• SsethTzeentach - Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead Review
    36 replies, posted
[video=youtube;Cyoj4-niEPc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyoj4-niEPc[/video] I didn't expect him to review CDDA, one of my favourite survival games.
My favorite thing in Cataclysm was the tile based vehicle building. It's not very realistic in terms of limits. IRL hooking a semi-truck engine to a electric wheelchair would be almost impossible and be severely effected by weight but in Cataclysm not only will that work, you will get an insane top speed of several hundred MPH and can then up-armor it and attach a mini-gun on the front. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/lsdrG0J.png[/IMG]
[QUOTE=Toybasher;53124009]My favorite thing in Cataclysm was the tile based vehicle building. It's not very realistic in terms of limits. IRL hooking a semi-truck engine to a electric wheelchair would be almost impossible and be severely effected by weight but in Cataclysm not only will that work, you will get an insane top speed of several hundred MPH and can then up-armor it and attach a mini-gun on the front. [/QUOTE] Wheels: [B]enough[/B]
I remember first character I made was a mall cop, I proceeded to walk around the mall aimlessly and collect some meager supplies, and the second I found my way outside of the mall I immediately got shot in the face by an NPC.
Oh wait, I remember this! I played some old version of it, [URL="http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1136542&p=33029365&viewfull=1#post33029365"]set the tutorial area on fire[/URL], died like 3 times before managing to get out of it, [URL="http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1136542&p=33029893&viewfull=1#post33029893"]then drank bleach[/URL].
Man, Cataclysm evolved a [b]lot[/b] since I first played it (which was far before it ever gained the "Dark Days Ahead" subtitle). Even since the last time I played it. It now has professions? Dammit, I have to give it a try again. I hope Sseth will one day cover IVAN, the roguelike whose story is that you need to find bananas for your village (or something like that), where you can tear off your own arms and beat enemies to death with them, and praying to the goddess of love and harmony can anger her and she causes your head to explode.
Reminder that if you're interested in the game [URL="https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1262384"]we do have a thread here on the forum[/URL] if you need advice.
When I was younger, maybe like 6-7 years ago now, I was super poor and my family frequently couldn't pay for internet. One day it got surprisingly shut off, and I had not prepared by having ANY steam singleplayer games installed. I had a zip file I accidentally downloaded of this game, and it ended up keeping me somewhat entertained for the months that we didn't have internet until my dad could find some side-job to pay the bill again. Thanks for reminding me this exists. Time to grab that old zip file again, although with marginally less desperation this time.
I loved Cataclysm, but for the past few years power over the source code has been increasingly centralized in a single man who seemingly uses his power to cut out, ban and remove anyone (to clarify, this is from programmer positions, not the forums) who doesn't like his dumb "ultra realism" changes, and gives the impression of actively trying to sabotage playstyles he dislikes. Makes me miss the fuck out of the original community and Whales.
I've had several dozen amazing runs in Cataclysm and often find myself returning to the game every few years. I have so many fond memories of the game including: - Generating a random character named "Samuel Jackson" who lost his hand fighting a bear, took over it's bear cave, and then died after discovering the cave cut into a sewer system populated by Tazer-Roombas. - Falling into a science lab with no way out, quaffing several random mutagens, and then stalking the halls killing giant ants before eventually succumbing to ant wounds. - Discovering several dead drug dealers, stealing their drugs and guns, and then mixing coke with adderall to outrun encroaching fungal zombies [sp]before having my arms blow up from fungal infection.[/sp] - Leaving an entire town behind because it belonged to the ever growing mass of self-replicating slimes. - Leaving the starting shelter only to be instantly killed by an automated tank crashing through the wall and blowing me up. - Having my longest surviving character killed by a Zombie Moose chase me into my car and fucking smash me to death instantly. - Leaving a town because [sp]a netherportal had spawned in a gas station bathroom and the giant disembodied eyes coming out of it would not stop glaring at me very rudely.[/sp] Great game, would highly recommend for anyone who likes Roguelikes.
The worst enemy in this game was that fucking floating eye who would railgun you across the map and tear your car in half. Glad that was rebalanced.
I really need to give cataclysm another try, had a lot of fun dying the first time.
