Let us plan a true zombie survival game ^^

[Zahri]

So yeah, a few days ago i posted a topic here on the escapist regarding what i myself would believe to be a perfect, true to life zombie survival type game. Now i'm thinking that maybe each of us here at the escapist should actually plan one. ^^

The topic will go as follows, at the end of each post, I'll post a subtopic that would be critical to such a game, either devised by me or seen as the topic progresses. I will keep a list of these necessities here on the main post as well as show how they would function.

I'll post a given first ones, as well as start the list.

Zombies:
Setting:

So lets start the discussion. This first one being zombies, let us define what will make the zombies, ranging from the possible AI, to the population, movement, interactions with the environment, whatever. lets go. ^^

CURRENT TOPIC:

Zombies and Setting.

Let the discussion commence ^^

A side note: I honestly hope to someday work on a game such as this. I'm only in high school right now, but i have very high hopes that i will someday be a programmer for a notable game developer... Off the top of my head, Valve, seeing as they don't really give a shit about release dates amd work to perfect their games. I would love to help make something like this a reality. ^^

...
... What? I can dream can't I?

 

[thiosk]

Why your game idea sucks [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_221/6582-Why-Your-Game-Idea-Sucks]

Until someone makes my Warhammer 40k game with a galactic phase based on Spore... I won't support anyone elses idea. And I love zombie games

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

Zombies can feed off of their fallen allies to become stronger. If they themselves fall, then the number of zombies that they fed on are "stocked." Once one of them eats enough, they can mutate into something bigger (eating rotting flesh can't possibly be good for you)

 

[Zahri]

Why your game idea sucks [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_221/6582-Why-Your-Game-Idea-Sucks]

Until someone makes my Warhammer 40k game with a galactic phase based on Spore... I won't support anyone elses idea. And I love zombie games

>.> Meanie.

-confidence shattered... sulks off into the corner of woe...-

Zombies can feed off of their fallen allies to become stronger. If they themselves fall, then the number of zombies that they fed on are "stocked." Once one of them eats enough, they can mutate into something bigger (eating rotting flesh can't possibly be good for you)

Define something bigger? It's not a bad idea, but it better be something that'll be worth it to fight... Not to mention, if a normal weak zombie was to feast on the corpse of it's fallen mutated super mutant zombie brother, wouldn't that zombie just become something bigger than that? Triggering an endless cycle of evolution until the player is fucked?

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

Zombies can feed off of their fallen allies to become stronger. If they themselves fall, then the number of zombies that they fed on are "stocked." Once one of them eats enough, they can mutate into something bigger (eating rotting flesh can't possibly be good for you)

Define something bigger? It's not a bad idea, but it better be something that'll be worth it to fight... Not to mention, if a normal weak zombie was to feast on the corpse of it's fallen mutated super mutant zombie brother, wouldn't that zombie just become something bigger than that? Triggering an endless cycle of evolution until the player is fucked?

Well, my sense of originality is dead at the moment so I wouldn't know what to define as "something bigger." At the end of the line, it probably shouldn't get much stronger than L4D's Tank, or else the game might be too hard (imagine fighting 3 Tank types at once). Unless you just want your imagination to fly, but stuff bigger than that might have to be held off for a special mode or something.

 

[Trivun]

Why your game idea sucks [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_221/6582-Why-Your-Game-Idea-Sucks]

Until someone makes my Warhammer 40k game with a galactic phase based on Spore... I won't support anyone elses idea. And I love zombie games

>.> Meanie.

-confidence shattered... sulks off into the corner of woe...-

Wait, we have a corner of woe? I thought the entrance was blocked by all of Max's dead bodies? Don't tell me someone's found another way into the corner, since I know Max is too bloody lazy to move his bodies, despite all the warnings...

Seriously, we need a map of this place, I keep getting lost here. I can never tell if the Off-Topic Section is the first left after the Door of Flames or if it's next to the Room of Mysterious Object Reviews...

On topic: I think a proper realistic zombie apocalypse thread would be incredibly difficult to make, to be honest, since no doubt people will disagree on what constitutes 'realism' in the context of obviously fictional creations. Hence unless someone 'cures cancer' and we see a real zombie apocalypse (exceptionally unlikely), then we won't know what a 'realistic' zombie game should be like. And if we do end up in that situation, we're all fucked anyway. Nice ideas though, I do agree with what you've put there, even if my post doesn't appear that way...

 

[CanadianWolverine]

So, let me get this right: Are you basicly working on a game design document, yes?

