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Everything Turns Gray
A Post Apocalyptic Open World RPG
What is it?
Everything Turns Gray is an open-world sand-box or "play-ground" style CRPG set in a realistically bleak, harsh, and inhospitable post-apocalyptic wasteland. Immediate comparisons that come to mind would obviously include the Fallout series and its inspiration, Wasteland. While of course I was inspired by these classics of the genre, the more meaningful inspiration for EtG, in terms of mood, tone, and message, was the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The end goal is less a light hearted or humorous romp through post apoclayptia and more a brutally accurate simulation of a world destroyed. For this reason, rather than enemy robots or mutants, your chief concerns in EtG are the cold, dehydration, starvation, fatigue, and omnipresent radiation. In other words, a whole new spin on "survival horror", with the emphasis firmly on the survival. Unlike in any Fallout game, you must keep yourself fed and hydrated to live, and finding food and water and shelter makes up the basis of the game's greatest challenge.
A Post Apocalyptic Open World RPG
What is it?
Everything Turns Gray is an open-world sand-box or "play-ground" style CRPG set in a realistically bleak, harsh, and inhospitable post-apocalyptic wasteland. Immediate comparisons that come to mind would obviously include the Fallout series and its inspiration, Wasteland. While of course I was inspired by these classics of the genre, the more meaningful inspiration for EtG, in terms of mood, tone, and message, was the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The end goal is less a light hearted or humorous romp through post apoclayptia and more a brutally accurate simulation of a world destroyed. For this reason, rather than enemy robots or mutants, your chief concerns in EtG are the cold, dehydration, starvation, fatigue, and omnipresent radiation. In other words, a whole new spin on "survival horror", with the emphasis firmly on the survival. Unlike in any Fallout game, you must keep yourself fed and hydrated to live, and finding food and water and shelter makes up the basis of the game's greatest challenge.
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Max McGee
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- Max McGee
RPG Maker VX- Simulation RPG
- 12/21/2008 12:35 PM
- 08/22/2018 12:55 AM
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Life and other creative projects. I am also a writer and (pen and paper) RPG Designer. And I have an IF game I'm working on. So...lots of stuff getting in the way. Thanks for your continued interest!
DarthSolidus
40
The whole post-apocalyptic/sandbox/open world thing with like lockpick/tech etc reminds me of Fallout 3. Nice work!
BD_Design
51
comment=38745
The whole post-apocalyptic/sandbox/open world thing with like lockpick/tech etc reminds me of Fallout 3. Nice work!
And unlike Fallout 3, it doesn't fuck up your computer!
Thanks, adamhx, Darth Solidus.
With the benefit of years of hindsight, though, I must admit...Everything Turns Gray is not the one.
With the benefit of years of hindsight, though, I must admit...Everything Turns Gray is not the one.
Chilly
382
I didn't quite finish the demo (got up to the Poisoned Lake). I'll admit that CRPGs generally ain't my thang, and that I'm a bit too lazy for games that require a fair share of customization and bombard with tutorials, but this was at least a 7.5/10 I'd say, keeping RPGMaker's limitations in mind (for example, I think this would be a much better 3D game, but that ain't happenin').
Also, lul @ the title screen music. Starting off with comedic relief, enh?
Also, lul @ the title screen music. Starting off with comedic relief, enh?
I like to use popular music, ironically, unironically, and everywhere in between.
Anyway, thanks for the mini-review. Feel like going the distance for a real one? If not, that's cool. EtG has a decent share anyway.
Anyway, thanks for the mini-review. Feel like going the distance for a real one? If not, that's cool. EtG has a decent share anyway.
kumada
3917
Just a heads up. The dropkick murphys battle song and "Battle - Sleep Now In The Fire" are both missing from the BGM folder and cause critical crashes when they come up on radio rotation. The simplest fix from a player angle here is to disable the radio, but that means missing out on some quality jams, so I've just been renaming my own songs and dropping them in instead.
On the plus side, more Coheed & Cambria.
On the plus side, more Coheed & Cambria.
kumada
3917
Infinite bomb loop get!
Turns out you can keep accepting the doc's quest in Junkton and getting payment up front every time.
Turns out you can keep accepting the doc's quest in Junkton and getting payment up front every time.
kumada
3917
And you can sell them back to him! I'm now roaming the wastelands, dual-wielding shockwhips, with two AK-toting associates. Unfortunately, I've also cleared all content in the demo. So, here's feedback.
-minor BGM related crash-bugs. The only two I mentioned were the two I discovered.
-amusing things happen when a bomb timer goes off during battle. Apparently those two highwaymen effing booked it outta there when they thought they were being shelled by orbital artillery. My half-dead teammates thank you.
-I love, freaking love, the mechanics of the system. Skill use, multiple classes, the way the game world reacts to the multiple classes (I played as a mechaneckatechnician-thingy and totally enjoyed that the technocracy troopers went out of their way to help me,) level-ups, craft benches, depletable resources, team-mates that can have designated skill uses.
-Literacy feels like a trap skill. I like it being there, and I like that it serves an important function in the game, but I do not like that you don't get exp for successful lit uses. Disarming a turret by knowing the code should give comparable gain to disarming a turret by hacking the console. Playing without literacy feels like I'm missing a big chunk of the game, but playing with it means plastering a big kick-me sign on my skill-point allotment.
-team-mates who can be designated tech-users should be able to contribute to crafting. I did not test this rigorously, so I may be wrong here, but it seems like an artificial handicap.
-Lyda should be able to be designated for security skill usage. I don't know why I can't. Perhaps my copy is bugging out?
-I'm guessing this is for coding reasons, but why not be able to have team-mates you just acquired use their skills in areas you visited before you met them? Like, do they have a bitter personal history with that cabinet you want to unlock?
-I like the philosophical angle of the game, where the technocracy embraces objectivism and the healer dudes embrace altruism, but whereas Vermicide really held conventional morality up to the fire, ETG kinda collapses back into a Fallout-3-style you-can-be-a-nice-guy-or-you-can-be-a-bad-guy karma system. This is kinda disappointing, and feeds into the nitpickiest complaint I have ever made about a game.
-T.N.C.I.H.E.M.A.A.G.: people in ETG are too happy. All that wearily-determined-survivalist-grit-in-the-face-of-total-nihilism just loses its bite around characters like Lyda--who I like, but not in this situation--and the peppy-hobos-around-flaming-trashcans feel of Junkton. This is the kind of comment you should just ignore, so please do, but I was a little disappointing that the world wasn't as flat-out hostile in this as it was in Vermicide.
-the music is spectacular, although the combat-songs-with-lyrics problem shows up again. You only get to hear a few bars of the intro before you've stomped the mooks you're fighting into the ground, so you don't get to fully enjoy the experience. Strangely, the best game for battle songs with lyrics would have been To Arms!, due to the length of its battles.
Ultimately, my overriding impression of ETG was that I enjoyed the hell out of it. I would love to see this completed, and I think you would be rendering a work of great beauty unto the community. A couple edits here and there would patch it up nicely, but what it really needs is content.
-minor BGM related crash-bugs. The only two I mentioned were the two I discovered.
-amusing things happen when a bomb timer goes off during battle. Apparently those two highwaymen effing booked it outta there when they thought they were being shelled by orbital artillery. My half-dead teammates thank you.
-I love, freaking love, the mechanics of the system. Skill use, multiple classes, the way the game world reacts to the multiple classes (I played as a mechaneckatechnician-thingy and totally enjoyed that the technocracy troopers went out of their way to help me,) level-ups, craft benches, depletable resources, team-mates that can have designated skill uses.
-Literacy feels like a trap skill. I like it being there, and I like that it serves an important function in the game, but I do not like that you don't get exp for successful lit uses. Disarming a turret by knowing the code should give comparable gain to disarming a turret by hacking the console. Playing without literacy feels like I'm missing a big chunk of the game, but playing with it means plastering a big kick-me sign on my skill-point allotment.
