01 Aug, 2009, Kaeden wrote in the 21st comment:
Votes: 0
As you guys have probably deduced, I have a zombie apocalypse MUD in the works.

When I was asking for what features people would like, I meant for a zombie apocalypse occurring in and around an urban area in the modern day US. I guess I should've been more clear. Oops.

A lot of the ideas that have been suggested are already coded in my MUD or would be pretty easy to add. I'm enjoying reading everyone's thoughts and suggestions.

Quote
I would like to see PC's who are Zombies just say "braaaaainns" when they use the say command and a none zombie hears them, but to another zombie it looks fine :D

braaaains..


Quote
Heh that would be a pretty neat feature. Though what would the mortal (non-zombie) equivalent be?


lol, maybe stuff non-zombies say would appear as one-liners to zombies?
Human A says to his buddy, Human B: Hey, could you toss me a granola bar? I'm hungry.
Zombie A who happens to be present, hears Human A say: It's time to kick @#^$! and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of gum!
Actually, I was thinking of making zombies speak like, "Graggh grahha aarrgh raggh". Dunno what I'd do with human—>zombie communication.

Also, I'm not sure if I'll have players able to play as zombies, yet. First, I want to get survivors fully coded in, and then and only then will I worry about allowing them to become zombies. If I opt not to allow them to play as zombies, the IC explanation will be that the PCs are the few individuals who apparently are immune to the outbreak.

It might be worth mentioning that there will also be a (presumably all-NPC) non-infected military faction in the game that will have a largely hostile stance vs. both zombies and non-infected survivors (on the basis that they could potentially be infected and it's easier and safer to just shoot them on sight). Most/all of the high-end equipment in the game will be acquired from the military (and will require players to group up and kill them using the more mundane equipment at their disposal). However, the military will probably do occasional nice things for players, like doing palette drops with special supplies now and then.

Keep up with the good ideas!

–Kaeden
01 Aug, 2009, Kline wrote in the 22nd comment:
Votes: 0
Have you looked at Urban Dead yet? It would be a good place to steal draw inspiration from.

edit: Here's the link, oops!
http://www.urbandead.com/
01 Aug, 2009, KaVir wrote in the 23rd comment:
Votes: 0
Kaeden said:
When I was asking for what features people would like, I meant for a zombie apocalypse occurring in and around an urban area in the modern day US.

Ah, well in that case I'd definitely like to see a big shopping mall that players can loot and defend. The mall could provide a great source of weapons (shotguns, chainsaws, baseball bats, gasoline) and armour (leather trenchcoats, protective sports gear, etc). There could also be a bookshop where players could learn skills such as first aid, trap-building, electronics, etc - perhaps not entirely realistic to learn so much just from books, but it would help emphasis the idea of the shopping mall being the hub of surviving civilisation.
01 Aug, 2009, Hades_Kane wrote in the 24th comment:
Votes: 0
A fun zombie game was Zombies Ate My Neighbors… don't know if you could draw any inspiration from that or not.
02 Aug, 2009, Kaeden wrote in the 25th comment:
Votes: 0
Well, reading through this thread, I've made a list of what you guys seem to want:

-Shawn of the Dead mechanics
-Zombies………………………………………….Check
-Head must be destroyed to neutralize them..Check
-Cars………………………………………………On the 'to do' list
-Cricket Bats……………………………………..Check
-Rifles/shotguns/assault rifles………………..Check
-Pool cues………………………………………..Check
-Ability to ignite booze………………………..Check
-Tetherball flail………………………………….Wouldn't be hard to add
-Bandages………………………………………..Check
-Barricades……………………………………….On the 'to do' list
-Brains…………………………………………………..Check
-Lots of shotgun modifications………………………Weapons attachments are on the 'to do' list, different shotgun shells are supported already
-Play as zombies……………………………………….Might be on future 'to do' list
-Guns……………………………………………………..Check
-Ammo…………………………………………………….Check
-Rosie O'Donnell as a zombie…………………………Uh…maybe :P
-Army of Darkness setting……………………………..Conflict of theme, sorry.
-Cheesy one-liners………………………………………Wouldn't be hard to add if you really wanted them
-Chainsaw…………………………………………………Check
-Land mines……………………………………………….Claymores are on the 'to do' list, which will have 3 different modes of detonation. Also, we have molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, and grenades.
-Lawnmower………………………………………………On 'to do' list
-Warrior/Medic/Scientist/etc……………………………Sort of conflicts with the current skill system, but a lot of the functionality is still there. I appreciate the detail!
-Zombies say 'Braaainssss'……………………………..I think I will have them say "Gragghh arrghar rarrghha" instead. Though it would be funny.
-Shopping mall…………………………………………….With the exception of the starter area, I would like for no other area on the IC grid to be completely safe for players. Or, so well-fortified and well-stocked with supplies that it comes close. I could certainly add a mall, but I would like to limit how it could become "the source for everything" for players. Having to forage around all over the grid to find stuff would encourage exploration and just make things more interesting in general, in my humble opinion. Though just about everything you mentioned the mall ought to contain will be available in the MUD.

Feel free to contribute more ideas!
Thanks guys!

-Kaeden
02 Aug, 2009, Kline wrote in the 26th comment:
Votes: 0
When a player "quits" will their character be removed from game? Or is there some persistence? I ask because in Urban Dead you try to "stop playing" (no quitting, its a browser game) in a barricaded safehouse. However, zombies attack whatever they want, at any time, so you may very well come back the next day with your safehouse broken into and find yourself dead or a zombie! So there's always a constant threat to truly find a good hiding spot to be able to survive.
02 Aug, 2009, Kaeden wrote in the 27th comment:
Votes: 0
Kline said:
When a player "quits" will their character be removed from game? Or is there some persistence?


At this time, the player is removed from the game when they log out (and, consequently, is safe until they return). Though they can't quit while in combat, of course. I haven't figured out a means to deter a player from logging out right as they're about to be attacked, though it would be considered frowned upon. I don't think any hiding spot in my MUD would have a quasi-reasonable chance of remaining safe without having someone there to actively maintain/defend it by fending off zombies and making repairs to the barricades and whatnot. Though that's not to say I wouldn't be open to suggestions as how to best implement such a system.
02 Aug, 2009, Hades_Kane wrote in the 28th comment:
Votes: 0
Who says the mall has to be well stocked?

You could have some things in the game that point players to the mall indicating its well stocked, only for them to get there, realize most everything has been raided already, and that its more or less a huge buffet for their Undead brethren :p I think malls being the goto point in so many zombie settings would make having one pretty sensible, but you could certainly go the opposite route with it.

As far as quitting while in danger, you could actually flag characters as being in danger or have a danger value present based on the proximity of the closest zombie mob, the number of them, the location they are at, and so on. I'm sure this "danger" reading could have more than one use, but you could enforce it so that a player could only safely quit the game if their danger rating was below a certain number. Come to think of it, this could also affect things like sleeping and other game mechanics you might have that would leave a player vulnerable.
02 Aug, 2009, flumpy wrote in the 29th comment:
Votes: 0
Hades_Kane said:
Who says the mall has to be well stocked?

You could have some things in the game that point players to the mall indicating its well stocked, only for them to get there, realize most everything has been raided already, and that its more or less a huge buffet for their Undead brethren :p I think malls being the goto point in so many zombie settings would make having one pretty sensible, but you could certainly go the opposite route with it.


.. Everyone knows the only "safe" place in a zombie attack is the Winchester:wink:
02 Aug, 2009, Ssolvarain wrote in the 30th comment:
Votes: 0
Traps. Many traps for both sides.
02 Aug, 2009, Kaeden wrote in the 31st comment:
Votes: 0
Ssolvarain said:
Traps. Many traps for both sides.


