I wouldn't say 0 Hunger is death, more along the lines of very very low skills (90% reduc?) and not much stam for running. As long as you can keep some food in your back pack you will be good. That's another thing, it seems in MMOs I can carry 30 swords, 4 sets of armor, and alot of potions. Have a "Back pack" system like Diablo or RE. Guns and food takes up X amount of slots in your 50 slot pack.
Higher weapon skills should only cover more real things as you said reload times and fixing jams. That would be cool to see on the stats paper for Y gun it has max rounds, jam %, reload time, unjam time, range, and accuracy. All of which can be modified by skills and items.
Im still confident that the game would fail misrably because it still lacks imagination, you need variety and it just sounds like to much of the same thing, you cant copy other peoples storys and games and expect it to be fun and innovative this is why you need something differant besides your wanna be resident evil.
Im still confident that the game would fail misrably because it still lacks imagination, you need variety and it just sounds like to much of the same thing, you cant copy other peoples storys and games and expect it to be fun and innovative this is why you need something differant besides your wanna be resident evil.
Most of the features I've never even seen in any video game, MMO or not. Any way, dude we're just talking no need to bring everyone down sheesh.
I like survival horror, however, I'd rather keep it to the consoles.
Last ''survival horror'' type game closely related to it wouldve been Vampire The Masquerade.. and that game online was a joke. Full of hackers. I couldn't even enjoy it without someone coming in and freezing the game.
Im not trying to bring it down bro but being limited to only zombie like creatures with your usual scientificly engineered flesh eating freaks is not good for a mmorpg you really need more or something a little differant.
You can only create one character at a time, and to play another character means killing that one off. Each character you can create belongs in an archetype (ie policeman, doctor, farmer, biker, etc) that has specific advantages and disadvantages. Playing the game will unlock further archetypes to play as. quoted from > http://www.squidi.net/three/entry.php?id=30
thats a good idea,the longer you play and more advanced you become with a certain character,you unlock different archetypes and skills that can be used across all your future characters.
each time you made a character and it died,the skills you have gained can be used on the next guy you make,if you choose to,except he starts out with less ability than your last guy did.
I actually like the idea of the pets not being attacked by most if not all zombies. This then allows for the creation of an archetype that works with animals which can help or hinder players depending on how well they're trained. Perhaps someone who's trained to deal with birds could somehow get a better view of the field by having their falcon alert the trainer of any intruders. Another example could be to have rodents carrying C4 and explode them into crowds of zombies. Dogs being used to transport goods from one colony to another.
As far as skills go I would like to see a system of progression in real life time, a la EVE-Online, except where progression is always tied to the account, rather than to any specific character. With this type of system you can have the benefits of perma-death without the disadvantages. Furthermore you allow for avatars to be converted and give players the possibility to see their once human character later in the game, now zombified.
With such a real life progression system you can still maintain archetypes. Instead of having classes you just use skill sets that delve into more specific areas of any one profession or specialty. Just like you have Missiles and Drone Technology, you could have Firearm Proficiency and Communications. Under Firearm Prof. you might find many different types of guns that you can get better at, which will grow as you play the game. In this way you reward players for continually subscribing and for being off-line. This is two fold as it helps give players a break from a shoot-em-up game, as well as maintain their subscripts in a pseudo-progression model.
I agree that twitch should be at the center of the game-play, but I also believe that there should be a heavy emphasis on base building, tactical assets, demolitions, resource gathering and construction of defenses including utility. Players would be able to manipulate and move objects at will, sort of a cross between the physics system of Oblivion and Half-Life 2. You should be able to lift up crates, move around desks and pile shit up to gain access to higher ground. This provides the mechanics to have a situation where a zombie is thrashing through your custom barricade, spewing bloody guts left and right as it tries recklessly to delve into your domain. Meanwhile you're crouched around the corner holding a remote explosive control, waiting for it to cross the point of no return so you can blow the rabid creature back to hell. Talk about the ultimate hide 'n seek experience.
