Urban Dead Timeline
This timeline is out of date. Please see UDWiki:Project Timeline.
Welcome to the Timeline
The timeline was created to record the history of the zombie outbreak. We are still missing bits and pieces of history. But we hope that this historical page will be completed soon so that you can all get the information you need. If you have any questions or would like to add something to the timeline please put it on our talk page and we will discuses it. Take your time and read the timeline before making any comments. I hope you all enjoy this. --Apex 23:43, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
This page still has some work to do. Please be Patient.
Timeline
2005
July
3rd
- The Outbreak began, due to what some say was a leak in a Necrotech lab under Ridleybank. (Whether or not it is the source of the true outbreak is yet to be determined.)
- The city is blockaded by nightfall.
4th
- The Speak Button was added.
6th
- The zombies appear to be able to make a limited range of noises.
7th
- Wirecutters appear to allow survivors to cut their way into Junkyards.
9th
- The state of affairs in Malton is so dire that some survivors have been witnessed jumping from buildings.
Players caught creating multiple characters for game-abusive purposes are now having those accounts disabled semi-automatically.
10th
- A few zombie skills have been added.
- The skill tree was tweaked a little.
11th
- Survivors now only get half the XP for killing other survivors. This marks the first (and only) act to fight PKers.
12th
- There are a couple of new combat skills in the Zombie Skills Tree.
13th
- 10 days after the start of the Outbreak
- Citizens' date-of-death is now tracked.
- Survivors have begun to use Flare Guns, both as signaling devices and powerful, yet inaccurate, weapons.
14th
- Survivors have been witnessed overcoming their understandable selfishness and using First-Aid Kits on their fellow humans.
- Hit points are no longer displayed in user profiles.
- Update The Scent Fear skill has been tweaked to show wounded survivors in nearby blocks.
17th
- Update In response to the spreading infection, NecroTech have issued all staff with DNA Extractors and are requesting that infected specimens be located and logged.
- Update Body Building is available.
- Update NecroTech staff with the Lab Experience skill will now be able to use a newly-added item of zombie-related equipment. It can be found in NecroTech buildings. (Untrained citizens won't be able to operate it.)
19th
- Update New players of the game may select the Corpse character class, to sidestep all that tedious suicide business. THANK GOD!
- Update Memo to NecroTech staff: reports are coming in that infected subjects are beginning to develop significant phenotypic differences, over time - please start filing daily DNA samples so that the situation can be better monitored. Basically, you can scan the same zombie one day after another.
- Update To clear up the map, any player who hasn't logged in for five days now becomes hidden (considered to have spent a solid five days doing nothing except securing a shelter), which effectively removes them from the game. They'll reappear in their previous location whenever they log back in.
20th
- Update We can now drop items. But other people can't pick them up.
21st
- Update The undead have also slowed to lurching - it now takes 2AP for a zombie to walk to an adjacent block. Just like in real life.
- Update Something in the air is stupefying the zombies. They can no longer open doors to enter buildings unless they have the new Memories of Life skill. Citizens are advised to lock their doors.
23rd
- Update Zombies are now able to develop the Scent Trail skill, which allows them to sense the locations of survivors who have attacked or otherwise come into contact with them since their last turn
- Update A change to the Consumer class - the Shopping skill now lets customers choose which of several stores to loot, when searching a mall. The search-bonus has been moved to Bargain Hunting.
24th
- Update Spray Paint can now be found in buildings you'd expect to find it in, and can be used to leave messages on walls.
- Update Bad day for Urban Dead. The site now has an access limit. The good news? This also restricts Bot Characters.
25th
- Update Dead bodies can now be dragged out of buildings if you're worried about them reanimating.
26th
- Update As a thankyou to the players who've donated to support the site, they've had the hit-limit lifted to a sufficiently high number, for the character that they specified with the donation.
