Zombie Fortress
| “ | Ooohhhh, run, run, I'm coming for you!
Click to listen
— The Heavy on being a zombie.
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Zombie Fortress is a SourceMod plugin and unofficial game mode for Team Fortress 2. There are two opposing teams: the Survivors (RED), and the Zombies (BLU) who wish to eat the Survivors. The Survivors need to complete their objective, which can vary depending on the game mode. Survivors have the advantage of having ranged weaponry while Zombies have the main advantage of having the ability to respawn and convert slayed Survivors into Zombies, hence; When a Survivor Player is killed, they are converted into the Zombie Team. When no Survivor players remain, the Zombie team wins. One could compare the Gamemode to a mix between Arena and Medieval gamemodes respectfully, each affecting a different team simultaneously.
Survivors and Zombies can only select certain classes. The Survivors can choose the Soldier, Pyro, Demoman, Engineer, Medic and Sniper classes. They are armed with regular weapons and several perk choices for modified effectiveness against the Zombies. The Zombies can only choose the Scout, Heavy and Spy classes (which are only equipped with their melee weapons), most lunchbox items (such as Bonk! Atomic Punch and Sandvich), a choice of perks, and the ability to use taunt kills.
Contents
Objectives
On most maps the goal is to survive until the timer runs out. On certain maps however, specific objectives also need to be achieved in order for the Survivors to win. Some of these possible objectives are:
- Defense: Where the Survivors have to stop the Zombies from capturing one or two control points while staying alive.
- Capture: Where the Survivors have to capture all points while staying alive.
- Survival: Where Survivors must hold out for a certain amount of time.
- Capture the Flag: Where the Survivors must travel around the level and grab intelligence briefcases from various places in the level and return each case to the center point.
Strategy
- Not all servers use the perk system, the perk tidbits are there for people who play on perk-enabled servers.
Survivor Strategy
- All: Survivors should stick together so that the cluster is more difficult to kill, and, on control point maps, to increase the speed at which points cap. In addition, some Survivor perks affect nearby teammates, letting a cluster receive boosts in attack, defense and Crit-chance.
- Soldier: In this Mod, the Soldier is the best ally for a Medic while attacking, as the Heavy is a Zombie-only class. The Soldier is also the best class against hordes of zombies due to his rockets' explosion radius (especially with Crit rockets), and his ability to use either the Buff Banner or Battalions Backup to provide either Mini-Crits or a Crit-negating defense boost. In addition, like the Demoman, he can increase capture speed using the Pain Train. In Zombie Fortress, a Soldier will most likely use the Tantrum perk, so the 100% Crits can be useful if dealing with a horde.
- Pyro: The Pyro is highly limited in this mod due to the fact that Flamethrower ammunition is restricted to 125 rather than the usual 200. The Pyro is useful against large hordes due to his airblast and afterburn, however the Pyro uses up 1/5th of his ammo every time he airblasts, so the Pyro has to be selective about how often the ability is used. The Pyro's survivability has increased since the Degreaser and Powerjack have been released. The Pyro is also useful for extinguishing survivors that have been set on fire by Combustible zombies.
- Demoman: The Demoman is the best ally for a Medic in defensive situations due to his ability to lay sticky traps over entrances. A Demoman is also deadly in melee fights, especially if he gets a few heads with his Eyelander. In addition, on cp maps he can help increase the cap speed by using the Pain Train. A Demoman will often use the Juggernaut perk. Its ability to make the user resistant to explosives allows the Demoman to trick Zombies into attacking him while he stands in a carpet of sticky bombs.
- Engineer: The Engineer is the most defensive class of the Mod but can be useful when attacking by using the Gunslinger. The Engineer's buildings are also changed in the name of balance. The Sentry Gun starts with half ammo and cannot be repaired, the Dispenser is unable to heal or dispense health or ammo but is used as a blockade, while the Teleporter works the same way. Due to balance issues, server administrators often disable the ability to teleport or enable reparation of buildings. The Engineer also cannot upgrade his buildings. An Engineer will often use the Sadistic perk, for the increased health and critical chance can prove useful when attacked by a horde.
- Medic: The Medic is an extremely useful asset in the Mod. His Overheal does not decay, his Syringe Gun does not need to be reloaded. He can also use the Crusader's Crossbow to heal survivors out of range of his Medi Gun and his health regenerates. However the Medic should constantly watch his primary ammo so he does not run out and leave himself vulnerable. A Medic will often use the Charismatic Perk to increase his allies threat to the zombies. With the Australian Christmas update, the Medic can also use Amputator taunt to heal a group of survivors without the need to use his Medi Gun.
