AvPGalaxy Forums

Originally, this thread was started as a "what if?" About a survival horror based alien game. Something we haven't really seen since Alien Resurrection.

It is now, somewhat, more of a thread about discussing an upcoming project.

The Story: You're Captain Dallas. You've lost two of your crew to some horrible thing you found on an alien planet. You won't let anyone else die because of your mistake in letting it on board to begin with. You grab a flamethrower, a torch, and head into the vents to contend with the deadliest creature mankind has ever faced. The perfect organism.

The Mission: Navigate the vents, whcih are nearly pitch black, whilst trying to avoid being taken by the alien. You must disable four locks to open the seal of the vent on the other side. This will allow you to draw the alien into the air lock, and then blow it into space. Can you succeed where he failed?

Limited resources. Almost no light. Atmosphere. Survival. Danger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW6OgV8_q7A#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW6OgV8_q7A#ws)

After playing Amnesia my mind also wondered towards Alien. The only issue I can see being a problem is the escape or avoidance mechanic since Xenos seem to always know where you are. The Alien would have to be like the one in Alien where it's pursuit is pretty slow or based on surprise attacks.

Something like Alien 3 with locking the mechanical doors could be a good substitute.

Quote from: newbeing on Mar 21, 2012, 01:25:13 PM
After playing Amnesia my mind also wondered towards Alien. The only issue I can see being a problem is the escape or avoidance mechanic since Xenos seem to always know where you are. The Alien would have to be like the one in Alien where it's pursuit is pretty slow or based on surprise attacks.

Something like Alien 3 with locking the mechanical doors could be a good substitute.

That's actually not a bad idea. The Doom Aliens TC employed something like that during two of the levels where many aliens would come through various sections, and if you didn't close off the doors you'd be overwhelmed. It could work similar with just a one-to-one.

I'm thinking of experimenting further with this idea in the "Darkplaces" engine.

This is the music that will accompany the main portion of gameplay.
http://soundcloud.com/openmaw/the-shaft (http://soundcloud.com/openmaw/the-shaft)

All the sound FX to be found in the mod will be sourced from Alien where possible.

A couple of preliminary images:
(https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg513.imageshack.us%2Fimg513%2F2246%2Fssonteaser.jpg&hash=f8a910168778f815c820476e273b0f924dd9a5c8)

Obviously it's a modified AVP2 mesh, but I rigged a very early bump and gloss map for him. The skin is based on a custom AVP2 skin called "Giger's Alien" which I have modified quite a bit. (Tweak the color pallette, etc). It's really quite something to see this guy come out of the shadow and try to hobble away. Animation will come later.

(https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg849.imageshack.us%2Fimg849%2F7013%2Fflamethrowerearly.jpg&hash=c0da7858983f0ea7c07c0c50ca5a297d90aa9f78)

The flamethrower. It was about ten minutes of work so far. More detail to be added, and then of course texture work.

I liek th eidea, or soemthing like the psone ALONE IN THE DARK with alien

Level design is purely structural right now. No texture work or detailing. By the end of it, it should look at least similar to the vents from Alien.

Quick update:

(https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg32.imageshack.us%2Fimg32%2F1548%2Fworsethan.jpg&hash=50809d9d848154545f58671607c6b78bd498a5ae)

This is the death screen that appears if the Alien gets ya.

I plan to rebuild the map into something a bit bigger and structured around four junctions. I don't want to drop the maze aspect because it does give the entire thing a high level of tension. Should look much better next time I show anything from it.

I've built up enough for game play. There is no HUD(You have no way of knowing how much fuel you have in the flame thrower beyond experience and figuring out how many shots I let you have with it. :) You can't force the hud back on either, I told the code to not even draw it.) the movement speed from Quake's has been reduced to an absolute crawl. You're supposed to be in the vents after all.

I'm even fiddling around with a bit of a motion tracker to boost the tension that much more. There may be additional fuel cells at some of the junctions, i'm not sure about that yet.

