Survival Games

[Dark Drakan]

As many of you may/may not know I am still in process of building my new PC (a few months behind schedule due to cash flow issues but its still happening). However I am really interested in the Survival genre that is becoming more and more popular as of late so wanted to know if there are any games I may not be aware of to look out for when I do finally finish my PC (I also have an Xbox One if you see any on there too). So far im aware of DayZ, Rust, The Forest and Nether which are all in early access. So any recommendations would be most welcome, dont HAVE to strictly be survival games but any survival type elements like those games I listed would be great...​

 

[xMobilemux]

There's State of Decay, it's a Zombie Survival game that's a bit like DayZ I think, I played a little bit of it and didn't really like it myself, but loads of people have been calling it the "Zombie Survival game we've always wanted" so you could check that one out.

 

[Dark Drakan]

There's State of Decay, it's a Zombie Survival game that's a bit like DayZ I think, I played a little bit of it and didn't really like it myself, but loads of people have been calling it the "Zombie Survival game we've always wanted" so you could check that one out.

I do own State of Decay and most of the DLC too, forgot to mention that but it was a great suggestion as really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the sequel and the multiplayer game they are working on next. I wasnt sure what to make of it at first but ended up really liking it.

I was just recommended a game called The Long Dark (Offical Site here) on Twitter just in case anyone else was looking for suggestions too.

The Long Dark is the first project for newly formed Canadian game studio Hinterland Studio which was founded by Raphael van Lierop, who was the producer of Company of Heroes, narrative director of Far Cry 3, and director of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. Among his team are Alan Lawrance, technical director for Saints Row and Red Faction, Hokyo Lim, art director for League of Legends, Marianne Krawczyk, writer for the God of War series, and David Chan, audio producer for Mass Effect and the Baldur's Gate series. In September 2014, Ken Rolston, former lead designer of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind joined the game's production team. The voice cast for the game includes Mark Meer, Jennifer Hale, David Hayter, and Elias Toufexis.

​

 

[Chancey289]

Don't Starve.

This is a pretty cool survival game with a great art style and soundtrack. You play this scientist named Wilson who finds himself in the dreary world and you just have to survive it. It has a day and night cycle that has fluctuations in the game styles. You're rounding up resources, exploring the world, and coming up with recipes while fending off the occasional monster during the day. While at night, temperatures drop and you need to stay warm and close to a fire with more dangerous enemies abound.

There's quite a bit of depth in this game. Not only do you need to make sure your guy doesn't starve, but there are plenty of ways the world can kill you. You also need to keep your sanity in check by doing certain activities and keeping your strength up. Food can also spoil if you keep it too long and eating that causing you to be more hunger and chips away at your mental health. Your actions also reflect how your crazy imagination that manifest in the world perceives you, and that can give you some allies or more enemies.

It was one of my personal favorite games of last year, and it seems overlooked. If you like survival games, this one is a great one and instead of being another zombie or post apocalyptic thing, you get treated to what almost seems like if Tim Burton (before he went to crap) Minecraft, and survival games had a baby.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Don't Starve.

This is a pretty cool survival game with a great art style and soundtrack. You play this scientist named Wilson who finds himself in the dreary world and you just have to survive it. It has a day and night cycle that has fluctuations in the game styles. You're rounding up resources, exploring the world, and coming up with recipes while fending off the occasional monster during the day. While at night, temperatures drop and you need to stay warm and close to a fire with more dangerous enemies abound.

There's quite a bit of depth in this game. Not only do you need to make sure your guy doesn't starve, but there are plenty of ways the world can kill you. You also need to keep your sanity in check by doing certain activities and keeping your strength up. Food can also spoil if you keep it too long and eating that causing you to be more hunger and chips away at your mental health. Your actions also reflect how your crazy imagination that manifest in the world perceives you, and that can give you some allies or more enemies.

It was one of my personal favorite games of last year, and it seems overlooked. If you like survival games, this one is a great one and instead of being another zombie or post apocalyptic thing, you get treated to what almost seems like if Tim Burton (before he went to crap) Minecraft, and survival games had a baby.

