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Project: Zombie Swarm
Project Started: 28th November, 2009 Last Update: 29th October, 2011
Project Owner: Sumo148 Project Members: izac CakeSpear
Project Type: Online Zombie Survival Project Progress:
More Info: http://www.martin2k.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=234 Faves: 17

Project Overview  
Preview Image
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Project logo made by OldManClayton

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"Zombie Swarm" is going to be an online zombie survival game, much like Nazi Zombies from Call of Duty: World at War. The idea originated from Ricky123's project "World War 3". At first I joined his project, but since that wasn't one of his current projects, things were going a bit slow and I wanted to make my own online zombie game Unfortunately Ricky didn't want me to do it, but after a ton of bickering on Gwerdy Chat, he agreed to my demands

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Sumo148: Main Coder; Lacewing Coder; Sprite Designer
CakeSpear: Main Coder; Lacewing Coder; AI Designer
U.2: Lacewing Coder; Music Composer

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There will be many ideas thought up during the creation of zombie swarm. If you think you have a decent idea, then post a topic in the project forums below. You will get credit for your idea in the credits of the game. In addition, everyone that favorites this game will be in the credits under "Special Thanks"! Onto the list:

Grey Star= Unfinished
Gold Star= Finished

Online Lobby
Online games that hold up to four (4) players
Chat room with features such as smilies and private messaging
Customizable controller support: Keyboard or Xbox 360 Controller
In-game transparent chat
Quick chat commands using the function keys
Multiple different weapons & equipment (look below for a list)
Ability to purchase weapons and equipment through stores
A wave system that can reach up to 999
A point system that will act as the money to buy items. There will be a personal counter and a pooled group counter
Solo Mode
An global online scoreboard
Ability to revive downed players with health packs
Multiple zombie types (look below for list)
Very Smart A.I
......... Path finding
......... Line of Sight
......... Perception (hearing)
......... Inspect
......... Roam
......... Chase
[Suggestion: Aden] Unique level editor with many functions
Ability to upload or download user created levels
Ominous Music
Multiple particle effects (blood and smoke trails, exploding zombies, explosion shock waves)
Silenced weapons for stealth
And much more to come!

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Keyboard Controls:
Walk: WASD Keys
Run: WASD + Shift Key
Aim & Shoot: Mouse and Left Click
Zoom In (specific guns only): Ctrl
Throw Grenade: Right Click
Reload: R Key
Switch Weapons: Q and E Keys
Action Key: Spacebar
Leave Game: Esc.

Xbox 360 Controller:
Walk: Left Analog Stick
Run: Left Analog Stick Held Down
Aim: Right Analog Stick
Shoot: Right Trigger
Zoom In (specific guns only): Left Trigger
Throw Grenade: Right Bumper
Reload: X Button
Switch Weapons: Left and Right on D-Pad
Action Key: B Button
Leave Game: Back

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Silenced Colt Pistol
Type: semi-automatic; stealth
Damage: 20 HP
Accuracy: 8/10
Speed: Very Fast

Shotgun
Type: semi-automatic. Four shots.
Damage: 70 HP close range; 30 HP far range
Accuracy: 3/10
Speed: Medium

UZI
Type: automatic; 6 bullets per sec.
Damage: 5
Accuracy: 9/10
Speed: Slow

STG-44
Type: automatic; 5 bullets per sec.
Damage: 10 HP
Accuracy: 7/10
Speed: Medium

M1 Garand
Type: semi-automatic; slow reload
Damage: 80 HP
Accuracy: 5/10
Speed: Very Fast

Springfield
Type: semi-automatic bolt action rifle
Damage: 100 HP
Accuracy: 1/10 without zoom; 10/10 with zoom (cant move while zoomed)
Speed: Ultra Fast

Bazooka
Type: semi-automatic; very slow reload
Damage: 150 HP for direct hit, 50 for shrapnel
Accuracy: 10/10
Speed: Slow

Flamethrower
Type: automatic incineration
Damage: 60 HP for contact; flames stay on victim. every second subtracts 15 HP
Accuracy: 3/10 (wide spread)
Speed: Fast

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Normal Zombie: He wants to eat your brains! These guys are pretty easy to kill.

