Prisonscape - a prison RPG

[Cosmic Misogynerd]

Are you like this IRL?

 

[PekkaK]

I know they're all a real thing but fuck can I say? The names are ridiculous.

Spoiler

Especially the "Neutral inmates". "Boy, you wanna watch yourself around here. The neutral inmates are some hardcore, stone cold muthafuckas."

Also drop the ranks for intimidation, fighting and pickpocketing. I know you assholes probably wanted to fill out the screen with skills real fucking bad but to me it just looks lazy as shit.

That's an old screenshot. Those skill names were originally meant to be as placeholders, since there's no point in showing all the ranks of one skill. Here's a more recent one:

Spoiler

 

[OSK]

They are all actual prison gang names.

No one pointed out that he thought Nuestra Familia was an Italian prison gang? There's literally a sombrero there.

 

[Lhynn]

They are all actual prison gang names.

No one pointed out that he thought Nuestra Familia was an Italian prison gang? There's literally a sombrero there.

Nope, not italian, actually spanish for "Our Family".

 

[palmito]

Still missing the arguments of those who hate java. And why the game would be worse with java?

 

[vmode]

What's with the hate towards Java as a development platform?

If I had to take a stab in the dark, I'd say because it's viewed as "baby's first programming language" and is associated with buggy, unoptimized and unfinished games by amateurs. People also probably have bad memories of Java applets.

In reality, there's nothing wrong with choosing Java for your game.

You pretty much nailed it. Especially Java applets were problematic (and still are, security wise) back in the day. These days Java is a mature platform and it's up to the programmer to make sure the game is optimized properly.

That being said, Java will be bundled with Prisonscape so the end user doesn't have to deal with installing or updating Java.

 

[PekkaK]

We've started working on the battle system, here's a short work-in-progress GIF of how it currently looks:

We have also decided to implement the "card system" that Lhynn suggested in here.

 

[GlutenBurger]

I like how visceral it is, but the blood spraying in the wrong direction makes it look a bit odd.

 

[funkadelik]

The cigarette butts on the ground is a very nice touch!

 

[PekkaK]

It has been a while since our last update, mostly because we've been doing stuff "under the hood", mostly coding and scripting. We've done a little overhaul on the graphics, though, and here are some GIFs as a proof:

Basically we just added more contrast to everything to make it really "pop out", and it also gave the game a more grittier look. Of course we are still far away from done and the environment looks really static. More inmates need to be added and they need to do something (talk to each other, play dominos, etc.) and the environment also needs some movement like flies flying around the garbage bins, rats running around TV's showing soap operas.

 

[Lhynn]

Looks pretty fucking good, is someone in charge of the music/sounds in the game? Also will you be able to cross someone elses grid? ally grid, enemy grid, etc?

 

[Crane]

We've started working on the battle system, here's a short work-in-progress GIF of how it currently looks:

I'm guessing that 'Cum on his face' isn't in the cards.

I kid. I've always had this weird infatuation with prison settings in video games, so I'm interested in seeing how this turns out.

 

[vmode]

Looks pretty fucking good, is someone in charge of the music/sounds in the game? Also will you be able to cross someone elses grid? ally grid, enemy grid, etc?

Hey Lhynn, sorry for the late reply.

You can hear some samples here https://soundcloud.com/kc_portman/prisonscape-soundtrack-teaser.

I'll probably start implementing the grid in the beginning of next year, so we'll see how the grid falls into place. For now we've been trying to get the alpha ready, i.e. finishing all the stuff you can do in the County Jail.

Did Pekka contact you about alpha testing yet?

 

[Lhynn]

Hey Lhynn, sorry for the late reply.

You can hear some samples here https://soundcloud.com/kc_portman/prisonscape-soundtrack-teaser.

I'll probably start implementing the grid in the beginning of next year, so we'll see how the grid falls into place. For now we've been trying to get the alpha ready, i.e. finishing all the stuff you can do in the County Jail.

Did Pekka contact you about alpha testing yet?

