The purpose of this page is to provide a quick guide to playing the actual game.
You can consult the game FAQ for concerns regarding the game features and visit
the Zombie Pandemic wiki or forum for more in-depth information on playing the game
- Getting started
- Skills
- Basic game concepts
- How the combat system works
- Using armor
- Getting killed
- Zombie AI
- Improving your skills
- The level structure in the game
The game is set in an apocalyptic world where civilization is in chaos. The aim
of the game is to explore the city, help other survivors and solve missions while
trying to uncover the truth concerning the pandemic.
Use the "map" in the left menu. Here you can find the locations you can visit in
the city. Start exploring the locations. Locate valuable items and weapons by
"investigating" the locations. Find shops where you can trade items. Use the
different training facilities to improve your skills. Use the "character" in the
menu for your character sheet to upgrade your skills and handle your inventory.
As you start the game you are pretty much in safely as you start at the
safehouse setup downtown at the college campus.
As a player one of the first steps should be to make it to one of the other
safezone setup inside the quarantined city. Unfortunately you don't know where
they are. You might also consider aiding other players, completing missions to
uncover the truth behind the zombie outbreak.
Agility:
The agility skill indicates your physical agility and affects your close combat
skill, your chances of fleeing from combat, and game play related to agility
such as climbing buildings etc. (currently not available in beta)
Close combat:
The close combat skill indicates how skilled you are at fighting either unarmed
or using close combat weapons.
Constitution:
Constitution affects your health and thus your hit points. A higher value will
give you more hit points for each level. Constitution will also be useful in
game play restoring health as your hit points will regenerate faster and
consumption of food and using stimpacks etc. will be boosted (currently not
available in beta).
Marksmanship:
The marksmanship skill indicates how skilled you are at using ballistic weapons
such as guns.
Technical:
The technical skill indicates how skilled you are interacting with technical
challenges in the game such as electronics, traps, locks etc. (currently not
available in beta).
Smarts
The smarts skill indicates a combination of your intellectual, street smartness
and charismatic skills aiding you in negotiating prices and dialogue with NPC’s
as well as awareness of enemies (currently not available in beta)
Strength
The strength skill indicates how physically strong you are affecting your close
combat skill, your encumbrance (how much you can carry), and game play related
to physical strength in the game such as moving obstacles etc. (currently not
available in beta)
Hit points (HP)
Hit points (HP) indicate your current health and regenerate 1 HP every ½ hour.
You can also regain health by eating items and receiving medical attention.
Stamina points (SP)
Stamina points (SP) indicates how many turns or actions you have in the game.
You use stamina points for all actions such as travel, engaging in combat etc.
Stamina regenerates continuously. When Stamina drops below 0 you are fatigued,
this means all skill tests will have a penalty equal to how negative you Stamina
is. Stamina regenerates at 1 point every third minute equalling a total of 480
points pr. day.
Missions
Completing a mission will earn you XP, money rewards and sometimes an item as
reward. By completing a mission you will unlock new mission and learn new locations.
Some missions require a certain level to be completed.
If you quit a mission you won’t be able to go back and complete it at a later time.
Mission steps
Mission steps represent the things you must do to complete a mission. The chance of
completing a mission step often depends on your skills f.x. your strength or technical skill. The higher skill level the
higher chance of succeeding. You can retry most missions step until you complete
it but lose 10 stamina points each time.
Traveling
Use can travel the city using the map. Traveling from a tile on the map cost 2
stamina points (SP), traveling between sublocations costs 2 Sta.
Burst weapons:
Burst weapons can fire multiple bullets pr. attack turn. The burst rate
indicates how many shots are fired pr. attack. The burst penalty is different
for weapons. (forum)
How armor works
Armor reduces the damage inflicted to your character when hit by the enemy. The
damage reduction is based on your total armor value. For each armor point the
damage inflicted is reduced by 1%. There is a armor protection cap of 60% damage
(meaning it can’t go higher unless you have the armor perks which will increase
your ability up to 63%).
Example:
“MyCharacter” has 22 armor points. He is hit by an opponent dealing 10 hp
damage. However as the armor protects and reduces 22% of the damage inflicted
the damage is reduced to a total of 8 hp.
How armor is calculated
Your player has 6 vital body parts which are equipable with armor such as a
boots, vests and head gear etc.
The max. armor value indicates the highest amount of armor points available for
that slot.
- Head (0-10)
- Face (0-5)
- Hands (0-3)
- Torso/body (0-25)
- Legs (0-12)
- Feet (0-5)
The sum of the different armor values sum up to a total armor value. Total max.
is thus 63 points.
How combat outcome is calculated:
- The combat outcome is calculated by comparing the attackers attack skill with
the defenders defend skill. For ranged combat you use the “marksmanship” vs.
“agility”. For close combat you use the “close combat” skill vs. “strength”.
- If the two combatants have the same skill the chance to hit is 50%, for every
point of difference this percentage increases or decreases. This means if the
attacker has 31 in marksmanship and the defender has 30 in agility, the attacker
will have 51% chance of hitting.
- There is a maximum of 95% chance of hitting and a minimum of 5%.
