Official zombies

[roguetrooper 2]

This is probably a matter for Arma III (and even only a later offical addon/patch), since BIS won't put much time and energy into II any more.

Some time ago I requested/suggested the implementation of zombies (at least by texture) by an official BIS-patch as some kind of easter egg. Not for turning Arma into an arcade game but as an OPTION for people who like that. Since the first 50 servers in the internet-filter are DayZ, you see that many people like it.

Somehow it would be great to "simply" have a command to turn any humanoid unit into a zombie; using the (existing) dead/high-damage texture, giving it a pale and blood stained face with deadish eyes and a zombie'ish skeleton/animation set.

Maybe something like

unitIntoZombie [unitname,"slow","head"];

will equip the unit with

* the according sounds and close-combat behaviour (claws strikes and biting)

* the according dead/high-damage texture of the unit

* a pale/rotten and bloody zombie face (and arms)

* remove all existing weapons and make it unable to have weapons at all and to enter vehicles

* the second parameter might define whether it is a fast Dawn-of-the-Dead or a slow The-Walking-Dead zombie

* the third parameter might define whether it can be killed by headshot only

* the zombiefied unit still should accept waypoints (unlike animals, that do not follow assigned waypoints)

[celery 8]

Somebody would have to script/program all that stuff for the simple command to work. :P

[roguetrooper 2]

Rocket may be so kind and contribute his (already existing) dayz zombies ^^

When at least those dayz zombies (with their animations, sounds, textures and behaviour) would be added by official patch/download content to the game (maybe as usual editor- and createvehicle'ble units)... that would be sooo great! I'm insisting on "official" because I don't like the cluttering into 10000 game versions out there that are incompatible to each other only because of some changed pixels (custom mods). Official vanilla is a good base everybody can deal with.

They may be added by official 1.61 or somewhat for free with reduced quality and be enhanced by a 'full' version I would even pay for (just like BAF and PMC).

[Nicholas 5]

Don't you know that Bohemia Interactive has already announced a zombie game? It's called Take On Helicopters: Zombie Apocalypse.

They've also announced a farming simulator.

I have not seen a release date for either of them yet. :(

[icebreakr 3159]

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=16786

[Nicholas 5]

That Armaholic post was made 5-15-12, I think that what Marek said was misunderstood.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Nicholas

[MavericK96 0]

Yeah, it irks me when I see reposts of that interview that say "DayZ will be part of ArmA 2 in the next patch!", because that is NOT what Maruk said. All he said was that they would assist in helping the mod improve with some patch updates for issues that might arise with the mod.

On-topic, I don't see a reason why there should be "official" zombies in ArmA 2.

[Phantom Six 25]

The Take On Zombies is an April Fools joke.

I don't see the reason for official zombies on ARMA, if you want some, make a standalone version of DayZ that is more polished. ARMA mainly is a tactical shooter, but also a sandbox to make whatever you like, so if you want some zombies, you can always make some. It was never a zombie game to start with.

[Warior135 1]

I still think that zombies being implemented into ANY game that isn't strictly zombies is a bad idea...

[celery 8]

I still think that zombies being implemented into ANY game that isn't strictly zombies is a bad idea...

How does it affect you if you choose to not use the zombie content?

[Warior135 1]

The problem is when I complete all the standard missions and I think "Guess its off to Armaholic!"

*Goes into armaholic*

*Gets flooded by zombie missions that where done in 5 minutes...

[celery 8]

The problem is when I complete all the standard missions and I think "Guess its off to Armaholic!"

*Goes into armaholic*

*Gets flooded by zombie missions that where done in 5 minutes...

Poor you. Flooded by thousands of zombie missions on Armaholic, all enabled by officially provided zombies. If you'd be so kind, could you please give the raw links to all the zombie missions you can find there by randomly browsing the mission downloads? Because last time I checked, there weren't that many, and the zombie craze in the MP browser is just one mission.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Celery

[Mr. Charles 22]

Poor you. Flooded by the thousands of zombie missions on Armaholic, all enabled by officially provided zombies. If you'd be so kind, could you please give the raw links to all the zombie missions you can find there? Because last time I checked, there weren't that many, and the zombie craze in the MP browser is just one mission.

He talks about the missions that would arise, if there'd be official face-eaters :)

[xxbbcc 6]

I, too, am against this.

How does it affect you if you choose to not use the zombie content?

It affects available developer/artist resources which I'd prefer work on the main game. I have nothing against zombie missions/addons but they're not the core simulator and that could use a lot more extra work in several areas. I'd prefer not to support (pay for) the development of anything zombie-related in Arma. If people like that, they can already make mods which can be very successful, as DayZ proves.

[160thSOAR 10]

There are a few things wrong with adding zombies into ArmA.

1. There are other areas of the game that need more work, and frankly, I don't want my money going to pay for zombies when it could be used improving animations, flight models, or whatever else might need fixing.

2. ArmA2 is at its core a military simulator. Zombies don't belong in a military simulator; it's fine for the community to mod them in, but BI can't just produce zombies in ArmA2 and still call themselves their game the world's best military simulation game.

[dmarkwick 261]

Well, given that the zombie code already exists and indeed is still currently being developed, I'd say why not? Not like it'd be forced gameplay or something, just a little extra for your money. Plus, there's no denying that zombies are popular in ArmA2. I'm quite sure that there are no plans for the ArmA franchise to become a zombie-fest only franchise ;)

Plus, this sort of general development would help develop more realistic animal behavior too. In fact, a zombie AI routine could easily be a subset of a more broad animal AI routine suite.

[xxbbcc 6]

It'd be possible to add the already-exisiting DayZ code to the core game / file set but that won't come at no cost. While the base development may have been done by the author of DayZ, it still needs to be bug-fixed, tested, packaged into the installer, etc. The central database must be maintained, etc. All of these are ongoing activities which require people and money.

As I said, I have no problem with people modding for these kind of things (in fact it's great that it's possible), I don't want to pay for it. So if zombies come out as a DLC, I'd be fine with that - as long as their cost is not in the core game pricing.

Now, if such zombie devleopment would lead to some breakthrough in AI coding, etc., I may even change my mind.

[dmarkwick 261]

Well, given that most of the dev work is already done, I should say that the benefit for inclusion of the most fast-rising game mode so far outweighs the costs left, particularly when you imagine what funds this has already brought in. Given that this mod is so far developed in free time, I should say that some amount of official development is perhaps "owed" :D. Whether the game ends up being DLC, standalone, or a default game mode makes no difference to me, and I can easily filter the servers out visually by simply ignoring them :) (Although if I'm honest, I'm actually preferring them right now ;))

I'm not seeing too much activity RE the CoD/Rambo/Griefer/TK front, and in any case these activities are catered for in the game mode itself. I'm not saying it's fun to be shot just for your beans or that it hasn't happened to me, I'm saying that it becomes gameplay to take this into account. I haven't been shot for my beans for a good while now, lesson learned :)

And according to the various chat conversations I see, there is plenty of playing-with rather than all playing-against. About 50-50 if I were forced to guess, which isn't bad.

And also, it does raise interesting questions about what makes for good gameplay, and what sort of situations create teamwork. I doubt any MP game will be able to achieve a forced teamwork paradigm, but one that rewards it is a good start.

[xxbbcc 6]

And also, it does raise interesting questions about what makes for good gameplay, and what sort of situations create teamwork. I doubt any MP game will be able to achieve a forced teamwork paradigm, but one that rewards it is a good start.

Yeah, I agree with that. It's a strange thing because I love sci-fy & fantasy and even watched a few zombie movies but when it comes to Arma, I'm a stickler for reality and just cannot get into the zombie gameplay. I'd love for someone transform DayZ into something like MP Abandoned Armies where players & AI on both sides could carry weapons.

[b00tsy 28]

I didn't had anything against zombies in general, but it is being so over hyped and over flooded not only in ArmA, but also on youtube, Steam store, etc. I see so many zombie stuff that I start to hate everything that has anything to do with zombies and I am not the only one. Also with the games that are being released now you see that companies are trying to ride along with the hype (for a quick buck) resulting in even more zombie related games. It's like the djurassic park hype from 15 years ago where you see dinosaurs related stuff everywhere.

[iceman77 18]

No absolutely not. Any Zombies should be created by a 3rd party with time and free resources at their disposal.I personally don't want the BI team spending time / resources on integrating zombies into this franchise.

---------- Post added at 15:37 ---------- Previous post was at 15:34 ----------

Don't you know that Bohemia Interactive has already announced a zombie game? It's called Take On Helicopters: Zombie Apocalypse.

They've also announced a farming simulator.

I have not seen a release date for either of them yet. :(

That's a nice trololololol you have there sir. +1

[igneous01 19]

no need to add official zombies, wait for AZE (Advanced Zombie Environment) which is being worked on for arma 3.

[Craig_VG 20]

no need to add official zombies, wait for AZE (Advanced Zombie Environment) which is being worked on for arma 3.

Seriously?

[BasileyOne 10]

Seriously?

yeah !

unofficially its planned to be renamed to "Seriously Advanced Zombies Environment" or SAZE in short.

next it be backed by "Official Zombie Slayer Rampage underground vehicle pack v2" and "Unofficial flying carpets Taliban-edition pack".

[Craig_VG 20]

yeah !

unofficially its planned to be renamed to "Seriously Advanced Zombies Environment" or SAZE in short.

next it be backed by "Official Zombie Slayer Rampage underground vehicle pack v2" and "Unofficial flying carpets Taliban-edition pack".

Will it be persistent!? :P