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So I was lying in bed last night, thinking about zombie apocalypses (or is it apocali? ) as you do, and have come up with a cool concept for my zombie survivor game. Though I haven't decided on the main goal yet, I want to have set 'events' which mark levels in the game. By events I mean key stages in an apocalypse where life takes a dramatic turn. So far I have it as follows ...

Stage 1 - Outbreak
The player takes control of his character during the initial stages of the outbreak. This will also serve as a tutorial level. Essentially there is a simple cut scene of the player sprinting towards his house or a building of some description, being chased by the undead (there will be fast and slow zombies in my game). As he runs, other innocent civilians are taken down left and right.

When he gets to the house he slams the door behind him and then the player has control. The tutorial will direct him to barricade etc. and essentially take him through the controls and features of the game from the safety of the house.

The mission in this level is just to survive the initial outbreak and possibly to attempt to save some neighbours. Not thought it through yet. The player will learn about fatigue and hunger and how to keep their character going and how to sleep safely etc.

Stage 2 - Supplies
At some point, the game will inform the player he needs food. This stage will encourage the player to venture outside more in search for food, weapons, medical supplies etc.

Stage 3 - Power Off
At some point, and without warning, power is going to go off PERMANENTLY. So up until this point, the player will have the tele on (simple background looped broadcast), lighting will work (to some extent - not sure of engine limitations yet), and cooking facilities will work. Suddenly it will all go dead, forever. At this point the player will need to find batteries and work out how to cook food without a cooker.

Stage 4 - Water off
Next the water will dry up. Up until this point, the player will only have to go to their tap for hydration. Now the only source of water will be from items scavenged. I'm toying with the idea of having a simple bit of function where items flagged as "liquid container" can fill up if left outside when its raining, though I'm not sure if I'm going to do rain yet.

Stage 5 - Winter
Next, I want winter to close in. How I'll do this will probably be a few tile/map sets. One for getting chilly/autumn like, and one where the player wakes up and it's snowing. I will introduce a warmth stat, which if it drops too low, rapidly increases fatigue etc. The key here will be to find the best clothing items and make use of fires a lot.

Stage 6 - Sickness
Surviving the harsh winter brings on illness. This will basically slow the player down massively and make everything 10 times more difficult (fatigue etc). The idea here will be to use maximum stealth to survive and try and find medical supplies. The player will be largely incapable of running away or hand to hand, so it'll be a whole new challenge.

Stage 7 - Escape
I think the game will end with the player either being rescued, or escaping to a safe haven. I think a side quest where the player gets a CB radio working using old car batteries could ultimately be the way to win the game. I might not even make this obvious. I could give them the facility to turn this radio on and call for help (use radio function), and nobody ever answers, but if they use it every day, eventually someone will. At this point, a chopper comes to save them. Alternative endings could be provided.

Anyway, that's the basic outline of my idea. I want key stages or events to keep the survival challenge real. I'm really looking forward to the power-off one. I think that'll be awesome. It'll definitely happen at night.

My question is, does anyone have any ideas for what would be key steps in this journey? Anything missing from this survival tale?

That sounds like a really cool idea. My zombie game has a fastfood conspiracy plot to it, lol. If you wanna download and see the progress it's the coos county reaction. To be honest the game sounds like it would be really really hard

Checked your video mate. I'd like to make an FPS game, but this one is gonna be 3rd person. What is the fast food conspiracy? Or the hamburgers made out of human flesh?!

As for it being hard, yes it will be. I like games to be hard. Button bashers die at level 1. Thinkers have a good chance of making it through to the end.

I'ma little bit of a button masher... The videos are pretty old, I made quite a few updates. The conspiracy is actually just a owner of a fastfood store trying to get his rival shutdown by buying some "food poisoning" stuff and putting it in his food, but the poison was actually developed to kill and reanimate. There's to much to post, lol.

Shouldn't this be in game design theory? just sayin' xD

Those are all great ideas and can't wait to see your game but in the Power Off section are the lights and gas going to go out at the same time even though they are all independent systems? Even when the source of gas stops at a power outage there should be a lot of gas in the lines to last for months depending on how many homes have the burners still on when the attack happens. Water is the same and should last for a while even after the power goes out to the water pumps that supply the city.

Perhaps, it's quite generic. If I reword the top bit to say I'm writing a zombie novel, the same discussion stands.

@Grog

Hmmmmmm. I did consider Gas, but discounted it because I thought I'd be over complicating things with too many energy sources, but perhaps Gas can be specifically connected to cooking, or cooking and heating. As for it staying in the pipes (along with water etc), I won't inform the player as to when the gas/water was actually cut off, it'll just stop being available from the taps.

I might go for some sort of time warp approach. i.e. after some objectives have been completed, the game skips on with a "2 weeks later" type message, or something. Really not thought it through. I will consider adding gas as an energy source though.

I think one of worst things about a zombie apocalypse would be any other humans that were left. If you see another person on the horizon you wouldn't know if they were going to invite you into their home with open arms or kill you and steal your food.

You say you haven't decided on the main goal of the game yet, perhaps you could have side quests which rewarded you with the quest giver's loyalty. E.g. you help Betty to remove her cat from the tree by luring it down with a chicken you had to find, kill and cook. Reward: Betty tells her relatives about your good deeds and from now on they'll watch your back when you're close by. If you decided to keep the cooked chicken for yourself you'd have to be okay with the possibility of Betty's relatives kicking your door down for food and water at the 6 month mark.

P.s. Also, the ability to attach fireworks to your house or set them up in trees and your garden as a basic DIY landmine; you could choose when the set them off and oooooooooooooooh pretty.

p.p.s And maybe there's a mad scientist living in the woods who's invented a car that runs on zombie guts instead of petrol, just help him out by finding a birthday cake for his wife. Perhaps his wife has been zombiefied and is tied to a chair in the same house, could be pretty creepy if the dialog was done properly, like a properly mad scientist.

Hey, I like your ideas.
I think at some point you should have the player have an allergy. It will not affect the player, but if left untreated it will slowly affect the player. Just a idea.

Gas could be a vital component of the game. Gas powers your vehicle to drive between towns more safely than walking. Gas also powers generators which can power all sorts of things, including electrifying a fence around a safety perimeter.

When the zombies attack, first thing I'm gonna do is steal a tanker of fuel! Then call that hot chick from school, inform her of the situation, and then explain how to keep the human race alive for the future.

He means gas as in gaseous gas, not petrol/gasoline.

Yeah, petrol will definitely feature, but just not sure about natural gas (except that generated by eating far too much meat!). You Americans and your gas = gas = gas. Is there a generic term that everyone can understand? I guess "Petroleum" or "Gasoline" would make sense to anyone.

I don't hear Petrol tossed around in America. Gasoline does, though, but it's more often than not shortened to just "gas". When you hear "gas", you really need to take into consideration the context of the conversation it was used in. I don't find it confusing at all, but then, I grew up with that.


Love the ideas. Sounds like it would be a really good game.

I was thinking, instead of doing a "You win this round, now we skip to 2 weeks later", why not have the player just play through every day of the year? With the proper system in place, all you as a developer need to do is implement a time system and season system. Also, a date system to use for certain occurences. I think a zombie game that lasted VERY long would be cool. This would also let you warm up to the survivors down the street, maybe paying them a visit now and then with some gifts to stay on their good side, or just barge in, shoot 'em, and take their resources... and house for a second base.


~Plystire