- Any other skill test outside of combat will be done using the same system
against a static difficulty level.
Stamina Points (SP):
- Each attack costs 1 stamina point (SP).
- Charging costs 1 SP and will advance you into close range and engage you in
close combat.
- Running away costs 3 SP but you only have 50% chance of escaping successfully in
ranged stance and 30% chance when engaged in close combat.
- Use your SP carefully. Fatigue can be deadly while engaged in combat as skills
will reduced significantly when you have negative SP.
Even in death the living dead are alive. When you are defeated
in combat you will be given 3 choices.
1) Stand up and recover. It will cost you 50SP and you will regain 10 HP doing
so.
2) Waiting for another player to rescue you.
3) Escape dead and become a living dead (currently in development)
If you return to the base you lose all your stamina points (they will be reset
to 0) and you will have just 1 hitpoint.
If you choose to wait for a rescue you have 24 hours from your defeat to be
rescued by another player. When rescued you maintain all your saved up stamina
points and regain a total of 10 hit points for the medical treatment received.
Waiting in vain for the rescue at the end of the 24th hour will return you to
the sickbay resulting in loss of stamina points
If you choose to become a zombie you can be revived and transformed back to
human player again.
Zombies standing outside a barricaded building will attack and destroy
barricades gradually. The more zombies the more damage caused. You can restore
barricade levels by rebuilding them. If the zombies destroy the barricades they
will start entering the buildings and attack barricades to other sub locations.
To rebuild the barricades you have the clear out the buildings. This is referred
to as a "cleaner" and it's often wise to take them down with other players as
zombies inside tend to result in close range encounters. Zombies will also
attack players standing on the same location. If a player is idle for more than
30 min. - a zombie attack "lines up" meaning you will have to resolve the fight
when you comeback. Of course you can always try to escape with the risks of not
being able to.
Improving your skills early in the game is essential if you want to survive the
dangers of the city. You can improve your skills in two ways. When you gain a
level you earn skillpoints which can be spend on improving new skills. At
various locations at the map you can find special training which will allow you
to train while you are offline. The idea is that when you used up the action
points you have your character train a specific skill while you are logged out.
So plan your journeys accordingly so you end at a training post when your are
out of action points.
Working
Your character can work to make money on different locations in the game. You
can choose to work 1-10 hours realtime. During work you won’t be able to do
anything else. If you cancel working you will lose 75% of your income.
Training
Your character can train to improve his or her skills. For every 10 hours
realtime training you accumulate you gain another skillpoint. During training
you won’t be able to do anything else. If you cancel the training you can always
continue from where you left of.
Regaining stamina
You can eat certain items to regain stamina such as pills, energy bars and
drinks. You can also use the "heal/resting" option on safe locations. View the
item to check how much you can regain.
Healing on location
You can only treat your wounds on safe locations. Make sure to get to safety by
finding a barricaded building or safehouse if you are low on health.
Purchasing and selling items
You can purchase and sell items, weapon, ammo and armor at the shops located
around the city. Selling items which are commonly found around city won’t make
you much profit while the demand for items such as food and ammo is high.
Dropping items
Dropping an item from your inventory will remove it from the game and thus can’t
be picked up by other players. Once you drop the item it’s gone.
Recruiting friends
You can recruit other players by using the "recruit friend in the menu". You
will receive a 1000 xp reward once your friend has signed up and reached level
3. In order to receive the 1000 XP you must claim your reward by going to
"Recruited friends" tab and selecting claim reward.
|
Level:
|
XP needed:
|
Diff from last level:
|
|
1
|
-
|
|
|
2
|
500
|
500
|
|
3
|
1.500
|
1.000
|
|
4
|
3.000
|
1.500
|
|
5
|
5.000
|
2.000
|
|
6
|
7.500
|
2.500
|
|
7
|
10.500
|
3.000
|
|
8
|
14.000
|
3.500
|
|
9
|
18.000
|
4.000
|
|
10
|
22.500
|
4.500
|
|
11
|
27.500
|
5.000
|
|
12
|
33.000
|
5.500
|
|
13
|
39.000
|
6.000
|
|
14
|
45.500
|
6.500
|
|
15
|
52.500
|
7.000
|
|
16
|
60.000
|
7.500
|
|
17
|
68.000
|
8.000
|
|
18
|
76.500
|
8.500
|
|
19
|
85.500
|
9.000
|
|
20
|
95.000
|
9.500
|
|
21
|
105.000
|
10.000
|
|
22
|
115.500
|
10.500
|
|
23
|
126.500
|
11.000
|
|
24
|
138.000
|
11.500
|
|
25
|
150.000
|
12.000
|
|
26
|
162.500
|
12.500
|
|
27
|
175.500
|
13.000
|
|
28
|
189.000
|
13.500
|
|
29
|
203.000
|
14.000
|
|
30
|
217.500
|
14.500
|
|
31
|
232.500
|
15.000
|
|
32
|
248.000
|
15.500
|
|
33
|
264.000
|
16.000
|
|
34
|
280.500
|
16.500
|
|
35
|
297.500
|
17.000
|
|
36
|
315.000
|
17.500
|
|
37
|
333.000
|
18.000
|
|
38
|
351.500
|
18.500
|
|
39
|
370.500
|
19.000
|
|
40
|
390.000
|
19.500
|
|
41
|
410.000
|
20.000
|
|
42
|
430.500
|
20.500
|
|
43
|
451.500
|
21.000
|
|
44
|
473.000
|
21.500
|
|
45
|
495.000
|
22.000
|
|
46
|
517.500
|
22.500
|
|
47
|
540.500
|
23.000
|
|
48
|
564.000
|
23.500
|
|
49
|
588.000
|
24.000
|
|
50
|
612.500
|
24.500
|
Gameplay FAQ
Sharing and trading items
If I drop an item near others, will they find it by searching? Or if I drop
something is it effectively destroyed/deleted? There is currently no way of
trading items with other players. This is simply due to its easily abused nature
of sharing or dropping items for others to use. Use the trading stations to buy
or sell weapons and equipment.