I decided to let the torch have infinite power, because i'm already tempting frustration for some players with how things are stacked as it is. The Alien can out run you in the vents, the alien can kill you in one hit. The Alien has the capacity to be anywhere from the start of the map. The light doesn't really give you a huge distance advantage either. The flamethrower actually reaches farther. (Which is rather cool, and sorta authentic to the movie. :)

This looks fun, release date?

Doesn't look that bad 8)

Quote from: PVTDukeMorrison on Mar 28, 2012, 08:06:16 PM
This looks fun, release date?

I hope it will be, too. ... Ha. Not touching that one. I will finish it, I am finishing it, but i'm not gonna even qualify that with a "WID."

Quote from: Terx2 on Mar 29, 2012, 05:09:40 AM
Doesn't look that bad 8)

Hopefully by the end it will look a fair bit better.


Quick update:
(https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg818.imageshack.us%2Fimg818%2F2628%2Fnotheotherwaydallas.jpg&hash=9505282e8b00b7129de78160b7cd4c5f80b7c360)

Flamethrower has some more greebly detail on it.(Textures still wip) Alien has been made bigger, and new textures for the vents, of course.

More to come.

this looks interesting, i had that idea of a survival game going around my head for a while.

and this

Quote from: OpenMaw on Mar 31, 2012, 04:49:24 PM
Quick update:
(https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg818.imageshack.us%2Fimg818%2F2628%2Fnotheotherwaydallas.jpg&hash=9505282e8b00b7129de78160b7cd4c5f80b7c360)

Flamethrower has some more greebly detail on it.(Textures still wip) Alien has been made bigger, and new textures for the vents, of course.

More to come.

is creepy as hell. if you're open to advice, i think that putting the POV near to the ceiling would make the vent more claustrophobic, and maybe slowing down the animations of the alien to really unnatural speeds will make it scarier.

Quite right you were. I was able to adjust the pov up a bit. Not a lot, because too much and the alien seems to derp out and not have the capacity to attack the player. (Lot's of odd "quirks" i'm trying to overcome.) Absolutely good advice there. Helped tighten up the sense of the vents being small.

New level layout is proceeding nicely. Adding in a few bits of piping and things in some areas and back lighting them to give some nice dynamic shadows. Pictures will be forthcoming in the next week or so.

What kind of music are you gonna use? And will there be a section in the vent were you see the small alien hive and a cocooned brett like in the directors cut? :-\

Quote from: Terx2 on Apr 01, 2012, 01:03:40 PM
What kind of music are you gonna use? And will there be a section in the vent were you see the small alien hive and a cocooned brett like in the directors cut? :-\

I'm using samples from the actual Alien soundtrack for the menu and outro. I'm still debating the level music honestly. I may not have any because the soundscape can really bore into the player's head and keep him on edge.

Well, Brett was held in the landing leg of the Nostromo, along with Dallas. (That's where Ripley finds em). My goal is to keep the player strictly in the vents as seen in the scene with Dallas. A maze of basically almost entirely pitch black passageways.

If I ever do an expanded version of this idea with a unique narrative, but keeping in tone with Alien, I may have the cocoon idea come into play. As of right now though i'm just trying to keep things fairly simple. :)

Keep this up!!! the video creeped me out completely. I live in a basement apartment and after watching the video I had to turn my tv on and sleep with my lights on!!!!!!!! lol

Another quick update, more video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH2a2qedTg4#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH2a2qedTg4#ws)

excelent demonstration! i was on the edge of my seat at every turn, especially because you didn't do much peeking first... the random nature of the encounters is a winning formula with the alien as it was proved by the '99 game and this does it but better. the fire doesn't seem to harm to the alien, is it supposed to just slow it down? if so, i feel like you should increase the time it stays startled a tad in order to make it possible to lose it for a while instead of getting into a chase that you will inevitable lose.

i also noticed the flames are incomplete, i though it would be cool to be able to use them to light up the vent like Dallas did on the staircase he was ambushed in, but i am not familiar with the engine. i feel like that flashlight is too bright and it could be interesting to have the option to play with it off in order to a)make the navigation a bit more stealthy by avoiding reflections that can be seen around corners and junctions by the Alien and b)take advantage of that pitch black darkness for added atmosphere and pretty lightning effects.

keep up the good work! i am very interested in how this will turn out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_NSvkxUn5w# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_NSvkxUn5w#)

Hello,

This looks so promising!!!! Very nice work here!

Check your corners, damn it! Looking very interesting. Canne wait to see more. Sounds like a simple but winning game formula.

Wow, this looks amazing.  With the exception of the colored pixels that appear when you shoot the alien, I don't see any glitches.  This level very much reminds me of Alien Trilogy and the Ferarco stage in the AvpP1.  If this works out, maybe you could do a similar game for Alien 3.

This is why I love this community. Looks f**king excellent so far mate :)

Quote from: chupacabras acheronsis on Apr 05, 2012, 03:33:43 AM
excelent demonstration! i was on the edge of my seat at every turn, especially because you didn't do much peeking first... the random nature of the encounters is a winning formula with the alien as it was proved by the '99 game and this does it but better. the fire doesn't seem to harm to the alien, is it supposed to just slow it down? if so, i feel like you should increase the time it stays startled a tad in order to make it possible to lose it for a while instead of getting into a chase that you will inevitable lose.

i also noticed the flames are incomplete, i though it would be cool to be able to use them to light up the vent like Dallas did on the staircase he was ambushed in, but i am not familiar with the engine. i feel like that flashlight is too bright and it could be interesting to have the option to play with it off in order to a)make the navigation a bit more stealthy by avoiding reflections that can be seen around corners and junctions by the Alien and b)take advantage of that pitch black darkness for added atmosphere and pretty lightning effects.

keep up the good work! i am very interested in how this will turn out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_NSvkxUn5w# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_NSvkxUn5w#)

I have since that video upped the pain time on the alien to several seconds. Giving the player a chance to round a few corners and get away. I also told the AI to go into it's "turn" routine so it'll often times appear to retreat momentarily. It helps to balance it out, and makes the alien actually seem more random. (I have since actually had him then proceed to cut me off later on in the map, scaring the **** outta me!).

As far as the flashlight is concerned i'm not sure what to do. I can't really change the brightness on it given the way it's coded. It uses a fixed effect in the game, and i'm not really coder conscious enough to create an alternative.

So it may come down to going with strictly ambient lighting. I'm not too happy with that because I felt part of the tension was always only ever being able to see about four feet in front of you.  Though I think i'd go with whatever the audience feels would provide the best atmosphere, eh? :)


The flamethrower does actually light up the hallway when you fire it out in front of you. It just doesn't stick to anything.

Quote from: Many Angled One on Apr 08, 2012, 06:00:43 PM
Wow, this looks amazing.  With the exception of the colored pixels that appear when you shoot the alien, I don't see any glitches.  This level very much reminds me of Alien Trilogy and the Ferarco stage in the AvpP1.  If this works out, maybe you could do a similar game for Alien 3.

Hahaha, yes as I stated previously above the flame effect isn't done. The color pixels are the game saying "Hey, dumbass, you're missing assets." When it's done the alien will give off a bit of smoke.


Thanks everyone for your supportive words and feedback. When it's ready I hope you guys will find this very enjoyable. :)

Are you thinking of possibly doing an Alien 3 themed game after this one?  There are tons of scenes in that movie that could use this style of gameplay.  Or one for Aliens where you run from the queen, or Resurrection where you have to get to the Betty in time.

Quote from: Many Angled One on Apr 09, 2012, 11:33:12 PM
Are you thinking of possibly doing an Alien 3 themed game after this one?  There are tons of scenes in that movie that could use this style of gameplay.  Or one for Aliens where you run from the queen, or Resurrection where you have to get to the Betty in time.

I have a couple of ideas floating in my head. One of which at one point was a multiplayer version of this concept based on the old Alien War attraction. A small group of marines having to work their way to an exit whilst dozens of aliens randomly roam. (Great thing is there are a few more tricks with the AI I can pull off that aren't in "into the vents" which could give the aliens even more aggression. Namely exploding upon death to simulate acid spray, the use of monster-only teleports that would simulate the aliens moving to-and-from various sections of the level. -That was actually my first thought before I started actually doing this at all. But with Colonial Marines coming out I felt my chances of getting foxed would be much higher. This stays off the radar a bit more and it's small enough it shouldn't bother them.

I can absolutely see the lead works scenario being rather fun. Particularly if it were done as a cooperative mode.

yeah i'd stick with the maze/survival thing instead of going into shooter grounds. it hasn't been done since the Atari after all.

maybe a jockey themed level with loads of traps, puzzles, secrets and vertigo-inducing navigation? the works of Atlantis (http://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=41584.0) have given me lots of ideas of what would be nice to see.

Just a quick update since it's been about two weeks. I haven't touched it too much lately, mostly because im mulling over the level design issues that were prevalent in the previous video. (getting stuck on things, etc). I am taking the time to try and take the advice and criticism under advisement to greatly improve the experience. Hopefully it'll be done within the next month or two. That would be a very nice release window for me.  :)

I'm not sure whether I can't wait to play this game or if I never, EVER want to play it. That video is downright terrifying, and that's with someone else playing - and with talking all the way through!

I know this is probably a stupid question, but OpenMaw, is this a mod for a game or a downloadable?

Quote from: PVTDukeMorrison on May 07, 2012, 03:06:10 AM
I know this is probably a stupid question, but OpenMaw, is this a mod for a game or a downloadable?

It's technically a mod, because it uses Darkplaces/Quake. However, because I intend to cut down the assets to just what the engine needs to run the mod, it'll be up for download upon completion. :)

Is this still ago?

Quote from: PVTDukeMorrison on Jun 24, 2012, 07:16:55 PM
Is this still ago?

I hope they are still working on the project.

Is this dead?

Wow, this is amazing! Watching the gameplay vids was one of the most scary xeno-experiences of my entire life (on pair with AvP Classics) and I wasn't even the one playing this game! This is so well done, OpenMaw, I don't even know where to start! Truly great work. In all honesty, what I've seen so far pretty much makes me happy, so even if you don't have time/bother to finish the game, I would be very much happy to get to play it even in its current state  ;D .

On a side note: this really pisses me off! Not the game itself, but the fact that all big-shot Hollywood writers and directors of movies and games claim that "Alien's done, it aint scary no more". It's like it has become the popular excuse for not making a good script involving xenos. I mean, gameplay of A:CM looks no very near as scary as this. They got all the millions of $ they need and all these fancy-shmancy graphics, yet fail to come up with something as good as what some random dude (no offence OpenMaw) has done with a Quake engine, like what'a hell?!?

Looks great so far. I will certainly play that down the road.

Jeezus this got out of hand didn't it?

Sorry to all of you who have sent me PM's, or emails, or YouTube videos and such. This project has been... Er, well, dropped off the face of the Earth, didn't it?

Well, it's going to make a release. I just have to over come some bugs. Frankly, this is a very messy project, as it's building on top of what Quake already did, and I want to empty out all the non-quake elements so that I can release it free for everyone to enjoy.

I also, unfortunately, lost some of the source elements. Namely the MD3's. This isn't too bad, because the Alien was pretty much done/a rip off of the AvP2 mesh anyway. The flamer has always been rather crappy, and I needed to rebuild it anyway.

More to come!