The Dead Walk - 2D Zombie game - Teaser Trailer 2 now available! Finalist in TIGA games contest!

First there was ULTIMATE GLOOM. Then there was a ZOMBIE MASSACRE. Now THE DEAD WALK once more. 2D ZOMBIE GAME - SEE OUR ALPHA TEASER TRAILER - For best results 720P + Fullscreen.

Breaking news!
The Dead Walk's first public debut will be made at the Taiwan Premier of "Indie Game Movie". The game will be playable to the public in our games booth at one of Taipei's finest design festivals: "Taiwan Designers' Week" (14th - 23rd Sept 2012). This will be the first time anyone but the designer has had a chance to play the game! Pop along if you're interested. Photos to follow.

Old News:

We didn't win the TIGA games contest, but we have started a small crowd funding campaign on 8 bit funding! Check it out http://8bitfunding.com/project_details.php?p_id=320

THE DEAD WALK - ALPHA TEASER TRAILER

For more info please follow us on Facebook, Google Plus and on our official website:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/206529086065993/
Google+ : https://plus.google.com/112956590765283210322/posts
Twitter : https://twitter.com/#!/radiantlabs
Website : http://www.radiantsilverlabs.com/tdw

Latest screenshots on Google Plus, please follow us! https://plus.google.com/b/112956590765283210322/photos/11295659076528321...

See some screenshots of the entire world here, this is going to be a huge banner that we give away for promotional purposes.. Warning these files are HUGE but its worth it, just wait a while :-)
JPG (21 Meg)
PNG (38 Meg)

Promotional pack available now! If you wish to help us by blogging, previewing, mentioning our game then feel free - we appreciate all of the coverage we can get, especially since we are about to start our crowd funding campaign. In order to make things easier for you we now have a "Promo Pack" online containing lots of logos, screenshots, renders, concept art, teaser videos and documents about The Dead Walk. Feel free to use these in your blog entries or previews of the game. You can also find over 70 making of videos on our Youtube channel and some huge promotional banners (not included in this rar) above. You can download it by clicking here. (198 meg Rar file).

More detail on what we require funding for. We are applying to various game funds and competitions to try and compete this game.. If you wish to help us complete this game you can simply follow us on Facebook and Google plus - the more followers we have the more likely our crowd funding campaign will work, even by sharing our links and campaign online you will be doing a great deal of help, let us know and we will give you a free copy of the game and access to our VIP section. Of course if you want to throw a few dollars our way to help the funding then please do. More news of the campaign once it goes live on one of the major crowd funding sites.

Introduction

The Dead Walk is a very advanced 2D zombie game currently in Alpha Phase. This means that it is working and playable but not yet completed. There is still quite a lot of work to do to bring it to a full release.

Firstly the game is currently written in desktop Java meaning it can only run on PC/Mac/linux, the aim is to get it out on iOS, Android and hopefully web browsers (Facebook/Google Plus). Once completed the game will be released for $1 on iOS and Android, there will also be a free version with adverts. The Facebook and Google Plus versions will be free with the ability to purchase extra features and content. Desktop versions for PC/Mac/linux will be fully featured and sell for $5 and include USB joypad support.

The game will be much deeper than it currently appears in our footage. The player will start with a simple machete and work his way up through better weapons (pistol, shotgun, rifle, rocket launcher, flame thrower etc). This means the game will be very tough at the beginning and the player will have to use stealth tactics like creeping up on zombies and attacking them from behind. The player will also be able to hide in the shadows to avoid confrontation. More noise brings more zombies so being silent can allow the player to get through the level facing less zombies. Players can also create decoy noises by setting up a distraction that the zombies will go to investigate. Traps can be set allowing huge groups of zombies to be disposed of in one go, for example the player distracts zombies with a decoy and when they go to investigate they hit a trip wire which explodes dynamite.

