Resident Evil game; preview and discussion page.

[Askthepizzaguy]

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/Banner.jpg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBGvtkVVas0&feature=related)



Chapter I- Exodus




Q: What is it?

A: Battle Royale-style game with "mafia" elements to it.

Q: Where will it be hosted?

The gameroom

Q: When will it be hosted?

A: Sign ups are open, game begins after Thanksgiving.


Q: How many players?

A: More players are better. I'm looking for 40 minimum, but 60 or so would be all right. As such I'd like to get the word out ahead of time regarding what sort of game this is, to recruit a maximum of interested players.

Q: Can you give us an overview of the game?

A: Yes.






The Overview


The setting is a town called Dark Falls, a mid-western fictional town in the United States. A terrible accident at a local bio-research facility has resulted in an outbreak of an experimental bio-agent, a new strain of the so-called Omega virus. These events take place years after the original viral outbreak at Raccoon City, and the United States government has moved quickly to quarantine the area. Because there are thousands of lives at stake, and the political fallout from Raccoon City being nuked was rather severe, there is a rescue plan in operation. There will be only a few ways in or out of the quarantine zone, where victims of the outbreak and potential carriers will be placed inside vehicles which will transport people to a sealed underground facility for a thorough screening and observation process. If they exhibit no signs of the virus, or they are able to fight it off, they will be released after an extended stay.

However, exiting the town will be rather difficult. During the initial rioting, the local government sealed off the routes out of the town, as the federal government had not arrived yet. After the local law enforcement and many officials got infected by the Omega-II strain, steps were taken by these newly insane individuals to make it almost impossible to escape. Bridges were blown up, tunnels collapsed, and security walls, barbed wire, explosives, and infected dogs were deployed around the town, to allow further transformation to take place. But there is still Route 3, the main highway that runs north toward Canada. The United States government has deployed the rescue teams just outside the quarantine zone, on this highway. Leaflets were dropped urging people to exit in small groups and head to the rendezvous point in an orderly fashion. Presently there's no way to safely get to this highway, but it should be possible to break through the barricades and the zombies.

While some are trying to escape from Dark Falls, there are others interested in getting in. Some for nefarious purposes, some not. And some are trying to actively prevent people from leaving... the battle for the souls trapped inside Dark Falls begins.




The Factions:



Townspeople:

People who begin with basic skills, often starting in small groups. They rely on each other to stay alive. When they die, they turn into zombies, as they have all been exposed to the Omega virus.

Objective for the townspeople:

A minimum number of townspeople must escape from Dark Falls alive. The more who manage to do this, the better the town's overall score. In order to escape from Dark Falls, certain obstacles must be overcome, and certain items must be found.



Mercenaries:

These are trained, intermediate skilled fighters hired by the Umbrella Corporation, or their rival, Syntech. Some are actually rescue teams... others not so much.

Objective for the mercenaries:

Depends on who hired them. Each has an individual goal which may help, harm, or do nothing to the town.



Zombies:

These are fallen townies whose only objective is to convert more people into zombies. These are infected by the Omega Virus.

Objective for the Zombies:

Eat, eat, eat... kill the townspeople and turn them into the walking dead... spreading the seed of destruction further.


Plague Demons:

You don't know much about them.... but you know these are terrifyingly frightening creatures. Don't even begin to think of them as human.

Objective for the Plague Demons:

It's a secret... :mellow:


Secret Factions:

You will have to wait and be surprised. Trust me, it's gonna be good.







Character Sheets:


Strength: (The sheer amount of physical strength one has; to lift heavy objects, move obstacles, or hold back zombies from behind a barricade. Minimum strength thresholds allow certain actions)

Speed: (How fast you can move and react. You should be able to outrun enemies with this. If you are faster than the zombies, you could be very good with a firearm, able to do several attacks in a given turn)

Stealth: (How good you are at avoiding awareness checks from zombies or even other humans. This can help you hide from them. However, some creatures can smell you, or sense your heat source...)

Awareness: (How good you are at noticing hidden objects, or detecting clues, or sensing other players. High awareness allows you to gain a better sense of your surroundings and notice dangers.)

Combat: (How good you are at fighting, in terms of training and accuracy and deflecting blows. The better this rating is, the better you will survive assaults by trained forces or zombies. But nothing stops a bullet to your head or an explosive to your gut)

Luck: (This is your saving throw in case your other skills aren't up to snuff. It can help you avoid bullet fire and also help you "accidentally" make correct decisions, if you decide to flee from danger, your luck might make you flee in the correct direction.

Vitality: How much damage you can take before dying

Skill set: If you have special abilities, these go here

Item box: You can only carry so many items without being encumbered by their weight or bulk. Too many items will slow you down. You will also be restricted from doing certain actions if you're armed to the teeth. Game will be as "realistic" as I can make it.







Day and Night phases:


1. The story takes place over several hours, during the night, about a week into the outbreak. Every "phase" will last 15 minutes in game time but 24-48 hours in real time.

2. There will be no voting whatsoever. This is why it only resembles and borrows elements from mafia games. It is generally speaking not a mafia game, per se.

3. All actions take place during the "Night" phase of the game, in mafia terms. During the day phase, you can plan and discuss, and I do the process of handing out the results from the previous night phase. There will be a lot of work for the game host, and I won't be able to instantly post the results. Everyone will have night actions to send in, and I'll have to calculate the results and roll the dice and do the private message writeups and the public writeup. This takes time and I'm only human-ish.

4. As such, the only phase you're really concerned with is "night" phase. You can do nothing if you wish during the "day" phase, which in this game will be called the "writeup phase". Yes, it will have its own phase. :sweatdrop:





What you do:


1. Decide where you want to go on the map. You are aware of your starting location and your immediate surroundings, and you also have a reliable map of Dark Falls, since you live there, you're aware of the general layout. Make sure you don't die there.

2. You will be allowed to move a certain distance (radius) from your location, based on your speed and how much you're carrying. You will know how far on the grid you can move in any given phase. If this changes, I'll tell you.

3. Decide what actions you wish to take when you get there. You can be purely aggressive, and wipe out anything you see... which can have good or bad consequences. You can be cautious and react depending on the situation, which can have good or bad consequences. You can be diplomatic and try to ally with other townsfolk and try to work together, which leaves you more vulnerable. You can also choose to exhaustively search the area once you get there, which also leaves you vulnerable to surprise attacks. You can also choose to move there slowly, so you arrive after other people might, and try to sneak attack them. If they are prepared, however, they will get the drop on YOU.

Example list of modes: (still in design phase)


1. Kill anything you see (automatically gets a first strike against the target, in all cases except mutual "kill anything"

2. Kill anything that doesn't look human (targets zombies and infected creatures, but doesn't fire first on humans or things that look human)

3. Cautious (doesn't gain a first strike against zombies, but acts as though you expect to be attacked, adding to your defense)

4. Seek cooperation (automatically gives first strike to your opponent, who can use this to kill you. However, if the other person seeks cooperation, you will not attack one another, and now you can work together. If they seek to do so...)

5. Hide (uses your awareness and stealth ratings to seek cover and not be detected. This gives a first strike to any opponent who wins the awareness check against your stealth rating. If they fail the awareness check, they won't be aware of your presence at all, and you have first strike against them)

6. Search thoroughly (your attention is focused on locating useful items, and you lose first strike against anyone who might wish to attack you. This is mostly how you will find things, so it may be necessary to search.




