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[Berick]

Dread is a top-down action / horror game where you can only see what your character sees. This creates an intense atmosphere, as the player is always guessing what is waiting for them around the next corner.

Screenshot of v.1.3.5a


Old Version 1.3.3a screenshot

The game is currently in free Alpha stage, as I am a terrible artist and I'm using placeholders that I scrounged from free resources or put together myself. The engine itself is quite far along in development, and a lot of fun to play even with enemy sprites modified from RPG Maker 95.

I'm actually most proud of the included level editor, as the possibilities are nearly endless with it. The powerful trigger system it has means that entire gameplay style can change from Doom (which is what the included level is modeled after), to Alien Swarm, to Resident Evil depending on the designer's preference.

I created the Alpha Trailer above to help recruit artists, and it is working wonders so far. I have several talented artists interested in helping out, so the next few builds should start seeing significantly improved graphics.

You can download and play the current build (v1.3.5a) for free at the Dread Dev Blog

[dEnamed]

I like this kind of game and it plays quite nice so far. The line of sight is a useful feature for this kind of game, although I feel that it quickly starts to look a bit weird. Reason being that explored walls remain visible but the floors don't. Maybe you can grey out areas you've seen but can no longer see?
The rotating camera was a bit hard to get used to but maybe that's because I'm too used to the twin stick shooter style. Where you aim and move seperately. There's also some minor complaint about corners. The enemies are often placed right around a corner, which plays into the whole line of sight thing - cool. But it's nigh impossible to react in time, even if you full well know they're there. Some small grace moment before they attack might make it that much more enjoyable (to me at least). Could be combined with some sort of threatening gesture or hiss too.

Performance was fine, no issues here. The editor works too from what I can tell (didn't dabble too much with it). Good job so far.

[Udderdude]

Yeah, that first test level is just brutal, too many ambushes in tiny rooms where it's almost impossible to avoid taking damage.  The enemies take a ton of damage and going around in a tiny circle gets boring quickly.  The ambush with the room with a health pack was just ridiculous .. they suddenly appear behind you with no warning and rape you?  And the door doesn't even open to show they came in that way?  Ugh.

I realize it's just a test level, but I hope you realize these issues also.  Hope there's some more interesting enemies added later on.

Also, I feel the doors shut way too quickly.

[Berick]

Thanks guys!

dEnamed: I've received conflicting opinions on the level visibility in areas that you are not currently looking at. Some people want the walls to fade quickly into the blackness as well. You're the first to suggest that just the floors remain visible but greyed out though. It makes sense for them to, considering that the walls stay visible. I'll try and think of a way to make that work, as it is going to be difficult to integrate that into the existing FOV system.

I modeled the movement after FPS style controls, as this is essentially a FPS from a top-down perspective. Hopefully they weren't too hard to adapt to for you.

The enemies around the corner are placed that way to force you to be cautious when exploring the level. I feel that it adds some tactics to what would otherwise be a standard run-and-gun.

Glad to hear there was no performance issues. I've had a couple of people point out some minor errors in the level editor (mainly the ability to use characters in aspects like pop-up dialog boxes that cause syntax errors when used). I should have those resolved by the next build though.

Udderdude: If you just run into rooms or around corners, you're going to get eaten up real quick. It takes some strategy to stay alive. Peek through doors, try to get the enemies into hallways where you have room to run away while shooting at them. Avoid rooms like the one with the healthpack until you have the firepower (read: shotgun) to handle them. Finally, there's nothing cowardly about running and hiding in rooms while you reload! That's also one of the reasons why the doors shut quickly, so that you don't get chased into a room with a horde of badguys flooding through the open door.

If that type of gameplay is not your style though, don't worry! There's a variety of level types that can come from the level editor.

[Udderdude]

Udderdude: If you just run into rooms or around corners, you're going to get eaten up real quick. It takes some strategy to stay alive. Peek through doors, try to get the enemies into hallways where you have room to run away while shooting at them.

It's a pain in the ass to run away from the enemy just to get them in an area where you can fight them.  Especially since they run just as fast as you do, and while you're turning around to open a door or whatever, they're biting your ass.

