Nom Nom Nom: the MMO Part I

So, last night here I was reading some High School of the Dead (cool manga courtesy of One Manga), half-listening to my room mate talk when all of a sudden, my eyes glazed over, something deep inside clicked, and I asked, "I wonder why no one has ever made a zombie apocalypse MMORPG?"

Which is a good damn question. The closest there ever was, was Resident Evil: Outbreak, which was a single player survival horror, with online multi-player, but that's not an MMO. That is not a persisting world where players get to finally live through that geeky conversation we've all had at some point..."What would I do if it actually happened?" So we kicked the idea around, and actually came up with some nice elements.

For example, one of the main themes that the development team would have to try and capture is the feeling that there's no hope in the world, that what they're 'living through' is really the end, extinction. After all, zombie parody games aside (which is what one would normally expect from this type of project), it would be a survival horror game. This means that there would have to be a limited amount of in-game resources to go around. As in, one of the driving forces of PvP would probably be to steal ammo/weapons/equipment/vehicles. Of course, there would be many instances where players would HAVE to team up. After all, safety in numbers; especially when you're battling a legion of undead.

Also, to continue with the theme of hopelessness, there could be no permanent safe haven. A zombie apocalypse just doesn't work that way. However, places for players to meet, and purchase supplies is crucial to MMOs, so we came up with a solution. Perhaps scattered about the city and other places there would be buildings, that if fortified for a certain amount of time would become a temporary safe haven. NPCs would spawn and set up shop. Survivors in the area could flock to the building to rest up and help the cause. Of course, where there's warm meat, so come the zombies. Perhaps every 30 minutes or so a horde of zombies would attack the defenses, forcing the players to work together to drive them back. Should the zombies get through, then they swarm the building, attacking whoever is closest, but preferring the npcs as to give the player enough time to run. So a haven falls, and the apocalypse continues.

One of the problems that would come from this type of game, however, is diversity in enemies. There are a few solutions to this, one being to make it a PvP-focused game where Zombies are really more of a plot device. I personally would not find this a fun game-focus as it detracts from the whole point of the game, zombies. I personally feel that the solution comes with a combination of two: zombie animals, and mutating zombies.

Let's say that the outbreak was caused by an alien virus brought here by a comet ala the original Night of the Living Dead. Now this virus infects all life forms with a central nervous system, and mutates the host body the longer it remains. This doesn't means monsters running around like Resident Evil or Doom, rather, it means zombies get faster, smarter, more athletic. Two of such zombies that occured to me were "crawler zombies" that could crawl across walls, and "smart zombies" that could use weapons, vehicles, and the like. Of course, good old zombie dogs, elephants and sharks also make fantastic additions to the beastary.


Another aspect of such a game that occurred to me was, scope. Where should the game take place, a city, an island, a backwater town, an entire world? I'd say that a city is too small, and doesn't offer the unique situations that would accompany the wilderness, and suburbia. On the other hand, an entire planet may be TOO big. This game would require a pretty comprehensive system of interlocking areas with persistent enemies that rarely if ever are cleared from an area, as the player must always have the feeling that they're not safe. A world would just be too expensive and slightly excessive. I think that a country, or state would be sufficient as it would include several different environments, and would allow for future expansions of other countries/states.

I'd like to share more, but for the time being, I'm spent. There are more aspects of the Nom Nom Nom MMO that I need to share. I just need some time to gather my thoughts once more. So, more to come...