-team-mates who can be designated tech-users should be able to contribute to crafting. I did not test this rigorously, so I may be wrong here, but it seems like an artificial handicap.
-Lyda should be able to be designated for security skill usage. I don't know why I can't. Perhaps my copy is bugging out?
-I'm guessing this is for coding reasons, but why not be able to have team-mates you just acquired use their skills in areas you visited before you met them? Like, do they have a bitter personal history with that cabinet you want to unlock?
-I like the philosophical angle of the game, where the technocracy embraces objectivism and the healer dudes embrace altruism, but whereas Vermicide really held conventional morality up to the fire, ETG kinda collapses back into a Fallout-3-style you-can-be-a-nice-guy-or-you-can-be-a-bad-guy karma system. This is kinda disappointing, and feeds into the nitpickiest complaint I have ever made about a game.
-T.N.C.I.H.E.M.A.A.G.: people in ETG are too happy. All that wearily-determined-survivalist-grit-in-the-face-of-total-nihilism just loses its bite around characters like Lyda--who I like, but not in this situation--and the peppy-hobos-around-flaming-trashcans feel of Junkton. This is the kind of comment you should just ignore, so please do, but I was a little disappointing that the world wasn't as flat-out hostile in this as it was in Vermicide.
-the music is spectacular, although the combat-songs-with-lyrics problem shows up again. You only get to hear a few bars of the intro before you've stomped the mooks you're fighting into the ground, so you don't get to fully enjoy the experience. Strangely, the best game for battle songs with lyrics would have been To Arms!, due to the length of its battles.
Ultimately, my overriding impression of ETG was that I enjoyed the hell out of it. I would love to see this completed, and I think you would be rendering a work of great beauty unto the community. A couple edits here and there would patch it up nicely, but what it really needs is content.
Thanks for the feedback, and it wouldn't hurt to revise your thoughts into a review, if you ever get a hankering. : )
Badass!
Excellent point.
I'm pretty sure ALL of these things follow from difficulties and challenges I've had with coding and eventing.
This is a really valid point; while it does get less black and white later on, I feel that having a clear antagonist (not necessarily a "moral villain" but someone powerful and cool to work against) is a real boon to a game's longevity and ability to engage with the player.
Believe me, I hate the morality system in every Fallout and Star Wars game. Boring flawed dualistic morality really pisses me off. And morality has no place in post-apocalyptia.
Bleak becomes monotonous if it's the only note you strike, and it's hard to establish a character as likeable (which I was trying to do with Lyda) without any notes of cheer or joy. This is exactly the kind of comment I shouldn't ignore though. I think it's really substantial.
Please tell me what TNCHIEMAAG means, I have never seen it before.
At least it's different songs! Yeah, I had the same "problem" but for me it was a minor one. The "Battle Radio" definitely increased my enjoyment in playing the game and I don't think it was anywhere near as obnoxious as listening to the first two minutes of the same Mars Volta song over and over.
I'm now roaming the wastelands, dual-wielding shockwhips, with two AK-toting associates.
Badass!
-Literacy feels like a trap skill. I like it being there, and I like that it serves an important function in the game, but I do not like that you don't get exp for successful lit uses. Disarming a turret by knowing the code should give comparable gain to disarming a turret by hacking the console. Playing without literacy feels like I'm missing a big chunk of the game, but playing with it means plastering a big kick-me sign on my skill-point allotment.
Excellent point.
-team-mates who can be designated tech-users should be able to contribute to crafting. I did not test this rigorously, so I may be wrong here, but it seems like an artificial handicap.
-Lyda should be able to be designated for security skill usage. I don't know why I can't. Perhaps my copy is bugging out?
-I'm guessing this is for coding reasons, but why not be able to have team-mates you just acquired use their skills in areas you visited before you met them? Like, do they have a bitter personal history with that cabinet you want to unlock?
