Escape From Zombie Island 2 ready for public consumption

Oh you are so going to die- in many weird and wonderful but always yucky ways. No more sweet zombie dreams for you. ;)

I have a feeling that I am so going to die when I play this for the first time. I frequently have zombie dreams, and altho they are scary to the point of being nigthmares, I never die and always kick some ass (or run really really fast.), but I think this scenario will be the end of me :D
 
I took two of the zombie's building by day 3...they are both guarded by guard dogs and some farmhand. All the UU are gone. The only one I fought with are Zeb.
The AI are kind of erratic behaviors. I keep seeing workers walking random in two repeating tile and cars just zooming around everywhere. I suppose it can't be helped. The zombie really like to target my unprotected workers though I 've lost 5 or 6 of them.
 
The Farmers never seem to really get going (in 5 tests total...if you count the ones I restarted after noting my mistakes)...they always have units wandering around, but they seem to be "hiding" from the zombies, not fighting them...maybe their aggression is too low?
Spacer One... This is due to the fact that the Farmers are the only Faction that is not at War against the Zombies and can also make peace if they do go to war against them. Farmers may seem to lack Knowledge but in fact they are Far Smarter than they are given credit for.

The Farmers are not so much "Hiding" as they are developing without War against the Zombies until they "feel" the time is right for them to Take Back
what they Know is Rightfully theirs. Problem is Zeb can make mistakes as to when the time is right to go against the Zombies and begin to claim the land that belonged to his family long ago.

You can Read the Civilopedia about the Farmers and what has happened to them on Paradise Island. Zeb aims to take back what he believes is Rightfully his Family's Land. He is "Using" the Zombie Out Break as a way to do it.
...Of course, OLE Zeb might just make a mistake on his timing or declare War on the Wrong Faction ...such as You and Lose:lol:

Cloner4000... Yes, just as in ANY CIV Game, the AI will Target your Workers...nothing new there. Same for many other game "situations" such as the erratic behavior of the AI and how it uses units and Strategies...if you can even call it strategies. This makes setting all fastors for game play much more difficult to gain anything close to what is desired.

Human Players can make better use of many Factors than the AI so the Farmers do not tend to go to war against the Zombies unless you offer them something they want in return. Use all factors to Manipulate the end result you are striving for to win the game. This is true with each Faction. Some will discover very easy ways and others will have to play longer to find what works best for them but regardless...all should prove challenging Fun and NOT Too Difficult after you have played several games and understand more about all you can do.

The intention behind the game play is to allow many strategies and at the same time, punish faulty thinking or pursuits. It is NOT intentioned to be too difficult but rather Challenging and Fun. Anyone can select to play Higher Levels if they can Win too easily on the Default level 12A. IF 12A is too difficult at first for some, they can select to play a lower level.

This is why the default level is 12A...Not to insult anyone who is an experienced player or imply the Movie Rating of 12A as below any Proud Individuals abilities or position but rather to obtain a central "average" Game play that will provide general Challenging Fun.

IF anyone wants a Game they cannot possibly win...I can set that up for you:lol:...or try playing the Banned Level.

While I do not want to spoil anything that will be discovered from playing the game, the "tips" I have already mentioned in previous posts will help you Win playing any Faction. My feel on this is that the game is intense and complicated enough that if I divulge some good tips to help, it will not detract from your game play, challenge or fun but will provide more information for you to contend and be able to play better to have more Fun.

Just so you Testers know...Level 12A is suppose to be average play so IF you happen to be Brilliant and a better player, judge accordingly :)
 
Okay, a few notes i've gathered:
(I played as the company, 12a - setup screen was awesome by the way)

1. Sam Hammer - I forgot all about what i'm supposed to do with him, or how i'm supposed to capture him. I actually didn't even see him at the start of the game (but i did forget to purposefully look for him). I'm concerned that a lot of players who don't read this thread might have no clue that he's even in the game. Maybe include this in a readme that comes with the download?

2. In the civilopedia under espionage missions it states (next to steal street map) "this is unnecessary as the map is revealed to every faction from the start of the game." However the entire map was not available to me (as the company) at the start of the game.

