The infection spreads to UTS Australia

[Flay]

I heard about HvZ a few years back when I was in high-school, and ever since then I knew that this was something I

had to do when I got to university. Well... Here I am. It's my first year of university and I'm in the process of setting up a campus-wide game.

In a way, my request is similar to the one in this thread (heck, I'm good friends with some people at Wollongong uni). But the environment that we'll be playing in is very different. The campus we'll be playing on is the University of Technology Sydney. It's a very... space efficient university. It doesn't spread outwardly, but upwardly. The main building, building 1 (or the 'UTS tower') is 27 floors. Here's a map of the campus, so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.



I've talked to the university sport and rec centre, and I'm working together with one of the university clubs to get the game going. We've been discussing the rules, and have made a few modifications, but we need to work on it further to get the game going.

I'm trying to set up a game that will last for a week or maybe several weeks. It will be more of a casual game (to begin with, at least) rather than being an action-oriented game, the focus will be on stealth and deception. It will run basically all the time, whenever people are on campus. Some things you should know;

• The majority of players do not live on campus.
  
• The campus is open overnight, however there will probably be security complications around the game being played at night. For the moment, the game will be restricted only to university hours.
• Few (if any) people would have access to nerf guns or the like. The same goes for laser tag. These will not be part of the game.
• The university will consider my proposal for the game once I have emailed them the ruleset.

Here's my proposed ruleset...

Everyone:

• Every player must wear a red armband (or alternative piece of identifiable clothing) whenever playing the game. The armband must be worn on the left arm.
  
• Everyone gets their own individual ID number (randomly generated, and written on a piece of paper), and must carry this whenever the game is being played.

Humans:

• Objective: avoid and outlive the zombies.
• Must carry their ID number at all times.
• May stun zombies by [not sure yet; perhaps by sneaking up on a zombie undetected and tapping them on the head, or maybe (as the site suggests) by throwing rolled up (and clean) socks].
  
• Must hand over their ID number when tagged by a zombie.
• Will become a zombie themselves 3 hours after being tagged by another zombie.

Zombies:

• Objective: turn every human in to a zombie.
• Zombies need only act like zombies when in pursuit of a human.
• Zombies 'eat' a human through a firm tag to any part of a human.
• Must eat a human every 48 hours or else 'starve' to death.
• Must take the ID number of any human they eat as soon as they have been bitten.
• Must report every kill online by 9pm of the night the kill occurred.
• Zombies continue to wear the armband as though they were humans. However, whenever they approach a human, and both people involved are playing the game, a zombie must display a subtle 'tick' which reveals they are a zombie. These may include behaviours (closing one eye, limping etc...), changes in clothing (rolling up a sleeve, changing the side on which the armband is worn, removing one shoe etc...) or, if you really want to act like a zombie, aural cues (growls, low moans etc... though I think making sounds might be a little odd).
  
• When stunned, a zombie may not bite a human for 20 minutes.
• Zombies may not run, or walk too quickly.
• Zombies cannot operate doors, elevators or other complex mechanisms while playing, however they may wait for a human or non-player to do this for them.
  
• Zombies can use stairs, but they must take them one step at a time, slowly.
• When in doubt, ask yourself: 'what would a zombie do?'

Restrictions and Safezones:

• The game is played only between 7am and 8pm.
• Places where the game cannot be played: Lecture theatres in use (or soon to be used/soon after using), computer labs, the library, union or UTS staff facilities, or any place where that might cause trouble or be dangerous for yourself/others.
  
• The game must not interrupt other students, staff, lectures or tutorials/workshops.
• Non-players are not allowed to interact with the game, however they may inadvertently aid zombies.
• A player may call immunity (for example, if they were sick or particularly busy etc...) but must report this on the forums and remove their armband.

Some other things we're discussing at the moment...

Human Gatherings:

• Several times (perhaps three or four a day) are allocated where humans gather at a single point, though it is not compulsory to attend any of these.
• Think of gatherings in the same way that human survivors would meet in a zombie situation to plan, make announcements etc... Although since this is just a game, people won't actually be making detailed plans, just meeting up.
  
• Zombies may not attend gatherings, though they might know where they are.
• The point of gatherings is to make humans come together in a large group where they might be in danger from zombies. Also, since zombies cannot be present, it might give clues as to who is a zombie.
• Since it is not compulsory to attend these meetings, there would have to be some benefit for doing so (see the 'Gathering Supplies' mechanic).

