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× A place for boardgame traitors.

THE SHIP

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26 Apr 2009 14:00 #26998 by Rliyen
THE SHIP was created by Rliyen
A TWISTED FPS GAME THAT YOU'RE NOT PLAYING

The Ship is a game by Outerlight that is available on Steam for around $15. It's a curious little game, a mixture of first person shooter, The Sims, and Clue. However, instead of a mansion, you're on a cruise liner and instead of trying to solve a murder, you're trying to off your fellow passengers.

The premise of The Ship is that you're one of the hapless passengers stuck on a cruise liner, prisoner to the mysterious Mr. X. In order to amuse him, the passengers are tasked with offing each other with weapons, both esoteric and mundane, located on the ship. There are some rules: Each passenger is assigned a particular target to kill and will get money based on the method of killing them. Some weapons are worth more than others. You get nothing if you kill someone you're not assigned.

Also, you must kill your quarry without being seen. Guards and security cameras are positioned all over the ship. Pull out a weapon in the presence of either one, and you get thrown in the brig for short period of time, as well as fined for every implement of destruction you have on you.

Besides hunting down your quarry, while avoiding being hunted down yourself, your character has needs to attend to. Among your several needs, you have to eat, drink, go to the restroom, and bathe. Failure to do so will usually end in your demise.

The reason why the game kicks ass in my humble opinion is the setting. The creators really did have fun designing the ships, as well as catching theme of the roaring '20s, to a tee. Some of the weapons are period pieces (Tommy Gun, Winchester) and then there are others that make you feel like you're in the Highlander movies (Claymore, Katana) and for those with a sadistic bent, you can inject your quarry with poison and watch them wither away (make sure you block them from running to sickbay). Not only that, you can also use some of the ship against them. Lock them in the sauna and turn up the heat. Shoot them with a flare gun and watch the Flaming Dance of Death. Drop a lifeboat on them.

Now, for the game modes:

The Ship – Single Player introduces you to the “game” and Mr. X. You then do a series of missions given to you by Jimmy the Bellboy, who offers to get you off the ship if you pay him enough money. Nearly all the jobs have to do with offing someone. Some are easy and others are downright annoying (protecting a wheelchair bound ambassador is one that comes to mind).

The arcade mode allows you to hone your hunting skills against a number of AI opponents. Even though they're somewhat stupid, they do tend to kill you some of the time if you're not careful.

Joining a cruise is obviously the best way to play, against living, breathing opponents. Sure, you may run across someone who doesn't play the game properly, but that can be remedied by booting the person off the server. Every game I have played, the players played along properly.

Both modes have several different settings: Hunt (kill your quarry in a set amount of time), Elimination (last one standing), Deathmatch (free for all), Team VIP hunt (keep your VIP alive) and one of the oddest – World Leader Hunt/Elimination/Deathmatch (players play as, you guessed it, world leaders. They have Ronald Reagan, Tony Blair, and Osama Bin Laden).

So, if you want to off Osama with a handgun, club Saddam Hussein to death with a croquet mallet, or simply want the sublime pleasure of watching Kim Jong Il slowly puke his guts up while sitting and watching, then The Ship is for you.

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26 Apr 2009 15:15 #27003 by Bullwinkle
Replied by Bullwinkle on topic Re:THE SHIP
Wow. I didn't think anyone was still playing this game. I hadn't heard good things about it at all. Your writeup makes it sound much more attractive.

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26 Apr 2009 15:19 #27005 by Shellhead
Replied by Shellhead on topic Re:THE SHIP
The concept is great, an online version of a Killer game. I played in a couple of real Killer games back in college, and they were a blast.

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26 Apr 2009 16:08 #27008 by Rliyen
Replied by Rliyen on topic Re:THE SHIP
Bullwinkle wrote:

Wow. I didn't think anyone was still playing this game. I hadn't heard good things about it at all. Your writeup makes it sound much more attractive.


As long as you're not into the GRAPHICS MEAN EVERYTHING!!eleventy one! It's quite a fun game.

I find it far more entertaining than a lot of MP FPS's out there. Instead of shoot everything that moves, it's "kill your target only and get paid for it".

A lot of the reviews I read were completely wrong. They were going into it as a FPS shooter only, when there was a lot more going on. The needs system actually makes the game challenging and in one they were complaining that "everybody else has the good weapons and I got shit". They totally MISSED THE POINT. You get more money, usually, by using the esoteric weapons, like a screwdriver or a BBQ fork and not a gun (which they were no doubt bitching about). Not only that, the Money For Kills table changes when you successfully kill your quarry from the premium price to around $100. Use the same weapon again, and you only get $100. That, GASP, forces you to look around for a new weapon if you want to score big bucks.

Of course, you can also set up a server with no needs, so it's not really a big issue. You can also set how many witnesses are needed before you're arrested. It's scalable and quite fun, especially if you have low expectations.

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26 Apr 2009 16:10 #27009 by Rliyen
Replied by Rliyen on topic Re:THE SHIP
Shellhead wrote:

The concept is great, an online version of a Killer game. I played in a couple of real Killer games back in college, and they were a blast.


That's exactly it, Shellhead. It's an online version of Killer and it's a hoot.

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26 Apr 2009 18:34 #27013 by YourBestFriend
Replied by YourBestFriend on topic Re:THE SHIP
I've been intrigued by this game in the past, although never had the motivation to try it.

I really like the idea of an FPS that has a little more going on than "point and shoot".

If they have a demo, I'll definitely have to try it.

Thanks Rliyen!

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26 Apr 2009 19:09 #27014 by Rliyen
Replied by Rliyen on topic Re:THE SHIP
YourBestFriend wrote:

I've been intrigued by this game in the past, although never had the motivation to try it.

I really like the idea of an FPS that has a little more going on than "point and shoot".

If they have a demo, I'll definitely have to try it.

Thanks Rliyen!


Welcome. Hey, I just picked it up at Target and thought, "If it sucks, I'm only out $10."

Fortunately, it's more than returned its investment to me.

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26 Apr 2009 20:20 #27016 by Thaadd
Replied by Thaadd on topic Re:THE SHIP
Purchased game.

Dislike interface.

It's very 5 years ago.

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26 Apr 2009 21:19 #27017 by Rliyen
Replied by Rliyen on topic Re:THE SHIP
Thaadd wrote:

Purchased game.

Dislike interface.

It's very 5 years ago.


*shrug*

Most of the commands are defaulted (opening, buying stuff). You only have to right click if you want something different. YMMV

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27 Apr 2009 07:22 #27033 by Notahandle
Replied by Notahandle on topic Re:THE SHIP
Over the weekend I noticed that you had it and read the description. It sounded very mediocre. Your description, however, makes it sound much better. Thanks, I'll take another look.

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27 Apr 2009 08:17 #27035 by Stephen Avery
Replied by Stephen Avery on topic Re:THE SHIP
I love Killer and have looked at this game before. What keeps people from killing everyone they meet though? One of the cool things that I like about killer is the paranoia of not knowing who is out to get you. If its kill everyone you see then you might as well be playing doom.

Steve"Want to try it"Avery

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27 Apr 2009 09:52 - 27 Apr 2009 18:00 #27046 by Rliyen
Replied by Rliyen on topic Re:THE SHIP
Stephen Avery wrote:

I love Killer and have looked at this game before. What keeps people from killing everyone they meet though? One of the cool things that I like about killer is the paranoia of not knowing who is out to get you. If its kill everyone you see then you might as well be playing doom.

Steve"Want to try it"Avery


Well, if people kill you and you're not their quarry, they get fined and eventually booted. Over this weekend, I played about four or five games worth. Only once did I have an asshat kill me for no reason. The game warned him when he did it again, and then he left. The game was fine after that.

I think my favorite two moments this weekend was when I logged on and started in a room with another person. Before a round actually begins, there is a bit of a lag so people can get armed/head to areas where there are lots of people or a secure area. I had gone through the wardrobe when the round started. I picked up a weapon (walking cane) and turned around. There, in front of me was a woman, just standing there. I figured, she wanted to check the cupboard, too.

"oh hello," I said to the monitor and was about to move away.

Then, she produced a fire axe. I didn't even bother to move.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" I said to the screen as the woman went to town on me. Yep, I was her quarry. I giggled at that little scenario all this weekend.

The other time was when I had a poison needle and I was following my quarry, who was also following his quarry and not paying attention to me. He caught his victim in a stairwell and started wailing on her. I jooged him with the poison and as fate would have it, his victim was facing him, and I was obviously looking in his direction.

You see, you have to kill people with no witnesses. The server was set to 2 witnesses that need to see you brandish a weapon before you get nicked. He didn't kill his quarry, he was full of poison and was sent to the brig, sans medical care. He died while in detention. I got paid and then went to get something to eat at the mall cafe.
Last edit: 27 Apr 2009 18:00 by Rliyen.

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27 Apr 2009 10:17 #27051 by Stephen Avery
Replied by Stephen Avery on topic Re:THE SHIP
Ok you sold me. I'll try it after I return from trashfest. Do you guys use Ventrillo or teamspeak? It might be more fun to hear people's reactions.

Steve"Killer"Avery

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27 Apr 2009 12:24 #27083 by Thaadd
Replied by Thaadd on topic Re:THE SHIP
Last I checked, Steam has built in voice. When I play TF2 with Skelly, we keep an open mic (which consists of me swearing alot)

I used to have my own vent server, but didn't use it much so canceled it. I use a Teamspeak server with my Eve corp, but it's pretty heavily secured - you have to have a valid, game-character tied account to get on. (lol....spies in my internet spaceships!)

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27 Apr 2009 12:49 #27094 by Notahandle
Replied by Notahandle on topic Re:THE SHIP
Rliyen wrote:
"Before a round actually begins, there is a bit of a lag so people can get armed/head to areas where there are lots of people or a secure area. I had gone through the wardrobe when the round started."
Stephen Avery wrote:
"Do you guys use Ventrillo or teamspeak?"

I was expecting Steve"Killer"Avery's next question to be 'are there tank tops?'!

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