So something I have noticed is there is a LOT of conversation about what the pacing of the game should be. Some people argue for really intense action with hordes swarming players nonstop, while others want more calm survival experiences.
Naturally this is a really important question and I would like to see what you think!
Super Intense hardcore survival with hordes of zombies constantly being a threat, even outside cities.
Fairly intense game play in some places, such as cities, but other areas are calmer.
Focusing the majority of game play on the survival aspects such as food or water, and less on the zombies.
More casual game play, less punishing, more about the experience and allowing player interaction.
When we talk about intense gameplay, it’d mean about everything, including zombies and anything related.
You see, in 3.x survival aspecst are insanely flawed. Hunger and thirst aren’t hard to satisfy, disease is an inexistant problem, looting is fairly easy, you can heal any type of wound in less than 1 second, you can build crazy sky bases and most zombies are less than a serious menace. Then most players are prone to start killing other people from bare boredom (or just from being d*ckheads) rather than for true need.
New Unturned is meant to make you have to survive and take care of every step you do, also making you take more seriously any matter about public relationships and coexistence with other players.
Out in the woods? You may find a zombie or two. If unlucky enough, you might find a group of five or more. During full moon they’ll track you like vultures to a corpse, so you’ll have to gear up in time.
Said that, zombies hasn’t to be a constant menace, but they must represent a serious one, and survival aspects must be enhanced to make you worry about more things than just kill or being killed by other players when relatively safe from the infected.
Example: A focus on survival and PVE aspects of the game with PVP being a lesser part of the game.
Otherwise I’d like a solid blend of mild and super hardcore gameplay. I do believe that in the start of the game, zombies shouldn’t be TOO much of a threat (doesn’t mean you can just run into a town and be fine, though), while in higher tier locations zombies and other non-player threats become a lot more dangerous, with deadzones having the strongest enemy types in the game (automated turrets, bandit npcs, special zombies, etc). It’d be great to have some good enemy variety as well.
You should never really feel safe for the first half of the game, but once you start getting a proper base you might find time to relax. Hordes should definitely be a threat though, and you’ll have to defend your base at times.
I honestly think major cities should work like something Atlanta or any urban areas in the Walking Dead being traversed by horders, This would make players use alternate routes like rooftop parkour or back alleys and underground tunnels (subway,sewers or maintance tunnels.) And players would need to use distractions to get a group of zombies away from a building or a point of interest to loot it safely. Also shooting an unsilenced gun would be deathsentence as the shooter would be instantly swarmed by hordes. Rural areas should have less zombies but dangerous wildlife. (For example a forest in unpopulated area could be inhabited by animals such as bears)
While SUPER-INTENSE-HARDCORE-SURVIVAL-WITH-HORDES-OF-ZOMBIES would be fun for people who are experienced at the game and know what they are doing, but for the newbie or casual, this just wouldn’t work. I believe that hard mode, or it’s own mode should be like this, however Normal down shouldn’t.