I frankly disagree strongly with zombies getting firearms. I know that we're not using Zombies Survivor's Guide, book available on request, but a coordinated zombie is not something I can imagine. It's a dead body, slowly rotting away, controlled via magic or a virus that turns it into a clumsy, walking, eating machine.
However, I do rather enjoy the pack mentality idea. I don't think it'd be too hard to implement the idea, just have it such that zombies track zombies, and once the pack is too large or cumbersome, they split in half. That part might be complicated, but even wwithout that part, if the different zombies had different tracking abilities, different reaction threshholds, then there would be little roving packs as opposed to roving units. I like it. As for the chat, please don't get rid of it. First of all, I've been on all sorts of chat things with headset chat. The amount of extra work on the server and client both is staggering. Second, they usually get too rowdy or rude to make good use of. I've been urged by people to look at ... crap, I can't remember the chat program, but it's one of the teamchat progs out there, teamspeak or teamtalk or something on that order. That's a viable, separate option for those with internet speeds that can support it, but integrating vocal chat into the game would make things messy. Also, one thing that I'd like to see is a sound that indicates you've sent a chat message. I don't mean a local sound, I mean a locatable, world based sound, something like the radio reception sound, only different enough to allow you to know that the person you're hearing shoot is indeed the one who just made a chat comment. That'd make locating people a lot easier, too. Finally, I don't know what the limit is on zombie spawns. I don't know if its actually 75 or if that's just a number that got tossed out somewhere. If it's 75, then there's probably good reason for it. frankly, if the limit could be upped a bit, that'd be great. If it can't, I completely understand that. It's just that fighting hundreds is neat and makes it a litle harder to survive. Deleting progress.ini does not delete your serverside saves. I actually don't even know what's in it, except for a couple of preferences. I thought long and hard about the suggestion that death be permanent, that is dying loses you all your equipment, kills, etc. That's going back to the old way and pretty much eliminates the need for a safe zone, except if you stay alive, facing hundreds of undead, for a long enough time that you want to quit. Now, I know some will. I have two characters right now, and I stay alive with both. i haven't died in a good while. But when Jeremy implements several guns, better and worse, and reputation points and such, I think that death would become a real inconvenience that doesn't add much to the game. I think, rather, that lowering health should do something to you. Consider slower walk/run speed, poor aim, poor firing, poor reload speed, etc. There's also another thing I'd like to add that wasn't touched on. That is switch time. Now, imagine that you're walking around with a submachine gun in hand. that's a smallish weapon, but still enough for two handed use to be best and often necessary for accuracy. Suddenly, you realize that there's a close zombie so you whip out your shotgun and begin firing. Now, I know that a lot of shooters could care less about switch time, but I suggest that Swamp isn't most shooters. I loved the bug that meant you had to reload on switch, only because you actually were simulating putting the weapon away to grab another. I'm not going to go into the problem of having four rifle length weapons in your inventory and managing that all. I'm not that nitpicky, although it is something that might be considered by someoen else later. However, considering switch time at least might make the game a little more difficult, what with running out and choosing between reloading and switching. Signed: Dakotah Rickard On 11/7/11, Christopher Bartlett <[email protected]> wrote: > Ok, don't shoot me or hack my head off, but I think that the multiplayer > game balance is too easy. I mean, it's possible to get killed (just did, > seem to have been at a zombie spawn point and multiple bandits appeared on > top of me with no warning, but in general, it seems very possible to stay > alive without having to make lots of snap decisions, once you know where you > are and have any one of the top three weapons. > > > > Things that would make the game harder: make the zombies react to shots > from a longer distance. I've had several instances where I fired and missed > at a target, only to have it continue its slow patrol walk. I think that > any target that is missed narrowly should immediately turn and search for > the shooter. > > > > More zombies please. The single player game is too much, too many zombies > in too little space, but the multi-player often feels empty. Perhaps tweak > spawning a bit so there are more zombies at a time in the larger map size. > > > > Zombies should be able to acquire fire arms as well. perhaps they aren't > excellent shots, but the concept of a zombie firing at you from a distance > would be very frightening and would encourage the use of cover and sniping > tactics. > > > > More zombie packs. It's easy to pick them off one at a time, but the fun > comes when there's a pack of five or six. Maybe tweak the AI so that > zombies that are near one another tend to agglomerate into packs. > > > > I think one has to erase progress.ini to go back to the beginning state of > the game after once having saved. Future updates should automagically erase > this file for a death situation, though not a crash. > > > > Zombies flooding the safe zone: Thematically, the safe zone is a known > location where tasty human brains collect. As such, it should be under > constant siege, thus making it more difficult for players to reach it > without a concerted team effort to clear the area. I actually hung out > southwest of the zone for a while and kept it clean, just on a whim, > role-playing you understand, but if there's always a lot of zombies nearby, > it becomes necessary to do this as the zone takes on more functions. > > > > You've already heard my thoughts on weapon drops and usage. > > > > And yes, this makes it harder to learn from the beginning. Perhaps allow > for a beginner mode in multiplayer where the character is by default more > stealthy, thus drawing less unexpected attention. perhaps this mode exists > until the player has reached a certain number of kills, then it is > permanently removed. > > > > Re: chat, I'm sorry, I just don't use this feature in its current > incarnation. It's a great idea, but the limitations are such that I don't > find myself with a need. > > > > Would it be feasible to simply implement direct verbal chat for those of us > with headset mikes? You'd hold down a transmit key and simply talk and it > would be broadcast over the server with the same sound localization. This > would replace the slash key, and would remove universal chat, but would make > actual character cooperation much more intuitive. I don't know if this > would be technically difficult, my understanding of networking protocols is > limited. > > > > Looking forward to the next incarnation. > > > > Chris Bartlett > > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
