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[Recommend ON] Survival Games
Dr Snofeld
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
You know the kind. Land on desert island, find food and water, build tent, build slightly better tent, and so on and so forth. Balancing needs, development and exploration.
As far as platforms go, ideally I'd like PC or DS, but PS2 or Wii/Gamecube would also be acceptable.
Stuff I already played
Stranded 2: Freeware first-person desert island game. Fun for a while, but suffers from having too little to do other than harvesting building materials, and has a horrible building mechanic (right click 50 times to build hut, etc).
Notrium: Freeware top-down alien planet survival. This is more like it. Starting with a few odds and ends, you go on to fashion weapons and gadgets to fight off aliens and get off the planet. Download here if you're interested
I've heard of some shareware game called UnReal World, but it looked really intimidating so I never tried it.
Any suggestions? I'm guessing there's been a few threads like this one before.
As far as platforms go, ideally I'd like PC or DS, but PS2 or Wii/Gamecube would also be acceptable.
Stuff I already played
Stranded 2: Freeware first-person desert island game. Fun for a while, but suffers from having too little to do other than harvesting building materials, and has a horrible building mechanic (right click 50 times to build hut, etc).
Notrium: Freeware top-down alien planet survival. This is more like it. Starting with a few odds and ends, you go on to fashion weapons and gadgets to fight off aliens and get off the planet. Download here if you're interested
I've heard of some shareware game called UnReal World, but it looked really intimidating so I never tried it.
Any suggestions? I'm guessing there's been a few threads like this one before.
Dr Snofeld on
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Could you tell me a little more about it? I've not heard how it actually plays, if you get my meaning.
On-topic, supposedly the Lost in Blue games or whatever the hell they're called for the DS are good, at least enough for there to be two sequals last I checked. If you're a real retro nut the Survival Kids game for the old-school gameboy color was also decent (though they never localized the second game to my knowledge, a pity).
Steam, PSN, XBL, Xfire and everything else JamesDM
Pretty much what it sounds like. Start with a small group of dwarves, deal with immigrants and goblin invasions, drink beer and build deathtraps for your nobles. The ASCII graphics can be offputting to some people, although there are fanmade tilesets, too.
also, as a small point, in the title it should be "recommend" not "reccomend"
:P
The Dwarf fortress moto is "Losing is fun"! The only thing to remember in Dwarf fortress is that there IS a pause button. If you're not sure of the controls, pause and open the menu with tab to find your actions.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
For a while at least.
True, it may seem complex at first, but after a couple failures you can build a large empire.
http://www.jmp.fi/~smaarane/urw.html
*cough* http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=63773 *cough*
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Have you ever played a roguelike? It's like that, except it has graphics (albeit, crappy).
You create a character by rolling your characters stats (and things like phobias) and then you put points in your skills (which range from fishing, cooking, timbercraft, hide work, tracking etc.).
Then you're plopped down in this gigantic fucking world to survive in. You can pick a scenario, like you're a runaway slave with only the clothes on his back. Or you're on a hunting trip with your father when he's mauled by a bear and you have to survive (in general, but also that fucking bear or whatever killed him).
Or you can just play freely. The freedom of the game is ridiculous. You can find a wife (I don't know if there are kids yet), build a home, be a fisherman, or live off hunting. You can be a trader. You can be a bandit who kills and steals from people. You can be a cannibal. You can live in a village. You can slaughter a village. You can be a crazy hermit who builds traps all around him so the animals and people alike fall and die in them. You can kill anyone and go anywhere you like. Different kinds of people and animals roam the world like you do, so it can make the game really random (and awesome).
So much stuff you can do. So many ways to die.
It's hard. Balls is it hard. If you're unprepared, most animals that aren't squirrels or beavers can kill you. A seemingly not-that-bad wound can fester and kill you if left untreated. Human opponents and large animals like bears are absolutely deadly. You can hit bad luck, like starving because you can't find a village and there are no fish biting. Hell, a plague can suddenly infect your area.
The game is pure awesome, though.
Was going to recommend this, it's called the Sims 2: Castaways. Also available on PS2 and Wii.