He told me a few months ago he would let me know, next week my vacations start and i should have free time!

 

[aris]

i hate that jprg graphic style

 

[PekkaK]

We came up with some new features for the battle in the game. Basically we want most of the fights to have consequences, there's more details in this blog post:

http://www.indiedb.com/games/prisonscape/news/fighting-and-consequences

The game will be quite heavy on dialogue (not as much as Torment but still a lot), do you think this is a good or bad thing? Let's assume that the dialogue is well-written and interesting.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Lots of good dialogue ain't never a bad thing.

 

[Lhynn]

Looks p. good. You going to make different scenarios for the interrogation? thatd give it a little variety.
And how do you escape a fight? will it rely on skill, stats, luck, all of it?

And about alert level, you should have an idea of how alerts the guards are, even if you cant tell exactly what level it is. maybe a verbose explanation detailing their behavior that would apply to different levels.

 

[Severian Silk]

This game could be an AoD killer. What do you guys think?

 

[Crane]

We came up with some new features for the battle in the game. Basically we want most of the fights to have consequences, there's more details in this blog post:

http://www.indiedb.com/games/prisonscape/news/fighting-and-consequences

The game will be quite heavy on dialogue (not as much as Torment but still a lot), do you think this is a good or bad thing? Let's assume that the dialogue is well-written and interesting.

Good idea about combat. I'm assuming it doesn't get too tedious, and that combat doesn't have to happen too often.

I agree that the more good dialogue, the better.

 

[Turisas]

This game could be an AoD killer. What do you guys think?

Or it might just gang up on it in the shower and buttrape, time will tell.

 

[PekkaK]

Looks p. good. You going to make different scenarios for the interrogation? thatd give it a little variety.

Yes there will be different interrogation scenarios depending on various factors, including the player's stats, skills, any random events that are active and maybe even the guards who are interrogating.

And how do you escape a fight? will it rely on skill, stats, luck, all of it?

Agility, intelligence, fighting skill, the layout of the grid, enemy and any special effects that are in play.

And about alert level, you should have an idea of how alerts the guards are, even if you cant tell exactly what level it is. maybe a verbose explanation detailing their behavior that would apply to different levels.

We will probably use a GTA style star system ranging from 1 to 5 "alarm lights".

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Have you considered a less explicit alert level? As in, no GTA style lights or anything, but some comment by some inmate when you ask him how things are, e.g.-
Player: How're things?
With possible responses being-
Convict: Things are quiet.
Convict: A beat up here or there, same old.
Convict: Things aren't looking good. The guards're getting jumpy.
etc.

 

[Crane]

Are there going to be drug lines in the prison?

But in the vastness of his opium eater’s consciousness was—no more than a grain of sand—the knowledge that if his inspired knowledge of the earth’s drugs was severed, he would face a cruel and unnatural death. Congressmen and senators sometimes visited prison. They were seldom shown the methadone line, but twice when they had stumbled on this formation they had objected to the sweat of the taxpayers’ brow being wasted to sustain convicted felons in their diseased addiction. Their protests had not been effective, but Farragut’s feeling about visiting senators in prison had turned into a murderous hatred since these men might kill him. The fear of death is for all of us everywhere, but for the great intelligence of the opium eater it is beautifully narrowed into the crux of drugs. To starve to death, to burn or drown in the bliss of a great high, would be nothing at all. Drugs belonged to all exalted experience, thought Farragut. Drugs belonged in church. Take this in memory of me and be grateful, said the priest, laying an amphetamine on the kneeling man’s tongue. Only the opium eater truly understands the pain of death. When one morning the orderly who gave Farragut his methadone sneezed, this was for Farragut an ominous and a dreadful sound. The orderly might come down with a cold, and considering the nature of the prison bureaucracy, there might not be anyone else who had permission to issue the drug. The sound of a sneeze meant death. [Falconer, pp. 39-40]

 

[veryalien]

I'm in like flynn. I actually always thought a Prison game has not been done before and you guys did it