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Hey guys, after 6 years of solo development I have just finished creating my first game - Mutant Factions (http://mutantfactions.net). I'm posting it here to share around and get some feedback!

Inspiration
If I were to describe Mutant Factions it would be a mix of these 3 games:

-Counter-strike for the fast-paced online PvP combat.
-GTA2 for the vehicles, explosions and top-down view.
-Diablo for the complex skills system and the co-op zombie killing game mode.

Here is a youtube video showing off the gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N85aypwkAKU

And here are a few sexy screenshots:

(http://mutantfactions.net/images/screenshots/m_mutantfactions001.jpg)
Blowing up a vehicle roadblock to kill zombies.

(http://mutantfactions.net/images/screenshots/m_mutantfactions002.jpg)
Two players using skills against eachother in PvP combat.

(http://mutantfactions.net/images/screenshots/m_mutantfactions004.jpg)
A roadster narrowly avoiding a stinger missile.

(http://mutantfactions.net/images/screenshots/m_mutantfactions011.jpg)
Unlocking some skills.

(http://mutantfactions.net/images/screenshots/m_mutantfactions015.jpg)
Doing a driveby in the flatbed.

(http://mutantfactions.net/images/screenshots/m_mutantfactions016.jpg)
Slaughtering zombies in Outbreak.


Game Overview
Mutant Factions is a free online shooter. The gameplay is unique because you don’t play as a man, but as a mutant. As a mutant killing enemies will make you mutate. This allows you to unlock skills and customize your playstyle. While most online shooters are restricted to only weapons, Mutant Factions throws in vehicles and a strategic skills system into the mix as well. This makes for very fast-paced and tactical gameplay. Like DOTA there's a bit of a learning curve due to all of the skills, but by reading this how to play guide (http://mutantfactions.net/howtoplay.php) you'll be ready to start kicking ass in no time!

There are all the usual gamemodes like Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch and Free For All, along with some game modes unique to Mutant Factions. In the Outbreak game mode you get to play co-op against zombies, and in Checkpoint you get to use the vehicles and race laps and set up road blocks. Lots of chaos, lots of fun!


Key Features
-33 skills divided over 3 skill trees. Each skill has been uniquely balanced by having both a benefit AND a penalty. This is key and what makes this game so unique. In earlier versions skills only provided benefits, but this made the game horribly unfair for new players. 3 years and 20 versions later, the skills have been rebalanced to provide unique penalties as well. This means that a brand new level 10 player can defeat a level 100 player by exploiting his weaknesses. The end result is you have a game that you can quickly jump into and start killing in minutes, while still being able to progress your character, explore awesome skill builds and not put anyone at an unfair advantage. An example of a skill might be Blade Fury which does lots of slashing damage to nearby enemies, but makes your bullets less accurate. Good players will know when to cast the skill and when not to, based on the situation at hand. Another example is Invisibility, which makes you invisible but also drains away your mana over time. Lots of skills to explore and experiment with!

-Over 30 uniquely balanced vehicles and weapons. A lot of versions have been released for Mutant Factions during it's beta stage to iron out all the balance issues. Finally the game is in a state where combat is nice and balanced and players must spend or save their cash wisely to choose the best weapon at the time. For example, shotguns are great up close, rifles are great at range, and machine guns are great against vehicles.

-Ranked servers have recently been added to the game to satisfy the needs of more competitive players. By joining a ranked server you are committed to a match, similar to DOTA2 or CS:GO. At the end of the round your rank will be shifted by how you score against your enemies. The ranking system is based on the ELO rating system used in chess and provides a fairly accurate representation of a players skill level. Very addictive and provides a great goal for those who want to improve their skills and master the game.

-An inbuilt map editor allows community members to create maps. As a result there are countless user-generated maps and plenty of variety. Map makers are also awarded these things called "community credits" which they can use to unlock sexy cosmetics and show off their support. The cosmetics have no impact on gameplay but look pretty swish. Stuff like capes, lightsabers, vehicle decals, etc... there are no hat unlocks unfortunately.