Im aware of it but dont know all that much about it but heard its meant to be good so it was on the list to look into further.

 

[Demi-fiend]

I heard this one was really engaging, despite it's relentless difficulty...

 

[Dark Drakan]

I heard this one was really engaging, despite it's relentless difficulty...

I have heard of this one too & concept was intriguing & not like the others. Nice to see someone taking a different viewpoint.

 

[Dark Drakan]

PC Gamer have posted a Guide to games of 2015 (some are currently available in early access) and here are their suggestions for Exploration and Survival games to keep an eye on. Games like:

• No Man’s Sky
• Adr1ft
• Salt
• H1Z1
• Solarix
• Project Zomboid
• The Long Dark
• The Forest
• DayZ
• Death in Candlewood
• Project Isolation
• 7 Days To Die
• AQP

To name but a few...

 

[ROCKMAN X]

To be honest i'm just looking forward to the PlayASIA release of Resident evil HD Remake PC version.

 

[Dark Drakan]

This was an account of what happened to one player (@Addequate) during a game session playing The Long Dark that I read on Twitter. Its experiences like this that intrigue me so much about survival games. Anyone can play through the same levels of games and talk about having very similar if not the same experience as someone else but its personal stories like this that I want to experience more in games and share with friends and forum members.

I find myself getting bored of linear, cinematic games that lead you from set piece to set piece with minimal actual playing area between them. They merely feel like you are playing through events of a movie someone else has directed and you are being funneled down a path to their conclusion. They have their place of course if they tell a good story in their own right but I want more titles where the experiences differ and are crafted by the players in these big well crafted worlds. I have spent more time watching streams/videos on Youtube of DayZ/Rust/The Forest and this than actually gaming myself lately.

Small sample of the story and experiences he had...

I spent an evening preparing some tins of food, bottles of water, and a couple hearty venison steaks. I slept soundly, then at sunup strolled out. Walking to the cabins was as uneventful as anyone could hope. I did find a sweater (practically new) and a knife slightly better than my own. The big coup was a lantern practically full of oil. Now I’d finally be able to see my way to bed at night.​

After a light lunch of granola and venison I packed my treasures to head for home. The sun was still high and I had few worries. So few worries I thought I’d pop up a small hill to have a look around. Nothing unexpected for a view (Yup, this sure is a frozen wasteland alright) but I misstepped on my way back down, twisting my ankle badly. ****.​

"This is okay. It’s not broken. It slows me down but it’s okay." I thought. Mostly I was right. Not a huge deal, a twisted ankle. It’d be right as rain in a day or two. With a heavy sigh (and what felt like a suddenly heavier pack) I set out back across the lake in earnest, back to my small cabin.​

I was in the middle of the lake when the sun became sincere about setting. I was three quarters of the way across when I heard the howl.

How long the wolf had been following me I didn’t know. Once I heard it I drew up my rifle, spun around and *click* *click* *click* - right, last bullet I owned had put that venison steak in my pack. Backpeddling as best I could on my bum ankle I readied to use my newly found knife.

WHOLE STORY CAN BE READ HERE​

 

[ROCKMAN X]

I find myself getting bored of linear, cinematic games that lead you from set piece to set piece with minimal actual playing area between them. They merely feel like you are playing through events of a movie someone else has directed and you are being funneled down a path to their conclusion.

This is so true.. someone should make an article about "7 deadly sins of Modern gaming" the way devs take the control away from the player is really annoying in the PS2 era of games you could control you character and no scripted events restricted your controls or FOV.

 

[Dark Drakan]

This is so true.. someone should make an article about "7 deadly sins of Modern gaming" the way devs take the control away from the player is really annoying in the PS2 era of games you could control you character and no scripted events restricted your controls or FOV.

If a game has a good story & impressive set pieces etc then fine so long as there is good gameplay mechanics in there. However there are so many AAA games these days that feel so predictable & follow the same formula over & over that they are becoming boring. I want games to feel like an experience not just a corridor from cutscene to cutscene all the timely every title. I've noticed too that with gamers putting a lot of pressure on developers for 1080p/60FPS & better graphics that some games are becoming more restricted and the actual gameplay areas are getting smaller in some games. Though I am happy to see more games going "open world" lately.

