COOP 10 Chernarus Apocalypse, part three - Addon-free zombie horror!

[celery 8]

part three

Map: Chernarus

Players: 1-10

Story:

Yesterday morning, you escaped Berezino in an armored car after being abandoned by a group of survivors. You arrived in Polana, a relatively zombie-free village, and stayed there for a day.

Zombies have begun increasing in the area, so you need to move on. The map you got from the survivors a week ago has a marker over Black Forest. It could be a safehouse or munitions cache for all you know, so that's where you're going.

Description:

This is a zombie coop mission with specific objectives and one life per character. Equipment and munitions are scarce and the enemy is dangerous and numerous, which promotes tactics, teamwork and good shooting. The zombies are resistant to bullets, and only a headshot is a reliable way to kill them. This part tests your ability to stay calm and functional under anxiety-inducing conditions.

Other parts of the series:

Dawn of the Apocalypse, the single player prologue mission

Dawn of the Apocalypse, COOP version

Part one

Part two

Features:

• Addon-free but convincing zombies
  
• Black Forest in all its blackness
  
• Several zombie behavior types
  
• Player characters have unique equipment and diaries
  
• Custom healing script with shareable bandages
  
• Zombies may drop bandages and magazines
  
• Pistols are accurate
  
• Selectable friendly fire damage rate
  
• JIP players start close to the group
  
• Character gear, bandages and damage are saved in case a player disconnects
  
• Spectator mode after death
  
• You can continue the game after dying by picking a new character slot

Credits:

Mission and scripts: Celery

Apocalypse series concept: Zipper5 and Celery

Noises and screams: Thief II: The Metal Age and freesound.org

3rd party music:

Thief: Deadly Shadows soundtrack composed by Eric Brosius

Antonio Cora - The Cellar

Shadow Sneaker - Dreams of Dead Thoughts

Shadow Sneaker - Midnight Whispered My Name

Requirements:

ARMA 2 and Operation Arrowhead (version 1.60)

Mod compatibility:

The mission has been designed to run without mods but should work fine with most mods. ACE is accommodated by removing the stamina feature.

Installation:

Put the pbo file into your ArmA 2\MPMissions folder.

>Download version 1.4<

Changelog:

v1.4

• Fixed house conversation not showing
  
• Improved loot sparkle functionality
  
• Made mission end before the last player enters spectating mode
  
• Improved addWeapon script compatibility with vanilla Arma 2
  
• Explicitly specified all magazines for crate and addweapon scripts to avoid unexpected bugs with mods

v1.3

• GPS now shows player name and direction
  
• Added player name tags
  
• Added bandage counter
  
• Personalized interface style
  
• Improved body removal
  
• Tweaked friendly fire damage
  
• Reduced magazine penalty when joining as a used character
  
• Improved Morse script
  
• Doctor zombies always drop bandages
  
• Decreased zombie attack range by 25 cm
  
• Reduced performance impact of zombies

v1.2

• Fixed a bug that ended the mission at player JIP
  
• Fixed second radio being local only to server
  
• Fixed dialog not showing
  
• Changed color filter
  
• Made briefing show the correct grid position if mods are used
  
• Improved loot sparkle
  
• Decreased number of zombies

v1.1

• Made an encounter easier
  
• Removed an oversight that allowed unintended exploitation
  
• Made loot sparkle more pronounced
  
• Added delay to first ammo crate
  
• Made Morse transmission mod friendly
  
• Tweaked some effects and increased synchronization
  
• Added outro cutscene
  
• Fixed dialog typo

OFFICIAL STRATEGY GUIDE

Characters:

• The Writer has the most ammunition for the Glock 17. If you're attempting to solo the mission or the party is small, the Writer should be manned first and foremost.
  
• The Reporter has a pistol, the ability to build and dismantle a campfire, and a GPS map that tracks all teammates. He's the obvious choice for a leader in games with more than 2 players.
  