Avoid rooms like the one with the healthpack until you have the firepower (read: shotgun) to handle them.

How can you say this?  You'd have to know beforehand the room was trapped.  I think you're completely ignoring that other people don't know everything about your levels before playing them.  You have to realize that traps like that are going to be considered cheap if you don't know they're there.  Furthermore, I didn't even know there was a shotgun in the level.  Players aren't psychic, keep this in mind.

[Berick]

I understand what you're saying Udderdude. However, it was my intent for the player to often have to run away from enemies rather than just standing and fighting. I feel it adds a lot to the horror aspect of the game.

How can you say this?  You'd have to know beforehand the room was trapped.  I think you're completely ignoring that other people don't know everything about your levels before playing them.  You have to realize that traps like that are going to be considered cheap if you don't know they're there.  Furthermore, I didn't even know there was a shotgun in the level.  Players aren't psychic, keep this in mind.

I say this, because the player is expected to quickly learn to be cautious rather than just running into rooms and hoping for the best. If you poke your head into a room and find yourself outmatched, you run. You can always come back to it at a later time. Eventually, during your exploration, you'll hope to come across better firepower. Or you use strategy to lure your enemies into situations that are more to your advantage. I don't expect the players to be psychic, but I'm also not going to baby step them through the level

[Berick]

Then I appreciate the time your taking to give me your feedback.

I have had a couple of complaints about the mouse sensitivity. Right now, it's tied directly into your regular desktop mouse speed, but I'll be changing that with menu options to speed up or slowdown your turning speed to your liking.

With the current enemy, the strategic depth doesn't get much deeper than what you're describing (I'm curious about this "Sonic" effect?). However, I have several different types of enemies in mind, so it will definitely get more complex.

I'm glad the help page was... well, helpful! Custom key-bindings are on the to-do list too.

Unique ideas are only good if they're fun, so I'm looking forward to experimenting with different concepts. So far, the largest complaint has been the lack of enemy variety. Which, at this stage, is just a matter of adding new content. It's very inspiring to know that most people like the concept and just want to see more!

[Berick]

Version 1.3.4a is now available

I've added several of the things suggested here, and expanded the first level which now has a new ending.

[Berick]

I love Minecraft's redstone game mechanic. I'm actually one of the founders of a large group of engineers who make calculators, computers, and videogames with it.

So imagine how excited I was when I realized that I could do the same kind of things in Dread with the current level editor!





This was not an intentional feature. Just a byproduct of the surprisingly powerful Trigger system.

[Berick]

v1.3.5a is now available!

Changes:

• New gradient FOV "Shadow" which is much nicer on the eyes.
• New enemy by Sidney Durant that replaces the green placeholders.
• Due to "Sticky Keys" issues, the controls have been switched to E for use and Space for fire.

I've also released a new level called "The Loading Dock" that picks up where the demo level leaves off.

[VirusN]

Well, here is my humble opinion:
The controls were nice, I'm a big fan of Steel Storm games, so they weren't awkward at all.
The Grafics ()are nice, but...
Well, I have to agree with the "gray out the unseen floor" thing, it just looks nicer.

My major concern is the gameplay. I didn't enjoy it. I mean, one thing is forcing the player to be cautious, but this feels the exact opposite. Here i'm trying to figure out "where the dev placed those fuckers". I feel a great add on would be a run command + a tiredness bar.
Also, but this is just my opinion, I would love having a bigger fov, that starts to decay after losing some help.

Hope I was useful, and good luck with your game!

[Berick]

Thank you for the feedback! Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy it though. There will be a sprint feature added soon, as well as FOV changes based on health (though full health will not have a larger FOV than what is currently in the game).

The gameplay right now is still pretty raw, with many features yet unimplemented that will drastically change how the game plays. I hope you'll revisit the game in the future!

[teletubo]

I just played this yesterday, and I must confess it scared the s*** out of me when the first creep came and screamed.

However, I feel the game is way too difficult. Specially for the first level. I couldn't get past the first green door, and I tried like 5 times.
This has been said over and over (maybe not on this topic, haven't read everything), but making the player die so many times on the FIRST level is definetly not very friendly.