3. Here's my story so far: (I'm not a great player)
I began attacking the bank (well bombarding it) at 8am on day 2. I finally took the bank at 8pm on day 2 with no casualties. I also got a champion from one of the attack dogs around this time.
I've now started attacking the detective agency.
I traded do it yourself to zeb for here boy, aid relief, revenge of the nerds, and 310 supplies at 4pm on day 3.

4. I'm okay with the elvis impersonator, the dalek, bubba, the japanese samurai warrior, but the 3 indians look really out of place. Anyone else with me on this?

I'll post more as i keep testing.
 
Okay, a few notes i've gathered:
(I played as the company, 12a - setup screen was awesome by the way)

1. Sam Hammer - I forgot all about what i'm supposed to do with him, or how i'm supposed to capture him. I actually didn't even see him at the start of the game (but i did forget to purposefully look for him). I'm concerned that a lot of players who don't read this thread might have no clue that he's even in the game. Maybe include this in a readme that comes with the download?
He's a capturable unit so you just move one of your units on top of him and you capture him. He can be upgraded later to useful unit. Personally, I don't think it's neccessary to include this in the readme but maybe there's a place for compiling a list of tips with spoiler warning.

2. In the civilopedia under espionage missions it states (next to steal street map) "this is unnecessary as the map is revealed to every faction from the start of the game." However the entire map was not available to me (as the company) at the start of the game.
The pedia's wrong there and either Vuldacon or I will fix it today. There's still a few areas in the pedia that we haven't visited in a long while so thanks for saving us the pain there.

4. I'm okay with the elvis impersonator, the dalek, bubba, the japanese samurai warrior, but the 3 indians look really out of place. Anyone else with me on this?

The story behind the Indians is that they're part of the Wild West Show at the Wild Boar Inn (owned by Zeb's Brother - who is the Wild West Sheriff in the show as well as the self styled Law in These Here Parts). Granted these characters were developed at a time when Farmers were being considered for expansion and there was a distinct lack of Farmer type units. This might change in future. Top of my list is a Pig Throwing Farmer's Boy.

I'll post more as i keep testing.
Great stuff. Keep up the good work.
 
From what I've seen so far, the survivors are too easy to play as for the human, managing to hold a huge "empire" of cities, when in reality, they should be "city hopping". I think the reason for this may be their main cities distance from the Zombie capital, which is also the reason why it is harder for the company!
 
I need some more info from you Virote:

I need to know what level you were on and when you achieved victory (day or turn) and by what means.

This goes for all testers. Keep some brief notes on each game. Even as brief as:

1st Game As Survivors
Day 12 Abandoned - Hopeless Situation.

or
4th Games As Survivors
Day 18 Victory By Conquest.



From what I've seen so far, the survivors are too easy to play as for the human, managing to hold a huge "empire" of cities, when in reality, they should be "city hopping". I think the reason for this may be their main cities distance from the Zombie capital, which is also the reason why it is harder for the company!
 
Try Survivors first please on 12A.

Try and play for as long as possible; at least long enough for you to be confident of the outcome. The late game will (and should) swing in favour of the Zombies if you haven't kept them under control. You might think you have them under control even when you don't have them under control :crazyeye: So be sure ;)

starting a new game this morning...I will keep a full log...any particular faction youd prefer(or havent got enough info on?)
 
I like the term "city hopping" :) and that's the sort of behaviour we're trying to encourage with the Survivors. As said before each faction has it's own favoured way of being played.

Authorities are "Thrill Ride - Turn The Tide" type victories who need to hang on until they get their big guns.

Survivors are "Let's Get The Hell Outa Here" as quickly as possible.

Farmers are hard to sum up ;) They can exploit a war-no-war situation with the zombies and sneak a win.

Company are "Let's Contain This Mess" but if all goes to pieces "Retreat To Outer Space" (space race win) and return later to take over the world.

From what I've seen so far, the survivors are too easy to play as for the human, managing to hold a huge "empire" of cities, when in reality, they should be "city hopping". I think the reason for this may be their main cities distance from the Zombie capital, which is also the reason why it is harder for the company!
 
Nwoll... The Sam Hammer entry states how to rescue Sam on turn two. It is in Black Bold Writing.