27th
- Update Birth of the Zombie Hunters
- Update Some zombies have been observed using a primitive Death Rattle ability to communicate more complex noises than their earlier groaning. Even more annoying noise. Like RHaaRurHaRK.
30th
- Update Citizens with the new Construction skill are now able to barricade buildings from the inside.
- Update NecroTech memo: Some of the specimens are now reaching an advanced stage of decomposition - revivification techniques don't appear to work on those with Brain Rot, and your DNA Extractors may have trouble reading their genetic signature.
August
2nd
- The newly-formed PA Rebel Alliance attempts to take and hold Fort Creedy. They succeed, but mere hours later, the fort is overrun by zombies. Some members are killed, and the rest scattered. The event is immortalized in the slogan "8/2 NEVAR FORGET".
3rd
- One Month After the Outbreak. Some say that this is when the Zombies started becoming organized.
5th
- A tagging contest begins to see who is the best tagger.
7th
- A player named Ben wins for the famous BAD WOLF tag from Doctor Who. (If you don't know what Doctor Who is then shame on you).
14th
- Update Either the zombies are weakening, the survivors are learning where to hit them, or there's something in the air... it now takes 10AP for a zombie to stand up after being killed. As ever, safety in numbers is the key to not being killed in the first place.
15th
- Update Zombies with battle-calloused fingertips can hone the art of Rend Flesh for increased combat damage.
- Update Survivors with itchy trigger fingers can now spend their time developing Advanced Training skills, for the pistol and the shotgun.
23rd
- The first major Zombie group The Many attack Retallick Walk Police Department.
September
3rd
- Update It looks like the NecroTech helicopters were spraying something they hadn't told the military about, or leaking it... a few revivified survivors will notice darker patches of cortex having healed up, a few zombies will have forgotten some distant life skills. (This was a bug rather than a feature)
- Update NecroTech memo: In light of the wasteful re-deaths of patients undergoing post-revivification recovery in such an unexpectedly dangerous environment, re-engineered syringe stock has been airdropped to all NecroTech buildings
7th
- Birth Of the Urban Dead wiki! Who created it is a mystery.
8th
- Update People are told that in a few days they can move around in large buildings without walking outside. But they are asked to move from the big buildings until then.
- Update People can now recognize other people in a pile of bodies.
- First appearance of a group called DARIS
14th
- Groove Theory revealed to the wiki, and fixed the same day.
16th
- Update Cranial decomposition is setting in. Headshots now only knock off 10XP for each level of the zombie, rather than reducing them to zero every time - higher-level zombies have a greater proportion of active grey cells, and more to lose when the bullets go in.
19th
- The Siege of Giddings Mall begins
21st
- DARIS are forced out of Shearbank by the Undying Scourge and numerous ferals. Bounty hunters in the surrounding suburbs hunt down DARIS members as far away as Pashenton to prevent them from reforming.
- The Siege of Giddings Mall ends. Like DARIS, The Many disappear.
24th
- Update Something pestilential is spreading and mutating in the blood and guts of the undead - NecroTech DNA scans are beginning to pick up a number of specimens who are host to an unknown pathogen. Any survivors who suffer an Infectious Bite should seek immediate medical attention. Basically the zombies can now transfer the virus by biting other people. It’s what everyone has feared!
- Some point around this time a zombie named Petrosjko forms the Ridleybank Resistance Front.
28th
- Fort Creedy becomes the official home to the newly formed Creedy Defense Force.
29th
- Update New zombie skill: Ankle Grab. Watch your step!
- Update The unnoticed bodies that litter Malton, yet to stand up for the first time, continue to stiffen and degrade. Headshot now does 10XP damage for each level a zombie has beyond the first.
October
15th
- Fort Creedy is involved in a major siege and attack by over 200 zombies from the Undying Scourge and Shambling Seagulls during the October Battle of Fort Creedy. The Creedy Defense Force leave Fort Creedy at this time, suffering from 100-250 casualties and retreating to the Hildebrand and Giddings malls.
