Zombie Mode

[blackbutterfly]

That sound fun actually

Discipline is one I almost always have slotted vs. zombies. (Discipline is +5 vs. barbs which Zombies are).

 

[lordhaw]

Discipline is one I almost always have slotted vs. zombies. (Discipline is +5 vs. barbs which Zombies are).

Oh I've got it slotted and it helps, though I got wiped down to my capital in my last game and this one isn't faring any better down to two cities. And the barbs are producing units like there's no tomorrow. Even regular units, not just zombies. End of classical age just got into medieval and up to the 641st zombie unit and they are almost 60 strength, able to wipe my walls down pretty good. The AI and city states are not faring well either. I know people say that this mode is boring or produces few zombies but since I tried turning off Barbarian Clans the zombies are horrible. Traps, barricades don't matter much they just keep coming in almost endless swarms. I can't even muster enough military to take out the barb camp producing so many units. I should stop torturing myself and turn it off for awhile

 

[blackbutterfly]

Traps, barricades don't matter much they just keep coming in almost endless swarms.

Actually not true. Traps & Barricades are the key.
Unlike regular units that eventually get weaker to Zombies as they grow in strength, the traps and barricades generate the same amount of hit point damage regardless.

Try the achievement "It's a trap". Generate 50 HP damage from ZD improvements. Look closely ->

 

[Deadly Dog]

Yes at a certain point you need to use traps and barricades against the zombies when ranged attacks are reduced to <15 pts. But even before traps become efficient there's an ease of use element - you don't have to click on them every turn they just do damage.

And, ultimately, your own zombies are the only units that are guaranteed to keep up. Zombie corps/armies will always be stronger than the zombies you face Careful though! Even defensively you don't want hostile zombies suiciding on your zombie.

Example above is great as you don't have to mar your landscape with unworkable tiles just kite the shamblers to a 3-tile (re)killing field.

 

[Pietato]

Wait...you can make zombie corps/armies? Ahahaha...awesome.

 

[Dedrytus]

Traps and barricades are useless. In my game I built some just for fun. If you want to play this save I warn: it is boring. Opponents are just single cities, I have managed to save 1 city state (scouting was/is problematic). Do not move some workers because zombies will spawn tnere and they are quite strong.

I have no idea how to take Sweden without creating more zombies or at least acceptable amount of them. Please give me a hint

 

[MrRadar]

Wait...you can make zombie corps/armies? Ahahaha...awesome.

And score eurekas while doing so. Pity they don't gain xp

Spoiler :

It is harder without. And it is harder on lower levels. AI with no bonuses is very fast reduced to capitals only and city states vanish one by one.

Yes, exactly. I played one game on Deity and neither AI nor me had big problems. Then tried a game on Prince with Zombie and Shuffle modes. Holy cow! You may laugh, but religious victory is practically impossible despite AI not getting farther than having just a capital city - no missionary will get through those hordes of zombies, if the city is not on or near the coast. Unless there's a Yerevan and you can save them and then make a bunch of heathen converting apostles. I wandered to a cultural victory, but it is still a deep mystery to me how their tourists got out through this kind of siege and came to visit my lands

Spoiler :

 

[Socrates99]

Is lower difficulty harder because the AI doesn't get the free settlers at the beginning?

 

[lordhaw]

Actually not true. Traps & Barricades are the key.
Unlike regular units that eventually get weaker to Zombies as they grow in strength, the traps and barricades generate the same amount of hit point damage regardless.

Try the achievement "It's a trap". Generate 50 HP damage from ZD improvements. Look closely ->

Ah OK. I just didn't see the traps I used do all that much. It was continual damage but they didn't feel like they helped much.

Yes at a certain point you need to use traps and barricades against the zombies when ranged attacks are reduced to <15 pts. But even before traps become efficient there's an ease of use element - you don't have to click on them every turn they just do damage.

And, ultimately, your own zombies are the only units that are guaranteed to keep up. Zombie corps/armies will always be stronger than the zombies you face Careful though! Even defensively you don't want hostile zombies suiciding on your zombie.

Example above is great as you don't have to mar your landscape with unworkable tiles just kite the shamblers to a 3-tile (re)killing field.

Good to know!

 

[IsabelBraganca]

Traps and barricades are useless. In my game I built some just for fun. If you want to play this save I warn: it is boring. Opponents are just single cities, I have managed to save 1 city state (scouting was/is problematic). Do not move some workers because zombies will spawn tnere and they are quite strong.

I have no idea how to take Sweden without creating more zombies or at least acceptable amount of them. Please give me a hint

I played your game. The key to get the zombies under control is to have an army of apostles.

Zombies Defense Mode Guide explain how. There was a thread explaining this for Rock Bands. You empty the pool of promotions and then promote every apostle on the same turn.

Thanks for helping me test my strategy.