So far we have pipe bombs (basically, a watered down grenade that can be set to have a timed fuse between 5 and 60 seconds). I plan to have:
-Punji stick pits
-Claymores (can be detonated by proximity trigger/timed fuse/remote detonator)
-Tin can tripwires (alerts nearby people when someone trips over them)
-Corpse bombs (corpses that are rigged such that when you drag them, look at their contents, attempt to loot them, or try to feast upon it if you're a zombie, they blow up)
-Vehicle bombs (blows up when you start the vehicle's engine)
-Explodable barrels/oxygen tanks/kegs that can be shot from a distance (I know myth busters disproved it, whatever, this is a zombie apocalypse :P)
-The ability to pour a flammable substance to make a fuse/trail leading to the aforementioned explody barrels

What are some types of traps you would like to see?

Edit: The ability to arm a grenade and then use the stealth skillset's 'slip' skill to give a player or zombie the grenade is also already coded in.
04 Aug, 2009, shasarak wrote in the 32nd comment:
Votes: 0
You could have a lot of fun with the combat damage system in a game like this: zombies can take enormous amounts of damage without actually "dying". It would be interesting to model zombies who have had their legs blown off but are still active, or those who have holes in their stomachs so they keep eating and re-eating the same piece of flesh as it keeps falling out of the hole….

I'd like to see distraction tactics, too - players cutting up the corpses of their fallen comrades and scattering the meat for the zombies to feast on while the players escape.

Are we talking about slow zombies (e.g. classic George Romero type) or fast zombies (e.g. 28 Days Later type)?

A detailed modelling of the process of becoming infected would be interesting too - becoming a zombie should take a long time, and there should be a number of distinct stages.

You could possibly veer off in a slightly Resident Evil / Biohazard kind of drection too, with various weird mutant forms.

And what about non-human zombies - dogs, birds, etc.?
04 Aug, 2009, Kintar wrote in the 33rd comment:
Votes: 0
shasarak said:
I'd like to see distraction tactics, too - players cutting up the corpses of their fallen comrades and scattering the meat for the zombies to feast on while the players escape.


You're a sick man! … I like it! :biggrin:
04 Aug, 2009, Kaeden wrote in the 34th comment:
Votes: 0
shasarak said:
It would be interesting to model zombies who have had their legs blown off but are still active…

Limb dismemberment (also, head dismemberment) is coded into the MUD. While head loss currently results in death of the zombie, arm/leg loss doesn't do anything yet. Though I would like it to. For example, loss of legs would force the zombie to have to drag itself around at a significantly reduced speed, and loss of arms would reduce effectiveness of and or prevent the usage of grab and clawing skills. If all four limbs are removed, the zombie would be rendered effectively immobile.

shasarak said:
I'd like to see distraction tactics, too - players cutting up the corpses of their fallen comrades and scattering the meat for the zombies to feast on while the players escape.

Zombies will be attracted to corpses, making it possible to stall them by leaving food scraps lying around, or even to set up a trap for them by rigging a corpse with a bomb.

shasarak said:
Are we talking about slow zombies (e.g. classic George Romero type) or fast zombies (e.g. 28 Days Later type)?

Something sort of in between? The 'bread and butter'-type zombie sort of shambles around real slowly while it's in pursuit, but it behaves rather lively once it gets into close quarters.

shasarak said:
A detailed modelling of the process of becoming infected would be interesting too - becoming a zombie should take a long time, and there should be a number of distinct stages.

That'll be a bit down the line, but it's something I wouldn't mind coding in eventually.

shasarak said:
You could possibly veer off in a slightly Resident Evil / Biohazard kind of drection too, with various weird mutant forms. And what about non-human zombies - dogs, birds, etc.?

I plan to do that. Also, there will be more than one type of AI for the standard type of zombie. For example, a zombie might be a typical 'seek and destroy' type, or it could be a 'guard zombie' that remains in a specific location, it could be a 'vengeful' zombie that will stop at nothing until either it or a randomly chosen player is dead, etc, etc. And then you get into the mutant types that have extra powers and different stats.