- Sniper: On open maps, the Sniper is extremely useful due to his long range of fire. In smaller maps, however, the Sniper may have to resort to using his Huntsman to deal with close-range threats. His ability to give teammates Mini-Crits by using Jarate and the Sydney Sleeper can come in handy when dealing with hordes. The Sniper's SMG does not need to be reloaded, although care should be taken not to run out of ammo in a critical situation. Snipers using both the Bushwacka and Jarate can defend themselves against most zombies with the Bushwacka's Crit attribute. Using the Razorback while sniping is also a viable option since Spies will most often aim for Snipers.
Zombie Strategy
- Scout: In the mod, the Scout maintains his speed and double jump. The Scout excels at distracting Sentry Guns and ambushing lone Survivors due to the ability to use Sandman, Bonk! Atomic Punch, and Crit-a-Cola. A Scout in Zombie Fortress will often use the Thieving perk, which can create havoc among survivors in maps with limited ammo packs.
- Heavy: The Heavy in the mod functions much the same as he does in regular gameplay. The Heavy excels at picking off stragglers in a Survivor group and then attacking the bulk of the Survivors using his Showdown taunt kill and the Crits from the K.G.B..
- Spy: The Spy still remains a large threat in the mod due to retention of his Cloak (the maximum Cloak he can have is 80%) and backstab, but is unable to disguise, unless he uses Your Eternal Reward, which then makes him an extremely deadly, and unexpected, threat to survivors. A Spy in Zombie Fortress will often use the Magnetic perk so they can disable Sentry Guns while cloaked with the Cloak and Dagger.
Perks
Perks are special abilities that both Survivors and Zombies can use. They can change health, defense, attack, speed and introduce new gameplay mechanics (some perks stack upon each other when used by several players e.g. inspirational + inspirational = Doubled effect of the radios or Sick + Sick = More damage done from the piles of vomit).
- Server administrators may disable certain perks (for balance issues or other possible reasons), or may even run Zombie Fortress without perks altogether by installing the ZF Vanilla version of the plugin, ZF Vanilla is the standard ZF that's been maintained and updated for almost a year. Think of it as the basic version of ZF.
| Survivor Perks | |
|---|---|
| Perk | Description |
| Angelic | You have innate speed and rate of fire bonuses. You have innate attack and crit penalties. |
| Athletic | You have innate speed and rate of fire bonuses. You have an innate attack penalty. You have an innate crit penalty. |
| Charitable | Each kill or assist grants 'gift points.' Call for Medic to redeem these points and toss out a gift for other survivors (or zombies). Gifts grant various temporary bonuses. |
| Carpenter | You have an innate defense bonus. You have an innate attack penalty. Call for Medic to place a barricade. Barricades have 250 health and can be destroyed by anyone. Ability has a cooldown of 30s. |
| Cowardly | -You have a passive 'panic' ability. When hit, you gain temporary speed and defense bonuses. Panic ability lasts 10s and has a cooldown of 25s. |
| Friend | Call for Medic to select a friend (must be looking at target, setup time only). Friend is randomly selected otherwise. When near your friend, you have attack and regen bonuses. You gain crit time for each kill or assist with your friend. Crit time is activated when your friend dies. |
| Heroic | You have innate attack and defense bonuses. You gain Crit time for each kill or assist. Crit time is activated when you're the last remaining survivor. |
| Holy | You have an innate attack penalty. When crouched and not moving, you heal yourself and nearby survivors. |
| Juggernaut | You have innate attack and defense bonuses. You have an innate speed penalty. You are immune to self and fall damage. You knockback and stun zombies with melee hits or fall damage impacts. |
| Leader | You have an innate Crit bonus. You grant attack and defense bonuses to nearby survivors. Call for Medic to place a rally point. You gain attack and defense bonuses for each survivor near your rally point, and survivors gain attack and defense bonuses when they are near your rally point. Rally lasts 20s and has a cooldown of 20s. |
| Ninja | You have innate speed and jump bonuses. You have an innate attack penalty. You are immune to fall damage. Call for Medic to place a decoy retreat point. When hit, you will retreat to that point. Decoy ability lasts 15s and has a cooldown of 30s. |
| Nonlethal | You have an innate attack penalty when using bullet-based weapons. Bullet damage causes knockback. |
| Resourceful | You receive ammo, health, and metal from kills. You receive temporary attack bonuses from ammopacks and temporary defense bonuses from medpacks. |
| Selfless | You explode on death, dealing massive damage to nearby zombies, possibly killing them all. |
| Stash | Call for Medic to place a secret stash. Stash can't be placed near other stashes. Stash becomes active after 40s and grants ammo, health, and a temporary attack bonus. Ability has a cooldown of 30s. |
| Stir-crazy | You receive attack and defense bonuses proportional to how much distance you travel. |
