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State of Decay demonstrates the virtues of stealth
Pop quiz, apocalypse survivors: You desperately need to get into a nearby gun store to complete a mission, but it's surrounded by a small horde of zombies. Running through them and shooting your way in are both undesirable options, so what do you do? What do you do? In a short alpha video from Undead Labs, a State of Decay player instead uses tricks and stealth to achieve his goal. He tosses some fireworks from a nearby water tower, prompting the zombies to investigate and leave the scene. Following that, it's a quick dash in and out to trigger a job well done. You can watch this nail-biting footage after the jump, and don't forget to check out Massively's report on the game from PAX.
Undead Labs talks about guns in State of Decay
Today's official blog post about State of Decay is not about careful examination of different cultures. It's not about understanding what creates a zombie and how the sickness can be stopped. It's not even about the careful process of finding and maintaining your food supplies in the wake of societal breakdown. No, this is a blog post about guns. It is all about the weapons you will use to blow the undead into little bite-sized chunks of zombie. The centerpiece is a huge list of guns that players can expect to find and shoot in the game, each with varying properties and ammunition types. It's also meant to expand in the future. So there's no subtlety here, just deadly firearms and the promise of using them to mow down shambling zombies to ensure your own survival. What more could you really want? Aside from functional vehicles and a planet not crawling with monsters that want to eat your brains, of course.
PAX Prime 2012: Undead Labs' State of Decay
Everyone loves zombies, right? Apparently so because they're absolutely everywhere (like Miami, for instance), but we keep on lapping it up. Secretly, though, I think a lot of us are tired of the same old zombie games. After all, if you're one of the truly hardcore that has a zombie apocalypse plan that includes where you'll hole up, how you'll find weapons, what you'll eat, and so forth, it's a little disappointing that most games tend to focus solely on the zombie-shooting part of the zombie apocalypse (not that there's anything wrong with zombie-shooting). Undead Labs' upcoming MMO State of Decay might change all that. The game will take place in a persistent world where players are responsible for rounding up survivors, finding the necessary resources to build defenses and stay alive, and of course, fighting off the zombie hordes. Finally, those of you who have long debated the merits of going to the gun store vs. not going to the gun store in the event of an apocalypse can see whose plan works better. And what's more, at PAX Prime 2012, I got to sit down and play around with it myself, though not for nearly as long as I would have liked. Regardless, if State of Decay is on your radar -- and it should be -- then I'd be glad to tell you all about my 20-odd minutes with the title.
State of Decay is the new name for Class3
It's been a long time since we've heard anything concrete on Class3, the upcoming zombie XBLA game from Undead Labs. Well, that's probably because Class3 is dead – it's now called State of Decay.The latest trailer above reveals the new moniker, and also a new platform: the PC. Microsoft Studios is still publishing State of Decay, and while this new trailer seems counter to the low prominence of combat Jeff Strain promised us so many moons ago, we're just glad this project is still skulking around.
Undead Labs reveals State of Decay gameplay trailer
Undead Labs has been working in relative secrecy for going on two years now. All we knew about the firm's cryptically (and temporarily) titled Class3 was that it had something to do with zombies and that it was coming to the Xbox 360. Now, thanks to a new trailer, we know that the game is officially called State of Decay and it's also coming to the PC. Whether it's an MMO or simply a precursor to the rumored Class4 MMO is still undetermined. All that said, the trailer shows off plenty of open-world third-person shooting action, zombie-centric gore, and even a muscle car and the requisite rusty old pickup truck. Undead says that State of Decay is set in an "open sandbox world [that] develops in real-time" and that gameplay involves "designing and fortifying your home base." Click past the cut for the full video.
Undead Labs on making a believable zombie apocalypse
In their gory, gruesome office, Undead Labs' devs are hard at work figuring out the best way to disembowel you and turn you into a walking nightmare. So far it's going well, according to a new Q&A by CM Sanya Weathers. Weathers sheds some light on the difficulties of creating a zombie-infested world, particularly in relation to spawn points, mob density, and artificial intelligence. "It takes surprisingly smart AI to make zombie behaviors that are believably dumb," she writes. According to her, Undead Labs' Class3 will boast "thousands" of zombies, all of which will be able to react to sounds, light, and explosions. Weathers says that the game is in the final stages of pre-alpha production and we should be seeing gameplay footage from it soon. Other topics covered in the Q&A include player weapons, how to attract zombies, types of zombies, and a fast food joint called the Swine & Bovine.
Undead Labs hires community director, Class3 info forthcoming
With the rash of MMO-related job losses in recent weeks, it's nice to see the occasional blurb about a dev finding a new home. Former Dominus and Dark Age of Camelot community guru Sanya Weathers has landed at Undead Labs, where she'll be heading up -- you guessed it -- the community relations department. This is good news for fans of the firm's tentatively titled Class3 zombie MMO as well. As Undead Labs' Jeff Strain writes, "you don't hire a kick-ass community director if you have nothing to say."
