Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
| Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senior Developer | Kevin Granade and others |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
February 26, 2013 (Version 0.1) |
| platform | Windows , Linux , macOS , iOS , Android |
| genre | Rogue-like , survival |
| Subject | Post apocalypse |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | keyboard |
| medium | Download |
| language |
English partly translations z. B. into German |
| Current version | 0.D "Danny" (2019) |
| information | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead (short CDDA . English for "disaster: Dark days ahead") is an open source Rogue-like Survival - computer game . It's a fork of the original Cataclysm game . Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead offers both a graphic based on ASCII characters and, alternatively, a graphic version with tiles . The game can free site games are downloaded on and the source code is available under the Creative Commons license CC BY-SA also freely available on the GitHub - Repository of the project available. Rock, Paper, Shotgun named the game in 2016 in their list "The 50 Best Free Games on PC" as one of the 50 best freely available computer games for PC .
action
The action of the game is set in New England in the near future after a catastrophic event wiped out most of the world's population and created various monsters and dangers. Although the cataclysm is essentially a zombie apocalypse , many other devastating processes are underway, such as mushroom invasions, triffids , Lovecraft-type monsters, and caves full of rats with a rat king .
development
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is based on Cataclysm , the source code of which was published as open source on GitHub in October 2010 under the Creative Commons BY-SA license. The original developer of Cataclysm appeared on the platform under the pseudonym "Whales". After the programmer stopped development around 2012, the community split the game Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead into a new repository in early 2013.
In June 2013 were via crowdfunding via Kickstarter.com 9,492 USD , collected by 440 supporters making a full-time programmer could be paid for three and a half months. The goal of the campaign was to reach at least $ 7,000.
The game was developed with the help of the free C library ncurses in order to be able to display the text-based graphics. An SDL version with 2D tiles was later published. The game is continuously and massively developed, so that sometimes new " experimental builds " appear several times a day . The last stable version is 0.D from March 8, 2019 with the development name "Danny". However, the stable versions are seen more as snapshots of the development status than as the main version, while the experimental development branches, which are updated daily, represent the primary "master version" of the game. Many players therefore prefer to play these versions as they are constantly being developed and offer new content compared to the stable version .
In December 2015, an unofficial launcher for CDDA was developed under the MIT license to help keep the game and third-party mods up to date.
Gameplay
As usual with rogue-like games, Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is turn-based. Unlike most rogue likes, the game does not have a predetermined goal: the player is free to explore the procedurally generated game world, to clear areas of monsters, to work with non-player characters or to build a shelter and vehicles. The gameplay is mainly based on survival from day to day, while the game manages values such as hunger, thirst, morale, illness and temperature, which the player must keep an eye on in order to stay alive. The game also offers numerous other mechanics that affect the player, such as drug addiction , mutations , broken bones and bionic implants .
Game world
The game world is persistent from game to game. After the death of a character you can start a new character in the same world. The game offers dynamic weather conditions and changing seasons, the length of which can be set when generating the world. A typical game world has larger and smaller cities and settlements, rivers, forests, bridges and other landscape features. Cities and settlements, in addition to houses, typically include community facilities like those found in the real world, such as shops, malls, parking lots, swimming pools, hospitals, and more. There are also more exotic facilities such as secret laboratories, military bases and missile silos in more remote locations throughout the game world . Newer versions also support three-dimensional buildings with several floors.
Character development
The player character can either be generated randomly or manually configured according to your own style of play and preferences. The player has the opportunity to choose from several different starting scenarios. The default setting is the Evacuee scenario , in which the player starts with some supplies in an evacuation center. When choosing more difficult scenarios, the player is rewarded with additional points that can be used to create stronger characters. As in most rogue likes, the player also has the choice between different character classes or professions, which have their own skills and properties. When creating characters, points are consumed when choosing positive traits. The points are also required to increase attribute values such as strength and intelligence and skills such as archery. Negative traits, on the other hand, increase the points, which in turn can be spent on positive traits, attribute values and skills. Traits that have a greater impact on gameplay also earn more points. These so-called traits range from smaller features such as “strong feet” or “clumsy” to game-changing properties such as “night vision” or “ schizophrenia ”, which have far-reaching consequences for gameplay. Skills can be gradually increased in the game by using and reading books. An optional “skill rust” system is also implemented, whereby skills degrade over time if they are not used.
The game shows the current condition of the character in a menu, where you can see, for example, hunger, thirst, morals or diseases from which the character suffers. To survive, the player must eat and water regularly and sleep from time to time to recover and avoid negative effects. The menu also shows the player character's skill progression.
Production (crafting)
In contrast to most rogue likes, Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is heavily geared towards crafting , as many necessities such as clothing or food can be made from raw materials that can be found in the game world. In order for the production to be successful, the player needs the required raw materials as well as equipment or tools. It is also necessary to know recipes for the objects to be manufactured. These can be activated by reading books that can be found in libraries, for example. Successful crafting leads to an increase in the corresponding skill. Craftable items are divided into weapons, ammunition, food, chemicals, armor and other categories, which in turn have various sub-categories.
