shoot them so they won’t take all of your food? The choice is yours, whether you want to form a team or be a one man army.
System
Our programmer is implementing a "system" into the game. Think of it as a game engine inside of the unity engine. Here is what it features:
Customizable character option- Create the character how you want it.
MMO option- choose from several servers as you play with hundreds of other people.
Charatcer Darkness- Depending on the character you make, he can become very dark, or a saint.
Much More! Here is a video of what he's done so far:
http://youtu.be/1jg6Vbbu_Mk
Our Team
Here are the people we have:
Lead Level Design/3D artist- Tobias
Gun Design/Artist/expert- James Nucci
Programmer- Marco Alverado
Graphics Design- Saif
Music Composer- Thorton
Sound Design- Rob Tetra
Terrain Modeler- August Taylor
3D artist- Mark
Our Style
We are trying to go for a DayZ style, except in a full-fledged game.
Our Work so Far
Here is a gas station we're working on:


Also, here's a katana animation:

Glock for game, made by James:

House:

Wrap-up
That's it so far guys! WE hope to have the game done sometime in 2013, we'll keep posting updates! Also, the game will be a DOWNLOAD game. We would really like ideas, suggestions, comments, and constructive critisism so we can continue making our game better and better. Thanks!

UPDATE: By the 28th of February, we will start the beta. Cars, certain parts of maps, and a couple other things will not be in beta. See the BETA map here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28501152/CustomFPS/WebPlayer/WebPlayer.html

 

bump...

 

OK here are some ciritic points...

Your props are lacking ambient occlusion. Please bake ambient occlusion into props and buildings, things will look soooo much more realistic.

 

Thanks for replying chaoss, we'll try it and post some pictures sometime soon!

 

UPDATE: Here is the final version of the gas pumps and the roof over them. We are currently having the terrain built and should have a rough draft of it for you soon!

 

Are you using DAZ figures in your game or just using them to edit your animations? If you are using them, I think you'll have problems getting them down to a size that is suitable for use in a MMO. Generally when I try to decimate them down below about 25k tris, I get all sorts of deformities to the mesh.

 

Thanks Drew, I'll have to look into that, I didn't realize that.

 

Drew, there's something called a decimator for DAZ that lets you reduce the poly count, did you try that?

 

Yep. I am probably the resident expert on using DAZ models in Unity. Decimator only works to a certain point. Once you go past that point, the models are a useless mess of broken UVs and misplaced polys. The generation 4 models all have LOD models down to 1000 polygons (2,000 tris) but the clothes and props don't generally have LODs and are often millions of polygons.

If you haven't already gotten your license for DAZ models, I'd recommend spending that $500 on models that are ready to be used in Unity- unless you are like me and have thousands of their models already, having been collecting them for more than 10 years.

 

So pretty much, I have to use another program for models or pay $500 dollars that I don't have? That's a bummer.. looks like there will soon be a classified for character artists...

 

You can use the program just not the models they sell unless you have a license or team up with someone who does. If you go to ShareCG.com and look for models with a "Unrestricted use" license you can find a few figures and lots of props that can be used in DAZ studio and games for free.

 

Ok, thanks!

 

Also, if you fill out this survey, it will help with some ideas for our game! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ue&formkey=dDdIV2lmOGNwaWUzMTFPSDRfMmhDLWc6MQ

 

Thanks to some new character artists for our game, we have character hands that I will upload in a bit.

 

im seriously looking forward for this i can even join the project in the prop making? o.o contact me via PM please

 

The pump models need some serious retexturing, the texture isnt good and the weathering of the objects looks like it has some crazy deep scratches all over it like it was dragged for miles behind a vehicle. The sign looks good, which is interesting. Is the same artist doing all the props?

 

nice project! i make always simple textured games but good looking :d keep it up

 

We are now in the making of guns, anyone have any ideas

 

Forget the models and work on gameplay. You can add models anytime, adding gameplay is nothing easy. Your game can be as shiny as any AAA game, but if it plays like crap, it will be noticeable in the first minute or two and wont be played after that.

 

Yea, I know that. However, our programmer is building something like an engine inside of unity that our game mechanics will run on. After that, we will start on the gameplay

 

Thanks, James, we'll work on it BTW, keep the feedback coming guys, we love it and we're taking all of your ideas to mind! Keep on commenting!!

 

Is this a PC game? and how much you plan to charge? I feel like really wanna play it but hopefully it is not too expensive

anyway, have your guys play the "walking dead" point and click adventure game? Are you planning to build a similar one?

