Dawn of the Dead {Zombie MMO}

JTsunami · June 2007

I know that I am not the only one who wants to play a zombie, post apocalyptic MMO...

Who's for it, why or why not?

What kind of game play mechanics do you want to see?

How would you design it?

What would a game session be like?

Morgyn_Blues · June 2007

Originally posted by JTsunami

I know that I am not the only one who wants to play a zombie, post apocalyptic MMO...

Who's for it, why or why not?

What kind of game play mechanics do you want to see?

How would you design it?

What would a game session be like?

You mean like Fallen Earth???

Wolfenpride · June 2007

A survival based mmo would be neat

however that would probably be difficult to accomplish...possibly could be done with scripted instances.

retrospectic · June 2007

Originally posted by JTsunami

What would a game session be like?

In a good zombie MMORPG each session would be:

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh -shotgun blast- ahhhhhhhh -repeat-

retrospectic · June 2007

In all seriousness I think the appeal of a zombie movie could not be accurately turned into a traditional mmorpg. A lot of factors (such as fast paced gameplay) are critical to the success of a zombie based game.

Factors that would make a killer persistant world:

No player zombies: Pointless. Zombies are the enemy. It is the good/evil in players that would make the game fun.

No WoW-style gameplay: I don't want to stand still in front of a zombie and wait for each swing of my sword. I want twitch gameplay or at least something that feels like twitch.

Cities/towns/camps that can be captured by zombies and recaptured by players: I think a distinct part of any zombie movie is that the common cities or towns become war zones. Common places like supermarkets can be vital to players and reclaiming or outsmarting the zombies to claim these areas is an exciting and crucial part of any game.

No world/zone/private chat. One of the scariest parts of zombie movies is when people in small groups feel isolated. Putting zone chat and whispers into a zombie game would ruin that feel. Perhaps allow players to access radio communication in certain areas to radio to other players. There could be radio station hubs at command points where players who need to be helped could radio their location and hope people come to their aid.

No healer/nuker/melee classes: Another cool aspect of zombie movies is that average people must accomplish extraordinary things to survive. I would rather see tech specialists/security guards/medics that have real world applications for the usual MMORPG classes.

retrospectic · June 2007

Actually, having a battery powered /tell system would be cool. Adding cellphones to the game could allow players to /whisper each other on a time limit. Every tell takes up about 5 minutes of a 1 hour battery. After that you have to find a power outlet to recharge your cell. Problem is that most places don't have working electric and a lot of places that still have electric are also where humans (see: fresh brains) are being eaten.

iffymack · June 2007

theres a choice of zombie type too:

dawn of the dead/romero zombies=slow,dumb ambling,running on instinct (in the original at least)

Return of the living dead zombies=able to talk and run,and set up ambushes (the cops in the graveyard scene :P)

not zombies,but 28 days later rage virus victims=very aggressive,can run,spit blood

Angelbound · June 2007

Why does it have to be only zombies? Why cant it be vampires, wherewolves, and demons. You can have slayers and bounty hunters for the heroes and etc, rather its guns swords or magic. No one wants a game with only one type of creature and honestly you need leaders on the evil sides rather its a godlike vampire or the demon of illusion., not much of a story line with only zombies.

retrospectic · June 2007

Originally posted by Angelbound

Why does it have to be only zombies? Why cant it be vampires, wherewolves, and demons. You can have slayers and bounty hunters for the heroes and etc, rather its guns swords or magic. No one wants a game with only one type of creature and honestly you need leaders on the evil sides rather its a godlike vampire or the demon of illusion., not much of a story line with only zombies.

No.

If you add vampires, werewolves, demons, slayers, and bounty hunters you don't have a zombie game. That becomes a horror fantasy MMORPG.

The reason you don't need a bunch of random horror creatures is because a world filled with zombies is semi-understandable. The world is overrun by the dead because hell is full or some virus has been released. If you need stronger zombies or zombie leaders you could basically just create zombies that have more hits, can sprint, are on fire, crawl, fall from the ceiling, are zombie version of body builders...

The fact is that the zombies are not just skinny white guys that trot around asking kindly for another helping of brains. Zombies are in large numbers and outlast human bullets, stamina, endurance, hope, and all other aspects humans are proud of. If you add some random floating dude with fangs you lose the realism and appeal.

retrospectic · June 2007

Originally posted by iffymack

theres a choice of zombie type too:
dawn of the dead/romero zombies=slow,dumb ambling,running on instinct (in the original at least)
Return of the living dead zombies=able to talk and run,and set up ambushes (the cops in the graveyard scene :P)
not zombies,but 28 days later rage virus victims=very aggressive,can run,spit blood

I would say a successful MMO would have all kinds of zombies. Although I really don't like "smart" zombies I think fast zombies and overly aggressive sprinting zombies are perfect. There is nothing scarier/cooler than seeing a zombie you though could only limp around moaning take off after someone and tackle them.