That's a good idea, but it also has the potential to make humans invulnerable if they manage to stay within a group. We could set up a rule whereby humans could only be saved a certain amount of times, but that may be difficult to enforce. Calling certain events like consoles safezones might also fix this, but having too many safezones would make it impossible for the zombies to get a kill.

Oh, but this is an exercise in trust; is the person who's protecting you really still human? =D

However, we have to consider what time scale we're looking at. Are we going to be playing for more than a week?

I wanna see this run for a whole semester, if we can... XD but even just a few weeks would be good. One week is too short, unless you want to do that as a trial exercise.

With regards to gatherings, you've given me an idea: potentially we could run activities from week to week, with a human gathering each week, and a zombie gathering each week. We can do this by sending the location via PM using groups. Need to find a way of making it advantageous to attend such meetings and participate in such activities.

For example, a reward for humans might be immunity for the remainder of the week, or becoming a zombie slayer (temporarily or permanently). Zombies might get off having to eat for a week, or being invulnerable to stunning or killing until their next kill. This could be done in the form of "bonus cards" that are valid for a limited duration.

Gathering Supplies:

• Survivors would need supplies to weather out the zombie crisis, but since people don't actually live on campus, this won't work in the same way that it would in American colleges.
• Instead, gathering supplies could take the form of a scavenger hunt. Objects that may be found on campus (e.g. a feather), or perhaps a photograph from a particular point (e.g. the top level of building 1) are announced during human gatherings, and must be collected and brought to another gathering (not necessarily by the person who found it) within the same day.
• This would require people to move about the campus, going to places they might not normally go, exposing them to zombies.
• There would have to be some benefit for retrieving objects.

I think we need an alternate means of eliminating zombies. Perhaps after a human has stunned a certain amount of zombies, they become a 'zombie hunter', who is capable of killing zombies through the same method as stunning them. Something along those lines.

... we played a game called Murder which ran along similar rules... though Murder isn't feasible for campus-wide play (it requires that a player find their target using only their name, and UTS is a big place), it has a rule which states that a kill can only occur if nobody else is within the area (specifically, nobody else hears the killer saying to the victim, "you're dead"). Maybe zombies can only eat a human if that human is alone, or that a human being eaten can be saved by being tagged by another human within, say, two minutes. That would prevent paranoia at events like consoles, which have the potential to turn into a zombie feeding ground.

That's a good idea, but it also has the potential to make humans invulnerable if they manage to stay within a group. We could set up a rule whereby humans could only be saved a certain amount of times, but that may be difficult to enforce. Calling certain events like consoles safezones might also fix this, but having too many safezones would make it impossible for the zombies to get a kill.

Oh, but this is an exercise in trust; is the person who's protecting you really still human? =D

Also, given that people tend not to be at uni every day, it's unreasonable for zombies to have to make a kill every two days; it's more fair if this only has to occur once a week. (Also there'd be terrible attrition on weekends...)

We haven't put a lot of effort in to setting this up yet, so this is very preliminary. For example, the human gathering and supply gathering ideas could well be scrapped.

Anyways, can anyone here offer any help?

[Cweed]

I like what you're trying to go for - a more indoor friendly game.  Your rules need some work though. 

they don't take into account the "powergamer" factor.  This is, and I don't mean this with its usual condescending connotation, a total noob mistake. 

It's a mistake we had to make several times at Goucher before we started figuring it out.  And you know, I'm still not so sure we have a complete handle on it. 

See, you want to assume that the people who play your game are going to understand the spirit of the game.  You think, if everyone plays the game as its intended, everyone will have fun.  But, for better or worse, that's not the way people play games.  At least, that's not how people who want to win play games.

The way you win at a game is to (1) figure out what the rules are and (2) figure out how you can exploit the rules to your advantage.  That's how you win every game, from the game of life to checkers. You have to assume that your players are going to be doing the same thing.

So when your rules state:

Zombies:
Zombies continue to wear the armband as though they were humans. However, whenever they approach a human, and both people involved are playing the game, a zombie must display a subtle 'tick' which reveals they are a zombie. These may include behaviours (closing one eye, limping etc...), changes in clothing (rolling up a sleeve, changing the side on which the armband is worn, removing one shoe etc...) or, if you really want to act like a zombie, aural cues (growls, low moans etc... though I think making sounds might be a little odd).

You have to assume that your players are going to interpret that as loosely as they possibly can.  They'll make the smallest possible tick they can because making an obvious tick will put them at a disadvantage.  Then the human who gets tagged will complain because he couldn't tell that the zombie had flicked their left pinky finger sideways.  People will yell, and everyone will have less fun.

