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[Fort Zombie] V.1.0.7, 75% OFF SALE till Nov 1, game costs less than Halloween candy
AlanF5
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Fort Zombie is the latest game from Kerberos Studios. It's difficult to put into a genre; there's elements of strategic base management, action-RPG, and survival horror in equal measure.
You play the role of Ben Riley as he struggles in the zombie apocalypse. The challenge is that you have decided to take a stand in a small town, and you have about two weeks to get ready to survive a wave of undead shambling out from a nearby large city. You'll start by choosing stats and skills and a building to use as a fortified central position. Once you've actually made it there and cleaned it out, you'll chase down rumors of supplies and survivors in randomly-generated maps. If you're careful and lucky, you'll even make it back to the fort with your scavenged loot.
Mifio is doing a Let's Play. Watch him die horribly!
Here's an official video.
It's designed to be a game that you can play through once in a few hours, but that you'll want to play again and again. Your choice of stats, skills, and fort have a significant impact on how the game plays, and there's more than enough randomness to keep each playthrough unique.
It's well supported. The dev team is small, but experienced. Released around Haloween, Fort Zombie has already received a couple of major updates that fixed some instalation, stability, and performance issues, as well as added new map pieces and items, improved the interface and pathfinding, and tweaked the game rules.
On sale for $2.49 until November 1st from GamersGate. It's still $10 at Impulse and D2D.
I'm bad at OP's, so ask questions and make suggestions and I'll keep this updated.
Q & A Section:
Q: Is it Multiplayer?
A: No.
Q: Will this be released on Steam?
A: Maybe, but no one is saying when. You could ask Steam or Paradox (the publishers of FZ) directly.
Q: What's the latest version?
A: 1.0.7. Kerberos completed this version on July 6, 2010. It's available at GamersGate, D2D, and impulse now; check your disributor's website for details.
Open the spoiler for patch notes:
Fort Zombie 1.0.7 (official thread)
Fixes
1- Fixed crash from diving through certain windows.
2- Fixed crashes due to NPC special abilities.
3- Fixed zombie climbing bug that allowed zombies to pass through walls and doors.
4- Improved Zombie and NPC pathing in many tight spaces.
Changes
1- Small range extensions for all handguns
2- Increased number of zombies in final battle.
3- More accurate targeting locations on zombies.
4- Targeting Reticle now shows whether target is at Short, Medium, Long or out of range.
5- Out of range shooting now suffers from very large accuracy deviation.
6- Increased zombie ability to climb.
7- The destabilizing influence of the Deadworld has imbued small objects around Piety with magical attributes.
8- Medical healing now starts in the torso and spreads outwards
9- Can now stay out on missions till 4 AM.
Additions
1- NPC AI now accepts range (s/m/l) commands for engaging enemies.
2- Guns now come with Tac light variants to aid in night missions.
3- 2 new firearms...M1911a pistol and Model 70 Savage hunting rifle.
4- 3 new melee weapons...Machete, Sickle and Pitchfork
5- New properties such as the Corn Maze and Theater of Evil.
6- Skills now display rated AND final calculation levels
7- Night now comes earlier over the course of the game...harder levels result in faster progressions of night fall.
Fort Zombie 1.0.4 (official thread)
Fort Zombie 1.0.3 (official thread)
Fixes
1- Fixed crash from diving through certain windows.
2- Fixed crashes due to NPC special abilities.
3- Fixed zombie climbing bug that allowed zombies to pass through walls and doors.
4- Improved Zombie and NPC pathing in many tight spaces.
Changes
1- Small range extensions for all handguns
2- Increased number of zombies in final battle.
3- More accurate targeting locations on zombies.
4- Targeting Reticle now shows whether target is at Short, Medium, Long or out of range.
5- Out of range shooting now suffers from very large accuracy deviation.
6- Increased zombie ability to climb.
7- The destabilizing influence of the Deadworld has imbued small objects around Piety with magical attributes.
8- Medical healing now starts in the torso and spreads outwards
9- Can now stay out on missions till 4 AM.
Additions
1- NPC AI now accepts range (s/m/l) commands for engaging enemies.
2- Guns now come with Tac light variants to aid in night missions.
3- 2 new firearms...M1911a pistol and Model 70 Savage hunting rifle.
4- 3 new melee weapons...Machete, Sickle and Pitchfork
5- New properties such as the Corn Maze and Theater of Evil.
6- Skills now display rated AND final calculation levels
7- Night now comes earlier over the course of the game...harder levels result in faster progressions of night fall.
Fort Zombie 1.0.4 (official thread)
Fixes:
1 - Fixed all known building, property, character and other art issues.
2 - Fixed survivors getting stuck in healing state.
3 - Fixed animation crashes.
4 - Fixed all known issues with zombie damage application.