 

LOVE the name.

 

Hi phupang! Yes this is a PC game. At the beginning, we might not charge at all. Probably if we would charge, it would be $10 at the MOST. Yes, we have played the walking dead game, and we have decided that we won't take that direction. We want you to have full control over the character, not just his decisions. Also, this will be multiplayer on a big map, so others will be there, too. You will have to eat, sleep, and drink to survive, so you pick what happens, and it won't be by pressing a button. You can control your character.

 

Thanks, Not_sure!

 

And I don't know if I mentioned it, but this is a DOWNLOAD game for PC and MAC. Both versions will be tested, and we will play, too, so we can update and fix bugs and errors.

 

Some Screens of the terrain so far. PLEASE READ FIRST: This is a rough rough draft. Here is what our terrain designer said: Well i have a few screenshots of the basic layout the map, It is mostly flat for now because I have been trying to make hills that are relative to the players height. I have a variety of trees and a space for the town to go. I will be adding rivers, roads, grass, rocks, and other buildings and places the player can explore. I will add the items I have listed by Wednesday . Now back to your regularly scheduled terrain:

 

We hope to have the terrain finished in two weeks. Thanks for being patient guys!

 

every one is doing a Russian settings like dayZ why don't you make the setting french or German etc you get my point and don't go and make it English as that is what every one is doing try and make it one of a kind.

 

Thanks, tapanui, we'll think about it!

 

We'll have some updates soon, keep commenting!

 

We are now working on car models, also, so stay updated, we'll release photos soon.

 

You should share some zombie models

 

Soon, my friend, soon

 

Hey guys, hopefully we'll have some zombies soon DDDD

 

Just posted an ad in the classified, if you're interested in helping with the project, go check it out!

 

*Cough *Cough *Eherm DayZ *Cough *Cough..

 

Yes, in the first post we mentioned that it would be similar to DayZ.
We are also trying to implement singleplayer.

 

How would you guys feel about a story mode?

 

great idea hey you should add what dayZ did not add "hovercraft" and a avatar creator...

 

Tapanui, great ideas . Now, I'm going to answer some questions and talk about some things that are happening.

Q: Do you have a price or a release date yet? No and No. We've been working hard on this game, however there is no release date planned yet.
Q: How are you working on and planning your game? We have really used games like this (DayZ and WarZ) and learned from them. We are looking to improve on their flaws, if you will.
Q: Will you have a demo soon? We will not have a multiplayer beta released anytime soon, however, we may have a short single-player demo ready for you soon.
Also, I want to address one more thing. We see that people have been bashing the idea of an MMO considering how you were shot almost every time you were seen by another player. We have a couple of solutions to solve this however. One way is that you will be able to set up and build a base, whether you are in a group or not, so you can stay safe if it is stable. Another way is by playing this same survival mode, except in a private match by yourself or by inviting people you know. Another thing is our communication system. Not only will there be a mic and text chat option, but the player will be able to surrender to the person, showing that you mean no harm. Also, we will be posting a couple of pics of some guns today, so stay tuned

 

A couple images of some guns, including a revolver and shotgun. We are going to retexture the revolver with more "silver".

 

Bump

 

This looks cool and I'm interested to see where this goes. I like the idea of a story mode but don't make it unless it's a decent story.

 

Thanks PhsychoticStudios, we will soon post an idea for the story, then you can give feedback and see whether you like it or not.

 

While Unity is a great engine, it's not a god. So we want to know, what kind of graphics style would you like?
A realistic style- characters and props would look very realistic. However, we couldn't have as much gameplay, considering the polycount.
Stylistic- Still fully 3D, however, more of a comic-book look, more gameplay capabilities.

 

Why is everyone such a graphics * these days? The graphics look fine to me. Of course I would play a game with N64 graphics that has gameplay how I want it before I would play a game with graphics from the year 2050 with S*** gameplay

Go for gameplay over graphics. Everyone licks the "AAA" game companies butts these days and the only thing anyone cares about is graphics. It pisses me off how ridiculously spoiled gamers are these days. That is why I've stopped trying to make games because modern gamers don't DESERVE my creations.

All they want to do is play the next Call of Duty game that has the exact same gameplay as the previous one but different graphics. Well screw that.

 

gsus, chill out. We were just asking which you would prefer, don't get so upset.

 

Hey guys, if you're interested, we now need 2D texture artists- you have to be able to use HAND-PAINTED textures.