17th
- The Ridleybank Resistance Front begin laying siege to Hildebrand Mall. The following day the Undying Scourge and Shambling Seagulls join the RRF in hunting down Fort Creedy survivors who had fled to Roftwood. In total, over four hundred zombies take part in an assault that finally ends on the 21st with killing/expulsion of all survivors. While most of the RRF besiege Hildebrand Mall, the Scourge and Seagulls destroy nearby safehouses such as the Herbert Building and Rawlins Row Police Department before joining in with the RRF on the mall proper. The leaders of all three groups speak regularly throughout the siege to coordinate attacks.
22nd
- The Minions of the Apocalypse begin a siege in Gulsonside against Blesley Mall. It falls two days later.
23rd The Undying Scourge begin a week-long siege of Woodroffe Mall in Tollyton. They are joined by the Hambargar Halparz who continue to attack the suburb after the Scourge's departure on the 29th.
28th
- Papa Petrosjko announces his call to arms on the Urban Dead forums, calling for zombie groups to destroy the survivor stronghold of Giddings Mall.
29th
- The Minions of the Apocalypse arrive and take the nearby Morrish Building. The Dia de los Muertos siege of Giddings Mall begins in earnest.
30th
- The Undying Scourge and Shambling Seagulls join in the attack on Giddings Mall.
November
1st
- The Dia de los Muertos siege ends. It marks a high point in zombie power and successful inter-group coordination.
4th
- Update Character profiles can now be edited to include a description that's visible to others, and group affiliation (which I'll start pulling out into stats when the data's there).
11th
- The First Siege of Caiger Mall begins.
13th
- Update NecroTech memo: To ensure full-time employment for staff on all shifts, the DNA-extractor uplink coordination has finally been changed to be time unspecific. Employees are advised to seek and scan active specimens.
18th
- Update Electricity returns to Malton. The Krinks and Tolman power stations are still out of action, but a number of survivors have been seen carrying small petrol-powered generators through the ruined streets. Doctors with appropriate training are now able to take advantage of temporary hospital lighting and equipment.
- Update When Barricading a building, it will inform you if your building is about to become too heavily barricaded. The message 'Using (an object), you reinforce the barricade. It's looking very strong, now - any further barricading will prevent survivors from climbing in' will appear.
22nd
- Update The military have switched the local mobile phone network back on, after a blanket shutdown during the first months of quarantine. The reception quality is only good enough for text messages, however, and you'll need a powered phone mast in your suburb to get a signal.
December
1st
- The First Siege of Caiger Mall ends with the retreat of the Ridleybank Resistance Front. Other Groups soon retreat.
19th
- Update It might be a further level of decomposition, it might just be the effects of the colder weather, but zombies seem to be reacting differently to Headshot as the snow begins to fall - their brains and memories remain intact, but their nervous system becomes frayed and slowed, taking them longer to stand up after a blow to the skull.
- Update Black military helicopters have been sighted in the grey skies above Malton this week, airdropping occasional supply crates into the empty streets for the coldest days of winter.
- The Zombies go On Strike. Stanstock begins, started by the RRF, but immediately spreads to almost all other active hordes. More than a thousand Zombies and Humans go on strike demanding equal treatment for the unalive. This is in response to what is seen as a clear imbalance between Zombies and Humans in the city. Hundreds of Zombies and Humans converge on Whetcombe Park in Stanbury Village for singalongs and a show of solidarity.
22nd
- Update Low and unsettling groans drift through the empty winter streets, as the undead begin to call to one another
- Stanstock ends. Ferals are swiftly drawn to the groaning of some seven hundred zombies and the humans are devoured. It is a sad end to the whole affair.
30th
- Update Blocked escalators and corridors have been cleared - it's now possible to walk around inside shopping malls and other large buildings. (Any such buildings that weren't zombie-controlled have had their loose corners automatically barricaded up to full.)
2006
January
3rd
- Mall Tour '06 begins with the attack on Stickling Mall. Simultaneously, the Pwotters attack and destroy Nichols Mall in an independent action.
5th
- Mall Tour '06 attacks Tynte Mall
7th
- Mall Tour '06 attacks Hildebrand Mall
9th
- Mall Tour '06 attacks both Woodroffe Mall, and Marven Mall.
11th
- Mall Tour '06 attacks Tompson Mall
12th
- Mall Tour '06 attacks both Lumber Mall and Pole Mall. Pole Mall puts up a good fight but in the end is destroyed.
- Survivors are evacuated from Blesley Mall. When the Mall Tour arrives, the mall is empty, apparently cleared out beforehand by PKers.
14th
- Mall Tour '06 attacks Mitchem Mall
19th
- Update Memo to NecroTech staff: In response to the spreading epidemic, some staff are now being given access to NecroNet terminals within company buildings. These will allow employees to review the DNA-scan data for the surrounding area, manufacture fresh Mk II syringes, and use lab equipment to treat specimens with corrupted brain stems.
20th
- Mall Tour '06 attacks both Buckley Mall and Giddings Mall. Giddings Mall puts up a good fight but in the end is destroyed.
21st
- Mall Tour '06 attacks Dowdney Mall
24th
- Mall Tour '06 attacks Treweeke Mall
26th
- Mall Tour '06 attacks Bale Mall. Bale Mall is the first to suffer the full force of Mall Tour '06.
27th
- Mall Tour '06 attacks Calvert Mall. Calvert Mall is taken down quickly.
29th
- Mall Tour '06 attacks one of their last targets: Ackland Mall.
- The Battle over Caiger begins that night.
February
3rd
- Update The older zombies are learning to grab onto their victims to increase the accuracy of their attacks - watch your loose clothing, and keep long hair tied back.
- Update As looter raids and sabotage attacks continue, the city's survivors are beginning to camp out in the larger, shared rooms of their safehouses, and even the zombie mobs seem to be lurching in tighter formation - kills and generator destruction will now be noticed by other players in the area.
March
9th
- Update As the feeding groans echo around the malls, the undead are beginning to distinguish the sounds of their horde from those of ferals and others. Groans from other members of a zombie's group will be heard as "familiar."
17th
- Update Players with no description now have a link button to 'Set your description' when they view their profile.
19th
- Xyu calls off the Mall Tour. The zombies are retreat to attack part of the Human Liberation Front- The DHPD.
- From this point until July the Dunell Hills area is completely devastated.
28th
- Update Memo to NecroTech staff: The subjects are developing a resistance to our current antigens - syringe barrels must now be fully emptied to guarantee successful revivification, even if this takes longer and puts support staff at risk.
- Update As a result of revivification becoming a lengthier process, the brain-rotten dead are now able to pick up the scent trail of those who attempt to revive them.
- Update All syringes seem to take 10 AP to use now, instead of 1 AP as before.
31st
- Update Memo to NecroTech staff: Your handheld DNA-extractor software has been automatically upgraded to analyse tissue samples for telltale signs of cortex damage, which we can now match to our databases, and the increased difficulty of field operations is being rewarded appropriately. We'll continue to monitor NecroNet data and aerial shots of the city, as the situation progresses.
April
1st
- Werewolves and Vampires are said to have walked the city, but in the end it was just an April Fool's Prank.
- The Ridleybank Resistance Front tricked people into coming into Ridleybank by saying they became the Ridleybank Revivification Front. April Fools!
16th
- Helicopters have been heard over the city of Malton.
29th
- Update As the looting continues, survivors are beginning to find that powering a building makes it slightly easier to find equipment and supplies in its previously darkened rooms.
- Update The more advanced zombies are starting to ransack abandoned buildings, making looting them more difficult until survivors are able to clear the zombies out and repair the damage.
May
June
1st
- Update The military have stopped jamming short-wave radio frequencies across the quarantine area. Handheld radio receivers previously discarded as useless will now be able to pick up broadcasts from transmitters installed in buildings, across a range of frequencies.
