I am a big fan of zombies. Not because of the horror, but because of the survival aspect in a destroyed world. So I want to create a Battlefield vietnam mod where you play as the humans, defending and trying to recapture territory from the zombies, with a large emphasis on the defense strategy. So I need some good ideas for level designs. I was thinking of an atmosphere similar top that in the book Zombie Survival Guide. Maybe even pick up a few volunteers in the project (although that is not the subject of this thread. But just so you know I could use some help).

Aw...could you PUHHLLEAAASEE make it for BF1942 instead? BF:V feels like such a huge waste of money...

Ok, that plea aside...I'd say the only thing you need to do to capture a genuine "zombiefied" feel is to make the humans feel isolated. Isolation is, and always (I predict) shall be the key to survival horror. Desperation is the key to isolation; when the humans start running, they tend to gather in small, fortified areas rather than spread far and wide.

Also, the humans need to feel as though they're "alone", even if they've got a few people with them. Not quite sure how BF mods work (I don't own any of them), but I'd recommend forcing the humans to play at at least a 1:4 ratio against the zombies. Another thing, to capture that geniune feel of desperation, you might want to limit the humans' arsenal to only a few weapons, with scarce ammo (which would probably mean no ammo boxes in default human spawns).

Taking away ammo boxes could lead to some un-fun games if the human team doesn't play well, so I'd recommend placing these actually outside of spawn points, forcing zombie team to choose between cutting off human supplies vs. protecting spawn points with little garrison possibility (no ammo == more death, more death == less spawn).

Those are my thoughts, I guess. Say whatever you like, but I think this would be fun as heck to play =).

Well, the BFV engine is better, and many times more fun of a game. Although at first I liked 1942 more. The real reason I will use BFV though is because I no longer have 1942. My friend lent me his copy. The probelm is we both could not play at the same time on his key. So I uninstalled it to make room for starwars battlefront. And just today I got a copy of nam for my birthday (we usually play at a cyber cafe, so that is why I didnt have it). I also think the bfv mod tools are free if you just wanted to make some maps. Or you could get it cheap used from ebay or something.

Anyway, I like the idea. I was also thinking that zombies will take like 15 shots to the body, but only 1 headshot. That should not be too big of a problem, as you use civilian weapons, which are mostly semi auto and very accurate.

I haven't really thought about actual level design but one thing to keep in mind is. How are you going to make it interesting? I'm not sure if you've played Painkiller, the overall game and the storyline is good but it's gets so repetitive after the first 5 minutes, because hordes of enemies come at you.

If I were doing this I wouldn't just have crowds of dumb zombies. Make them clever, make them use stuff and find a way to kill you apart from walking slowly up to you.

I was thinking it would be more interesting in your defense strategy. Making the zombies clever would stray from the genre. It would not be a rampage game. Rampaging with a bolt action rifle or a semi auto with 6 rounds is not easy.

Good Morning,

I like your idea alot. I started on a similar idea 7 years ago and wanted to make the zombie idea just like in a real life situation.I am still in production with the zombie idea.The main map has 60 pages above for the city landscape and another 60 pages for the sewer system.You can search , locate, combine, store, upto 400 weapons, armor, items, accesories all together in various areas of the island city map.

Upto 16 players can play in divided groups (teams), turn based, or by themselves.You can play as a single player if you wanted to as well. You can also choose upto 100+ optional occupational characters. Everything you see in real life is going to be in the game itself.

I would like to collaborate with you if you wanted to get some ideas or even help each other. If you wantto see the first page of my map feel free to email me.If you want some help with a design document or start on up I can help you there as well or try to help as much as I can. I love the zombie survival horror, I used to work at a cemetery for one year and a couple months.
I can tell you some errir stuff if you want some ideas as well.

See you in the future of gaming.

BullDog

I want to make it traditional zombie, for the most part. Maybe slightly more clever. Like they can climb a latter. That would be about as smart as they get. If I can they will walk, not run. But I am not sure how customizable the BFV AI is.

Evolutional:
I like a lot of your ideas. Would you be willing to help with some levels?

Bulldogracing:
I would love some help with the project. I dont really have any good level designs yet. Is the code to your 7 year old project almost done? If so that would be a great use. I am only going to use the BFV engine because I want to finish this game quickly if possible because I want to play it. But if your game is close that would be better.

I dont know if you have played battlefield, but there are 2 zoom modes. One is just regular zoom levels with a crosshair. The second is your right click to zoom in more if you have a long range target. How battlefield aiming works is your accuracy changes if your are running/sitting/prone/etc. It also is lessened due to reciol if you have just let off a shot. It shows that by increasing the size of the crosshair. My idea was that in regular zoom you will have almost no accuracy and huge crosshairs, because in reality shooting a rifle without aiming down the sights will not be accurate at all. Mode 2 will not have any crosshairs, but will be a view of you looking down the rifle so you actually aim with the sights. I think it will add a bit of realism and fear to the game because crosshairs have always been a huge advantage in FPSs. It will also slow you down a bit, so the hordes of zombies will actually be a threat.

Some things that you may need to do, just because oure defense could get old, it take a few locations or get to new places. Like the path to your fort has become blocked because the panicky person in every zombie film freaked out and attracted a horde. You have to find, or make a path back. There could also be escape to city, from city. Maybe even cleaning out a small town. And of course some levels where you have defend your position. But there needs to be fallback points so you dont lose as quickly. They should also be designed so that there are advantages to several groups working in different parts of the map at various tasks to achieve the main goal. Like on group has to find and fix the truck (Which is randomly placed), and another has to get fuel, food and ammo. Or something like that.

I look forward to starting this project. I also suppose a plot would be nice, but not actually needed. In the spirit of battlefield, all the levels should be designed for replay value. It will also be a coop type of game for the most part, as playing a zombie would probably not be much fun.

Zombies rule. Especially the kind from DOTD original.

I can definately picture how the mod might play, being based on the conquest game mode. And I agree with Boku San in trying to create that sense of isolation. The gameplay and the atmosphere should work together to create the type of experience you're after.

In the battlefield engines it might be an idea to give them short range projectiles, like rocks to throw and stuff. It'd be cool if they could drive too, and would drive into any humans they saw - that would make it riskier travelling between open sections of map in case they either crash into what you're driving and blow you up, or run over you if you're on foot.

Straying off topic a little, I'm tempted to buy BF:V, if the engine is significantly better than 1942. What's it got extra? And is it less sluggish than the 1942 engine?

Another thing you might want to consider is the playerbases for the two engines. I don't know how many people play BF:V but if one has significantly more players than the other, then it's something to take into consideration in deciding what engine to use, if you haven't made a final decision already.

Im really into Zombie games and movies, too. Unfortunatly, too many games and movies go for the 'badass zombie killer' feel.

Here's my ideas for a zombie game:


I much perfer the more realistic experience. For example, no rocket launchers, no infinitate ammo, no randomly dispersed health packs laying around..

Everything should be as least Video game-like as possible.
Another important thing is that you shouldnt be allowed to carry alot of items. If you find a back pack, then you can carry even more stuff, but still not alot. This means you shoudlnt have 2 pistols, a 12 gage shotgun, a an ax, a hammer, a crowbar, 46 med packs, etc etc...
Without a back pack, you carry only pocket items (like keys or morphine tablets or something) and what you have in your hands.
With a back pack, you should be forced to manually swap to the back pack, and look for what you need and grab it, and manually put the back pack back on. Or drop the pack. That sort of thing creates a desparity in the player. Or they'll have to find a safe place to go through thier stuff.
The back pack idea might be hard to mod in BF. I dont know tho, I never modded BF.

You would probably have 1 life, and if you die, or are turned into a zombie, you're ejected from the game.

Also, Since BF Maps can be kind of large, you might want to build a more intricate detailed city for the players. Limit a game to only 8-12 people. I'd say that 10 players is a sweet spot. You'd have to have lots of places for the players to run in and hide or get away. Lots of closed in areas like Alleyways would be cool, too. I think a hotel would be a pretty fun place to fight and run from zombies.

Possibly, the Goal would be to escape the city, as opposed to kill all the zombies. All the players would have to be on the same team with the same goals.
You might be able to give the game a little more depth by giving each player a different and random side-mission that they must complete. Some interesting examples would be a mission to save a relative thats trapped somewhere in the city, or a mission to restore radio contact with the outside world.
You can also give victory 2 conditions:
1)
Once you complete your side mission, you can then leave the city. So out of a team of 10, if 3 people finish their missions and want to leave, they can. Or, they can stay and help the other players finish their goals, too.
or 2)
No one can leave until everyones mission is completed. If someone dies, you no longer have to finish their mission.

Vehicles would be a must. Being able to hotwire a car would be pretty sweet. But to do so, it would take you some time. You'd have to first break INTO the car, and then hotwire it. Each should ave a bar that fills with time as you do it, and once the bar is full, the door opens, or the car starts. You'd have to have your team back you up as you get hte car started by protecting you. Then once its going, everyone that can fit in jumps in and you speed off to finish your mission.

Health Kits would have to be pretty sparse, and only found in logical places (a bathroom med cabiniet, the hospital, the first aid box of any business). As you get hurt, you should take damage in your torso, head, arms, or legs. If a leg is hurt bad, you walk slower, or hobble. If both are hurt, you walk REAL slow, or end up having to crawl. If your arms are hurt bad, your accuraccy lowers, as does your rate of fire. If youre hurt even more, then each time you use that hard to shoot, you loose health and the wound gets worse.
When Health packs are used, you'd have to choose where to use a bandage and salve. It will take a short time to apply with a feature similiar to hotwiring cars. When you apply the bandages, the wound for that area heals and you can eventually use it again. What might be usefull is a 2d outline of your character on the HUD with yellow to red spots for wounds. Purple would mean that your wound is unhealable, such as a broken limb. Black would mean that you no longer have that limb.

Also, if you're in a state of relaxation, such as laying or sitting down on a couch, you regain health and your wounds heal slowly. Depending on what youre laying or sitting on, your health regens faster or slower.
But them Zombies are persistant. You cant just sit down on a coutch for a couple minutes without a zombie comming in to ruin your rest.
So Pushing furtnature, such as desks, couches, bookshelves, etc againts doors and windows would be great. Also, if you could add an option where you can pick up most things, you would have more freedom and innovation. For example, I'd like to pick up a table, break off the legs, and nail the table across the window. And then pick up the legs of the table and use them to bash zombie heads in.

Oh, if a player has been bitten, they have a certain amount of time untill they turn into a zombie.during the transformation, the infected player will start to loose some controll over the character. That player will walk slower, and take longer to do complex tasks, like applying med packs and hot wiring cars. Also, as the transformation is drawing near to completion, they should randomly attack the other players against their will.
Antidotes can be found, but also take time to affect the player. The antidote must be applied before the transformation is complete. Also, the antidotes should be difficult to find. Maybe there should be an extra mission where you're rewarded with an antidote or two.

If you want to do some sort of scenario where players are on opposite teams, one team could be the zombies and the other the humans. I already diuscussed the humans role and goals.
The zombies would hav eto stop he humans.There would be NPC zombies roaming around, and when they notice someone who is alive (the other team), the zombie players get a radar location of them.


I dunno. there are just some quick ideas.