User:Dr Cory Bjornson/Concepts/Subterranean

The Underworld

Timestamp:	23:42, 6 September 2006 (BST)
Type:	New Level
Scope:	Urban Dead
Description:	An entire subterranean level of Malton. The Pitch #1 (role-playing) A wounded zombie, battered and confused, climbs into the crypt beneath a cemetery to gnaw on grisly bones, whilst it's brethren stumble through the sewers in search of fresher meat, unperturbed by disease and the choking stench. Survivors, desperate to escape the slaughter and madness in the city above, hide out in old emergency sub-stations, built to power Malton's half-built nuclear shelters. The Pitch #2 (game-playing) There are more survivors than zombies (54:46). A common complaint is the zombies don't get enough love in terms of new and exciting ways to play the game, or that being a zombie is somehow considered losing. Part of the idea in introducing this suggestion was to help redress the balance. The Underworld has been designed as a location in which zombies, not survivors, have a natural tactical advantage (but not a game-killing one). New Underworld Rules Movement Movement is according to the normal UD rules. Impassable Locations: one key addition is that of squares that nobody can move through. Solid rock, essentially. The ratio of impassable : passable locations would be decided at a later design stage. Entry / exit If you are in a city square that has an entry to the Underworld, it will say so in the description (e.g. "You see stairs leading down to a sub-basement" or "There is a manhole cover in the street"), whether you're inside or outside of any building. There will be a special button allowing you to enter the Underworld (e.g. "Go down the stairs"). The same is true for exiting the Underworld. It is possible that there be an Underworld location below a city location, but no entry/exit point. (E.g. a subway tunnel passing beneath a building.) How many squares per suburb allow entry/exit would be decided during a later design stage. (It would be several, to avoid choke/swarm points, as we have currently with Malls and Armourys.) Whether the Underworld network be fully connected would be decided during a later design phase. (e.g. the current Free Running network has a few blocks that are not connected.) You do not see what kind of Underworld location it is before you enter but you can get a clue from the Underworld Locations rules presented below. Only certain locations exist beneath certain buildings. (The opposite is also true: you do not see what kind of city square you're going to when you exit the Underworld.) This lack of knowledge would only last as long as it takes for someone to publish an online map. Because you can't see the location before you go there, you also can't see what's down there in terms of survivors and zombies. This is the same as exiting a building. It is possible to exit a heavily barricaded building into a non-building location, when entering or exiting the Underworld (as per the current rules). In all other ways, this is just as if you'd clicked on a neighboring building under the current rules (vis-à-vis Free Running et al). Visibility You can always see the type of location you are in, and the type of the surrounding 8 locations. Further, you can always see an exit to ground level, if one is there. You can only see survivors, zombies, barricades, doors, bodies and generators in your current location if: it's powered (either by a generator or a substation: see Locations, below). you're a survivor with a Flashlight (see New Item, below). you're a zombie with Night-Vision (see New Skills, below). you're a survivor that just fired a Flare Gun. (Subsequent IP-hit hides everything again.) If you can't see, you can't attack (survivors, zombies, barricades, generators – whatever) or attempt to enter or exit buildings (except exiting by clicking on a neighbouring open location), or close doors, or repair a ransacked location, or search. In fact, all you can do is move to another location or, if there's an exit to ground level, you can take it. You can only see survivors and zombies in adjacent locations if: it's powered (either by a generator or a substation: see Locations, below). you're a zombie with Night-Vision (see New Zombie Skill, below). Locations for which you do not have visibility will be greyed out (ie you can still see the type of location, but there will be a graphical indication that you can't see there.) This gives zombies a clear tactical advantage in the Underworld, as long as they have Night-Vision: they can always see what's going on around them. Survivors, without a Flashlight or a Flare Gun, and in an area that isn't powered, are effectively blind. This has been done on purpose – the Underworld, as you'd expect, is somewhere where the undead flourish, and survivors need to be well organized and equipped to handle the dangers. Having said that, there are only two locations (crypts and caverns, detailed below) that can never have powered lighting - so in most areas of the Underworld, as long as survivors keep the lights going, it's still an even playing field. Effects on existing items Flare Guns, if fired into the air, will only be seen within a 1-block radius. GPS doesn't work, and shows as (-.