I'm pretty sure ALL of these things follow from difficulties and challenges I've had with coding and eventing.
-I like the philosophical angle of the game, where the technocracy embraces objectivism and the healer dudes embrace altruism, but whereas Vermicide really held conventional morality up to the fire, ETG kinda collapses back into a Fallout-3-style you-can-be-a-nice-guy-or-you-can-be-a-bad-guy karma system. This is kinda disappointing, and feeds into the nitpickiest complaint I have ever made about a game.
This is a really valid point; while it does get less black and white later on, I feel that having a clear antagonist (not necessarily a "moral villain" but someone powerful and cool to work against) is a real boon to a game's longevity and ability to engage with the player.
Believe me, I hate the morality system in every Fallout and Star Wars game. Boring flawed dualistic morality really pisses me off. And morality has no place in post-apocalyptia.
-T.N.C.I.H.E.M.A.A.G.: people in ETG are too happy. All that wearily-determined-survivalist-grit-in-the-face-of-total-nihilism just loses its bite around characters like Lyda--who I like, but not in this situation--and the peppy-hobos-around-flaming-trashcans feel of Junkton. This is the kind of comment you should just ignore, so please do, but I was a little disappointing that the world wasn't as flat-out hostile in this as it was in Vermicide.
Bleak becomes monotonous if it's the only note you strike, and it's hard to establish a character as likeable (which I was trying to do with Lyda) without any notes of cheer or joy. This is exactly the kind of comment I shouldn't ignore though. I think it's really substantial.
Please tell me what TNCHIEMAAG means, I have never seen it before.
-the music is spectacular, although the combat-songs-with-lyrics problem shows up again. You only get to hear a few bars of the intro before you've stomped the mooks you're fighting into the ground, so you don't get to fully enjoy the experience. Strangely, the best game for battle songs with lyrics would have been To Arms!, due to the length of its battles.
At least it's different songs! Yeah, I had the same "problem" but for me it was a minor one. The "Battle Radio" definitely increased my enjoyment in playing the game and I don't think it was anywhere near as obnoxious as listening to the first two minutes of the same Mars Volta song over and over.
kumada
3917
author=Max McGee
Bleak becomes monotonous if it's the only note you strike, and it's hard to establish a character as likeable (which I was trying to do with Lyda) without any notes of cheer or joy. This is exactly the kind of comment I shouldn't ignore though. I think it's really substantial.
Okay, that's a very valid point. I guess bleak does work better in a shorter game like Vermicide than in a longer experience, but Lyda sorta felt like she was so non-bleak that she couldn't possibly be from the same world. Fleshing out her backstory would fix this, but I'm not sure how much you planned to do with the optional hires.
author=Max McGee
Please tell me what TNCHIEMAAG means, I have never seen it before.
TNCHIEMAAG is 'the nitpickiest complaint I have ever made about a game' :p
As for reviewing, I'm going to wait for a finished product. Yes, I am setting my hopes unrealistically high, but my personal take is that comments are for devs, reviews are for prospective players, and the demo--while promising an excellent game--still leaves that disappointing demo-aftertaste in your mouth when you play it.
So, no review just yet, but I can still give con-crit and feedback where its needed.
"Everything Turns Gay" sounds like the title of a would-be best selling novel I'll never have the chance to read.
kumada
3917
author=myformerselves
"Everything Turns Gay" sounds like the title of a would-be best selling novel I'll never have the chance to read.
You...uh...missed a letter there?
Or maybe not?
XRazorBlackX
631
This game was heaven for me, since I love post-apocalyptic RPGs, especially those which give you lots of freedom and act more as a simulator! Our tastes in songs match well apparently, as I love the songs you chose! Your choice of music was fine as well, as you broke the traditional rule of using ambiences or silence in dangerous areas. I'd love to see this out of hiatus, and for some reason - this game stands out for me amongst your games.