Undead Labs answers questions about Class3's open world
Undead Labs has been putting out a steady stream of information for potential players of Class3, the company's upcoming single-player prelude to the massively multiplayer Class4. The last major update in January showed some previews of the game under development, something that prompted a great deal of discussion about how the game will play. As a result, this month's session of questions and answers focuses on player speculation and the game's open-world environment. According to this set of answers, players will be able to explore the game through a variety of means, including taking shelter inside the houses across the landscape, jumping over fences, and making careful use of vehicles found through the world. There's also discussion about making use of the environment as a weapon via ragdoll physics plus a tantalizing hint that more information will be forthcoming about the game in the spring. Fans of the upcoming zombie apocalypse will want to take a look at the full set of answers, which will hopefully serve as a precursor to an epic MMO in the same vein.
Undead Labs' Jeff Strain takes players behind-the-scenes of Class3
If you're as big of a zombie fan as we are, we're sure you're anxiously awaiting Undead Labs' Class3 project as well as its massively multiplayer counterpart, Class4. The studio's founder, Jeff Strain, stopped by the official Undead Labs site today to post the first dev blog entry of 2012, and in celebration of the new year, he's offering fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Class3 in action. Strain notes that the team is "not quite ready to post official trailers" of Class3 at this juncture, but that didn't stop him from prowling the offices with his iPhone in order to catch some footage of the in-development title. The spy-cam footage gives players a look at various facets of the game's development, including. but not necessarily limited to, zombies (duh), a guy running alongside a giant rolling buzzsaw blade, concept art, the studio's wall-o'-fan-love, and two players defending their encampment from a zombie siege. Strain closes on a high note, stating that "Class3 is on-schedule and looking great. We're excited to show it to you and the rest of the world officially." For the full, zed-tastic video, just click on past the cut.
The Perfect Ten: The upcoming long-shots
In coming up with a follow-up list to my previous Upcoming MMO Contenders list, I found myself almost paralyzed by more choices than I could shake a wireless mouse at. Pointing at the sure bets is one thing, but narrowing down a field of dozens and dozens of interesting -- yet more far-flung -- prospects is far more difficult. It's one thing to have a good idea; it's another to say whether or not this game will actually make it to launch, and if it does, that it'll pull the idea off well. That said, I've lost some hair and two pounds sweating out this list, and I feel sleeker for it. Today's Perfect Ten is all about the long-shots, the titles that may not have the huge budget, big name studios, or anything solid to show for it, but could still become contenders in their own right if everything is played just right. Deep breath -- let's give it a go!
Undead Labs' writer talks story in zombie MMOs
Don't look now, but there's another MMO jumping on the story bandwagon. This time it's Undead Labs' Class3 console game, and there's a new dev blog up on the title's official site that outlines writer Travis Stout's modus operandi. Stout is a huge fan of the zombie genre, and that's a good thing given Class3's focus on the walking dead and the creeptastic atmosphere surrounding them. So what does Stout see as a writer's main mission when it comes to the upcoming MMO? "Take the zombies out of the equation and be damn sure you've got a rock-solid story full of interesting, well-developed characters and exciting action," he explains. "Then put the zombies back in so those characters can smash their heads in with tire irons."
Undead Labs Q&A touches on health bars, death mechanics
Undead Labs has posted another question-and-answer session with fans of its upcoming Class 3 zombie MMO. The firm fielded a bunch of queries relating to healing, death, health bars, and assorted other topics. "You'll have a health bar so you won't have to guess how much health you have, but zombies won't. While we could have opted to have no health bar for you too, we wanted to emphasize the survival aspect of the game by having the damage you take stick with you until you can heal up," the dev team says. The Q&A also features some interesting tidbits about weight, fatigue and stamina, and the fact that zombies will respond to the noise generated by building survival structures (translation: Bring your duct tape). Read all about it at the official Undead Labs blog.
Undead Labs moving right along with Class3
The end of September marked a graduation of sorts for members of the Undead Labs development team. The company's untitled maiden voyage has officially crossed the threshold from pre-production to in production, and a blog post on the firm's web site celebrates the milestone with something of a rah-rah speech from founder Jeff Strain. "I'm blown away by how far we've come in such a short amount of time. Our task now as we move headlong into the production phase is to take this fun little gem and turn it into something we're proud to show the world," Strain wrote. The gem he's referring to is currently known only by its Class3 codename. We do know that it's about zombies and that it's only for consoles. Aside from that, the title is shrouded in a fair bit of mystery. Strain's post also features a time-lapse video that shows off the game's CryEngine 3-powered time-of-day effects, and you can check that out after the cut.