Detailed strategies: Reaction Orders


If you wish to create in-depth contingency plans or wish to dispatch your opponent in style, feel free to give the host a writeup detailing how you'd react, what weapon you use, what moves you make, how much ammunition to use, etc, etc. Otherwise your reaction will be automatic and defensive in nature, and rather boring, to be frank. It is not necessary to make long, detailed writeups, as it will not affect the success of your orders. Just get the point across; if that point is an important strategic idea (such as using a trashcan lid as a shield) then it will affect the outcome. If you fail to plan for a kind of attack by your opponent, you gain no special defense against it. But you also won't be penalized. Contingency plans allow you a chance of defending against something you wouldn't normally survive. However, if you make too many, the effectiveness of each individual plan decreases, because you have too much on your mind and cannot react quickly.

Game will last until all active players have completed or failed their missions. The town will attempt to escape and they will no longer be an active faction when they all become zombies or escape. The mercenaries lose when they die, and may be considered individual factions in and of themselves. The zombies continue until everyone has been converted into a zombie, or every other faction has completed their final objective.



================================



I'm still in the design phase. Feel free to post a comment or an idea... if you think it's a really good one, private message me so it will be a surprise to the other players. If you want to indicate your interest in the game, please do so. :wink:



Also, I need someone with VERY GOOD MAP-MAKING ABILITIES. Please, please, please help me make a detailed map. I suck at graphic art.

[Tratorix]

Uh, not to rain on your parade, but shouldn't this be in the Gameroom?

[Askthepizzaguy]

It's not a game, but a discussion about it.

Also, the frontroom is the off-topic forum, so... I couldn't think of a better place.

If I put it in the gameroom I think it would make people think I was opening sign ups really early and that's not allowed. I'm wondering if I have enough interest for the game.

I am hoping to pack in a few more good ideas for the game, and I wanted to give people a chance to offer input on the game they will be playing. Plus I need a map artist. Overall I thought it was off-topic enough to warrant being in the frontroom rather than the gameroom but, if I am in error it can be moved by a moderator to the gameroom.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Hmm, interesting.

I might be able to make a map. Shoot me a PM with what you want.

CR

[Beefy187]

Post a link in your siggy. There seems to be lot of players who doesn't take a walk out side of gameroom.

Anyway, I would love to join this.

[Askthepizzaguy]

Link is posted in my signature line now, thanks for the suggestion. :bow:

Update: I designed a map, rough draft, and handed it to Crazed Rabbit who will use his greater experience and talent in the art department to make my pathetic scratchings into something quite worthy of being looked at. In layman's terms: We have a map in the works, I can't wait to show you the finished product.

[Zain]

Sir, with 40-60 players your write-ups will take no less than three hours per day, I promise you that. :bow: I put pretty good detail in my write-ups and it was taking me 2 hours to do write-ups for 20 players.

I want to actually play this game, but if you need help with write-ups and I can still play I can do so.

Also I'm interested in keeping our games exclusive, meaning I won't host any of my games when you are and vice versa. How do you feel about that?

[Askthepizzaguy]

Sir, with 40-60 players your write-ups will take no less than three hours per day, I promise you that. :bow: I put pretty good detail in my write-ups and it was taking me 2 hours to do write-ups for 20 players.

There will be a lot of dice rolls and other calculations. Most everyone will have a personalized "PM writeup" which details what they saw that night from their unique perspective. Then there will be a public writeup which indicates major events that you all need to be aware of, such as the death of a player, or an explosion that everyone can hear, and things of that nature. I need to keep track of everyone's health, current items they are carrying, and make sure there are enough items and other things remaining on the map for the game to be winnable. I remember the last Resident Evil game I hosted involved a lot less detail and it still took me hours to do my job. Furthermore, I may not be able to do the several hours worth of work immediately after the night phase is complete, so I need up to 12 to 24 hours to get my worthless butt onto the computer. As such, it necessitates it's own phase. However, I may stipulate that as soon as the writeup work is done, the writeup phase will be complete, and you'll be given that extra time added onto the following night phase.

This game will be more work than Capo III and Resident Evil: Omega combined. :sweatdrop: However, on the player side of things, there should be a lot of images to see, a map to explore, lots of other players to interact with, background theme music, and personalized write-ups and personal missions and items to manage, for everyone. You shouldn't have too many things to manage, and everything you do manage should be fun and easy to understand.


I want to actually play this game, but if you need help with write-ups and I can still play I can do so.

I've got it covered. But thank you! :2thumbsup:


Also I'm interested in keeping our games exclusive, meaning I won't host any of my games when you are and vice versa. How do you feel about that?

I would like to claim as many players as possible, so it would be nice if there weren't a whole lot of competing games going on at the same time (should just be the one other large mafia game, 2 small ones, and any minis, etc) but it isn't my place to tell others not to have fun hosting their own games. I appreciate the offer, thanks.

One of the things people appreciated about RE: Omega was the fact that everyone could keep playing until the game was over; death was simply another stage of the game. :beam: Here, if someone kills you, you can try to get revenge on them and make them join the zombie horde...

This means that there will be a whole heck of a lot of players in the game all the way up until the end, and no one has to deal with the "day one death blues". There are only a few in the game who don't becomes zombies upon death, and they are pretty strong as it is.



--------------- PLAYER INPUT ---------------


I need to make a decision on something. There will be zombies at the start of the game... which means that in order for those starting zombies to be players, they would have to start off dead. Which limits their experience for this game.

1. Should I take volunteers to be the initial zombies?
2. Should they be random players?
3. Should I have a host-controlled (mostly random.org'ed) horde of zombies which moves in a random direction every turn and attacks everything it sees? That would guarantee a minimum amount of strength for the zombies at the start but no one would be forced to be a zombie on turn one.

[White_eyes:D]

This game will be more work than Capo III and Resident Evil: Omega combined. :sweatdrop:

That's ambitious...:shocked:

I don't know if even you (Wall of text master) can hold that pace:sweatdrop:

Option 3# about zombies looks good....maybe an attack at the start, to rattle the survivors would set the mood:evil:

[Askthepizzaguy]

I don't know if even you (Wall of text master) can hold that pace:sweatdrop:

Then this will be the game where my back will finally be broken. Don't miss it! I'll have a nervous breakdown! :laugh4:

[Cultured Drizzt fan]

I say either #1, or #3. Probably #3 :yes: This looks fun, I can't wait.

[Zain]

I agree, option #3 will even the playing field for everyone. :yes:

[Askthepizzaguy]

I may decide to ask for a few volunteers to be zombies, perhaps three, to give the zombies slightly more intelligence than pure randomness can provide, and then have a roaming zombie horde as well, purely for game balance. Otherwise you're looking at close to 50 townies who will quickly acquire weapons and they will have the ability to pretty much defeat anything.

As soon as the townies and others start to die off, the game becomes more balanced, but I want to avoid a total ownage of the non-town factions right from the start. The strength of the host/random controlled zombie horde will decrease as the dead begin to pile up. At around 10 dead it should no longer be necessary to even have it anymore, and it will discontinue, giving the control of the zombies completely in the hands of the players.

There are a couple of game-breaking things I wish to avoid, so I will spell them out here.

It is possible with this many players to sweep the map systematically and work as a collective consciousness, kind of like the Borg from star trek. That's not realistic, even in this fictional universe. You shouldn't be aware of where everyone else is on the map in real time, and you shouldn't be able to "telepathically" coordinate your actions. You're a survivor and all you have are the people in your immediate vicinity. Besides, there is a huge problem with that much information sharing: The anti-town forces among you will know exactly where to find you. It detracts from the atmosphere and roleplaying of the game for the town faction to be in total communication, and it is also undermining to your strategy. It's the worst of both worlds.