 

[Duuk]

Ways I would improve the Zombie Mode (which is fun but has some annoyances).

1) Allow Zombies to be attacked (and to attack) religious units. After all, "turn undead" is in the game.
2) Allow Inquisitors to "see" zombie spawn points and use a charge to cleanse/purify them.

The purification is important. My first full game with zombie mode I played as China thinking, "I'll just build Great Wall", which I did, and stationed units on my Great Wall so ZoC was maintained.

...and then the zombies would pop up behind my walls. So annoying.

 

[IsabelBraganca]

Yes, exactly. I played one game on Deity and neither AI nor me had big problems. Then tried a game on Prince with Zombie and Shuffle modes. Holy cow! You may laugh, but religious victory is practically impossible despite AI not getting farther than having just a capital city - no missionary will get through those hordes of zombies, if the city is not on or near the coast. Unless there's a Yerevan and you can save them and then make a bunch of heathen converting apostles. I wandered to a cultural victory, but it is still a deep mystery to me how their tourists got out through this kind of siege and came to visit my lands

Spoiler :

Just that you know, you do not need Yerevan to make lot of heathen converting apostles because the promotions come from a pool. You have to take out all unwanted promotions first, it's fast, if you have Moksha.

 

[MrRadar]

So it looks like Zombie Defense is another mode where the AI hasn't got a clue of what's going on. I haven't seen a single case of AI using Dark Signal or Turn Undead projects despite having the required district like in this case:

Spoiler :

Nor major AIs, neither Scientific or Religious City states used those projects. They will build a catapult or archer/x-bow instead and move it from the safety of the city centre into the face of oncoming zombies to be eaten alive and produce another zombie. What is the point then of having such a mode on, if all it does is throw another wrench into AI's works when it is probably the last thing we need?

 

[Sykes179]

Not even entertaining it. Little more than an arcade game mechanic.

 

[Deadly Dog]

The fact that the Zombies can wreck the AI hurts the player too, insofar as

• international trade routes become difficult at best
• spreading religion beyond your borders requires heavy military escort
• you have to invest a lot in protecting the City States you really want to keep in the game

So at a certain point when Zombies start to snowball, if my survival is more or less guaranteed then I need to devote some resources to helping the AI. The game becomes one of ALL Civilization against the zombies, though I'll make an exception for John Curtin he's on his own.

 

[blackbutterfly]

From my experience of games so far, either the Zombies snowball, or they whimper.

It rarely strikes a decent balance, like say Dramatic Ages mode. IMO Zombie Defense is in need of more playtesting and balance.

 

[James_Champagne]

I just wish they could destroy final cities!

 

[blackbutterfly]

I just wish they could destroy final cities!

What counts as a final city?

In this game Zombies are unable to destroy Dumbarton which flipped via loyalty ->

(Scotland got vanquished to dark ages courtesy of Dramatic Ages but AFAIK Dumbarton wasn't the last or final city. I've reported it as a bug).

So it looks like Zombie Defense is another mode where the AI hasn't got a clue of what's going on. I haven't seen a single case of AI using Dark Signal or Turn Undead projects...

Yeah, once Zombies start to snowball, the AI got no chance, cos of that.
Though I have to say that on most map (scripts) the AI are pretty good at taking out Zombies.

Also with Barbarian Clans mode they usually aren't a problem.
(Perhaps originally there was only supposed to be one barb mode - and maybe later Firaxis decided to make it two separate modes? IDK)

But I think I have nailed the problem:
it's when your Zombies kill Zombies. That spawns another Zombie. This IMHO is the cause of infinite Zombie spam.

Maybe this is the reason the AI don't use ZD projects.

 

[goatdeer]

I started a game as Gandhi with the zombie mode on, aiming for a religious victory.
I haven't played a religious victory game in a while, because I find it very one-dimensional. Make sure you get a religion, settle wide, build a lot of holy sites, earn enough science for some specific wonders, chop the wonders, get enough culture for theocracy, wait for the right moment to snowball, that's it.

BUT, with the zombie mode on, there seems to be a constant threat of zombies (unlike the docile AI) that I need to pay attention to. Still won't play religious victory as much as culture or science, but it makes it less dull at least. I don't think I want to turn on the zombie mode when I pursue science or culture, cause it's a very hard mode to be honest, especially in the early game. I will try with some diplomatic game as well, maybe with the Gauls.

 

[Abaxial]

So as an experiment I started a game as Maori on a Terra map, with eight chosen civs (aggressive ones) to fight it out on the old world like cats in a sack. I thought it might produce a lot of zombies, but it didn't. Presumably because Barbarian Clan mode was on. As was secret societies, heroes and monopolies.

Eventually I invaded to see if I could go for domination. I actually got to 1814 before the inevitable cultural victory kicked in. Just two civs still had their capitals intact. But zombies were few and far between.