TO THE DEVS AND ANYONE ELSE WHO CARES! Introduction: So far, the game is pretty cool. I can't wait for further updates, and I have some ideas for updates that in my opinion would really improve the game. I update this post a lot instead of making new threads, so this is where you'll find all of my ideas. And there are many of them. If added, these in my opinion would go beyond expectations of the finished product. -WARNING!- This list is QUITE extensive. Anyone who desires to see this, I hope you like reading. -Downtown: Overpasses, clogged roads full of abandoned and burned out cars to loot, and many buildings such as skyscrapers to explore. A massive amount of zombies would probably inhabit this area, but higher value loot could be found. This area would be very useful to loot, but basing here wouldn't always be the best of ideas, because this area may have more zombies in a single street than an entire 4 blocks in the suburbs. -FORMER Military presence: Especially in the Downtown area and later in the game, such as a month or so after the inicial reports, there should be a former military presence that was overwhelmed. Evidence such as broken tanks and fatigue-clad zombies would look really cool. Ammo caches and barb wire barricades would be there as well, and higher-tier weapons could be found on soldier's bodies or in demolished tanks and humvees. As time passes on, more tanks and soldiers could be found, some alive, some not so lucky. Would add 2 new types of NPCs, one survivor and one zombie. The soldier zombie, which would behave like any other, just harder to kill due to wearing body armor. The soldier, which would be a standard recruitable survivor would be well armed and wear body armor. A valuable addition to the team, probably more agreeable to your decisions than normal survivors due to discipline training, though just like anyone else they would have perks and disadvantages. I outline former because military aid is in the no section. I mean by this that the military lost already. There may be surviving soldiers, but there will be no support by the entire thing. These areas would appear after the mass retreat effort. (see below) One more thing. This is a sensitive topic, because Military aid is on the NO list. Doomed Safe Zones: I think you should be able to find small/medium safe zones earlier in the game. Places where you can trade, talk to NPCs, and other stuff. Armed guards would be on top of the wall (assuming there is one) and if you pulled a weapon inside a safe zone, you would be killed or warned to put it away. Now, I can guess what some people would say about this. "But then, we could just chill there forever and the game would be boring!" That is why I propose an event, that would happen 3-8 months into the safe zone's existance. Neverending waves of zombies would spawn around the camp and overrun it, killing everyone or forcing them out. Once everyone is gone or dead, the waves would end. This way, there is incentive to seek those places before they are gone, and leave quickly afterwards, or risk being mauled by the dozens of zombies inevitably headed there. -Military-Grade/better weaponry: Nothing too ridiculous, such as a rocket launcher. Items such as fully automatic assault rifles and higher tier pistols and shotguns would be good, and could be found in the Downtown or anywhere else that had a military perimeter set up. A few examples with names are: Assault Rifle: Just what it sounds like. Fully automatic, medium accuracy gun. Incredibly rare, only found in military barricades/tanks, or, even more rarely, on a dead soldier. Hunting Rifle: Semi-auto bolt action rifle. Scopes could be used on it (See attachments) Rare, but about as common as a shotgun. Requires .40 caliber bullets, loaded without a magazine. Found in gunsafes and wardrobes. Tactical Shotgun: Full auto low accuracy weapon with a good spread. Slightly less rare than an assault rifle. Found in the same places as an assault rifle. Sniper Rifles: Semi-auto mag fed sniper rifle. Comes with a scope. Found in, you guessed it, same places as the assault rifle, with a single difference. Never found in tanks, but sometimes found on second-to-higher floors of buildings near military stuff, usually on a body or on the floor near an open window/window. -Proper Grenades: I am dedicating an entire section on this because A. it would be super cool and B. They would be super useful. Now, molotovs are already implemented (albeit hard to obtain and even harder to use) but I am talking about grenades like frags and gas grenades. Both of these would be incredibly rare (Gas grenades less so) and single use. Grenades would be incredibly loud but the shrapnel could wipe out a good amount of zombies if they were fairly close together. They would only be found at military barricades, on dead soldiers, and in tanks. These explosives would usually be found in 2s or 3s, but occasionally you may find a box of them (Like a box of bullets but heavier and contains 6 grenades. You could box them just like normal bullets too) Gas grenades would not explode, just release a visible grayish cloud that would hover around for 10 or so seconds. Those inside the cloud would be rendered almost completely blind and slowed without a gas mask (see more clothing) and would cough, attracting zombies. The coughing would not happen to zombies but they would be blinded and slowed as well. They would be found rarely in police stations and police car trunks and occasionally in military areas. -Attachments: Rarely, attachments could be found in military barricades and such. Some would be only compatable with military weapons. Scope: When used, Cuts down your peripheral vision to straight ahead of you and increases your line of sight (ignoring shortsightedness and such) and allowing you to move the screen pretty far away. Normally the gun you would have this attached to (eg. Hunting Rifle) would be accurate enough to hit whatever you have targeted. Forward Grip: Best used for shotguns. Cuts down your recoil by a lot and increases accuracy. Bipod: Usable at windows, low walls and while proning (a possible addition?) Would increase your accuracy impeccably. You can hit a zombie a mile or 2 away. Suppressor: Different sizes of suppressors would fit different guns. It would soften the noise of your gun going off at the cost of some accuracy and damage. Dual Mags*: *These must be crafted, not found* Once you have fully loaded 2 magazines, grab some duct tape and right click your mag. As long as there are 2 fully loaded in your inventory, you can craft this. Once you do, it would make a dual mag with a sprite that looks like 2 mags taped together at the bottom. Using this would double (or triple, depending on reloading skill) your reloading speed. Only craftable at reloading difficulty medium. -Working vehicles: Such as an old beater sedan or a pickup truck, maybe even a humvee. Would require maintenance and fuel, excluding bicycles. Advantages would be better protection when traveling and the ability to run zombies down, as well as faster travel, and cargo space like the trunk of a car or the back of a pickup. Disadvantages would include being loud, and the fact that the noise you just made attacted a massive horde that surrounded your car, so big that you can't move. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to see if the car horn worked, you think as the horde breaks your driver side window and drags you out of the car, moaning and tearing you apart. Another thing would be switching seats inside the car. Driver get his brains blown out on the highway? Open the door, push him out and take over as driver. (Assuming you haven't crashed yet) I also think upgrading your vehicle should be an option: -Upgrading Vehicles: Add a Welding tool, and I think you should be able to add some things to your car, such as plates on the sides and covers for windows, and maybe barb wire to the top or something. These would require a carpentry level of 3 to do. PS: Tanks are overpowered. I would not suggest adding them as a working vehicle, more like a large container to be found in the city around barricades and other places the military tried to hold out. PPS: I know these are a planned feature, but I am just reinforcing it and giving ideas for other vehicles. PPPS: Hordes and hitting zombies and survivors in large quantities should slow you down, and massive clumps of zombies could stop your car altogether. -Helicopter crashes. That annoying helicopter that passes over your head not even thinking of rescuing you. The one that those zombies followed, leading them directly to your house. There should be a small chance that a helicopter may go down, causing fires and a loud explosion attacted zombies. The good side is if this is a military chopper, it could carry some very nice new weapons. There could be three types of helicopters, Medvac helos carrying medical supplies, Military helos that could hold some very valuable loot, and news/civilian helicopters possibly filled with food and other goodies. -A Metro System: I am sure someone else has already posted something like this, but I would love to see another layer added to the game. In the first bit, trains screeming across the tracks unable to stop due to the fact the driver died with his head leaning on the throttle. Smashed up trains that hit eachother farther down the tracks and later on when the electricity runs out stopped trains empty or full of the dead. The metro system would havefer a "safer" way around only found in the downtown area. Only one problem I see, are they even subways in Kentucky? -More distractors: Throwing a glass bottle or a rock would make a little noise and would be pointed away from you. A nice little getaway help when the horde down the road can't see you yet and you want them outta the way. -NPC survivor groups: Other, interactable groups with their own base and leader. Some would be bandits and kill you on sight for you stuff, others would be friendly groups of people eager to help any way they can. -NPC AI improvements and more speech: Such as differing personalities, and more communication. A few samples and scenarios are: After running a long distance, one guy says: "*huff* Guys, I really need a rest.*puff*" After a zombie attack, one man says: "*huff* ♥♥♥♥er... almost got me! *puff*" Moodle examples: Sick-"I really don't feel so good, guys. Very Sick: "Uhhhgh... *throws up*" (smell attracts zombies) Bored: "Guys, not to be needy, but there is nothing to do. Could you spare a book or somthin'?" Angry at leader or group member: "♥♥♥♥, why do you have to be such a ♥♥♥♥♥ sometimes? Jesus!" -Military Events: PLEASE note these are NOT military aid. Both of these would probably be bad, actually. BOMBING RUNS: Occasionally, messages should be broadcast on the radio (Which would then be useful) which would tell you when the government would do these. Bombing Runs would be events where certain infested parts of the city would be targeted for a last-ditch effort to clear them, a plane loaded with explosives to drop. A block or so would be severely damaged and set on fire from the explosion. This can help or hinder. The noise would attract zombies away or toward you. It would kill almost every zombie in that area, but hopefully you aren't there when it happens. This event would happen a maximum of 3 times and about a month or more in to the apocalypse. THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF THIS: Everybody who doesn't care how this might work code wise, skip this. After the time period set for safety is up, the game should scan for mass quantities of zombies. Hordes and such or just a large concentration, perhaps. Once the game finds the desired location, the message should appear and the event commence. This would tie in with the unlucky/lucky perks and Sadist Movie Director. Unlucky means the game would try to target somewhere closer to you, if not on top of you. SMD would also influence this. If SMD threw a whole load of bad atcha, this would be one of those bads. If SMD is handing you good stuff, it would try to push the killzone away. Radio messages should also say WHERE the event is taking place. This means adding road markers, such as Pleasant St. The radio would declare the road about a day before this event would take place, or whenever the area is selected by the game. MILITARY CLEAR-OUT: This corresponds with Former Military Presence. This is a message which would appear about 3 weeks after the city is quarantined. Basically, it is a mass retreat effort. Chaos would ensue as surviving soldiers and other personal desperately attempt to leave the city, killing everything in their way. If you are near a major roadway or the city centre, you may see a military convoy or lone humvee laying on the gas trying to get the hell out of the city, guns blazing. They would stop for nothing, and run you down if you get in the way. It would require a new AI, though, one that made it so they were hostile towards you but wouldn't chase you. Zombies would also be their priority, not attacking you unless you are right in the way or alone. If you are in the way, though, chances are they won't shoot you, instead swerving around you or just plain running you over. The noise from the trucks and guns may attract zombies, but on the bright side, they may clear out your street. They might crash, too, offering some nice loot. And, speaking of car crashes... -Car Fragmentation Physics: Okay, before I say anything, I KNOW this is ambitious for a 2D/3D game, okay? I just think it would be cool. Example Scenario: You are driving as fast as you can, trying to get away from that bandit in the pickup truck chasing you. He shoots at you, getting ever closer, when suddenly..... A WILD POLE APPEARS! You smash head on into the traffic light, crumpling the front of your sedan and sending pieces everywhere. Your windshield shatters and your airbag goes off. The car catches fire and the bandit stops, getting out and pulling you out of the car's shattered driver-side window. You fade in and out of unconciousness, and pass out just as he pulls the trigger to the gun pressed to your skull. The point of that little story is it mentions a few key things I'd like to talk about. 1: The Chase. Bandits could have AI that allows them to own their own car or steal take one, and chase you down and run you off the road in order to kill you. You could do the same, chasing survivors in your car to kill them and loot them. 2: The Shootout. A small weapon, such as the pistol or an SMG, could be fired out the window by passengers. You could aim it towards behind you, or in front, or the side you are on. ex: Shooting out the right passenger door would not allow you to fire left. 3: Environmental Damage. Running over shrubs, hitting thin trees or driving through fences would knock them over or otherwise damage or dent them. More heavy or metal objects, such as the traffic light pole mentioned in the scenario, would dent and tilt over when hit hard enough. Other things such as brick walls would dent but not break. 4: Pieces. Crashing or otherwise damaging your vehicle would send small bits of metal and/or glass. 5: Animations. Such as an airbag going off obstructing your vision or the back of your car lifting off the ground a little. Subtle stuff, nothing huge. 6: Bigger Animations. Driving across a bridge and going through the railing would make your car tilt downwards and sail off the bridge into the water/road below. The landing would have a chance to break your axles, rendering your car useless. Landing in the water would either kill you right away, or you would have to press the key to leave the car. Instead of opening the door, you would kick out the windshield and swim up. (If your car has no windshield, you would just swim up) (Also, explanation for breaking the windshield instead of exiting has to do with water pressure making you unable to open your doors underwater) If your car catches fire, it will explode after a while unless you put it out, sending pieces everywhere making a lot of noise and leaving a burned out shell of a car. Another could be car rollovers, if you turn to hard in a top heavy car, roll into a ditch, drive sideways on a steep area, or are hit hard enough by another car. 7: Unconsciousness. Crashing your car at a high enough speed would have a chance to knock you out for an hour or so. On multiplayer, this would be reduced to a half hour ingame (30 seconds) because time doesn't accelerate when you sleep. 8: Dragging somebody out. I mentioned this earlier, l but didn't explain it. Crashing your car with zombies or bandits around would attract them, and to get you out they would either: Drag you out the window (Zombies would always do this, and bandits would if your door is locked) Open the door and pull you out: (Teammates would do this to rescue you and bandits to kill you. Players would be able to do this to NPCs and other players.) Dragging you out the windshield: (Just another way to get someone out if the doors are blocked) Of course, you can always just point your gun through a window and kill someone without dragging them out. If you are a nice guy, you could save an unconscious player/npc from a burning car. PS: ALL of these apply not just to crashed cars. If you park or stop, people or zombies can break your windshield or windows and pull you out regardless to car damage. The Chase PLEASE NOTE: This is not the same thing as the fragmentation physics mini heading. By this, I mean the military. You are driving down the road, looking for points of interest to loot, when you see something ahead. A large olive truck in the distance, with a few uniformed men walking around it. A barricade sits on the road, and as you get closer you realize... The truck you saw earlier is a URAL, and the men are soldiers. You are driving towards a military roadblock! It is too late to turn around. They see your car and start yelling, rushing towards you. You stop at the barricade. A man with an assault rifle opens your door and yells at you to get out. You comply, with your hands up. They surround you and pat you down. Then, one man says, "We're done here. Shoot him." You gasp in shock, and the man points his gun at you. You run back into your car before he can hit you, and drive as fast as you can. Bullets hit all around you as you smash through the barricade, and they pursue you in the URAL. The chase is on. What I mean by this story is there would be the odd remaining military roadblock or other military occupied space. If you tried to run after they saw you or stopped like they said to, they would kill you. Running or driving away would make them pursue you to try and run you off the road. Meeting roadblocks like this would only happen early on in the game. Later, they would be abandoned or infested. -More Clothing: Themed outfits, such as a lab coat, hazmat suit, or fatigues would be cool. Armor, such as military outfits, could protect against small-caliber gunfire to an extent, and helmets would help with glancing headshots. Also, gasmasks should be available for protection against gas grenades (seen above) and smoke (seen below) -Fire improvements: If a house catches fire, smoke should fill the home, cutting down your vision and making you cough, attracted zeds. It would also eventually kill you.With the gas mask I mentioned earlier, these effects would not occur (except a slight vision impairment. Also, wine bottles should be readded so you can create molotovs again. -More Scenery, structures, and layers: I mentioned this a tad bit in the Downtown section. I'll go over them in order. MORE SCENERY: This ties in with the structures thing. Swerve marks, decomposed/eaten corpses, and blood splatters that were there before you ever went into homes. Previously ransacked homes with clothes, drawers, and other miscellaneous stuff strewn around. Stuff that tells a story, makes you think, like these examples: Example 1: You are walking down the road when you see brake marks swerving to the left. you follow them and see a car crashed into a large tree with the skeleton of the driver still inside. Closer inspection reveals bullet marks all over the car and the skeleton's skull has a sizable hole in it. What happened here? the trunk was obviously pryed open with a crowbar and it has been visibly picked through. Example 2: You enter a house with the door already broken down. There is stuff everywhere, knocked over shelves, the couch moved, etc. Upstairs, you see blood splatters and other evidence of a struggle. A rotting corpse sits inside the bedroom, with visible bullet holes in his chest and head. On the wall, a message written in the man's blood, says: I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE (example ^^^) Other things would be traffic jams full of zombies on overpasses and highways, people who obviously tried to leave but were caught in the mass retreat effort that clogged the roadways, making them stuck and easy prey to the infected. MORE STRUCTURES: Taller office buildings, overpasses and such. I am aware of the height limit. MORE LAYERS: Overpasses and office buildings would add higher areas to the game and the downtown would use that a lot. Overpasses would also be fairly high off the ground, too. Underground layers may include a sewer if that is ever implemented. EVEN MORE ANIMATIONS! Some that would be kinda neat but mostly aesthetic would be zombies eating corpses, possibly distracting them or enticing them to leave you alone and continue eating. They might look up at you from their food, following you with their gaze, then turning around and continuing to eat in a crouched position. Another animation could be a sleeping animation, laying on the bed or sitting down in a chair. Depending on how good your sleep is, other players may see you toss and turn. Sleeping stuff: Something I would find interesting would be more things about sleeping. Occasionally, your character could have nightmares, suddenly waking up in the middle of the night with a panic moodle. Spiffo plushes could lower your chances of having nightmares and so could other perks. More sleeping stuff is your sleep could be effected by what you sleep on. Sleeping on a wooden chair or otherwise hard surface would yield a bad sleep, and beds and such a good one. There could also be a perk that allows you to sleep almost anywhere comfortable and one that makes it hard to sleep without comfort. More random events: -Survivor Car Crash -Bandit Shootout -Bandit Chasing another Survivor (car or foot) -Bandit versus Military Shootout -Horde Attacking Survivor Safehouse/Base -Base Raid CONCLUSION: Most of these would come in later updates, though, because they would require a fair bit of work. These, in my opinion, would improve the game exponentially and I would love to see these come true, if possible. They would take quite a bit of time and effort to complete, but I think they would literally blow away everyone if added. PS: I am quite aware now that Kentucky is fairly rural and cities like the ones as depicted here are rare, but that suggestion is mostly for the fictional area, Knox County. Thank you for reading this, and leave comments if you like it.