5 - Fixed an issue where melee damage was being misinterpreted.
6 - Fixed bug with defend missions in the police station not ending.
7 - Fixed fuel/medicine tooltips showing wrong value.
8 - Fixed issues with zombie infection.
9 - Fixed issue where bottom row of survivors was not clickable.
10- Fixed issue where survivors in the base could disappear.
11- Fixed issue where zombie cops could shoot themselves.
12- Fixed issue where player could jump and attack while performing other actions.
13- Fixed ragdoll crash.
14- Fixed inventory auto-organize issue where items could end up overlapping.
15- Fixed potential crash with base lights.
16- Fixed breaking window crash.
17- Fixed issue where guns could be double-reloaded.
18- Fixed all known crashes that could result after playing multiple missions.
19- Fixed a crash related to doctor zombies re-attaching parts.
20- Squad now correctly continues to destination after encountering zombies.
21- Fixed various zombie base pathing bugs.
22- Fixed issue where the game clock would not be updated correctly after loading.
23- Fixed an issue where survivors would not recognize zombies as targets when there were lots of zombie parts lying around.
24- Fixed issue where base inventory was not updated after returning from a mission.
25- Fixed issue where base inventory would scroll to top every time an item was added.
26- Fixed crash that could occur wuhen avatar textures were disposed.
27- Fixed issues where survivors (especially in groups) would mill around each other instead of following.
Changes:
1 - Modified character animations.
2 - Prepared code base for future localization.
3 - Improvements to zombie and survivor AI.
4 - Tightened up issues in defend missions.
5 - Tommy Gun is now considered an SMG skill weapon
6 - Made squad medic indicator more clear on hud.
7 - Swinging weapons now reduces endurance.
8 - Improved mouse targeting AI for player.
9 - Barricades are easier to build.
10- Walk/run (CTRL) key now toggles walking and running by default. (Change in options if you prefer holding the key as in previous versions.)
11- Optimized mission variety
12- Barricades and traps are now immune to friendly fire.
13- Generators require more fuel now.
14- Nolonger possible for player to melee attack zombies through walls.
15- Players are now prevented from setting out for missions that they cannot return from before day's end.
16- It is no longer possible to reseed missions simply by reloading a saved game.
17- Game day now starts at 6 AM
Additions:
1 - Added tooltip for occupations in character setup.
2 - Can now name and delete saved games files.
3 - Added autosave.
4 - New props and properties.
5 - 2 New weapons in the SMG family
6 - Added a high score list.
7 - Added configurable key bindings to game options.
8 - Survivors now prefer the gun that does the most damage.
9 - Survivors are now sorted by family.
10- Game scores are now modified by game difficulty.
11- It is now possible to loot dead squad members.
12- Players can now right-click on a character avatar to get info on that character.
13- Saved games are now protected from corruption due to game crashes.
1 - Fixed all known building, property, character and other art issues.
2 - Fixed survivors getting stuck in healing state.
3 - Fixed animation crashes.
4 - Fixed all known issues with zombie damage application.
5 - Fixed an issue where melee damage was being misinterpreted.
6 - Fixed bug with defend missions in the police station not ending.
7 - Fixed fuel/medicine tooltips showing wrong value.
8 - Fixed issues with zombie infection.
9 - Fixed issue where bottom row of survivors was not clickable.
10- Fixed issue where survivors in the base could disappear.
11- Fixed issue where zombie cops could shoot themselves.
12- Fixed issue where player could jump and attack while performing other actions.
13- Fixed ragdoll crash.
14- Fixed inventory auto-organize issue where items could end up overlapping.
15- Fixed potential crash with base lights.
16- Fixed breaking window crash.
17- Fixed issue where guns could be double-reloaded.
18- Fixed all known crashes that could result after playing multiple missions.
19- Fixed a crash related to doctor zombies re-attaching parts.
20- Squad now correctly continues to destination after encountering zombies.
21- Fixed various zombie base pathing bugs.
22- Fixed issue where the game clock would not be updated correctly after loading.
23- Fixed an issue where survivors would not recognize zombies as targets when there were lots of zombie parts lying around.
24- Fixed issue where base inventory was not updated after returning from a mission.
25- Fixed issue where base inventory would scroll to top every time an item was added.
26- Fixed crash that could occur wuhen avatar textures were disposed.
27- Fixed issues where survivors (especially in groups) would mill around each other instead of following.
Changes:
1 - Modified character animations.
2 - Prepared code base for future localization.
3 - Improvements to zombie and survivor AI.
4 - Tightened up issues in defend missions.
5 - Tommy Gun is now considered an SMG skill weapon
6 - Made squad medic indicator more clear on hud.
7 - Swinging weapons now reduces endurance.
8 - Improved mouse targeting AI for player.
9 - Barricades are easier to build.