How do I improve my smarts?
Smarts can be trained at the Mercy Hospital Library (47/7)
Can I play several characters?
Yes during the beta stage you are welcome to play more than one character as
long as they don't collaborate in any way. That is never stay at the same
location.
How do I earn XP?
You earn XP from doing various actions. The most efficient way to earn XP is
completing missions and defeating enemies, but responding to game events,
identifying new locations and aiding the safehouses by f.x. strengthening
barricades etc. will also earn you some XP.
Healing your character
Your character restores 1 HP every ½ hour. You can also eat or use certain items
to regain health quicker.
Need money: You won't get paid much for free stuff lying around city.
However food can always be sold - so scavenge food some food to make a profit.
Killing some zombie classes (such as zombies in suits) and completing mission can
also be profitable and there are a few locations where you can work to earn
money while your are offline
How much Stamina (SP) does action cost:
10 SP for failing a mission step.
2 SP traveling a map tile.
1 SP traveling from sublocation to sublocation.
1 SP for each combat action you perform.
I get randomly attacked by zombies:
The city is infested with tons of zombies hence you are going to be jumped by
one once and a while even though try to avoid them. The further you travel the
greater the chance of being attacked. Your "smarts" skill help reduce your
chance of being random attacked.
Zombies are too hard:Run away. Only engage in combat you know you can
win. The point is to survive. Watch out for hordes and groups which have several
attacks once engaged in close combat. And eat food to heal and rest to regain
health. Also remember to reload your gun by the end of combat.
missions: Are a fast way to level up earning XP and receiving money rewards
and maybe even items.
Improve your skills: Remember to use the skillpoint you earn from gaining
a level. Simply view your character sheet to upgrade skillpoints. There are also
several locations where you can train your skills besides the college campus.
F.x. smarts can be trained at the Mercy Hospital Library (47/7) but there about
10 different training locations scattered around the map which complement each
skill available.
Getting familiar with the combat
Combat takes place over several rounds stating with some distance between two
groups of combatants. If all combatants are content with shooting there will
only be ranged combat but if some prefer close combat they will close the
distance over a few rounds possibly while being fired at. The rest of the combat
rounds will be fought in close combat. The fight ends when one side decides to
flee because they have taken too much damage or they are simply killed. You can
equip your characters with a huge range of weapons before combat, weapons that
can be customized to do more damage, have better range or more ammunition.
Changing account name and multiple accounts
You can change your name by going to your account settings and simply choosing a
new name. You are allowed to play several accounts from the same IP during the
beta testing stage as long as they all work separately.
"Exactly what genre is this game?"
We use the official term PBBG (persistent browser based game
www.pbbg.org) which means that it's a game you play
over a long duration - that is months maybe even years besides being played in a
browser. It's a MMO as it's a massively multi-player game offering interaction
with thousands of other players in one huge game world. It's also an RPG in the
means that use familiar role playing game elements as firstly take the role of
the character in the game universe and the games offers RPG styled combat mode
and a skill/attribute system in which you can grow you character earning
experience points.
"How do I get the recruit a friend bonus?"
You receive the 1000 xp reward once your friend have signed up and reach level
3. In order to receive the 1000 XP you must claim your reward by going to
"Recruited friends" tab and selecting claim reward.
Return
to the mainpage
Storyline
An unidentified virus which started as a flu has mutated. Then spread as a worldwide pandemic
killing millions of people. Civilization as we know it is gone and while most of
the world’s population is dead, there are still survivors left who are
scavenging for food and supplies in a world suddenly reduced to a hostile
wilderness. Most of them have barricaded themselves in stores and apartments in
the cities or have fled to the countryside.
While most military and law enforcement organizations has crumbled there is
still some form of government trying to limit the pandemic trying to
enforce quarantine on all major cities and systematically killing of any
survivors mistaken for the living dead. Around the city safe houses and
emergency camps have been established as the officials try to organize any help
they can. While the survivors keep pouring in to the camps most survivors are
still trapped in the city. There are several rumors of the source to the virus
but nothing has been confirmed. As a player you wake up after being passed out
at what appears to be your job realizing something is terribly wrong.
Unfortunately you don't remember anything and even worse.... You are on the
wrong side of the military quarantine.
