03 February 2012

Play Diary: Rogue Survivor - Max Jones

In this play-diary I'll do something different to the ongoing Oblivion-series and play a little roguelike called Rogue Survivor, which can be found for free here. Roguelikes are games usually based on procedural generation of worlds, the programmers choice of mechanical depth over graphics, and usually a high degree of difficulty. A famous example would be NetHack. Anyways, Rogue Survivor takes place after zombies have started to overrun your city and you play a random survivor (or zombie, if you want to), just trying to survive for as long as possible. My first Play-Diary of RS can be found here, the second one here.


This one is a longer one, making the perma-death at the end a very harrowing experience. It's not my longest run ever but I think it's second or third and the longest one I have written down. I'm posting this in celebration of the nice spike of traffic that Roguedjack, the maker of Rogue Survivor has given my blog by posting links on his developer-blog. Thanks, man!

Day 0:
The news were true and I had to get the hell out. Z everywhere, fighting, screaming. I ran the store and then left to the east side and found shelter in a subway station; then went hauling more ammo and guns from that weapons-store twice. Now I'll sleep. More looting to be done tomorrow, I guess.

Day 1:
Two more hauls, one for ammo, one for food. I have a decent stash of canned food now. Tomorrow that other gun emporium is going to be it. Not much else happening. The police warned about bikers and gangs trying to take over now that the city order is collapsing. I'll take care.

Day 3:
Two hellish days seem to be finally over. Yesterday morning I saw one of the notorious gangs of bikers marauding down West-street so I decided to delay my excursion to the weapons emporium and check out the police station. It was quite a hike there but I looted a pharmacy for some energy- and caffeine pills. At the station I got myself a riot armor and another shotgun plus shells for it. In the cell block I decided to set those trapped there free. There was this guy who said he was working for CHAR and that they were the cause of all of this. Right after he told me where the entrance to their secret facility was (and I started thinking he might just be nuts) his body burst apart and some monstrosity replaced him. The thing attacked and the prisoners and I were in complete pandemonium. I emptied round after round of buckshot in it, it clawed at me, it was horrible. In the end it was dead, a lot of the prisoners were too and I was hurt as well. I patched myself up and it was night but I had to press on so I took the caffeine pills and went through the night. Took a route via the weapons emporium to get more supplies. On the way back I ran into a group of bikers roughing up some guy. In the ensuing street-battle the guy and I killed three of them. Then I brought the loot home to my hideout. Went once more to get some more stuff. Tomorrow I'll have to set out and try to find more food and medical supplies. For now I'll take a long sleep and go to bed early.



Day 4:
Had to enlarge my search radius today. I got up hungry but didn't want to touch my supply of canned food yet so I went south of the shopping district. Found some spoiled food in a fridge in a house and ate it. Also found some cans. On the way back, I found a bunch of army rations dropped by a rescue chopper. Nice! All in all a good day. I'll stay put for a few days now and then go explore around the shopping areas of the city some more.

Day 5:
Okay, a nice day off, so to speak. Time to take stock of the situation. The Z have overrun the city above. There are still people other than me around but they are frantic creatures, scurrying around trying to survive. No formal resistance except a few pockets of cops have been seen. The world outside the city does seem to care and still have enough order left to send supplies into the Z zone I am in, which is why I'm eating army rations right now. I'll stay put until I'm at the last of those, probably the day after tomorrow, and then set out to get more supplies and hopefully haul them back here.

Day 6:
Another day spent waiting. My wound is still itching. Itching is good, right? Seriously, I need to find something to clean it out tomorrow. Let's take stock at what I have here in my hideout: I have two shotguns and a total of 218 shells. Not bad. There is a revolver and 206 bullets for that too. I have a hunting rifle and 42 bullets for that one. I have a golf-club, a flashlight and a riot-jacket. I have 29 cans of food and just ate my last army ration. I could hold out another ten days down here without needing to go to the surface but I'd rather find something fresh to eat before going at my reserves of canned goods. Tomorrow I'll set out for that. Maybe some stores aren't looted yet.

Day 7:
Went over to the eastern shopping district, dodging some Z on the way. A guy was in the process of being killed by gangstas (all flashy bling-bling and gaudy outfits! THEY are enjoying this apocalypse, no doubt) so I opened up with my shotgun. Killed three of them in a pitched firefight and the guy thanked me. Said he met some soldiers who told him that the city has been locked off with a military perimeter and units of soldiers are sent into the city to sweep the street of Z and marauding gangs. They don't seem very successful at that. I found a grocery store though. Ate some spoiled food and vomited my guts out. The cans I brought home are a good addition to my stash though. I guess I'll go out again tomorrow. Should take more shells for the shotgun though. These ganstas are crazy!