Similarly:

Zombies may not run, or walk too quickly.

What does that mean?  At what point is someone breaking the rules?  These are the kinds of rules that will turn into arguments between players.

Zombies can use stairs, but they must take them one step at a time, slowly.

Again, you need to define slowly

When in doubt, ask yourself: 'what would a zombie do?'

See, in a perfect world, this rule would work, and people would follow it.  But this isn't what people are going to be thinking.  They will be thinking "what can I do to win," and nothing you can write down will change that. 

And even if the majority of your players are god's gift to game design and actually do follow the spirit of the game, they will be at a disadvantage compared to the people who play to win.  And that's going to cause a rift in your playerbase and everyone will have less fun because of it.  It sucks, and it means that there are millions of awesome game ideas that just aren't possible, but you have to plan your games around everyone trying to do everything in their power to win.

In the same vein, I'd be a lot more specific about what is and is not a safe zone. 

These aren't insurmountable problems at all, and I think with some work this is a ruleset that would help a lot of schools out - especially the ones that aren't allowed to play full fledged nerf HvZ.

[Det_Fjorsvafi]

I certainly don't want to interfere or step on CWeed's toes here, he is absolutely the person to talk to about rules for the game and any possible variants...he only helped create it. Dare I say he's even the leading expert in the field?

I do want to bring something to your attention though Flay:

• When in doubt, ask yourself: 'what would a zombie do?'

I know it's a bit absurd to even start asking this question, but I guarantee it will start getting asked: what type of zombie are you talking about here?

You have all kinds of zombies. Slow-moving shambling Romero style zombies, fast-moving yet sometimes shambling Romero-movie-remake Snyder style zombies, really fast and hypersensitive 28 days later style zombies, "intelligent" Land of the Dead style zombies that can learn to use things, Left 4 Dead style "special" zombies that have various abilities, etc.

There are basically as many different kinds of zombies as there are zombie movies or video games. They're all different in some way, shape, or form.

If you want to limit what people can do as zombie players, specifically state what they can and cannot do. Don't leave it up to the players to decide what to do.

As a player, I can tell you from personal experience that we do look for loopholes. Some people do it to exploit the game and maximize their chances of winning at the expense of the pleasure of others, some people do it for amusement, some people do it out of boredom, and some people just do it because they found a loophole. While you might want to preserve the integrity of the game and the concept of the Romero-style zombie, unless every single player shares your vision there will be at least one person who will exploit each and every loophole they can find.   

Otherwise, best of luck to you. By communicating with people like CWeed and other organizers on these forums, I promise you'll be able to modify your rules to fit your game quite well. In order to make them the best they can be though, you have to constantly play-test and edit them as you see fit.

[Flay]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I might get to work modifying the rules in the morning, but for now it's time for sleep. G'night.

[overlord220]

On the topic of types of zombies HvZ is pretty much Snyder zombies, you could even work the storyline of your game to make them only infected humans like 28 Days Later.

But I think that you over complicating things that zombies would not honor if they were alone. Like the stairs, if no one is watching I sure as hell wouldn't be taking it step by step, I usually just two at a time it. It will be really interesting to see how a game in big building on a small campus will play out.

[meeeeebit]

" Will become a zombie themselves 3 hours after being tagged by another zombie."
"Zombies cannot operate doors, elevators or other complex mechanisms while playing, however they may wait for a human or non-player to do this for them."
" Zombies can use stairs, but they must take them one step at a time, slowly."
"Zombies may not run, or walk too quickly."

This will require a lot of trust, I like the general idea but don't expect douche bags to play by the rules.

[Cweed]

When brad and I were first writing the rules we talked about whether we wanted to force the zombies to walk.  We pretty much agreed that it would be too hard to do, so we just accepted that this would be a "fast zombie" game. 

I've been thinking about this a lot.  How do you turn "slow, stupid zombie" into a set of rules.  And rules need to be easy to follow, interpret and enforce.  You need all three, because what you're trying to do is take a normal person, who is normally fast and smart and give them a set of instructions which will make them mimic the undead.  If the rule is hard to follow it doesn't matter how much the player wants to play by the rules; they'll fuck up.  If the rule is hard to interpret, the game will instead become, like I was trying to say in my last post, about how to interpret the rule as loosely as possible.  If it's hard to enforce, and the players know you'll have a hard time enforcing it, they'll be more likely to cheat and your rule might as well not exist at all.  So what rules meet all three things?

Unfortunately I'm pretty stumped.  You could limit the number of steps someone takes per [unit of time].  But that's hard to follow because it involves counting steps.  It takes the action out of the game and turns it into more of a larp.  One damage!  One Damage!  Lightning bolt!

