Apocolyptica Developement Blog, Entry 1

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Entry posted by Tomo2000 · May 13, 2010

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About 2 weeks ago I was hit with a quick dose of Writer's Block. It wasn't as bad as before, I could still think of ideas but it was just much harder. It passed over the next week, but during it's time of being here, I began work on a new project; Apocolyptica.

Apocolyptica has little-to-no storyline whatsoever, and your main goal is to escape a huge ammount of areas and rooms. Each area will cost a certain ammount of $ to enter. $ is a rather large new feature. In Hope Afloat, the $ system was barely incorperated and you would not get any from killing a zombie. Hope Afloat's response to this was the missions at Engora. Anyway, in Apocolyptica, you get $ for killing zombies, which you will need to buy more ammo, new weapons, even medical equipment and upgrades that will increase the ammount of ammo your gun can hold in a single clip.

Adding experience is a huge new add-on. I modelled the EXP system similar to the Rank system of S.A.S. 2 - Insane Asylum; as you kill zombies, you gain EXP and Rank-up. Each time you rank up in Insane Asylum, you get a bonus, like faster running, or more ammo per clip, etc.. In Apocolyptica, I took that to a whole new level. A new rank gives you new items, sometimes new shops and also gives you a bonus.

The Shops is a new addition, too. Unlike in Hope Afloat, where there are certain venders that you can shop at, in Apocolyptica you can call the shops from the new menu system I made. There are a total of 6 shops, including the Pistol Shop, Medicine Shop and MK Shop. All shops can be called from the menu and, as you rank up, the Shops menu is automatically updated with that new shop and what you can buy in it.

MK is a huge new thing, also. MK is the ability to upgrade the ammount of ammo per clip for your weapon. There are 3 MK's, MK1, MK2 and MK3. MK1 gives you +10% ammunition to your clip, not much, but will give you that extra bullet or two you'll need to survive. MK2 gives you +25%. And MK3 gives you +50%. In an MK shop, if its either 1, 2 or 3, you can buy an MK(1/2/3) Token. Depending on what the MK is, you can combine that with your weapon in your inventory and be given another Token. Don't worry about this new Token, it will disappear and be replaced with your new weapon upon exiting and reentering the menu.

If you have ever played Hope Afloat, objects bought at the shop will not automatically go into your inventory, in case your inventory is full (due to the fact that the new menu is programmed to only hold a reasonable ammount of objects; 8). Instead, it is taken to a chest and stored there. In Apocolyptica, that chest is now called "Storage", and accessable in the menu. There are a total of 40 slots to store things.

There is also a built-in help system in the menu, with help along the subjects of everything in the menu. You can also view that rank you are and what bonuses you gain.

Apocolyptica has a brand new Zombie-spawning system. Once every zombie on the screen has been killed, the zombie bodies will fade away and new zombies will begin spawning. Each area you unlock will bring more and more zombies to the party. The beginning area has, by default, 10 zombies spawn, and the next area brings along another 5.

With weapons, I have redone the whole weapon system, and started adding new, never-before seen, weapons to the game. Currently, there are only 3 new weapons added; the Tauros 247 Pro, the Heckler & Kosh USP and the Jericho 941 Standard. These are all pistols and all have the ability to be upgraded to MK1.

There are also new items, like the Antidote, which cures poison that zombies may inflict on you. There are, so far, only 2 areas, the starting area and an extra area. With how creating the game is going, everything stated above has already been added. Everything up to Rank 3 has been fully added and tested. I won't release Apocolyptica until it's entirely finished, though.

To do list:

-Harder zombies at intervals of 5 waves

-Add Rank 4 weapons (pistols and shotguns) and make them MK1 compatable.

If your wondering why only add Rank 4 weapons, it's due to the fact I'll be adding 5 new weapons and adding weapons is a rather time consuming process. Also, in the next blog entry I do for Apocolyptica, I'll show ya some screenies.

See ya soon, guys, Stay safe - no bites.

~Tomo2000.