Therefore, unless otherwise specified, you are not allowed to communicate with anyone out-of-thread about the game, except for those you can actually see or remain in contact with (via the use of in-game radio devices which can be found) and you cannot shout out your grid coordinate nor the landmark you are closest to, or things of that nature, in-thread. The trouble is this will be very difficult to enforce, and you'd be on an honors system. Intentionally breaking the rules about this would be lame beyond all lameness, and I cannot over-emphasize that.

Also, there is an obvious strategy which would also break the game.

Why not have everyone move to the center of the map? It's the most logical place to congregate. You wouldn't even need to break the rules to come up with that.

Well here's the deal. If it didn't severely unbalance the game (analogous to using screenshots to prove you're a townie) I would allow the idea of massive groups of townies forming. But it's not going to be that simple.

There will be a host-controlled giant creature (so foul, so cruel, no man yet has fought with it and lived) which roams the map, heading toward whichever is the largest group of assembled townies and scattering them. it is a slow-moving, powerful creature which shouldn't harm you unless you stay and fight with it, or you're trapped and it gets ya. I will simply aim for whichever group is the largest and chase you down until you get the hint to scatter, then go for the next largest group. I'll crush people who repeatedly do this... the more times you encounter the creature, the higher your chance of being injured or dying outright.

So if you do this, the creature will come after you. And it doesn't have to be the center of the map either, but if you're making too powerful a group, it's bad for you (due to the zombies pinning you down or the mafia catching wind of who your powerful players are) and bad for the game (it's survival/horror, not warfare... and there needs to be an element of chaos and mystery to the game which gets eliminated by everyone in the game roaming the map together)

However, there will be items found in the game which allow distant groups to coordinate their actions, like walkie-talkies. So it is possible, over time, to form a pro-town network. It just CANNOT happen from day one.

Finally, it is possible to kill the host-controlled giant creature, and therefore eventually form a powerful townie cluster. By the time you do this, there will be too few townies left to make this an unbalanced tactic. It may even be your best chance of survival. But good luck destroying that thing. :laugh4:




Comments on this addendum to the rules? This game is unique in many aspects and since I am still in the process of designing it, I have to prepare for game-breaking ideas or strategies just for fairness purposes. I want to keep the rules and the host's intrusion into the game as limited as possible, so you can enjoy the experience, but I also want to prevent something that goes against the spirit of chaos, survival/horror, and roleplaying.

It will be possible to overcome the lack of information sharing through the use of found items and working together to some extent. Eventually the hindrance to your communication will be overcome and the game-balancing host-controlled creature which breaks up large groups can be slain, so eventually you can form a powerful pro-town group. The rules and the creature (host) are there to delay that for as long as possible.

If you hate this idea, please say so. If you like it, it's probably going into the rules anyway so... :2thumbsup:

[Death is yonder]

There will be a host-controlled giant creature (so foul, so cruel, no man yet has fought with it and lived) which roams the map, heading toward whichever is the largest group of assembled townies and scattering them. it is a slow-moving, powerful creature which shouldn't harm you unless you stay and fight with it, or you're trapped and it gets ya. I will simply aim for whichever group is the largest and chase you down until you get the hint to scatter, then go for the next largest group. I'll crush people who repeatedly do this... the more times you encounter the creature, the higher your chance of being injured or dying outright.

So if you do this, the creature will come after you. And it doesn't have to be the center of the map either, but if you're making too powerful a group, it's bad for you (due to the zombies pinning you down or the mafia catching wind of who your powerful players are) and bad for the game (it's survival/horror, not warfare... and there needs to be an element of chaos and mystery to the game which gets eliminated by everyone in the game roaming the map together)

However, there will be items found in the game which allow distant groups to coordinate their actions, like walkie-talkies. So it is possible, over time, to form a pro-town network. It just CANNOT happen from day one.

Finally, it is possible to kill the host-controlled giant creature, and therefore eventually form a powerful townie cluster. By the time you do this, there will be too few townies left to make this an unbalanced tactic. It may even be your best chance of survival. But good luck destroying that thing.

While it would probably be annoying, its a great balancing feature and the whole game sounds pretty even on all sides, at least theoretically :yes:

I just hope this game will enter the end game by Late December, I can't in good conscience sign up for a game where I will have to bow out by mid game :sweatdrop:

But other than that, the game sounds like a huge amount of work, and I wish you luck in organizing this massive behemoth :yes:

[Askthepizzaguy]

If you sign up and need to drop out, that's perfectly fine. I hope to have some standby players to replace people if necessary.

[Cultured Drizzt fan]

meh, I am ambivalent to the giant group breaking monster. Seems like a decent idea, but I don't know.

The No PM thing I get, although will position on the map be random? Also, are we going to have randomly generated stats? just wondering. :yes:

[Askthepizzaguy]

meh, I am ambivalent to the giant group breaking monster. Seems like a decent idea, but I don't know.

Without such a thing, it's quite possible 30 townies would congregate in the center of the map. It doesn't feel fair to me to allow this to happen without consequences. After all, you are tasty meat to the zombies and they would view such a thing as a smorgasbord.

There's one thing I might mention... some players may be attempting to kill as many other players as possible. One grenade could end your entire game. Trust me, this monster is doing you a favor.


The No PM thing I get, although will position on the map be random? Also, are we going to have randomly generated stats? just wondering. :yes:

Your starting position will be basically random. Unless you have a specific mission, in which case you'll likely have to cross the map to get where you're going.

As for stats, here's how it goes:

If you are randomly determined to be a townie, you can pick your stats based on a usable points system. Be careful not to make your townie too weak, you need to have a base point of at least 1 in every category to play the game. You might want to specialize, to better work with townie groups, or you might want to keep it balanced, in case you find yourself alone.

Some players will start off with loaded weapons. Some players will start off with no weapons. Some players will find loaded weapons. Some players will find ammo. It is recommended that every player attempt to find a weapon or at least make a weapon out of things you find.

If you are randomly determined to be a special townie, you will be granted extra points (not usable or transferrable) in a single category. You may also get bonus skills.

If you are randomly determined to be a mercenary-level character, you will be granted more stat points than the average townie to spend on your character, to make it more well-rounded, or dangerous in certain areas. You may also get bonus skills.

If you are randomly determined to be a special, high-level character, your stats will be determined by the game host. These are special roles with specific strengths and weaknesses, as I designed the game to be.

[Cultured Drizzt fan]

cool :yes: cant wait.

[Askthepizzaguy]

As the game is "battle royale" in nature, there's also going to be a "Last Man Standing" award to whichever townie character (or serial killer) is the last one remaining in town.

The mafia factions don't quite qualify for this award because they win if they win the game, and if they are alive and there's still townies alive then they aren't the last ones standing. However, there are solo characters who have the objective of being the last one standing, and I wanted to reward any townie who is cunning enough to also be the last one standing if it is them.

Their starting stats (or in the SK's case, lack of teammates) will make it extremely difficult.

[Chaotix]

How big is the zombie horde in comparison to the town?

Is it theoretically possible for the town to kill off the horde, or will they always keep coming?

[Askthepizzaguy]

The size of the zombie horde will be roughly equal to the amount of dead players. Some players don't turn into zombies when they die, but most will. Consider the horde at size 10 from the start due to the "randomly-controlled horde", which will dissipate and be replaced with the dead players, and when there are 10 dead players there will be no more random zombies, only player zombies.


Is it theoretically possible for the town to kill off the horde, or will they always keep coming?

You can kill individual zombies or even groups of them, but more will spawn and keep coming. It's impossible to defeat them all. however, killing them causes them to miss a turn, and then spawn elsewhere on the map, giving you a temporary reprieve.