Day 8:
Went outside and, after fighting off some Z and a biker, found a corpse who had some still wrapped army rations. I brought some stuff back here. Cans of food and such things. A mad man at the subway station came at me with a baseball-bat and I ran off into the darkness. The living are proving to be even more dangerous than the dead...

Day 9:
Went to that shopping area again. Bikers roaming the streets, trying to get me. I dodged them and met a bunch of people led by a cop who were holding out in a pharmacy. Patched myself up. Got into some firefights with the bikers on the way back. Killed three of them. Found some fresh vegetables someone must have brought from outside the city and ate it. There are hordes of Z surrounding the subway station I am camped out in. It was quite a run to get back inside. The mad man is still there, muttering to himself. I left him a can of food. I hope the car I wedged into the station entrance holds off the hordes...

Day 10:
Mad man didn't touch the food and I found him being harrassed by a powerful Z. I shot that one but behind me, mad man had turned himself. I put him down too. On the top floor of the station I found two more Z and shot those too. My first foray outside found a satchel with two army rations so I brought them into the entrance of the station. Z everywhere out there! Went to the shopping district and looted the other gun store which surprisingly hadn't been broken into yet. Just got home and still need to get these rations from upstairs down here. Tomorrow I'll try to rest a little and take stock of the situation again. Haven't seen anyone sane AND alive in days...

Day 11:
Forayed into a new shopping district today. Most stores were already looted but I found some medical supplies and some more ammunition I brought home. Quite a long haul. Ate some canned food over the day. I need something fresh if I don't want to whittle down my supplies too quickly. I have considered going for the CHAR headquarters... Or maybe the hospital... I don't know.

Day 12:
I decided to make a secondary subway HQ near the Westside station. I packed some provisions and trekked through the dark tunnels most of the day. Found some equipment in a maintenance-room to complement me there, a crowbar and a flashlight. Spent quite some time working the gates at the station open with said crowbar. Now I'm eating dinner in my secondary hideout. Tomorrow I'll go and see if I can get to the shopping district way south of here. Straight line there, grab goods, get back here. I hope that will work out...

Day 13:
I made my way down to this district and fought off some Z and such. Found a pharmacy and patched myself up. Found some bullets too. I heard rumors about mysterious black uniformed soldiers running around, gunning down everything that moves including civilians and cops. I saw their chopper just as I was entering the store I'm now camped out in. At daybreak I'll try to make a run for it back to the subway line. It's quite a way. God, I'm more scared than I have ever been since the apocalypse hit...

Day 14:
I made it! Spent most of the revolver bullets I had found fighting off Z, dodging bikers and all. Even found some canned food. It's only midday but having been up all night last night, feeling the pain of my empty stomach, I need to sleep soon. But there isn't much left for me to do in this area. I guess I'll spend tomorrow hauling stuff from my secondary base back to my main base. I came home with a single bullet left in my revolver... That was a close call...

Day 15:
Spent today hauling stuff here to my main subway base. Time to take stock of our stash again. Weaponwise: Two shotguns and a total of 247 shells. Two revolvers and a pistol with a total of also 247 bullets. A hunting rifle and 129 bullets for it. 39 cans of food. A leather jacket, a riot jacket, two flashlights, a crowbar, a golf-club, eight medikits, a blister of energy-pills. Good stash. Next target? Tomorrow I might try to go to the shopping district way south of the station. Might find some more food there. I'll take the revolver and some spare ammo for it. There is a lot of office buildings on the way and other survivors told me that the CHAR private security forces are rather trigger-happy these days...

Day 16:
Change of plan. I found bodies of two Black Ops soldiers outside and also two cops who warned me of the danger these guys pose. They had nice weapons but no ammo for them but they did have a strange GPS tracker that reveals the location of them when they're nearby. That will give me quite an edge over them should I ever encounter live ones. I also found some fresh food so I brought it back here and decided to call it a day. This little gadget may save my life. I'll go to the shopping area tomorrow.

Day 17:
The two cops from yesterday were dead when I came out at the station. They and two Z attacked me on sight. I shot them all. They did leave behind some fresh food from god-knows-where. I will stay here at least until the day after tomorrow now. There is no need to leave this to get spoiled. The shopping district is probably looted empty by now anyways. I'll be eating nice food today and tomorrow...

Day 18:
Nothing much to say. It's getting boring here.

Day 19:
Fought a Z out on the platform and it bit me. I patched myself up and decided to remain here for the day.

Day 20:
Went down to the shopping district. There were lots of gangsters around and I got into quite a pitched fight with them. Thankfully only two of them had guns. I killed somewhere between 5 and 7 of them. They had some military rations with them so I called it a day and came back home, dodging Z on the way. Two more dead BO were in front of the subway station. I guess I'll have to thank the Z for keeping me save... There are quite a lot of them out there, though.