- A variety of PvP and PvE game modes. The most recent addition is Outbreak which is a PvE zombie slaughtering game mode. This game mode is a great way to practice as you can learn how the skills work against zombies. The zombie difficulty will scale up and down based on your performance in game to keep a constant challenge. The skills work amazing against the zombies too and make you feel like a god as you destroy them!


Game Development
Mutant Factions has been in development for over 6 years and was officially finished and released as version 1.0 yesterday! I started working on the game as a hobby after I finished university and it kind of got away from me. Before I knew it I'd been working on it for years and was had added all sorts of unplanned features. It then took me another 3 years to polish them all up to a level I could be proud of and now finally I am able to release the game.

The game is coded in C++ and uses OpenGL for graphics. I'm also using OpenAL for sound, enet and libcurl for networking and GLFW for my window management. The game is supported in both Windows and Linux and Mac is planned for an eventual release as well :)

Anyway if you have any questions let me know! The game is 100% free and only 28MB to download, so it will only take you a few minutes to setup and try out. It's a lot of fun so give it a go!

Here is the official site with a free 28MB dowload: http://mutantfactions.net/


Cheers,
Ben.

Anyone had a chance to play yet? I'd love some feedback on the new zombie dynamic. The zombie difficulty scales dynamically based on your health and kill rate to keep you at a constant challenge. But I'm not sure if the overall difficulty is too high or not. Feedback would be awesome!

It was pretty fun. I liked the various powers you can upgrade. I was running around blowing up zombies with the plasma ball which is always fun. Unfortunately there was only one other person on. You gotta get this greenlit so there will be more people online. Or put up a post on the playtesting forum. Also if you haven't read this blog post by Daniel Cook yet I highly recommend it: http://www.lostgarden.com/2013/12/multiplayer-logistics.html (http://www.lostgarden.com/2013/12/multiplayer-logistics.html). Might help give some ideas to design the game in a way that promotes a healthy online population.

I think the zombie dynamics were done pretty well. I felt there was always just a little too many zombies to handle and I did up dying a few times to them. You definitely get the feeling you're up against a horde.

I found the skills system to be a bit too complicated. There was just so many skills and they weren't really laid out in any concise way. My suggestion would be to separate them up by offensive/defense/utility rather than then current setup. But the game as a whole looks very good and it obvious a lot of time and effort went into it. Nice website too.

Thanks bgund, valuable feedback. And that link is amazing! Thanks for that!!

Btw I just released a new version (1.01) which fixes a few bugs as well as making the zombies scale better with more players. Check it out :)

Hey guys, sorry for the bump but I just released an awesome new version and wanted to share. Version 1.04 has got.... drum roll please... FLAMETHROWERS!!!

The flamethrower has been requested from quite a few facepunch users who have joined the Mutant Factions community and it is finally here! We also have a Molotov Cocktail and a Flare Gun too. Three new weapons ready and waiting to be mastered. All three weapons possess the unique property of fire damage, which deals damage over time, reveals enemies, and sets vehicles on fire!

Check out this awesome gif of the Flamethrower and Molotov Cocktail in action: http://i.imgur.com/INQsQ1Z.gifv

This version also introduces a very important gameplay tweak which is that enemies are now briefly revealed to you when you damage them. This means you can reveal enemies through walls with AOE skills like Radiate, use Spike Trap as a radar as people cross over it, or track players with damage over time weapons like the Flare Gun. Lots of fun new tactics to explore :D

We also have some very sexy graphical improvements with dynamic lighting. The sexiest of them all? Vehicle headlights! The headlights will dynamically light up the map and really add a sense of depth to the game. It also makes it easier to drive in dark areas! We also have better looking explosions, muzzle flashes and projectiles like the Flare Gun that light up the map as they fly though it.

Anyway I hope you guys enjoy the new version. It's been great fun developing the Flamethrower and other new weapons and I would love to see some of you guys come back for a game or two to check it all out and maybe give me a little feedback!

Have fun!