Door
In Urban Dead Doors are an object found on some buildings that serve the purpose of keeping zombies out. The intricacies of doors include the requirement, for zombies, of the skill Memories of Life to open them, and are an important part of the Barricade process. Most buildings are equipped with doors and all players, be they zombie or survivor, can close doors at level 1 without a required skill.
Doors? Where!?
Doors can be found in many places throughout Malton but they are most notable for where they are not found. The following is a list of buildings without doors.
What Doors Do
A long long time ago in Malton Doors were a lot more important than they are now, before the addition of barricades to the game Doors were the only way to keep zombies out of a building. Since barricades doors have lost much of their significance but are still very important.
Probably the most important function of the Door in Urban Dead is that it keeps low level zombies out. Zombies without the Skill Memories of Life can not open doors. Closing, or Securing, the doors costs 1 AP and once done only zombies possessing the skill Memories of Life can get inside, when they do enter, however, they leave the doors open until such time as another player closes them. Zombies can also close doors.
As of 24th August 2007 the importance of doors has again began to grow, specifically, Survivors who do not have the skill Construction can now build barricades by Securing the Doors and then using a Length of Pipe. There are many differing views on both the importance of this update and doors in general with many users thinking they are either too weak or too strong.
The History of Doors
In Urban Dead doors, like most things that have been around since the first month of the game, have been altered multiple times. Originally Doors were the only thing keeping the Zombie Hordes from entering the buildings of Malton however, as more and more Zombies gained the skill Memories of Life they became a minor convenience for the large Zombie Hordes of the day. At the end of July 2005 Barricades were added to the game and, since they automatically close the doors of any building possessing them, doors have since been delegated to the status of a weak defense or pre-loosely barricaded barricade level.
On October 31st, 2006 zombies were given the ability to Knock on doors of buildings, it was removed after the holiday but did show up again the next year.
Doors again gained some fame in July 2007 when a large number of new and low level players joined the game, many of which would end up becoming zombies due to sleeping on the street (There was also some argument that it was in part due to gross over barricading that has been seen frequently since mid 2007), as most of these players did not have either the skills Construction or Memories of Life they were forced to depend on and worry about doors, the most notable example of this was seen with the Zombie Horde LUE, which, recruiting from a pre-existing and massive forum, became a 300+ member Zombie Horde over night and began assaulting Ackland Mall only to find out that, while they were the largest group in the game at the time, and were almost all active within 10 minutes of each other , that they could not get around the Doors without a higher level zombie with the Memories of Life skill opening the door for them. Since then Doors were again updated in late 2007. The item Length of Pipe, when used on a Secured Door, creates a Loosely Barricaded level Barricade.
Survivors are unable to open doors even if they possess the Memories of Life skill. Zombies are unable to open doors while inside the building. They must leave and re-enter (spending 2 AP) to leave the door ajar behind them.
Terminology & Doors
There are very few terms that are commonly used with doors but, of the few that there are they are as follows.
Secured Door
- A Secured Door is a door that has been closed by a character. It comes from the building description for buildings with closed doors:
- The doors have been secured.
