Halloween

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of the 31st of October. In Malton, Kevan has introduced certain game changes on this day each year, and players sometimes run specific events, especially bearing in mind the horror genre of the game.

The following is a list of all Halloween game changes, in chronological order.

Halloween 2006

Halloween 2006 had a number of game changes - specifically for Halloween fog and knocking on doors was added. As well as this, other changes were added - including the addition of billboards, renaming knives and dumping bodies one at a time. While the fog lifted the next day, the other changes remained in play.

Official News

There were two official news stories for the 31st of October 2006:

Weather warning. Malton has awoken to a thick and freezing fog this morning, reducing visibility to zero across the city. It will have cleared away by the morning - citizens are advised to stay indoors, and to ignore any strange knocking sounds they might hear on their safehouse doors today.

The fog hides a number of minor updates: powered buildings in adjacent blocks are now highlighted, billboards have been scattered through the city, bodies can now only be dumped from buildings one at a time, and a few aesthetic changes have been made.

Fog

Buildings Obscured by Fog on Halloween 2006

Fog has enveloped Malton four times - during the Halloween period in 2006, 2007, 2012, and 2014. When active, fog displays all surrounding blocks simply as "Fog", and so hides the name, building type, survivors and number of zombies present - except when inside Large Buildings, when those adjacent blocks of the same building are visible as normal. Powered buildings are displayed as a lit "Fog" block - with the block button coloured yellow as the block normally would be, but ruined buildings remain as normal "Fog" blocks until approached. The block that you're currently located at remains unchanged. Binoculars can't be used in fog, and if tried, the message was given:

The fog is too thick for binoculars to be of any use.

There were no External Military reports while there was fog.

It is also possible that fog reduces the search percentages, but there's no definite evidence either way.

Door Knocking

Knocking heard inside the building in 2006

When standing outside a building with barricades or secured doors, it was possible for players to "Knock on the door" (interface button or using map.cgi?knock), which would make those inside hear the message:

You hear a loud knocking on the door.

You heard a loud thumping on the door.

From outside:

A zombie thumped loudly on the door.

Vladimir Antipov knocked loudly on the door.

This change along with the candy looks to be a joking way to allow trick or treating by being able to knock on doors, and then people inside giving candy to those who knock.

Halloween 2007

Official News

Another day of freak weather conditions, today, as thick fog blankets the city. Stay inside, ignore any thumping on your safehouse doors, and please do not feed the zombies, even if they're wearing plastic masks.

As well as the return of Fog and Door Knocking Halloween 2007 saw a few additions to the game - stale candy and Halloween masks became available from newly re-opened Candy and Costume stores respectively.

In game, players were notified of these changes at around 9:40 GMT by the message:

Game News: A thick and freezing fog swept in across the city. Read Game News

The fog and the Candy and Costume stores were removed by the same time the next day (the 1st of November).

Stale Candy

Stale Candy in Inventory

Stale candy became available on Halloween 2007 by searching Mall Candy Stores.

When found, 'stale candy' is added to your inventory (see the screenshot), but doesn't take any percentage space.

It can be given to any other zombie or survivor (using the item with map.cgi?use-G6) for 1 AP as a present, which adds it to that player's inventory. If your try to give it to a crowd target list entry (basically to no-one), it removes the item from your inventory, takes 1 AP and gives it to nobody.

No player can have more than one lot of candy in their inventory at a time - searching for or being given more candy doesn't add to your total number of candies in your inventory.

If no other zombies or survivors are present, you can eat some by using the item - this takes 1 AP but doesn't remove the candy from your inventory.

It can also be dropped along with any other item using the drop item command for 0 AP.

Note that unlike other items, it can't be blocked in the user settings page.

Flavour text includes:

Giving Candy:

You give all of your stale candy to Arken Rennatta.

Giving Candy to a non existant person, such as the crowd target list entries:

You give all of your stale candy to [gone].

Receiving Candy:

tonyay163 gave you some stale candy.

Eating Candy:

You chew on a piece of stale candy.

Halloween Masks

When adding clothes in Malls the following options were added to face wear:

These masks can be used to headbutt as a zombie, please see here for further information.

