Steam Dead Ground (Action, Roguelike, Tower Defense)

Shut

Member

Dead Ground is a tower defense game mixed with action and roguelike elements. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where water is nowhere to be found, there is a rumor going on that somewhere out there is a paradise-like place with nature still untouched and rivers flowing.. and so your journey of hope begins.

What makes Dead Ground unique from the rest of the tower defense games is that it will feature procedural generated levels, permadeath, action game play (simultaneously control the character and build towers), Darkest Dungeon like town where you manage your resources, towers, upgrades, etc.. Tons of different weapons, active and passive skills system and many different bosses at the end of each level!

You control the main character with W,A,S,D keys to move, right mouse button to shoot and left mouse button to build towers and use skills.

 
Last edited:
T

tiny547

Guest
I'm going to download this in a couple hours when I get home from work. I really like the style of art. Gameplay sounds fun too. Definitely looks like a game I'll enjoy (love anything survival).
 

Shut

Member
I'm going to download this in a couple hours when I get home from work. I really like the style of art. Gameplay sounds fun too. Definitely looks like a game I'll enjoy (love anything survival).
Thanks! :) I would really appreciate some feedback, it's still a very early alpha version, but the main game play is there and functional.

I'm a bit worried that there aren't many tower defense fans, but I hope mixing it with action and roguelike will attract more players.

Looking forward to hear your feedback.
 
T

tiny547

Guest
I downloaded it and played for about 10 minutes.You're on to something here, pretty cool. I would definitely play the production release of this game.

I'll leave a little pro/con list for you to consider (not critical, just my thoughts)

Pros:
  • Art style and map layout is pretty cool
  • I like the fact that you have control over the player, adds a cool aspect to the "tower defense" game play
  • I love the apocalyptic theme
  • The AI seem pretty legit from what I experienced. I can see future array of different armies/buildings will allow the player to plan for upcoming waves and will provide a deeper interaction with the player.
Cons:
  • The bullets could be a little larger and/or color change, etc. I'm playing on 1920x1080 res and I have to really focus iin order to see them during flight.
  • The screen rattle is nice but it does seem to happen a little too often which again, for some reason, I find hard on the eyes.
  • The shading is nice but maybe a little too overwhelming.

Edit: I find myself wanting to play more. Just curious, are the gears used for anything currently?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
B

Blakkid489

Guest
Look Like I have to disable AVG to play this..... Not your fault though. Anyone else who has AVG as the Anti-virus might have the same issue
 

Shut

Member
@tiny547 Thanks for testing! :) I will try experimenting with larger bullets and reducing the screen shake effect. (I will definitely have an option to turn off any camera effects later)

Could you please clarify what exactly do you mean by shading being overwhelming?

Gears aren't used for anything at the moment, but they will be used to purchase upgrades, items, etc.. in the town. :)

@Blakkid489 Hmm... Right now it's compiled with VM, maybe YYC version won't have a problem with that, but I can't compile it with YYC at the moment, because there is a bug that makes particles appear differently.
 

klys

Member
Look interesting, im giving it a look!

Edit...

The game run slowly in my i5 8gb ram... 2 monitors.... very wierd...
 
Last edited:

Shut

Member
Look interesting, im giving it a look!

Edit...

The game run slowly in my i5 8gb ram... 2 monitors.... very wierd...
Thanks and sorry about that, I haven't yet compiled the game with YYC, so this is a VM version and unoptimized. What GPU do you have?
 
A

altan0

Guest
Awesome game OP, I gave the game (version 0.2) a try and the art work is really good and the concept is rather interesting.

Unfortunately the game is running really really slow (feels like 10 - 15 fps) and it makes the game play feel heavy . I am on a gaming laptop with Intel Core i7 4700m with 8gb ram and Nvidia Geforce GT 755m for GPU.

You could try to optimize the game and get at least 120 real_fps out of the game. I suspect it could be a graphical issue that is causing the trouble because I manage to optimize one game with too many surface draws and I got a good 1000+ real_fps deal out of it.

If you need help with coding you can always ask for my advice anytime.
 

Shut

Member
@DividingByZero Thanks! :) Please post your thoughts if you do test it.

@altan0 Thank you! I haven't yet done any good optimizations on the game, this was more of a game play test version. Anyway, I have just uploaded a new version with slightly tweaked particle settings, that should increase the FPS by at least twice. I will continue optimizing the game further, it will just take some time. :)

@klys I'm developing the game on GTX 970, so it's kind of hard to notice any slow downs for me, but I will be sure to optimize the game for integrated GPUs as well! :)

I've finally finished drawing and animating the quarters, moving on to coding now. :)

 

Shut

Member
I've resumed working on Dead Ground now and things are slowly improving. Quarters are functional and I'm now almost done with all of the camp tower upgrades. Also, a lot of other tweaks and changes, I will be uploading a new version for testing soon.

