Dead Maze

Dead Maze
http://deadmaze.com
Societe page
Release Date	13 February 2018
Platforms	PC / Mac / Linux, Browser game

Dead Maze is an free to play multiplayer survival game by Atelier 801. The aim is to explore the world and scavenge as many items as possible, to survive the hostile environment and bloodthirsty hordes of monsters.

The game client uses ActionScript3, the server uses Java, and the database uses MySQL.

The name was inspired by a previous game, DeadMeat.

Features:

• Full survival : manage thirst, hunger, health and various symptoms
• Grab anything you see on the map and fight with it (yes even that old sock)
• Coop AI : monsters will collaborate to hunt you down
• Watch out for your items wear and tear, they'll break down after too many uses
• Find out the best craft recipes and improve your gear

History

It was first mentioned on the forums (as an unnamed game) on the same thread that announced the stopping of development of Celousco. The first sneak peak was posted by Tigrounette on 1 April 2015. It was then officially announced a week later on the 7th with the name Deadmaze.

Around a week later, it was discovered they updated their societe.atelier801.com page for the game, which included a release date of September 2015. The domain deadmaze.com also started redirecting players to atelier801.com. They also officially released the name as "DeadMaze", and created a twitter: https://twitter.com/dead_maze. A facebook account has also been created: https://www.facebook.com/deadmaze. The game will also be available on steam. On 6 July 2015, the first glimpse of deadmaze.com was available publicly for a short time before being taken down.

Despite the societe's page listing a release date of September 2015 (release date was removed around a month after September), this did not happen. However, the Dead Maze forums and Trello were released late September, hinting at the game's release/beta fast approaching.

The official Dead Maze forum was revealed on 30 September 2015. Up until then information was either posted on the Atelier 801 announcement thread or posted off-site.

A lot of information and concept art was released prior to the closed alpha, which can be found here.

Gameplay

The purpose of the game is to pass through different areas, each with different items, infecteds, and challenges. The player has a small inventory, and objects will break as they are used, forcing players to survive on what's immediately at hand (water, food, weapons, items, etc). 90% of object in the world are interactive and usable, and the player will fight with everything and anything!

Gameplay is simple, with the complexity being the variety of weapons (as well as their effects) combined with objects breaking and having to survive.

The concept of Dead Maze is based on the idea that survival in a hostile environment is intrinsically linked to exploration and cooperation as the only way to establish a new semblance of civilization. Consequently, the goal is to survive in a hostile environment with the help of other players.

The story takes place during a zombie apocalypse, where people try to survive and find ways to live as best as they can.

The player-controlled character possess a camp that allows them to meet their needs, stock items and feel safe. Their goal is to improve and protect this base from infected attacks. In order to do so, they must explore different areas in order to find elements that will allow him to improve his condition.

Inspiration

On a french forum Tig stated his inspiration for the game as follows:

• Deadmeat - A previous game by Tig. He states Dead Maze as the "spiritual successor" to Deadmeat.
• Don't Starve - survival and fight mechanics
• Project Zomboid - for it's feedback system and survival displayed as symptoms.
• Rogue Legacy - management

Gallery

Old logo during game's alpha Dead Maze forum pre-alpha.

Banner of a lone zombie in the dark