[Zain]

Sounds like a more complicated game than I have ever thought up...

Of course I enjoy games that just start out with a scenario and the people react (thus, the Mansion)

Good luck :2thumbsup: I really hope to get an important role if/when I get to play. :bow:

[Askthepizzaguy]

Progress Update:

Overall 75% complete.


Theme Music-
Found theme music from several Resident Evil games, and others.

100% complete.

Character images-
Found character images from all other Resident evil games.

100% complete.

Weapons and ammo-
All weapon types uploaded. Stats given to the weapons.

100% complete.

Character design-
Backstory, missions, and role PMs for each character, complete.

100% complete.

Character randomization-
Random elements added. All that's left is assigning characters to players which should take 2 seconds.

100% complete.

Game images-
miscellaneous images of locations in town

100% complete.

ITEMS, PUZZLES, MECHANICS-
Items designed, solution to the game designed, game mechanics refined.

100% complete.

Map and locations-
Map designed, given to Esteemed Artiste Crazed Rabbit.

50% complete.

Character assignments-
Not yet, I need players first.

0% complete.

Sign-up phase-

0% complete.

Sign ups for this game should begin in about a week from now. I have more characters than I anticipated, so I'm aiming even higher... 70+ players. :sweatdrop:Crazed Rabbit is doing the map, so it should be done within a week or two, just in time for the game to start. After that I need to scatter everyone's starting locations, which will take no more than an hour or so.

I estimate only 2 more sitting's worth of work to go. :2thumbsup: I only did like 11 so far. :laugh4: The first parts were hard, the rest is a breeze.

[Zain]

70+ players, you should just quit your day job :laugh4: (or school :sweatdrop:)

Good luck! Like I've said already, if you need help let me know!

[Tratorix]

70+ players?!?!? :dizzy2:

This may be the first game in .org history that actually kills the host.

[Askthepizzaguy]

If Seamus can do it then I must'st do it!!!!

[Death is yonder]

70+ players.

:jawdrop:

All I can say, is good luck :yes:

This game is certainly on my "Highly Anticipated List" :beam:

[Askthepizzaguy]

Interesting bit of trivia about this game:

I can start at the beginning of my Wordpad document and hit PageDown 131 times.

Wordcount:

166,143 characters
29,512 words

:stupido:

Based on this, I estimate I've done more actual pre-game writing on this game than all other games I've ever hosted combined. And I'm not done yet.

If I typed at a rate of 1 character per second, I'd have been working on this for 46 hours and about 10 minutes. I've spent about 12 hours working on it.


By comparison, the amount of text in the role PMs for The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror Mafia, one of my largest games to-date, was

32167 characters
4860 words

And the Monty Python and the Holy Grail Mafia PMs (by far the most amount of text I've written for a game) were

48238 characters
8005 words

[Beefy187]

And I thought my pre writing for Alien vs Yakuza was long :sweatdrop:
Good luck ATPG, it will be fun no doubt but do take care of your self. (And Diana)

[Askthepizzaguy]

You won't be joining us, I presume? RL keeping you busy?

If you do come back, I'm sure I'll need replacement characters. Given the amount of people in the game, I'm sure you'll see Capo III-level inactivity. :sweatdrop: I imagine I'll lose a good 5-10 players that way alone.

[Beefy187]

You won't be joining us, I presume? RL keeping you busy?

If you do come back, I'm sure I'll need replacement characters. Given the amount of people in the game, I'm sure you'll see Capo III-level inactivity. :sweatdrop: I imagine I'll lose a good 5-10 players that way alone.

I'm out of this school in 3 days. Hopefully :sweatdrop:
After that I should be fairly active unless something unexpected happens.

[pevergreen]

I doubt you will get 70, tbh. :shrug:

I'm out. Not my cup of tea.

[Zain]

Release date?

[Askthepizzaguy]

As of right now I am just waiting on Crazed Rabbit's map, and he just gave me an update yesterday and a preview of the map, and it's looking good. :2thumbsup:

When I get the map, I have to scatter the items on it and the starting locations of the players. I need to make sure it's balanced. I don't want to have any one faction given too much of an advantage over the others.

Give me a week after the map is done, and then I'll open sign-ups. Perhaps 2 weeks from now?

[Askthepizzaguy]

I spent all day today balancing the game some more, and refining the game mechanics so the game is actually playable... fair enough such that everyone should have a chance to survive a few rounds based on smart moves, but also possible for people to be aggressive, or defensive, or commit several kills. And so forth.












I have an idea of how many grid squares I will need for a balanced game.

Grid size:

The grid will be a whopping 30*30 squares, if I get anywhere from 60-80 players. Otherwise I will reduce it perhaps to 25*25.









Map too big?

As players die off, there will be a system of shrinking the map to make it more possible to bump into other players. The fringes of the map will become "on fire", and this fire will spread toward the center of the map. Much like Zain's battle royale game. However this fire will not appear until many players are dead.












Movement and combat system:

You begin the round with an "awareness radius" around you. You can see any non-stealth mode players inside this awareness radius, but won't be able to identify anyone for certain unless you are standing in the same grid coordinate as you. You have a chance of identifying someone in the adjacent grid squares with a higher awareness rating.

Before you move, you have the option of doing the following, instead of moving.

ENGAGE TARGET: uses movement points to prevent someone in your zone of control (your square and the 8 surrounding you) from performing their movement out of your range without at least one round of combat. Only works on one target in your zone of control. This is a manual command. It will not function without your explicit orders, and it also doesn't work against those who were engaged in combat with you in the previous round and chose to flee. This happens instead of movement orders.

SNIPER RIFLE: You may fire your long-range weapon once at anyone in your awareness radius. This counts as your move for the round.

SEARCH THOROUGHLY: Executes the search command. This is a manual command. It will not function without your explicit orders. This kind of search attempts to locate anything inside your zone of control (9 squares) and is more effective than the usual search command. This counts as your move for the round.

STEALTH MODE: Hides in this location. This is a manual command. It will not function without your explicit orders. This is your move for the round.









If you instead decide to move to a new location, you can set your character to automatically do the following when you get there:

1. Berserker - Kill anything you see
(Automatically gets a first strike against all targets in your grid location)

2. Assassinate - Try to kill anyone you see while in stealth mode.
(This gives a first strike to any opponent who wins the awareness check against your stealth rating, but if they fail, you have an automatic first strike against them in your grid location)

3. Vigilante - Kill anything that doesn't look human
(Targets zombies and other non-human creatures in a first strike, but doesn't fire first on humans or things that look human in your grid location)

4. Stealth Vigilante - Kill anything that doesn't look human while in stealth mode.
(This gives a first strike to any opponent who wins the awareness check -in your grid location- against your stealth rating, but if they fail, you have a automatic first strike against non-human creatures. You do not attack any humans.)

5. Defensive - Kill anything that attacks you
(Doesn't gain a first strike against anyone, but automatically returns fire against anyone who attacks you in your grid location, adds to your defense rolls.)

6. Stealth- Hide from everyone; pure stealth mode.
(This gives a first strike to any opponent in your grid location who wins the awareness check against your stealth rating, but if they fail, you remain hidden and do not attack them.)

7. Search quickly- Search this grid location for anything you can find.
(This is useful if you don't intend to stay in this location for longer than one round, but it only searches one square instead of nine. Basically a "search on the move" order)

8. Cooperate- Seek alliance with anyone who also seeks alliance.
(Automatically gives first strike to your opponent, who can use this to attack you in your grid location. If they also seek alliance, you will never automatically attack them, you must order the attack manually. Anyone who sees you in their awareness radius will know you seek an alliance)










BATTLE MODE: If you engage in combat, do you stand your ground until death, or do you run away and fight another day? If you both stand your ground, you attack one another over several "rounds" of battle (all within this turn) until one of you dies. Standing your ground may be a good idea if you are in a group, as your group won't scatter during the fight.