Bug: These guys are very small, making them harder to shoot. On top of that they scatter around and come in large numbers. Try to burn them all with a flamethrower

Spewer: Just like the normal zombie, but tries to throw up acid on you! If he does, you'll movements will become slower.

Demon Zombie: Tormented souls from hell that are reincarnated into zombies! They will try to trap you with spikes that come up from the ground. They are very fast and hard to kill!

Undead Zombie: Looks just like a normal zombie, but be aware because he'll come back to life a few times! Try to use the rocket launcher to explode that zombie to bits so he cant come back.

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The image was taken from a zoomed view of the game frame. In this view you cannot see all of the details. To enlarge the map, just click the image...

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Since the [solo] game hasn't been released, no scores have been submitted.

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View the scores: http://www.gamebuilder.info/world/highscores?bid=22


Project Forums Topics Posts Last Post
Public Forum
Public forum for open project discussion
4 11 Out of interest.
By: izac
On: 30th Jan 10, 09:06:19
Private Forum
Private forum for project members only
2 6 No Access

I'm back and ready to finish this
Posted 28th Oct 11, by Sumo148 Post A Comment
Hey guys, its been awhile since I've been active on this project, or any of my projects for that matter. I've still been visiting the daily click however I haven't been creating games until recently. I want to submit my Zombie Swarm flash game to the Newgrounds competition and possibly the Daily Click competition, so I've decided to revitalize it. Many of the features of this game have been reduced since its running on flash now and I have a small window of time to finish this game. The main thing that was reduced was the zombie AI. Cakespear hasn't been in contact with me since a year ago so at the moment the zombie AI isn't as spectacular as it was going to be. Hopefully I can rework it so that it'll be better than it is now. At the moment I removed the buildings so its now an empty field with the weapon and equipment stores in the middle of the field. I also switched all the weapons to different ones to make it less Call of Duty-like. The weapons are:

-Glock 39
-Spectre
-Benelli M4
-ARX 160
-S.O.A.R
-FR F1 sniper
-Bazooka
-Flamethrower

I already drew out the weapon sprites for another previous game that was never finished, so I borrowed those graphics. There's also no online play, since I'm not sure how reliable Lacewing is with the flash exporter. If lacewing is constantly changing and updating, I don't want to make a game and then have it use outdated lacewing and not work properly. Another major change I added is another zombie type. They're demon zombies that appear every 5 rounds (or three rounds if you play insane mode). The screen goes dark, shakes around, and a monster scream echoes. The demon zombies are faster than the regular ones and have trailing fire emitting from where they walk. The difficulties now effect the game that you play. For example if you play on easy, you get a turret which can help you shoot the zombies. Finally I fixed up the score screen at the end. Because I'm entering this in the newgrounds competition that requires you to compile the game in TGF2 Newgrounds edition, I won't be adding global leaderboard. However once the competition is over ill make a second version and add that in later. Here's the flash version of what I have so far. I'm planning to finish it tonight!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4459105/Zombie%20Swarm/Zombie%20Swarm%20Compo%20Entry.html
Bought Flash Exporter
Posted 27th Aug 10, by Sumo148 1 Comment
Just a short devlog saying that I bought the flash exporter. So Zombie Swarm will definitely be Flash'd
Chat about AI
Posted 18th Aug 10, by Sumo148 Post A Comment
A conversation Cakespear and I had last night about the AI for Zombie Swarm.

Sumo: so whats up with ZS
Cakespear:
Cakespear: arr
Sumo: how many states are there in total?
Cakespear: 10
Sumo: have you completed any of the states fully?
Cakespear: ZombieAImaster v1.3DEMO, ZS folder

(viewing the AI application)

