Zombie game mode

[farooqkz]

Zombie game mode is an extension of Classes game mode. A number of players(let's say 10%), are zombies when the match starts. Zombies aren't a member of any team. They have the Knight's sword. When they kill someone from either teams, the killed player becomes infected. They will respawn as normal players but they now have a different appereance. maybe green skin? If the zombies manage to infect everyone, the match ends and the zombies win. Otherwise, one of the teams win earlier.

This is the raw idea. Different concerns come to mind.

• This game mode needs at least 20 online players. so 2-3 of them will be assigned to the zombie team.
• Where the zombies respawn when they die? I think some place randomly on the map. But in cave maps, some random place might trap them in some cave with no exit. Maybe also give them a mese pickaxe as an initial item?
• What will happen if all the zombies leave the game and never join again?
• Maybe it's a good idea that if the infected player kills someone, the killed enemy will also become infected. But this would make it too easy for the zombies to win. Alternatively, there could be like 10% chance of infection.
• What if zombies get to either spawns and do spawnkilling? This will make it too easy for them to infect everyone. Maybe one solution is that they aren't able to get close to any of the spawns.
• Is there a way for the infected player to get healed? Maybe introduce some in game special bandage with which medics can heal infected players.
• What will happen if the zombies touch a flag? Maybe a good idea is that once they punch it, the flag will become infected and then people won't be able to steal it for like 2-3 minutes. If zombies do teamwork and manage to infect both flags, this will give them an advantage as neither teams can win and zombies will have more time to infect people to win.
• If a player is already infected, and a zombie kills them again, what will happen? Maybe the player will become uninfected? this will make the game harder for zombies. Or maybe they can kill them but there is no effect and no score.
• How is the score calculated when a player kills a zombie? Just like normal? Or maybe a boost?

[farooqkz]

I invite leaders from both CTF servers to comment/brainstorm on this. My general idea is adding "third party" players to the game. I have suggested this before in ruben's time. But it was rejected as "the goal is CTF and it doesn't contribute to the goal". However, I oppose this. I think purpose of a game should be fun and teaching. And I think third party or independent players add more fun and entertainment to the game. But I strongly want this "third party team" to work together as a team. From some point of view, they are a team but they haven't got a flag nor their objective is capturing.

In the zombie mode I suggested, the zombie team's objective is infecting everyone. And they do so by killing players. This adds a whole new part to the game. Teams should think about defeating each other. But they also need to care about zombies. If all players are infected, zombies will win and both teams will lose. If I'm a red and I'm killing a blue, I should be careful to not let a zombie steal the kill from me. Because when she does, the blue will be infected.

Number of zombies shouldn't be too small. Or they won't have a chance of winning. Nor it should be too big as winning will be trivial. I think it might be a good idea that zombies could steal either of the flags. They can't do anything with it. They just do flag hogging till someone kills them. But this gives the zombies an advantage. When the blue flag is stolen, the red team cannot steal it and capture. And if the blue team steals red's flag, they won't be able to capture it because they have no flag.

JMA people seem open to try this. I'm not saying this will be a good mode or a terrible one. But I think it's worth trying. Because I think it might be a good mode. And as we implement it and players play it, we'll learn how to improve it further. Or if it's not worth it.

EDIT TLDR:

• Zombie mode is an extension of classes mode
• Zombies form a third party independent team without a flag or a spawn.
• We want to encourage team work among zombies
• When a zombie kills a normal player, they become infected. We visually show this by changing player texture.
• The goal of zombie team is winning by infecting every single player.
• The zombies can steal flag of either teams and do flag hogging. This way neither teams can capture and the zombies can have extra time to infect players.
• When a blue member kills a zombie blue flag thief, they reclaim the flag. If a red kills a blue flag thief, the flag gets transferred to the red killer and then they can capture it.

[farooqkz]

@LoneWolfHT and I are discussing this in development channel of main CTF Discord. I send outputs of our discussions here.

• A problem with the current spec, is that zombies have simpler win conditions. They don't need complex strategies to win. And this way everyone will want to become zombies.
• Another problem is when the zombie team focuses on one team. This will make that team at a disadvantage. I think if we remove the flag stealing for zombies, then zombies will have to focus on both teams to win. If they infect all red players, they won't win as they will have to infect the blue players too.
• If zombies have the ability to dig blocks, they could focus on one team to weaken their defences. But this is a shoot in their own foot. A weak base for one team while the other team has a strong base will make it easier for the latter team to steal the flag and eventually capture. Which means zombies will lose.
• What do we do with score? Do we have a combined leaderboard for zombies and other players as well? Will it be fair? How do we calculate score for interactions between zombie players and normal players?
• What about kill assists? If the win condition of zombies is infecting all players, then it makes sense for the zombies to assist in kills in the hope that they could steal the kill and infect players. Maybe one will be infected if he is killed entirely by a zombie? Or maybe let zombies do assists to make the game harder for normal players?
• An alternative win condition could be that zombies will have to capture both flags to win. Like they steal red's and click on the blue's and vice versa. But as LandarVargan pointed out, this will make the game for zombies too hard and complex. They will have double the difficulty comparing to normal players.
• Maybe allow medics to heal infected players back to normal. Then this will make the game for zombies more complex. Then we'll have to think about it more. If any medic can just heal, winning will be almost impossible for the zombies.