3rd
- Update Perhaps to prevent interference with their own communications, the military have altered their radio jamming in such a way that only experienced radio operators can broadcast in the 26.00-28.00 MHz band. The 28.01-29.00 MHz range has been opened up for free public use.
6th
- Update As temperatures rise across the city, the undead begin to detect and follow the rotting scent of distant zombie hordes and piled bodies. (The 'Scent' tree has been rearranged to accommodate this new skill.)
- Update Broadcasting from a transmitter in an occupied building will now be noticed by any other people in that building.
10th
- Update Shooting or biting a barricade no longer does anything.
16th
- Update Some of the stronger zombies have been reported to be dragging critically-wounded survivors out of their safehouses and into the streets, either to feed the waiting hordes or to finish their own meal undisturbed. Any survivor with 12HP or less is at risk.
- Update Scent Fear now echoes this by displaying vulnerable survivors as "dying", and the skill has been moved back to the base of the Scent tree.
- Update Ransacked buildings must now be cleared before they can be barricaded.
July
3rd
- It has been one year since the Outbreak.
- Update Supply crates have been airdropped into the streets for the survivors - zombies can earn experience points if they reach and smash them first.
- It also appears to be the first day of the Big Bash.
22nd
- Update Memo to NecroTech staff: Specimen data has now been declassified for the benefit of street personnel - DNA extractions now permit a full readout of specimen information in the form of a profile link. This real-time access means that scanned specimens can now be revived immediately if necessary, rather than being lost in the crowd.
25th
- The Dunell Hills is starting to turn back to normal after the Mall Tour 06 Afterparty.
August
18th
- The Battle of Blackmore begins. It continues until the 13th of October.
20th
- Update As the temperatures begin to fall, the undead's ability to scent death sharpens, increasing in radius and allowing them to distinguish the dead from the undead. Clearer messages, it appears, from 2 or more blocks away.
- Update The air is now clear enough for binoculars to be used from tall buildings, to scan distant streets for growing hordes or lost survivors. They're available from all good sports equipment stores and military facilities. Allows you to look one of 8 directions in a 3x3 square, however no survivor names.
- The older zombies have been observed communicating and coordinating using crude flailing gestures, gesturing other zombies towards particular buildings or survivors.
- Knives are now more effective as weapons, particularly in the hands of the city's less experienced inhabitants. Increased knives skill by 10% for all humans, including advanced players.
September
7th
- Update It is now possible to find items like Crowbars on any block of Malton.
October
24th
- The Third Siege of Caiger Mall begins.
31st
- 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.
November
1st
- The fog is gone.
10th
- Caiger Mall finally falls, after a two week siege in a concerted effort between Shacknews, the Ridleybank Resistance Front, numerous smaller zombie groups, and numerous feral zombies, ending the Third Siege of Caiger Mall.
20th
- For purposes beyond the clearance of anyone currently stationed in Malton, the city's two military bases have been retaken and rebuilt. Transport helicopters from outside the quarantine cordon have helped to repair the breaches in the forts' external walls, and the internal buildings that were locked down or derelict are now back in use.
27th
Shacknews begins its assault on Shearbank, home to what is the largest organized human group in the game at the time.
December
9th- Stickling Mall is destroyed by a horde of over 450 zombies, the majority of which are from the group Shacknews.
18th- Christmas Trees can now be found in city parks and inside Malls. Lights can also be found inside malls. A count of trees has been added to the stats page.
2007
January
14th- Calvert Mall is the first mall to fall as a result of the Mall Tour '07.
18th- As the number of zombies hunters rises above the number of zombies, several zombies have begun congregating again in Whetcombe Park claiming to be part of On Strike.
19th
- As winter drags on and the dead adapt further to the urban terrain, their sense of smell sharpens. Zombies are now able to distinguish infected survivors from the uninfected using Scent Blood, and can use Scent Death to locate nearby members of their own group.
