With Left 4 Dead 2 coming up, the current influx of zombie maps being created is quite significant. I joined this random pubbie, and joined every game he hosted for an hour, because the only thing he hosted was random Zombie maps.

And let me tell you, straight up, they ALL sucked.
(no he didn't make Raccoon City )

Which is why I want to talk about this: What makes Zombie maps so attractive?

1. Easily triggered. It is just you killing a horde of infested kerrigans/zealots
2. Acts like a defense
3. Can make own RPG'ish terrain, doesn't require you to give space for the players to build defenses like in actual defense games...
4. Lots of blood and gore from good ol' Starcraft's Death animations..
5. Teamwork and Achievment
6. Can implement Storyline/RPG elements
7. Scavenging for awards such as Money for upgrades or Better weapons.

But, most maps are just horrid to play. They are unbalanced, and are basically you vs. a giant hack and slash zombie horde.... all of it feels like a grind... You'd think by now someone would've made a good Zombie map that is well balanced, has cool triggers, a good storyline, good terrain, good balance, good challenge.... err I guess it IS harder than it looks...

But, since I'm pretty busy.... I'd like to share what'd make a good Zombie map.

A) ADD WEAPONS THAT ACTS AS SPELLS (i.e. grenades)
- These will also act as scavenged items. This encourages exploration, which would be dangerous when there're zombies running around you.
- Can input cool triggers to make the game look professional, and also help when a big horde of zombies... Plus, it is just so fun seeing a huge group of zombies explode by a grenade.
- Can implement original ideas.. like the Pipe bomb for L4D for example.
- Like, why are there still no maps that have Chainsaws like the ones in Fuel tactics arena?

B) LIMIT AMOUNT OF UNITS YOU CAN CONTROL
- maybe you yourself can control up to 3 units... therefore, you'd need to strategize what units to get..
- obviously, getting a medic'd be a good idea... but u can also see the use of a firebat and two ghosts.. As long as the firebat and ghosts are balanced so that the firebat has high armor and can tank zombies... well u get the idea
- Also, if u're gonna have spell like weapons.. u should probably stick to players only having 1 unit at a time.

C) LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF GAMEPLAY MECHANICS
- It's cool to have Vehicles.. It's cool to have Helicopters to bring you to different areas.. It's cool to make the game like the Test of Survival.. it's cool to have crazy weapons and/or spells... It's cool to have players becoming the zombie after death... it's cool to be able to build barricades, it's cool to be able to order computer units around... But it is DEFINATELY NOT COOL if all of these things are in the same map. Why? because it's freaking confusing. It is hard enough to optimize one mechanic. If you have so much going on, it'll be just too confusing for the players... Focus on a few mechanics that works.

D) BARRICADES!!
srsly, such a ez mechanic.. and i don't see this being implemented... hello?? scv building supply depots?/ that's the best.. Heck, u can even make the scv a vehicle u can go in and out of... but make it more rare so that u don't want that SCV to die.

E) SCARY//UNDER PRESSURE
- The game should be scary, in order to immerse the player into the game..
- OR, the players have to be constantly or repeatedly under pressure by HORDES of zombies...
- This is just something that would not make the map feel like such a grind.

Anyway, to me, a perfect zombie map would be a map that kind of acts more like an RPG then a Defense. Have the players start off at a healing spot with their base constantly under attack.. sooner or later, they'll have to explore and find other healing spots, and they'd have to choose which base to cover... The map'll be completely open, allowing risky explorations, but maybe have a best linear route, with a final goal, which is to somehow escape or kill all zombies (?) .. Each player can only have 1 unit, but have a range of spell like weapons like med kits, grenades, pipe bomb, molotav cocktails, and definately chainsaw... and other stuffs... While their base units can probably be Firebat, Ghost, Marine. Firebat being highest dmg and armor, then marine with lowest dmg, medium armor, ghost being low armor high dmg... And maybe upgrades to these units can be found later .. stim/range/cloak/lockdown also requires exploration.. and etc.
The obvious story would be that they start getting overrun by zombies all of a sudden, and they have to find smth, which'd lead them to their next heal spot.. then more story unfolds, and until they finally manage to find smth that's.. i don't know... somehow related to this zombie outbreak.. kills it, and escapes in a final epic, TIMED run to the helicopters. if they don't make it in time, they lose the game.

Man just thinking about it.. really tempts me to make it..
WHY HAS NO ONE MADE THIS?
DOES ANYONE KNOW ANY MAP THAT COULD FULFILL MY REQUIREMENTS?? D:

I once made a zombie RPG map where you first started off in a jail cell and the alarms were going off, the cell doors automatically opened, etc. Once you stepped out of the cell 2 zombies would start chasing you. A lot of people thought this was cool to have such a rush from an unexpected event at the beginning.

I still didn't finish that map

If I finish Necropolis, it should satisfy most of that UU. Can you tell me more about this chainsaw?

I made a Zombie RPG thing where you're also fighting the government that's trying to contain the infestation, and where you can get inside various vehicles (ranging from cars to tanks to airplanes) and use items and such. I actually finished all the complicated systems (like having the ability to drop items as well as use them, or to be able to choose whether to pick up items or not without choosing every time, item recycling, etc), but didn't actually make the RPG aspect work. The one thing missing from the map was that you couldn't really change weapons, and you could only choose amoung your group between the four characters available. Anyway, I got bored. And it must've been before I reinstalled Windows, because I can't see the map in my folder now. Don't even have a 'Custom' map folder.

The thing I miss a lot about it was the capability of leaving a string of tanks in siege mode and moving back while the zombies attacked the empty tank, allowing you to kill a lot of them without getting hurt. Alas. It wasn't really a massing zombie map, though.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Nov 15 2009, 8:33 pm by Centreri.

City of the Dead covers everything in your list except the barricades part.

@ JaFF's project:

It's really cool but it isn't very playable yet D:..

The menu system may be a bit confusing for pubbies... but it is certainly impressive...
Please finish!!! D: I'll be your testing slave

@everyone who posted

Why are they all not finished.. waah :'(

UU can you explain how you would have the chainsaw?

I started something a lot like this but i never finished it. Like most of my maps... I have the terrain on another computer if someone else wants to mess with it.

Yes pl0x. Is it badlands?

Alright here you go. And yes it is badlands.

You'd have all this and more... if I had more time to finish the map I started planning.

<_<



Descriptively: When you drop the respective unit from the Dropship, you hear a reving sound. After about 3/4th of a second, kakaru explosions will appear, and any foe's men will be cut into a bloody mess by using exploding hydras and defilers. If u drop the unit again, it stops the chainsaw...
For my map, it is overpowered because people can just run through the others and kill them in one hit. It usually becomes a timing/dodging game of the chainsaw. (altho there're specific weapons that nullifies the chainsaw in my game).. It also uses Tons of gas (mana) and slows you down (due to kakaru's explosion)

Trigger-wise:
- When the unit is dropped, another unit is created in an obscure place in the map. This unit is there to act as the switch that tells me that this spell is active. The revving sound is played. RunAiscript enter transport.
- A deathcount adds one DC of unit X when this unit is at that obscure location.
- Once there’re at least 10 deaths of Unit X, and if foes bring 0 units to current player’s location, a kakaru is created and killed. Minus 8 gas. The deathcount of unit X is set to 8.. not 0.
- Or, if there’s at least 10 deaths of Unit X, AND foes bring at least 1 unit to current player’s location, a kakaru, 2 hydralisks, and one defiler is created and killed. All foe’s men is killed in current player’s location. Minus 8 gas. The deathcount of unit X is set to 8.
- If unit is dropped when the other unit is already at the obscure location, set deaths of Unit X to zero, remove unit at obscure location. RunAiscript enter transport.
- Repeat for all players.

Why this works for Zombie Maps:
This can act as a final desperate move type of thing, as it can drain the gas/mana really fast. If you're all dying and crowded by zombies... the chainsaw can deal with it and create a large bloody mess =D.. U can even make it so that it can only kill 1 unit at a time, making it even more bloody.... Plus, since it's a melee weapon, AND requires timing, it fits well into the "skills" aspect of the game.. The player needs to time this chainsaw well or else get damaged a bit...

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Nov 24 2009, 11:37 pm by UnholyUrine.

10 deathcounts with hypers is less than second, which is basically no reaction time for avoiding the chainsaw, I guess this is fine if you're only fighting against computers. An instant kill for the price of 8-16 mana is pretty cheap I think, assuming you're using it against players/bigger enemies. Also, why do you create an obscure unit to act as a switch? Why not just use another deathcount?

Too many Deathcounts makes my head explode...

Imagine remember or noting every single DC for every little thing..
Plus, I used a "grouped DC"... meaning I used the same DC for all spells.. as long as the player brings a unit to the location, the same DC will fire. Obviously, this limits the player to using 1 spell at a time.. which was fine...

Yeh, chainsaw's OP in my map... But since both teams get chainsaw, both use it, and ppl get used to it.. If u miss the person, you slow down and become a giant open target... Also, ppl know when to dodge.. it is quite the adrenaline-rush!

hmm i was reading the chainsaw discussion and i decided to make a system. its done very quickly cause i gotta study for an exam. u get close to the chainsaw(hightemplar) to grab it. and to use it, u get close to the zombie and then run the opposite direction. if u dont like it plox dont be harsh T.T (also dont be harsh with my grammer :[)

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Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Nov 30 2009, 4:43 am by MarianCross.

That's pretty much Snow Dyne. Just never had the time to work on it and when I was progressing in it, I lost my pc to suicide.

You should see half the shit I havent shown sen in my maps folder.

The thing that seperates Left 4 Dead from other Zombie games is the AI.

'The Director' analyzes what weapons are being used, players location and distance from one another. If the survivors sit in a corner it'll spawn a spitter to seperate them and then perhaps have a hunter jump one. If a player is alone it will spawn a jockey to jump on them.

This, combined with minimalistic characters (No barricades, No Tanks and No Hellicopters) made L4D feel like a true fight for survival using co-operation as a key

a couple of cool ideas from me to you.

in an old RPG that i stopped called battle the warrior legacy i used a barter system instead of money. Each item had a number in brackets next to it and when you went to markets you chose the item you wanted, were told its value, and then given a dark archon in your inventory to add up units until your DC count was greater than or equal to the item you wanted to purchase. So you might go in the woods with an axe item i had to get some "wood [1]" and find some "Rice Ball [1]" and trade them in for "Arrows [4]" etc. I think it would fit in a zombie map because who gives a shit about money when the undead horde is hunting you...it's all about what you have to offer someone else so they have a better chance to survive and vice versa.

Also. when i was working on a zombie map (looks like everyone has) i always thought it was gay that all the zombies were super fast but got one shotted. Zombies are slow...and take a lot to take down sometimes. so besides the 'Crimson Heads' i put in a trigger to make the zombies move slow. What i did was have two comp players w/ the same color and a trigger that cycled ever couple of seconds to go through them all, move them to their current location, and give them to the other comp player. so they would run, stop, run, stop...kinda like a broodling. It was kinda cool except that it caused attacking problems. If the unit switched right when it was hitting or getting hit, sometimes the hit wouldn't go through. Maybe you could fix this? i'd be curious to know how you did it if you decided to use that.

Don't forget the greatest zombie map ever.
Zombie Movie!!