The Daily Click

::. ::. ::.

Author:	Spybreak	Submitted:	31st May, 2007	Favourites:	0
Genre:	Action	Downloads:	470
Rated:
Game of the Week Winner

Edited By Flava on 6/1/2007

Seemingly out of nowhere comes Tempest City, the first public release by Riviera Software.

Designed primarily with action in mind rather than survival horror, Tempest City is a moody, adrenaline-filled top-down zombie shooter. The action is fast paced and the zombies are unforgiving, but you have a keen eye and a sizeable arsenal of weapons at your disposal as you progress through the storyline.

The game features sixteen levels spread across Tempest City, including deserted streets, empty diners, office buildings, warehouses, and a sprawling research facility.

At your fingertips are a total of no less than 16 different weapons ranging from handguns to assault rifles, each with their own sounds and animations.

Tempest City features cutscenes with each level that provide character interaction and advance the plot. There are two different endings to earn. In addition, five bonus levels are available to unlock allowing you to replay certain levels with different characters.

Review This Download

http://www.rivierasoftware.net/files/Tempest_City.zip (4.2 mkb )

Posted by alexandre szybiak

1st June, 2007

Link and screenshots doesn't work for me.

Posted by Aptennap

1st June, 2007

So the game is pretty cool and looks good too (except the gradient walls), also lose the install.

Posted by Neuro

1st June, 2007

This game is OK, but a few things that frustrated me:

- All the zombies look the same, there's no way to tell which one is going to have loads of health
- The zombies seemed to be able to hit you from further than they should. This may be to balance the game and make it more difficult but there's no way of telling if you're a good enough distance. In fact, I think you take damage from that far because of the weapon animation when you shoot. Instead of colliding with the player, have them collide with an invisible hitbox of the player.
- I wanted to skip some of the dialogue, since I'd often read it before it changed. Pressing shift to display the next bit of dialogue would've been nicer than having to wait.

I got up to a point where the characters were talking about entering a Facility, then quit. The action got dull and repetitive, and I was expecting a little more variation other than pistol and assault rifle.

Also, I was able to complete some levels by simply running past the zombies. I'm not sure how this could be any different because zombies are stupid

A little variation in enemies would be nice, though (fast zombies? Spitting zombies?).

A few improvements to the gameplay and this would be a decent game

I realise you're using mostly built-in movements for the games factory, though. Try not to use these in your next game, and look up some more advanced clicking articles.

Posted by ben mercer

1st June, 2007

eyy a third person shooter, downloading

Posted by ben mercer

2nd June, 2007

This game is pretty well presented with cutscenes and everything.

It could have really done with some variation in the gameplay though, like neuro said. Different enemy types aren't the only way of adding variation; if you have a more in depth AI system you can create different situations in which the zombies will react in different ways, or you could create scripted sequences, such as a zombie bursting through a door.

One thing to remember for your future games is learning = fun (in a gaming context). You introduce a new situation in your game, the player will work out strategy for best dealing with this situation. Introduce a different situation, ditto. Now combine the two situations into one. This forces the player to adjust the two strategies they have already devised. If you continuously introduce new situations and combinations throughout your game, the gameplay will stay fresh the whole way through.

Other than the issues I already mentioned, and sketchy collisions, this is pretty good for a first game. Just remember to check the "multi samples" box in your game properties on TGF.

Posted by ben mercer

3rd June, 2007

Ok I have played through the game. The things that made it less fun than it could have been were;

-You can't move whilst reloading... what?!
-You cannot aim with the mouse and therefore can only shoot at right angles, making the shooting action very, VERY awkward
-The zombies seem to have EXTREMELY randomised hit points; sometimes they will go down in one hit, sometimes you can empty an entire clip into just one zombie and it still won't go down. The most that enemy health should be randomised is by 2/3 hits worth.
-The zombies look the same but move much faster in the later levels. Maybe create a new type of zombie that moves fast that looks different, so that the player knows they are dealing with something new.

Posted by waffleton

4th June, 2007

Nice :B

Posted by alexandre szybiak

4th June, 2007

still not working, does anybody knows why ?

Posted by ben mercer

4th June, 2007

Works fine for me

Posted by alexandre szybiak

7th June, 2007

It has the most votes, but nobody gave it thumbs up ?!

Posted by Spybreak

7th June, 2007

Thanks for all the comments, guys.

A lot of the complaints seem to be around the randomization of the zombie's hit points - believe it or not, they're not randomized at all. Each zombie is supposed to take a certain number of hits before falling; 5-6 from a 9mm, 2-3 from a 5.56, and so on. Games Factory seems to be a bit slow, though, resulting in the invici-zombies.

I downloaded a demo of MMF 1.5 and plugged in Tempest City, and everything is fine. If anybody wants to try to re-release it with MMF, let me know.

Posted by Eternal Man [EE]

18th June, 2007

The level with the time-limit is, how should I put it... DAMN FRUSTRATINGLY HARD!!!
I would personally call it quite impossible. If anyone has made it past it, please tell me.

Plus, there must be a bug in the zombie hitpoint coding, because, one zombie takes one hit, and the next can take like 30 hits from the same weapon.
You should really try and fix it.

Other than that and a few graphical issues + some common bugs, great game!

Posted by Spybreak

20th June, 2007

Hehehe...well, I have. Level 16 is the best level; I need to make more levels like that and less of the boxy ones.

The trick to getting through the last level before the timer runs out (if you want the good ending) is to manage your weapons and ammo; keep your DE357 loaded constantly and use it as your primary, switching to the HK416 only when the DE's magazine is empty. As soon as all immediate zombies are killed, switch back and reload the DE. This limits the amount of time spent fleeing from zombies until you reload.

Posted by Eternal Man [EE]

20th June, 2007

Okay.
I'll try that, but it's still quite hard...