Simply put, keep it simple but use a frame work that allows for future expansion. You don't have to wait for the future, you can make your zombie game now, then just keep making new versions forever.

Check out these endeavors by others for inspiration:
http://www.zombiesurvivalwiki.com/page/Zombie+Games+%28aka+Survival+Simulation%29

So remember, your ideas don't suck if you at least try to make them a reality. Hell, you don't even have to make your game on the computer, grab a pencil and some paper, then proceed to make a card, board, or role playing game. I made a few different card and board games as a kid, even drew levels and characters for a Super Mario game I had in my head.

That all said, when it comes to Zombies and Settings, you need to decide a few things:
- What kind of zombie? Magic/Voodoo Drugs/Technological/Infected Mutations/Symbiote Alien Control
- What kind of world? Earth Past,Present,Future/Fantasy/Science Fiction Another Planet
- Why would a zombie be a antagonist to the player's protagonist?
- How would like the player to react to setting? Revulsion/Fear/Anger/Sadness/Joy/Excitement
- Do you have a specific type of game genre in mind or will you be using a mix? If a mix, how important are the different genre staples to the game you have in mind?

If you are asking for my answers to these questions, it is very likely we would come up with two very different games, just look at all the choices and there is probably even more I didn't think of.

If pressed, I would describe a world which is a earth slightly in the future in which the zombies are actually the next stage of humanity as mutants, survivors are the adapting future of humanity, and government forces would be trying to maintain the status quo with devastating, horrifying results almost worse than the threat of forced mutation (which some are immune to and so the zombies see them as a threat) to be one with the hive mind mentality of the ghouls. The zombies would be trying to adapt the world to them, the survivors would be trying to adapt to the world, and the enclaves would be trying to pretend they were still the ones in charge.

Oh, and somewhere there would be graffiti saying "Max Brooks was wrong. Solanum is bull shit."

 

[Zahri]

So, let me get this right: Are you basicly working on a game design document, yes?

Simply put, keep it simple but use a frame work that allows for future expansion. You don't have to wait for the future, you can make your zombie game now, then just keep making new versions forever.

Check out these endeavors by others for inspiration:
http://www.zombiesurvivalwiki.com/page/Zombie+Games+%28aka+Survival+Simulation%29

So remember, your ideas don't suck if you at least try to make them a reality. Hell, you don't even have to make your game on the computer, grab a pencil and some paper, then proceed to make a card, board, or role playing game. I made a few different card and board games as a kid, even drew levels and characters for a Super Mario game I had in my head.

That all said, when it comes to Zombies and Settings, you need to decide a few things:
- What kind of zombie? Magic/Voodoo Drugs/Technological/Infected Mutations/Symbiote Alien Control
- What kind of world? Earth Past,Present,Future/Fantasy/Science Fiction Another Planet
- Why would a zombie be a antagonist to the player's protagonist?
- How would like the player to react to setting? Revulsion/Fear/Anger/Sadness/Joy/Excitement
- Do you have a specific type of game genre in mind or will you be using a mix? If a mix, how important are the different genre staples to the game you have in mind?

If you are asking for my answers to these questions, it is very likely we would come up with two very different games, just look at all the choices and there is probably even more I didn't think of.

If pressed, I would describe a world which is a earth slightly in the future in which the zombies are actually the next stage of humanity as mutants, survivors are the adapting future of humanity, and government forces would be trying to maintain the status quo with devastating, horrifying results almost worse than the threat of forced mutation (which some are immune to and so the zombies see them as a threat) to be one with the hive mind mentality of the ghouls. The zombies would be trying to adapt the world to them, the survivors would be trying to adapt to the world, and the enclaves would be trying to pretend they were still the ones in charge.

Oh, and somewhere there would be graffiti saying "Max Brooks was wrong. Solanum is bull shit."

My idea of a good and proper one, as i'm sure a good deal of people would agree (on at least a good deal of the points) would be present day, city setting, with maybe a country side and rural areas just to vary things. Infected variations of slow shambling zombies that infect with a simple scratch or bite, thus alerting the player that he has to be really bloody careful and plan things out. Antagonist zombie wants living human flesh in its swollen and ready to burst belleh, and the humans probably don't want this. I'm thinking to myself it would be a survival game, in which you have to literally gather supplies, weapons, and fortify or build some kind of defensive structure, utilizing quite literally anything and everything. The zombies would come in droves (depending on the area of course, but there'll always be atleast a good 10 zombies in any general direction within line of sight) And the main goal in itself would be to survive as long as you can.