| Supplier | Your reserve ammo is resupplied periodically, and can hold twice the normal limit. Call for Medic to place supply boxes. Other survivors can resupply ammo from these boxes. Supply ability has a cooldown of 10s. |
| Tantrum | Call for Medic to throw a tantrum. Tantrum grants 100% Crits and lasts 15s. Ability has a cooldown of 30s, during which you have a speed penalty. |
| Traitor | You have -100% Crit. Zombies nearby get added Crit. You poison the last survivor, but if lucky he can live through it. |
| Trapper | Call for Medic to place proximity mines. You can place up to 3 mines. Ability has a cooldown of 30s. |
| Wise | Bonuses are permanent. +Att on kill or Assist. |
| Zenlike | When crouched and not moving, you regenerate health and accumulate a Crit bonus. Crit bonus decreases after each attack. |
| Zombie Perks | |
|---|---|
| Perk | Description |
| Alpha | You acquire minions by killing survivors or assisting existing minions in killing survivors. You receive attack and regen bonuses when near other zombies or minions. Call for Medic to summon up to 4 minions. Ability has a cooldown of 15s per minion summoned. |
| Combustible | You have an innate defense penalty. You explode on death (unless hit by a melee weapon). Can't Cloak or use Bonk!. |
| Tarred | Call for Medic to spit tar. Tar slicks last for 30s or until you die. You slow survivors with melee hits or when hit with melee. |
| Horrifying | Each melee hit causes temporary defense, rate of fire, and speed penalties to the survivors. |
| Hunter | Call for Medic to place a spawn mark. If there are survivors near when you spawn, the point is destroyed. +Def +Speed temporarily on spawn. |
| Leap | You have innate attack and defense penalties. You are immune to fall damage. Call for Medic to perform a long jump. Ability has a cooldown of 2s. |
| Magnetic | Disable nearby Sentry Guns and proximity mines. |
| Marked | One survivor is randomly selected as your mark. You gain an attack bonus when attacking your mark and an attack penalty otherwise. New mark is chosen after current mark dies and there are more than 2 remaining survivors. |
| Rage | Call for Medic to active a 2-stage rage ability. First stage lasts 15s, during which some damage taken is converted to an attack bonus. Second stage lasts 5s, during which damage taken is delayed by 2s. Each stage grants speed and health bonuses. Ability has a cooldown of 20s. |
| Roar | Call for Medic to push back nearby survivors in front of you and give them -Def |
| Sick | You have an innate defense penalty. Call for Medic to spit acid. Acid lasts for 35s or until you die. Damage caused is proportional to distance between you and acid. |
| Swarming | You have an innate speed bonus. You have innate attack and defense penalties. You have instant respawn, and zombies that die near you have instant respawn. |
| Theiving | Destroy metal, Ammo, and ÜberCharge on each hit of that survivor. |
| Toxic | Poison survivors on hit. More hits = more time poisoned. Damage near survivors when not moving. -100%Att. |
| Vampiric | Leech HP per hit based on damage. Increased HP regen. |
| Vindictive | +Crit +Def on killing a survivor. Buffs carry when you respawn or change classes. |
Praise
- Original and drastically different gameplay for Team Fortress 2
- Allows expansion into different atmospheric themes, like horror.
- Zombie Survival game genre type of gameplay.
- More emphasis on team survival, similar to Arena.
- More emphasis on ambush tactics, similar to the Medieval Gamemode.
- well balanced gameplay. (on a code standpoint. Read below for details.)
Criticisms
One of the only, and main criticisms of Zombie Fortress is the badly designed maps by the community, as Zombie Fortress maps require a different and well thought-out design plan to achieve good balance and amusement for both teams, as the gameplay differs drastically from normal gameplay. The current developer of Zombie Fortress Dirtyminuth even stated:
Maps are a big issue, I agree. The problem is that even a single layout error can result in a poor map, as survivors optimize their chances for survival. Examples include rooms with single entrances (as mentioned), zombie spawns with a single exit, secret rooms accessible through normal gameplay, long sightlines, and open areas with little cover. Though these are issues with map design in general, they're exacerbated in ZF because available skill sets differ between survivors and zombies. For example, long sightlines are a larger problem in ZF because zombies do not have a decent ranged attack, yet survivors can pile on the Snipers and effectively exploit this advantage.
I also hate to call out specific maps, but zf_cliff is the epitome of poor ZF map design. What's worse is people complaining about ZF (un)balance when they use zf_cliff as a basis for their complaint. It's hard to take their complaints seriously in such a context. What's even worse is that a small set of practically trivial fixes would improve the map tenfold. Get rid of the ground level house, add at least two more zombie spawns at the base of the cliff, and add one more path to the top.
I'm not sure how to fully address this issue. One idea is to post a "Goofus and Gallant" on ZF map design, complete with examples.
External links
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