 

[xMobilemux]

H1Z1 is releasing on Steam early access in 13 hours, I might check it out.

 

[Dark Drakan]

H1Z1 is releasing on Steam early access in 13 hours, I might check it out.

Looks interesting but I'm concerned about the F2P options and how much is going to be governed by microtransactions. Shame you have to pay to get early access when full game will be free, though from business standpoint I can see why they did it but sounds to me that their confusing monetization options might be its downfall.

 

[Chancey289]

I find myself getting bored of linear, cinematic games that lead you from set piece to set piece with minimal actual playing area between them. They merely feel like you are playing through events of a movie someone else has directed and you are being funneled down a path to their conclusion. They have their place of course if they tell a good story in their own right but I want more titles where the experiences differ and are crafted by the players in these big well crafted worlds. I have spent more time watching streams/videos on Youtube of DayZ/Rust/The Forest and this than actually gaming myself lately.

So much this, my friend.

This is why I don't enjoy games like Uncharted and stuff. It's more like you're obeying instead of playing. They force you to go along this path that's basically just a showcase for all those programmers to show off what their degrees allow them to do. Deviate from that path for even a micro second and it will just Game Over you.

I like games that allow me to get immersed in the world and create my own stories. I was able to enjoy something like Dark Souls more just because in my mind I made a backstory for my character. These open games can't tell you no. You can really just get in to it.

 

[Dark Drakan]

So much this, my friend.

This is why I don't enjoy games like Uncharted and stuff. It's more like you're obeying instead of playing. They force you to go along this path that's basically just a showcase for all those programmers to show off what their degrees allow them to do. Deviate from that path for even a micro second and it will just Game Over you.

I like games that allow me to get immersed in the world and create my own stories. I was able to enjoy something like Dark Souls more just because in my mind I made a backstory for my character. These open games can't tell you no. You can really just get in to it.

My problem now is that I have been playing games for long enough to spot the techniques developers use to cut corners and things that break immersion for me. When I was younger some of these large, scripted moments in games like CoD may have looked impressive but now with the technology at hand it just screams laziness at me. When you spend a game being funneled down an entirely linear corridor by strategically placed furniture and scenery and none of the events trigger until you walk into a certain spot it just makes me roll my eyes now. There is no unpredictability in games like that, everything is predetermined and the game worlds themselves are tiny.

I find myself being far more impressed by the effort that goes into crafting some of the game worlds in games these days such as those in GTA V, Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption and most recently places like Chernarus from DayZ and the areas in The Forest and The Long Dark. No set paths, no being funneled to areas, nothing is predetermined and no over reliance on player generated triggered set pieces. They have had to craft a whole map full of things for players to find and keep it interesting in its own right and give gamers the tools they need to keep them coming back for more. As I have gotten older I find games have to try harder and harder to get me invested in them, caring about characters and my own actions. I like games that make me question what im doing and give consequences weight that makes you think.

I like the direction games are heading in regards to scale getting larger and I am excited by the future of the survival and exploration genre. In the future I would love to see a game I can play with friends where we can travel around together exploring the game world/worlds and encountering not only AI enemies/friendlies but other players doing the same as us and interactions and experiences will differ from player to player.

No Mans Sky intrigues me and I hope more developers start to look towards that and expand upon these ideas for a survival space sim you can play with friends. Would love to be given planets to explore, the means to travel between them and team up with friends and others to experience it together. At the same time I would really like to be able to explore a detailed world like Skyrim with a friend and have some set goals to aim for unlike DayZ which just gives you a world and tells you to survive by any means. I dont like games that instafail you for not following their task to the exact letter. Games for example that have stealth sections that will fail the moment you get spotted and have to repeat whole thing over. Or sections where you chase someone and they escape when you are meant to kill them. They should punish you in more inventive ways like the person who escaped coming back later in the game for revenge or killing someone close to you. Your actions should always have reactions and consequences rather than being presented with a game over screen. I dont mind being given goals and tasks to do, its when a game punishes you with game over or invisible walls for not following them EXACTLY how it wants you to that I have an issue.