Day 21:
Todays foray into the shopping district brought me quite a lot of ammo for the hunting rifle and my first run-in with the notorious BO. It was only one of them as far as I can tell but he hit me with a high-powered rifle that smashed right through my riot-jacket. I fled and limped home and here I am, patching myself up. These guys are dangerous. Really, really dangerous.

Day 22:
Fought Z in the business district after searching through a CHAR office that was already being looted by other survivors. Had another run-in with the BO, another close-call. I think I'll try to fortify the position around my subway station before doing anything else. I gotta take it slow or the BO will get me at some point...

Day 23:
Spent the whole day moving wrecked cars. Fortification of the entrance is about half-done. More tomorrow, I guess...

Day 24:
Another day pushing cars, fighting off the Z. There are BO in the area. I must be careful.

Day 25:
Finished the barricade. Went out to the position where the BO were overwhelmed by the Z. Grabbed an army rifle and some food. Fresh food too. Nice. Also got new batteries for that BO tracker. Another two days of safety ahead for me. Should I go for the hospital? Another survivor said that there is a safe-zone there. Well maybe later.

Day 26:
Shot some Z from the barricades. Nothing much else to talk about. I kinda need fresh food. Waiting for the army to drop more supplies... There was a fight between survivors for food in front of the station though. The winners said they heard rumors of a stash of food at the hospital. I might try for that later.

Day 28:
I made it to the hospital. Fought a crazed serial killer in the breaker-room and restored power. I barricaded myself in the power room. I'll hold out here as long as these supplies last. That should be a while. There is a metal fence here. Z must get around it to get at me. As long as I still have bullets, I can hold them off indefinetly. Well I do have 93 bullets. And Food for almost two weeks. I hope this will work. I'll stay here until it's gone. Then back home. I hope.

Day 37:
Spent the last days playing games on the housekeepers laptop I found down here. Something just banged at the barricades but then shuffled off. I hope it stays away. Shit. It's too early. I still have too much food to carry out...

Day 40:
Ate all the food. Time to get out of here. I'll write from the subway station. I hear them moaning up there. The hospital is full of them. This will be... Intense...

Day 41:
I fought my way through three hordes of Z before emerging from the hospital. Dodged and fought incredible masses of Z on the way back here, dodging the BO that were being dropped in like rain from their helicopters. Even found some more canned food on the way. I made it. With no electricity this place doesn't look like much after I was in that hospital for so long but it seems to be the safest place in town... I'll rest for now, I've been on my feet for 16 hours straight, always fighting and on the move... Of the 93 bullets I left the hospitals power room with I brought home 21. I've become a rather good shot.

Day 42:
In the morning I found a couple of dead people who had apparently camped up in the station and been killed by something capable of climbing my barricades. Possibly BO. They did leave a military ration and some more spare equipment behind that I brought into my lair. On a second trip to the surface I helped a cop and some woman fend off a Z. They gave me two cans of food as a token of their gratitude. I hauled a load of shot-shells to my old secondary base down the subway tunnels – I think I'd better prepare for an expedition to that mysterious CHAR-complex. I'll do one haul per day until I have all I need down there. Until then I'll also try not to eat my canned food which means I'll have to go to the surface to get those rations they keeps dropping. I'm a little paranoid about these BO though. Their activity seems to have risen dramatically while I was holed up in the hospital basement…

Day 43:
Some fighting at the barricade today. Got hurt a bit but patched myself up upon returning home. Other people are running around the city, so are lots of Z. I wonder when either will run out. Made another haul and also have to eat canned food tonight. I don't like seeing my stashed food dwindle…

Day 44:
Some massive battle was raging outside, a tough group of survivors against a huge horde of Z. I helped them out by firing my revolver into the crowded Z, expending around two dozen bullets, killing a couple of them. Still, the number of Z outside the station is frightening. I brought the rest of the equipment to the secondary station. I'll have some canned food again tonight. I hope tomorrow might even bring some military rations again but I'm starting to disbelieve it. Haven't seen any drops but BO since I left the hospital. The day after tomorrow I'll start making my way to the CHAR complex. Maybe it will all make sense down there…

Max Jones Died Day 45, hour 12, being overrun by Z while trying to grab some army rations that dead survivalists had dropped. Kills included 57 skeletons, 1 Zombie prince, 12 zombified men, 11 zombified women, 7 bikers, 11 gangstas, 20 zombie masters, 30 shamblers and a serial killer for 150 kills total.


1 comment:

  1. Gosh, that's a bloody good run! I absolutely love this game, thanks for posting your diary!

    ReplyDelete