I remember once living out of a tank for a while (one of the mods included in the base download adds them). It was fun periodically firing the main gun at random wandering zombies. No drops to speak of, but it's easier than butchering corpses to prevent them from reanimating. :v:
I once took apart several shopping carts and a bike and fixed them together to make a bizarre hybrid. It would veer to the side due to its shape and the cart wheels, was incredibly fragile and I probably looked like an idiot riding it in game but the fact that it worked still amuses me. Once I figured out how to compensate for the veering it was pretty useful for store raids and storage when not in use. It also could somehow do 80 mph, which would result in the slightest bump causing a cart part to fly off.
God I wish I could find enjoyment in rouges they're an amazing feat of absurd madness but just aren't for me
I always preferred Rogue Survivor as I found Cataclysm hard to get into.
[QUOTE=Indyclone77;53125755]I always preferred Rogue Survivor as I found Cataclysm hard to get into.[/QUOTE] Rogue Survivor is fucking great, literal basement-dwelling simulator. There's RogueSurvivor Revived and it's simulating all districts at once, but it doesn't run really well.
[QUOTE=Chucko Kokos;53125779]Rogue Survivor is fucking great, literal basement-dwelling simulator. There's RogueSurvivor Revived and it's simulating all districts at once, but it doesn't run really well.[/QUOTE] I had such high hopes for RogueSurvivor Revived. The dev is a nice enough guy, but doesn't seem to have any intention of making his fork run any better. I remember him saying he doesn't want to because "it might conflict with changes I want to make 1-2 years down the track" or something along those lines.
[QUOTE=SuperPlamz;53125560]I loved Cataclysm, but for the past few years power over the source code has been increasingly centralized in a single man who seemingly uses his power to cut out, ban and remove anyone (to clarify, this is from programmer positions, not the forums) who doesn't like his dumb "ultra realism" changes, and gives the impression of actively trying to sabotage playstyles he dislikes. Makes me miss the fuck out of the original community and Whales.[/QUOTE] Really? Can you elaborate on that? Some of the changes made in the last few years don't seem to reflect that (such as making armor much more viable for melee characters).
[QUOTE=StrawberryClock;53126021]Really? Can you elaborate on that? Some of the changes made in the last few years don't seem to reflect that (such as making armor much more viable for melee characters).[/QUOTE] I've been playing the game since its first release. Under the new management, it has become railroaded from a "choose your own difficulty" sandbox into a survival sim with some aspects which are highly gamey and others which are bizarrely obsessive to realism. Melee weapons are actually quite a good example, since firearms have been consistently and constantly nerfed (or subject to ghastly "realism" changes) in favour of them, through becoming harder to acquire, and eventually drastically more difficult to use due to multiple revamps to the shooting system. I think they've been reversed now, I'm not sure. Other than that, vehicle building has been DRASTICALLY changed and limited since its first incarnation in the game. Again, for the purpose of realism, the sandboxy vehicle building aspects of the game have been cordoned through metric [I]fucktons[/I] of tools, tedium, and rare items being necessary to actually create anything substantial (boom cranes immediately comes to mind). There was a relatively large spat of community drama not so long ago as he wanted to add a hygiene system with mandatory showers and cleaning, but without actually changing the game to accommodate for it. You would have to strip off every single bit of your gear, every weapon, and everything capable of being water damaged, have your shower, then pick it all up and dress up again. This, I believe, is a good insight to his attitude on tedium being unimportant in comparison to oddly specific realism. So I could very well be wrong and it could just be realism being shoehorned where it does not belong. But I believe these are examples of using "realism" as an excuse to downplay certain play styles due to the attitude of the now head coder. I spoke to him about it maybe 2016ish, about my thoughts of it leaving its sandboxy roots and got back what was basically a rude "Nothing's wrong, love it or leave it, its [I]my[/I] survival game now". This is consistent with his attitude of [URL="http://smf.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?topic=10444.msg244402#msg244402"]claiming [/URL][URL="http://smf.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?topic=14877.0"]ownership [/URL]over a game he did not create, on a forum he does not host, for a codebase he was and is not even the largest contributor to. I also gather that it's something to do with his dislike of playstyles because of what I've heard ex-staff and ex-coders say of him. Many of them seem to leave as to no longer have to deal with his attitude, or seemingly get removed for conflicting with his "vision", which is a hell of a far cry from the open, sandboxy development style of before. It is important to remember that his (the blame does not lie totally with him, there was enormous drama early on which knocked off maybe a quarter of them) decisions have run out practically every single coder, modder and member of the original game and community, due to his rigid one-track idea of what the game 'ought to be' and the attitude he enforces it with.
