What sandbox features/depth would you like to see in a post apocalypse Zombie MMOFPS?

Bearing in mind development limitations etc. ofcourse :)

Cheerleaders.  Pyromania.   BRAAAAIINSS! That's my big three.

Originally posted by Blueharp

Cheerleaders.  Pyromania.   BRAAAAIINSS! That's my big three.

So.. Flamethrowers.. Gory zombie head explosion graphics.. cheerleaders?

Hmm, good question.

I definitely think that being able to move heavy objects around to form barricades is a must, along with boarding up windows/doors. In other words, a somewhat realistic physics system which allows for interactive environments (Like the Penumbra games). I'd have the heaviest object you could move determined by strength score, and allow others to assist with really heavy stuff (safes, certain furniture, even small cars). Maybe even add some sort of 'barricading' skill which increases the quality of your boarding-up job, perhaps graduating to the ability to weld metal doors shut (with the proper equipment, of course).

The ability to 'break down' larger items in the environment would also be neat. Could be anything from taking apart a kid's treehouse for spare boards/nails, cannibalizing one car to repair another, or flat out dismantling a useless building to fortify a safe house.

Wow, just realized I'm describing a much upscaled version of Urban Dead, lol. I'd pay good cash to play that, though.

Originally posted by Rednecksith

Hmm, good question.

I definitely think that being able to move heavy objects around to form barricades is a must, along with boarding up windows/doors. In other words, a somewhat realistic physics system which allows for interactive environments (Like the Penumbra games). I'd have the heaviest object you could move determined by strength score, and allow others to assist with really heavy stuff (safes, certain furniture, even small cars). Maybe even add some sort of 'barricading' skill which increases the quality of your boarding-up job, perhaps graduating to the ability to weld metal doors shut (with the proper equipment, of course).

The ability to 'break down' larger items in the environment would also be neat. Could be anything from taking apart a kid's treehouse for spare boards/nails, cannibalizing one car to repair another, or flat out dismantling a useless building to fortify a safe house.

Wow, just realized I'm describing a much upscaled version of Urban Dead, lol. I'd pay good cash to play that, though.

Pretty much this.  Fortresses are a must.  It would also be cool to be able to build traps to slow down or kill the zombies like improvised mine fields, trip wires, anvils, or whatever. 

Ooh.  Another thought: PVP could be played as an RTS type game from the zombie side.  Think about that.  Humans (FPS players) would have to destroy zombie spawn locations (morgues, cemetaries, ambulances, etc.) while zombie players would have control over the horde in the immediate area of their "hero" like zombie character.  Naturally, zombies would be waek but have the advantage of numbers.  IDK, just a thought.

boarding up windows

toolbelts with tools

Another thought here...  What about a scoring system that somehow rewards specialty kills?  (The Double Tap, Roadkill, Lawnmower Mayhem, BRAAAAIIINNNS!!!, etc.)  The more creative the kill, the more points you earn.  IDK about spending points or anything like that, but it would encourage players to experiment with things other than guns and make the game a bit more interesting IMO.

I'd like a complex crafting system utilizing scavenged items.  On the survivor side you could have the ability to craft unique weapons for example.  On the zombie side there would be multiple "braaaains" recipes that would provide health buffs.

The game would have a FPS mechanics and indeed interactive suroundings.

Everybody starts out as a human.

Zombies are slow but their touch is deadly.

If you get killed you turn into a zombie and go to the zombie side.

If you get bitten you have x amount of time to get a cure or become a zombie.

Once a zombie you stay a zombie till you get destoyed (headshots + fire). There should be an option where you can be put back togheter by other zombie with fresh human parts, should be timer based.

The longer you stay human the more resistent you get to zombie infection and the longer you stay a zombe the faster and mor resistand to headshot/fire you get.

Zombie side got a lot of fellow ncp zombie mates which are a bit slower and weaker.

This will make the game much more tense for human side to survive and for those that want to be zombies to stay zombies.

Being able to spread the infection is a must. Still my favorite WoW moment was infecting NPCs or players in new areas with whatever they called the plague a couple halloweens ago when WotLK launched. That was remarkably fun and hours of entertainment.

Focus on a skill tree (no classes) that you switch between depending whether you're a human or zombie would be a nice touch. How far you progress in each tree could be skill based instead of level. For instance if you really just want to spread the infection you could focus your zombie tree on that while focusing your human tree on healing or melee combat, etc.

Add to that the ability to fortify a human position, realistic feeding requirements for both sides and realistic use of a city, as in subway, sewers, etc. basically multiple layered exits and entrances to fortified positions and it sounds like fun to me. There would have to be some kind of penalty though for switching sides at least at first, otherwise I'll be throwing myself over the wall to join the undead horde every chance I get.

Originally posted by Rednecksith

Hmm, good question.

I definitely think that being able to move heavy objects around to form barricades is a must, along with boarding up windows/doors. In other words, a somewhat realistic physics system which allows for interactive environments (Like the Penumbra games). I'd have the heaviest object you could move determined by strength score, and allow others to assist with really heavy stuff (safes, certain furniture, even small cars). Maybe even add some sort of 'barricading' skill which increases the quality of your boarding-up job, perhaps graduating to the ability to weld metal doors shut (with the proper equipment, of course).

The ability to 'break down' larger items in the environment would also be neat. Could be anything from taking apart a kid's treehouse for spare boards/nails, cannibalizing one car to repair another, or flat out dismantling a useless building to fortify a safe house.

Wow, just realized I'm describing a much upscaled version of Urban Dead, lol. I'd pay good cash to play that, though.

All these ideas people are coming out with are cool, but can you actually see them working in an MMO? For example, you say you can take things apart, but what happens after everything has been taken apart? Do things magically re-appear? What about new people joining the server?

About the barricade yourself in and try to stay alive, if the objective is to stay alive then it sort of feels like.. don't log in and you won't die, staying alive comes naturally, instead of enforcing it in such a way, how about making the game focus on POST-Apocalypse. i.e There are still zombies but the biggest threat in my opinion wouldn't be the zombies, it would be other people. The world has collapsed, there is no government there are no laws, let people create their own 'Society' or 'gangs' let them try and rule the world. Don't like their way of handling things? Is one particular gang enforcing their rules upon you? Fight back! Form another society to take down the power abusers, everyone unite to bring them down!