Zombie Fortress
Zombie Fortress is a SourceMod plugin and unofficial game mode for Team Fortress 2. Two teams face each other, the survivors (RED) and the zombies (BLU) who want to eat them. The survivors need to complete their objective, which is usually to survive a certain amount of time before they are all killed. When a survivor is killed, they are converted into a zombie. When there are no survivors left, the zombies win.
Two distinct teams battle it out. The survivors (Soldier, Pyro, Demoman, Engineer, Medic and Sniper) are armed with regular weapons and several class improvements against the zombies (Scout, Heavy and Spy) who are only equipped with their melee attacks and special abilities. The Zombies also have the option to taunt kill. The gameplay is similar enough to official Team Fortress 2 game modes that is easy to pick up but different enough to give a unique experience.
Currently this mod is highly inactive, with only a few servers running the game mode,and about a dozen of maps supporting the mode.
Contents
Objectives
The Zombie game mode has only two objective modes. Escape, and Defense.
In the escape mode, the survivors must make their way to a designated point in the map to survive and escape the wrath of the zombie players. This is often some sort of escape vehicle or safe house point. For example, the rocket at the last control point in ZF_Dustbowl is used to escape the infected and overrun mining facility of Dustbowl.
The defence game mode is simply a matter of defending and surviving anywhere in the map, until the round time depletes. Many of these defence maps often have props such as barrels, chairs and tables which can be used to form small barricades in order to keep the Zombie players away from the survivors, increasing their chance to survive. As the round progresses the survivors will usually find it harder to survive the nearer the round comes to finishing. Realistically the round begins with every player as a survivor. Each survivor is randomly assigned a class to play, however in most servers this can be quickly changed in a spawn room before the setup phase has finished. After the setup phase ends, a small number of random players are selected to become Zombies, if no one has opted to join the Blu team. (Usually 1-3 players are automatically switched.) Once the map begins, players can only ever join the BLU team. Each time a player is killed, that player automatically joins the Zombie team and must attempt to convert the remaining number of survivors to win.
Teams
Survivors
Each surviving class has been given slight modifications and alterations in order to balance the way they are played and used within the Zombie Mod game mode. This is to ensure the classes are neither overpowered and too easy to dominate the Zombies or underpowered, and therefore struggling to survive for a small amount of time.
Due to the Rocket Launcher's small clip size, the Soldier is granted additional ammunition each time the player successfully kills a "Zombie". Each kill awards the Soldier two rockets, these additional rockets still need to be reloaded into the rocket launcher before they can be used. Therefore requiring the Soldier to avoid large groups of Zombies to avoid being mobbed in mid-reload.
The Pyro has no bonus alterations or modifications. However the Pyro receives a limit of 100 ammunition that his flamethrower can hold. This is to ensure the player cannot carelessly attack all the time. Although the player can use ammo box pickups, if the amount of ammunition given to the player exceeds to limit of one hundred, the gas canister starts to leak and the flamethrower ammunition will decrease down to 100 at a moderate speed. Players using the Pyro class should be wary when compression blasting, due to the limit of 100 flamethrower ammunition, one single airblast uses one quarter of the player's ammunition.
In the Zombie Game mode, the Demoman receives a small health boost of 25HP for using the bottle taunt each time. This creates a choice for the player to make. Guaranteed health given by the bottle taunt, or the small health boosts given by the Eyelander after each successful Zombie head is removed.
In the Zombie Game mode the Engineer class has been severely modified. Dispensers no longer provide health and ammunition, and instead act as small area blocking devices. These blocking devices can be used to slow down the Zombies method of attack if placed in narrow doorways and stairways. The sentry gun still operates, however at a much lower and limited level. From the moment the Sentry gun fires a single bullet the sentry gun's health begins to slowly decrease. This cannot be circumvented and there is no way to repair the sentrygun's health or ammunition. Once the sentrygun's health or ammunition is depleted, it is automatically destroyed and thus the Engineer can build another, provided the player has enough metal and safety. Teleporters still operate as a normal with no difference between the normal gamemodes and Zombie mod. However the Engineer cannot upgrade any buildings past level 1. Thus this means the Sentry gun does not cause much push back, and teleporters require a rather large recharge time.
If the Engineer is resourceful, teleporters can be used to serve as a means of emergency exits. In Zombie Fortress, a player may find themselves cornered into a dead-end. With the use of a well placed teleporter exit and entrance, the player maybe able to escape certain death and survive.
Whilst the Medic's primary objective is to heal the other survivors, the Medic's syringe guns do not need to be reloaded. Much alike to the Sniper's SMG in Zombie Fortress.