The Indians could use more explanation but they are stated as "Mock" Indians that are in the Wild West Show at the Wild Boar Inn. They cannot be built and as King Arthur said, they were placed for the Farmers who were not playable until this version and units were needed. These "Actors" in the Wild West Show were caught by surprise with the Zombie Outbreak...they use the Real Props they have as the only weapons they could get their hands on at the time. They are simply single Flavor units now.

The Farmers have many units that could be exchanged for more specific units that fit the look of the Farmers better but it will require months longer to develop the Farmers to a more "finished" Faction. The units currently used for the Farmers are to allow players to be able to play as the Farmers now. There are some very good developed units for them such as Lawman Jed and the exploding sheep. The Shaggin' Waggon is a re-colored Troop Truck for example. We were not going to be concerned about the Farmers initially but they evolved and became a Fun addition so they were developed the best they could be within the time we have had and units that we could place for them now.

Concerning Street Maps under Espionage... This entry was in the game because a map of the Island was going to be made for trade purposes but it was decided that a Map is Not needed because everyone on Paradise Island already knows their Island. The Dark, undiscovered areas represent Not knowing what is in those areas after the Zombie Outbreak. This entry will either be Removed or adjusted so it is not confusing. The Map is never "Revealed"..it is up to the player to reveal the Island with the special units that were placed for this purpose...Balloons, Helicopters.

From what I've seen so far, the survivors are too easy to play as for the human, managing to hold a huge "empire" of cities, when in reality, they should be "city hopping". I think the reason for this may be their main cities distance from the Zombie capital, which is also the reason why it is harder for the company!
Virote_Considon... Remember, this is a small Island, not a country and it uses Buildings, Not Cities and Bastions which are just Faction Strongholds, Not Capitals. The Survivors can gain and hold buildings if they handle the Crisis correctly, these are just Buildings. I assume you are playing on 12A Level as well. It is true that the Survivors are suppose to have the most difficult time and I believe they do if you compare the other Factions who have more Bombarding units or the Farmers who do not have to be at War against the Zombies. I believe the ease you find playing the Survivors may be more due to your ability to play better and perhaps you also had a "lucky Game" than the over all Survivor game settings. The Survivors and all Factions lose to the Zombies when a Human is not playing them. Try Playing on a Higher Level such as 18. IF more difficulty is needed for level 12A, I would rather increase the settings for the early game Zombie Strengths than lower the Survivor settings. I do not expect any experienced player will lose on level 12A...this is equivalent to Monarch Level in CIV.
 
I need some more info from you Virote:

I need to know what level you were on and when you achieved victory (day or turn) and by what means.

I've been playing 12a, and I haven't actually achieved victory yet, because I haven't had enough time to play all the way through.(exams :() What I was stating was that the survivors seem too easy as compared to, say, the company, and every time I play with them, I seem to be able to take way too many buildings without loosing anything. The problem is, they don't have much in the form of threat around them. As soon as they have the Graveyard and the hospital, they can stop worrying about any assault from their rear (unlike the Authorities, who are surrounded by zombie buildings, and the Company, because they start the closest to the Research Center). As the survivors, I rarely need to worry about the church, which is pretty much "that flank".

A question I also have: How come most buildings now have Zombie goo? Am I the only one who liked it when the zombies supply's were limited? :lol:
 
@Vuldacon: I was using "gamespeak" when referring to capital, etc. :) I should really change it for this scenario :lol:

And the "problem" (if I can call it that...) was one that I've found throughout the playtest. I always imagine the survivors having to jump from building to building, and not staying in one for too long in case the zombies break in, etc. I watch too many zombie films, though ;)
 
Survivors, 12A more aggressive(was an accident)

Day 1/ 12PM begin repairing roads and connecting resources...
2 AM area around survivor buildings is "secure" for the moment
6 AM Freddie and Rev S make it to the Garage in the Rush Mobile
2 PM Farmers declare war on Zombies
10 PM Company and Authorities ask for MPP
DAY 2/ 12 PM Ms T dies defending Furniture Store (I think it should be a shoe store)
8AM Finished Shinto Shrine
10 PM Capture Fast Food...no major losses
Day 4/ 2PM Assault on Gentlemen's Club fails horribly
4PM Giant Spiders wreaking Havoc on my buildings...heavy defense mode
Day 5 / 2PM Capture Gentlemen's Club
Day 6/ 4AM Bombing runs by zombies start (lets call this the beginning of the end)
6AM Rev.S(upgraded, I forget his name) Dies Defending the GC
Champion Dies defending he GC
8AM Champion Dies defending GC
Hannibal dies defending GC
10AM, GC Abandoned and units retreated toward Fast Food
All escaping units slaughtered by Dogs and Spiders
Game is abandoned as lost....

