I've been spending some time with Cataclysm : Dark Days Ahead. Not sure how well known it is but here's a good RPS article on it :
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/11/14/cataclysm-dark-days-ahead/
and a good trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GurxnNDl1AU I'm totally enthralled with the game. There is so much you can do. It gives me the type of freedom and depth (more depth even) than Dwarf Fortress adventure mode, only it's actually playable.
I normally played with ascii graphics, but recently started using the same retro tileset as in the RPS article along with a pretty excellent soundpack. Unfortunately having some more pressing work I've had to put cdda on ice for now, but I'm counting the days until I can get back at it.
My most recent run leading to that screenshot began with the 'a very bad day scenario'. It means your character starts drunk, suffering from the flu and with an infected bite wound. As if that weren't enough you also start naked in a house that just caught fire surrounded by zombies.To balance it out this scenario gives you extra character points at character creation to make a more powerful character, which I used to make a fitter, faster character that could sneak around less noisily and attract less attention from the local wildlife (met my end several time at the paws/hooves of a moose/bear/pack of wolves).
On my fifth attempt at such a character I managed to escape across a bridge littered with vehicles to find a stocked RV, and very luckily a map of the surroundings and a working car with a little bit of fuel. On the map I noticed what looked like a small community nearby where there shouldn't be too many zombies (not that all the dozens of different types of zombies make up all the enemies in the game, but its mostly zombies you'll find in previously populated areas).
A few dents in my car later the few zombies in town were thoroughly mushed and I set up base in a house next to a doctor's clinic where I found some antibiotics to treat my infection. Down the street was an armoured personnel carrier with mounted M249 heavy machine guns, and after acquiring some tools during raids I managed to remove one with 35 rounds of ammunition.
Then one day a fellow survivor happened upon my base with wild stories of some terrifying creature in the nearby woods and asked for help. Knowing that helping him could net me a potential ally I took the heavy M249 and went to investigate. What I came across was a Jabberwock in the process of terrifying and eviscerating the local woodland creatures. As per the game description "A putrid amalgamation of body parts from humans and other creatures have fused together in this aberration of flesh. The eyes of all the heads dart about rapidly and the mouths form a chorus of groaning screams".
As soon as it noticed me it charged, and as soon as it was too close to miss I unloaded the M249 on full auto. Hence the screenshot (taken with my phone since I wasn't in windowed mode which seems to be the only way to take screenshots otherwise)