I'm pretty sure zombie dogs will be in, they'll have enhanced abilities for detecting hidden players and will have a nastier bite attack. Possibly will be faster too. Birds and other stuff, possibly.

Good questions!

-Kaeden
04 Aug, 2009, Hades_Kane wrote in the 35th comment:
Votes: 0
I think I'm going to have to play your game.
04 Aug, 2009, Dean wrote in the 36th comment:
Votes: 0
Hades_Kane said:
I think I'm going to have to play your game.


I think I might have to as well. Meet up at the Wincester for beers HK? :lol:
04 Aug, 2009, Hades_Kane wrote in the 37th comment:
Votes: 0
Dean said:
Hades_Kane said:
I think I'm going to have to play your game.


I think I might have to as well. Meet up at the Wincester for beers HK? :lol:


Sounds good! Too bad the weapon above the bar is a decoy.
04 Aug, 2009, KaVir wrote in the 38th comment:
Votes: 0
Kaeden said:
While head loss currently results in death of the zombie, arm/leg loss doesn't do anything yet. Though I would like it to. For example, loss of legs would force the zombie to have to drag itself around at a significantly reduced speed, and loss of arms would reduce effectiveness of and or prevent the usage of grab and clawing skills. If all four limbs are removed, the zombie would be rendered effectively immobile.

It'd be nice if the limbs carried on flopping around as well. A severed arm could even drag itself towards people. I'd also like to see zombies that can survive decapitation, with their head continuing to bite at anything that came within range, and their body staggering around flailing randomly at anything that got too close.

Also, how about some group tactics, and brutal death messages as the zombies pin you down and rip you apart?

Do people know what caused the zombie outbreak? If not, can they find out? Are there any labs with vaccines? Any Rat-Monkeys in cages?

Another great source of inspiration is the classic novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.
05 Aug, 2009, Kaeden wrote in the 39th comment:
Votes: 0
KaVir said:
It'd be nice if the limbs carried on flopping around as well. A severed arm could even drag itself towards people. I'd also like to see zombies that can survive decapitation, with their head continuing to bite at anything that came within range, and their body staggering around flailing randomly at anything that got too close.

You've sold me on the arm/body/head living on thing. Should be very easy to add. I think I would make the chances of any of those happening somewhat rare, so that it's a surprise when it happens.


KaVir said:
Also, how about some group tactics, and brutal death messages as the zombies pin you down and rip you apart?

The normal zombies are coded to sort of swarm together in their pursuit of things to maim and kill. The grab skill will sort of be a group tactic skill, as it immobilizes the ensnared survivor until the hold is broken or grabber is killed/loses its arms, allowing the grabber's buddies to have their dark, terrible way with the unfortunate grabee. Also, the mutants with additional abilities will complement the capabilities of their fellow undead.

I have an unconscious state coded in between life and death, so at the moment (unless your death is incredibly quick) you don't really see what ends up killing you. Though I could probably code in something to replace the "You are DEAD!" message with something more along the lines of, "All of your worst nightmares are realized as you are torn limb by limb by a bloodthirsty mob of zombies!"

KaVir said:
Do people know what caused the zombie outbreak? If not, can they find out? Are there any labs with vaccines? Any Rat-Monkeys in cages?

The timeline of the MUD is shortly after the epidemic occurred, and no one really has a clue what's going on or why it's happening. Further plot details will probably be unveiled further down the line in quests and special staff-hosted events and whatnot. Can't say anymore than that about the causes of the outbreak. :)
05 Aug, 2009, Ssolvarain wrote in the 40th comment:
Votes: 0
Zombies should be able to use some primitive forms of traps. Snares, tripwires, spikey-log crushings.

Oh, and zombies need to be heard. I think that if you're out by yourself and start hearing a zombie, you might realize you left your toaster on.
20.0/50