Survival should be at the heart of this game. As others have stated this creates a situation where players are encouraged to work together for common goals in order to make it through the night so to speak. If they don't, they may find their luck and skill getting pushed to the limits as they attempt to stave off hordes of flesh-thirsty scum.
Food, Water, Ammunitions, Explosives, Fuel and Women should be highly sought after commodities. The key would be not to have bars that deplete over time, but capabilities that require these resources. In this way you steer yourself away from Sim-like systems where you spend all your time keeping your hygiene bars maxed. No. We want action, we want options and we want carnage, fuck the Simulations. You need fuel to drive cars, tanks, fly helicopters and run generators. You need food and water to produce civilians for your colonies and keep people happy and cooperatively organized. You need Explosives to blow shit up. You need Ammo to fire your weapons. You need Women to reproduce.
Now this ties into how we set up the perma-death system. I would propose a mechanism where colonies that have a stable birthing population of females can allow for the fornication of offspring. These offspring can then become the new player avatars when you die. Think of it like PlanetSide's ANT energy system where when you respawn you use up some of the available goods, but instead of respawning you are a new avatar altogether. As you survive you grow in age. Perhaps for the sake of keeping child avatars out of the game, you are born and then age 16 and a new world is available to you. Material objects should not intrinsically transfer to your new characters, but they should still be statically available on your dead, or in some cases, undead corpse.
Wanted to add that zombies don't all have to be the same. It really depends on the lore of the game, how the zombies came into being, either from hell or from some virus or something else. If from hell then you've got all kinds of options. If from a virus then you could have many different things from crazy parasites to bug-like mutations to crazy flying things etc...
Don't box yourself in just because you think there'd only be one kind of zombie. Movies are bad in that regard, they shut off your imagination. Let your dark mind take you to the edge of reality and then bring your findings back to this board and tell us about what disgusting new creature you'd just spawned.
Look to games like Doom and Quake for inspiration.
Yeah, don't get focused on their only being zombies. There is no need for anything else. Just using them in different ways. Such as body parts that dont die, hands running around, crawling blown in half torsos under the sight line, Zombies on fire, diseased zombies, zombie animals, etc...the list can go on and on without having to bring in things like vampires and werewolves, magic or what not. You could have their abilities alter depending on thier level of decrepitude. Zombies that are really old and basically skeletons may not be easy to take down with guns, fresh just recently alive zombies may be faster, stronger, or even retain some level of knowledge, like barely remembering how to pull a trigger. So on and So forth.
That and adding the hostile human and animal factors that are still living is plenty. Such as bandit groups, packs of feral dogs, etc. Try reading World War Z by Max Brooks for some inspiration.
________________________________
Everything born must die. All that is, will come to ruin. This is the essence of Doom. So sayeth the Doomsayer.
I like the idea of a hunger system of some sort. I don't think it should necessarily make your skills drop by 90% or anything, but perhaps lower your stamina for running, jumping, etc... If there's a panic meter, then food deprivation should keep you nearly panicked.
I think panicked humans should be more prone to stumbling, make it harder to aim (your crosshairs might move slowly at random, etc.
I don't think there should be skill tree limits, but definitely starter "classes".
Class Starter Gear Starter Skill
Police Handgun / Club Firearms Training
Paramedic Medi-Kit / Scalpel First Aid Training
Handyman Toolkit / SMG Engineering
Hunter Rifle / Machete Sharpshooting
Priest Dagger / Brandy Ease of Mind
Biker Shotgun / Chain Brawling
Zealot Chainsaw / Grenade Berserk
Anyone can learn any skill, but most skills have prerequisites and some kind of experience or talent point cost. I think that's a fair way to approach it.
Survival is really what it's about. You don't necessarily have to be under constant attack. With proper barricading, you could block off sections of city or rural areas. Set up perimeters, and establish safe-houses, hospital zones, armories. Nothing permanent. Use handymen to build up walls and reinforce gates.
