How do I not die?

[Lily]

This game seems to be really amazing (I love the survival and scavenging) But I can't get more than 5 rounds in without being surrounded by enemies and getting killed. I've tried just about every combination of skills and tactics, but no matter what I do, I end up running into hordes of enemies. Even single, unarmed enemies end up killing my character without breaking a sweat. Is this some sort of glitch, or is this post-apocalyptic world really supposed to be this densely populated with enemies?
In more than half of the 25 new games I've started so far, there were enemies on all sides of me right after the opening scene, and I was chased down and killed immediately.
It seems like a really cool game idea based off the demo, but I'm not going to invest in the full version unless there is some assurance that I can actually progress past 5 rounds.

[Daniel@BlueBottleGames]

A few of the details you're mentioning sound wrong to me, so it's possible that there is something buggy happening. For example:

even when an enemy is fallen, I generally end up falling over while trying to kick/attack them so often that my character dies from "self-afflicted" head injuries.

Kicking should have a 0% chance of falling on its own, and the same goes for attacking. If either of those moves cause you to fall, that is a bug.

It's possible that the fallen enemy has used "pull down" on you, however, which would cause a fall. Also, if there are other enemies present (orange arrows will appear beside the enemy sprite in combat), they may also be using moves on you, such as tackle.

Is there some text in the message log that is saying the head injuries are self-inflicted?

I am almost never able to retreat

This could be due to a few different factors, the biggest of which is the range at which you attempt to retreat. In order to guarantee a retreat, you need to be probably 10 or more spaces from the enemy. If they have longer range weapons, or allies in the fight, it might need to be further.

Running away/falling back is similar, with the enemy closing the distance faster

I'd definitely stick to "run away" in these situations. It is the maximum speed you can increase range without the athletic skill, and will always be available unless you're dragging a sled or cart. Shoes make a difference, though, as does being outnumbered.

If you're failing to run away often, I'd definitely go for the athletic skill, and use "sprint away" instead. It's not always available, but it almost always increases range.

or with me falling over and suffering yet another injury

Again, falling shouldn't be injuring you, so this could be a bug. Tripping is an inconvenience, but I haven't coded any damage for that event. Is the enemy perhaps hitting you with a move that causes you to fall?

Again, I apologize for the stressful experience. Some of this sounds like legitimate in-game challenge, but some of this might be due to bugs.

[iliekP3aches]

I had a few playthroughs where I started and bandits immediate attacked me in just a turn or two. Ranged attacks do wonders. Stones and then sling or bow early on helps a lot.

[DJ Jozzy Jeuce]

Blue Bottle Games! Always helping us out with our bugs. Sounds like a bug to me, I haven't experienced this problem even once. Though I have yet to get my Steam Key and have been playing through Desura.

[The Rabid Otter]

Yes, booby traps would be excellent!

Escrito originalmente por Professor of Doom:

<SNIP>
I think if hiding skills are strengthened in the game and crafting of booby-traps are included then play balance may be improved.

Anyone have issues with a large PLAY icon appearing on the screen intermittently? I suspect it is more of a Javascript thing than a bug.

[Lily]

They have pulled me down a few times, but many times I will fall while attacking and the enemy is alone and just trying to get up, or rolling away (unless they're actually pulling me down and text for a different action displays on accident). It doesn't literally say self inflicted, I'll get the message that I fell over and bruised something, or the like, which turns into massive internal bleeding after a few spills. As for falling when kicking, I'm not 100% sure it's ever happened during that action, but kicking is only available half the time when my enemy is prone--can't quite figure out the pattern behind that.

Okay, there may be a retreating glitch that I am experiencing then, as in my experience, I need to be at least 20 spaces away from even a lone unarmed enemy to hope for escape. Also, if I move any faster than a mosey (run, sprint, desperate retreat, etc.) I have such a high chance of falling and bruising my fragile glass body, that it's really not a logical option at all.

