Escape From Zombie Island 2 ready for public consumption

[fe3333au]

I like the idea of some units having 2 movement ... SWAT as they are trained to rapid response, security, some of the 'unique' individuals and champions ... not sure about Hookers and Dockers though ... and now Riot Cops (already stated my reasons for them being moved back to 1). There is probably a selection in the Survivor and Zeb camps but I have yet to play them.

Dalek is frustrating at 1, but again we don't want to make things too easy, anyway bit hard for the nerd to peddle fast in the pepper pot

I thought the idea to restrict movement was that things were bad in paradise island, like getting hit by a hurricane ... and due to the extreme danger, people would have to constantly be checking, double checking and then tripple checking before and as they move about ... also the reason to slow the movement of vehicles to a minimum is because there is alot of rubble, rubbish, burnt debris, abandoned vehicles (and human bodies probably) littering the streets and thus causing obstacles.

So regarding cars/trucks and also following with the idea that road conditions are not ... ummm ... normal ... perhaps cars and trucks should be what they were initially, which I think was 3 or 4.

 

[Vuldacon]

I agree that the Movement of Units should be balanced ...Slow or fast. All is a matter of how one is use to playing as well and what is in ones feelings and imagination. I just think if units such as Natasha are going to move 3 squares on foot, the cars by comparison should move many times Greater. The Level being played is very important as to how the game play goes. Banned Level is always drastically different and you cannot calculate what will happen by merely looking at unit movement or power. Far Lesser units will kill your Strongest Units. On Banned level, if you play as the Zombies, Natasha and even Dockers will easily Kill your Monster Zombies.
As for cars and people Running...this is a matter of balance of what the units are suppose to do and a comparison. Game Balance between what would be more realistic vs what would imbalance the game become major factors. So we are just talking about what would seem to be reality vs game balance. To me, a car is worthless as a Transport unit if it doesn't gain at least two or three times the distance of a Foot unit. Much like a person swimming across the ocean at the same speed as a Battleship. Just doesn't make sense even if it balances game play. A Car is an advantage over Running so I do not see any problem with having it do what it is suppose to do there. IF this creates a game play problem, then the cars could be taken out, limited or many other factors adjusted but no way a person could run as fast or anywhere near the speed of a car and this is not plausible even in a game.

 

[Cloner4000]

Well since the base value of zombie is one...shouldn't all human be faster? And since when you play on higher level, enemy are smarter and their unit production are way faster if you are too slow you will give your AI too much spare time to build up. I really do think a six would not really upset the game setting as one car can only transport 2 unit anyway, unless you have a whole fleet it won't make much difference. Troop truck should be 4 and car should be 6, Troop truck is four as most Authorities units are slower. But increase the attack of a troop truck since it has way more tonnage and 4x4 wheels it should be strong then a car at squshing zombies.

And since all tech cost of survivor have gone up, I thin it's only fair that zombie's tech become more expansive. since it doesn't have much tech to research and it have more building...

Also I think ammo are too scarce...I know the whole game play balance thing but when mutant zombie start poping out by the dozen follow by monsters, war vet is just not up to the job.

Oh I forgot to mention this, but once my timmy was hiding behind a zombie and when a riot cop attacks the zombie..Timmy bombard him!!! and injuring him...I feel so guilty, but the riot cop killed the zombie so it's fine

 

[Cloner4000]

Daryl Paine, Chief of all Company Secruity, he liked the sound of that. It pays well too, with the rate he was getting paid, he can retired at age 40. While he wasn't going to lived the rest of his retirement on a beach chair. At age 30, it seem like a long way to go.

Two years in Marine corp..one spent in the Iraqi Desert, then 3 years Delta Force, before he was pluck by the Company. He rose thourgh the rank quickly thourgh his quick vigilance and never hesitant before firing even when the target was his former boss. In fact he enjoyed his life, and he never regret joining the secruity force. He think he's the best there is.

Until of coarse, he meet Natasha. a special ops agent train by the company by birth. While His marksmenship is sharp, Her's is just breathtaking. Her double pistol has the accurcy on a scope rifle. Better yet, she is just as cold as he is, if not more. And of coarse there's the zombie invasion, those slimy meat head took his secruity force by surprise and overwhelme most of them.
Looks like he's gona to have to train a new batch... with uzi this time. Before he gets the uzi he wants though..he'll just have to keep on poping zombies' head. Hopefully more that the Natasha character, and why he keeps thinking about her, he have no idea.

