Night of the Zombies! (2nd draft) - Human POV

[lostatlimbo]

Went back to the drawing board with this one and came up with a version from the human perspective.

Now you start out at your home (16 starting territories). The objective is to make your way to the High School at the center of town and fortify (hold all the territories in it) to win. Along the way, you'll stock up on food and weapons to increase your chances at survival. Don't stay out in the streets too long or the zombies will get you (street territories will reset to 1 neutral).

The idea here is that you can't just stay out in the open. You have to find a safe place to hide or you lose your troops. In that regard its a bit like Oasis, but spread out more.

Hope this version is more what CC'ers are seeking in a zombie map.

I'm a little stuck on the layout of things, so what better time to post an in-progress draft and get some more feedback?

[bigimg]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q102/lostatlimbo/NotZ_2.png[/bigimg]

You'll notice that some houses have sidewalks and other don't. This is where I'm struggling - to determine how everything connects to make for an even drop. I think I just need to sit down and do some number crunching, but I wanted to get some input before then. There will also be more food and weapons available - just not sure where to place them yet.

[spoiler=Previous]Others have tried zombie themed maps before, but none have seen the light of day (pun intended).

My aim here is to create a zombie map with a simple concept and gameplay where YOU are the zombie and the goal is to eat BRAINS!!!!

Not only is the story different than previous attempts, but I've also gone with a more retro Romero-esque theme. The gameplay is fairly simple and is reminiscent of the popular Feudal War and other maps with starting positions.

The Basics
8 Zombie starting positions begin with 5 troops each
55 roads start neutral 1
46 houses start neutral 2
14 killer neutrals that reset to 1
4 killer neutrals that reset to 3
4 killer neutrals that reset to 5 and bombard other Zombie starting positions
2 killer neutrals (fire!) that reset to 5
12 neutrals that start 5
8 neutrals that start 10
1 neutral that starts 20 and is a game winning condition
Zombies may one way attack any adjacent road or house but cannot attack other zombies.
Holding any 3 houses, results in a troop bonus of +2
Hold "The Buffet" for one round OR eliminate all your opponents to win!

I don't have territory names yet and I'm sure the gameplay will need a bit of tweaking, but this should give you a general idea. As the map progresses, I intend to hand draw some zombies for the starting position and some other fine touches, but wanted to get some feedback at this stage.

(Just the big one for now)
[bigimg]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q102/lostatlimbo/NotZ.png[/bigimg][/spoiler]

[Assassin07]

Looks cool man good job

[AndyDufresne]

Zombies can throw grenades, and only walk on roads?


--Andy

[isaiah40]

Zombies can throw grenades, and only walk on roads?


--Andy

Yes, only in Hollyw... er, wait, I mean only on CC!

[DiM]

zombies fighting other zombies for brains? throwing grenades at other zombies and getting bonuses from houses? nothing seems right about this.

how about having groups of people that fight hordes of zombies and get troops from houses by recruiting survivor found there. and the first to get to the school sanctuary survives and wins. sounds way more plausible this way.

[Industrial Helix]

Make it night of the mutants. Toxic Waste = Mutants.

[koontz1973]

This is more Return of the Living Dead than Night of the Living Dead. Both great films

What does the chess board in the middle represent?

[lostatlimbo]

Zombies can throw grenades, and only walk on roads?


--Andy

They can go through houses too, but the idea is they are roaming the streets.

And there is a reason that the grenade territories are killer neutrals - they aren't too skilled with the grenades. :)

[lostatlimbo]

This is more Return of the Living Dead than Night of the Living Dead. Both great films

I thought about Return of the Zombie for a title, but it implies a 1st map.

What does the chess board in the middle represent?

Nothing yet - just the increasing levels of defense you have to get through to get to the rest of the townfolk.

I'm working on some different ways to lay that part out.

[lostatlimbo]

zombies fighting other zombies for brains? throwing grenades at other zombies and getting bonuses from houses? nothing seems right about this.

how about having groups of people that fight hordes of zombies and get troops from houses by recruiting survivor found there. and the first to get to the school sanctuary survives and wins. sounds way more plausible this way.

well, there are lots of zombies and only so many brains! :)

I liked the idea of turning it around from the typical zombie story, but your way might work too.

[lostatlimbo]

Added a poll as to which direction to take this. Please vote!

[Gillipig]

I say yes to this idea! Just yes !

[lostatlimbo]

I'm going to try another version of this soon, but I'll be on vacation a bit this month and might not get to it until September.

It seems the majority prefer to play from the traditional POV of the human survivors, which is fine, but one gameplay element it loses is the ability to bombard other starting positions and I'm not sure how to rectify that. There needs to be a way to hit your other opponents, but that conflicts with the idea that you are all human survivors.

Any ideas?

[MarshalNey]

Although I didn't see this thread in time to vote, I personally think the concept of a zombie map from the zombie perspective is... well, delicious. I'm not sure if you received feedback on the idea from other quarters, but I wouldn't read too much into a poll where only 4 votes were cast. My advice is- do the map concept that most excites you- your work will be more focused and you will be able to withstand the long haul of mapmaking better.

I like the style and the beginning story as well. As for the gameplay, I think this may be where some explanation of your goals might help. Right now, I'm only seeing 5 neutral numbers on homes, which means only one player could hold that bonus at any given time... +2 is a paltry sum to share between 8 players (in those larger games) while pecking away at neutral 5's, 10's or a 20. Even with more bonuses available, however, I just can't realistically see anyone trying for the victory objective. It's just so much easier to kill other zombie players. So it seems to me that the objective is more of an afterthought, rather than the central to the map concept as the story implies.

-- Marshal Ney

[lostatlimbo]

Went back to the drawing board with this one and came up with a version from the human perspective.

Now you start out at your home (16 starting territories). The objective is to make your way to the High School at the center of town and fortify (hold all the territories in it) to win. Along the way, you'll stock up on food and weapons to increase your chances at survival. Don't stay out in the streets too long or the zombies will get you (street territories will reset to 1 neutral).

The idea here is that you can't just stay out in the open. You have to find a safe place to hide or you lose your troops. In that regard its a bit like Oasis, but spread out more.

Hope this version is more what CC'ers are seeking in a zombie map.

I'm a little stuck on the layout of things, so what better time to post an in-progress draft and get some more feedback?

[bigimg]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q102/lostatlimbo/NotZ_2.png[/bigimg]

You'll notice that some houses have sidewalks and other don't. This is where I'm struggling - to determine how everything connects to make for an even drop. I think I just need to sit down and do some number crunching, but I wanted to get some input before then. There will also be more food and weapons available - just not sure where to place them yet.

[natty dread]

Your territory labels look pixelated for some reason...

[lostatlimbo]

That's an easy fix. I'm not married to that font.

At any rate, I'm hoping for some gameplay feedback at this point.

[MoB Deadly]

This gameplay would be awesome, great theme! I like it from any perspective the community wants, great job with Humans!

[MarshalNey]

For as many killer neutrals as there are in the map (albeit at only 1s for the most part), I think there are way too few bonuses. This will quickly become a stack war, with players deploying 3 troops and ending for the first several turns of the game at least. I just can't see much fun until the late game...

But the central objective is much improved, as it has a victory condition but also the carrot of getting the grenade. Still, again I think the neutrals are too high for so few bonuses.

Oddly, few bonuses fits well with a post-apocalyptic theme, but it doesn't mesh well with all of those killer neutrals. I think upping the quantity of bonuses, rather than softening the neutrals, would be a good way to go.

-- Marshal Ney

[natty dread]

I think you could use decays instead of killer neutrals for the streets. It works pretty well on Oasis and Antarctica.

[jcarter1]

i was thinking the same thing - how about giving each street -1 per turn - but maybe also add bonuses for holding several connected streets!? This would reduce the stack war at least a little bit.

all in all this looks pretty interesting

[lostatlimbo]

Good ideas. I'll play around with the idea of decays instead, though thematically I like that you have to take refuge in a house to keep your troops. There are a few bottlenecks I would worry about with decay, but I'll try it out.

I should point out that there will be a LOT more bonuses, I just haven't worked out the layout yet. I might add Fuel to the mix too.

Thanks all!

[obm311]

can the graphics be improved anymore it seem quite photoshoped

[GGSUS]

Looks really confusing, but sounds like a good idea..

[lostatlimbo]

can the graphics be improved anymore it seem quite photoshoped

Its a draft, dude. Its in the drafting room.