Zombies can wear these masks as starting clothes regardless of where they are.

2007 Masks

• a zombie mask
• a vampire mask
• a werewolf mask
• a skull mask
• a Frankenstein's monster mask
• a pumpkin mask

Halloween-only stores

Candy Stores

Candy Stores are found in one or more corners of the cities Malls. Searching a Candy Store automatically adds stale candy to your inventory, even if already 100% encumbered.

You pick up a few handfuls of stale candy.

You may only carry one piece of stale candy at a time. If you attempt to find more candy, you recieve the following message.

You're already carrying some candy.

Historically, candy stores are found in the following mall corners.

• Ackland NE
• Bale NE
• Blesley NW and SE
• Buckley NW and SE
• Caiger NE
• Calvert NE
• Dowdney NW and SE
• Giddings NE
• Hildebrand NW
• Joachim SE
• Lumber None Reported
• Marven SW
• Mitchem NW and SE
• Nichols None Reported
• Pole NW and SE
• Stickling SW (2007), NW (2008)
• Tompson SW
• Treweeke NE
• Tynte NW and SE
• Woodroffe SW (2012)

Costume Stores

Costume Stores were added to certain Mall blocks on Halloween 2007. They didn't give any in game items, but indicated that certain Halloween masks were available to be worn as clothes.

Historically the following Malls are known to have Costume Stores:

• Ackland None Reported
• Bale NW and SE
• Blesley SW
• Buckley SW
• Caiger NW and SE
• Calvert NW and SE
• Dowdney SW
• Giddings NW and SE
• Hildebrand SW
• Joachim SW
• Lumber N
• Marven NW
• Mitchem SW
• Nichols NE
• Pole None Reported
• Stickling SW
• Tompson SW
• Treweeke SE
• Tynte SW
• Woodroffe NE

When the Costume Store was searched, no items could be found, but it gave the message:

The shop has nothing but halloween masks. (To wear one, click the 'Settings' button in the sidebar.)

Halloween 2008

Official News

Limited edition halloween masks are back in the mall costume stores, and there's enough stale candy for twenty-four hours of trick or treating, for anyone or anything that wants to thump on safehouse doors today.

Although there was no Fog in 2008, stale candy, door knocking, halloween stores and new masks were again avaliable.

2008 Masks

• a ghost mask
• a ghoul mask
• a wolfman mask
• a skeletal mask
• an executioner's hood
• a robot mask
• a clown mask
• a white facemask
• a white half-face mask
• a black facemask

Halloween 2009

Official News

It's that time of year again. Survivors and zombies alike begin the ritual of wearing strange masks, knocking or smashing at safehouse doors, and handing around best-before-2005 confectionery. This year, some enterprising gardeners have planted pumpkins in the city's overgrown parks, which can be harvested and carved.

Murder weapons are now visible to others when a player is killed, along with the smashing of safehouse decorations.

2009 saw the return of Halloween stores, stale candy, door knocking and a new selection of masks. It was also the first year that Maltonians could discover pumpkins.

2009 Masks

• a demon mask
• an alien mask
• a witch mask
• a mummy mask

Pumpkins

A carved pumpkin.

On the 31st October 2009 Pumpkins were introduced as items. They have 20% encumbrance level, and a search yield between 25 and 33%. Found in Parks, successfully searching for a pumpkin gave the following message.

In an overgrown patch of weeds, you find a pumpkin growing.

Pumpkins can be used as weapons, with a base accuracy of 10% and cause 2 damage. Survivors with hand to hand combat have their accuracy increased to 25%.

To carve a pumpkin click on the "Pumpkin" button in your inventory. If you do not have a knife, 1AP is lost and you recieve the message,

You have nothing to carve it with.

If you do have a knife you recieve the following message.

Using your knife, you carve a face into the pumpkin and place it somewhere prominent.

The pumpkin is then placed in your current location. Be careful. If you don't want to place your pumpkin at a location, don't carve it there!

The following is added to a building's description if a Pumpkin is present.

....has been decorated with a carved pumpkin.

When destroyed the following message is recieved.

You smash a carved pumpkin. It splatters across the floor.

Halloween 2010

Official News

Halloween just doesn't have that old pre-apocalypse atmosphere, in a city of walking corpses, but survivors continue to harvest and carve pumpkins, and wear unconvincing plastic masks.

If zombies knock at your safehouse door over the weekend and you don't give them any stale candy, they might use their advancing memories of life to defile any graffiti you've written outside.

2010 saw the return of Halloween stores, stale candy, door knocking and a new mask. It was also saw the return of pumpkins.

This years new addition was the ability for zombies with Memories of Life to Defile Graffiti.

2010 Mask

• a Monster mask

Defile

The action costs a single AP and doesn't stack; using it several times does not obscure the message further (though the obfuscation pattern will change). In all constellations, some of the original message will always remain.

Screenshots of repeated uses of defile:

• http://iamscott.net/1288353669973.html
• http://iamscott.net/1288353643121.html
• http://iamscott.net/1288353622905.html
• http://iamscott.net/1288353709945.html

Note that although the News Update suggests Defile can only be on outside graffiti, it can be used on internal graffiti as well.

Like bloodstains, survivors can clean up defiled graffiti for 1 AP (it used to cost no AP when it was first implemented, but as of August 2011 this has been fixed.) It requires no special skill or equipment, and grants no XP. Ruined buildings can be cleaned without repairing first. Graffiti in dark buildings cannot be seen, and thus cannot be cleaned without installing fueled generators first.

Unlike bloodstain, however, cleaning graffiti can be done with any number of zombies present. And, since the stain on a graffiti doesn't stack, cleaning it once is enough. The flavor text for this action is: You clear away enough of the muck and gore to make the graffiti legible again.. Defiled graffiti may be spraypainted over without the need to clean it up first.

An example of cleaning a graffiti in a ruined building with 10 zombies: Before After

(Note that in those screenshots cleaning costs no AP, since they were taken before the bug was fixed.)

Graffiti on billboards can never be defiled by zombies. This, combined with the fact that spraypainting on billboards costs much more, ensures that important messages will last longer on them.

An example of a failed attempt to defile a billboard, only normal graffiti was affected: Before After

Ruining a building automatically defiles any internal graffiti, if present at the time of the ruining.

Halloween 2011

Official News

No Official News was released for Halloween 2011. Nevertheless, updates were made to the game. 2011 saw the return of stale candy, knocking on doors, Halloween masks and pumpkins.

2011 Masks

• a Guy Fawkes mask

Halloween 2012

Official News

It's the time of year for zombies to thump at safehouse doors in the fog. Perhaps they'll get some extremely stale pre-apocalypse confectionery, perhaps they'll just smash the carved pumpkins of the living and cover the place with gore.

Full-face masks worn during halloween will be displayed in place of the character's name for any action they take, but other players can click through to see who's behind it.

Halloween 2012 started early on the 30th of October, and saw the return of Halloween stores, stale candy, door knocking and new masks. It also saw the return of Pumpkins and Fog. It continued until late on the 6th of November.

2012 Masks

• a vampire mask
• a werewolf mask
• a zombie mask
• a skull mask
• a Frankenstein's monster mask
• a clown mask
• a pumpkin mask
• a robot mask
• a demon mask
• a faceless white mask

Halloween 2013

Official News

Something in the air is once again making full-face masks harder to ignore, while survivors crunch through their dwindling candy supplies and zombies thump door-to-door.

As with the previous year, full-face masks are displayed in lieu of character names for actions they take, but clicking on the mask link reveals that character's user profile.

The news post was dated on the 31st of October, and the seasonal update marked the return of costume and candy stores in the various malls in Malton. Pumpkins are available this year, but there has been no fog observed. Survivors and zombies alike can also knock outside buildings.

2013 Masks

• a vampire mask
• a werewolf mask
• a zombie mask
• a skull mask
• a plague doctor mask
• a bat mask
• a gorilla mask

Halloween 2014

Official News

No Official News was released for Halloween 2014. Nevertheless, Malton saw the return of fog, pumpkins, stale candy, knocking on doors(?), and halloween masks.

2014 masks

• a vampire mask
• a werewolf mask
• a zombie mask
• a skull mask
• a novelty hazmat mask
• a superhero mask
• a smiley face mask