WintersWolf 1 Posted September 10, 2013 Hey everyone, I am currently doing a lot of "pre-work" on a large-scale fantasy RPG which has been long in the making, but after quite a long break from RPG Maker I have decided it might be best to work on a smaller project to "freshen" up my skills a little and reboot some of those creative juices. The following is a game that is very early in the making and is really just a concept at the moment so I wanted to see what people thought and whether there is any interest or not in this type of design. Quarantine Zombie Survival RPG Story/Setting In the year 2055, a military funded research & development team is working on a new type of chemical warfare intended to turn an enemies population against one another. After a significant amount of progress, the new chemical agent is being prepared for testing at a facility outside the labs hometown of #cityname. The logistics team responsible for transporting the chemical weapon are attacked on route, the attackers from a rival nation seeking to steal the weapon and research, only to have the chemical released in to the city streets. The government is put on high-alert, martial law is enforced and the R&D team are relocated. While the team was able to create what many have come to call a "zombie agent", they were unable to create a vaccine - something the military never intended to create in the first place. Unluckily for them, the only way to reverse the effects of this new type of weapon is death. Realizing that they could not stop the new zombie agent that was spreading throughout #cityname, the government built a large wall around the city and quarantined those inside - planning to contain the virus and the citizens of the city until it disappeared, or in other words until all those who are infected have been exterminated. You play as a citizen of #cityname who was trapped within the city boundaries during the quarantine. While you have been hiding away in your apartment, food and supplies are beginning to run low so you can't stay holed up for any longer - it's time to make a decision. Will you try to escape the quarantine zone or find a way to survive within the boundaries until the whole mess blows over? Features Open World RPG - No linear paths, just a large open city to explore Action Battle System - Hack, slash, and shoot your way through hordes of zombies Character Progression - Learn skills by using them, pick which skills are important to you and then hone them Decision Driven Gameplay - Will you save that survivor or keep on walking? Multiple Endings - Will you escape quarantine or find a way to survive within the wall? Day/Night Cycle - The streets become even more dangerous at night... Build Your Crew - Invite other survivors to join your group, there's strength in numbers NPC Relationships - The locals will form an opinion of you, determining whether they help you or try to kill you Bandit or Survivor - Align with good or evil, will you seek to help your community or exploit the situation for your own perverted desires Crafting System - Loot items from around the world and then craft them in to something more useful Base Building & Customization - Don't like your apartment? Find a new place to call home and customize it to your liking More Features TBD Screenshots Please note these are just a few concept maps, they have only had one initial pass - they require a second pass over in order to remove/add clutter and make it appear as though it has suffered through bandit raids, zombie attacks, looting and other types of activities you would expect in this sort of scenario - this is merely a "clean layout". Title Screen Player's Apartment Sunrise Apartments Lobby Sunrise Apartments Lobby Concept I am a huge fan of zombie games such as DayZ, The Last of Us, Project Zomboid etc - I want to recreate a lot of the atmosphere and gameplay from these types of games in an RPG Maker project. The whole idea is to provide an open world sandbox in which players must gather food and supplies, kill zombies, and more to survive. Players can aim to reach one of multiple endings or just survive on the map until they completely empty it of all items and supplies and die off. Currently there's an energy system, actions performed consume energy which must be restored with food/water or rest - eventually this will be fleshed out to a full hunger, thirst and health system. So what do you guys think, is this something you would be interested in playing and if so, what kind of features would you like to see? All input is greatly appreciated, I have already done quite a bit of work on the project but thought I should probably put it out there for suggestions/feedback etc before continuing any further. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bunni89 85 Posted September 10, 2013 It sounds like an amazing idea- exactly what I've always wanted to see in a zombie rpg! I'm always more interested in the story side of things since we already have WAY TOO MANY games just about killing zombies. I think the zombie apocolypse plot is so amazingly interesting and it's a waste to focus on the monsters themselves rather than what the protagonist's doing. So yeah this seems like a great idea, reminds me of The Walking Dead! Your screenshots look really good too, I don't see enough good modern style mapping. I especially like the look of the hero's apartment! Just a tip though- it looks entirely like an ordinary apartment. Super big and clean and functional, and even the lobby only has a few bloodstains and nothing's even broken! I think perhaps it would be a good idea to start off this way but then the apartment gets more wrecked over time as you fight off zombie attacks etc. You're simultaneously losing things as you progress and customise- so maybe there'd be a bit of gameplay revolving around establishing certain things permenantly? like maybe you have electricity for the first few weeks and then it goes out, and then you can go on a quest to make a mini generator for your house? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WintersWolf 1 Posted September 10, 2013 It sounds like an amazing idea- exactly what I've always wanted to see in a zombie rpg! I'm always more interested in the story side of things since we already have WAY TOO MANY games just about killing zombies. I think the zombie apocolypse plot is so amazingly interesting and it's a waste to focus on the monsters themselves rather than what the protagonist's doing. So yeah this seems like a great idea, reminds me of The Walking Dead! Your screenshots look really good too, I don't see enough good modern style mapping. I especially like the look of the hero's apartment! Just a tip though- it looks entirely like an ordinary apartment. Super big and clean and functional, and even the lobby only has a few bloodstains and nothing's even broken! I think perhaps it would be a good idea to start off this way but then the apartment gets more wrecked over time as you fight off zombie attacks etc. You're simultaneously losing things as you progress and customise- so maybe there'd be a bit of gameplay revolving around establishing certain things permenantly? like maybe you have electricity for the first few weeks and then it goes out, and then you can go on a quest to make a mini generator for your house? I have always been a huge fan of stories in games, as I am sure many of us here are. One thing I have been considering is how much The Last of Us had a lingering effect on me, purely because it focused more on humanity and mankind rather than the 'infected'. I would like to tell a deep story in this game through both interactions with other players, but also just through the design of the world. I feel like a map's design should tell a story itself, those bloodstains on the ground are there for a reason, searching a families home could tell you about their history etc etc, I'm not sure whether I want to give the protagonist an already existing story with the risk of people not liking it, or play it safe and leave the canvas blank so players can fill in their own story in their minds as they play. As far as the maps so far, thanks! Like I stated, these are just initial "clean" maps, with this type of game I feel it provides much better results to create the maps how they would look before the zombies and then go over it again with various changes to make it look like it has suffered bandit raids, zombie attacks, looting, generally lived-in etc. The idea of having locations become more "broken" over time is great, I will look in to how dynamic I can make that.. I am currently looking in to functionality of services like electricity and water that will have a cut-off point, it's something from Project Zomboid that I found really interesting and I think makes for some interesting scenarios - especially when you deplete a certain type of resource later on. I enjoy thinking about what a player might do after their generator breaks down for the 50th time and they cant find any parts to fix it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+ dbchest 160 Posted September 10, 2013 looks so promising. i see you're using the modern tileset. good choice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