Much like in 3D games the player will be able to do advanced movements/animations, like hugging the wall while in the shadows so they can proceed unseen. The player will be able to do special moves in the right situation, like jump off a higher object and slice a zombie in two using a sword for example (similar to something like Assassins Creed). The player will also be able to dismember zombies, for example blast off an arm or a leg, or even a head. In this event the zombie will still keep walking, but with the missing body parts - so for example if the legs are blown off the zombie will continue to crawl at the player, or if the head is blown off it will walk blindly towards the player with blood
gushing out of its neck.

There will be a story running through the game, which unfolds before the player's eyes. The player will uncover the reasons behind the zombie outbreak and ultimately hunt down the people responsible. But during the course of the game the player will also meet many good and bad people, resulting in sub-missions within the game. For example if you rescue the little girl from the hotel, her father will become your loyal friend - he will pop up from time to time to save your life and aid your journey. Another example might be that you meet a group of people who aren't zombies but still want to kill you, and have you trapped in a building - you will have to escape and break out from their compound.

Most of these missions are optional but can give great returns. These returns will be things like new weapons and abilities, weapon and character upgrades as well as perks and things which can be called in. For example after a mission the player might be rewarded with an air-strike which will arrive in a crate and can be called in to wipe out many enemies. Similarly the player could choose to increase their fire-power or running speed.

The game will feature lots of cool moments and 'set pieces'. For example when escaping from the compound, the player might toss a flash grenade into a room full of his captors, then charge in wiping them out in slow-motion, before stealing their weapons and detonating their head quarters. Many buildings will be destructible adding to the realism of the game. 

You will also be able to swap to different team members as they join you. For instance when the main player is trapped in the compound, you will be able to flip to one of your specialists who can help in a particular way. For example, you could flip to the explosives specialist who will blow a hole in the wall of your cell and unchain you, or you could flip to your sniper specialist (hidden in a mountain many miles away) who can pick off the guards as they become visible. In this case a cross-hair will appear that you can control.

As you can see from the graphics already, the game is dark and serious. The rest of the game and story will continue in this manner (something like Manhunt). The resulting game should be a dark horror style 2D game the likes of which the world has never seen. I like to think of it as an advanced more serious mixture of Castlevania, Ghost n' Goblins, Shinobi, Metal Slug, Rolling Thunder and more. It is inspired by the 2D classics of the 80's and 90's but will be infinitely more polished and with a depth of game-play and story usually associated with 3D titles.

The hard work of creating the engine and 2D game design tool (entirely from scratch) has been largely completed. Using the code I have developed - all of the above is entirely possible - to do this I have created a tool named Dead++. This tool allows me to piece together levels, missions, sprites, buildings, interactions etc. The development of this tool and engine has taken many years and is still not fully complete. Creation of the graphics has also taken a very long time and again is not fully complete. 

We have self funded this entire game but are now completely out of funds and cannot continue development. Instead of stopping the development entirely we decided to make an Alpha stage demo and release videos of it to potential funders. Check out our videos and screen shots to see how far we have come already. With time and a little funding we can complete this epic title and release it to the masses. If you are interested in seeing this game released please consider donating to our cause - check out the rewards on offer to the right. 

Thanks,
Gareth Murfin
http://www.radiantsilverlabs.com/gaz
(Designer and developer of The Dead Walk).

Team

The team is one programmer (Gareth Murfin) and one artist (Magic Neih) - we also have some musicians contributing. 

Funding

Here is a break down of what we need the funding for:

Art

Create new zombies - currently we have 5, we need to make more to create variation. We also need new zombie animations like eating a body on the floor, rising from graves, being
dismembered and more.

Create different types of enemy. Right now we have 5 zombies who simply walk towards you and bite you. We want zombie dogs, flying zombies, non player characters, bosses and more! These new characters will allow for much more variation in the game-play.

New buildings and scenery. Our first world is rich in detail and variation, we wish to create more worlds of the same calibre, this takes much time and effort but results in an meticulously detailed and impressive game-play environment. 

Countless other items: animations for hero using melee weapons (machete, baseball bat, sword etc), power-ups such as crates that are air-dropped in, vehicles that the player can utilise to mash up zombies (Combined Harvester, Drilling Machines etc).