For the record, I still control ALL starting buildings

There ya have it...I tried to hold buildings instead of keeping 3-5 buildings and moving from place to place...Its real hard to maintain buildings after the Zombies get the crawling brains, as they seem to come from everywhere...and the bomber fell bats are enough to shut the game down by themselves...is there any kind of Anti Air?(I built one in the Garage, but had no option to build more)
 
I had no idea about these bats should all units be give anti air to prevent a bombing run by bats.
 
Been playing a bit more as the survivors. While for a while, it seemed a tad too easy (After taking the Graveyard and Hospital, I could beat off most attacks without any trouble) Then the Monster Zombies showed up. I was laying siege to the Conference Center when a I saw a big horde of them heading towards the people I'd sent to help the Authorities hold City Hall. I've been in a constant retreat from their appearance (Haven't lost a building yet, mainly because most of the fighting took places on the Authorities front lines.) I've had my main hero units blindly charge towards the airport, in the desperate hope that I can capture it and get off the island before I'm eaten alive. Wonderful job.:goodjob:
 
I've been playing 12a, and I haven't actually achieved victory yet, because I haven't had enough time to play all the way through.(exams :() What I was stating was that the survivors seem too easy as compared to, say, the company, and every time I play with them, I seem to be able to take way too many buildings without loosing anything. The problem is, they don't have much in the form of threat around them. As soon as they have the Graveyard and the hospital, they can stop worrying about any assault from their rear (unlike the Authorities, who are surrounded by zombie buildings, and the Company, because they start the closest to the Research Center). As the survivors, I rarely need to worry about the church, which is pretty much "that flank".
Try playing for longer and see how easy you think the Late Game is ;)

A question I also have: How come most buildings now have Zombie goo? Am I the only one who liked it when the zombies supply's were limited? :lol:
The reason for this was too guarantee the zombies would get their stronger units and maintain their threat. In the past when the resource was rare and jumped around the game was more unpredictable and swung between being too easy or difficult. Now the resources are fixed and this gives more consistent gameplay and gives the required level of challenge for the end game.
 
The Omega... Glad you are enjoying the game.

Testers I will try to explain the issues some of you have brought up.

Wade through this if possible :lol:

It is important that you play an entire game because you will think all is well and that you have a Great Position in the early game. Playing as the Survivors, you will be able to gain very good positions as a Human because you can actually think and apply your strategies against the AI. The power the Zombies have is that they usually gain all other buildings in the game concerning the Other Factions with just a couple exceptions. The More Buildings the Zombies have the more extreme power they will have ...especially later. IF you manage to gain a Strong position early, do not relax, continue as strong as you have played because when the Zombies obtain many buildings and their later Techs, you may be surprised at their strength then.
...IF you fail to gain at least 3 more buildings by the time the Zombies get well past Zombiegeddon, you will have a very tough time trying to win.

The Survivors can certainly stay on the Island and Kill the Zombies eventually if a player wants to win this way but it is much faster and easier to go for the Airport and get off the Island. The Company can Win Faster by building the Spaceship than staying and killing all Zombies on the Island but this is the players decision. The game is set up to allow any faction to be able to win by taking over all buildings on the Island but the Survivors and Company have easier and faster winning options.

IF the game was set up where the Survivors or Company never had any chance at all to kill all the Zombies and the only way for them to win was to get to the Airport or build a Spaceship to get off the Island...the Survivors and Company would probably lose most games if not all because they would not be able to have the stronger units they have now that are capable of Killing the Zombies with Good Long Game play skills.

...it was very tough to be able to have any Bombarding units in the game and continue to have a challenging game. The Bombard Units are Fun and helpful to say the least but because the stronger units were added along with other game additions that provide more strenght for the Human Factions, the Zombies were strengthened to be able to contend with the Stronger game situations.

Zombie Goo is available to all Zombie Buildings because that allows each building to be able to have the needed resource to build the stronger units without problems gaining or losing the needed resource. In Other words...the Zombies will have the resources they need to build any unit available to them in all buildings except the Airport...it does not have Zombiegoo. The Other reason is that when a player discovers where the Zombiegoo is, they could prevent access and take away the Zombies ability to build the stronger units they need. That would be ok but because the game now has very strong units for all factions, there is no need in that type of strategy. That is learned from playing Normal CIV Games and we wanted to prevent this. Some Buildings have Zombiegoo inside the building such as the Zombie Bastion so even if you try to take away their Zombiegood, you cannot.
...all factions have access to all resources they need in the game IF they hang on to their Starting Buildings or if some are lost, they can gain others that have a resource they need. Resources do not dissappear or move around. This game takes place over days and is not like a CIV Game that takes place over Centuries..Resources would not be used up in this game.


Virote_Considon... I understand you were using "gamespeak"...I was trying to provide the over all game situation concerning Buildings and what the Survivors can do. Even in a Zombie Movie, survivors tend to do ok until later when the Zombies gain more power. IF this game was set too difficult for most players on 12A level, people would not enjoy playing it. There are many limitations to what can be set up for game play with the Hard Coded Game Engine. Unless I am mistaken, the Zombies always win in the Movies and the only way to set that up in this game would be to make it impossible to ever win. The Aim was to try and have the game as close as possible to the Feel of a Zombie Movie and add the ability to win as well.

IF this game was only playable as the Company and Survivors, it could be set up where the only way those two factions could win would be if they escaped in their own ways. Because the Authorities and Farmers must win by Conquest and they are playable as a Human, the Survivors and Company need to have the way to deal with them because they will also go to war against the Survivors and Company. The Farmers and Authorities must have strong units to be able to Kill the Zombies and win by Conquest so this is all another area that affects what can be set up for game play.

Believe me, it would have been far easier to only set up the Survivors and Company as playable Factions...then set the game where they would never be able to Beat the Zombies but rather Win the game by escape. As it is now players have several choices and this is much like 5 separate games that all play together. Just not as simple as it may seem.

There are far too many factors that had to be taken into consideration concerning the units and game settings than could be explained here. Branching variables that affect many others that do not immediately present themselves when adjusting units or game play additions. All factions had to be game tested with each adjustment, change and addition. Please keep in mind the level you are playing and judge accordingly.

The Company is the easiest to play other than the Farmers because all the Company needs to do is Block access to their buildings at the narrow areas that lead to them. The AI will then go after another Faction.
The Survivors are farther away from the Airport and have a long battle to get there so they need to gain buildings as fast as they can.
The Authorities are surrounded and their buildings are spread out. This is why they were the first to gain the SWAT with Bombard "Snipe" power. They also gain the Most power later if played well. The point there is that if anyone could destroy the Zombies on Paradise Island, the Authorities would be the ones capable of doing it. The Powerful weapons that the Authorities gain later will come in handy on higher levels. IF you discover that the Stronger weapons were not needed to win on level 12A...try level 18 and you may be gld you have them if you can hang on to the Military base and Armory.

My suggestion is if the game is too easy to play on 12A level, play a higher level such as 18 and see if that fits what you are looking for better. IF you play a game on Banned as the Survivors, I honestly believe the only way players could win would be to escape.

Please play several entire games on 12A...then see what you think about the settings for that Level. I always play deity level for all CIV games so Monarch or in this case 12A is not a problem and I would never lose any this game if I play 12A.

I hope everyone understands that the reason to test 12A is to make sure the settings and game play are set correctly for that level. It is not a matter of if it is too easy or too difficult for any one player because that is a matter of experience. IF level 12A is set appropriately for level 12A by the general Opinions of all testers, all other levels will also be set appropriately.

Whew!...That's a Long Post... :crazyeye:
 
Auto Defense Systems (with Air defense) can be built in buildings with a Machine Shop once you have the Revenge Of The Nerds tech, Nerds resource and Tools resource. I would say these improvements are essential and you should try and build them as soon as possible. Most of the Special Character units have an Air Defense setting too.
 
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