 

[xMobilemux]

Looks interesting but I'm concerned about the F2P options and how much is going to be governed by microtransactions. Shame you have to pay to get early access when full game will be free, though from business standpoint I can see why they did it.

I didn't know it costs for first access, guess I'll be skipping it then, I've bought 2 games from first access, DayZ and Next Car Game, DayZ is paying off but Next Car Game was a bit of a disappointment so I won't be buying any first access games from now on, especially if the full game will be free.

I find myself being far more impressed by the effort that goes into crafting some of the game worlds in games these days

As do I buddy, as do I!

Not a survival game but still, that world!

 

[Dark Drakan]

I didn't know it costs for first access, guess I'll be skipping it then, I've bought 2 games from first access, DayZ and Next Car Game, DayZ is paying off but Next Car Game was a bit of a disappointment so I won't be buying any first access games from now on, especially if the full game will be free.

I think some of the early access titles will pay off in the long run but need some incredible patience for them. I mean we are at a stage in game development where we are being allowed access to play games at a stage the public has rarely being given access to. Games are being announced earlier than ever and we are playing them long before they are ready more and more. Its risky by developers as gamers could give up on a product before it officially even launches but at the same time we can help craft games into our vision as gamers and what we as the public want. I can see some games totally changing from the developers original ideas based on what gamers want (such as Rust) and that is exciting time for gamers to have the power to not only help fund these games but help craft them into something we do want.

I think the next few years might see a switch in the industry as gamers become a little tired of buggy, rushed, lazy AAA titles and start to lean more towards developers who they believe will listen more and that they feel a connection to as they have helped fund those games from the beginning. Early access is risky but I would rather pick and choose the developers I wish to support who have a better chance of listening to us and implementing things we want than giving my cash to big corporations who own certain developers and dont care about them or us and just want our cash. I spend a lot of time on Twitter talking to some of the developers of these early access titles and they take time to answer questions and overall just seem like they care more and are gamers themselves praising each others work.

I dont like being overly critical of developers as most of them started out just like us, with a dream to get into the industry and they do care what gamers say. I know how I would feel if I had gotten my dream job in the industry and gamers were calling me a sell out and saying I only did it for the money etc and it would be upsetting. However a lot of the time it is the corporations who own the developers that call the shots and a lot of them know very little about the gaming industry and didnt get involved for the same reason as those developers. Much like these millionaires who buy out football/soccer clubs, they dont care for the game or have a passion for it. They are in it because it makes money and they buy out the most popular clubs based on how much revenue they have. They are ONLY in it for the money and will make it ANY way they can. I see supporting these indie/early access developers in the same way I would supporting my local town football/soccer club, they do it for passion and not money.

 

[Dark Drakan]

The Long Dark sells over 250k copies on Early Access, update to "nearly double" game world​

 

[Dark Drakan]

DayZ Sales Reach 3 Million

We would like to say thank you to every single one of the three million players that have joined us on the journey of making DayZ. You all have helped make DayZ the best open world, zombie survival game. This is an amazing achievement, and we are really looking forward to start sharing with you all of our game design improvements, anti-hack solutions and other optimizations we have been working on for a majority of the last year.

STATEMENT FROM WEBSITE

PDF OF UPDATES THAT HAVE BEEN DONE TO DAYZ SINCE ITS ARRIVAL ON EARLY ACCESS

He also had this to say about Youtubers and Streamers...

DayZ producer: “Youtube and Twitch are the entire force behind DayZ's success”

'My personal opinion, since we have nearly $0 marketing budget – our marketing is me and Dean going to shows and interacting with consumers – I'd say Youtube and Twitch are the entire force behind DayZ's success.​

​

Its DayZ’s sandbox that draws in streamers; it spawns unique stories. It “ties into the strengths both survival games and DayZ have: they're not as much defined linear and narrative game worlds as they are a narrative toolset to create your own stories.'​