Been thinking a bit recently about how a zombie-based RTS would work. It's definitely an untapped possibility and I think it could be interesting. These are the ideas I've come up with so far for how I'd like the game to work. Suggestions and criticism welcome. Especially suggestions, as it's not too fleshed out yet, I don't have actual specific details of the units or even a name for the game. Anyway:
The game takes place in a city after a zombie outbreak. There are 3 different factions to choose from: The Survivors, The Army and The Zombies. The Army are trying to contain the infection by killing both the zombies and any survivors that would just feed the zombie horde. The survivors are trying to escape and defend themselves from the army and the zombies. The zombies are trying to kill everyone because that's what zombies do. They're just like that, you know? I see the Army as having expensive but powerful units, the zombies being the swarming race and the Survivors being the middle ground, as well as being more defence-focused.
Units are squad-based (as in Dawn of War and Company of Heroes). The game will be mainly infantry based, perhaps with some higher-tier units being vehicles for the Army and Survivors.
Unlike most RTS games, where buildings are built from scratch, maps in this game have normal, neutral civilian buildings already in place, as the game is set in a city, which are converted into useful buildings that create units, provide resources, etc. The stats of the converted building (hit points, attack power/range for defensive buildings, etc) are based on what the building was converted from. Any neutral building can be converted into any type of useful building, but the varying stats mean certain building type are more suited to certain purposes than others. All buildings are always garrisonable, but converted buildings may only be garrisoned by the team that owns it (and their allies in team games). A converted building that is damaged to 0 HP will be deconverted back to its original state, with some damage to the remaining unconverted building. An unconverted building damaged to 0 is destroyed completely.
Various doodads on the map will also be able to be interacted with for potentially useful results. For example, vehicles could be shot and blown up to kill enemies or raided for more resources and trees could be toppled to block access and create chokepoints.
The game has 2 resource types: Supplies and People. Supplies are justa generic, universal resource, obtained by converting specific buildings (shops, etc) into a resource generating building. People would be used to create units and convert buildings and each faction would have a unique way of generating this resource. Survivors would automatically generate it at rate based on how much territory they control (a value based on the number and placement of buildings and units). The Army would have to convert buildings into comm centres to use radio for reinforcements, generating People at a rate based on the number of these buildings. Zombies, obviously, would infect enemy units to generate People. This would be done with a special ability (not necessarily unique to one unit) that would convert enemy units that are near death.
That's all I have. Well?
The game takes place in a city after a zombie outbreak. There are 3 different factions to choose from: The Survivors, The Army and The Zombies. The Army are trying to contain the infection by killing both the zombies and any survivors that would just feed the zombie horde. The survivors are trying to escape and defend themselves from the army and the zombies. The zombies are trying to kill everyone because that's what zombies do. They're just like that, you know? I see the Army as having expensive but powerful units, the zombies being the swarming race and the Survivors being the middle ground, as well as being more defence-focused.
Units are squad-based (as in Dawn of War and Company of Heroes). The game will be mainly infantry based, perhaps with some higher-tier units being vehicles for the Army and Survivors.
Unlike most RTS games, where buildings are built from scratch, maps in this game have normal, neutral civilian buildings already in place, as the game is set in a city, which are converted into useful buildings that create units, provide resources, etc. The stats of the converted building (hit points, attack power/range for defensive buildings, etc) are based on what the building was converted from. Any neutral building can be converted into any type of useful building, but the varying stats mean certain building type are more suited to certain purposes than others. All buildings are always garrisonable, but converted buildings may only be garrisoned by the team that owns it (and their allies in team games). A converted building that is damaged to 0 HP will be deconverted back to its original state, with some damage to the remaining unconverted building. An unconverted building damaged to 0 is destroyed completely.
Various doodads on the map will also be able to be interacted with for potentially useful results. For example, vehicles could be shot and blown up to kill enemies or raided for more resources and trees could be toppled to block access and create chokepoints.
The game has 2 resource types: Supplies and People. Supplies are justa generic, universal resource, obtained by converting specific buildings (shops, etc) into a resource generating building. People would be used to create units and convert buildings and each faction would have a unique way of generating this resource. Survivors would automatically generate it at rate based on how much territory they control (a value based on the number and placement of buildings and units). The Army would have to convert buildings into comm centres to use radio for reinforcements, generating People at a rate based on the number of these buildings. Zombies, obviously, would infect enemy units to generate People. This would be done with a special ability (not necessarily unique to one unit) that would convert enemy units that are near death.
That's all I have. Well?