I figure that it would be mostly a multiplayer game, with a hitman-esque control screen in the sense of the utilization of a button and the arrow keys to select one of many actions, as well as selecting items to use from an inventory, and a first person shooter perspective. Basically, free world left 4 dead with crippled zombies and a totally malleable world.

 

[CanadianWolverine]

My idea of a good and proper one, as i'm sure a good deal of people would agree (on at least a good deal of the points) would be present day, city setting, with maybe a country side and rural areas just to vary things. Infected variations of slow shambling zombies that infect with a simple scratch or bite, thus alerting the player that he has to be really bloody careful and plan things out. Antagonist zombie wants living human flesh in its swollen and ready to burst belleh, and the humans probably don't want this. I'm thinking to myself it would be a survival game, in which you have to literally gather supplies, weapons, and fortify or build some kind of defensive structure, utilizing quite literally anything and everything. The zombies would come in droves (depending on the area of course, but there'll always be atleast a good 10 zombies in any general direction within line of sight) And the main goal in itself would be to survive as long as you can.

I figure that it would be mostly a multiplayer game, with a hitman-esque control screen in the sense of the utilization of a button and the arrow keys to select one of many actions, as well as selecting items to use from an inventory, and a first person shooter perspective. Basically, free world left 4 dead with crippled zombies and a totally malleable world.

Let me be one of those people to agree with you. That sounds like it would be a really fun game to play.

Now lets try to take the grand scale of it down and just distill it to what is most important to you so you can get to work on your awesome zombie game: How important are those 3D graphics? Graphical user interface heads up display? Mouse controls? Physics of game world objects? Skill based aim exclusive or stat based skills? Does it have to be a city with countryside map, would you settle for a building or just a room for now?

That's it, I want you to think small goals, accomplish those goals and pat yourself on the back. Before you know it, you complete a small working game of survival against the zombies. Then you take what you learned from that and make it a bunch of small goals that equal a bigger goal and before you know it you will have your super awesome survival game that I want to play after playing your first small game.

You want to make this game on the computer? Hmm, well, you are going to need some tools, just like if you were to make this a board game you would need a ruler, a pencil, and paper at the very least. Learning computer programing like visual basic or visual C++ (there are a lot of other programming languages out there) is kind of a pain to start off with (but it is very bad ass to learn it because it helps one be methodical to know what it takes to be able at least make scripts, functions, data storage, and practice good documentation), so if you want to get started now and figure out details like that later, totally mod someone else's hard work so you can see results sooner. Lots of games out there come with the tools already released by their developers, so that will go a long way to knocking out something simple and quick to get your game developer juices flowing.

Hope this helps and I can hardly wait to play your version of our imaginary zombie survival game.

 

[alloneword]

Here is my slightly biased idea:

The year is 2010 A.D.

Pepsi and Coke have teamed up, putting their differences aside to create the world's first super soda: Coppi. However what the representatives from Coke didn't tell their new teamates is that they intended to go back to their old recipe and begin using actual cocaine in their drinks once again. As the product goes out on the assembly line, a lone assembly line worker identifies the first batch of cocaine to be contaminated in a way he cannot fully comprihend.

Within a day, half the population of the United States is infected with a direct zombification virus. The newscasters, before they were eaten, reported that it was thought to be a reaction to the cocaine from the Coke recipe and the influx amounts of suck in Pepsi.

Clearly, larger cities crumbled quickly obviously because of the sheer number of brains to eat. But in one small town nestled in North Dakota where the zombie outbreak was mostly contained because of their lack of access to major highways. Only a few from their population of 5,000 succumbed to brain-eating madness.

So now, a handfull of high school students (because the prepared a zombie survival plan for themselves) lead the survivors of the town on a mission simply to survive as long as they can, while they hold out hope to be rescued.

 

[Zahri]

My idea of a good and proper one, as i'm sure a good deal of people would agree (on at least a good deal of the points) would be present day, city setting, with maybe a country side and rural areas just to vary things. Infected variations of slow shambling zombies that infect with a simple scratch or bite, thus alerting the player that he has to be really bloody careful and plan things out. Antagonist zombie wants living human flesh in its swollen and ready to burst belleh, and the humans probably don't want this. I'm thinking to myself it would be a survival game, in which you have to literally gather supplies, weapons, and fortify or build some kind of defensive structure, utilizing quite literally anything and everything. The zombies would come in droves (depending on the area of course, but there'll always be atleast a good 10 zombies in any general direction within line of sight) And the main goal in itself would be to survive as long as you can.

I figure that it would be mostly a multiplayer game, with a hitman-esque control screen in the sense of the utilization of a button and the arrow keys to select one of many actions, as well as selecting items to use from an inventory, and a first person shooter perspective. Basically, free world left 4 dead with crippled zombies and a totally malleable world.

Let me be one of those people to agree with you. That sounds like it would be a really fun game to play.

Now lets try to take the grand scale of it down and just distill it to what is most important to you so you can get to work on your awesome zombie game: How important are those 3D graphics? Graphical user interface heads up display? Mouse controls? Physics of game world objects? Skill based aim exclusive or stat based skills? Does it have to be a city with countryside map, would you settle for a building or just a room for now?

That's it, I want you to think small goals, accomplish those goals and pat yourself on the back. Before you know it, you complete a small working game of survival against the zombies. Then you take what you learned from that and make it a bunch of small goals that equal a bigger goal and before you know it you will have your super awesome survival game that I want to play after playing your first small game.

You want to make this game on the computer? Hmm, well, you are going to need some tools, just like if you were to make this a board game you would need a ruler, a pencil, and paper at the very least. Learning computer programing like visual basic or visual C++ (there are a lot of other programming languages out there) is kind of a pain to start off with (but it is very bad ass to learn it because it helps one be methodical to know what it takes to be able at least make scripts, functions, data storage, and practice good documentation), so if you want to get started now and figure out details like that later, totally mod someone else's hard work so you can see results sooner. Lots of games out there come with the tools already released by their developers, so that will go a long way to knocking out something simple and quick to get your game developer juices flowing.

Hope this helps and I can hardly wait to play your version of our imaginary zombie survival game.

The setting of just an ordinary building itself and nothing more already begins to detract from the grand scale of the experience, as in the game itself, when i say maleable, i MEAN it. Destructible environments, including being able to level each and any building, whether for tactical purposes or for the fun of it (if you feel like dicking around and the giant pile of explosives is worrying people). I feel a small suburb would be more of a start really, or a few blocks within a rural city and part of a shopping district, just so it would be realistic to gain supplies and maybe the rare gun or two. I'm thinking of incorporating a garry's mod-esque building style where you can tack on wood or apply some kind of reinforcement to a closeable entrance in any position you deem fit, as well as even start building foundations for a crude fort, or even a sturdy one if the character is well versed in construction skills. It would take a good deal of time though, and while i'm thinking that this will still take some time. It'll be co-op as stated earlier, on a very grand scale.

I myself have absolutely no knowledge of programming thus far, sadly. I plan on getting started at my earliest convenience in learning some C++ or Java script, though with school and AP courses, it's not likely. =(

 

[kahlzun]

Are there just the one type of zombie (shamble)?

What happens when they reach an obstacle? Are there limits to what they can tear down?

Perhaps a good thing to try would be a zombie game where you get -no weapons- or at least none that do squat.

Just make it that you have to try to escape, hide, find refuge. Which never lasts.

 

[Zahri]

Are there just the one type of zombie (shamble)?

What happens when they reach an obstacle? Are there limits to what they can tear down?

Perhaps a good thing to try would be a zombie game where you get -no weapons- or at least none that do squat.

Just make it that you have to try to escape, hide, find refuge. Which never lasts.

Zombies still possess the strength to tear down a shit load of things. They eventually die on their own as well, but the piling corpses will either serve to make a staircase over their obstacle, or effectively shut whatever survivors are there into their new tomb.

 

[Pegghead]

You play as a relatable type guy surrounded by stereotypical slow, shambling zombies whos main strengths come in their numbers and insane amounts of health. There are of course special infected, like maybe infected children who can crawl through vents and throw themselves at your neck to strangle you to death, or infected prisoners in handcuffs who run at you as fast as they can to headbutt you. Being normal your aim's a bit crap on fireams and it takes effort to use melee weapons. It could be set in a quarantined country where a huge portion of the population are infected. The ultimate aim of the game is to find a way out of the country, this can be done in many ways but each way would require you moving across states (In this case the levels) with various stages breaking up the pace. Each state has a unique feel and unique enemies, like you could go to say, an Alaska type place where it is in the snow season and there could be zombies who are covered in frost and ice, making them slower but take much longer to kill. Your main strength is the ability to use the environment to your advantage, you could be able to make barricades, start fires, hide yourself in something like a trunk until its safe. And you can play online, in a borderlands meet left 4 dead style, you'd have common but relatable sorts of people you get when it comes to zombie fiction, but each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, like the nurse might be able to heal teammates better, or the officeworker may have skill with melee weapons. Ammo is hard to find, inventories must be managed, you're put into situations wher you need your squadmates, there would be vehicle sections, and taking another page from left 4 dead you work in squads of 4.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Here's your game, you hold up in a secure place doing nothing for long stretches of time and occasional shooting a zombie from a distance. Then after several weeks you leave to another secure location, rinse lather repeat until your so desperate you throw yourself at the hoard. "Real" zombie survival game is boring as hell. You need to force the players into a dangerous situation with the zombie and force them to run and try and defend against the endless hoard a la L4D.

 

[Jekken6]

It could be kinda like how the RTS elements in Brutal Legend were implemented. You do a few things (supplies, defense, etc.) and then you come back down to join the action, L4D style.

 

[Carbonic Penguin]

I'd say at the start, you would be alone, at night, in a half decrepit suburb/city, with no weapons of your own. Only slow, shambling zombies would be about now (it's still a game), and you can only use the environment to protect you, be it a precariously placed crate high up, or just objects to throw at them. Eventually, it becomes day, and the zombies retreat indoors. You could then spend this day time either looking for a way out, other survivors, any weapons or just setting up traps and fortifications to survive at night. However, the best weapons and traps are indoors, where the zombies are hiding. You would also be able to create makeshift weapons that fire things other than bullets, such as a makeshift crossbow. However, if it is really realistic, then expect to die, as the government will no doubt nuke the infected cities anyway...

 

[Mcface]

A zombie survival horror RPG.

Your a guy/girl who starts alone, must search and fight your way through a open world, non linear, huge city full of zombies to find other survivors, supplies, weapons and some extra goodies.

There is no mission, no time limits. Just survive.
Only way to lose is if you starve, die of thirst, get killed by zombies, or fall from something.

3rd person shooter, slightly (or fully?) customizable character.

Ability to board up any room or building in the game.

Survivors can be equipped and given orders based on their skill levels, some would be cops or soldiers, good with guns, others would be able to run faster, climb certain buildings, etc.

 

[CSRusty007]

I like this idea so I gave it some thought... maybe too much and wrote a little about what the game would/should have in it. I'll probably add some more in the next few days but for now this is what I came up with.

Type
FPS/Survival horror ( w/ teamwork), NO versus (people are too good to play zombies) Have a L4D type feel to it, as work in a team to get to the extraction point. To make the game harder and to force more teamwork you would not be able to see your teammates through wall (like in L4D) and there would have limited communications (typing only) if you're not within shouting distance (idk how this would work but gives it more of a real feel). So if you wander off alone and get trapped good luck calling for help.

Zombies
So I picked the tradition type zombies (slow movers) these would be based on these as described in The Zombie Survival Guide book. These zombies would hold no supernatural abilities limited to the people they once were. This being fat zombies would be slow more athletic zombies would be faster but NO running or climbing zombies like in L4D. The trade off would be numbers and with only so much ammo to carry and guns/ammo hard to come by you must not expose yourself to much or be outnumbered quickly.

Weapons/Items
This I'm not going into a lot of detail as the standard array of guns would make their appearance. Guns would be available like guns are in L4D starting out limited and have more options available as you advance through the level. These later guns would be much nicer (leftovers from police/army as well as possible gun stores that would be stocked with all types of guns).

Map/Layout
You and a group of survivors (could vary let's say 3-6) start in a secure location (house/office/building) where you gear up and move out and head across the map to the extraction point (whatever it is). The map would be large covering several in-game miles kinda like Fallout 3 or battlefield type maps but larger still. Cities could be detailed like GTA-IV (maybe not GTA type graphics but so you'll see the idea) The map is open allowing for any direction to travel but at least keeping you where you won't be always out or reach of zombies (meaning you can just rooftop jump your way all the way to end that would be too easy) but there will be spots where you can get to that they can't (these would make good "checkpoints" for re-arming etc.) To help keep teams form just simple picking off slowly and taking forever to get to the end there could be a time attached to the level so that evacuation (by chopper would only wait for so long) and if you don't show up in time they leave and you fail to escape.

So yea that's what I've got so far (or as much as I can think of right now) I would really be cool to have some type game like this or some type of MMO type zombie apocalypse hybrid game. Be nice to see what others come up with as well. I'll try add more as I think of it.