GasBandit
Staff member
The Ship - Murder Party is a First Person murder/survival game that came out way back in the day. But it's fun as hell. I'd like to get a night going for a Halforums Gaming Night where as many halforumites as possible can play together.
Until January 4th, it is on sale on steam for 1 dollar. If you're interested in playing, please snag it at this low price. I've bought several gift copies, but I'm hoping to save those for latecomers or the REALLY terminally short of cash. It's a very old game (2006), and it uses the Source engine, so basically if your computer can play Half Life 2, it can play this.
As I said, this game is a first person murder/survival game, which I specifically did not call a first person shooter - while there are firearms in the game, the majority of weapons available are melee weapons (and improvised ones at that). It's also slower paced than most FPS games - there's no "running and gunning" so to speak, and you also have to attend to personal needs as a sim would - eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, hygiene, social and intellectual stimulation are all things that will be required of you lest you suffer penalties.
But I get ahead of myself.
The premise of the game is that we are all passengers on a cruise ship in the early 20th century, and the ship is in the grip of a terrorist who wants to play a game, a-la the Saw franchise. We must kill each other, or he will kill us all. Fabulous prizes for the champion at the end of the game.
A game of The Ship typically goes like this - passengers will all start in various cabins and staterooms around the ship, randomly assigned appearances, names, genders and clothing.
Players must then rummage through closets, luggage, desks, and other various storage to find weapons. Anything will do - a letter opener, a walking cane, a candlestick, or if you're very lucky, you might even find a gun or a sword. You can also find weapons in other places - scalpels or syringes from the sickbay, a fire axe in a hallway, or a flare gun or purse bomb or any other variety of interesting things.
Each player will be assigned a target at the start of each round - they will only know the name of their target - not their appearance - and you will also be updated as to where they were last seen. When you see another player for the first time, putting your target reticle over them will identify them as "????", but if you get close enough and click to inspect or converse with them, you will learn their name, and afterwards mousing over them will show that name "Barnaby Jones" or whatever. The idea here is to find and identify your target, and then murder them without being caught by ship security. Your target's location will be periodically updated to you (as will yours to whoever is hunting YOU), in terms of "Corridor, deck C" and so on. You can tell which deck you are on because the letter will be in the middle of the "compass" at the bottom of the screen, which will also tell you whether you're headed toward the bow or the stern of the ship, to help keep you from losing your sense of direction.
You can kill your target with any weapon you want - or even cause them to die from an "accident" such as a lifeboat dropping on them - but bear in mind there are different monetary rewards for the various weapons which increase over time, and reset to $100 upon being used in a successful murder. So it will not be very profitable to use the same weapon more than once. You can check which murder weapons are most valuable by hitting the M key. Selecting a murder weapon in your inventory will tell you the current value of a kill with that weapon.
And beware - because while you hunt your target, another passenger on the ship is simultaneously hunting you! If someone seems to be following you, you will want to shake them, or kill them if you think you can, or you can retreat to where there are guards, security cameras, or other NPC witnesses. And even if you kill your target, you still have to evade whoever is hunting you for the rest of the round!
If a player is spotted by NPCs/cameras while brandishing a weapon, they will immediately be arrested, fined, and sent to the brig for a period of time. Generally something you want to avoid. And your fine is more expensive the more weapons you are carrying at the time of your arrest! So it's in your best interest to travel light, so to speak. There is an "eye" icon on your screen that will be green if the coast is clear, and red if you're currently in eyesight of a camera or person who would cause your arrest.
Also, even if you can get away with it out of sight, it's generally not a good idea to kill everyone you see "just in case," as you will be fined each time you kill a person who is not your target or your pursuer. Plus, it will greatly exacerbate your "social" need.
Speaking of needs, you may be a killer, but you still are a human being - ostensibly being forced to kill as self preservation. And thus, you have the needs that a human would have, and you will have to avail yourself of the facilities of the ship to address them. This prevents players from hiding in a box or something deep in the cargo hold and never coming out until the round is over. Here is a list of the needs and how to take care of them-
You can deposit or withdraw cash at the bank - you need to have the cash on you to buy food, drinks, or other items, but if you are killed you drop your purse with all the money on you in it. There is a sickbay where you can pay to be healed if you are injured, and a psychiatrist to deal with any mental strain put on you by your hectic day of murder and fleeing from same. There are also areas of the ship where you, as a passenger, aren't supposed to be allowed to go, such as the bridge or engine room, but if you get in and out quickly before the tresspassing timer expires, you might just get away with it.
