Idea for a platformer (Zombies, standardly :P)

AfroLH

Frequent Poster
Today, I came up with the idea for what I think would be an awesome platformer game.
So, in a nutshell, here it is:

-It will be a open-world-ish platformer set in a zombie infested city and possibly some outlying forests or small towns (I know, cliche)
-It will be completely 2D or 2.5D.
-The player is a general man (Haven't really come up with the full story yet)
-The main objective is to find something the man left in his apartment (I'm not going to reveal this, it would spoil the game :p)
-Two optional objectives are to save civilians trapped in the city (101 of them) and some civilians will ask you to retrieve an item they left.'
-When saving the civilians, you must find them and safely transport them to a safe zone. The civilians can die on the way to the safe zone, and may also be equipped with a weapon.
-The player's main weapon is a pistol (What else did you expect :p) and there will be a limited amount of bullets. There will also be a melee weapon.
-Bullets can be found in realistic places throughout the city.
-Feature a weight-based finite inventory, and more weight equals slower movement.
-If a player happens to be bitten by a zombie, they have a certain amount of time to find medicine before they are completely turned into a zombie (Which results in Game Over).
-During the time in which the player is searching for medicine, they will move progressively slower.
-Possibility of more weapons
-Possibility of equipment upgrade
-No HUD to show health, visual cues provide this info along with a very vague health status in inventory. (Much like Resident Evil)
-Players can go almost anywhere in the city provided they have the physical capability or item/key required.

Now here is where the cool part (I think) is:
2ly52t2.png

The player will generally be moving along a 2D plane, however, if a player is in front of an alleyway (3) they will be able to walk into the alleyway, sending the player to another "room".
The same is true for windows (1).
The player can also climb on the tops of buildings (2).

This will allow for a open world in which the player can discover a wide variety of areas.

As far as the difficulty of the game, there will not be hordes of zombies everywhere, but places that I believe you should not be going to until later on in the game will have heavy zombie populations.
If the player needs bullets, and stumbles upon a gun shop, I will not be giving you a break and not putting any zombies. The real world isn't benevolent and I am trying to simulate the experience of being in a terrible situation.

Criticism? Praise? Advice? General Discussion?
 
I like the rooms/alleyways idea, but if overdone, it could make the game hard to navigate. Make it metroidy. Or Cave Storyish.
 
Afro, make sure there are grenades. And there must be a shotgun in each police car, or bar that you find.
 
Limited ammo, flying enemies, references to movies and games like conker's bad fur day.(I haven't even played that, though)
 
I think it sounds like it could be an awesome game. I also think that it would be more fun if it was overcomplicated and almost maze-like, but that's because I enjoy exploring in video games.
 
sounds awesome. (course, so did grand theft portable)

i would love to help, granted, i am clueless. but i could do whatever.
 
Necro post, because I still like this idea and I may be actually making it this time with a few of my friends.
 
AfroLH said:
Necro post, because I still like this idea and I may be actually making it this time with a few of my friends.
Woah, no kidding necro post. I was reading it, and I was like, "GodDang this sounds familiar". Then I scrolled down and saw my post. I like the idea, though you gotta be really careful. Escort missions are the worst.
 
HA. A thread on Zombies, and it's now alive... Threads rising from the dead!!!!

Anyways- Like this idea. be sure to add in Castlevania SNES style 2 layer gameplay (Probably in other games just can't think right now). WOuld be great to be able to go around objects/rooms/cars by being able to "jump" to a second layer behind the first.
I like your ideas for realism- I'm tired of games allowing you to sprint full on when you have 2% health left.
 
I was actually thinking about this the other day... Could be a really cool project.
 
My friend and I are going to be working on this.

However, there will not be Zombies. It will be story/exploration-driven with minimal combat.
 
That sounds wonderful. However, don't make "minimal combat" an excuse for "flaxty combat" ;)

I'm excited for this to occur.
 
Oops, didn't see that post.

Yes, I'd love to be able to make this. I'll be able to do it soon because school is almost over. :awesome:
 
Actually, the only metroidvania games with zombies, per say, are the castlevania games. So a metroidvania game that focuses solely on zombies would be cool. I know you said you're scrapping the zombies, but I think keeping them would give the game more interesting gameplay.

Throw a couple Ashleys from Resident Evil in that mix for fun :p Have lots of optional weapons like a chainsaw that is hard as balls to get, and if the player can manage to survive the hordes with just a pistol, they get rewarded early on in the game with a chainsaw.

If you really want to have fun, you can give the game some duke nukem elements and let the player get drunk in the bars, which reduces aim and causes erratic player speed BUT gives them double the health for a limited period of time. Apply the same idea with all sorts of narcotics :p

For good boss fights just copy castlevania or metroid and make it with zombies instead :p
 
I don't have much to say other than fill the entire game full of secrets, extra collectable weapons in unobvious locations and unlockables. I *Can'tSayThisOnTV*ing love those.
 
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