-), or (0,0). NecroNet Scans don't penetrate. Mobile Phones don't receive signals. Radio doesn't operate, and Radio Transmitters cannot be setup in buildings. Binoculars are useless, as there are no tall buildings. Effects on existing skills Scent Trail works as given, with an indication of whether the prey is above or below ground. Scent Death works as given, with an indication of whether the group is above or below ground. Feeding Groan does not penetrate from above ground to below ground or vice versa. Underworld Locations Where a location may or may not have an entry/exit point from above ground, "none" is given as one of the options under "possible entry points" (see below). Buildings As above ground, buildings can be barricaded, ransacked / repaired and powered with portable generators. Unless noted otherwise, buildings have closeable doors. Subway Station Possible entry points: Railway Station (Tagging: +2XP) Power Substation Possible entry points: Building, Towers, Factory (Tagging: +1XP) Special Rules: Must have one only per suburb. Large Building. Always takes up two squares. If one square is given a generator, then that square is lit, as normal. If both squares are given a generator, then the emergency lighting is switched on for this entire suburb of the Underworld. That turns on lights in underground carparks, all three tunnel types (subway, sewage and utility) and Nuclear Bunkers, as long as those locations are not ransacked. This is the only way to provide lighting for those locations (except for the Nuclear Bunker). Emergency lighting doubles the rate of fuel consumption by both the Power Substation squares. Sewage Plant Possible entry points: Street, Carpark, Junkyard, Wasteland. Special Rules: Must have one per suburb. If ransacked, makes subway tunnels in this suburb behave as sewage tunnels (i.e. sewage starts seeping into the subway system). NecroTech Safehouse Possible entry points: none. Special Rules: UV Scanner: If the Safehouse has a running Generator, and a survivor has NecroNet Access, clicking this location-specific button will bring up a view of the 9-cell neighbourhood (i.e. 1-square radius) centred on the Safehouse. Numbers of zombies and survivors will be displayed (but not those inside buildings). For role-playing purposes, this is a surveillance system built to monitor the approaches to the Safehouse. The system has difficulty distinguishing multiple signals: if there are more than 5 zombies or survivors, the numbers show as "5+". (E.g. "3 humans, 5+ zombies".) As yet undefined New Item should be unique to this location - something to encourage survivors. Secure Vault Possible entry points: Mansion, Bank. Special Rules: Easier to barricade up than other buildings. Cellar Possible entry points: Mansion, Pub. Special Rules: Homebrew - beer or wine drunk here provides an additional +1HP. (Silly rule, I know.) Sub-Basement Possible entry points: Mall, Power Station, Building, Cinema, Club, Factory, Fire Station, Hospital, Hotel, Library, Museum, NecroTech Building, Police Department, Tower. Nuclear Bunker Possible entry points: none, Building, Library, Museum, Tower, School. (Tagging: +1XP) Search items: Flashlight (+ maximum of 1 other item). + Special Rules: The heavy bunker doors are initially open, and cannot be closed by hand (see below). Barricading this bunker is difficult due to the spartan, secure design: they cannot be barricaded past Quite Strongly. If powered by a Portable Generator, that only provides lighting. (The other systems of the Nuclear Bunker are tied to dedicated circuits - linked to the local suburb Power Substation - and cannot be accessed by survivors. Typically poor thinking by the city planners.) If the suburb's Power Substation (see above) is fully powered, the following special rules apply (as long as the building is not ransacked): Emergency lighting remains on, even if there is no Portable Generator running. Allows bonus +5HP in use of a FAK (as for a Hospital: the Bunker has a full medical facility). Bunker doors become active: A toggle button will allow any survivor inside the building to open or close the bunker doors. Whenever the bunker doors close, they destroy the barricades compeletely. While the doors are closed, nothing can get in or out - dumping bodies doesn't work, either. As a failsafe, if the bunker is unpowered (i.e. the substation powering it is shut down) while the door is closed, it automatically opens. Open Areas As above ground, open areas cannot be barricaded, or powered with portable generators. However, the first four locations here (the carpark and three tunnel types) can have emergency lighting provided by the suburb's Power Substation (see above), and can also be ransacked and repaired to enable / disable the lighting. Caverns and Crypts never have lighting, and cannot be ransacked. Underground Carpark Possible entry points: Hotel, Carpark, Stadium Subway Tunnel Possible entry points: none, Street Sewage Tunnel Possible entry points: none, Street, Wasteland, Junkyard Special Rules: Survivors must spend 2AP to move into any sewage tunnel square, due to the noxious atmosphere. Utility Tunnel Possible entry points: none, plus any except Fort / Armoury, Zoo, Monument, Park. Natural Cavern Possible entry points: none Crypt Possible entry points: none, Cathedral, Cemetery, Church, Mansion + Special Rules: Zombies can "Gorge On Remains" (a special button for this location only) if they have Digestion – gives 10% chance of +1HP per AP spent. Squares which have no potential entry points to the Underworld (on purpose): Fort / Armoury Zoo Monument Park New Skills Zombie Skill: Night-Vision Prerequisites: Level 10 Allows a zombie to see in the Underworld as they do above ground, regardless of any lighting. This is a standalone skill that doesn't sit neatly within the other branches of the zombie skill tree. The prerequisite reflects that this is a mutation that can only occur after some time as a zombie. Has no effect for a survivor. New Items Flashlight Inventory: 1 space Locations: NecroTech Safehouse (?