Open World Zombie Game

[404]

Okay, this idea needs some working on.

Basic idea = huge gigantic open world zombie game

Whereas most games feature an objective to kill something, do something, or go somewhere, whereas this one would only require survival. Then comes the decision whether to just make it an infinite time and you just see how long you can survive, and there be no set time to survive before you win. So you never really win, you just beat your previous times. Or, there is a set limit. If there is a set limit, it would need to be really really long.

Open would make the gameplay different than most zombie games because you wouldn't be held up somewhere. Once again, HUGE world. Ammo is sparse. Guns are hard to find. There aren't military-grade rifles lying around in all the houses in the suburbs like in L4D. You rely mainly on your wit and your running skills. Vehicles are there, but most are out of gas or not accessible. Bikes are also present, but you have stamina which runs out, and you have to rest. Everything should be as realistic as possible (weird for a zombie game, I know.)

Almost like a simulator of a zombie outbreak.

[Sweet Bro]

What do you think about the issue of infection? Will one 'bite' by a zombie issue a game over, or will it set in, or will it be completely negligible? Are we going for a more Max Brooks approach with zombies as realistic as possible, or will it be more Killing Floor with colorful whacky renditions of human mutation? I'm fine with both approaches, though it will be a matter of difficulty if it becomes the later.

What do you think about a storyline? Are we doing this 100%, by the books gameplay? I'm sure we can implement something. Perhaps not even a story in the conventional sense, but little hints thrown in through radio broadcasts or even through word of mouth. That brings another point, what about safe areas? Are there strongholds throughout the map, or are we going for an isolated approach, where YOU are the sole-survivor, kind of zombie apocalypse fantasy stuff? I'd love to hear more from you.

[404]

Not sure about biting/death. Not sure about mutations either. I think it would be good to have a couple.

Story line could be told through radios and television shows and emergency broadcasts.

I'd rather there not be strongholds, but I don't see how one could lose when you find the military and their high powered guns. Maybe they don't want you in just in case you carry the infection? I definitely want there to be other survivors to find. That would encourage you not to stay in one place and hold up. And they could have something to say to expand the story, and they could have weapons.

[brandedahall]

you could have, the military control certain sections of the map (small sections) where they give out missions or something, or give orders and you go do it, but the player could only hold up there for a small time. and could find some small weapons like pistols and ammo, then gradually gets better (up to a point), then the player has to have pot luck to find weapons in the outside world.

[Sweet Bro]

Jul 6, 2010 18:26:42 GMT -5 404 said:

I'd rather there not be strongholds, but I don't see how one could lose when you find the military and their high powered guns.

Perhaps the military wouldn't give you weapons or anything, but maybe just shelter you for the time being? I'm not even saying the military should be involved. In fact, it'd be better if they weren't involved at all, maybe made the antagonists, locking you in the hell that was your hometown. Maybe groups of survivors, not even big groups, but small hubs in the usual areas; malls, police stations, city halls. Perhaps even factions? No, nevermind, I'm taking this idea away from what you originally wanted. I'm thinking something like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. meets GTA, but that's not what you want. Then perhaps, people should be a precious rarity that, when encountered, make or break the game.

Now, are we going for a randomized approach, where you can either NEVER meet another person, or a more scripted style, where you'll meet the same first person everytime, then they become your companion for however long?

[brandedahall]

Having it like stalker would make for some terrifying moments, thats if they were running zombies, (and i think that they should, BUT stupid) and having a companion would ruin the whole survival aspect because it wouldnt be scary but just a laugh. (just like l4d became a mega lul with friends, but on my own it was kinda scary/freaky)

[steph]

actually, i was just thinking it might be kind of cool if it was an mmo of sorts, but like, still really sparse. like, meeting up with another player is just sort of a chance thing and you kind of stick together as long as possible but if one of you dies you don't respawn next to the person you were hanging with. kind of like demon's souls maybe? hmm

[brandedahall]

hmm... havent played demon souls, but apparently it's quite liked but /v/, an mmo would be good, BUT it would have to be absolutly massive game world if meeting people would be chance. that brings up the next thing, travel, if the world was big and vehicals were rare, wouldnt it get borng getting to places

[steph]

well, getting around would hopefully be kind of a risky thing where traveling is concerned because you'd always be worried a mob of zombies could come lurching out at you all of a sudden. especially if you were on your own.

also maybe mmo wasn't the right word... maybe like when you sign in you get automatically included in like a server of sorts, and each server could only have 10 people scattered all voer the huge open world? like, max 10, i mean. once someone dies someone else who's signing in takes their place and the dead person goes into a different server if he signs in... something like that

[brandedahall]

that makes more sence what about if the person makes friends with another survivor, ther could be multiple servers, but the player could also make their own server but with reduced things like game size and players (down to 5 players or something on a smaller map(only one city or something))

[Sweet Bro]

The point is not to make friends, it's more about the survival experience. Making it some sort of Steam game with servers set up and friends getting together, a la Left 4 Dead is taking this game in the wrong direction in my opinion. Making the game multiplayer at all would seem the detract from what 404 seems to be going for, a survival game with zombies. Multiplayer, MMO-esque game runs into a lot of problems, like brandedhall mentioned, the feeling of isolation and desolation would be lost, given the option of highly populated servers. With smaller servers, like say, matchmaking servers, the options of progress and continuity would be taken out completely. Everything would have to be done during that match, which might work.

If multiplayer would be in the game, I think it should be added as a bonus, separate from the single player experience. It could consist of matchmaking servers, and there would be different game types, ranging from survival and base building, to annihilation, giving player high powered weapons to defeat as much of the undead menace as quickly as possible.

I don't see multiplayer being a viable option for what 404 is going for. What I'm getting from his descriptions is you're just a normal guy, and everyone else is zombies. You do what you can to survive. He makes it sound like a long term thing, something that wouldn't last a few hours with friends. With actual MMO servers...bah, the ideas just seem contradictory. Maybe if it's something like Wurm, and you build little communities and strongholds and board up houses and upgrade them, that'd be pretty awesome...hmm. I dunno. This seems like a separate thing though.

[brandedahall]

hmm... i can see the point now but it would be inevitable people would want to make friends OR bring in their own

[Kino]

I like Sweet Bro's idea of having this be a two-part game. One part multiplayer, one part genuinely scary campaign mode. Probably no co-op option (though this would be fun as hell and there's nothing wrong with that.)

A zombie survival sim would be really, really amazing.
Especially if your character starts off at the very beginning of an outbreak within a city. You have to decide whether to escape the city immediately, go to an emergency center, hide in a church, skyscraper, etc. plus you'd be trying to find ways to make weapons out of everyday objects. (Maybe an option to start in the suburbs? The outbreak starts out in the city and you only have a few days to prepare before the outbreak reaches your home).
Would you work alone or try to ally with other survivors? Eventually you could be alone and hiding out in the woods. If this game had a massive world to explore and if you could try any survival method you wanted... holy crap, ultimate sandbox game.
Plus you could customize your character. If you wanted to make things easy mode, make your character have fighting ability and able to run fast... but where this game would shine was if you could customize your character like yourself and make it even more immersive. As in, you would take a short quiz when you customize your character. (What's your weight? How often do you exercise / run / ride your bike? Do you eat healthy? Do you actually own any weapons? Stuff like that. The game would do all the calculations for your in-game stats). Of course this would be srs business since a lot of people that play video games aren't that healthy or own a lot of weapons... but this would make the game extremely realistic for you and you alone if you take it seriously. Could you, in the state you're in and with the equipment you have, actually survive? Your chance for survival would differ greatly from others but if you DO survive for a long time the satisfaction would be greater.
Also, over the course of the game your character would loose weight, get stronger, get more proficient with weapons, etc.
Lastly, the customization would have a limit to keep people from making zombie killer Mary-sues. This customization would not be available to online players for that reason. Everyone would start off with average stats. They can customize what they look like, but that's it. Or maybe you could import your campaign character into multiplayer somehow?



An online multiplayer option would also be amazing, just make gigantic, expansive maps and make every map have a tiny population cap (like 20 people? 10 people? Less?). Of course this wouldn't be scary at all but it would be so much fun. Just make it impossible to shoot the fuck out of everything. Like, even if you had all twenty people and tried to invade a zombie-infested town/city you'd be toast and be killed in minutes. (Unless you were smart and extremely strategic about it, of course...)Your team would have to set up a safe place to live, find resources, and last as long as you can until the zombies inevitably find you and then you'd move someplace else. Of course you could try to survive alone too. (The pros and cons of acting together or being apart should be equal). Maybe you could trade items with other players and continue on your way afterwards?
That would keep it from being Left 4 Dead if you're always severely outnumbered beyond hope, especially if you only had classic slow zombies. Plus if it's possible to starve to death and other real factors.
You would usually join a random map with people you don't know. It would be like a later stage of campaign mode but with the added hope of coming across another survivor.
I think this would make it even more like an actual zombie infestation. After surviving alone for so long wouldn't you yearn to find another survivor? It would be much more entertaining than coming across an NPC. Also, when you join a map it would NOT tell you who or how many people are there.
There could be other game types that could let you team up with friends.
Also, instead of levels it would be the amount of in-game time you've survived. If you survived three days and you saved the game, the next time you play you'll still have all your weapons / stats. But in the multiplayer map you would only be able to come across other characters that have played as long as you have. (If your character has only survived 3 days, you'll only find other people that have survived 3 days and so on). So, the longer you play, naturally, survivors would be less common. Plus some random survivor won't run up and beat the shit out of you with some weapon that you can only unlock later in the game.


Just some random ideas...

[A bundle of Fries]

Look up Dead Rush, it was supposedly everything anybody ever mentions in a survivor/horror/sandbox game