HOLD YOUR GROUND- No retreat. Either they retreat or you fight to the death. If they retreat, you know which direction they moved.

RUN AWAY- Retreat after the first combat round. You do not know which direction your attacker moves.

Ok, sound complicated? Here, let me try to simplify it for you.











This is your Zone of Control.

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/ZoneOfControl.png

You are marked in the center, the white X. The black area in your square and the 8 surrounding you is your "Zone of control". At the start of the round, there may be no one standing inside your zone of control. If there is someone, you can attack them before they leave your zone of control. Likely, you will only be able to engage in one combat round's worth of battle before they leave, unless they decided to engage you as well in combat. But this won't happen unless you tell me so.







This could be your awareness radius (larger or smaller)

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/Awareness7-9.png

Some of you may have a high awareness, and perhaps a long range weapon like a sniper rifle. You can use this turn to "snipe" at anyone you see inside your awareness radius. But you can't move. You also lose the first strike attempt against anyone attacking you, because you're focused on sniping, not your surroundings.

You may instead decide to search the entire area that is your "zone of control". That takes time. You are considered "busy" and won't get the first strike if someone attacks you.

You can also attempt to simply hide. This might be useful after you just killed someone and have no wish to move anywhere just yet... or you think this is a good location to stand your ground.










If you elect not to do any of these things, you'll move:

Anywhere inside your movement radius. Here is a sample movement radius:

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/Speed6-9.png

You'll then execute your post-movement behavior order, and your battle order, which could be any combination of several orders, example:

Defensive mode, but Run Away if there's combat.

Assassination mode, and Hold your ground if there's combat.

Stealth, Run Away.

Search, Run Away.

Vigilante, Hold your ground.

And so on, and so on.

If you elect to run away, then you have no choice but to flee in a more or less random direction in the next round, and give your post-movement behavior order again, and your battle order again.













Still looks confusing?

Okay. It's actually quite simple... Here's some sample commands.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to search my zone of control this round instead of moving". Set mode to Run Away if there's combat.

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to use my sniper rifle against the target distance 3 north and 1 west of me, instead of moving. Set mode to Run away if there's combat."

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to engage in combat with the person adjacent to me in my zone of control, directly southwest of me, instead of moving. Set mode to Stand my ground."

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to move diagonally up and to the left 2 squares. When I get there, engage Defensive mode and Run Away if there's combat."

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to move 4 squares to the north, and when I get there, offer Cooperation to anyone who seeks it, and Run Away if there's combat."

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to stay put and offer Cooperation to anyone who seeks it, and Stand my ground if here's combat."

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to move 3 squares diagonally southwest, and go into Berserk mode when I get there. Stand my ground if there's combat... kill them all!

Done. See? Not that hard... but you have a lot of options, so you have a lot of control over how you wish to move and play your character, and what tactics and strategies you use.





Specific commands:

"Askthepizzaguy, when I move to the new location (police station) attempt to enter the building.
Or-

attempt to ascend the building and get on the roof.
Or-

Or attempt to hide behind the bushes... or whatever."

You've got a lot of options. You can tell me you want to get up on the roof and try to be a sniper, taking out anyone you see in your awareness radius. Your height advantage might give you an extra stealth point.

Or perhaps you hide behind the building, where you find a bunch of metal trash cans. You could use the lid as a shield and see what happens. Maybe you gain an item which gives you some sort of defense. Maybe you open the lid and a zombie pops out. You never know.

You can also give me detailed instructions on combat:




Detailed combat:

"Askthepizzaguy, I want to use my shotgun first, and then switch to my machine gun for the remainder of combat. I aim for the head." And I'll try to be realistic here. If for example you asked to aim for the head, what if they had head protection? It has a greater chance of failing. If they don't, it has a greater chance of working. And so on. You could also suggest to me that you want to run away (countermanding your stay and fight order) if you run into a zombie horde. I'm not a robot, you can give me detailed instructions, it does compute.

If you have a special item like a grenade, obviously you have to tell me to use it, even if you have no other items. I don't want to waste your items.

"Askthepizzaguy, I want to backstab the group that I am "allied" with inside my zone of control. I use my grenade and blow up as many of them as I can, then I switch to my Shotgun. I set mode to Run Away.... hehehehe.... kill them and then run away before the rest of them can do much damage!"











As you can see, you have the option to be very devious in this game, and cause serious damage....


Comments? I know, I know.... this is a complicated game.

[Askthepizzaguy]

Guild keeps having an odd database error. I can't edit my previous post to include this one, sorry for the double post.


Additional concerns: Game balance and fairness

My starting character will never win this game! :cry: My stats aren't geared toward combat and I don't have an awesome weapon or a lot of vitality points.


Okay, well keep your chin up, because there is a mostly level playing field. If your stats aren't geared toward combat or strength or vitality... then you might be particularly speedy, or particularly aware of your surroundings, or you might be really lucky! Speed helps, because better speed allows you additional melee attacks in a round. Even the weakest of the weak could grab a metal pipe and smash some bozo's head in after a couple of hard swings, due to their speed and luck, perhaps. Luck helps you avoid damage and find better weapons, healing items, even items which can boost your stats! Having a high awareness increases your line of sight and helps you spot danger. Being able to sneak around might help your so-called "weak" character. No matter what your stats are, there's something you can end up doing with them. The only problem is when you have almost no vitality. But there's a mechanism built into the game which makes your final vitality point the hardest one to lose, and if you're missing other stats, you're bound to have luck which could make that final vitality point last until you get some healing items, protective gear, better weapons, and better stats. Luck and awareness help you boost your other stats in the long run.

The characters which will "grow" the least are the ones which start off mega-strong. They have high combat and strength and stealth and whatnot, but they might have miserable luck... some might be physically super-powerful but are unable to wield weapons at all... which means they can never be as powerful as you can. Assuming you can pick up a weapon and are lucky enough to have a good one, or lucky enough to hit your "superior" opponent, they might lose a lot of health. A couple of solidly placed hits, and they are on the verge of death. Then there's sniper weapons. Pick off the really mean ones at a distance. Or groups... come now, you might not be impressive by yourself, but work together... some players have a defensive ability, some have a healing ability... pool your talents, I'm sure you'll come up with something. Besides, several pairs of eyes means more items found... which means better weapons and stats, and more recovery items. I'd say a good 90% of you won't run into such bad luck that you get gang-attacked by zombies right away with no weapons to defend yourself. And even then, you can run away. If you run away over and over and keep getting hit, well... you might die. It's possible that things don't work out for you like that.

No one will be forced to have a truly atrocious character, or combat rating, or have no vitality to spare. All townies have the option to allocate points toward those things, if you're truly concerned with dying right off the bat. Because characters can work together, pick others off at a distance, hide, heal, defend, and even grow their stats and find better weapons, any player can win the game.

And if things go really, truly unfairly bad for you, and you lose out right off the bat, maybe I'll put you down as a reserve player and have you replace someone else's character if they go inactive. Everyone will have a chance to have some fun and engage in an epic, all-out war if they want to.

And besides, if you die, you can become a zombie and go try and eat the person who killed you. :grin:

[Cultured Drizzt fan]

As you can see, you have the option to be very devious in this game, and cause serious damage....


Comments? I know, I know.... this is a complicated game.