Supplies are gonna be precious, so having lots of places to search is gonna be key. Hospitals should be good sources of medi-kits. Gun shops for the obvious, but I wouldn't reccomend going into specific types of guns. Keep it simple. Handguns, shot guns, SMG's, and rifles. Police departments for low-tech armor; riot shields, flak jackets, etc.. Military outposts, maybe, for some more hardcore armor. Books might be a good way to introduce a new skill tree, so someone who didn't know anything about medicine can learn how to more effectively use a Medi-Kit, thus introducing First Aid skill, whereas without that knowledge, he's restricted to simple bandages. Hardware stores will allow handymen to get things they need, like tools.
Some things people will need in the post-Apoc world:
Food (Let's assume MRE's/Canned goods)
Fuel (Gas cans, for use with vehicles or generators, can also be shot for explosive damage)
Flare (For signaling humans, confusing zombies, and igniting gas can traps)
Clothes (Different styles available in houses, hospitals, police stations, malls, etc..)
GPS Device (Good for marking locations, or tracking other GPS users)
I think it could also be possible to have player-controlled zombies. Like maybe they control the faster zombies, with an ability to muster small numbers of slowbies and lead them toward fresh meat. Or, just allow a player to control a small group of zombies. 4-5, and collectively steer them in their quest for flesh.
Building on this idea, perhaps the zombie player begins as a single zombie, in 3rd-person / isometric strategy mode, using his mouse to control his zombie and interact with the rest of the AI hordes. Able to "recruit" up to 3 other AI zeds, the player's goal is to feed his troop. The more they feed, the more zombies he can muster. He can influence where they go, have them attack certain people or objects. But he can't control them if they're too far away from his primary zombie. If a zombie goes out of range, then it would have to be re-recruited, which means the primary zombie's "charisma" must still meet the requirements to do so. As time goes by, the primary zombie loses this "charisma", and zombies stray from his group, until he has only his original 3-4. This game mechanic helps spread zombies around a little, and yet bring action toward humans, while not limiting all zombies to player-control.
I think death ought to be handled on both sides. When a human dies, they "respawn" in a hospital or make-shift clinic. Some gear stays with them, while other gear must be replaced by foraging for it. When a zombie player's "pimary zombie" dies, they "respawn" in a nearby graveyard or corpse pile.
The game setting could be kept within the confines of a very large imaginary city, or an expansive city zone, with rural patches, woods, parks, suburbs, and downtown areas. Such large areas could require the use of vehicles, maybe land and water. I don't expect going out to sea is feasible in such a game, but perhaps a lake or river would be good areas for it to come into play. Imagine slowly crossing the foggy river, your boat's motor sputtering on what little gas you managed to get into it, when suddenly a zombie lunges up out of the water, jumping in, forcing you fend it off, or jump into the water and hope you can outswim death.
Of course, I don't know about the whole water thing, but you never know. Anyways, these are just a few of my ideas. I think it could be a fun MMOG, twitch-style zombie survival game. Even without the player-controlled zombie action. I'll think of more stuff later...
How can you make a zombie MMO without open PvP? It's rediculous that it's only come up a handful of times in this entire thread and mostly been brushed aside as a "maybe." In probably every zombie movie ever made people fight other people to survive.
If anyone makes a zombie MMO without open PvP- they might as well take a dump on George Romero's face and then piss on the fans.
I'd send such a game's creator hate mail I wiped my ass with. Never done that before but there's a first time for everything.
Hope you got your things together. Hope you are quite prepared to die. Looks like we're in for nasty weather. ... There's a bad moon on the rise.
Well of course there should be open PVP. And groups. Even "guilds". I think that players should be given the option to engage other players in PVP, but that if someone does so, they are temporarily flagged as PVP, and other players default interactions with them are treated as hostile actions. Even if a player is flagged, another player may, through the use of a shift+click mechanism, perform friendly actions on a PVPer, like healing, trading, etc...
A game like this, Vampire, Zombies, Werewolfs, etc. is what is needed.
Look at the commercial success of I AM LEGEND. People love this stuff.