That's for the Chief of Secruity's civil pedia. Stick it in if you think it's good

 

[KingArthur]

Revised Movement:
Tank (3)
Troop Truck (4)
Mean Machine (5)
Motor Car (5)
Biker Gal (6)
Rushmobile (7)
Natasha (2)

Other changes:
Troop Truck now has A5 D5

I also included an update for Sam Hammer with "Guns, Guns, Guns"; requires: Ammo. A10 D7 and still retains his previous abilities (recon etc). It's HammerTime!

 

[Lord Malbeth]

Do you need any last minute help with the civilopedia? I could make a few entries.

 

[The Omega]

And since all tech cost of survivor have gone up, I thin it's only fair that zombie's tech become more expansive. since it doesn't have much tech to research and it have more building...

Also I think ammo are too scarce...I know the whole game play balance thing but when mutant zombie start poping out by the dozen follow by monsters, war vet is just not up to the job.

I agree.... Now that it takes longer to get better stuff for the survivors, it should also take longer to get better stuff for the zombies....

And ammo isn't scarce. There's just none anywhere near the Survivors (Except for the Research Center, but trying to capture that would be suicidal)

 

[Bluemofia]

To answer the questions about people complaining of the square road tiles:

The road is stuck like that if you have no knowledge of roads connecting to it. It's the way the graphics are done in Civ III. You don't know if there is a road there (in game, you know in RL), the road does not look like it should link up to the square where there should be a road.

 

[Yorgos]

Wait, drastic rule changes (movement) require a lot of playtesting! Are we willing to do them now that we're close to the final release?

 

[Vuldacon]

I agree with most of everything you all have said. The movement changes are easily tested and if they present a game play problem, they can easily be adjusted. The Biggest Release Stopper is the crashes. This Must be corrected. Anything learned concerning them could help locate the problem. One we absolutely know the Problem, it can be corrected but we Really need to find what is causing them. These other "adjustments" are simple changes and since all is being tested now anyway, they will not cause any slow down for the release.

 

[Cloner4000]

While it will change a lot of game play, most of the mech units are for late games where the stronger zombies (mutant, nuclear, or monster) would require more firepower to knock down and with the reduced cost they can produce a lot faster and the increase movement rate will allow player to reinforce much faster.

 

[fe3333au]

Thanks Vuldacon for sending the SWAT (Peace Keeper update) ... they now make a sound when they fortify.

I also changed in the map editor that Clearance Sale should have the doubles city defences CHECKED.


Regarding additional fortification sounds ... I noticed that the Mayor is silent ... perhaps a grunt would be good.

EDIT ... there is a sound for Mayor but like the good General ... very quiet, had to turn music off ... but that's cool

 

[Vuldacon]

Cloner4000...All true and of course any changes affect game play. Testing will show if the changes are good or not so good. Playing on the Lower Levels is something you all may be more familiar with than I am. Game play is very different according to the level one plays so adjustments for one level may not be good on another. Play test on the level you prefer and see what you think about any adjustment.

fe3333au...you are welcome, I wanted you to have the corrected irrigation as well... Especially since you are posting screenshots. King Arthur knows about this and I asked him to set that Wonder to have Reduces Corruption as well to help just a little more with corruption in the cities.

Yes, the Mayor is actually the American King Unit and uses the Fidget sound as the Fortify sound.This is as that unit is set up from PTW version. IF you want the sounds louder, you could open them in windows recorder and increase the sound level to suit what you want easily. Look in PTW/Units and find the American King. Open the .ini and you will see that it uses the Fidget sound as the Fortify sound. You could copy the entire unit and place it in your EFZI2 Unit Folder then change the sounds as you want without changing the unit in PTW. The sounds I have added were intentionally made where they would not play loud because this can become annoying. IF you think a unit that I have control over should have louder sounds...let me know.

"Bogart" the spy is a Unit that walks slowly in his animation. This did not fit the .ini spesd at all so I had to reduce the .ini speed drastically for him. This worked well for several tests but I see that now the game moves him in a slight zig zag motion as he walks. This is from that .ini speed being set too slow for the game to play the animation smoothly. I am looking into correcting this. We could just leave him this way and write in that he is drunk most of the time lol. I will probably have to change the animation speeds to correct this because he does need a very slow .ini speed to walk as his animation was intended.