10- Walk/run (CTRL) key now toggles walking and running by default. (Change in options if you prefer holding the key as in previous versions.)
11- Optimized mission variety
12- Barricades and traps are now immune to friendly fire.
13- Generators require more fuel now.
14- Nolonger possible for player to melee attack zombies through walls.
15- Players are now prevented from setting out for missions that they cannot return from before day's end.
16- It is no longer possible to reseed missions simply by reloading a saved game.
17- Game day now starts at 6 AM
Additions:
1 - Added tooltip for occupations in character setup.
2 - Can now name and delete saved games files.
3 - Added autosave.
4 - New props and properties.
5 - 2 New weapons in the SMG family
6 - Added a high score list.
7 - Added configurable key bindings to game options.
8 - Survivors now prefer the gun that does the most damage.
9 - Survivors are now sorted by family.
10- Game scores are now modified by game difficulty.
11- It is now possible to loot dead squad members.
12- Players can now right-click on a character avatar to get info on that character.
13- Saved games are now protected from corruption due to game crashes.
Fort Zombie 1.0.3 (official thread)
Fixes:
1) Fixed all known text typos.
2) Fixed incorrect reputation change report.
3) Fixed issue where weapon collision hindered npc and player movement.
4) Various property aspects that hindered movement.
5) Fixed inventory drag and drop bugs.
6) Fixed known inventory icon glitches.
7) Fixed issue where some traps weren't being triggered.
8 M1 Garand skill fixed.
9) Various avatar issues.
10) Fixed known physics crashes.
11) Sound issues including, non-installation of some sound files and audio Master Volume slider
12) Various food values changed to correct levels.
13) Duplicate barricades and traps issue.
14) Some targeting issues.
15) Enfield rifle now shoots correctly.
16) Generators and power tools function correctly
Changes
1) Specific weapon skills have been removed from the character generation option. Only Umbrella Skills can be chosen initially.
2) Pass through to remove some property items to improve performance on lower end machines.
3) Partial consumption of food, medical and fuel supplies
4) Render System changes to combat anomalous slowdowns on some machines
5) Damage from legs is now passed onto torso when applicable.
6) Physics now runs single-threaded to eliminate mystery crashes and improve performance due to latency on some burdened systems.
7) The 'Very High' render quality in options has been removed as it was causing an increase in the number of OutOfVideoMemory exception incidents.
8 Skill improvements per day capped.
9) In mission first aid healing
10) Supplies, food and fuel now consumed incrementally instead of on an item by item basis
11) Zombie parts now dissappear over time to aid lower end machines.
12) Player avatar is now included in mission roster.
13) Alterations to make zombie attacks more consistent.
Additions
1) Added stow weapon key (U).
2) Added additional graphical feedback to inventory drag and drop.
3) 10+ new standard/mission properties
4) Disable sound option
5) Inverted Mouse control option
6) Various base inventory controls
7) Added incremental weapon reloading.
8 2 new automatic pistols
1) Fixed all known text typos.
2) Fixed incorrect reputation change report.
3) Fixed issue where weapon collision hindered npc and player movement.
4) Various property aspects that hindered movement.
5) Fixed inventory drag and drop bugs.
6) Fixed known inventory icon glitches.
7) Fixed issue where some traps weren't being triggered.
8 M1 Garand skill fixed.
9) Various avatar issues.
10) Fixed known physics crashes.
11) Sound issues including, non-installation of some sound files and audio Master Volume slider
12) Various food values changed to correct levels.
13) Duplicate barricades and traps issue.
14) Some targeting issues.
15) Enfield rifle now shoots correctly.
16) Generators and power tools function correctly
Changes
1) Specific weapon skills have been removed from the character generation option. Only Umbrella Skills can be chosen initially.
2) Pass through to remove some property items to improve performance on lower end machines.
3) Partial consumption of food, medical and fuel supplies
4) Render System changes to combat anomalous slowdowns on some machines
5) Damage from legs is now passed onto torso when applicable.
6) Physics now runs single-threaded to eliminate mystery crashes and improve performance due to latency on some burdened systems.
7) The 'Very High' render quality in options has been removed as it was causing an increase in the number of OutOfVideoMemory exception incidents.
8 Skill improvements per day capped.
9) In mission first aid healing
10) Supplies, food and fuel now consumed incrementally instead of on an item by item basis
11) Zombie parts now dissappear over time to aid lower end machines.
12) Player avatar is now included in mission roster.
13) Alterations to make zombie attacks more consistent.
Additions
1) Added stow weapon key (U).
2) Added additional graphical feedback to inventory drag and drop.
3) 10+ new standard/mission properties
4) Disable sound option
5) Inverted Mouse control option
6) Various base inventory controls
7) Added incremental weapon reloading.
8 2 new automatic pistols
Q: Where can I get the patch if I have an older version?
A: You can't, due to "codebase environment considerations". Some of the issues addressed were fundamental installation issues, so a patch wouldn't do. You'll need to uninstall the game, delete any temp files that the download distributor may have made, re-download the game, and re-install it. Unless your particular online vendor made a patch. Check at the online store you bought it from for details.
Q: What's the story like?
A: The story is scattered in pieces through the survivor's tales. Once you get a survivor back to the fort, you can read a bit of their personal story. Some of them have glimpses at the big picture, and others are strictly personal. It's nigh impossible to gather every survivor on a single playthrough. I'm treating their details as spoilers, though, and leaving the discovery of the story to you. There is also a forum devoted to the story behind the game.
I'll give you this much though... It's not a virus or radiation or any kind of rational scientific accident. It's an attack on the world of the living by something ancient and malevolent, something that hates and hungers. It creeps in through the cracks of despair and makes slaves of the fallen. Ben Riley has some instinct that now is the time and place to make a stand, and the indefinable qualities of leadership that let him gather and guide enough survivors to make a difference.
Q: How easy is it to mod the game?
A: This easy.
Q: Will this run on my computer?
A: Oficially, the system requirements are as follows:
Operating system: Windows XP SP2/Vista/7
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 6600 or equivalent
Memory: 2GB of RAM
Hard disk space: 1GB free hard drive space
Video: DirectX 9.0c SM2 compliant graphics card with 512M of RAM minimum.
Sound: DirectX-compatible
DirectX®:9.0c
Unofficially, some folks on the forums have been able to run okay with underpowered machines.Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 6600 or equivalent
Memory: 2GB of RAM
Hard disk space: 1GB free hard drive space
Video: DirectX 9.0c SM2 compliant graphics card with 512M of RAM minimum.
Sound: DirectX-compatible
DirectX®:9.0c
Hit the spoiler tag for the current list of submitted system specs and performance.
Runs well at high settings:
If that's not enough for you, then you could go to the Fort Zombie general discussion forum and ask about the performance for anyone with a similar rig to yours.
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium x64
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E8500 clocked to ~3.8GHz
RAM: 4GB
Video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
OS: Windows XP
CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 940 @ 3ghz
RAM: 2GB
Video: 896MB BFG GTX 260 OC™ MAXCORE™ 55
OS: ??
CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400
RAM: 4GB
Video: NVidia GTX275
OS: ??
CPU: 3.6 GHz quad-core
RAM: 4GB
Video: Radeon 5850 (1GB card).
Runs well at medium settings:
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E8500 clocked to ~3.8GHz
RAM: 4GB
Video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
OS: Windows XP
CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 940 @ 3ghz
RAM: 2GB
Video: 896MB BFG GTX 260 OC™ MAXCORE™ 55
OS: ??
CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400
RAM: 4GB
Video: NVidia GTX275
OS: ??
CPU: 3.6 GHz quad-core
RAM: 4GB
Video: Radeon 5850 (1GB card).
OS: Windows Vista on a Toshiba Satellite L300D Laptop
CPU: AMD Athlon ~1.9 GHz
RAM: 2.8GB
Video: ATI Radeon 3100 1403 MB
Runs well at low settings:
CPU: AMD Athlon ~1.9 GHz
RAM: 2.8GB
Video: ATI Radeon 3100 1403 MB
OS: Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit
CPU: Intel core 2 64-bit @ 2.13ghz (from 1.60g)
RAM: 2GB
Video: 512mb 8600GT
Runs well at very low settings:
CPU: Intel core 2 64-bit @ 2.13ghz (from 1.60g)
RAM: 2GB
Video: 512mb 8600GT
OS: Windows XP
CPU: Pentium 4 3.0ghz
RAM: 2GB
Video: Geforce 9600GT
CPU: Pentium 4 3.0ghz
RAM: 2GB
Video: Geforce 9600GT
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PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Oh good I'm not the only one who thought of this.
Game is ugly as sin by today's Crysis level standards, but definitely functional.
Gameplay seems to be more of the "survive in a world determined to kill you horribly" variety then the "kill billions of zombies" variety.
The game started me off with a very innacurate pistol, a bit of ammo, and told me to hike through town to capture my base. I assumed "hiking through town" meant "short walk". But instead, apparently the game spawned me on the opposite end of town, and the police department was slightly outside of town. That meant I had an army of zombies between me and my goal. Things did not end well the first time around.
I noticed some bad slowdown as I got near the fire department. The game apparently pre-generates a randomized world for you to play around in. Sort of like GTA, but with a zombie apocalypse. I'm not sure if the slowdown was due to the fact that the fire department was (ironically) on fire, or if there was a horde of zombies waiting inside to munch on my skull if I tried to poke around for a fire-axe or protective gear.