• The Doctor has 8 bandages - bandages that will surely be needed. Unless the party is exceptionally good at avoiding damage, the Doctor is a necessary character.
  
• The Mercenary, the Marine and the Colonel all have a pistol and a suppressed automatic weapon. The weapons can be put to proper use in larger groups where pistol-only characters light up the sectors and these three dispose of the zombies with their better guns. The suppressors, if only the guns equipped with them are used, are a good way to avoid attracting zombies.
  
• The rest of the characters are extra slots and shouldn't be picked unless the above slots are taken. They don't have flashlights, so they're dependent on characters that do until they can get their own.

General tips:

• Zombies are vulnerable to headshots. The vulnerability extends to the neck and upper chest area, at least with more powerful weapons.
  
• Practice fire discipline by using a single shooter per zombie to avoid wasting ammunition. The rest should open fire only if the designated shooter fails to kill the target at a safe distance.
  
• Have players with flashlights illuminate the zombies for the players with better guns but no attached flashlight. Additionally, if your party size allows it, have only players with suppressed weapons shoot the zombies for as long as possible in order to encounter less resistance.
  
• When you're on the move, stop for every zombie that attacks you. If you keep running, you'll soon end up with a self-made horde on your heels.
  
• Heal only when you have two strikes unless you have extra bandages and you're clearly heading into harm's way.
  
• Closing doors behind you won't help you: it will only make it difficult for you to escape.
  
• If you have space, take with you magazines for weapons belonging to an unused slot or extra ones that your party hasn't encountered yet. JIP players will be much better off and you will have extra ammunition for weapons you will find later on.
  
• You can kite pursuing zombies by running backwards and bringing up the sights on the move for a very short duration to fire potshots. Requires good timing but is very useful.
  
• Zombies sometimes drop bandages or magazines. In such cases, there will be red or yellow sparkles issuing from their bodies, respectively.
  
• Vehicles generate noise that attracts zombies from double their normal aggro range.
  
• Being unarmed reduces a zombie's aggro range to you by 80%, enabling you to go past them just by leaving a some 30 meter gap in between if you want to be sure.
  
• If you die, you can go back to slot selection and choose another character provided you're not the host of a listen server and there are unused characters.

Objective tips:

• To get to the first objective, move along the road at a quick pace, stopping only to kill zombies and to regroup until you reach the forest entrance. From there on, advance slowly and watch all angles so as to not get ambushed unprepared. Do not wander off the road unless you want to die miserably.
  
• After reaching the first objective and getting the formalities out of the way, loot the ammo box and turn the radio on. After listening to the radio for a bit, you'll get the code in written form in your task list. Use that and the morse code chart in the notes to decipher the code fast if you can't do it by ear.
  
• When you're headed for the second destination, you should have more firepower than before. At this point you can concentrate more on readiness to shoot enemies at the possible expense of ammunition, as long as you don't outright waste it.
  
• When you reach the final destination, form up in the most open and lit-up place you can find and take on the zombies coming at you. Holing up in the safehouse is a second alternative but you'll be at risk of being overrun after the slightest mistake.
  
• After defeating the aggressors, spread out and systematically sweep the locale for the rest and head inside the safehouse.

Disclaimer:

I made this mission in the capacity of a private community member with no official interaction with Bohemia Interactive.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Celery

[genesis92x 810]

Very nice Celery! I can't wait to give this one a try. You have made a trilogy of epic zombie missions ^_^

[Lupin! 10]

Celery,

For part two you wrote:

Updated script base to match CA1 v1.2 - server needs to run at least 1.59 BETA

Does this apply to part three? What happens if I am not running a BETA patch on my server?

[celery 8]

If the server isn't running beta, civilian zombies will randomly stop and go prone.

[j rock 10]

part 1 even play

part 2 human totally slaughtering the zombie

part 3 mission impossible.......

armored up zombie but very very quick on thier feet and the invisible monster in the woods!!! head shot isn't an easy thing to do in arma even for vat CS headhunter which i aren't, especially those dam thing keep running in zig zag.

darkness make the game that much more immersive and create a extremely scary atmosphere but the flash light in arma is just bulllll i need a major flash light upgrade.