 

[fe3333au]

I really like the Sam Hammer (Bogart) ... now that I understand the labeling it makes sense ... even when 're-captured' by the zombies ... im my imagination he is simply going 'undercover'

I also like that there are now zombies (or at least I have stumbled across one) that was ladened with a supply package ... I guess that the infected don't enjoy chocolate and batteries

Brilliant Guys

 

[Cloner4000]

So I played as Authorities again. Remember the hyperlink error when the changing government appear? First I tried to click yes, but everytime I move my mouse back to the option -change to Martial art the screen "exceed max hyperlink" comes up again, finally I decide to ignore it and move stright to the changing govt option clicks it and right then I have a CTD.

Funny though when I reload and then when changing the govt the screen "exceed hyperscreen" did NOT come up again, even when it's Survivor's turn to change gov't it doesn't come up either (I was playing hotseat). Does zombie have an alternative form of government? or could it be that one of the other AI was going to change their govt and the "hyperlink" screen comes up and then have a CTD? that would explain why when you reload the game it doesn't go CTD and that it happens several hours into the game (time it takes for AI to research an alternative form of the government). And that it seemed to be when zombie is moving (I remember zombies moves before Company, Authorities, and Survivor if they are AI, so it might not be the zombie that's at fault but the AI civ after it).

I think it makes some sense.

 

[fe3333au]

Finally had a CTD ... this one early in the game ... 10am Day 2

Authorities on Banned ... Music OFF

Happenings ... Just finished my turn

Paul 'Snake' Diego takes pot shots at passing zombies from Police Station

Police Station produces Fortifications now ... Riot Cop
Radio Station produces Fortifications now ... Riot Cop
Military Base produces Fortifications now ... Troop Truck

I rushed them

Informed that Survivors have completed Clearance Sale

then it happened

I think I agree that it is a case of the system resources are being cluttered up by stuff ... any thoughts on how to over come this hurdle ?!!

Do we have to redo huge chunks of the game ??

 

[Cloner4000]

fe3333au, I have a question, how old is your computer? Could this be the specification of the computer. Because it seems that you have more CTD then all of us combined.

Because I've build clearance sale a lot of times and while rushing some units, but I never experience CTD that way. Did you end your turn yet?

 

[fe3333au]

oldish (cannot run cIV) ... but Vuldacon has has 6 crashes in a night of testing.

 

[Vuldacon]

Cloner4000... All information concerning crashes is important as clues and I appreciate your information. I need to check into the "exceed max hyperlink" situation you are seeing. The Hyperlink situation could be causing a crash concerning the AI but even if it is not the direct cause, it helps as a good clue as to what is going on.

I had a crash while the Company was moving the Riot Cops and also when it was my turn and a wonder was built. The splash had finished and I pressed the Enter Key to continue playing past the advisor that was on the screen stating the information about keeping the lights on and the Game Crashed. There are different times when crashes occur and they happen with various AI Factions and players as well. It seems that the Crashes take place after playing a game for a while for most but they can happen early too. Try Holding the Shift Key down to speed up the AI's turn. I have found that this causes more crashes. I believe the Computer is becoming Overloaded and this is caused by more than one thing. After Reloading no one has had a crash when replaying through the same move. Again, I believe this points toward overload because the computer would not be overloaded after a fresh reload of the game and move. These Clues will help so keep reporting any details you know when a crash occurs.
Do Keep in mind that more than likely the crashes are Not caused directly from what may appear as the direct cause. Just because I had a crash when the Company was moving Riot Cops does not mean it is the Company or Riot Cops that caused the crash...same for Music and Zombies or any other thing taking place but collectively we may gain enough clues to find the over all problem or problems so they can be corrected.

fe3333au...yes, that is the experience I have has as well after building a wonder but not immediately...it crashed after the splash had finished and the advisor was on the screen. We will just have to look deeper into this and all clues will help.

 

[fe3333au]

Finally got a leader ... and the name list has been fixed ... can't wait to get Boomer upgraded

However there are heaps of danger between Police Station and City Hall

@ Cloner ... I believe that you will be proud to know that Huo Sun is defending the Hospital valiantly and is now elite. :slute: