Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

Cata DDA is the successor to the original Cataclysm; a roguelike game with similarities to that of Dwarf Fortress.


Whilst it is an ASCII game, there are many tilesets that are already included with the game download, I myself have downloaded the Waldo texture pack and find it to be one of the better ones (and it is getting updated more and more)

This game is set in the post-apocalypse in New England, there are zombies however this is not a zombie game. Even still the zombies you encounter are not the typical zombies you may find in most other games.

You'll encounter robots, giant worms, wildlife and mutated creatures as a result from the radiation. You can mutate (for good or for bad) and enhance your character with cybernetics/bionics whilst you attempt to keep your hunger, thirst and morale from reaching rock bottom.

Whilst doing this you must craft your own gear, weapons, armor and tools whilst salvaging the food you can find, hunting down wildlife and boiling water to make it safe to drink. You must prevent yourself from becoming infected by the use of first aid or more crude methods to stop bleeding such as cauterization. Survival is the core objective of the game and you can come across NPC's that may demand you to drop your weapons, or attack you, rob you, offer you quests, aid you and various other things (However the NPC's can be bugged and cause the game to crash so having autosave is a must; NPC's can also be disabled in the options)

You must study skills via practicing and reading books whilst installing bionics to modify your character. Think Dwarf Fortress(gameplay) meets Fallout(setting) meets Bioshock(game features).


You can also completely modify and assemble your own vehicles from salvaged parts by removing parts from other wrecked (or not so wrecked) vehicles you find scattered throughout the randomly generated world. You need battery power and gas to power the vehicles and using generators, electric motors or siphoning gas from other vehicles/gas stations are options. Noise, Smell and Sight are 3 senses that are considered when playing, if you cannot be tracked by sight you will be tracked by smell, that is unless you make a noise. In which case you better get out of there quickly and quietly.

Here a player tracks his status of his character

Here a player sends his car to ludicrous speeds; his engines did not survive.

With the use of mods cars do infact look a hell lot more like cars if you are the type that prefer the visuals. I just have tilesets for the ability to recognize things easier; I normally turn them off after I've learned the game decently enough. (Like I did with Dwarf Fortress)

A quote from the game itself:

You emerge from the shelter into the dim light of an overcast day, and look around for the first time since the disaster.

The world as you knew it is gone. A ruined world stands in its place, full of nightmares come to life. Nothing can ever go back to the way it was, before the Cataclysm, but you have to be strong. You have to survive. You have to persevere. If you don't, death will be one of the better outcomes.

Above your head, storm clouds gather, and the rain stings and hisses against your skin. You shoulder your backpack, and start walking. The world has gone to hell, but you get the sinking feeling that there are darker days ahead.

Surviving is difficult: you have been thrown, ill-equipped, into a landscape now riddled with monstrosities of which flesh eating zombies are neither the strangest nor the deadliest.
Yet with care and a little luck, many things are possible. You may try to eke out an existence in the forests silently executing threats and providing sustenance with your longbow. You can ride into town in a jury-rigged vehicle, all guns blazing, to settle matters in a fog of smoke from your molotovs. You could take a more measured approach and construct an impregnable fortress, surrounded by traps to protect you from the horrors without. The longer you survive, the more skilled and adapted you will get and the better equipped and armed to deal with the threats you are presented with.
In the course of your ordeal there will be opportunities and temptations to improve or change your very nature. There are tales of survivors fitted with extraordinary cybernetics giving great power and stories too of gravely mutated survivors who, warped by their ingestion of exotic substances or radiation, now more closely resemble insects, birds or fish than their original form

Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead Website
http://en.cataclysmdda.com/
The main official website, go here for the Windows, Mac or Linux downloads for Cataclysm. You can also view screenshots, the wiki, the forum and modding information here.

The Forum
http://smf.cataclysmdda.com/
Here you'll find a place to ask questions, share your stories and see how other players deal with other situations you may find yourself in Cataclysm.

The Wiki
http://www.wiki.cataclysmdda.com/ind...itle=Main_Page
Here you'll find all the necessary controls and information you may need to survive; spoileresque stuff is hidden unless you highlight it

Cataclysm Sequel
https://github.com/Whales/Cataclysm2
Here you'll find the creator of the original Cataclysm [Whales] adding files to his github with other contributors to create the sequel to Cataclysm.

Note: I do apologize for the way the thread looks, I'm not one for making threads and I'll try pretty it up. If there is anymore information you'd like to see just ask and I'll edit this thread.

Have fun