The closest I've gotten to defeating an enemy was when I struck a fallen bandit with a meat cleaver about 30 times until he got up and retreated like I had been snuggling him with a teddy bear the whole time. Of course, his harrowing retreat didn't deter him from walking up and killing me with like, 8 punches the following round.

Okay, people keep saying to make a bow, and I'm sure that it's a very useful weapon, but you need to understand that unless there is a fully assembled bow with complimentary arrows laying right outside of the cryo lab window, I will never be given the opportunity to gather the necessary supplies to craft one of my own.

[Lily]

I have an update for the swarming. I wasn't able to get a steam screenshot on the demo for some reason, but I managed to get it using print screen and pasting it to paint, but I can't upload that here, so I'll just describe it. I actually managed to survive the first few enemies right out the door, since I was lucky and found a loaded hunting rifle in a town adjacent to the cryo facility, and was able to use it to scare away the bandits surrounding me at first. I was able to use line of sight to keep the old enemies off my trail long enough to survive until the following day when I finally got hopelessly surrounded.

To the southwest (the direction I had come from): there were 2 bandits and at least one enfield horror, if not 2 (it might have just been one, provided they have an absurd number of moves). To the northwest: 6 melonheads (5 of them were stacked in one cell). To the North: 1 bandit. To the northeast: 2 bandits and 2 raiders. To the south: 3 raiders. Not all of these parties were immediately visible when I got the screenshot, as many had left visibility after all characters were done moving, but I had definitely seen them all.

I decided to try and head east through a treeline, as that was not visible, and the only direction where I did not know for sure there were enemies waiting to pounce. There were 2 wolfmen on the other side of the treeline. The fight didn't last very long.

It doesn't always work out quite like that, but this was a prime example of what I experience almost every time I play the game. And for the record, no, I had not been in this area for an extendet time - I had just entered it recently.

Oh, and I loved this bit. I actually tried firing off a round at one of the bandits I encountered earlier. I hit him in the head, and get this: all it did was make him fall over and start bleeding a bit. Of course, he retreated after that, but I feel like I should get more out of a headshot with a .308 hunting rifle than my enemy falling and getting a boo-boo.

I appreciate a good challenge, and I really want to give this game a chance, but the challenge level is simply beyond absurd in this case.

[DJ Jozzy Jeuce]

I think I may have experienced something like the problem everyone is talking about. I was about a day into my new game, I had stumbled across Zom Zoms and decided against going inside, so I did my usual scavenge of the surrounding town and then headed back to the cryto facility.

The facility was for the most part how I left it, I slept for a short amount of time and awoke to a new day, completely surrounded by bandits. There were approximately 3 different bandits on seperate squares and 2 stacked on one. I ran away only to run into a group of 3-4 Melonheads so I ran north from there. I have yet to see them again, but that was in the first 2 days which was never an issue before. Not really an issue now as I ran away and survived but I can see how this would be daunting to a new player. My only advice is RUN and HIDE. Get rid of your tracks. Don't leave fires burning all night, wait a few turns to warm up but put it out once the daylight is completely gone. Make sure you keep botany as a number 1 perk, without it the game is REALLY hard, but still fun!

[Daniel@BlueBottleGames]

I've heard more than a few similar comments about the creature populations that there might be something awry in the code, so I'll be looking into that soon. I have some faction work upcoming, and that might be a good time to check into it.

@Jeuce, check the Desura news page[www.desura.com] for info how to get your key.

@The Rabid Otter, do you mean the right-pointing arrow overlay, and the screen darkens? If so, that's Flixel engine's "pause" overlay, which appears when the window loses focus.

[DJ Jozzy Jeuce]

Escrito originalmente por Daniel@BlueBottleGames:

@Jeuce, check the Desura news page[www.desura.com] for info how to get your key.

Already done. Does this mean I can have 2 different saves at once? one on Desura and the other here?