I suspect it was the latter, as the number of zombies outside sent me running to a nearby quarantine camp where I recieved several badly aimed shots from a gun-toting zombie hiding somewhere. I hid in a tent nearby until I heard it shuffle off, then made a break for it.
After doing some scavenging that went, horribly, horribly, wrong I ended up getting to the police department with 23 percent health left, a wounded leg, and constantly running out of stamina as a result of my injuries while a horde of pissed off ex-jogger zombies nipped at my ass.
I managed to slam the doors to the police department closed just as the first jogger (Literally, they're people who were jogging when they were zombified, and have the whole stereo-typical clothes set.) reached the steps.
The fact that I decided to make the ill-conceived decision to try and forage at a local gun-shop that had obviously been torn down and looted , and that had what appeared to be a few zombified hunters slackly holding rifles didn't help. I figured they couldn't shoot the damn things. Only, it turns out that they can, but their aim is absolutely terrible. Also, the zombies weren't hunters carrying rifles, but, were, upon closer inspection, zombified quarantine personel holding M16's, which certainly didn't balance things in my favor.
You're supposed to scavenge for supplies. You do this by relying on a stat (Inspection, I think. I chose the army career choice, so it was noticeably low.), and relying on your own, personal, eyes. So far all the food, medicine, fuel, and weaponry i've gotten so far has been visible in the gameworld, and using the inspection key just let me loot it from it's container.
Anyways, sifting around in the police department, I literally stumbled into a closet that turned out to be a looted armory, as the zombies outside were getting ready to knock down the police department's front doors and I was looking for somewhere to hide. I chanced onto a very big looking shotgun in the armory, and managed to fend the joggers outside off by taking cover behind the front desk of the station's lobby and popping them off as they ran inside and tried to climb over the nearby debris to get to me.
Shortly after that, I looted the place for everything it was worth, then captured the Police Station. I then went to my fort inventory and tried to use the gasoline that I had scavenged to start up the generators, and the game crashed. I suspect this is because I don't have a generator yet, and I caused a fault in the game's logic. I probably need to patch the game.
I haven't gotten past the capturing of my own fort so far, but the early game seems to be almost like a hardcore zombie survival sim, with RPG and strategy elements. Though maybe that'll change once I nab some better weaponry and a few survivors to help defend my make-shift fort.
My only complaint so far is the slowdown. I'm running on an alienware, so I shouldn't be getting lag from a game like this. It looks like that's getting fixed, though, judging by the forums.
So far i'd say I like it. It's inventive, definitely new, and takes the oft unseen approach of putting you in a situation where killing every zombie will lead to you running out of ammo and getting eaten alive.
I never asked for this!
We're dealing with the other Ben Riley.
Sorry, Kris, no MP. It's... not that kind of game.
Kaliyama, the Gamersgate reviews are better spelled and cover a broad range of love/hate.
Archonex's play-by-play is accurate, mostly. He captures the feel of being outnumbered, alone, and fragilely mortal in a world gone to hell. Discovering what places are good or bad to loot, what kind of zombies are the most dangerous, and barely limping home after a bad choice or a bit of bad luck. The game is almost rogue-like in its lethality.
The part you hike through is only a part of the town. Each mission generates a new set of properties to explore/loot/die horribly in. The prologue of the game always puts you at one corner of the map and the fort about as far from you as possible.
Some systems do start dropping frames around particular buildings or lots of fire and smoke or a whole lot of zombies. I don't notice any, except for the final battle, and a little bit at the start of each mission that goes away when i rotate the camera through a full 360. I'm running on a home built box, Windows Vista, Intel Core2 Duo E8500 clocked to ~3.8GHz, 4GB ram, GeForce GTX 260.
Scavenging is governed by Spot skill + Smarts stat. Browse the manual for a complete description of the skills and stats, what they do, and how they interact. If you lack a particular skill, you may be able to bring a survivor with you who has that skill, and they'll help out.
There is an issue where turning on the generator right after walking around the fort causes the game to crash. It should be okay if you turn on a generator after a mission or at the the start of a new day. Fuel does not have to be placed in the generator; it is drawn directly from the base inventory. So long as you have some gasoline in the base inventory, you can run the generator.
Similarly, food and medical supplies are used directly from the base inventory. The only time you need to hand medkits to individuals is if you want to use them as a medic in your looting party.
Randombattle, It may be coming out on Steam, but no one is saying when. You could ask Steam or Paradox (the publishers of FZ) directly.
The game is decidedly easier now that I understand the mechanics of head-shotting zombies. Usually I just rely on my beretta for taking out small groups while slowly backing up, or single zombies.