Crafting can be hindered by the condition of the player, such as low morale. It can also be made more difficult by environmental factors such as insufficient lighting or the presence of monsters.
construction
CDDA offers a complex construction menu in which you can carry out simple interactions, such as boarding up windows with boards or digging a pit, to more complex constructions such as building reinforced concrete and stone walls, digging a well or building one Foundation. As with crafting, building requires raw materials such as bricks, stones or nails. The construction equipment can either be salvaged directly from cities or made from other raw materials. For the most part, the game's environment is completely destructible, which means that the player or other beings can destroy or erect structures.
Vehicles can be repaired or even built from scratch. Players have reported building vehicles of various sizes and capabilities - from small quads with limited cargo space to giant “death mobiles” with multiple engines, turrets, machine guns and an integrated chemistry lab.
Agriculture
The player can farm and grow crops, vegetables, berries and other bushes such as cotton, provided that he can find the necessary seeds. The harvest can be saved for later use, which can cause food to spoil. The harvested yield can either be consumed raw or processed into more elaborate products such as edible oil, flour, spirits, vinegar and packaged foods. The season for agricultural cultivation is usually from late spring to early autumn and depends on the outside temperature. All plant species have different growth rates and growth can be accelerated by using commercial or home-made fertilizers. The result depends on the character's survival skill: the higher the skill, the higher the yield of each individual plant. Once harvested, the plants are considered "dead" and they leave behind straw or withered plant remains and a few seeds.
reception
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The game was received extremely positively by English language websites. Rock, Paper, Shotgun named it in October 2016 as number 39 on their list of the 50 best free computer games ( The 50 Best Free Games on PC ).
Rock, Paper, Shotgun calls it the post-apocalyptic survival simulator that games like DayZ aspire to be. The author of the review speaks of a game that you can play for the rest of your life, even if it takes five lives to convince you of it.
"Cataclysm is a full-featured life simulator that just so happens to take place when there's little life left in the world."
"Cataclysm is a fully featured life simulator that happens to take place when there is little life left in the world."
The TouchArcade website tested the mobile version for iOS and came to the conclusion that the game had two major hurdles: First, you had to get used to the user interface , which requires frequent access to the software keyboard. In addition, the game is so complex and profound that it takes a considerable amount of time to survive even a few days in the post-apocalyptic world.
"If you're willing to put in the time and patience, however, Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is among the best roguelikes currently available on the App Store."
"However, if you are willing and able to spend the time and patience, Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is among the best rogue likes currently available on the App Store."
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kevin Granade: Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead version 0.A Kaufman, now with full German translation. In: Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead. March 2014, accessed on October 5, 2019 (English, German).
- ↑ Releases. In: Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead. Retrieved October 5, 2019 .
- ↑ a b LICENSE.txt. Cataclysm DDA. In: GitHub . Retrieved October 5, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Clever Raven / Cataclysm DDA. In: GitHub. Retrieved November 25, 2015 .
- ↑ a b The 50 Best Free Games On PC. In: Rock, Paper, Shotgun . October 31, 2016, accessed October 5, 2019 .
- ↑ C: DDA Design Outline. In: doc.google.com . Retrieved October 5, 2019 .
- ↑ whales: LICENSE. Cataclysm. In: GitHub. Retrieved October 5, 2019 .
- ↑ first commit. by whales. In: GitHub. October 4, 2010, accessed October 5, 2019 .
- ^ Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead - Dedicated Developer. In: Kickstarter.com . June 22, 2013, accessed October 5, 2019 .
- ↑ Dominic Tarason: Multipocalyptic Roguelike Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead Turns To Kickstarter. In: Indie Statik. June 22, 2013, archived from the original on April 1, 2014 ; accessed on October 5, 2019 .
- ↑ Cataclysm-DDA / changelog.txt. In: github.com. March 8, 2019, accessed October 5, 2019 .
- ↑ Is Cataclysm DDA 0.D released already? In: Reddit . Retrieved November 28, 2018 .
- ↑ remyroy / CDDA game launcher. In: GitHub. Retrieved February 11, 2017 .
- ↑ License. remyroy / CDDA game launcher. In: GitHub. Retrieved October 5, 2019 .
- ^ Whales / Cataclysm. In: GitHub. Retrieved November 25, 2015 .
- ↑ Clever Raven / Cataclysm DDA. In: GitHub. Retrieved November 25, 2015 .
- ^ I tried building a smaller vehicle instead of a montrosity. In: Reddit. Retrieved November 25, 2015 .
- ^ Vehicle Show and Tell. In: discourse.cataclysmdda.org. Retrieved November 15, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d Shaun Musgrave: 'Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead' Review - A Learning Curve Like A Sheer Cliff, But Great Rewards Await. In: TouchArcade. January 15, 2016, accessed on October 5, 2019 (English): "4.5 stars"
- ↑ a b Sin Vega: Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead: A roguelike you could play for the rest of your life. In: Rock, Paper, Shotgun . November 14, 2016, accessed October 5, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Best free PC games for 2019. In: Rock, Paper, Shotgun . July 25, 2019, accessed October 5, 2019 .