Convoy- A Rougelike Post-Apocalyptic Mad Max-esque Experience!

Base camp with my starter team.

I saw "Convoy" on IndieDB yesterday, and asked if I might be able to try it! The devs of the game were nice enough to send me a code. I gotta say, the game is quite a lot of fun! While it is undeniably still unfinished, (it is in Alpha after all) the game is already quite fun to play. Honestly, even with no story (Not yet at least.), the game is still very fun to just play around with.

(This is what I've picked up from the story of the game that IS in already, it might change as Alphas tend to do.)

Picking my vehicles. There are two base trucks and a bunch
of protector vehicles to choose from at the start.

You start as the Captain of a spaceship that has either crash landed or not yet taken off from a Mad Max-y planet. Your ship isn't able to leave yet due to your needing more parts to repair (Build?) the engines. Like any good captain, you send out a scavenging party over the surface of the planet to see if you can find the parts you need (It's a big list!). This scavenging part is a convoy of three vehicles (One base car and two protector cars), with you being able to purchase more over the course of the game. You explore the game world from a sci-fi looking overhead map, full of radio signals that range from traders to bandits, from seedy looking ambush sites to cities to set up camp in. You will occasionally be attacked by bandit cars looking to steal your money, but you can either fight them or pay them to leave you be.

Map view. It looks very blue.

The combat is simple and fun. You have direct control over all the protector cars and are able to tell them where to move and who to attack via right and left clicking. Fights take place while the convoy is moving and you must position and use the protectors to defend your base car while being attacked by bandits. Your base car also plays a support role by launching missiles or EMPs (or a variety or other weapons) at enemies. However, keep an eye on the health of your base, cause if its gone, then it's Game Over. GG no re.

Everything is going well!

Shooting yourself with missiles is a bad idea

Especially when it kills you!

I have a few problems with this game though, and not being able to change your resolution is a big one. You can't change any video settings which, for a PC game, is a BIG no no. Secondly is the lack of tutorials. You get a basic combat tutorial which is nice, but the game does very little to help guide you after that. There was mention of a map/camp management tutorial, but I didn't get that. (Glitch?) The only game breaking I found was when I played the combat tutorial, then tried to play the actual game, the tutorial showed up again behind the map screen while I was playing on the map/camp parts. Kinda weird, and I couldn't click on
anything. A quick restart of the game fixed it, so it wasn't that bad.

Suck it raiders! I kicked your ass this time!

  Overall, I would say that anyone who can should ask these guys for a key on their IndieDB page! Its a very fun game now, and I can see it being really good once its finished.

Check them out on IndieDB here,
And we have the forums here.

IT'S ALIVE!

Firstly, I would like to thank you for checking out my blog. Hope you like what you read and come back soon!

So after almost two years of waiting, we have finally gotten some more information on Epic's new title, Fortnite. I personally saw this game when the trailer was first released, got really hyped up, then promptly forgot about it completely. Well, the newest issue of GameInformer has gotten all of the hype back, with Fortnite as its main feature.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, let me tell you about the cool new game called Fortnite. Fortnite is a Third-person, action-adventure game that is similar to rust or minecraft. You are tasked with destroying many "portals" that are drawing monsters that you must fight into the world. I really love the art style of this game, as I do with all of Epic's games, and the new info has gotten me particularly excited.

Firstly: Its not actually a server that you will be joining, but someone elses campaign via drop in/drop out coop. This increases the chances of it being a couch coop game, as many drop in/drop out games are (This is purely speculation on my part, it might be online only anyways).

Secondly, its procedurally generated, which is always nice in my opinion as it provides much more gameplay and replay value.

And then we have the classes:

At first glance, the classes may seem pretty standard fare, but with a closer look all but one are fairly new ideas.

• The Constructor is our engineer character. They build faster and use less materials doing so. They also have some sort of base repair item that they can build to help protect your home.
• Of course, have our shooty shooty class, the Commando. This fella will be the best choice for those who just want to murder everyone. Their headshots and reloads will be better than any of the other classes, and they can also use grenades and mines.
• Ninja. Perfect for those of us who like to jump around in games, they can use smoke bombs and ninja stars. They also get a bonus in melee combat.
• Lastly we have the Scavenger, who I assume will work well with the builder. This particular class can collect resources faster than any of the other ones.

Something else that I found interesting is that it will be free-to-play, which I am OK with.

Let me explain:

I dislike free to play games that are competitive almost as a rule. Some games manage to do it well, by only selling cosmetic items or whatever. However, when a coop FTP game is created, I feel like everyone wins, especially the customer. Firstly, there is not way for it to become unbalanced as there is no one for the person who spends a hundred dollars on the game to be better than. 

Also, as with all FTP games, the devs have to keep the game good, if they wish to keep making money, by fixing bugs, adding cool new content or even by adding paid DLC.

This is definitely a game to keep your guy, especially if you're someone who plays building games like Rust, Minecraft or Gmod. Or if you're someone who plays third person shooters. Or plays RPGs. So almost everyone. Just keep an eye on this game, I'm betting it'll be awesome!