[Let's Survive] Zafehouse Diaries

Nocren

So, think you got what it takes to be a leader of men (and women) in a post apocalyptic scenario?

Zafehouse Diaries is the first game of Screwfly Studios. Greenlit on Steam and released last year, it retails for about $10 on various websites (their own website, Steam, GoG, Desura).




Using a unique Diary format, you will organize your group of rag-tag survivors and get them to do various tasks; searching for supplies, fortifying their current location, keeping watch, going on patrol, even cooking meals and modifying gear. Assign team members to a task and then advance the clock, hour by hour and watch as the events unfold.




So why should you care?

This games adds something that's been missing from many previous Zombie Survival games: the Human element. Oh sure in other games, you have your super-human guy trying to survive or take care of his family/friends, but everyone mostly gets along and never causes any trouble in the group unless it's scripted. Zafehouse is different. Here, the survivors are real people with possible prejudices against race, class, sex and sexual orientation.

During the course of hourly events people will sometimes get along and improve their relationships, make snide comments to one another if they're not getting along, attempt to stave off boredom and mostly act like people. You can improve these relationships by spreading rumors among your survivors. Your mechanic, musician and carpenter don't like rich police officer because they come from a poor background and the po-po was rolling in dough? Spread the rumor that the officer did a lot of charity work for people with poor backgrounds


Green lines are good, broken lines show mistrust while arrowed lines show one-way prejudice.


And when I say real people, I mean real people. Zafehouse Diaries allows you to import pictures of your own including people and locations to make the city seem more familiar.



Here's the basic Survivor Creation screen. First, find a photo of your victim friend and make sure the face is highlighted in the box. Now, give them a name, level of education, financial background, sexual orientation, age, and of course their job and primary attribute (strong, smart, perceptive, resilient which will affect certain tasks).




Want to add some no-so run down buildings to your town? You can add new pictures and dictate what they represent.


Ok, sure, not everyone's gonna be a Priest, Engineer, Bartender, Librarian, Athlete, Musician, Surgeon, Firefighter, Officer, Chef, Cleaner, Carpenter, or Mechanic, which means that you can add your own jobs to the mix as well (though the original jobs do have the ability to trigger special events at certain locations).



Here you can give your new career a name as well as a general description, base stats for the job and what skills they will excel at. For example, my solider job is generally good at a lot of things, except making medicine and ammunition and is ok at making food. My hunter job is excellent at sniping, cooking and making ammo as well as being good at searching and watching for zombies, but isn't too good at making fortifications or assaulting a building.




Here's the main screen where you see your survivors and where they are currently located on the map. Here you assign them their tasks, make notes on the map, and see how secure a location as well as if there are any zombies/corpses that could possibly be inside.



There are currently 3 game modes available:

DEADLINE


This is the original game mode. You have 1 week and 5 random survivors to try and find a radio, the frequency, and pick-up location for when the chopper arrives to rescue you. There are other things out there though that could be worse then the dead. Only 1 survivor has to live to win, but you won't find anyone else willing to join your group so if anyone dies, they're gone.


ROADKILL


Like Deadline, you have only 5 survivors and no back-up, and there are dangers in the town other then shamblers, but here you're not waiting for rescue. Acting on a tip from a previous survivor, you learn about a broken down vehicle somewhere in town. Now to find the parts needed to repair it, gas to get it to go and a map to find your way outta town. There's no time limit, but that horde looks like it keeps getting bigger.


NO SURVIVORS


This is the "Unlimited" mode. There's no escape and no rescue. You start with one survivor and attempt to last as long as possible. However, you can recruit new survivors as you progress. However the group will never be larger then 5.


So, [Let's Play.]

If you want in, send me a decent size avatar pic (or real photo if you're not shy), and possibly a custom job if you'd like.

Two of the job skills not listed on the screen cap are "Making Traps" and "Producing Ammo".

Also if you guys have any awesome pictures of some locations, I'll use them too.

So, if anyone's interested, should we go No Survivors, Roadkill or Deadline?

Cause let's face it, with me at the helm, it's all gonna end badly.

TehSpectre

Seemed appropriate.


Name: MacSpectre
Sex: Male
Education: Uneducated
Orientation: Straight
Job: Officer
Skill: Perceptive
Age: 27

Detective MacSpectre is on the case. God help you all.

Nocren

Yeah, just did a test run for Roadkill.

Lost a guy.

Then we found the truck!

Then everyone else died...

Overall, lasted 2 days.

Not sure which one I should do for the LP... No Survivors will allow more people (in theory), but Roadkill has an objective and end goal.

EDIT: Mac... how did you even make the force without a high school education? :P

Or were you rich enough that you didn't have to go to school? (Need an income level)

TehSpectre

Oh, I guess he scraped by HS.

Income would be middle-class or whatevs

Nocren

I guess I could have gone with <random> for income.

Well, you're in for one hell of a day on the force.
Now I just need 4 more...