The M16 is a weapon of mass destruction, though. I managed to hold off about two dozen zombies from a boarded up house, using only a clip and a half of ammunition. It fires a three shot burst, has no cooldown on how fast you can fire it, and if one bullet hits, it's almost guaranteed to knock the zombie over, or if it hits a limb, spin them around, tear the limb off, and throw them to their knees. I've yet to see a zombie take all three bullets and not die. So aiming for the head isn't necessary, you just need to aim for the center mass, pull the trigger, and watch as their torso vaporizes.
My only concern is the amount of time the game gives you before the final battle. I don't think I can really set up a good defense in that amount of time. I might mod the timer so that I can have twice as much time.
Also, the companion AI is painfully stupid.
It wouldn't be that bad, but they don't understand when to jump when not following you. The "run to extraction point" command just sends them directly toward's the extraction point. So if you send them to the extraction point while exploring the far side of an area, they often get stuck on low-hanging objects, or in a corner.
gamersgate, impulse/stardock and d2d work just fine, and the only reason we're going to have sales and lower prices than retail is if competitors continue to exist to compete with steam. it's in your best interest to throw some business to other sites even if you're a steam fanboy.
Question: So story, any to be heard of?
I think I'm already dedicated to checking it out.
Go out at night if you want to see hordes of zombies wandering the streets. You can get one to two scavenging runs done in daylight, but you're going to have to chance a night-time run if you want to get all the possible rumours done in a day.
Friendly fire is off, so them hitting you doesn't matter, not that i've ever seen them do that. The companion AI is dull, however. Think Dead Rising dull.
From what i've seen zombies aren't too dangerous once you get set up. The problem is, you'll eventually get over-confident, or cock up, and you'll wander into a store filled with a dozen of them and you're fucked if you hesitate or don't have enough ammo from a really good gun to take them out.
The game appears to be fairly moddable. I just rewound my clock back to the first day so I could find more survivors. It shouldn't be too hard to add more zombies to the maps if that's your thing.
I will say, that scavenging at night-time is frigging hard as hell. I got about half a block to my target before I had to sprint for the exit-point. I had well over thirty zombies trying to hem me in, with more battering down the windows and doors to buildings to get at me. Given that zombies can only be killed by massive amounts of torso damage, or a head-shot, I had no chance of taking them out and surviving, even firing my M16 non-stop.
Having played it a bit more, I will warn anyone considering a purchase to beware the bugs. There's lots of crash-related bugs in the game currently. I just lost an awesome haul (Something like 200 food almost.) because I forgot to save after getting it back to my fort.
Also, I fully expect stairs and higher ground to defeat the zombies, considering that they're basically choke-points if you plan your defense right.
My current plan actually involves holding the lobby of the police station for as long as possible, with a line of survivors with Lee-Enfields and Garand M1's on the balcony firing down into the lobby, while shotgun toting survivors hide behind the barricades/front desk on the first floor, then slowly withdrawing to the roof when/if I can't hold it anymore. If I get overrun there, i'll just dive through the skylight and hope I don't die from the fall, while my minions get chomped on.
That was my experience except my eyes wandered to some gameplay footage and saw the Postal-level ugliness.
I can live with it not looking flash hot if it promises to deliver grim zombie apocalypse action.
It'll tide me over at the very least till that Zombie Survival RPG comes out.
What? When? Where? <explodes>
Marundo, the story is scattered in pieces through the survivor's tales. Once you get a survivor back to the fort, you can read a bit of their personal story. Some of them have glimpses at the big picture, and others are strictly personal. I think it's impossible to gather every survivor on a single playthrough. I'm treating their details as spoilers, though, and leaving the discovery of the story to you. There is also a forum devoted to story behind the game.
Axen, modding isn't really my thing, but there is an official forum for the modding community.
AngryPuppy, the min. specs do seem a bit high, but some folks on the forums have been able to run okay with underpowered machines. Your best bet is to go to the general discussion forum, ask about the performance for anyone with a similar rig to yours, and post your system specs.
Talon, the reason that they didn't use an established engine is because this whole game is an offshoot of the engine used for Northstar, a larger-scope game still in developmnet at Kerberos. I suspect that licencing another engine would have pushed the price past $10, too.
That's really what I'm buying the game for. Are the homebases well designed?
The forts are large public buildings that feel like they were built decades ago, occasionally refurbished, and they have pretty convincing archetecture. There is a Police Station, a Prison, and a School. They were designed to be a Police Station, a Prison, and a School. It's up to you to figure out how to take advantage of the rooms, corridors, stairways, and doorways in that building for maximum zombie killing potential.
It's entirely possible, and indeed, almost required, to hole up in them at night to fend off the hordes if you're doing a night-time scavenging run. Every attempt i've made at fighting fourty or so zombies out on the streets has lead to them simply overrunning me, or flanking me to the point where I end up getting surrounded.