If you are killed by your pursuer, you will respawn shortly with a new randomized identity. You will drop your purse with any money you had on you in it, and your inventory will still be on your old identity's corpse. Both will probably be looted before you can get back to them, but you never know. Now that you have a new identity, the other players will have to learn who you are again before their "target" data will show them a picture of you.
The winner of the game is the player with the most money when time runs out. There can be a number of "rounds" during that time, each round also consisting of a certain amount of time in which each player tries to kill their target. If you are killed by your pursuer and have not yet killed your target, you must wait for the next round to get a new target. If, on the other hand, you kill your target and don't get killed, you will continue to be assigned new targets immediately each time you kill your target. As previously mentioned, the value of killing your target depends on the current value assigned to the weapon you use to make the kill, so be sure to check your weapon and the M list and look around for the most lucrative options!
Until January 4th, it is on sale on steam for 1 dollar. If you're interested in playing, please snag it at this low price. I've bought several gift copies, but I'm hoping to save those for latecomers or the REALLY terminally short of cash. It's a very old game (2006), and it uses the Source engine, so basically if your computer can play Half Life 2, it can play this.
As I said, this game is a first person murder/survival game, which I specifically did not call a first person shooter - while there are firearms in the game, the majority of weapons available are melee weapons (and improvised ones at that). It's also slower paced than most FPS games - there's no "running and gunning" so to speak, and you also have to attend to personal needs as a sim would - eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, hygiene, social and intellectual stimulation are all things that will be required of you lest you suffer penalties.
But I get ahead of myself.
The premise of the game is that we are all passengers on a cruise ship in the early 20th century, and the ship is in the grip of a terrorist who wants to play a game, a-la the Saw franchise. We must kill each other, or he will kill us all. Fabulous prizes for the champion at the end of the game.
A game of The Ship typically goes like this - passengers will all start in various cabins and staterooms around the ship, randomly assigned appearances, names, genders and clothing.
Players must then rummage through closets, luggage, desks, and other various storage to find weapons. Anything will do - a letter opener, a walking cane, a candlestick, or if you're very lucky, you might even find a gun or a sword. You can also find weapons in other places - scalpels or syringes from the sickbay, a fire axe in a hallway, or a flare gun or purse bomb or any other variety of interesting things.
Each player will be assigned a target at the start of each round - they will only know the name of their target - not their appearance - and you will also be updated as to where they were last seen. When you see another player for the first time, putting your target reticle over them will identify them as "????", but if you get close enough and click to inspect or converse with them, you will learn their name, and afterwards mousing over them will show that name "Barnaby Jones" or whatever. The idea here is to find and identify your target, and then murder them without being caught by ship security. Your target's location will be periodically updated to you (as will yours to whoever is hunting YOU), in terms of "Corridor, deck C" and so on. You can tell which deck you are on because the letter will be in the middle of the "compass" at the bottom of the screen, which will also tell you whether you're headed toward the bow or the stern of the ship, to help keep you from losing your sense of direction.
You can kill your target with any weapon you want - or even cause them to die from an "accident" such as a lifeboat dropping on them - but bear in mind there are different monetary rewards for the various weapons which increase over time, and reset to $100 upon being used in a successful murder. So it will not be very profitable to use the same weapon more than once. You can check which murder weapons are most valuable by hitting the M key. Selecting a murder weapon in your inventory will tell you the current value of a kill with that weapon.
And beware - because while you hunt your target, another passenger on the ship is simultaneously hunting you! If someone seems to be following you, you will want to shake them, or kill them if you think you can, or you can retreat to where there are guards, security cameras, or other NPC witnesses. And even if you kill your target, you still have to evade whoever is hunting you for the rest of the round!