%), Nuclear Shelter (?%), Sub-Basement (?%), Cinema (?%), Mall Hardware Store (?%) [More..?] Effect: Allows a survivor to see in an unlit Underworld location. The batteries in the Flashlight eventually run out, and may be old to begin with: every AP spent in an unlit location, there is a 5% chance for the Flashlight to be rendered useless (and disappear from the inventory with an accompanying message.) Has no effect above ground. Implementation Beta Version As this suggestion would be a major addition to the game, and could have a massive impact on the meta-game, it would be too risky to implement the entire Underworld under all 100 suburbs at the same time. Therefore, it should first be implemented beneath a single suburb as a beta version, in order that further study can be done on the impact it has on the game. (This can be role-played as survivors and zombies slowly discovering entrances that were previously hidden, locked, blocked or simply left undisturbed during the crisis.) Shortcuts In designing the map, it would be possible to link two city level locations by a faster Free Running route than is currently available, thus creating a shortcut for survivors. Further, there is the possibility of linking buildings that are currently not on the Free Running network, back in. Survivor Incentives The key concern of most players is that a survivor would need some positive incentive (beyond scouting and defence) to venture into the Underworld. To an extent, that's also true of venturing into the street, but with this, there's the added danger of being left in the dark. Natural incentives such as zombie hunting, suburb control, secret bases and short-cuts may come naturally from the geography. In addition, ideas such as higher search rates for particular items, or new items unique to the Underworld are possibilities - but are not defined as part of this suggestion. Contributers Thanks to A Bothan Spy, Xoid, The Mad Axeman, Gene Splicer (and probably some other people). Oh yeah, and me.
Notes:	41/45 Keep/Total. High support but some worries over implementing it all.
Left Queue:	12:05, 30 September 2006 (BST)

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Subway Tunnels

Timestamp:	16:51, 14 Dec 2005 (GMT)
Type:	Improvement
Scope:	Everyone
Description:	Original idea: Train station tunnels would have underground passages leading to one another. There would be set directions to get from one station to the next (perhaps the large map of the city could be updated to show these paths). On the in-game map you would see just the buildings you can pass under. All other buildings would be shaded out. Generators could be set up in a station that would power the lights within the tunnel. Each generator would power the neighborhood subway lighting system (or certain number of surrounding blocks). There would be some kind of indicator when you go into the tunnel to show how much energy is left for the lights (“The lights are at 100%”, “The lights are at 50%.”, etc.). When the lights go out, the in-game map goes black, except for N, S, E, and W indicators. You wouldn’t even be able to see if there were other players around you except, perhaps, by sound. The player could still move but this would force both zombie and survivor classes to diligently take note of where they are and be able to get themselves out using the city map or guessing (“You move further into the tunnel.”, “You’ve bumped against a wall.”). Since there would be, essentially, only two directions you could end up, through trial and error or map reading ability, a player could eventually find their way out. Zombies with Scent Trail would be able to traverse the tunnels in complete darkness, as their maps would not go black. I would suggest that an equal survivor skill or a flashlight be created so survivors wouldn’t get totally stuck in the dark. The Tweak: ?Recent files found in various NecroTech buildings have alluded to a partnership between the Military and NecroTech. According to these papers, both organizations knew that an outbreak was inevitable and a series of contingency plans were established. One such plan was the construction of underground NecroTech/Military safe houses accessible only through various subway tunnels.? Although there may be multiple subways tunnels in each neighborhood, only one subway tunnel (per neighborhood) would contain a safe house. These safe houses would allow players to find any of the following: weapons, ammo, flak jackets, flare guns, GPS units, first aid kits, syringes and DNA Extractors. Also housed there would be a NecroNet computer, the only place in Malton to find such a device. The door to the safe house may be barricaded but the actual tunnel could not. If the door were heavily barricaded, there would be no possible way to get in without breaking it down (even if you have Free Running). (NOTE: Search percentage removed due to peer suggestion.)
Notes:	14/16 Keep
Left Queue:	16:47, 22 Jan 2006 (GMT) (A bit late...)