I heard that Developer company White Wolf is doing something similar to this it also has Ghouls and magic humans or something like that.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
Wow, a lot of good ideas here. I really like the idea of being able to build temporary shelters, but having a full city under human control would be nearly impossible. The zombies should be breaking barriers and maruading zones 24/7 so that when you quit for the night you may wake up to find that the lovely citadel you camped in last night has been overrun. If it happened long enough ago most of the zombies will have moved on, so you'll have a chance to get away and try to find where the human resistance has set up its latest safe zone. Maybe in their haste to escape people left behind some useful tools or weapons. You shouldn't be able to carry more than a normal person would, no 20 or 30 item backpacks or such. Definate skill based, with primary attributes like Strength, Agility, Intellegence, Courage all of which help or hinder certain skills. No magic or psi powers....*Is it just me or did Alice in RE Extinction piss you off too?* No high tech devices, nothing beyond what we have now. Just because a zombie grabs you doesn't mean he bit you, so there should be a struggle system, based on strength. Out running the zombies would be important, especially if they are Dawn Remake or 28 days zombies...if they are Return zombies you might as well just let them eat your brain and go out looking for victims of your own. If you are bitten you would slowly turn into a zombie...and I mean slowly, maybe an hour of gameplay or more, until you die, or get an antidote...better hope there is a medic around. Ammo is going to get scarce quick, so the ability to make your own weapons ala DeMorte's gun in Land of the dead would be quite a asset. No electricity so charging those cell phones is gonna be a problem. Though if you had one of the old crank model walkie talkies it'd be cool. You should be able to rescue people and take them to a safe zone, then if you die you wake up with them having dragged you to safety. The more people you save, the more times you can die without having to reroll. Saved people only stick around for as long as you are logged in. It'll be useful to be in a group, but not completely nessisary. On your own you can run and hide better, and sometimes stealth > firepower. It's not a zombie farming xp game, it's survival. Skill points should be awarded for using your skills, and training. If you have a safe area that is well patroled take your gun to a firing range to raise your skill, or run some wind sprints to get you speed up. What you eat should effect your stamina and your strength too. A piece of beef jerky might quell the hunger, but a can of dog food may actually be better for you. If you raid that twinkie factory in Nadik, maybe someone would be willing to trade some shells for your sawed off shotgun for a few. Food should be one of your primary interests, besides gaining skill and saving people. If you get too hungry....well maybe the zombies have a good idea...sacrifice one of your saved people and fry 'im up.
Honestly this game sounds addictive. I want to play it now!
I don't think a zombie (or RE4) type game will be suitable for a MMORPG. It is probably much better done as a SP game.
The problem is that it is very difficult to design a MMO to make the players feel scared or threatened all the time. You also need to have time sinks so that players will stay in the game otherwise they will consume all the content in a flash.
If you only allow small band of few players communicating (only in the vicinity), you may as well a box-based multiplayer game as opposed to a MMO.
Actually, the best way to handle Perma-Death in a Zombie MMO is to make new players start out as regular civilians.
As they survive longer they gain points, so when they die they can reroll as something better.
Repair Man, Athlete, Body Builder, Cop, Doctor, Military, Field Medic, Scientist, Computer Expert, etc etc etc.
The goal should be to repair civilization, but with each player death, more zombies apear. You could even have a chance of running into your former self.
And I still stand by my suggestion to allow a player to play as a mob of zombies in a RTS gameplay mode.
-No character advancement, classes, levels, or skills - you are only as good as the loot you find.
-Loot based game with a massive loot table. The loot itself has skill modifiers. You could even have clothes with open slots where skill tapes (like old SWG) can be dropped in.
-Massive exploration map with "loot bins" spread around. The loot bins may not even have loot in them, but the harder the loot bin is to get to the higher the chance something good is in them.
-Various sub components are needed to collect before you get a working item; like a flashlight needs 3 C cell batteries and a bulb - each have a seperate use durability rate. Shotguns need shells etc.
-factions can, if they chose to, protect their area from outsiders (other factions looting their bins) and players can sneak or raid into another factions loot areas.
-no currency - everything is bartered or traded.
- Everything decays until it is eventually worthless.
The goal of this game is collecting what you need to survive but the marauding gangs and hordes of flesh eating zombies are in the way.
"The liberties and resulting economic prosperity that YOU take for granted were granted by those "dead guys"
Comments
Higher weapon skills should only cover more real things as you said reload times and fixing jams. That would be cool to see on the stats paper for Y gun it has max rounds, jam %, reload time, unjam time, range, and accuracy. All of which can be modified by skills and items.
Last ''survival horror'' type game closely related to it wouldve been Vampire The Masquerade.. and that game online was a joke. Full of hackers. I couldn't even enjoy it without someone coming in and freezing the game.
_________________________________
You can only create one character at a time, and to play another character means killing that one off. Each character you can create belongs in an archetype (ie policeman, doctor, farmer, biker, etc) that has specific advantages and disadvantages. Playing the game will unlock further archetypes to play as. quoted from > http://www.squidi.net/three/entry.php?id=30
thats a good idea,the longer you play and more advanced you become with a certain character,you unlock different archetypes and skills that can be used across all your future characters.
each time you made a character and it died,the skills you have gained can be used on the next guy you make,if you choose to,except he starts out with less ability than your last guy did.
As far as skills go I would like to see a system of progression in real life time, a la EVE-Online, except where progression is always tied to the account, rather than to any specific character. With this type of system you can have the benefits of perma-death without the disadvantages. Furthermore you allow for avatars to be converted and give players the possibility to see their once human character later in the game, now zombified.
With such a real life progression system you can still maintain archetypes. Instead of having classes you just use skill sets that delve into more specific areas of any one profession or specialty. Just like you have Missiles and Drone Technology, you could have Firearm Proficiency and Communications. Under Firearm Prof. you might find many different types of guns that you can get better at, which will grow as you play the game. In this way you reward players for continually subscribing and for being off-line. This is two fold as it helps give players a break from a shoot-em-up game, as well as maintain their subscripts in a pseudo-progression model.
I agree that twitch should be at the center of the game-play, but I also believe that there should be a heavy emphasis on base building, tactical assets, demolitions, resource gathering and construction of defenses including utility. Players would be able to manipulate and move objects at will, sort of a cross between the physics system of Oblivion and Half-Life 2. You should be able to lift up crates, move around desks and pile shit up to gain access to higher ground. This provides the mechanics to have a situation where a zombie is thrashing through your custom barricade, spewing bloody guts left and right as it tries recklessly to delve into your domain. Meanwhile you're crouched around the corner holding a remote explosive control, waiting for it to cross the point of no return so you can blow the rabid creature back to hell. Talk about the ultimate hide 'n seek experience.
Survival should be at the heart of this game. As others have stated this creates a situation where players are encouraged to work together for common goals in order to make it through the night so to speak. If they don't, they may find their luck and skill getting pushed to the limits as they attempt to stave off hordes of flesh-thirsty scum.
Food, Water, Ammunitions, Explosives, Fuel and Women should be highly sought after commodities. The key would be not to have bars that deplete over time, but capabilities that require these resources. In this way you steer yourself away from Sim-like systems where you spend all your time keeping your hygiene bars maxed. No. We want action, we want options and we want carnage, fuck the Simulations. You need fuel to drive cars, tanks, fly helicopters and run generators. You need food and water to produce civilians for your colonies and keep people happy and cooperatively organized. You need Explosives to blow shit up. You need Ammo to fire your weapons. You need Women to reproduce.
Now this ties into how we set up the perma-death system. I would propose a mechanism where colonies that have a stable birthing population of females can allow for the fornication of offspring. These offspring can then become the new player avatars when you die. Think of it like PlanetSide's ANT energy system where when you respawn you use up some of the available goods, but instead of respawning you are a new avatar altogether. As you survive you grow in age. Perhaps for the sake of keeping child avatars out of the game, you are born and then age 16 and a new world is available to you. Material objects should not intrinsically transfer to your new characters, but they should still be statically available on your dead, or in some cases, undead corpse.
Don't box yourself in just because you think there'd only be one kind of zombie. Movies are bad in that regard, they shut off your imagination. Let your dark mind take you to the edge of reality and then bring your findings back to this board and tell us about what disgusting new creature you'd just spawned.
Look to games like Doom and Quake for inspiration.
Yeah, don't get focused on their only being zombies. There is no need for anything else. Just using them in different ways. Such as body parts that dont die, hands running around, crawling blown in half torsos under the sight line, Zombies on fire, diseased zombies, zombie animals, etc...the list can go on and on without having to bring in things like vampires and werewolves, magic or what not. You could have their abilities alter depending on thier level of decrepitude. Zombies that are really old and basically skeletons may not be easy to take down with guns, fresh just recently alive zombies may be faster, stronger, or even retain some level of knowledge, like barely remembering how to pull a trigger. So on and So forth.
That and adding the hostile human and animal factors that are still living is plenty. Such as bandit groups, packs of feral dogs, etc. Try reading World War Z by Max Brooks for some inspiration.
________________________________
Everything born must die. All that is, will come to ruin. This is the essence of Doom. So sayeth the Doomsayer.
I like the idea of a hunger system of some sort. I don't think it should necessarily make your skills drop by 90% or anything, but perhaps lower your stamina for running, jumping, etc... If there's a panic meter, then food deprivation should keep you nearly panicked.
I think panicked humans should be more prone to stumbling, make it harder to aim (your crosshairs might move slowly at random, etc.
I don't think there should be skill tree limits, but definitely starter "classes".
Class Starter Gear Starter Skill
Police Handgun / Club Firearms Training
Paramedic Medi-Kit / Scalpel First Aid Training
Handyman Toolkit / SMG Engineering
Hunter Rifle / Machete Sharpshooting
Priest Dagger / Brandy Ease of Mind
Biker Shotgun / Chain Brawling
Zealot Chainsaw / Grenade Berserk
Anyone can learn any skill, but most skills have prerequisites and some kind of experience or talent point cost. I think that's a fair way to approach it.
Survival is really what it's about. You don't necessarily have to be under constant attack. With proper barricading, you could block off sections of city or rural areas. Set up perimeters, and establish safe-houses, hospital zones, armories. Nothing permanent. Use handymen to build up walls and reinforce gates.
Supplies are gonna be precious, so having lots of places to search is gonna be key. Hospitals should be good sources of medi-kits. Gun shops for the obvious, but I wouldn't reccomend going into specific types of guns. Keep it simple. Handguns, shot guns, SMG's, and rifles. Police departments for low-tech armor; riot shields, flak jackets, etc.. Military outposts, maybe, for some more hardcore armor. Books might be a good way to introduce a new skill tree, so someone who didn't know anything about medicine can learn how to more effectively use a Medi-Kit, thus introducing First Aid skill, whereas without that knowledge, he's restricted to simple bandages. Hardware stores will allow handymen to get things they need, like tools.
Some things people will need in the post-Apoc world:
Food (Let's assume MRE's/Canned goods)
Fuel (Gas cans, for use with vehicles or generators, can also be shot for explosive damage)
Medi-Kit (Simple bandages, lowbie grade, stops bleeding, postpones infection)
Toolkit (Your basic package, lowbie grade, needed for repairing vehicles, barricades, generators, etc..)
Firearms (Handguns, Shotguns, Mini-subs, rifles, etc..)
Ammunition (Clips, shells, cases, bullets, etc..)
Explosives (Grenades, dynamite, C4, etc..)
Random Melee (Baseball bats, golf clubs, 2x4's, pipe wrench, lead pipe, zombie arm, chainsaw, etc..)
Armor (Flak jackets, combat helmets, riot shields, etc..)
Generator (For making the electricity)
Radio (For communicating with other civilians)
Flare (For signaling humans, confusing zombies, and igniting gas can traps)
Clothes (Different styles available in houses, hospitals, police stations, malls, etc..)
GPS Device (Good for marking locations, or tracking other GPS users)
I think it could also be possible to have player-controlled zombies. Like maybe they control the faster zombies, with an ability to muster small numbers of slowbies and lead them toward fresh meat. Or, just allow a player to control a small group of zombies. 4-5, and collectively steer them in their quest for flesh.
Building on this idea, perhaps the zombie player begins as a single zombie, in 3rd-person / isometric strategy mode, using his mouse to control his zombie and interact with the rest of the AI hordes. Able to "recruit" up to 3 other AI zeds, the player's goal is to feed his troop. The more they feed, the more zombies he can muster. He can influence where they go, have them attack certain people or objects. But he can't control them if they're too far away from his primary zombie. If a zombie goes out of range, then it would have to be re-recruited, which means the primary zombie's "charisma" must still meet the requirements to do so. As time goes by, the primary zombie loses this "charisma", and zombies stray from his group, until he has only his original 3-4. This game mechanic helps spread zombies around a little, and yet bring action toward humans, while not limiting all zombies to player-control.
I think death ought to be handled on both sides. When a human dies, they "respawn" in a hospital or make-shift clinic. Some gear stays with them, while other gear must be replaced by foraging for it. When a zombie player's "pimary zombie" dies, they "respawn" in a nearby graveyard or corpse pile.
The game setting could be kept within the confines of a very large imaginary city, or an expansive city zone, with rural patches, woods, parks, suburbs, and downtown areas. Such large areas could require the use of vehicles, maybe land and water. I don't expect going out to sea is feasible in such a game, but perhaps a lake or river would be good areas for it to come into play. Imagine slowly crossing the foggy river, your boat's motor sputtering on what little gas you managed to get into it, when suddenly a zombie lunges up out of the water, jumping in, forcing you fend it off, or jump into the water and hope you can outswim death.
Of course, I don't know about the whole water thing, but you never know. Anyways, these are just a few of my ideas. I think it could be a fun MMOG, twitch-style zombie survival game. Even without the player-controlled zombie action. I'll think of more stuff later...
I think it would be a great game.
I want something more urban, today's weapons, etc.
-----
WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
Seems like most of the wants and requests here are already being answered.
There is already a promising soon releasing post apocalypse sandbox mmo with classless characters that also has zombies in it.
Fallen Earth.
This is the mmo I am most looking forward to presently
SHOHADAKU
How can you make a zombie MMO without open PvP? It's rediculous that it's only come up a handful of times in this entire thread and mostly been brushed aside as a "maybe." In probably every zombie movie ever made people fight other people to survive.
If anyone makes a zombie MMO without open PvP- they might as well take a dump on George Romero's face and then piss on the fans.
I'd send such a game's creator hate mail I wiped my ass with. Never done that before but there's a first time for everything.
Hope you got your things together. Hope you are quite prepared to die. Looks like we're in for nasty weather. ... There's a bad moon on the rise.
Well of course there should be open PVP. And groups. Even "guilds". I think that players should be given the option to engage other players in PVP, but that if someone does so, they are temporarily flagged as PVP, and other players default interactions with them are treated as hostile actions. Even if a player is flagged, another player may, through the use of a shift+click mechanism, perform friendly actions on a PVPer, like healing, trading, etc...
I think that it should have permadeath but only if you have been bitten recently or if when u are incapacitated in ground the zombies eat you
A game like this, Vampire, Zombies, Werewolfs, etc. is what is needed.
Look at the commercial success of I AM LEGEND. People love this stuff.
-----
WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
it would be pretty cool. But there would have to massive zombies on screen at once. Like Mobs fo them running after you. Like in 28 days later
News and demos at site
Check the forums
I heard that Developer company White Wolf is doing something similar to this it also has Ghouls and magic humans or something like that.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
You could make a zombie MMO very easily. Read World War Z, that is a design document in waiting right there.
Wow, a lot of good ideas here. I really like the idea of being able to build temporary shelters, but having a full city under human control would be nearly impossible. The zombies should be breaking barriers and maruading zones 24/7 so that when you quit for the night you may wake up to find that the lovely citadel you camped in last night has been overrun. If it happened long enough ago most of the zombies will have moved on, so you'll have a chance to get away and try to find where the human resistance has set up its latest safe zone. Maybe in their haste to escape people left behind some useful tools or weapons. You shouldn't be able to carry more than a normal person would, no 20 or 30 item backpacks or such. Definate skill based, with primary attributes like Strength, Agility, Intellegence, Courage all of which help or hinder certain skills. No magic or psi powers....*Is it just me or did Alice in RE Extinction piss you off too?* No high tech devices, nothing beyond what we have now. Just because a zombie grabs you doesn't mean he bit you, so there should be a struggle system, based on strength. Out running the zombies would be important, especially if they are Dawn Remake or 28 days zombies...if they are Return zombies you might as well just let them eat your brain and go out looking for victims of your own. If you are bitten you would slowly turn into a zombie...and I mean slowly, maybe an hour of gameplay or more, until you die, or get an antidote...better hope there is a medic around. Ammo is going to get scarce quick, so the ability to make your own weapons ala DeMorte's gun in Land of the dead would be quite a asset. No electricity so charging those cell phones is gonna be a problem. Though if you had one of the old crank model walkie talkies it'd be cool. You should be able to rescue people and take them to a safe zone, then if you die you wake up with them having dragged you to safety. The more people you save, the more times you can die without having to reroll. Saved people only stick around for as long as you are logged in. It'll be useful to be in a group, but not completely nessisary. On your own you can run and hide better, and sometimes stealth > firepower. It's not a zombie farming xp game, it's survival. Skill points should be awarded for using your skills, and training. If you have a safe area that is well patroled take your gun to a firing range to raise your skill, or run some wind sprints to get you speed up. What you eat should effect your stamina and your strength too. A piece of beef jerky might quell the hunger, but a can of dog food may actually be better for you. If you raid that twinkie factory in Nadik, maybe someone would be willing to trade some shells for your sawed off shotgun for a few. Food should be one of your primary interests, besides gaining skill and saving people. If you get too hungry....well maybe the zombies have a good idea...sacrifice one of your saved people and fry 'im up.
Honestly this game sounds addictive. I want to play it now!
I don't think a zombie (or RE4) type game will be suitable for a MMORPG. It is probably much better done as a SP game.
The problem is that it is very difficult to design a MMO to make the players feel scared or threatened all the time. You also need to have time sinks so that players will stay in the game otherwise they will consume all the content in a flash.
If you only allow small band of few players communicating (only in the vicinity), you may as well a box-based multiplayer game as opposed to a MMO.
This is funny. While i was playing RE4 I was thinking it would make a great MMO, if it had a more character customization.
But a Zombie MMO would have to have Permadeath. Sorry, you died, Reroll.
But it should have fast advancement.
Also, it would be cool if players could play as Zombies (plural) in a RTS type gameplay mode.
Actually, the best way to handle Perma-Death in a Zombie MMO is to make new players start out as regular civilians.
As they survive longer they gain points, so when they die they can reroll as something better.
Repair Man, Athlete, Body Builder, Cop, Doctor, Military, Field Medic, Scientist, Computer Expert, etc etc etc.
The goal should be to repair civilization, but with each player death, more zombies apear. You could even have a chance of running into your former self.
And I still stand by my suggestion to allow a player to play as a mob of zombies in a RTS gameplay mode.
-No character advancement, classes, levels, or skills - you are only as good as the loot you find.
-Loot based game with a massive loot table. The loot itself has skill modifiers. You could even have clothes with open slots where skill tapes (like old SWG) can be dropped in.
-Massive exploration map with "loot bins" spread around. The loot bins may not even have loot in them, but the harder the loot bin is to get to the higher the chance something good is in them.
-Various sub components are needed to collect before you get a working item; like a flashlight needs 3 C cell batteries and a bulb - each have a seperate use durability rate. Shotguns need shells etc.
-factions can, if they chose to, protect their area from outsiders (other factions looting their bins) and players can sneak or raid into another factions loot areas.
-no currency - everything is bartered or traded.
- Everything decays until it is eventually worthless.
The goal of this game is collecting what you need to survive but the marauding gangs and hordes of flesh eating zombies are in the way.
"The liberties and resulting economic prosperity that YOU take for granted were granted by those "dead guys"