Dusk of the Dead

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="20f785a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Mikes Homepage</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Homepage"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id231.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Zombie Games"><U><B>Zombie Games</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="210d2b03.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="DuskoftheDead.zip" TARGET="_top" TITLE="DuskoftheDead.zip"><U>Download</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Dusk of the Dead</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="6e15b040.png" border=0 width="347" height="260" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> This is one of the most promising Zombie games I have ever seen, too bad it will never be finished. I was just online looking for it and the homepage of the creator is gone. You pick 4 characters to run through the levels collecting fuel, guns, and ammo to kill the zombies then escape. </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="6e208c60.png" border=0 width="264" height="198" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The premise is to collect enough fuel to be able to travel to the next destination on the map. This demo only includes 3 levels, the cemetary, motel, and ghetto building.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="6e4902c0.png" border=0 width="400" height="300" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The gameplay is a combination of 3rd person overhead to move and first person to shoot. I think the zombies look really great allthough polygonated. </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="6e308c60.png" border=0 width="264" height="198" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> If anyone has any more information on this game or has plans on finishing it please drop me a line. I would assume it wouldn't be too bad to finish with the engine already in place.</div> <bR> <div> Welcome to the world of Dusk of the Dead...</div> <bR> <div> How long do you think you could survive in a world invaded by zombies? Well, you can now answer the question by playing the PC game!</div> <bR> <div> Minimum Requirement:</div> <bR> <div>     * Windows 95</div> <div>     * DirectX 7.0 download</div> <div>     * Pentium II 300MHz</div> <div>     * 64 MB Ram</div> <div>     * Video 4MB VRAM with 3D acceleration</div> <bR> <div> Features :</div> <div>    <IMG SRC="fa8af960.png" border=0 width="175" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <IMG SRC="fa9c8960.png" border=0 width="200" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>     * Full 3D survival action game</div> <div>     * 10 maps with multiple levels packed with zombies</div> <div>     * Over 25 types of zombies</div> <div>     * 8 characters with their own characteristics : life points, speed, stress level and weapon</div> <div>     * Inventory including weapons, ammunitions, fuel, first aid packs, keys, maps, etc.</div> <div>     * All controls are done with the mouse.</div> <div>     * Chills guaranteed!</div> <bR> <div> The dead are back on earth and there is no way to stop them.</div> <div> The only chance to survive is to reach a sanctuary called "Paradise Island".</div> <div> Your team will have to fly across the USA with an helicopter to reach it. But they will have to stop several times to refill the gas tank of the helicopter.</div> <bR> <div> Dusk of the game is the combination of top-down view for moving your character and first-person view for shooting the zombies. This feature is a worldwide exclusivity that will soon be a classic.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     These are a few hints & tricks that will help you to go deeper in Dusk of the Dead.</div> <bR> <div> 1. Zombies</div> <bR> <div>     * The only way to kill a zombie is to shoot in the head. One shot is enough.</div> <div>     * Don't try to kill all the zombies. They are too numerous to be beaten.</div> <div>     * Zombies are slow, so you can run through a group of zombies without being catch</div> <div>     * Be ready to fight or run when you climb a stairway.</div> <div>     * According to the stage, the zombies keep on coming (see the chart below).</div> <div>     * According to the stage, the zombies can open the closed doors (see the chart below).</div> <bR> <div> 2. Weapons</div> <bR> <div>     * You can instantly reload your weapon by clicking on the icon of the weapon (if you have ammunitions in your inventory).</div> <div>     * You can use the time to climb or go down a stairway to reload your weapon.</div> <div>     * Each weapon has its own characteristics of precision, number of ammo, reloading time. So, try to use the right weapon according to the situation. Use the rifle to shoot far away. Use the machine-gun to go through an infested room.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> 3. Characters</div> <bR> <div>     * If a member of the team is bitten by a zombie, his life gauge will slowly but surely go down, until he dies. The only cure is to find a first aid kit and use it in your inventory.</div> <div>     * If a member of the team goes back to the helicopter without being cured, even though he made it until the helicopter, he will be considered as dead for the next mission, and will be removed from the team in the next area.</div> <div>     * If one character becomes a zombie, he will leave all the fuel that the had at the place where he died, so another member of the team can go and pick them back.</div> <div>     * However, the dead member will not leave the weapons, ammunitions, first aid, that he may have picked up. They are wasted, so be careful when a character picks up a weapon or ammo : does he really need it?</div> <div>     * The more stress the character accumulates, the slower he moves. The longer the character runs, the slower he moves. To restore his maximum speed, he must rest a while, without moving.</div> <div>     * The current level of stress of the character depends on the number of zombies that are surrounding him. The more stress, the less accurately the character can shoot.</div> <div>     * If a character is catch by a zombie and start to be bitten, he can try to escape by quickly clicking on the left and right buttons of the mouse.</div> <bR> <div> 4. Stages</div> <bR> <div>     * If a character is in a bad position (no more ammo, for example), he can lock himself with the keys in a safe room and wait for another member of the team to come and rescue him. When a door is locked, no zombie can open it.</div> <div>     * If the Fog of War is activated in the options, you can use the map briefly before entering in a new room to check the number of zombies inside. But don't forget to get your weapon back in hand before entering...</div> <div>     * If you want to experience a Black & White graphics style, like in the old movies, you can activate it in the Setup menu when you launch the game.</div> <bR> <div>       Stages information</div> <bR> <div>          Zombies      Speed      Regenerate      Open doors      Weapons      Ammo      First Aid      Fuel</div> <div>     Motel      30      4      No      No      10      10      5      12</div> <div>     Cemetery      80      7      Yes      No      6      12      2      14</div> <div>     Ghetto      80      6      No      No      4      15      3      14</div> <div>     Bunker      150      12      Yes      Yes      4      14      2      13</div> <div>     Castle      160      10      No      No      6      13      3      13</div> <div>     Farm      150      12      Yes      Yes      3      6      1      9</div> <div>     Shopping      200      14      No      Yes      6      7      4      10</div> <div>     Old house      120      12      Yes      Yes      3      3      2      10</div> <div>     Offices      200      10      No      No      6      15      2      14</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="fa736c00.png" border=0 width="310" height="448" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> 5. Troubleshooting - known bugs</div> <bR> <div>     * With some video cards, if you run the game in a window, the mouse will have inertia to move (I still could not figure out why). Set the game in full screen will solve the problem.</div> <div>     * Sometimes during the game, a weapon will be displayed floating on top of the character. Why?...</div> <div>     * After a few stages, some of the zombies will have weird texture. I guess this is because of the video memory release that is not clean.</div> <div>     * If you don't have a 3D accelerated video card, the game will run in software mode, so you better choose a low resolution if you want a good framerate (320x240 is recommended).</div> <div>     * If your Windows video setup is different from 16 bits (65000 colors), you have to set the same 'Color bits' and 'Z buffer bits' in the 'Setup' menu to run the game.</div> <bR> <div> From the Authors old site.</div> <bR> <div> I am not going to tell you where I come from and what I am doing for a living because this is of no interest. Instead, let me explain you why you can play Dusk of the Dead today.</div> <bR> <div> Dust of the Dead is the result of a long frustration of not finding in the stores the game I always dreamt I could play one day. As you may have guess, I am a big fan of horror movies, especially the Zombie related ones. So, I enjoyed games like Alone in the Dark or Biohazard (Resident Evil), but in both games, the way you controlled your character was too difficult and I was always frustrated during fights with zombies because it was almost impossible to precisely aim at the zombies. Besides, when I played Diablo, the way you moved your character was very easy, but the fights were really boring : just click on the enemy as fast as you can 'til death. On the opposite, Quake was the perfect game for targeting precisely an enemy, but the movements were too complicated. So I mixed the best parts of both games and added zombies and here was the concept of Dusk of the Dead! The result does not reach commercial products for graphics or sound, but I am pretty proud of the gameplay : friends from beginners to hardcore gamers enjoyed the intuitive controls and the chilling of being chased by zombies. And I am not bored of playing my game after almost one year of development.</div> <bR> <div> I wrote my first line of code in April 2000, and there is still a lot of maps to be produced, but the game is almost there. Although I had some help from friends for programming or game features improvement, basically this game was made from A to Z with my 10 fingers. I hope this will prove that if you really want, you can make the game of your dream.</div> <bR> <div> My wife was sometimes frustrated because of the time I spent on the game instead of enjoying the family life with her and my kids. She had hard time to figure out why I was spending my time making a thing that eventually would be given away. But she also understood that it is a need for me to create things. So I dedicate the game to my (patient) wife, Chia Chi.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>