Aside from that, the fort acts as a base of operations, and, like Alan said, can get hit every now and then. Which can be a surprise your first time through when you're still constructing defenses, and zombies decide to pour through a back entrance you left un-guarded.
They really need to patch the companion AI. I spend twice as much time scavenging with companions then I do alone. Dead Rising level AI isn't excusable in a hard-core zombie apocalypse sim.
I also kind of wonder if companion intelligence with weaponry is related to their skill in the weapon in question, as when I gave a sweet old granny a shotgun, she stood there half the time wondering what to do with it, but when I gave a "labour importer" (Read: human smuggler) a rifle, he proceeded to down three zombies over the course of a few seconds.
But did I read it correctly that you said Zombies shoot at you? I saw what looked like a football zombie which I assume runs faster (and other shit like that) but zombies with guns?
Im still gonna have to try this out I think.
So it is likely some people would do much better with a rifle then a pistol.
I played a L4D Survival modded server once that would allow building like it was the HL2 mod Sourcefort, it was so much fun but got silly boring after a while because the zombie AI didn't know how to deal with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RywI8mgRrk4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znn0bDO0BBA
One thing to keep in mind is how sneaky you are. There's a skill that can lower the amount of noise you make, but besides that, firing a gun off will attract the attention of any zombies nearby, who will investigate the noise, as will any other noises, like glass breaking, explosions, and other related things. You can run behind a building, and with a mild sneak rating, zombies will forget you were there after a few seconds.
Some zombies are wearing unique or different clothes. Zombies seem to have some randomized behavior patterns that are based off of what they did in life (I once saw a bunch of zombies in a house filled with empty beer bottles dancing around each other, for instance.), but you should generally be on your guard around specially dressed ones, as they have special traits.
Some of the zombies i've encountered so far are (Spoilered, in case people want to surprise themselves.)
Doctor Zombie: Has a needle and thread on his body. Uses it to stitch fallen zombies back together. When he see's a zombie, he'll go over to any missing body parts it might have, head included, pick it up, lurch over to the rest of the zombie, and start re-assembling it. Can be a royal pain in the ass to fight a group of zombies if he's hiding. Likes to appear in clinics and hospitals. Can sometimes be found in a surgery room that looks like the zombie in question was gleefully dissecting a patient while alive. Doesn't typically carry loot.
Also seems to be extremely good at hiding, much like the nurse zombie. Will scare the shit out of you sometimes, since they'll hide behind a door, where your camera won't see them once you walk in, and then try to grab you.
Nurse Zombie: See Doctor Zombie, sans the stitching. If you find one, there's a good chance there's a Doctor Zombie somewhere around there. These fuckers will spawn in the worst places. It's not uncommon to enter a room in a clinic and suddenly have one grab you out of nowhere and try to chow down. Doesn't carry loot as far as I can tell.
Cop Zombie: They have a pistol, which makes them extremely lethal. They have the aim of a drunken hillbilly after downing a fatal amount of bath-tub moonshine, but sometimes they get lucky. Should be put down as soon as possible, since every bullet has the potential to do massive damage if it hits. Sometimes carries loot. I've found 20-30 units of food on one, weaponry, and ammunition for my beretta. Can sometimes be found randomly shooting at things, or other zombies, which could lead one to believe that cops were massive pricks in the Zombie Fort world.
Military Zombie: Has an M16 they sporadically fire in wildly inaccurate, single-shot bursts. DO NOT LET THESE FUCKERS SHOOT YOU! If they do, it's pretty much game over. One shot took one of my survivors from 96 health, to 11. All shots also cause trauma to the afflicted body-part, just like Cop Zombies do. Sometimes carries military-grade items, IE MRE's, ammunition, etc, etc.
Jogger Zombie: Wears jogging clothes, sometimes can be seen wearing an Ipod too. They're just as fast as you, if not faster. Either knee-cap them, or put them down as soon as possible. It's possible to encounter "groups" of Joggers. Presumably they were jogging groups back when they were alive.
SWAT Zombies: Haven't noticed anything about them yet. Possibly a little more resistant to headshots thanks to their armored heads. Honestly, by the time I started encountering them, I had enough skill in my beretta to put them down with a single bullet. May just be reskinned normal zombies. No loot.
Shogun Streams Vidya
Hidden wall of text incoming!
Pre-Fort Capture
Once you get a handle on how the game works, before you head to the fort you can get around the map and loot some additional supplies and/or food. Occasionally you'll get lucky and find some decent weapons. I'm pretty sure in each fort you're guaranteed to find a good weapon, like the auto shotgun.
When you get to the fort and kill a certain number of zombies (doesn't have to be all of them), you'll get the "Base Captured" message. Use this time to explore the fort and search for more supplies in it - once you hit the "End Day" button, the supplies will disappear.