Why not making the first creeps die with 1 shot? Then the player could get a grip on the controls, how the switches work and then making the creeps stronger.

I see you're very proud of your level editor, but there's not much use on making a hundred levels if the player quits on the first one!


As for the aiming, maybe if the mouse pointer was not hidden it would be way better to aim. Since you don't know where the mouse is, you can't know for sure how "far" you have to drag the mouse to make the guy turn, say 180 degrees, since it depends on how far the mouse pointer is relative to the player.

[Berick]

Thanks! Glad to hear that.

I made the demo level quite challenging, as it is the only level included with the game so far. The actual levels will have a much easier difficulty curve, but for now I wanted the game to be more than just a quick breeze through.

The turning is not dependent on the position of your mouse at all, so having the mouse visible would be useless and distracting. The turning works the same as, say, a FPS. There is a sensitivity option to increase or decrease the amount your player turns as you move your mouse.

[Mikesta]

I had a lot of fun with the demo. I love the suspense of turning a corner not knowing what will be lurking there.

However, I would like to suggest adding a couple of things. First of all, have you considered adding windows to some of the rooms, which could allow you to peer through and see a small portion of the room? You could really up the suspense, I think, by allowing the player to see a few of the many creatures lurking in a particularly dangerous room. Perhaps the cone of vision through the window would be really small.

It would also give players a little more of the information they need to decide whether to make a go at that particular room now, or wait and come back when they find better weapons or have more health.

Also, I'd consider adding something like what Anna Anthropy talks about in this article:

http://www.auntiepixelante.com/?p=1319

Specifically, Anthropy talks about how in AD&D: Cloudy Mountain, players are often given audible and visual cues that inform them of nearby dangers. I think you could do something like this to great effect. Hissing noises, groans and growls could inform you that creatures are near, and each creature could have a distinct sound.

Also, imagine how cool it would be for the player to encounter a half-eaten human corpse, and know that some really frightening creature (perhaps something you rarely encounter that deals a ton of damage and takes a ton of hits to kill) must be nearby.

Anyway, just thought I'd share a couple of ideas with you. Really like the game, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

[zoq]

This looks pretty cool. I have personally always liked LOS/light based gameplay. I'll try to test this later. A couple of notes based on my imagination of what this is (I'm a fan of tactical gameplay, so the thoughts are biased to that direction):
-Windows are definitely a nice idea. Maybe you could also shoot trough them?
-My favorite ever toy in a game is the optical wand from SWAT games. It might also fit here quite well. Basically, it lets you look around corners and in doorways etc without anyone noticing.
-Mirrors could also be nice, but I suspect they might be a bit tricky to program.

[Mikesta]

I wouldn't let you shoot through the windows. I think their purpose should be to inform the player as to the level of danger in the room (but only vaguely) and to build suspense.

I think shooting through them would be easy to exploit and it would take away a lot of the tension.

[zoq]

I wouldn't let you shoot through the windows. I think their purpose should be to inform the player as to the level of danger in the room (but only vaguely) and to build suspense.

I think shooting through them would be easy to exploit and it would take away a lot of the tension.

That's true. At the very least, it would make AI more difficult to code, as it would need to be able to stay outside of the shooting zone to prevent easymode.

[Berick]

Mikesta: Thanks! Glad you liked it.

Windows are already on the to-do list, both breakable (there will be enemies that shoot too, and the melee enemies will climb through broken windows, so the tactical advantage will go both ways) and bullet-proof. As well as things like destroyable walls / doors that will allow some of the stronger enemies to literally tear through a level to get to you.

There's a ton of work to be done on the audio aspect of the game. Including creature specific audio cues, music that reacts / builds / subsides to events on screen, etc... Personally, I feel that audio is one of the most important parts of creating a horror environment.

I agree with the bodies idea, and I'll also be having "battle signs", blood streaks leading into rooms, etc... The art team is working on stuff like that now.

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

Zoq: I hope you enjoy it!

On the to-do list are "deployable cameras" that will allow the player to have some areas always in view. It wouldn't be too hard to also include an "around the corner mirror", good idea!

[Mikesta]

Cool, sounds like the game is shaping up pretty awesomely. Really looking forward to the next build.