[QUOTE=Indyclone77;53125755]I always preferred Rogue Survivor as I found Cataclysm hard to get into.[/QUOTE] Honestly the biggest problem with Cataclysm: DDA is that it's development in recent years has been focused almost entirely on the early game. In particular, adding more and more menial fucking chores you have to do to get past it and nerfing strategies to skip past them. What this means is that the game actually becomes dramatically less enjoyable once you get past the stage where you're scrounging to survive because there's been barely any effort put into the late stages of the game. Furthermore, the game is getting harder and harder to get into because you have to learn to do more dull, mind-numbing bullshit to be able to sustain yourself, and a lot of intuitive strategies have been nerfed for being "game-y and unrealistic" [editline]12th February 2018[/editline] Oh, see the post above mine I guess
So what version should I try to find if I want to avoid the realism bullshit since I haven't really played since 0.C Came out.
[QUOTE=DrugUnit;53126123]So what version should I try to find if I want to avoid the realism bullshit since I haven't really played since 0.C Came out.[/QUOTE] There are multiple forks, but most are dead. The latest updated one is Coolthulu's fork, as far as I am aware.
[QUOTE=SuperPlamz;53126129]There are multiple forks, but most are dead. The latest updated one is Coolthulu's fork, as far as I am aware.[/QUOTE] I see. I assume 0.C is playable too though?
[QUOTE=DrugUnit;53126149]I see. I assume 0.C is playable too though?[/QUOTE] Hey, if you enjoyed it back then, I'm sure you'll enjoy it now. If I remember right, it should probably have even less tedium than Coolthulu's fork, owing to the fact that it was released prior to a ton of changes.
[QUOTE=SuperPlamz;53126091]Well thought-out explanation.[/QUOTE] Regardless of his reasoning, I have to admit his attitude (at least circa 2016) reeks of extreme arrogance and a complete rejection of the idea that there needs to be a balance between his vision of the game and what the playerbase wants. His outright claim of ownership is really gross to me. It's weird, around 2015 he seemed like he kept a close ear to the ground and was really chill. Has anybody kept up with how the game has been managed since the last two years?
[QUOTE=StrawberryClock;53126566]Regardless of his reasoning, I have to admit his attitude (at least circa 2016) reeks of extreme arrogance and a complete rejection of the idea that there needs to be a balance between his vision of the game and what the playerbase wants. His outright claim of ownership is really gross to me. It's weird, around 2015 he seemed like he kept a close ear to the ground and was really chill. Has anybody kept up with how the game has been managed since the last two years?[/QUOTE] I used to play it obsessively just two years back but eventually stopped when the food/hunger system was replaced with a stupidly complicated nutrition system just to justify giving vitamin pills a use.
Wait, when did Whales stop developing the game? Shit, I remember talking with Whales over something dev-related to the game. I can't remember what it was or what his response was, but I remember talking to him about it. I'm sad now. :frown:
[QUOTE=Gmod4ever;53126587]Wait, when did Whales stop developing the game? Shit, I remember talking with Whales over something dev-related to the game. I can't remember what it was or what his response was, but I remember talking to him about it. I'm sad now. :frown:[/QUOTE] Real life caught up with him and he had coded himself into a corner he did not know how to get out of. I think he gave up about 2014ish, and Dark Days Ahead was formed. He announced Cataclysm 2 but abandoned it just as quickly, and disappeared back into the ocean. Nobody has heard of him since.
[QUOTE=SuperPlamz;53126629]Real life caught up with him and he had coded himself into a corner he did not know how to get out of. I think he gave up about 2014ish, and Dark Days Ahead was formed. He announced Cataclysm 2 but abandoned it just as quickly, and disappeared back into the ocean. Nobody has heard of him since.[/QUOTE] Was more around 2012, 6 years ago. But yeah, as shitty as the current devs might be it still beats the game being dead.
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