[genesis92x 810]

If the server isn't running beta, civilian zombies will randomly stop and go prone.

Darn you Defconservers!!! They won't let me update to Beta >:|. Is there anyway around that? *cough cough*

Still, the constantly dropping civilian zombies is actually kind of nice...Gives them more depth in my opinion.

[Dominges 10]

This mission is just masterpiece. Atmosphere is amazing. Darkness, flashlights, creepy ambient music, zombies and FEAR.

I give it 9.5/10

Also, reporting some little defects/bugs:

Reporter can instantly deploy/dissasemble campfire. I suggest make assembling/dissasembling campfire take some time (10 seconds, for example), and also make cooldowns after assembling/dissasembling it.

For example, you assembled campfire, and you can dissaseble it only after 60 seconds. And same after dissasembling. And maybe add limited amount of uses to it. That would add more realism and fear.

Also, there was a bug with "Take bandage". One player died with 3 bandages on him. I pressed "Take bandage", and recieved 3 bandages in one time. And "Take bandage" button did not dissapeared, i clicked it several times -- voila, ~90 bandages. RPT is perfectly clean, though.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Good times to be had by all, once again.

Damn your eyes for making teh Zs more resistant to leg shots, however. *shakes fist*

[celery 8]

part 3 mission impossible.......

It's not that hard after you figure out a good way to approach the mission. :p

The encounter you mentioned will be easier in the next version.

Also, reporting some little defects/bugs:

I thought about making campfire building more elaborate at first, but in the end it would put you through too much risk and effort for an ultimately small gain. It's possible that the healing script can malfunction due to lag or some unseen issue, but I can't see a reason for the take action not disappearing in the script itself, and I haven't encountered such a bug since I improved it for part 2.

Damn your eyes for making teh Zs more resistant to leg shots, however. *shakes fist*

I introduced a better damage system in this part, so each body part's damage is saved for each zombie, making head and leg shots more reliable than in 1 and 2. :)

[paragraphic l 2]

We are stuck at the morse code

The first 3 digets make sense, the last 3 don't IF it is a grid reference.

807

We are investegating towns nearby but no idea where to look for the next part.

As always love the atmosphere you've created!

[celery 8]

We are stuck at the morse code

The first 3 digets make sense, the last 3 don't IF it is a grid reference.

807

Were you running ACE or some other mod that changes the grid system? It's possible that the formatting I did to separate the vanilla game's three-digit axes makes the coords unreadable in that case. I'll probably make it give the raw numbers in the next version, in the meantime this is how you find the next place:

Don't click unless you want spoilers:

Follow the dirt road south. If you don't hear beeping in the bunker on your way or in the shack at the intersection, it can either be at a small metal shed to the east of the intersection, or a guard post to the west.

[Rumsfield 1]

I loved the old OFP zombie missions! Can't wait to try this with my buddies. Thanks!

[paragraphic l 2]

Thanks Celery, we where indeed running ACE, your clues helped us finally continue after clearing every nearby village, house and busstop for at least 1 hour. When we finally found it we ran out of ammo as a team! :) We hope to finish the mission tonight on our second try though.

[Darkguerilla 10]

Celery you make some fantastic zombie game play.

In terms of one person playability:

mission 1 could be done as long as you didn't go near the tower with a weapon and if you did you had a satchel charge

mission 2 could be done if you manage to find the ammo crate and use an AI bug where the zombies won't go out onto the piers.

mission 3 can't be done by just one person. I should know I did it on a server with 6 guys and only two of us survived. Key-KEEP THE VODNIK You can refuel at a gas station to the north. (Only able to use in 1.10 version)

I hope in one of your parts you'll create a third party so it will be: You, the zombies, and the crazy survivors who want all your stuff (raiders).

Edited October 15, 2011 by DarkGuerilla

[celery 8]

All parts can be soloed without special tricks. ;)

[j rock 10]

ty for replying my first post,,, yeah u right it is possible to finish the mission but never easy of course and i guess that how u would like it... half of my friends die, i guess that make it that much more fun,,, silly laugh, screaming for help i had a great time...

just play it again yesterday,,, still no obviouse bug or ran into any trouble. BIG BIG ty for the time and effort can't wait for part 4 never want to c this apocalypse series to end...

[celery 8]

Mission updated to v1.1!

Changelog:

v1.1

• Made an encounter easier
  
• Removed an oversight that allowed unintended exploitation
  
• Made loot sparkle more pronounced
  
• Added delay to first ammo crate
  
• Made Morse transmission mod friendly
  
• Tweaked some effects and increased synchronization
  
• Added outro cutscene
  
• Fixed dialog typo

[Darkguerilla 10]

• Removed an oversight that allowed unintended exploitation
  

In other words:

Removed the gas station to the north so you can't refuel the vodnik and survive.

Like I said the mission can't be done by one person. There isn't enough ammo and some of the zombies have the same amount of health as an armored zombie even if they aren't armored. Just ain't enough ammo to go around. Perhaps there should be an "put ammo crate on back" action to carry the ammo crates around.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Yo celery some guy under ur name joined one of my gaemz last night and ruined the mishun for all just so you know def haxx of sum kind

89 kills... and I died 5 minutes in. D'oheth. :p

[celery 8]

In other words:

Removed the gas station to the north so you can't refuel the vodnik and survive.

Like I said the mission can't be done by one person. There isn't enough ammo and some of the zombies have the same amount of health as an armored zombie even if they aren't armored. Just ain't enough ammo to go around. Perhaps there should be an "put ammo crate on back" action to carry the ammo crates around.

The mission is totally soloable, even though it's harder than the others. The Vodnik is only meant to be a legacy from the previous part, and using it more than its initial fuel reserves allow kind of breaks the idea of the mission.

Tips:

Pick the writer who has 8 pistol mags, and always try to hit the head or throat. When you get a rifle, aim for the upper chest but try to use up your pistol mags first as you'll always get full mags at ammo crates, and zombies that drop loot will most likely have Glock mags on them.

[Darkguerilla 10]

I should mention that the zombies do damage to the vehicles when they do their "swipe" and the vodnik at the end of the mission was destroyed because of this. Also the vodnik doesn't have very much ammo and so the guns can only be used for a little while. So really it wasn't an exploitation, but instead more of the smart thinking of a survivor.

[Baskerville 10]

Thankyou Celery for scaring the absolute **** out of me and my friends :)

Don't watch this unless you player the missions *Spoilers*

SwEag8mSxLg

[OldFossil 0]

Off topic for sure, but anyway, who of you all plays CApo online and, above all, when?

I'm in trouble when I try to look for some server playing the Celery's zombie missions, because is very rare to find something. Sometimes I find a few servers playing DegenerationR, generally located in France.

I play usually late in the night, rarely after the midnight, and I'm located in SW Europe.

Thanks to all and sorry if I'm posting this question into the wrong place.

Edited October 18, 2011 by OldFossil

[Darkguerilla 10]

I know how you feel when trying to find a server.

Most seem to like running Domination, Evolution, or Warfare, as I guess they don't think to cater to the crowds that want missions not length repetition of the same processes over and over again.

I'd love to see more servers (dedi or otherwise) that would run these, but it'll never happen, so just keep looking one will pop up at some point.

[OldFossil 0]

I know how you feel when trying to find a server.

...

... so just keep looking one will pop up at some point.

Yes mate! Finally it happened!

Yesterday night I had one of my best Apocalypse days ever!

I met some brave guys and we fearlessly marched into the pitch black night of an infected Chernarus...keeping away from the evil woods as Little Red Cap's Grandma recommends.

I hope to get other good teams as the one of yesterday (skilled into morse code decrypting too).