If a player is spotted by NPCs/cameras while brandishing a weapon, they will immediately be arrested, fined, and sent to the brig for a period of time. Generally something you want to avoid. And your fine is more expensive the more weapons you are carrying at the time of your arrest! So it's in your best interest to travel light, so to speak. There is an "eye" icon on your screen that will be green if the coast is clear, and red if you're currently in eyesight of a camera or person who would cause your arrest.
Also, even if you can get away with it out of sight, it's generally not a good idea to kill everyone you see "just in case," as you will be fined each time you kill a person who is not your target or your pursuer. Plus, it will greatly exacerbate your "social" need.
Speaking of needs, you may be a killer, but you still are a human being - ostensibly being forced to kill as self preservation. And thus, you have the needs that a human would have, and you will have to avail yourself of the facilities of the ship to address them. This prevents players from hiding in a box or something deep in the cargo hold and never coming out until the round is over. Here is a list of the needs and how to take care of them-
- Tiredness - raises itself over time, raises faster the more you sprint. Reduced by sleeping in a bed (click on a bed with no weapon drawn). This temporarily blinds and incapacitates you, rendering you vulnerable to attack! But if your meter fills up, you will be prone to fainting spells, possibly leaving you unconscious at a very dangerous moment! Can also be reduced very slowly by sitting in a chair, which isn't as fast as sleeping, but at least you can keep your eyes open to watch for attackers while you do it.
- Hunger - raises itself over time. Reduced by eating food. Either buy some snacks from a vending machine, or buying food in a cafe or restaurant. Right click on a vendor or table for the various options. Generally costs money, and the more expensive the food, the more hunger it alleviates. If the hunger need fills up, you starve to death.
- Thirst - raises itself over time. Reduced by drinking or eating full meals (not vending machine snacks), or buying drinks from cafes, bars, or cola machines. If the thirst meter fills up, you die of thirst.
- Potty - raises itself over time, raises faster when you eat or drink. Alleviated by using a toilet, which incapacitates you temporarily during use. Do I really have to explain what happens if this need fills up?
- Hygiene - Raises itself from doing things that get you dirty, especially using a toilet. Easily alleviated by using a sink to wash your hands, but you are incapacitated for the few seconds it takes to do so.
- Socializing - raises itself over time, raises faster from committing violence, raises drastically if you kill someone other than your target or your pursuer. Alleviated by talking to NPCs or other players (clicking on them at close range with no weapon drawn). Incapacitates you for the few seconds the conversation takes. If this meter fills up, you become seriously depressed, prone to stopping to have crying fits (and you literally get a raincloud over your head), that you might have to go see the ship's psychiatrist to pay to get rid of.
- Intellectual stimulation (AKA "fun"). This need meter looks like a book or magazine, and increases itself over time. Fortunately, there are books and magazines all over the ship where you can get books to read. You are temporarily incapacitated while reading, and getting books means more hunting around through containers/inventories, which is itself dangerous because you won't see what's going on around you (especially behind you... stab stab stab). You can also alleviate this need by playing in the ship's game room.
You can deposit or withdraw cash at the bank - you need to have the cash on you to buy food, drinks, or other items, but if you are killed you drop your purse with all the money on you in it. There is a sickbay where you can pay to be healed if you are injured, and a psychiatrist to deal with any mental strain put on you by your hectic day of murder and fleeing from same. There are also areas of the ship where you, as a passenger, aren't supposed to be allowed to go, such as the bridge or engine room, but if you get in and out quickly before the tresspassing timer expires, you might just get away with it.
If you are killed by your pursuer, you will respawn shortly with a new randomized identity. You will drop your purse with any money you had on you in it, and your inventory will still be on your old identity's corpse. Both will probably be looted before you can get back to them, but you never know. Now that you have a new identity, the other players will have to learn who you are again before their "target" data will show them a picture of you.
The winner of the game is the player with the most money when time runs out. There can be a number of "rounds" during that time, each round also consisting of a certain amount of time in which each player tries to kill their target. If you are killed by your pursuer and have not yet killed your target, you must wait for the next round to get a new target. If, on the other hand, you kill your target and don't get killed, you will continue to be assigned new targets immediately each time you kill your target. As previously mentioned, the value of killing your target depends on the current value assigned to the weapon you use to make the kill, so be sure to check your weapon and the M list and look around for the most lucrative options!
