Jump to content

My Journey to Make the First Good Zombie (Mod for a) Game


BenSmart112

Recommended Posts

I've been looking for a good zombie game for years. People often say that the zombie game genre is overpopulated but that's totally untrue once you remove copies of Minecraft and CoD Zombies. It's a very barren genre where very little is unique or original. Every zombie game is centered around shooting special zombies. Personally, I do not like special zombies, and I want a survival experience like DayZ meets 7 Days. However, a good zombie game will never be made at this rate. Even The Walking Dead's games have special zombies now (not implying that the TWD games are actually good, the Telltale ones are good, but they're still fairly limited due to using a linear format). My focus on this project is to make a new worldspace for Fallout 4 and hand-populate the map with items and entities, including new factions and groups.

 

My guide will be here: https://forums.gearboxsoftware.com/t/zombie-games-the-definitive-guide-for-not-making-garbage/1638372/1

 

Using this, I plan to produce a good zombie game focused on surviving hordes as well as human factions and environmental challenges, rather than following traditional shoot'em'up style. I plan to use Romero zombies and add new gameplay mechanics, such as those in Skyrim mods such as Wet and Cold and other well known survival mods. I also plan to force the player to rely on NPCs, who will be given new ways to interact with the player. For instance, the player will be able to talk most enemies out of being an enemy, and will need help to get over fences or other environmental obstacles. This is my first time using the GECK for anything other than failed small experiments, so I'll be totally clueless throughout this process, but I will try to produce a good end result. I would appreciate help from anyone in the modding community interested. Actors would not be voiced due to not having voice actors by me.

 

For a frame of reference of what to expect, it would be something like Zombie Walkers, but with a sense of belonging to the world, not just putting something that feels weird inside a world that doesn't recognize the change. The zombies will still be referred to as ghouls, because as it's been established in media, infected, walkers, shamblers, roamers, etc. always have a regional name, and it's alot less difficult to keep the name the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fundamentally, the goal is to "modernize" Fallout 4, create a new worldspace using the modern theme and plentiful (formerly) human populated areas, turn ghouls into Romero style shamblers, make NPCs value their own lives, force the player into a state so that they're not Big s*** Super Dad, break the player down emotionally and psychologically, add a bunch of realistic animals that are pretty pissed off at you, make every bullet valuable, make the player cry, and make the NPCs and the player cry together in the corner of their safehouse which has just been overran by a bunch of nearly immortal freaks, amongst them their old friends with a new thirst for blood, because die.

 

-NPC resurrection

-realistic characters

-disturbing psychological examination

-breakdowns

-The Walking Dead's shamblers

-Bandits to boot

-relationships matter

-the player's just a smarter NPC (no stats or gear other things can't get or don't have- a 1:1 DT ratio)

-NPCs who respond like they want to live

-lots and lots of syphilis

-lots and lots of flu

-lots and lots of ghonnarea and maybe HIV

-communities and settlements (gonna probably tie into Sims Settlements or something)

-looting, looting, looting

-practically no (easy to get to) bullets, good luck

-call bluffs

-thicc caches of rare supplies

-where is food please help

-where is water please help

-snakes in boots and bears at the doors

-zombies busting down fences yay

-immersive storyline and gameplay

-traditional Bethesda open world gameplay

-death

-you will also value the lives of NPCs if this works, maybe seeing an NPC you know dead will actually affect you, that's the plan

Edited by BenSmart112
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nevermind, I was dwelling on how much work it'd be during lunch just earlier, and realized I can't code anything, so I just gave up.

I've done a lot of mods for myself over the years but have never put one out for others. So here's a suggestion for what its worth... take one element of your idea and work on it, say new world creation and concentrate on that, as your doing that talk with other, accomplished modders, and ask advice. HIT you tube for tutorials then slowly work towards setting up a modding team so that you have others that can take up the slack in the areas your weak in. Much of the code you need is already in game, it might need tweaking but thats not a big deal.

 

find mods that have things you want to see, that includes npc behaviors etc. "check out the survival mods", download them and check them it out in the CK to see how the mod author did it. you can learn how to script odd stuff, set up quests and dialogues and a lot of other things that way. some might have models or textures you like so drop the mod author a line and ask if you can use them.

 

Its daunting I know but its also not quite as hard as you think it is. (or I'm just a masochist ) since FO4 has feral ghouls in it, you could use them as the base, its a small thing to change their speed and there are retextures for them all over the net. that would allow you to get a working prototype to test in the base world. the one thing you cant escape in modding is it takes time, lots of time and no matter how much you know something always pops up that you have to learn or ask help on.

 

Anyway, hope you give it a shot, I'd enjoy seeing it completed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...