Where We’re At
October 27, 2009A little more detail on what Dead Shift is really all about, the current status of the project, and where we hope to go with it.
An old shot, but a good one.
Dead Shift is my first true attempt at a console game since I caught the bug about 20 years ago playing MegaMan 1 on the NES. Over the years I’ve created various mini-games on everything from an Apple ][e, to DOS, to Windows, to a hacked up Dreamcast, but I’ve never made anything close to a full game before. So when I heard that Microsoft was allowing independent developers to create games for the Xbox360, I dropped everything I was working on to learn more about 3D game development…
Body Harvest!
…was a game for the Nintendo64 that faced years of setbacks and underwent countless redesigns… The game itself turned out rather buggy and lame, but what they were attempting was so inspiring that I’ve had it stuck in my head since they hyped it in the ’90s… The idea of exploring post-apocalyptic towns and using what you find to kill off the invading horde is just plain awesome, so that’s what I’m attempting to recreate with Dead Shift… only this time, there’s Zombies, and it’s fun.
What’s the Status?
Currently, the graphics and game engine (codename: “ContagiumX”) is at a very usable point. Features such as transparency, and better animation blending are lacking, but not absolutely necessary. Dead Shift’s physics, on the other hand, are coming along at a much slower pace. XNA has very poor performance on the Xbox360′s Compact CLR, and this makes physics and collision detection run horribly slow in large environments. My solution has been to write a custom physics and collision system (codename: “SmashX”) that takes these very specific limitations into account, but writing this is no easy task! As soon as I am able to get SmashX into a usable state (improved sphere->mesh collision, sensors, vehicles, characters), then we should start seeing some serious progress being made on an actual “game” prototype.
And Then What?
To be honest, I have so many ideas for Dead Shift that my head is at risk of exploding… but here is a rough list of the basics that I’m pretty sure will stick in the final game:
- An emphasis on atmosphere, cinematography
- An “open world” town with countless houses and stores to explore
- Hordes of “realistic” zombies. No super-human powers, magic, reanimation, etc.
- Everything will be usable as a weapon
- Vehicles will be drivable
This seems to be a logical venue for keeping us all up to date on game progress. I’ll be following with interest. Looking forward to new progress & posts.
I was wondering, when is the last time this was updated? I’d love to hear more about the game and get to play it.
@Crash,
I suppose I should add dates to the template, huh?
My last post was a week or so ago here: http://deadshift.com/blog/feeling-like-a-wreck
I’m constantly working on the game, but it’s nowhere near playable yet… Still designing the physics/collision/engine. I was planning on posting more about my progress soon, so feel free to follow the RSS.