As long as you don't mind my compulsive and 8 paragraph orders I think I will do fine :wink2:

this sounds epic to the utmost degree. :yes:

[Death is yonder]

Hard work put into the game by the host begets hard work put into writing orders by the players. :yes:

I think that your game is offering a playable game for everyone, irregardless of the stage of the game, should be very fun :beam:

You can dictate your own path, choose your own alliances, temporary or no, the options are virtually limitless, limited by but your imagination :2thumbsup:

[Askthepizzaguy]

As long as you don't mind my compulsive and 8 paragraph orders I think I will do fine :wink2:

this sounds epic to the utmost degree. :yes:

I won't mind your orders at all.

Please be kind and highlight any parts which are very important for me to know. But I will make every effort to read and take into consideration your strategies.


Hard work put into the game by the host begets hard work put into writing orders by the players. :yes:

I think that your game is offering a playable game for everyone, irregardless of the stage of the game, should be very fun :beam:

You can dictate your own path, choose your own alliances, temporary or no, the options are virtually limitless, limited by but your imagination :2thumbsup:

I will be keeping a log of everyone's orders throughout the game, and at the end, each player will be given their own individual summary so people can see the various paths taken in the game.

Also, your excellent detailed orders will be there for anyone to read if they wish.

[Cultured Drizzt fan]

Awesome. :yes:

[Askthepizzaguy]

You can kill individual zombies or even groups of them, but more will spawn and keep coming. It's impossible to defeat them all. however, killing them causes them to miss a turn, and then spawn elsewhere on the map, giving you a temporary reprieve.

On further reflection and testing, the game will work better if the zombies aren't totally immortal.

As there are fewer living players, the map will continue to shrink due to the fires. But since the zombies are still there, that means same amount of people, in a smaller space. It could get pretty crowded, and since the zombies are immortal, that means the game could become impossible.

As such, the zombies will have a maximum of three spawns. After each player is killed 3 times, he or she is gone forever. So it is technically possible, albeit unlikely, to defeat the zombies permanently.











ANNOUNCEMENT: The amount of people indicating interest in this game is almost a third of the amount of players I need, and I have not opened sign ups yet... I imagine I will get a full roster of players after all.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Sporting a fancy new banner.... :beam: Banner at the top of the page (original post) now links to the theme song for the game.

[Askthepizzaguy]

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/Banner.jpg

RULES: Updated as of November 15th


OVERVIEW

The setting is a town called Dark Falls, a fictional town in the United States. A terrible accident at a local bio-research facility has resulted in an outbreak of an experimental bio-agent, a new strain of the so-called Omega virus. These events take place years after the original viral outbreak at Raccoon City, and the United States government has moved quickly to quarantine the area. Because there are thousands of lives at stake, and the political fallout from Raccoon City being nuked was rather severe, there is a rescue plan in operation. There will be only a few ways in or out of the quarantine zone, where victims of the outbreak and potential carriers will be placed inside vehicles which will transport people to a sealed underground facility for a thorough screening and observation process. If they exhibit no signs of the virus, or they are able to fight it off, they will be released after an extended stay.

However, exiting the town will be rather difficult. During the initial rioting, the local government sealed off the routes out of the town, as the federal government had not arrived yet. After the local law enforcement and many officials got infected by the Omega-II strain, steps were taken by these newly insane individuals to make it almost impossible to escape. Bridges were blown up, tunnels collapsed, and security walls, barbed wire, explosives, and infected dogs were deployed around the town, to allow further transformation to take place. But there is still Route 3, the main highway that runs north toward Canada. The United States government has deployed the rescue teams just outside the quarantine zone, on this highway. Leaflets were dropped urging people to exit in small groups and head to the rendezvous point in an orderly fashion. Presently there's no way to safely get to this highway, but it should be possible to break through the barricades and the zombies.

While some are trying to escape from Dark Falls, there are others interested in getting in. Some for nefarious purposes, some not. And some are trying to actively prevent people from leaving... the battle for the souls trapped inside Dark Falls begins.THE FACTIONS

Townspeople:

People who begin with basic skills, often starting in small groups. They rely on each other to stay alive. When they die, they turn into zombies, as they have all been exposed to the Omega virus. A minimum number of townspeople must escape from Dark Falls alive. The more who manage to do this, the better the town's overall score. In order to escape from Dark Falls, certain obstacles must be overcome, and certain items must be found.

Mercenaries:

These are trained, intermediate skilled fighters hired by the Umbrella Corporation, or their rival, Syntech. Some are actually rescue teams... others not so much. Their objective depends on who hired them. Each has an individual goal which may help, harm, or do nothing to the town.

Zombies:

These are fallen townies whose only objective is to convert more people into zombies. These are infected by the Omega Virus. Objective for the Zombies: Eat, eat, eat... kill the townspeople and turn them into the walking dead... spreading the seed of destruction further.

Plague Demons:

You don't know much about them, but you know these are terrifyingly frightening creatures. Don't even begin to think of them as human. Objective for the Plague Demons: It's a secret...

Secret Factions:

You will have to wait and be surprised.HOW TO PLAY

How do I play this game?

You will be getting a ROLE which contains all relevant information about your character, with information about your personal mission. You'll have goals you wish to reach. You will also likely wish to take the points you are given and allocate them to your character in several categories, giving your character strengths in some categories, and possibly weaknesses in others. Or you can accept a perfectly balanced, bland character.

Right off the bat, you will be told where you are on the map, and you'll have to make a decision as to how to proceed. You won't know too much at the beginning, so it is OK to make just about any choice. Do you stay where you are, or do you explore? Most likely, you'll explore.

1. Decide where you want to go on the map. You are aware of your starting location and your immediate surroundings, and you also have a reliable map of Dark Falls, since you live there, you're aware of the general layout. Make sure you don't die there.

2. You will be allowed to move a certain distance (radius) from your location, based on your speed and how much you're carrying. You will know how far on the grid you can move in any given phase. If this changes, I'll tell you. Your character card will also serve as a reference so you know how far you can move.

3. Decide what actions you wish to take when you get there. You can be purely aggressive, and wipe out anything you see... which can have good or bad consequences. You can be cautious and react depending on the situation, which can have good or bad consequences. You can be diplomatic and try to ally with other townsfolk and try to work together, which leaves you more vulnerable. You can also choose to exhaustively search the area once you get there, which also leaves you vulnerable to surprise attacks. You can also choose to move there slowly, so you arrive after other people might, and try to sneak attack them. If they are prepared, however, they will get the drop on YOU.





Movement and combat system:

You begin the round with an "awareness radius" around you. You can see any non-stealth mode players inside this awareness radius, but won't be able to identify anyone for certain unless you are standing in the same grid coordinate as you. You have a chance of identifying someone in the adjacent grid squares with a higher awareness rating.

Before you move, you have the option of doing the following, instead of moving.

ENGAGE TARGET: uses movement points to prevent someone in your zone of control (your square and the 8 surrounding you) from performing their movement out of your range without at least one round of combat. Only works on one target in your zone of control. This is a manual command. It will not function without your explicit orders, and it also doesn't work against those who were engaged in combat with you in the previous round and chose to flee. This happens instead of movement orders.

SNIPER RIFLE: You may fire your long-range weapon once at anyone in your awareness radius. This counts as your move for the round.

SEARCH THOROUGHLY: Executes the search command. This is a manual command. It will not function without your explicit orders. This kind of search attempts to locate anything inside your zone of control (9 squares) and is more effective than the usual search command. This counts as your move for the round.

STEALTH MODE: Hides in this location. This is a manual command. It will not function without your explicit orders. This is your move for the round.