The sniper is given additional primary ammunition each time the player successfully kills a Zombie player. The sniper no longer has multiple clips for his SMG, and instead has one large clip. Therefore removing the requirement to reload.
Morale
If a survivor manages to kill a large number of zombies, they gain a "morale" boost which significantly increases the amount of critical attacks the player makes. These "morale" moments are most commonly seen when one of the last remaining survivors is surrounded by a large group of zombie players. For instance attempting to capture one of the last control points in an escape map. Or in the final minute of a defend map. The most common survivor classes that usually receive "morale" boosts are the Pyro, with no requirement to reload with the flamethrower. Along with the Chargin' Targe and Eyelander Demomen. Medics using their syringe guns also have a good chance at receiving the morale boost, due to the change in the syringe gun's clip style for Zombie Fortress. This allows Medics to spray large numbers of syringes into oncoming waves of zombie players. These "morale" moments can be viewed as a last stand against the zombie players, usually making tense moments for the player in question receiving the "morale" boost.
Zombies
The Zombie game mode only offers three playable Zombie classes. These three classes can only be selected and used by joining the Blu] team. Survivors that are either killed by a Zombie, or commit a form of suicide are automatically switched to the Blu Zombie team. Zombie players can use the "Medic!" key to receive a "Rage" boost. Whilst under the effects of the rage boost, the player moves faster and receives a large overheal. After a small period of time, the rage effect wears off and the player becomes tired. Much similar to the effects of the Bonk! Energy Drink. The rage boost can only be activated with full health to avoid circumventing death. Trying to activate the rage boost without full health, will cause the player's current character to automatically play voice commands and responses from the "Negative" and "Jeers" voice command menu.
The Scout no longer has any primary weapons or pistol. The scout must use either the standard metal bat or the Sandman. The Sandman's baseball is the only zombie melee weapon within the Zombie Fortress game mode which retains the ability to inflict damage from afar.
The Heavy much like the Scout, is also limited to melee only. The Heavy cannot use any type of minigun or the shotgun. The player can choose whether to equip the fists, or the Killing Gloves of Boxing. In the Zombie Fortress game mode, the Heavy's Fists possess the only taunt on the zombie team that can act as an instant kill from a distance. This is proven useful when survivors decide to defend from high and exposed ledges. The Killing gloves of boxing also serves as a useful tool when targeting large groups of survivors in close areas. Once the player manages to take down one survivor, preferably a low health class such as an Engineer. The player can use the extended critical effect and target the rest of the survivors, resetting the critical countdown effect upon each kill.
The Spy has only one weapon, the Butterfly knife. The Spy's original invisibility watch can only hold eighty percent of it's maximum cloak. The spy can still restore cloak by picking up fallen weapons from converted survivors, or Ammo pick-ups. The Cloak and Dagger watch also retains the eighty percent cloak limit. However it can still be used to stay cloaked permanently until the player spots a moment of weakness, presenting the chance to backstab and convert survivors into zombies. The Dead Ringer watch cannot be used in the Zombie mode at all, if the player tries to equip and use the Dead Ringer, the player will simply lack any ability to cloak at all. Rendering them fairly useless, since the Spy must rely heavily upon his cloaking ability in the Zombie Fortress game mode.
Health regeneration
Whilst the survivor team possess the "Morale" ability within the Zombie Fortress game mode. The Zombie team has it's own unique team ability. After taking damage, the Zombie players will slowly begin to regenerate their health over time. The same regeneration method that a Medic has after taking no damage with the Blutsauger equipped. The base regeneration starts at 3HP every two to three seconds. However, once a large group of Zombie players are in nearby range of each other. They begin to regenerate health at a much more intense rate. This is an incentive for the Zombie team to attack in large groups and outnumber the survivors.
Maps
Zombie fortress maps carry the zf prefix. Some of the most commonly played Zombie Fortress maps are listed below:
- ZF_Asylum_b1
- ZF_Alpine_b4_2
- ZF_Blockade_b2.1
- ZF_Cave_b1
- ZF_Canyon_fix_gfl
- ZF_Christmas_Panic_v1
- ZF_Cliff_v2_4
- ZF_Coyote_b6
- ZF_CP_Volcano_b1_c
- ZF_Dustbowl_b4
- ZF_Desert_b2
- ZF_Fortress_v4
- ZF_Industry_rc1 + ZF_Industry_rc1_cpless
- ZF_Lake_v4
- ZF_Panic_v5
- ZF_Panic_Mansion_cp
- ZF_Stinks_v2
- ZF_Top_fix
- ZF_Twilight_v3
- ZF_Yard_v3
(Note: The above list contains the used version prefixes for each map, such as b1, v2 etc.)
An additional list of Zombie Fortress maps can be found here.
