- Jul 23, 2010
- 58
- 127
Day One
A little while back I had a budding idea for a zombie mmo. After discussing it a bit in steam chat, I was told to make a thread here.
So here goes nothing.
Player vs Player vs Environment
Zombies. Dead characters become zombies. Each world would also have a set (VERY LARGE) number of zombies. After all, there are 7 billion people in the world. Players will be driven to at least make fragile alliances with each other, and many will probably band together to survive, sharing rations, weapons, and ammo.
In a game world like this, the player will need to learn the area around their safe zone(s), and learn what other players or groups tend to hang around or pass through that area. Dealing with other players could even be more important than dealing with the zombies. After all, zombies don't carry hunting rifles.
Not a packed-arsenal kind of game
This isn't the kind of game where weapons and ammo are abundant. Finding a handgun and a partial magazine could be considered a miracle. Food will be sparse, at least food that hasn't rotted already, and gasoline and the like will be essentially non-existent. Players will have to scrounge and search to find supplies, and this may mean going far from your safe area.
Not quest-based
The game wouldn't be driven by 'get X respawning thing for X person just like everyone else in the game does.' It would be driven by "Our group is out of rations and we're going to starve if we don't find food." Players will want to find (or create) safe havens for themselves or their groups to hole up while the zombies flood the streets. Raids on infected areas for food could be come necessary, so could run-ins with other players. The game's "quest system" will be created by the players.
Procedural generation for environment
The game won't be a "theme park," and it won't be a game you can jump into with a new character and know the layout of. Every character you play will be on a different world. If your character dies, or if you just decide to make another one, it will be a new experience, new challenges, new obstacles.
Reward System based on survival
As I mentioned earlier, the driving system behind the game's quest and reward system is the characters' own need to gather supplies to survive and fight. A team could be giant and stocked up on rations, but if they've got nothing but hammers and bats they're going to have trouble if a gang comes around to make trouble with a few handguns.
Permadeath
When characters die, they die. A player may make a new character and continue playing, but it will be in a different world. In fact, the player will never again encounter a world they'd died in before. A dead character can become a zombie, so dealing with bodies can be an issue.
Players and Learning
One issue that permadeath can present is mucking with the concept of learning by trial and error. There are a few solutions to that issue:
Regardless, the game would feature pop-up hints and the like to familiarize players with mechanics and the like.
Day Two
A little while back I had a budding idea for a zombie mmo. After discussing it a bit in steam chat, I was told to make a thread here.
So here goes nothing.
Player vs Player vs Environment
Zombies. Dead characters become zombies. Each world would also have a set (VERY LARGE) number of zombies. After all, there are 7 billion people in the world. Players will be driven to at least make fragile alliances with each other, and many will probably band together to survive, sharing rations, weapons, and ammo.
In a game world like this, the player will need to learn the area around their safe zone(s), and learn what other players or groups tend to hang around or pass through that area. Dealing with other players could even be more important than dealing with the zombies. After all, zombies don't carry hunting rifles.
Not a packed-arsenal kind of game
This isn't the kind of game where weapons and ammo are abundant. Finding a handgun and a partial magazine could be considered a miracle. Food will be sparse, at least food that hasn't rotted already, and gasoline and the like will be essentially non-existent. Players will have to scrounge and search to find supplies, and this may mean going far from your safe area.
Not quest-based
The game wouldn't be driven by 'get X respawning thing for X person just like everyone else in the game does.' It would be driven by "Our group is out of rations and we're going to starve if we don't find food." Players will want to find (or create) safe havens for themselves or their groups to hole up while the zombies flood the streets. Raids on infected areas for food could be come necessary, so could run-ins with other players. The game's "quest system" will be created by the players.
Procedural generation for environment
The game won't be a "theme park," and it won't be a game you can jump into with a new character and know the layout of. Every character you play will be on a different world. If your character dies, or if you just decide to make another one, it will be a new experience, new challenges, new obstacles.
Reward System based on survival
As I mentioned earlier, the driving system behind the game's quest and reward system is the characters' own need to gather supplies to survive and fight. A team could be giant and stocked up on rations, but if they've got nothing but hammers and bats they're going to have trouble if a gang comes around to make trouble with a few handguns.
Permadeath
When characters die, they die. A player may make a new character and continue playing, but it will be in a different world. In fact, the player will never again encounter a world they'd died in before. A dead character can become a zombie, so dealing with bodies can be an issue.
Players and Learning
One issue that permadeath can present is mucking with the concept of learning by trial and error. There are a few solutions to that issue:
- New characters begin in a playerless area of a new world
- Players get an early-on hint system similar to L4D's glow on weapons/items
- Players are allowed to watch chat-less versions of other characters' deaths or play to learn (probably a bad idea overall)
Regardless, the game would feature pop-up hints and the like to familiarize players with mechanics and the like.
Day Two
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