Undead Labs learns the psychology of the apocalypse at Burning Man
In a recent dev diary, Undead Labs' Gronk gives us a first-hand perspective on a trip he made to the Nevada desert for Burning Man. Why is a vacation travel log news for MMO fans? Well, mostly because the experience was written up with post-apocalyptic survival in mind -- a topic that Undead Labs will be tackling in its upcoming zombie MMO. "At Burning Man, real-world currency is largely useless... much like it would be after a societal collapse," Gronk writes. "Would you want to trade the food you need to survive for some green paper? I sure wouldn't." Reading a personal experience like this leads us to believe that the Undead Labs zombie MMO will have a heart -- a rotting, putrid, maggot-infested heart -- but still, a heart. [Photo Credit: Wacky Archives]
Class3 runs on CryEngine 3, has some lazy zombies
The above video of Undead Labs' Class3 isn't exactly what we'd call gameplay per se, but it is our first glimpse at what the survival simulator will roughly look like once it eventually shambles its way onto XBLA. The game will run on CryEngine 3, and despite still being in the earliest of development stages, things are looking pretty solid for an XBLA game. Don't these zombies have anything better to do than to stand around all day, though? Get a job, zombies!%Gallery-131241%
Undead Labs brings Class3 to (un)life with CryENGINE 3
Following last week's dev diary featuring Undead Labs' art director Doug Williams and his talk on the "heart of horror," the most recent dev diary from the studio shifts in a more technical direction. In particular, executive producer Jeff Strain focuses on the game's engine. Even more particularly, he announces that the tentatively named Class3 will be running on the powerful CryENGINE 3. Of course, the devs over at Undead Labs are quite familiar with the traditions of the internet and anticipate shouts of "pics or it didn't happen" with a lovely screenshot from an early version of the game. But wait, there's more! Call now and you'll receive not just a single screenshot, but an entire video! Just click past the break and check out an early version of Undead Labs' Class3 in action, then skip on over to the dev blog to read the full entry.
Undead Labs art director talks about the heart of horror
So what is art direction and why is it important to video games in general and MMORPGs in particular? That's a good question, and sadly one that can't be answered in a brief news post. What we can do, though, is point you to some worthwhile reading on the subject. Today's lesson comes courtesy of Undead Labs and Doug Williams. Williams serves as the art director on the firm's upcoming zombie apocalype Xbox Live Arcade MMO (currently codenamed Class3), and while you might expect him to spend time talking about gory effects or the best way to render blood and brains in a dark environment, Williams actually spends a good portion of the latest Undead Labs blog post talking about something called "Faded Americana." "Faded Americana really resonates with me because there are many analogies between the style and a zombie apocalypse. In both cases, you see society hanging onto the ghosts of its past," Williams explains. The concept goes a long way towards explaining Undead Labs' decision to set the game primarily in a small town environment, and Williams has quite a few interesting anecdotes relating to influential games as well as the challenges inherent in separating the new game from the stack of zombie-themed entertainment products that have swarmed over the popular consciousness in recent years.
New interview with Undead Labs' Jeff Strain covers technology and fun
Console MMO fans, rejoice. We have a new interview with Undead Labs' Jeff Strain on the studio's upcoming Xbox 360 titles. The two titles, code-named Class3 and Class4, are an Xbox Live Arcade title (which will allow the studio to test their technology and give players a taste of what's to come) and an open-world MMORPG, respectively. Throughout the interview, Strain touches on a few important subjects, such as Class3 and how it is helping the team develop and prepare for Class4. He also mentions that the team's concern with Class4 is not with the fact that it's a server-hosted online world, but ensuring that said server-hosted online world is fun to play. Although it's a somewhat short interview, it's certainly worth the read for any zombie fan anticipating Undead Labs' upcoming titles.
The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: True Fantasy Live Online
As an extremely amateur historian -- and an extremely attractive archaeologist -- I've always been fascinated with the "what ifs" of gaming's timeline. What if Blizzard had pulled the plug on World of Warcraft during development as it did for Warcraft Adventures? What if Hellgate: London had a lot more time and resources before it launched? What if North America had embraced the free-to-play model much earlier instead of the subscription model? What if Shawn came to his senses before he hired me? Life would've been a lot better. Or worse. That's the problem with counterfactual history: We can make educated guesses, but we'll never really know. While it's sad to see MMOs shut down due to underperformance, it's especially maddening to contemplate MMOs canceled before they even made it to the starting gate. In a new periodic series here at The Game Archaeologist, I'm going to look at a few of the "what ifs" of prematurely terminated MMORPGs. And to kick us off, I'm tackling probably one of the most frustrating, painful subjects that still linger amongst potential fans. I'm talking, of course, of True Fantasy Live Online, the game that could've shown the true potential of console MMOs. Or, y'know, not.
Undead Labs talks about environments and the undead
The upcoming zombie games from Undead Labs are aiming to give players a feeling of genuinely surviving in a world ruled by shambling corpses. To make that work correctly, players are going to need lots of little touches here and there to reinforce just what has gone wrong and what sort of threat living humans are facing. In the most recent set of questions and answers from the development team, more elements of the environment and interaction with same are spelled out, giving prospective survivors an idea of what to expect. While the game isn't planned to be an ornate physics simulator, there will be a practical limit to how much an individual can carry -- and while vehicles can carry more, the problems of noise and fuel will place some limits on stacking an SUV to the brim with heavy weapons. Hunting wildlife and handling aquatic environments will both be issues in the game, with the obvious caveat that humans drown far more easily than zombies. There are a lot of other interesting tidbits in the full rundown as well as some valuable takeaways that aspiring survivors would do well to internalize.