If you instead decide to move to a new location, you can set your character to automatically do the following when you get there:

1. Berserker - Kill anything you see who isn't a known ally of yours.
(Automatically gets a first strike against all targets in your grid location)

2. Assassinate - Try to kill anyone you see while in stealth mode. This is basically the same thing as Berserker, but you try to get the drop on them while engaged in stealth. If you defeat them, you will still be in stealth mode! The risk here is that they spot you coming and attack first.
(This gives a first strike to any opponent who wins the awareness check against your stealth rating, but if they fail, you have an automatic first strike against them in your grid location)

3. Vigilante - Kill anything that doesn't look human
(Targets zombies and other non-human creatures in a first strike, but doesn't fire first on humans or things that look human in your grid location)

4. Stealth Vigilante - Kill anything that doesn't look human while in stealth mode. After combat, you will return to stealth mode.
(This gives a first strike to any opponent who wins the awareness check -in your grid location- against your stealth rating, but if they fail, you have a automatic first strike against non-human creatures. You do not attack any humans.)

5. Defensive - Kill anything that attacks you.
(Doesn't gain a first strike against anyone, but automatically returns fire against anyone who attacks you in your grid location, adds to your defense rolls.)

6. Stealth- Hide from everyone; pure stealth mode.
(This gives a first strike to any opponent in your grid location who wins the awareness check against your stealth rating, but if they fail, you remain hidden and do not attack them.)

7. Search quickly- Search this grid location for anything you can find.
(This is useful if you don't intend to stay in this location for longer than one round, but it only searches one square instead of nine. Basically a "search on the move" order)

8. Cooperate- Seek alliance with anyone who also seeks alliance.
(Automatically gives first strike to your opponent, who can use this to attack you in your grid location. If they also seek alliance, you will never automatically attack them, you must order the attack manually. Anyone who sees you in their awareness radius will know you seek an alliance)










BATTLE MODE: If you engage in combat, do you stand your ground until death, or do you run away and fight another day? If you both stand your ground, you attack one another over several "rounds" of battle (all within this turn) until one of you dies. Standing your ground may be a good idea if you are in a group, as your group won't scatter during the fight.

NOTE: YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE IN RUN AWAY MODE IF YOU DO NOT SPECIFY.

HOLD YOUR GROUND- No retreat. Either they retreat or you fight to the death. If they retreat, you know which direction they moved.

RUN AWAY- Retreat after the first combat round. You do not know which direction your attacker moves.

Ok, sound complicated? Here, let me try to simplify it for you.











This is your Zone of Control.

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/ZoneOfControl.png

You are marked in the center, the white X. The black area in your square and the 8 surrounding you is your "Zone of control". At the start of the round, there may be no one standing inside your zone of control. If there is someone, you can attack them before they leave your zone of control. Likely, you will only be able to engage in one combat round's worth of battle before they leave, unless they decided to engage you as well in combat. But this won't happen unless you tell me so.







This could be your awareness radius (larger or smaller)

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/Awareness7-9.png

Some of you may have a high awareness, and perhaps a long range weapon like a sniper rifle. You can use this turn to "snipe" at anyone you see inside your awareness radius. But you can't move. You also lose the first strike attempt against anyone attacking you, because you're focused on sniping, not your surroundings.

You may instead decide to search the entire area that is your "zone of control". That takes time. You are considered "busy" and won't get the first strike if someone attacks you.

You can also attempt to simply hide. This might be useful after you just killed someone and have no wish to move anywhere just yet... or you think this is a good location to stand your ground.










If you elect not to do any of these things, you'll move:

Anywhere inside your movement radius. Here is a sample movement radius:

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/Speed6-9.png

You'll then execute your post-movement behavior order, and your battle order, which could be any combination of several orders, example:

Defensive mode, but Run Away if there's combat.

Assassination mode, and Hold your ground if there's combat.

Stealth, Run Away.

Search, Run Away.

Vigilante, Hold your ground.

And so on, and so on.

If you elect to run away, then you have no choice but to flee in a more or less random direction in the next round, and give your post-movement behavior order again, and your battle order again.













Still looks confusing?

Okay. It's actually quite simple... Here's some sample commands.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to search my zone of control this round instead of moving". Set mode to Run Away if there's combat.

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to use my sniper rifle against the target distance 3 north and 1 west of me, instead of moving. Set mode to Run away if there's combat."

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to engage in combat with the person adjacent to me in my zone of control, directly southwest of me, instead of moving. Set mode to Stand my ground."

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to move diagonally up and to the left 2 squares. When I get there, engage Defensive mode and Run Away if there's combat."

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to move 4 squares to the north, and when I get there, offer Cooperation to anyone who seeks it, and Run Away if there's combat."

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to stay put and offer Cooperation to anyone who seeks it, and Stand my ground if here's combat."

Done.


"Askthepizzaguy, I wish to move 3 squares diagonally southwest, and go into Berserk mode when I get there. Stand my ground if there's combat... kill them all!

Done. See? Not that hard... but you have a lot of options, so you have a lot of control over how you wish to move and play your character, and what tactics and strategies you use.





Specific commands:

"Askthepizzaguy, when I move to the new location (police station) attempt to enter the building.
Or-

attempt to ascend the building and get on the roof.
Or-

Or attempt to hide behind the bushes... or whatever."

You've got a lot of options. You can tell me you want to get up on the roof and try to be a sniper, taking out anyone you see in your awareness radius. Your height advantage might give you an extra stealth point.

Or perhaps you hide behind the building, where you find a bunch of metal trash cans. You could use the lid as a shield and see what happens. Maybe you gain an item which gives you some sort of defense. Maybe you open the lid and a zombie pops out. You never know.

You can also give me detailed instructions on combat:




Detailed combat:

"Askthepizzaguy, I want to use my shotgun first, and then switch to my machine gun for the remainder of combat. I aim for the head." And I'll try to be realistic here. If for example you asked to aim for the head, what if they had head protection? It has a greater chance of failing. If they don't, it has a greater chance of working. And so on. You could also suggest to me that you want to run away (countermanding your stay and fight order) if you run into a zombie horde. I'm not a robot, you can give me detailed instructions, it does compute.

If you have a special item like a grenade, obviously you have to tell me to use it, even if you have no other items. I don't want to waste your items.

"Askthepizzaguy, I want to backstab the group that I am "allied" with inside my zone of control. I use my grenade and blow up as many of them as I can, then I switch to my Shotgun. I set mode to Run Away.... hehehehe.... kill them and then run away before the rest of them can do much damage!"
CHARACTER CARDS

Here's an example of what your character card will look like.

YOUR NAME- This is your name, obviously.

A sample image of your character:
https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/Claireredfield_2.jpg


Your stats: (This tells you how many points you have in each category. If you lose all your vitality points, you die)

Strength: 4
Combat: 4
Vitality: 4
Speed: 4
Stealth: 4
Awareness: 4
Luck: 4

You have 28 allocatable points to spend on your character. (Some will have more than others)

MISSION: -This describes your character and his/her objectives

You are ___YOUR NAME HERE___. Your objective is to get yourself and your fellow townspeople out of Dark Falls alive. Your personal survival is your objective, but this is a team game. The more townies survive, the better your overall score. However, your personal score drops when you die.

Your best bet after that, if you become a zombie, is to go for a zombie victory and hope for the best.

GOALS: -If the game ends and these conditions are met, you get a better overall score!