Check the Dwarf Fortress thread and the wiki at http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_Page if you're just starting out. There's a good list of stuff to take on your first fortress and kind of a primer to get you started.
The ASCII graphics can be kind of intimidating at first, but eventually you feel like you can read those Matrix glyphs to see exactly what's going on in an instant. If you find any symbols you can't figure out, I think you can use the query tool to tell you what they are.
You crash land on an alien planet and have to survive. You need to find food and warmth and avoid the native wildlife all the while trying to survives, escape, and uncover the mysteries of the island. There's several different races each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Sounds almost exactly like what you're looking for.
He listed this in the OP.:P
I...completely missed that. Glossed over it somehow. Go me :P
If you have NWN, I remember there being several mods out there that fit the bill.
You can find it here.
I've tried to play Dwarf Fortress quite a few times, but can never quite get into it. I can handle the interface fine but I lack the planning and imagination to make the likes of Boatmurdered or the underwater glass fortresses I've read about in the thread.
Might try Schiffbruch again, played that once.
I'll go ahead and mention Notrium again,, as a recommendation. If you do decide and play it, don't trade your radio to the hermit for a key, just kill him and take the key, and use his house as your own. Like Morrowind.
Sims 2: Castaway is available for Wii, PS2, PSP and DS IIRC. It is a decent game, but might be lacking in the "survival" aspect as it really doesn't take much effort to survive. You really just have to do the right things to get out, but it is alot of fun to just wander around for a while.
I would also like to throw up A Tale in the Desert, if you like crafting. While it is not a survival game per se, it does entail the usual, gathering, learning and forging of tools that you usually end up doing in a survival game. There is a PA thread, although it seems to be dead now: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=76468
As far as Lost in Blue goes, I really liked it but I played Survival Kids and SK2 back "in the day" and essentially being a sequel, it was almost nostalgic for me. Basically if you are looking for a deserted island survival game with a decent story and corporate backing(i.e. polish(i.e. non indy game)) it is as good as you are going to get I figure.
Steam, PSN, XBL, Xfire and everything else JamesDM
Dead Rising?
Neither are really what you are looking for, but kind of sort of?
I actually work with an indy developer and we have been throwing around the idea of your "dream game" for a while, it is something we have wanted to do forever but haven't quite figured out the best way to handle it.
Steam, PSN, XBL, Xfire and everything else JamesDM
There's something similar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_Crisis_Z
http://skasoftware.com/
No co-op, though, I think.
some gameplay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol73B6siNUY&feature=related
It's awesome, and now it's also free.
It was made by the guy who's doing that x-box dishwasher samurai game.
Gah, why didn't I think of that. It is a fun adventure shooter for a while, you may enjoy it thoroughly if that is what you are looking for. I had fun for a couple days playing it.
Steam, PSN, XBL, Xfire and everything else JamesDM
Urban Dead
www.urbandead.com
Steam, PSN, XBL, Xfire and everything else JamesDM
That's Urban Dead, though it's rather light on the survival elements not to mention one of those so-many-actions-a-day games which might be undesireable.
Although if you want to take a rather loose definition of a survival game, Left 4 Dead is a very good one.
So I just discovered. There's no way around it huh. Damn.
http://www.wurmonline.com/
pretty fun, build a town with others, mine/chop/cook/whatever.
Origin: Broncbuster
Lost in Blue (the first) for the DS is a pretty good survival experience. I've only played the first one, but from what I understand, the second and third(?) don't change much.
To summarize, it is really hard to keep yourself fed, energetic, and sheltered for the first few hours of play, until you can perfect fishing, get furniture, cook well, etc...
Hunting and trapping felt difficult enough that I never really bothered with them unless I needed pelts, but exploring further out through the island was fun. (I will warn you though, there are points you will desperately want to keep going but will have to turn back to avoid starvation. And at least one fiendish water-block puzzle you will have to go to gameFAQs for.)
If the main enjoyment you get from survival games is setting up a shelter and picking what goes where, you'll be a little disappointed- you only get the one cave 5 minutes in, and only get to build things as either you or your painfully stupid AI partner think of them or find the items to make them with.
But really, in the end, I'd say it's worth the 20 bucks you'd pay for it.