Here are some new screenshots





 

Shut

Member
I finally managed to get the inventory and shop done, including all the guns, skills and augments. All the towers and upgrades are also there. There is nothing done yet in terms of balancing.

New screens.



 
Last edited:
E

elkranio

Guest
Like the items UI, though I'd make some texts bigger (prices for example)
 
M

milch

Guest
very pretty UI! the HUD seems to have a slightly different style tho... you dont have any of the blue outlines in there like in the other menus. maybe you could incorperate the color in some elements? not a big issue tho, just nitpicking
 

Shut

Member
very pretty UI! the HUD seems to have a slightly different style tho... you dont have any of the blue outlines in there like in the other menus. maybe you could incorperate the color in some elements? not a big issue tho, just nitpicking
Thank you! :) Yep, the styles are a bit different.. I might polish some more at a later stage and will keep that in mind. Right now, I'm more focused on getting more levels, balancing and game play done. I'm afraid balancing the game will take me forever. :|
 

Shut

Member
Doing some balancing now, adding new levels and details to make the game more playable. I will be posting some more game play gifs soon!

 

sylvain_l

Member
liked the loot screen effect. It motivated me to download the actual test version.

3 deaths later, I'm already tired of the death screen XD (I just wanted to see the loot screen in game :'( )

:oops: ok, first, I'm not a big tower defense player, so perhaps some evident thing todo are just out of my view; or at that early stage game is still not really playable.

also surprised that the "travel" didn't show a map, but directly start the first wave. (I assume there is some todo thing behind)

than at third play I realized something. just for testing purpose, fact that after the death screen you restart the map but with all the ressources ripped off, is kinda mean ( perhaps it has a purpose for you, but for me as "just give it a fast try", wasn't a good point). If i didn't uppgrad my stuff before launching the play... not going to be better with mostly no ressource. (would be better to auto-restart the game than having me to do it manually^^)

and finally 4th play with a good amount of upgrades and a full load of ressources thing get easy...
WTF, no loot screen even when I killed the boss wave, game just stuck in the play screen :'( :'(


final thought.
most of the time FPS was at 350-1500, twice it went down to a bit more than 100. And at that time it didn't feel at all I had more than 100fps, but more like it was runing at 10. Mostly because hero feel unresponsive or at least he moves so slowly.
that also have the side effect of dying easly; one moment you have dozen and dozen of mobs all firing at the tower guard ignoring the hero, and the next moment because the last guard died, all the mob target the hero, and as you are "running in slow motion" to flee the horde, you have all the time to see your hero health going down and him dying.

graphics are fine, but for the rest it's really hard to say, because there is no game, just the raw mechanism put in a test level.

for me there are moslty 2 types of tower defense.
the idle one (you don't have to think to much, just put enough tower/DPS power and just watch the waves get destroyed level after level, just giving you "for free" a sens of progression with bigger monster/bigger tower level after level)
and the survival/challenging one (you have to carefully choose your upgrades, deciphering the right combo of tower that maximize damage on the specific wave of that level, etc... and just spent the minimal ressources to earn the max so you can keep on progressing from one level to next level.)

I would assume due to the theme (apocalypse survival) that your game belong to that second category. If that the case, actually test game is missing the main feature !
 

Shut

Member
@sylvain_l Hey, thanks for testing the game! :)

Loot screen was a recent addition and I just updated the link to the latest version, sorry about that! That was quite an old version and more of a real quick test version, just to get an idea of the game and nothing there was balanced.

The new version has 2 levels (partly random generated), but it's in a more playable state. :)
  • New, bigger bullets
  • Added food drops (restores health)
  • Blood effects remain on ground
  • Added shift key special
  • Added quarters
  • Added all towers and upgrades
  • Added heat shader
  • Added inventory
  • Added augments
  • Added shop
  • Added skills
  • Added path indicators
  • Added guns
  • Added all 25 enemies
  • Added new sounds
  • Added alternative enemy paths
  • Added loot screen
 

Shut

Member
@JacktheBlindRabbit Thanks a lot! :)


- Added 20 new bosses
- Added new level details
- Added level 4
- Improved collisions
- Added option to show amount of damage dealt
- Balanced stuff (just a bit for now)
- Fixed some bugs

This version is in a much more playable state, so if anyone tests the game I'd appreciate it very much! :)



 
Last edited:
S

Silver_Mantis

Guest
@JacktheBlindRabbit Thanks a lot! :)
This version is in a much more playable state, so if anyone tests the game I'd appreciate it very much! :)
Hey I tried your Alpha out!

So just from downloading it and giving it a few playthroughs I can say that I do enjoy the concept and the gameplay is fairly easy to understand for the most part.
Now I don't think I'm THAT bad at these types of games, but the beginning was rather difficult.
By wave two you have enemies that take 8+ shots to kill which is a bit much in my opinion.
You start out with 0 gear coins/points to purchase any help so it's a tough ride through the wastelands haha.
I also didn't see a loss condition or a way to lose when the enemies reached the end of the road.
Where are the enemies going, or what are they after?
A more explained world might be in your best interest, because when you click "Travel" you start the game, but you don't actually travel anywhere, you fight the enemies in waves.

The mouse controls and animations are not bad, pretty smooth!
Your UI was probably the most impressive thing about the demo, it was really clean and minimal. It looked fantastic!

I hope my feedback helps you out! Good luck to you and your game! :D
 

Shut

Member
Hey, thanks for testing! :)

Yep, the game is still very unbalanced for now, so it might be difficult. I was more focused on getting the content done. You lose the game if you run out of water and an enemy escapes. Each enemy that escapes takes -1 water (some take more).

I totally agree, I'm planning to explain the world at a later stage and clicking the travel will take you to a travel screen first before going to a next level.

Thanks a lot for the feedback, much appreciated! :)

I've just added some new blood effects! Killing enemies is much more fun now. :D

 

Shut

Member
Here is the first trailer/teaser!


I've also updated the game.

- Added new blood effects
- Added travel screen and random events
- Updated skill descriptions
- Added new level details
- Balance adjustments
- Fixed bugs
 
D

dedaredevil

Guest
Downloaded it and played it.

Cons:
Difficulty
Lack of explanation of what each drop does.
Red means I can build? What?
Limited spots to build on
Player weapon accuracy is horrendous.
The text effect you have going on during the quests I dislike

Pros:
I REALLY like the art for the traveling scenes
The searching different areas and getting rewarded or punished

Hope you don't hate me but it's ok if you do. That is just what I personally don't like.
 

Shut

Member
Downloaded it and played it.

Cons:
Difficulty
Lack of explanation of what each drop does.
Red means I can build? What?
Limited spots to build on
Player weapon accuracy is horrendous.
The text effect you have going on during the quests I dislike

Pros:
I REALLY like the art for the traveling scenes
The searching different areas and getting rewarded or punished

Hope you don't hate me but it's ok if you do. That is just what I personally don't like.
Hey, thanks for testing! :)

This is an alpha version, there is no tutorial yet and a lot of features aren't there, yet. Player weapon accuracy is horrendous, because it's a starting weapon that you're supposed to upgrade later. Also, the balancing hasn't been done yet, the current alpha version only has features just quickly put together. I've actually just finished redoing the whole progression, levels and balance stuff and it's in a much more playable and enjoyable state right now.

- Added an insufficient scrap message to let the player know about it
- Added new level details
- Added 6 levels
- Rebalanced the whole game, levels, guns, skills, augments, everything!

The game will be released in Early Access on Steam sometime in February.
 
D

dedaredevil

Guest
Hey, thanks for testing! :)

This is an alpha version, there is no tutorial yet and a lot of features aren't there, yet. Player weapon accuracy is horrendous, because it's a starting weapon that you're supposed to upgrade later. Also, the balancing hasn't been done yet, the current alpha version only has features just quickly put together. I've actually just finished redoing the whole progression, levels and balance stuff and it's in a much more playable and enjoyable state right now.

- Added an insufficient scrap message to let the player know about it
- Added new level details
- Added 6 levels
- Rebalanced the whole game, levels, guns, skills, augments, everything!

The game will be released in Early Access on Steam sometime in February.
Wow, you work extremely fast! I would still have to disagree with your choice of using accuracy in a lower tier weapon over using damage and fire rate as the handicap but to each his own. You are welcome for the test.
 

Shut

Member
- Added level 7
- Rebalanced most of the game
- Changed prices

All 7 levels are in a playable state now and about 90% balanced.

Wow, you work extremely fast! I would still have to disagree with your choice of using accuracy in a lower tier weapon over using damage and fire rate as the handicap but to each his own. You are welcome for the test.
I've improved the damage of the starting weapon for the default hero. There will be other heroes too with their own starting weapons, skills and specials. :)
 

Shut

Member


- Added all 11 levels
- Balance changes
- Finalized OST
- Main menu

This is a big update in terms of balancing and probably the last one I'm posting here, then I will have to move to Steam Early Access.

Wow it looks cool to be honest, good job bro
Thanks man, much appreciated! :)
 
B

betitoas1

Guest
What program do you used to creater the art?, the Soundtrack is great, it reminds me a lot of Terraria's soundtrack in the frist video.
 

Shut

Member
I'm really willing to test it but I couldn't find any link to the alpha version... Did I miss something? :confused:
I've removed the link, since it's close to EA launch now and I've started updating builds on Steam instead. :)

What program do you used to creater the art?, the Soundtrack is great, it reminds me a lot of Terraria's soundtrack in the frist video.
PaintTool SAI and Photoshop. That's great, thanks! Glad you liked it. ;)
 
Top