What goes into a zombie level?

[Bond394]

So I find myself sitting here racking my brain on what truly makes a good outdoor zombie level. Currently I'm brainstorming assets for zombie themed level set in a outdoor city style setting and my mind is blank. My question to everyone is what outdoor objects would you want to see in a zombie level besides zombies? I know its kinda vague question but if their is anyone who knows zombies and scary settings its you guys.

[Corsair970]

My friends and I have a very back burner script we're writing for fun, (I swear to god if it comes out as a movie I've got it timestamped right here that I said it first)

Where a group of kids (us) are hanging out playing a D&D/minis kinda game with zombies and it's monday to friday, we all play 5 different settings and show what we would do in the zompolypse, and then it hits the fan saturday and we find out what really works, or it ends when we walk out the door to make people pissed at the cliff hanger of an ending.

How does that help you? It doesn't, but I figured I'd say it since some of the basic places like police station, mall, and super market are done. If it's for a game like BrainBread where it's more about holding masses of AI zombies off (or an early L4D map?) then the Walmart distribution center idea would be fun. (There's a Walmart distribution center near all of us and it's massive, stocks everything, fenced in and has a good 200 meters of flat grass surrounding it. You could hold them off till they get to be too much and then have them break in at places and have to stop them and stuff.

If it's for Zombie Panic, CSS ZM, or some other infection style then I dunno... I haven't seen a well done mall- not since Dead Rising.


Sorry it's late and I figured I'd dump all my Zompaclypse related ideas for you to play with

[Rhino]

What makes a good zome map? well tbh I aint really played any zombie games but going by the zombie movies etc I've seen the first thing you want to establish is fear. A scary setting would be best but not 100% nessary as the fear can come just from the zombies them selfs.

Now the main thing about zombies is that there are soo many of them they just comming in swarms, so the main thing you want is really for zombies coming in from all directions and really for them to surround the player and maybe have some areas where the player can defend from, but dont give the player a huge advantage in these areas, only a small one like for exsample a few benches or tables turned over which the player can use as cover. So this means you want as many places as possible for zombies to flood in from.

It will also make a big difference in the level design if you want MP or SP.

asking for what kinda objects really depends on the setting, but there is one common thing you see in zombie movies is everything is turned over, on the floor etc in chaos from all the panic going on etc. Burning car wrecks, lots of papers on the floor, bins turned over with rubbish all over the ground etc. Just think clutter and make where ever you think of really messy and also, dark will help to establish fear. no lights / flickering lights will really help set the feel.

anyways theres just some things to think about

[UnsteadyTeddy]

If you want it to be a good level its got be believeable. So the best thing for that in my opinion is to make it realistic in terms of the contents of the level ( props, vehicles, buildings etc ) and the best reference you have for that is outside your front door. Go find a local village/ town/ city and look at it and see what you like about it, which parts interest you and take photos, lots of photos!
Then your gonna know its believeable if you model all the small details you'll see when you come back and look at the images. As far as level design goes, i'll leave that up to you to decide what works well.

To answer your question directly ' My question to everyone is what outdoor objects would you want to see in a zombie level besides zombies? ', everything that you would find in a normal town/ city if you walked outside.

[sarge mat]

Take a look at Left for Dead from valve.

[DazJW]

If it's single player and atmospheric you'll want a few things that can fall on their own, or some unlatched doors that can creak open in the wind - things to make a player jump a bit and set them on edge before they've had even the slightest contact with any zombies.

In a city that's all pretty easy to do, you could have the player walk down the street by an alley and a bin or an empty paint can or something that has business being there could fall over and make a loudish sound.

In terms of what exactly is in your environment you need to consider what would be in that environment given your story.
As Rhino mentioned there's the standard zombie outbreak setup where everyone's panicked and legged it leaving a hell of a mess, but that wouldn't work in a storyline where there hasn't been an outbreak yet.

Also as Rhino mentioned you might want some places engineered to allow zombies to flood in, but I think it's far more powerful to not have them milling around in massive large numbers if you can get away with it.
"Will there be a zombie lurking in this dark area?" is scarier than "Tits, there's a massive swarm of zombies coming at me. Time to ready my firing finger."
Again though, if the player is barely armed or totally unarmed the swarm setup would be more powerful than if they're packing a machine gun and 5000 rounds of ammunition - and you have to take into account how powerful a foe is a zombie to begin with.

[Tiros]

Well, if you want to go for the classical cliche, make a big warehouse crammed with zombies

Other than that, I think it's true what everyone said already. Make a normal city-environment with some dead bodies and zombies a bit of everywhere.. then some trashed places and flipped cars. And some dark/creepy areas

Cheers

[Addi]

Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks - Awesome book, I carry mine always, 'just incase'

Also check out 'Shaun of the Dead' and Dead Island - if for nothing else than confirmation that even at a holiday island resort, you can still get hold of a CB.

What I'd like to see in a zombie game?
1, lots of zombies (hoards)
2, standard things I see every day, chairs, tables, cars, shopping trollies!
3, maybe try thinking of making a standard world, with everything in place for any type of game.. but this one has zombies in it, I'm a sucker for that, the more normal and real the world, the more I believe the zombies... does anyone know what I mean?

[Bond394]

It seems that the consensus is everyday objects should populate the environment. The problem that I'm running into is how much is to much for a game level? I mean if you wanted to go the route of 28 days in London I don't think an engine could handle it.

Corsair970- Thanks for sharing your zombie concept it sounds really cool. Having five different perspectives would really open up the gameplay.

The zombie concept I'm going with is loosely based off of the Salem Witch Trials. In the present day an old Catholic school is being demolished and angel statue is being removed. As they're trying to lift the statue out of the ground they find that the base of the statue is actually a coffin with one of witches of the witch trails. When this coffin is suddenly opened a curse is released in which people who die are now doomed to walk the earth forever craving flesh.

Rhino- Thanks for the zombie swarm idea. I think I'll halfway block one of the city streets with an overturned semi flatbed and maybe some of those trash containers. I can't think of anything else for to use for the blockade, any idea's?

UnsteadyTeddy-

Then your gonna know its believeable if you model all the small details you'll see when you come back and look at the images.

I'll try and take lots of pictures and go on flickr to find some reference material, but when does small detail become just a waste of polygons?

Sarge Mat-Thanks I'll check that out.

DazJW- I almost forgot about the atmosphere of the game. I was so caught up with making objects I didn't think about the actual scare factor. Maybe I'll have the school swing set creak and objects that roll and make noise.

Tiros- I defiantly have to think about the creep factor.

Addi- Thanks for the idea's I'll make a few tables and chairs for a little outdoor cafe and then turn them over and maybe put a few through the windows.

[UnsteadyTeddy]

Originally Posted by Bond394

when does small detail become just a waste of polygons?

That's what makes good level design good!