User:Swiers/zombie starvation

Swiers/zombie starvation

 Swiers 03:54, 18 April 2008 (BST)

Suggestion type
balance change, skill

Suggestion scope
Zombies

Suggestion description

basic mechanics: Under this suggestion, a zombies maximum HP's would no longer be fixed at the same value as when alive. Instead, a zombies maximum HP's would go down and up depending on circumstances described below. Maximum HP's would be displayed along with normal HP's, resulting in the player seeing something like this:
You are Strike Boy and you are dead. You have 44 Hit Points (54 maximum), and 18663 Experience Points. You have 3 Action Points remaining.

How is MHP adjusted up or down? Well, for technical reasons, it is easier to explain first how a zombie increases maximum HP's. This happens two ways:

• If a zombie bites a survivor (only- biting another zombie doesn't count) the zombie's maximum HP's increase by 4. This happens before and is separate from any healing due to the Digestion skill. This can not normally cause maximum HP's can not go past the normal limit (see below for the Accelerated Metabolism Skill) but biting a survivor when you are already at the maximum does count as a "MHP increasing event", with effects to be described later.
• If a zombie kills a survivor (only- killing zombies doesn't count) the zombie's maximum HP's are increased to the full value that they would have when alive (50 HP, or 60 with body building). Even if the zombies is already at the maximum, this counts as a "MHP increasing event", with effects to be described later.
• If a survivor dies, their MHP as a zombie is set to be its full normal maximum. This counts as a "MHP increasing event", with effects to be described later.

Conversely, a zombies maximum HP's are decreased by one for every 24 hours that pass since either of the above 2 "MHP increasing events". This can be done in a manner that does not require any work by the server for inactive characters, and thus does not increase lag associated game "tics". Instead, when a zombie acts (such as logging in), is injured, or is healed, the server simply checks how long it has been since the zombies last MHP increasing action (described above) and adjusts that zombies MPH's accordingly (to 50 / 60 minus one per 24 hours). If the zombies current HP's exceed its MHP's, then its current HP's are also reduced, before the results of any action on the zombies part, any damage from attacks, or any healing effects are applied. Note that this means that zombies that idle out would still suffer the effects of starvation when / if the player eventually logs back in.

When a survivor is revived, they would stand up with 1/2 the maximum hit points they had as a zombie; a weak zombie can not regenerate into a strong survivor. This acts as a (very small) incentive for dead survivors to hunt the the flesh of the living if the are dead for extended periods. Since dying as a survivor "resets the clock" on MHP's, survivors will not end up growing weaker over time if they die repeatedly.

new skill: Accelerated Metabolism would be a new zombie skill which requires Digestion to purchase. It would modify the above mechanics in two ways:

• The zombie would be able to increase their MHP's up to 15 points above normal using bites. This means the zombie stands up with normal MHP's, but can go higher if they bite survivors.
• The zombie would lose one from their MHP's every 12 hours, rather than every 24 hours.