Zombie Horror

Eeek!

By: BucketMan

Status

Zombie Horror Version 1.0.0 is fully playable and available for download from http://modules.t-o-m-e.net/module.php?id=64.

omera suggested a zombie themed module over on the forums, so I decided to make a seven day roguelike out of it. What we ended up with isn't at all what he asked for, but overall I'm very pleased with the result.

Play this game at night time and with sound on. It will enhance your play experience immensely. :)

Zombie Horror features:

Enjoy!

Bragging Rights

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Bug status

Chatter

DarkGod: I've died to the few first zombies I've found ;) But it's a very nice mood setup, very well done. *DarkGod goes onto some more zombie slaying fun!*

BucketMan: Thank you. :) I actually jumped in my seat a few times even while making it. Adding sound to the engine really allows us to effect the player a lot more strongly than with text. All in all, Zombie Horror turned out to be more of a puzzle game than a dungeon crawl. Once you know how, it's possible to beat the game in about 25 minutes. I'm curious to see who our first winner will be. :)

DarkGod: I've gotten to last somewhat longer this time, and it just gets better and better!

RavenRed: An excellent module. You're right that it's a puzzle adventure as much as anything else. The Horror aspects are really well done as well as the touches of humour. A couple of minor things, though... a LITTLE more time before night falls would be nice to explore (although I absolutely understand why you've limited it). Also, a minor bug... when Zombies are attacking innocent townfolk, the player seems to take hits. The music is also a FANTASTIC addition to the game. Now if only I can get into the mall in time...

ShrikeDeCil: You want bug reports here or in the bug reporter thing? Two combine to be really irritating: If you save & restore the clock gets reset. And something is messed up with the pistols. I've fired a clip or two, but I've also gotten "Error: Unknown ammo type" a couple of times. Which really, really sucks if you just stepped into view of part of the kennel, or the master. I can't think what's up with the ammo, other than I'm 'destacking' it because 20 clips is too heavy. Oh, and picking it up and dropping it lots to move my 'supplies' a little close to the action. Picking things up & dropping them doesn't immediately update the visible 'speed' monitor. (I've been using ctrl-r, which has really been helping.) The stuff from the store has some stacking issues. PS: The whole idea is excellent, and nicely executed.

SaricRitzden: This module is great. I just made it past the kennel, and i had a lot of undamaged armor, full health and was as prepared as I could think of, and then I accidentally dropped my melee weapon which I was planning to use and got trapped in a one space wide spot where I was slowly killed, because I had little in the way of offense left. :(

overtrix: Ahh now this is what uniques are meant to be like. Just one thing to say to the Big Red ... I'll be back, and packin' heavier next time :)

ShrikeDeCil Any thoughts on builds for the boss? My pistoleers had gun "jams", and the first time I made it I was on my last T-shirt. (The pistoleers had a whole pack of luggage, but my melee/str/dodge sucks -> just dead.)

SaricRitzden I was planning on using the trenchcoat and as many leather jackets as I could find while wielding a chainsaw. I had put either 6 or 7 points in to-hit so I could hit him more consistently. I dropped my chainsaw so could only use the machete but I was hitting him pretty consistently so I am going to try that again.

ShrikeDeCil Arrrrgh! 4 Melee, 4 Strength, and everything else up to ninth level on dodge. Regular zombies are just free exp at this point :D 3 leather jackets, trenchcoat, and a chainsaw. Still mauled at the end. I know _a_ use for a shipping crate. Hrrm. We'll try that.

ShrikeDeCil VICTORY! Woooot! Without saving the game! 6 Str, 6 Melee, 10 Dodge. Yes, that's a lot of dead zombies :) But once I <censored> I wanted to see how far I could reasonably go in levels first. It's a 100 dead zombies per level out thataway. But zombies aren't so tough anymore. Plenty of questions and comments, but I'll hold off for a bit. (Other than the stacking: the main comment was about the inconsistency in TShirts. Some stack, some don't. Wandering around with all the clothing from the mall -> ok, tank. But... wandering around with all the T-shirts isn't a big deal.) I

* SaricRitzden Congratulations!

ShrikeDeCil Thanks! And... did it a second time in a different fashion. Brute force _does_ work. It's just... really ugly. I'd planned on stopping earlier, but the whole world seemed filled with zombies. So... I went up to level 15. (I'd stopped at 12, but, wow, that's a lot of zombies.) 10 STR, 10 Melee, 10 Dodge. Kind of more satisfying to manage to win running around with the chainsaw :D

overtrix: another brute force one I'm afraid, but "Zed's dead, baby" which is the main thing. Must agree dodge would be useful - with 4 Strength, 10 Melee, a chainsaw, 4 shipping crates and everything thicker than a denim jacket, could only have survived about two more hits - a close shave. I couldn't see Big Red's stars in the final battle, which was scary, but at least he didn't chicken out :)

Zonk: The farthest I got was level 7...I know this is probably considered "scumming", but I basically put myself at Lammaste Yatchs and waited a lot of time(using the "repeat action" and 5 command)for hordes of zombies to arrive there so I could kill them to gain exp...Anyway, this is a really wonderful game. I'm amazed you did it in only a week!

ShrikeDeCil I did that the last time through. I was level 5 or 6 before I'd 'done' everything I wanted to do, and by that point I'm more than a match for zombies... so long as I'm meeting them one-at-a-time in a lighted spot. But there's also no way I was ready for the ending. So I got carried away in a zeal of training after my manhandling at the hands of the <censored>. And when I _left_ the Yacht area.... wow. It was a world of zombies.

overtrix: must admit to a wee bit of zombie scumming too - my choice was popping in and out of the graveyard, which delivers five hungry green guys each time. One character died testing a theory, that I could pretend to be a zombie when about to do battle with Zed - imagine my surprise to just get the product support hotline - waah.

Zonk: I won, using shotguns and pistols. Unfortunately, only one of the lab guys survived. Anyway, it took some time to figure out what those crates are for. Small hint: pick up a crate, drop it, then try dropping another item there. That should suggest you what crates are for...By the way, I'm fairly sure that the big Z is almost impossible to kill in melee. I'm a bit ashamed to write this, but before my regular victory, I had tried going hand-to-hand to him using wizard mode and maxing out my skills. I think my character died something like 7 or 8 times..ouch! Update: Did it again...this time, I scummed till I was level 20, Strength 10, Toughness 6, Marksmanship 2, Melee 10 and Dodge 10. With some smart tactics, the big Z CAN be killed in melee.

ShrikeDeCil At S10, T0, M0, Melee10, D10, my trenchcoat was only 'moderately damaged' one time. (Although it was 'Almost destroyed' another time) Did you fight him in the lighted area? Or were you mauled by flying glass or converted techs or something? (I put my techs out of the way.)

Zonk: I fought using a machete in one hand and a flashlight in the others...I fought him just a few squares left of the pipes, I wanted to avoid him reaching any of the techs. I used t-shirts and jackets as armor, I would strike a few good blows at him and when my armor broke I would retreat one square back to change armor. I guess that if you didn't have to hold a light in your other hand it would be much easier: you would either use the chainsaw OR a machete plus another hand weapon - for those who didn't know, you CAN use two weapons at the same time without any penalty.

BucketMan: It's great to hear that everyone's enjoying Zombie Horror so much! :) It certainly was a lot less effort than Dragonball T has been. I'm a little surprised at the people who've taken their characters to level 20. I don't think I've ever had a character past level 10. Though, I suppose once you hit level five or so it's very easy to train. Oh, and yes...be careful about taking too long. The zombies multiply themselves rather quickly. Out of curiosity, has anyone taken a game until dawn? I was originally planning some ideas about sun-up affecting the game, but they didn't get developed very well. Hmm. I should probably release a bugfix version.

overtrix: It's good fun and something different, thanks for spending the time to make it. Strikes me that a lot of the implementations (subways, music and urban landscapes) would travel well to The Warriors - trying to get home, against increasingly tough and bizarre rival gangs. Bit of a wimpy endgame though - have to battle a cowardly bad guy and you're helped only by about 300 Riffs ...

Zonk: Yes, I noticed how fast zombies spread and multiply...I knew that, going to level 20 was just an experiment to "max out"and have an easier time winning. Though yes, I did notice that you could win the game even at level 5-6. Playing until the dawn? Obviously, I have done it...and I mean BOTH the in-game dawn and the real-life dawn(eh, spending whole nights in front of the computer isn't really healthy, I know). About a bugfix version, it would be REALLY nice if you fixed the "zombies attacking humans hurt the player character", if you fixed a bit of the LUA bugs and if, after winning, some things changed. Like you could speak with the survivors or do something else. As of now, after you have killed the Z the only thing to do is retire.

ShrikeDeCil: Once you've wasted way too much time, waiting for dawn is the only safe way to get around (find/make a safe spot in town, hit '5') :D I waited for Tyler too. I was upset that I couldn't actually _use_ the Worcestershire sauce. There's a couple of candidates in game. I tried lighting everything, I've played Wizard Mode and summoned everything in the list, and now I've even read the source - and I still missed the cigarette lighter trick. Sigh. Level 5ish was plenty for the pistol method. 10ish is enough is you use a chainsaw. No bonus for keeping the Subway & West completely safe. (The notes in the code indicate that I shouldn't be able to do this, but I've never had any problem. Even when the East was lacking in spaces-clear-of-zombies.) There's lots of room for follow-on adventures too. It would be neat if you could 'save' the folk on the East side too. There's just the toggle 'wham, everywhere in the east is now dead'. Sort of thing. But... once you know a couple of things, you might be able to beat the zombies to, say, the Yacht Club and keep people alive.

Oh, and I also tried (hard) to return the accursed bottle. Piling sails and trying to light them on fire, stacking boxes, nothing got me inside. (Which, after reading the code, made me wince at time lost :D

Modules/Zombie Horror (last edited 2008-07-01 15:57:57 by 85)