In my experience, once you've found everything you need, just end the day. This is important because you can't save your game until the first day ends. Oh, and save your game OFTEN, I've lost days due to crashes. I save before and after I return from missions.
Missions
Your scout skill determines how long it takes you to arrive/return from missions and if you avoid random zombie encounters along the way.
If you can avoid it at all, don't do missions past 6-7 pm or so - if you think the zombie presence is bad during the day, it's worse at night.
Typically in a survivor mission, I will just get to them then get out. Their AI sucks, and they'll just get in your way. In a supplies/weapon mission, follow the icon on the map to the cache and get what you need, then if you want check out other locations that you think loot should be in.
If you must bring a survivor with you on a mission - I usually do just to have extra inventory - give them a decent weapon and have them defend the area you enter in. By and large, all survivors regardless of their weapon skills are pretty good with rifles/shotguns, not so much with pistols.
When you or a survivor are injured on a mission, you'll see a flashing icon in that character's portrait in the upper left of the screen. IIRC, if you click on the icon, you should have an option to heal. You don't have to have medicine in your inventory to heal, but it makes it more effective if you do. You can ONLY heal while the icon is flashing - if you miss the chance, you'll just have to wait for the automatic end-of-day healing.
Survivors
When arming survivors, be aware that they tend to just shoot zombie legs over and over again - this was somethiing supposedly addressed in a patch, but I find that with automatic weapons, they won't go for head shots. Can be really frustrating and a waste of ammo.
If you bring a survivor with you as part of the "raiding party" during the day, they will NOT be able to perform end-of-day fort tasks!
Survivors will not join you if your Interact skill isn't high enough - if you're having trouble recruiting people, bring along another survivor with a higher Interact skill with you. I think survivor skills higher than your own override yours for things like Scout and Spot (helping you loot). Note that you gain "reputation" for rescuing survivors - the Kerberos devs said on their forums that reputation is also factored into your ability to recruit survivors.
Note that in addition to "regular" survivors, there are "Key" survivors who have special abilities - I've only encountered one in my plays so far, but there are a bunch apparently.
Inventory/Loot
It's always a crapshoot when you're trying to search/loot while on missions - you cannot just pick up everything you see on the ground. Additionally, if you Spot skill is low, you may search (using the F key) more than once before the exclamation mark pops up over an object.
Generally though good places to search are shelves in stores that have items on them and/or items and discarded containers on the ground in front of them - this is not guaranteed but just what I've found to be typical. Always search crates and boxes in weapon stores. Always search refrigerators in supermarkets/cafes/fast food restaurants/corner stores. Always search military jeeps, and military trucks with crates in the back. Always search desks/tables in medical outposts/hospitals. Also occasionally corpses (not zombies and not zombies you turn into corpses), such as cops, soldiers, and other random people, will hold items. I have NEVER been able to loot the guns from zombie cops and soldiers, and one of the Kerberos devs on the game's official forums stated that this is the case, you'll never be able to loot their weapons. Crates/desks in locations where you find survivors also typically hold supplies.
Roughly:
Garages - building supplies and power tools occassionally.
Gun stores - duh
Restaurants - duh
Gas stations - food and fuel, occasionally medicine and building supplies
Doctor offices, hospitals, military medical outposts - duh
The Kerberos office (you'll know, it has their name on the building) - often nice automatic weapons, a special broadsword which uses the clubs skill (doh!)
Tool stores (Hammertime!) - duh
I generally skip movie theaters, clothes stores and residential houses - there will sometimes be items here but nothing I've ever found to be major or that I couldn't find in greater quantity somewhere else.
Combat
As noted in posts above, zombies are drawn to gunfire, another reason to only fight when you need to.
Keep an eye on your green exhaustion meter in the lower left part of the screen - you do not want to become exhausted with jogger zombies on your ass. Duck into empty buildings to get a breather if needed.
Pistols are fairly crappy even with high skill - Colts however are better than most. Avoid melee weapons unless you're really feeling brave, you should always want to keep zombies at a distance. Automatic weapons, regardless of your skill with them, are almost always "I win" buttons, but they make a ton of noise. I find rifles, like the Garand, to be a nice compromise.
Zombies can jump and climb on obstacles (you can't even climb, what the hell!) so make sure you're somewhere definitely out of reach if you need a break or want to stand your ground.
Oh, and SAVE OFTEN.
Those videos posted by CanadianWolverine are a fair sample of gameplay, but from an older version of the game. 1.0.3 did improve performance, fix some environmental sounds not playing (like footsteps and breaking glass) and improve the inventory management UI. Time spent reloading revolvers and shotguns is also now directly related to how many bullets are being loaded, and a "double loading animation" glitch was fixed.
When trying to move survivors through the map, be aware that movement is governed by stats. They may not have as high a speed or stamina as you, and may not be able to jump as high.