1. Survive

2. Escape from Dark Falls by any means necessary

ABILITIES: (If you had any abilities, they might go here)

Example:
Regeneration (replaces 1 lost vitality per phase until maximum)


MOVEMENT:
https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/Speed6-9.png

The white x represents the square you are in. You may move anywhere inside the green zone, unless that exceeds the playing area.

AWARENESS:
https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/Awareness10.png

The white x represents the square you are in. You are aware of things which happen inside your awareness zone... perhaps not fully, but you have some data.

Zone of control:
https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/ZoneOfControl.png

People inside your zone of control are susceptible to being targeted on the next round before they can even move! It costs your own movement to do this, however, and you can only target one player.

For the purposes of "sniper" actions, anyone inside your AWARENESS RADIUS is considered inside your zone of control.

ITEMS:

Green Herb

(Restores 2 Vitality)
Can be combined with Red Herb for FULL RESTORE
Can be combined with Yellow Herb for Restore 3, +1 Vitality
Can be combined with Red and Yellow Herb for FULL RESTORE +2 Vitality
https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/Greenherb.png


WEAPONS:

Basic Handgun (10)

Damage: 1 vitality point per combat round.
Speed: 1 bullet per combat round.
Reload: Can fire 10 bullets before reloading (useless during the next 15 minutes)


https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/250px-051001m.jpg


ACTION PHASE

The Action Phase


What is it? Well, this is when it is your turn to send me your orders for the day. You have either just started the game and gotten your character card, Role PM, and your starting location on the map, and you wish to make your first move, or

This is not your first move, so you got an update on your progress from the previous phase and now it is your turn to move again. The update will be sent to you privately and it will tell you your status, your ammunition left, your health, and what happened to you.

If you don't know what to do during the action phase, first make sure you've read the How To Play section. Then, read the Frequently Asked Questions section, it might help. If all else fails ask me a question, and I'll do my best to answer it. I can't tell you how to play, but if you need options, I can explain what your possible options are as briefly as I can. Some of them will be bad ideas, but they are still options.

This phase will last 24 hours if I have most of the orders. I might extend it to 48 hours if you guys need the extra time, but please send in your orders ASAP.WRITEUP PHASE

The Writeup Phase


What is it? Well, someone needs to take your 60-80 different orders and do something with it. That means carry out your orders. This is the most labor-intensive part of the game, and good news! You don't have to do it. That's my job. I search the area you wanted me to search, carry out your battle and non-battle orders, update your health, ammo, items list, etc... and then I give you a summary of what happened in your update, which I will send out as promptly as I can.

If I get my butt handed to me, this phase could take a full 24 hours. If I really need the help, I might extend it until it is all done, but I will END the writeup phase as soon as humanly possible. I'm just a boy... my processor can only carry out one command at a time.F.A.Q.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Well, I haven't gotten any questions yet... so feel free to ask me privately, and I'll generalize the answer and post it here.GAME RULES - You must read and understand these rules.

1. Observe all the Gameroom rules as posted in the Gameroom subforum. They are stickied for easy reference. The major thing that applies to this game is sportsmanship, because unlike most games, there are some aspects of the game I simply cannot police. I need you to be mature and not do things which break the game, as described here.

2. PRIVATE COMMUNICATION outside the thread about the game is not allowed unless specified exactly by the game host. No seriously, this is the biggest rule of them all. You cannot communicate telepathically across a city, so unless you have an item which allows such communication, you cannot talk to your friends or enemies about the game in any way shape or form. You may mention the game in passing to a friend who is not playing if you wish, but do not divulge your current stats, weapons, location, or other sensitive personal information. You never know who your friend might tell that information to... and having your friend communicate this information to other players on purpose is an intentional rule break and it is not allowed, no exceptions. If someone accidentally breaks this rule, please inform me immediately, and I'll send them a friendly warning. This is the best outcome for that situation. Otherwise, you're on the hook for this rule break as well.

ENFORCEMENT:

This particular rule is so important, that I need to be informed of any accidental rule breaks here immediately, to maintain the game balance. It is possible to keep playing, but there may be a penalty. Depending on the situation, I may have to release you from the game. However I value honesty and you may play other games of mine. Repeated or (In My Opinion) Intentional rule breaks will result in a ban from my games. Sorry. I am a pretty fair person, you'd have to really be doing wrong to be tossed out of my games. And if you get banned, you'd have to be doing something that would get you banned from other people's games too.

3. Screenshots or quoting/full revealing your Character Card or Private Message Role "Role PM" is also explicitly banned. However, you may tell people your name, your general objective, and what items or weapons you have, at your own peril. Just do not copy/paste my role PM, and do not ask anyone to reveal their role PM. Remember, the above rule (Number Two) still applies... you can't reveal anything to anyone you don't have contact with. (This means you need to have a method of communication, or you need to be in the same grid coordinate or you need to be in adjacent grid coordinates)

4. When you die

Hey, this is a survival game, but in games, sometimes you lose. It's not the end of the world. And, in this case, it's probably not the end of the game either. You can continue play as a zombie, provided you be a good sport and not break any of my rules, and you're OK giving up your previous allegiances and absorbing a new role and win condition. If the zombies lose the game, you should hope your original team wins. However, you get a better score if your new role (The zombies) win. If you go bananas because you died, I might ask a mod to delete your posts and remove you from the game. Be nice.

5. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION:

Much of the same rules apply to public communication as they do to private communication. You still cannot reveal your current location on the map or any private information. There will probably not be much public discussion... this is a game of hidden movements. However, you can comment on what you think of the public writeup (the update to the game everyone sees) or ask a question of the game host which does not reveal private information of yours. After the game is over, you may also make whatever comment you wish.

ENFORCEMENT:

See how I enforce the private communication rule. Only this time, I know when the rule has been broken and I'll warn against it immediately.

6. Other rules

If I need to adjust the rules or aspects of the game, I as the host have the prerogative to do so. I will attempt to keep my hands off, but I've never hosted a game like this before, and if I need to make a final balancing adjustment to the game or add or remove elements of the game, I reserve that right.

However, every change I make to the game (if any) will be logged and made public, with apologies that I did not do my job as a game designer and iron out any difficulties beforehand. If this change affects your character or your play in any way, you reserve the right to protest such an action, and you will get my sincere apologies. If I accidentally made your weapon too powerful, then I have learned my lesson for next time. However, if there is a major problem with the game (such as the LUCK stat being too powerful that it prevented normal combat) I may adjust its strength, globally, and announce that change. Other than that, I really have to leave the game as-is and hope for the best. Any change will be made in good faith and with the best interests of fairness and fun.

7. Phase length

All phases will be timed and based on either a 24 or 48 hour length, with the time adjusted to meet Eastern Standard Time (United States), which I believe is GMT -5:00 hours.

I will not end your action phases early. I may end my own writeup phase as soon as it is done, and just grant you the extra time as part of the next action phase, for your pleasure, convenience, and to keep the game moving.


I reserve the right to add a new rule here, if I need to do so I will announce it. Otherwise, just seven rules to worry about.



MAP


https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/DarkFallsGrid.jpg

This is just a rough sketch I drew. The actual map will look much better than this. It is still being worked on by our volunteer artist.

The actual map is still UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Last updated a week ago.


https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/askthepizzaguy/MapwithGrid.png

[Askthepizzaguy]

Game opens for sign ups tomorrow, which means that if the game is open for sign ups for a week, the game would start on thanksgiving.

That's not going to happen since most of you have uh.... lives. So the game will begin right after thanksgiving. I will make sure all this is OK with the gameroom hosts.

This thread will be closed soon, and I'll thank the frontroom mods for allowing this discussion, which I must admit, even I'm not sure goes in the frontroom but thank you for the space, I needed it.

:bow: