New Gamemode: Zombie Virus

[deathhoof]

The game starts with 10% of the population being infected with zombie virus.
Here are the symptoms of the virus:
-Stealth 2, it is only detectable via the pendemic machine
-Purge regeants, it actively removes all regeants, making it incurable and detrimental to medical efforts (and eating)
-antibody production, makes the infectee immune to other viruses
-Spread by bite and blood
-upon death the infectee is revived as a zombie
-the virus replaces their soul with a ghost if they go braindead

Zombies:
-Have the armor rating of adamentium golems but the speed of humans
-cannot use complicated machinery or guns or anything else that requires fine motor skills (syringes, crafting)
-gain extra speed when overfed
-gain nutrition from blood
-do not gain nutrition from nutriment
-obtain blood by biting
-bites are a 10 damage weapon, making the aquisition of better weapons unimportant
-immune to all viruses
-cannot be cloned or monkey'd or humanized
-produce antitoxin and dexalin plus
-are immune to electric damage (unless the ai gets zombie outbreak lawset)
-cold resistant
-replaced by a random ghost if braindead

Gamemode:
Basically, the infected will eventually be dectected due to not gaining nutrition from food and not being healable so they will go and try not to get put in containment (thus leading to them getting killed by security), or they will die somehow else and begin their undead killing spree. Perhaps a few traitors should be added in to facilitate the infectees' first deaths. Alternatively, among the fist infectees there could be traitors who know they are infected so that they can prepare themselves for their undead state. The goal of the gamemode is for 3 factions to form: the uninfected who will be trying to stay away from the infected and the zombies. They infected who will be hated by zombies and uninfected. And the zombies, who simply wish for the destruction of the human/lizard race. Borgs will play an important role in the game, as they will be on the human side unless a traitor subverts the ai. Zombies will have to be electric proof so that they stand a chance at hacking through doors to curtail ai fuckery. I think that when the first zombie turns the ai should get a modified ionic version of the quaretine lawset that would make it keep everyone in, but make it somewhat friendly to both zombies and humans. The game will be won when either all humans or all zombies are dead. The game comes to a draw when after a certain time centcom sends deathsquad or activates delta. Zombies win if all humans and lizards are dead.

[Balut]

We have a 'bites turn you into an antag' modo already IIRC in the form of Monkey mode. No one plays it because it's dumb.

I guess a zombie mode that uses viro and makes the 'antag' bit... err, part more of a delayed effect mitebcool though.

Finding the initial infected would make the mode a crapshoot, since if that guy gets quarrantined and killed, the round is fucked. It would also probably make for some weirdass dynamics with the traitors, because presumably shuttlecalls would be disallowed like in Rev? Since their greentext would thus be impossible, they'd probably gang in with Centcomm crew and be all hero-y due to having bigass weapons and whatnot. Changing their objectives to suit the round would alert their shit, and they would inevitably go 'hey it's zombie start looking for this nerd'.

"Everyone dies" is a bad win condition, also, since there's always that one jackass hiding in a closet where no one ever goes that just drags that shit out for too long. I suppose once # of players reached like 10-20% the game auto-spawned the deathsquid who have to set us up the bomb, and the game ended if all of THEM died, that might be cool.


Spreading via bites is bad, because it wouldn't allow the virus to spread while the guy is alive, and there wouldn't be enough causes of death to get a good enough population of zombies to just assume they'll ever get off the ground otherwise. I propose instead that upon infection, 5-10 minutes afterwards you start permanently taking some brute damage unless you 'feed' - other shit too like brain damage maybe. If you feed, you regenerate health, get hyperizine effects, whatever. The effects can also be halted by spacecillin injections, though that effect would be pretty short-lived. This would thus place an immense strain on chemistry to meet the demands of growing infected; Tension + ensuring a concentration of zombiedudes in one place that is important and relatively unsecure.

I also suggest that instead of biting, you just make 'feeding' happen by causing brute damage. FISTICUFFS. The feeding benefits should NOT increase if you're wielding weapons or whatever, I guess, but SHOULD count as mitigation of the infection's killing-you effects. Fuckin' just say it's the rage-virus form of zambies, whatever. BERSERKER SERUM, WEAPONIZED VIRUS THAT CENTCOMM IS DOING A LIVE-TEST OF.

[deathhoof]

I like the above suggestions a lot. Infact I don't actually want exactly what I described anyways. It would be much cooler for this gamemode to take on a dynamic different from that of monkey mode. However, i dont want it to be extremely hard to code or it will never get put in.

[cedarbridge]

Meh zombies

[deathhoof]

Meh zombies

Yes zombies are cliche, but they also happen to be a great opportunity to create lots of antags while also handing fun to non-antag players.

[Ikarrus]

We already have this in Monkey. And Monkey works on a delay now, as a curable disease.

Most of the time it's played the disease hardly gets past infecting 1-2 people before they are brutally killed/quarantined/cured by the rest of the crew.

Very anticlimactic

[deathhoof]

The problem with monkey is that monkeys are underpowered and the disease isnt incurable, nor does it activate upon death.

[Konstantinos]

The problem with monkey is that monkeys are underpowered and the disease isnt incurable, nor does it activate upon death.

The problem is that Monkey is kind of an ass gamemode and no one ever wants to run it.

[Snakebutt]

We already have this in Monkey. And Monkey works on a delay now, as a curable disease.

Most of the time it's played the disease hardly gets past infecting 1-2 people before they are brutally killed/quarantined/cured by the rest of the crew.

Very anticlimactic

Monkey is also very visible and obvious. Having the disease mimic a cold/viro superdisease would let it spread more.

Having it spread by blood is stupid, because if I'm infected as chemist im just going to spam blood smoke EVERYWHERE, turn it into a damn gore flick and infect the entire station before I even turn.

[deathhoof]

But arnt diseases hardcoded to have bloodspread by default?

[Drynwyn]

hahahahahahaahahahahahaha this suggestion again

zombie mode is a zombie, it never dies

[Reimoo]

Zombie mode is dumb idea and we know it's dumb because we already have a dumb gamemode similar to it.

Instead it should rather be a general "infection" mode where the station is divided between those who are infected with a terminal virus and those who are trying to stay clean. Panic ensues and people start accusing each other of being sick, pretending to not be sick, and fighting over medbay to find a delay/cure the virus which would be randomized at round start. Ever see the movie Contagion? Kinda like that.

[deathhoof]

That sounds good. What if the late stages of the virus caused people to become destructive and gave them weak powers, but also harmed them in some way.

[Steelpoint]

I would be interested in a "contagion movie" style virus game mode, not zombies but people who are dying/being mutated from a virus.

You could say that Centcom is going to ship a cure to the station, but there's not enough for everyone.

Now you have Security fighting off a hoard of infected as the heads of staff get their injection.

[deathhoof]

But then viro could just clone the antibodies. Therefore it would have to be something like a fungal infection or an extremely robust bacterial infection.

[Snakebutt]

But then viro could just clone the antibodies. Therefore it would have to be something like a fungal infection or an extremely robust bacterial infection.

Couldnt we just make a new symptom that prevents antibodies/cure from antibodies? Make it nonselectable for random mutation, event and adminspawn only.

[Drynwyn]

But then viro could just clone the antibodies. Therefore it would have to be something like a fungal infection or an extremely robust bacterial infection.

Couldnt we just make a new symptom that prevents antibodies/cure from antibodies? Make it nonselectable for random mutation, event and adminspawn only.

I'll have a look at virus code.

EDIT: First impression is that there's no easy way to do it- antibodies are part of the core virus code.

[Phalanx300]

Maybe it could be integrated into the superior Baymed?