Angelbound · June 2007

Ok but many people have already done the zombie thing in single player games my point is that it will get repetitive real quick if you dont have enough variety, you cant be some cop with a silly hand gun and go around shooting zombies and expcet a good mmorpg, you either need some very innovative sci fi or just pure fiction. I dont want to play a resident evil online I want more then just the typical story line of zombies.

retrospectic · June 2007

Originally posted by Angelbound

Ok but many people have already done the zombie thing in single player games my point is that it will get repetitive real quick if you dont have enough variety, you cant be some cop with a silly hand gun and go around shooting zombies and expcet a good mmorpg, you either need some very innovative sci fi or just pure fiction. I dont want to play a resident evil online I want more then just the typical story line of zombies.

I agree. I don't want Resident Evil Online. That game is far too linear and does not have the customization or skills that MMORPGs need to survive. The idea would be that small groups of players would have to combat an ever-growing population of zombies. There are what, 6 billion people in the world? You know a lot of them are too stupid/disabled to combat a zombie influx. The dynamic qualities of the game would have to come from the many many tools players have at their disposal and the continual change of environment from human player controlled to zombie controlled.

What makes zombie movies (and some games) cool is that humans almost always lose. Think about the end of the Dawn of the Dead remake. The humans finally get on a boat and set sail. If you watch the credits you see they eventually end up on an island INFESTED WITH ZOMBIES OH NO DEAD.

In an MMORPG the feel of the game wouldn't be like WoW where the player is constantly dominating a world. Players in WoW can pick their battles by walking into a specially make zone where creatures stay in groups of 2 - 6 and come when the player pulls them. In a zombie game you basically have to outsmart and kill zombies in unique ways (like trapping them or luring them to a fall or leading them into water). The player therefore isn't some god among npcs, but a refugee on the losing side of a war.

Any MMORPG should make Resident Evil look like Elmo's ABCs for PS1.

EQIIfan · June 2007

Originally posted by retrospectic

Originally posted by Angelbound

Why does it have to be only zombies? Why cant it be vampires, wherewolves, and demons. You can have slayers and bounty hunters for the heroes and etc, rather its guns swords or magic. No one wants a game with only one type of creature and honestly you need leaders on the evil sides rather its a godlike vampire or the demon of illusion., not much of a story line with only zombies.

No.

If you add vampires, werewolves, demons, slayers, and bounty hunters you don't have a zombie game. That becomes a horror fantasy MMORPG.

The reason you don't need a bunch of random horror creatures is because a world filled with zombies is semi-understandable. The world is overrun by the dead because hell is full or some virus has been released. If you need stronger zombies or zombie leaders you could basically just create zombies that have more hits, can sprint, are on fire, crawl, fall from the ceiling, are zombie version of body builders...

The fact is that the zombies are not just skinny white guys that trot around asking kindly for another helping of brains. Zombies are in large numbers and outlast human bullets, stamina, endurance, hope, and all other aspects humans are proud of. If you add some random floating dude with fangs you lose the realism and appeal.I agree. That would just make a random horrow mmo. And as for having different creatures for variety, you could come up with some new zombie-like creatures. Maybe something like the Flood in Halo?

EQIIfan · June 2007

Retrospectic, you really make me want to play this game. I like the possibilities of your ideas. Though you would have to get the right people to work on it so you don't end up with some kind of half-made shot in the dark at an amazing concept.

retrospectic · June 2007

Originally posted by EQIIfan

Originally posted by retrospectic

Originally posted by Angelbound

Why does it have to be only zombies? Why cant it be vampires, wherewolves, and demons. You can have slayers and bounty hunters for the heroes and etc, rather its guns swords or magic. No one wants a game with only one type of creature and honestly you need leaders on the evil sides rather its a godlike vampire or the demon of illusion., not much of a story line with only zombies.

No.

If you add vampires, werewolves, demons, slayers, and bounty hunters you don't have a zombie game. That becomes a horror fantasy MMORPG.

The reason you don't need a bunch of random horror creatures is because a world filled with zombies is semi-understandable. The world is overrun by the dead because hell is full or some virus has been released. If you need stronger zombies or zombie leaders you could basically just create zombies that have more hits, can sprint, are on fire, crawl, fall from the ceiling, are zombie version of body builders...

The fact is that the zombies are not just skinny white guys that trot around asking kindly for another helping of brains. Zombies are in large numbers and outlast human bullets, stamina, endurance, hope, and all other aspects humans are proud of. If you add some random floating dude with fangs you lose the realism and appeal.I agree. That would just make a random horrow mmo. And as for having different creatures for variety, you could come up with some new zombie-like creatures. Maybe something like the Flood in Halo?

Well, if you are following an evolution of zombies you could eventually release patches which upgraded the AI of the zombies. Basically allow them to carry guns, bats, fire, etc. I am not a big fan of "smart" zombies, but I'm pretty sure devs could come up with some pretty crazy things. One that would be cool is zombies that chuck body parts from fallen zombies. Nothing like taking 50 dmg from some random leg chucked over a wall.

retrospectic · June 2007

Originally posted by EQIIfan

Retrospectic, you really make me want to play this game. I like the possibilities of your ideas. Though you would have to get the right people to work on it so you don't end up with some kind of half-made shot in the dark at an amazing concept.

I wouldn't be hard to put some of these ideas into play, but the player base would have to adjust to taking a beating more often than not. The hardest part to implement would be character death/res. I can't imagine a world with hell overflowing and people popping back up at a stronghold after dying. It just doesn't make sense, haha. Perhaps they would lose their items and be forced back to a stronghold. Meanwhile their teammates have to deal with whatever killed him and the new zombie of their friend.

EQIIfan · June 2007

Originally posted by retrospectic

Originally posted by EQIIfan

I agree. That would just make a random horrow mmo. And as for having different creatures for variety, you could come up with some new zombie-like creatures. Maybe something like the Flood in Halo?

Well, if you are following an evolution of zombies you could eventually release patches which upgraded the AI of the zombies. Basically allow them to carry guns, bats, fire, etc. I am not a big fan of "smart" zombies, but I'm pretty sure devs could come up with some pretty crazy things. One that would be cool is zombies that chuck body parts from fallen zombies. Nothing like taking 50 dmg from some random leg chucked over a wall.

lol. yeah that would be pretty freakin' sweet. and i don't like "smart" zombies either. I don't think zombies were meant to be "smart". besides, lack of the ability to communicate with them makes it slightly scarier because it makes them less human and more monster, i think.

EQIIfan · June 2007

Originally posted by retrospectic

Originally posted by EQIIfan

Retrospectic, you really make me want to play this game. I like the possibilities of your ideas. Though you would have to get the right people to work on it so you don't end up with some kind of half-made shot in the dark at an amazing concept.

I wouldn't be hard to put some of these ideas into play, but the player base would have to adjust to taking a beating more often than not. The hardest part to implement would be character death/res. I can't imagine a world with hell overflowing and people popping back up at a stronghold after dying. It just doesn't make sense, haha. Perhaps they would lose their items and be forced back to a stronghold. Meanwhile their teammates have to deal with whatever killed him and the new zombie of their friend.

Yeah. I'm not sure how that could really work either. Sense it would be in present tense, there would be no form of restoring life or anything. I don't know. Maybe they could just say it was slightly further into the future and that they can clone you or something.

Angelbound · June 2007

But we already have the scientific zombies why cant we have fiction to? I for one would like a variety of guns, melee weapons and magic characters, with other creatures besides zombies horror like of course, I honestly think if there is going to be a horror mmorpg it should be for everyone.

chaos91 · June 2007

ya but i dont wanna see a health bar, maybe a scared bar or something. but i think it should be if a zombie gets closs enogh your screwed, not him bitting you 20 times before you die

retrospectic · June 2007

Originally posted by EQIIfan

Originally posted by retrospectic

Originally posted by EQIIfan

I agree. That would just make a random horrow mmo. And as for having different creatures for variety, you could come up with some new zombie-like creatures. Maybe something like the Flood in Halo?

Well, if you are following an evolution of zombies you could eventually release patches which upgraded the AI of the zombies. Basically allow them to carry guns, bats, fire, etc. I am not a big fan of "smart" zombies, but I'm pretty sure devs could come up with some pretty crazy things. One that would be cool is zombies that chuck body parts from fallen zombies. Nothing like taking 50 dmg from some random leg chucked over a wall.

lol. yeah that would be pretty freakin' sweet. and i don't like "smart" zombies either. I don't think zombies were meant to be "smart". besides, lack of the ability to communicate with them makes it slightly scarier because it makes them less human and more monster, i think. Right. They basically work on hunger and sight/hearing/smell (or have some ability to distinguish humans). The movies I've seen with "smart" zombies are always funny as opposed to scary. I do enjoy Shawn of the Dead, but I'm not going to play a comedy. The player as a customer wants monsters with different abilities/actions. The problem with a zombie MMO is that all zombies want brains. Without reaching too far you would have to include runners/explodey zombies (full of maggots?.../shudder)/zombies that just won't die. The genre is packed full of great and colorful types.

It would take a lot of creativity, but it could be done. Like I said, the normal MMO crowd would have to adjust to the fact that in a zombie MMO no one is walking around at the bank with loots on. Everyone has what they can find and uses it.

EQIIfan · June 2007

Originally posted by chaos91

ya but i dont wanna see a health bar, maybe a scared bar or something. but i think it should be if a zombie gets closs enogh your screwed, not him bitting you 20 times before you die

I think there should be a health bar. You could get beat up running or a zombie hits you but you beat him off. And yeah, if you get bitten once, you should have to use some kind of resistance potion or something before you turn into a zombie (killing you). And you could also implement a scared bar or something like it that at least takes away from your abilities or something.

retrospectic · June 2007

Originally posted by Angelbound

But we already have the scientific zombies why cant we have fiction to? I for one would like a variety of guns, melee weapons and magic characters, with other creatures besides zombies horror like of course, I honestly think if there is going to be a horror mmorpg it should be for everyone.

Vampires, werewolves, frankenstein's monster, creature from the black lagoon, the mummy, some dude what has a claw and is evil...etc etc. That's another game. I can see a lot of possibilities, but if you are going to open up a world to all of those monsters you are certainly not going to give zombies a very high rank. I like the idea that zombies are basically zerging the world. If your idea they are more of a newbie monster.

EQIIfan · June 2007

Originally posted by retrospectic

Originally posted by EQIIfan

Originally posted by retrospectic

Originally posted by EQIIfan

I agree. That would just make a random horrow mmo. And as for having different creatures for variety, you could come up with some new zombie-like creatures. Maybe something like the Flood in Halo?

Well, if you are following an evolution of zombies you could eventually release patches which upgraded the AI of the zombies. Basically allow them to carry guns, bats, fire, etc. I am not a big fan of "smart" zombies, but I'm pretty sure devs could come up with some pretty crazy things. One that would be cool is zombies that chuck body parts from fallen zombies. Nothing like taking 50 dmg from some random leg chucked over a wall.

lol. yeah that would be pretty freakin' sweet. and i don't like "smart" zombies either. I don't think zombies were meant to be "smart". besides, lack of the ability to communicate with them makes it slightly scarier because it makes them less human and more monster, i think.Right. They basically work on hunger and sight/hearing/smell (or have some ability to distinguish humans). The movies I've seen with "smart" zombies are always funny as opposed to scary. I do enjoy Shawn of the Dead, but I'm not going to play a comedy. The player as a customer wants monsters with different abilities/actions. The problem with a zombie MMO is that all zombies want brains. Without reaching too far you would have to include runners/explodey zombies (full of maggots?.../shudder)/zombies that just won't die. The genre is packed full of great and colorful types.

It would take a lot of creativity, but it could be done. Like I said, the normal MMO crowd would have to adjust to the fact that in a zombie MMO no one is walking around at the bank with loots on. Everyone has what they can find and uses it.

yeah, it sounds pretty freakin' awesome. though i think it would be pretty difficult to make it successfully. but then, i suppose an average mmo is pretty difficult to make truely succussful anyway.

Angelbound · June 2007

But we are talking about a mmorpg which means massive which means without enough variety then it wont be very appealing to the majority audience. I doubt many want such a limitied world. Without enough variety it lacks imagination and turns into a grind trust me.

retrospectic · June 2007

Originally posted by chaos91

ya but i dont wanna see a health bar, maybe a scared bar or something. but i think it should be if a zombie gets closs enogh your screwed, not him bitting you 20 times before you die

There is an RPG I've never played called "Call of Cthulu" (I think). From what I've heard the players in the game have a chance to go crazy which depends upon the environment they are in. Instead of having a "oh I crapped my pants" bar I think it would be a lot cooler to have a "crazy meter". Basically the worse the situation is the more likely it is that your character will go ape shit and start wasting ammo/running frantically. That would stop players from camping areas with a high population of zombies and finding a "safe spot".

Also, of course zombies wouldn't have a hard time taking down a human. In a lot of zombie games/movies a person is pretty much dead if they get bitten once. In Dawn of the Dead characters basically had a time limit before the passed and they became a zombie. In the game players would be able to continue after a non-lethal encounter with a zombie, but have a timer/condition which gradually worsened their condition. This would basically cause them to go crazy faster or they could suicide or have a friend put them out of their misery (fast trip back to base camp, haha)

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Dawn of the Dead {Zombie MMO}

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