Darkwind: Scavenger is live!

Darkwind: Scavenger is now live and available to all subscribers!

In case you have been living in Vault 101 and don’t know what Scavenger is all about, here’s a quick run-down:

1. Subscribers can create a Scavenger gang in addition to their regular gang. You switch between the two from your ‘My Gang’ page. You only control one at a time. You should exit and re-log into the lobby if you are there when you do a switch.
2. Scavenger gangs and regular gangs cannot scout together.
3. Scavenger gangs have a separate marketplace, so they can only trade with other Scavenger gangs.
4. Scavenger gangs have no access to money, and therefore cannot buy or sell with NPCs.
5. Town $ prizes and $ mission fees are replaced, for Scavenger gangs, with ammunition/bulk goods prizes.
6. Perma-damage is much more severe, and NPCs will tend to field damaged equipment
7. You need decent mechanics to fix equipment or armour. For anyone with less than a 50 skill mechanic, you’re basically limited to C armour. But the NPCs are too…
8. Scavengers get a ‘starter pack’ of ammo and bulk goods. They also get free loan cars in place of the normal rental cars.
9. Food/water must be present in your lockups if you want your characters to stay healthy every Friday at the update. This is calculated at 0.7 units (rounded to the nearest whole number) of food and water per character.

DW: Scavenger is essentially ‘DW: Hardcore’ and it will be used as a test-bed for new features which are too controversial for immediate launch into the ‘regular’ game. Features tested here may, of course, be added to the regular game if they are fit for use there.

The majority of feedback about this idea is very positive so I’m hoping to entice back some old players with it, and I believe the overall impact will be to increase the active player-base as well as providing a safe testbed for new features for the main game.

High School RPG Progress

I have been discussing the idea of the High School RPG with Matt, and it’s starting to take some shape.
While kicking around some ideas we decided on a dual-themed game – you will control your character’s day-to-day life, make decisions about their study and training, etc., (as I outlined in an earlier blog post) but you’ll also venture into the mysterious labyrinth that lies under the school.

Gameplay will require a few minutes a day to set your ‘school strategy’ by filling up slots in your weekly timetable from available options. Your choices here will affect your skills, exam results, popularity, etc. You may choose to try to get into the football team, debating team, etc., and the various schools in the game will compete in simulated leagues.

You’ll also be able to do social stuff like chat with your clanmates or schoolmates, post on each other’s walls, change your character’s hairstyle, or go on dates (for skillups and achievement badges).

But for those who want some immediate and more lengthy fun, there will be a whole Roguelike thing going on in the labyrinth. This will possibly earn you treasure, skill-ups, or injury! Some monsters may even ben tamed, if you have the skills..

Here’s some early concept art from Matt:

High School RPG concepts

And a screenshot of progress we have made with randomly-generated labyrinths, complete with line-of-sight revealing and a mini-map: