Zombie research

[Josephkhland]

Wouldn;t it be fun if the player could somehow make research on the zombies and reach conclussions about them . That research may be from the most silly one to the most sober. The research each player makes will be different at each playthrough .

The results will be done by looting zombies , Killing zombies , Using different weapons on them, seeing them breaking things, Surgering their corpses . 

By looting zombies your character may reach to a conclussion that most of the zombies like smoking (if he founds really often Cigarettes or lighters on their bodies), or that they like literature ( if he finds pencils ,pens ,newspapers , books and magazins more often) . By killing zombies you may later find their weak spot so you can kill them quicker if you reach such a conclussion. By using different weapons on them you will find which weapons deal more damage to them (which is something one can do even without this system). By seeing them breaking things you will be able to understand their logic and their strength . By Surgering their corpses you may find what part they need in order to function ( so you may reach the conclussion that zombies don;t live without their Blood so next time you fight one your char will finish it off quicker ). Also by surgering a zombie you may keep some of it and try dropping substances on it ( for example if you pour lemonade on it you may reach the conclussion that eating lemons will slow down the infection ).

 

While some conclussions will give you an advantage others will just give you some lore which may be true or false . 

 

Finding the corpse of your last player you may also find his research notes on him ( 50% chance).

 

So what do you think ?

 

 

[Migoxiss]

Well thought idea my friend! I I like it. But I think the devs (and most players ) are saying that the ,,story" and the beginning of the apocalypse is not important. But maybe when the game is a bit more developed, they will add this idea...

[Josephkhland]

Well I wish so too . Even so I didn;t say anything that this research would provide information about how the apocalypse started or how it should have ended , I think it would be a good idea if they think that actually there shall be a story or something.

[syfy]

the only way to kill a zombie in this game is to destroy its brain. that is the zombies weak spot. this is already very well known to any person who has played the game. go ahead and break its legs, it will just become a crawler. break its arms, it will still try to grab you. break its back, somehow it will still try to get you.

 

conducting surgery on a zombie will accomplish one thing, to expose you to the nastiness inside, that you really should not be messing with anyway. unless you are trying to make yourself a zombie.

 

 

try to remember the lore the game is following when making suggestions

[Aenye Deithven]

First of all, I like the idea in general - it would be great to see how your character tries dealing rationally with an irrational situation. Learning from observation is also a nice touch - the effects could take the form of slight bonuses, additional display elements (such as when a zed is banging on your door a counter giving the rough estimate of the time it will hold) or simply hints (scrapbook anyone ?).

 

Personally I would go with the last one, as it is the least likely to affect game balance and might serve as a vector for bestowing PZ lore on players...

 

Second, funny elements would IMHO interfere with the rather dark setting of PZ. Dissecting zombies ? Not sure how you would manage to not get infected with a crazed corpse shambling on the table while you are cutting it up with a scalpel. Also, even standard surgery is quite chaotic and is best guided by some diagnostic tool, so a vivsection (mortemsection ?) of a zombiewould most likely not give any sensible clues to even the most highly trained medical personnel, not to mention a generic crazy guy with a scalpel.

[Josephkhland]

Don't forget that this will be your characters research so he may make any observation he likes such as " Zombies like Literature " etc. 
I know that funny elements are not part of this game but try to get in the position of the survivor. He may just note such a thing to raise his mood. 
Also the character doesn't know the Lore so he may not know if the zombies weak spot is the brain . He may think that the zombie is animated by magic so no part of it is actually the core of what it is doing. He may also think that the blood is what is allowing the zombie to move.

About the surgery  thing : Well it is risky to have contact with a zombies blood but you may be able to equip protective equipment (Gloves , Jacket , Pants , Helmet , Diver's mask ) Then you can either operate the zombie or you can just cut its limbs off or just collect skin samples.  However I don;t think that there are many helpful results coming from this. So the results won't be so satisfying as anyone may think. 

[syfy]

after killing dozens, even hundreds of zombies, any person/character would either learn the brain is the weak spot, or die.

 

the character in the game you play is an extension of you, don't you see that? he ONLY does the things you make him do, otherwise he just stands there. he drinks if you give him water, he eats when you tell him too, sleeps when you tell him too, changes clothes when you tell him too. he has no independent thought, so saying that he may think this was done by magic is......weird.

[Josephkhland]

Yes but even by knowing this your character will keep hitting the zombie anywhere, even when it is knocked down I walk to the head start hitting the zombie again. The player will just keep hitting randomly. So by having him note somewhere that Brain is the SPOT . He will aim for the head. He may not hit it but at least when the zombie is on the ground it will be a ONE HIT KO