- The dead are beginning to notice when a scientist jabs a needle into one of their horde, and survivors are paying more attention to the final coughs of a zombie infection. Dropping from infection or revivification will now be visible to other players, in the same way as a standard death.
- A cold wind sweeps the streets, and post-quarantine newspapers now offer some advice and propaganda to new players, rather than long-forgotten local news.
- Despite the new game updates, the reforming of On Strike continues.
22nd
- Bale Mall is the second mall to fall to the Mall Tour '07. The horde quickly turned itself upon the nearby Necrotech Buildings due to the rise of Combat Revives during the attack.
February
2nd
- Official notes: Hammering on the barricades of the derelict suburbs, the dead are learning from their experiences, and filling with a slow anger - zombies now gain experience points for tearing down barricade levels, for ransacking empty buildings, and for destroying machinery that survivors have set up.
- Unofficial notes: The top item in the "Drop" list is now a null item, which will help players avoid inadvertently dropping items they wish to keep.
3rd
- The Militant Order of Barhah forms.
9th
- Caiger Mall once again falls to an army of zombies. The group was not Mall tour.
22nd
- Unofficial notes: Contacts are now coloured on the drop down list.
23rd
- Stickling Mall falls to Mall Tour '07
25th
- Dowdney Mall falls to a onslaught that has lasted at least a week, the attack was strengthened when Mall Tour '07 showed up.
28th
- After 4 days of fighting, Treweeke Mall falls to Mall Tour '07.
March
Early March
- Extinction forms.
5th
- Giddings Mall Falls to Mall Tour '07.
6th
- Survivors have begun looting the city's museums of treasures and ornaments, to improve the ruined décor of their safe houses. At least until zombies break in and ransack everything.
- These and other heavy or unwieldy items now take up more space in players' inventories, and the total level of encumbrance is now shown. Being at an encumbrance level of 100% or greater means, as before, that you cannot pick up further items.
- Installing equipment in a building is now noticed by nearby characters.
- Unofficial notes:
- The cost of dropping an item is now displayed by the drop down menu.
- Survivors cannot directly target decorations to destroy them.
- Paintings take up 20% encumbrance. You must have that much open to pick one up.
- New flavour text added to attacks.
- Generators and Radio Transmitters now have some sort of "health" instead of the "1 successful hit=kill" pattern they used to follow, and when installed flavour text attached to them inform everyone in the building how damaged they are.
- Many new weapons can be found at the Sports Store of any Mall now. Their effectiveness varies between each case.
8th
- Lumber Mall and Joachim Mall both fall to Mall Tour '07.
9th
- Mitchem Mall falls to Mall Tour '07.
April
- The Battle of Santlerville begins, and it continued on into May.
May
23rd
- All 20 malls in Malton are in safe status, a period lasting until the 2nd of June.
June
4th
- For two days, all 20 malls are again in safe status.
18th
- All 20 malls are in safe status.
19th
- LUE forms.
July
Late July
- The Battle of SantLUEville begins, and it continues into early August.
August
14th
September
8th
- The millionth character is created.
December
31th
- The Second Big Bash 2 destroys Fort Creedy, bringing it into zombie hands for the new year.
2008
January
23rd
- Update The zombies have learned how to block rebarricading attempts when inside buildings.
February
25th
- New zombie group The dead of Dunell Hills appears. As of the 22nd, the group has over 1,000 members.
29th
- The dead of Dunell Hills officially becomes the Dead and membership tops 1500.
March
3rd
- the Dead conquer Tompson Mall, Pole Mall, and Marven Mall. March of the Dead begins.
10th
- New record set for the most red suburbs.
12th
- 112 out of 211 NTs are ruined.
18th
- Survivor numbers drop below 10,000.
19th
- Record for the number of ghost towns set.
24th
- New record set for highest zombie population 69%.
25th
- Last green suburb devastated.