Code

In game code. There's still a lot to be done in the game engine, things like:

Improved AI - for smarter enemies, flying creatures, bosses, non player characters Kill streaks/Call ins - rewarding the player for a kill streak by allowing them to call in an air strike for example Weapon and character upgrades (increase fire-power or running speed for example)

Stealth modes - creeping in shadows, executing zombies silently with machete etc.

Extra game play modes - e.g. Survival mode where player must survive endless waves of zombies (scores will be shared on our website and on Facebook)

New animations and stylish moves - for example leaping from higher up and slicing a zombie in half with a Machete

The tool I have developed to create this game in needs to be improved in order to export multi-platform versions of the game. The game engine itself needs to be ported to each platform (for example iOS or Android) that it will run on. Once this is done the tool will be able to export the same game to multiple platforms. When the tool is fully developed it should be a decent 2D games design tool for producing games on different platforms, this will eventually be made available to games designers wishing to avoid programming and porting. 

Rewards

Funding is not yet finalised, here is what we are proposing, if you have any ideas or comments let us know, we simply wish to fund our project and reward those who helped accordingly.

$5
You will be listed on our website as a funder of the game, you will receive a free copy of the game on the platform of your choice - free copies will not contain adverts. You will also receive access to the VIP section of our site allowing you access to all of the music and graphics we have commissioned for the game and a video interview with the designers.

$50
All of the above but you will also be listed in the end game credits not just on the website. We will also send you a unique TDW (The Dead Walk) poster.

$750
All of the above and we will send you one of our gigantic special edition TDW (The Dead Walk) banners, a TDW T-shirt and poster and you can help us design a mission of your
choice within the game.

$3000
All of the above plus you will be able to send us a photo and we will pixel up you and a friend in the game as characters. The mission you design can feature you and your friend. You can also help us with the story and features of the game if you wish. We can also put your name or business on a building within the game. You will be listed in the opening credits and we will keep you up to date with exclusive demos as we proceed. 

$10,000
All of the above plus you can design an entire level for the game. We will draw every single building and implement your missions and characters. You will be listed in opening credits as executive producers. We also invite you to lunch or skype calls to really discuss what you would like in the game. You can be active in the design of sequels.

$25,000
All of the above, plus you can design 3 entire levels for the game. Additionally we will develop you small but fun 2D game using our tool. You can design the entire game and let us know what you want. The game will be delivered to you royalty free so that you can sell it. 

You will be given a free lifetime license to use Dead++ to create your own titles. You will be credited
as producer and you can have a splash screen in the game. Lets talk about future titles.

Promotion

If we achieve our goal the last $1000 will be put into some serious promotion. We will host live and
on-line events, and parties designed to gain interest in our product. We will be placing adverts on Facebook and Google - we are already planning a live action trailer to promote awareness. We will mail press releases until our eyes fall out, we want the world to enjoy this game. 

How can I help?

The best way to help is to donate - but equally as important to us is to spread the world. Ten shares on Google plus or Facebook could easily be as valuable as a donation in some cases. If you can't donate consider adding us on the Facebook group or Google plus group and spreading around our IndiGoGo.com campaign link, every little helps.

Support material

Please see our web page for The Dead Walk, it contains much more information about the game, complete with links to lots of our promotional videos and even over 70 videos of
the development of this game from an idea on a scrap of paper to a potentially epic zombie adventure. Thanks for reading.

Campaign will include:

Original Teaser Trailer
Intro from developer.
Teaser Trailer 2.
Ambient Video show casing landscape
Ambient video show casing landscape with zombies
Dead++ video.

Funds required $25,000.
based on 8 months full time for two people (monthly salary being $1500):

1 person : 1 month x $1500 x 8 months = $12000
= $12000 x2 people = $24000

$1000 promotion
= $25000

The tool to build the game - DEAD++

In order to build this game and future 2D games of almost any kind, I have developed a program which allows me to piece together all aspects of a 2D game. Here are a couple of videos showing the tool in action.

This video shows me doing some very early level design, placing buildings, floor etc and working out how it will all work.

This video is a bit of later level design, adding in the scenery, grass, buildings etc.

Feel free to check out the full playlist here.