Sumo: are those circles for show?
Cakespear: No
Cakespear: Their sounds
Sumo: i know that
Cakespear: zombies react to them
Cakespear: They turn yellow and follow the sound
Sumo: but im wondering if the "sound circles" are actually coded
Cakespear: yes, try shooting at a wall near some zombies, theil turn YELLOW and walk in the direction of the sound
Cakespear: Or maybe i missunderstoood you
Sumo: i was saying
Sumo: do you need those circles; like is the sounds "circles" just some code and your using the circles as show?
Sumo: or do you just do an overlap of any zombies on the circle?
Cakespear: Oh, i get you now
Cakespear: The circles have to overlap Zombies for them to be able to hear them, they don't need to be visible though, i just made them barely visible on purpose
Sumo: and invisible objects don't contribute to significant lag, right?
Cakespear: Its just 1 sound object, but it changes size and attributes to it every time it is created
Sumo: oh that's good
Sumo: its looking pretty good so far
Cakespear: As you notice their of different sizes but its the same object
Sumo: so how many states have you completed out of 10?
Cakespear: And if the Zombies loose sight of you, they will still chase the last location they saw you
Sumo: really? wow
Sumo:
Cakespear: Check for your self, its guaranteed
Sumo: yep
Sumo: only annoying thing is that you cant kill the zombies and they will eventually trap you
Sumo: so im guessing "sight" overrides "sound"?
Cakespear: Also, if Zombies find themselves stuck( constantly ramming into walls ) , chasing sounds or players, they will try to 'get loose' by roaming for a little while and then returning to the previous State. They do this 3 times before giving up, but it can be changed to any number.
Cakespear: "guessing "sight" overrides "sound"?" Correct
Sumo: how many states have you fully completed?
Cakespear: That would be 4 out of 10
Roam, Investigate, Chase and ChaseLastLocation
Sumo: cool
Sumo: at this rate you'll be finished soon
Sumo: im glad you joined this project. I feel like this one will actually be finished this time. AI is always my downfall
Cakespear: I think pathfinding states are next
NextNode, Return
Cakespear: Im happy to be aboard, thank you very much

Here's the master AI application that cakespear was showing me:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4459105/Zombie%20Swarm/ZombieAImaster%20v1.3DEMO.exe

if you get stuck in the zombies press "T" to get out of them.
Back on track
Posted 15th Aug 10, by CakeSpear 3 Comments
Hey all, I'm back on track and have made a lot of progress, which will be posted below. As i already may have mentioned i have had a lot of studying and exams in the past which have taken up a lot of my time. On top of that my right lung collapsed and i was hospitalized for some time. I am out of the hospital and feeling fine. My apologizes for any delay this must have caused. Well, enough excuses, lets see the progress.

I had planed to make 3 separate applications which would be merged when completed, and form the fundamental for the Zombies Intelligent behavior. The applications are; Perception( making Zombies able to see and hear ), Movement( making Zombies able to move and collide with world objects, like walls, and other Zombies ), Pathfinding( making the Zombies able to determine paths and navigate through maps ).
The Perception has by far been the hardest and trickiest one to create, i have spend loads of time analyzing it and even reworking it from scratch several times.
The Perception app and Movement app are complete and merged into the Master Application, demo below. My solutions in the app are very minimalistic, raising the Object Count only by 2 for each zombie inserted into the app. I have also programmed simple 'placeholder' behaviors associated with zombies Sight and Hearing. The thickes walls are also marked as 'Soundbarricades', meaning sound cant penetrate through it.

( Mouse left click = place radio which emits sound, Mouse right click = make all Zombies chase the mouse, move Player Object with arrow keys ).
ZombieAImasterV1.2DEMO:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3537859/ZombieAImaster%20v1.2DEMO.exe

As i believe i have stated earlier, i have now remade the FSM( Finite State Machine ) to fit with the new understanding of how the zombies shall behave. This new FSM is much more complex than the original one, and should accounts for every possible situation. It was so complex in fact that i had to divide it into two charts. There are a total of 10 different States Zombies can switch between.
UPDATE 18.aug.2010
I have replaced the old FSM charts with new ones. I have corrected a few flaws i found in the old design and added some stuff too. The old version is no longer available for download.

ZombieFinitStateMachine1, accounts for everything except; getting shot, destroying barricades, breaching windows.
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ZombieFinitStateMachine2, accounts for; getting shot, destroying barricades, breaching windows.
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*Yellow boxes are States
*White boxes are Conditions, which acts as trancitions to other States if True
*Green boxes are Actions
-Green arrows should be followed when a Condition is True
-Dotted arrows are transactions to the State nr written at the end of the dotted line

Although i do see the possibility of maybe having to change or alter the FMs slightly, this should resemble the final logic of the AI and not change radically.

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