You could just keep your rules as they are now and instead focus on enforcing them.  I realized after my last post that I wasn't sure how many people go to your school or how many you planned on playing.  If your game is small, and I mean like 20-30 people small, it very well might be feasible to ask your players to just "play in the spirit of the game."  You can get them all together and have a discussion about why this will allow everyone to have more fun.  Any more than that, and I think you run into serious problems in enforcing your rules.

Beyond that... I really don't know.  I'll keep thinking.

[Flay]

Ugh... I completely forgot about this thread. A lot of things have been going on (i.e. end of term assignments, getting my wisdom teeth removed and so on).

Okay, now that I have plenty of spare time to get this organised. Time to get to work.

EDIT:

...they don't take into account the "powergamer" factor... It's a mistake we had to make several times at Goucher before we started figuring it out. See, you want to assume that the people who play your game are going to understand the spirit of the game.  You think, if everyone plays the game as its intended, everyone will have fun.  But, for better or worse, that's not the way people play games. At least, that's not how people who want to win play games.

Hmm... This is going to be the biggest problem, and I'm not quite sure how to resolve it yet.

Zombies continue to wear the armband as though they were humans. However, whenever they approach a human, and both people involved are playing the game, a zombie must display a subtle 'tick' which reveals they are a zombie. These may include behaviours (closing one eye, limping etc...), changes in clothing (rolling up a sleeve, changing the side on which the armband is worn, removing one shoe etc...) or, if you really want to act like a zombie, aural cues (growls, low moans etc... though I think making sounds might be a little odd).

You have to assume that your players are going to interpret that as loosely as they possibly can.  They'll make the smallest possible tick they can because making an obvious tick will put them at a disadvantage.  Then the human who gets tagged will complain because he couldn't tell that the zombie had flicked their left pinky finger sideways.  People will yell, and everyone will have less fun.

I did think about this. There's no way to tell the players 'you can't make your tick too inconspicuous' because that's a subjective judgement. It might make more sense to have a list of predefined ticks that only the zombies know, but the humans may learn as the game progresses.

However, there is still the problem of zombies choosing not to use the 'tick' and then claiming they did afterwards. I'm not sure how to prevent that... Perhaps if a zombie gets within a certain range of a human they have to begin to moan. That should be fairly clear.

Zombies may not run, or walk too quickly.

Zombies can use stairs, but they must take them one step at a time, slowly.

What does that mean?  At what point is someone breaking the rules?  These are the kinds of rules that will turn into arguments between players... You need to define slowly See, in a perfect world, this rule would work, and people would follow it.  But this isn't what people are going to be thinking.  They will be thinking "what can I do to win," and nothing you can write down will change that.

The initial idea was to have a certain amount of steps that may be taken within a certain time period, but from your arguments I can see this just isn't going to work. If we can't get players to choose to move slowly, it seems there are only two other options; they must either be forced to or there must be some benefit for doing so.

Of course, I could just employ the big brother tactic - you might not be being watched, but if you are caught you're screwed - but this would require many supervisors to just watch the game, and I for one want to actually be able to play myself!

... what type of zombie are you talking about here? You have all kinds of zombies. Slow-moving shambling Romero style zombies, fast-moving yet sometimes shambling Romero-movie-remake Snyder style zombies, really fast and hypersensitive 28 days later style zombies, "intelligent" Land of the Dead style zombies that can learn to use things, Left 4 Dead style "special" zombies that have various abilities, etc...

Since the modern fast zombie seemed as though it'd create some problems, I was going for the traditional Romero shuffler zombie, with some influences from Max Brooks' solanum zombies from 'The Zombie Survival Guide'/'World War Z'.

[Thesreyn]

You mentioned it in your post above, but I certainly think a short list of tics would be the best way to enforce this. And they would need to be obvious ones. I'm thinking something along the lines of a) An obvious limping foot drag, b) both arms raised as you move toward your target or c) both

I really like the idea of the moan. REALLY like it. It will keep human players on edge and if they hear anything that could sound like a moan, they'll be freaking out. Good psychological warfare games Unfortunately, including it as a tell tale tic isn't going to work, because (like Cweed has mentioned) people who want to win are going to barely open their mouth and exhale and they'll consider that timely warning.

Forgive me if I've forgotten, but is there some reason your zombies can't wear their bandanas on their heads? If they can't that's fine. If I postulate correctly, it's because you want humans to think people aren't infected, then when they get close, they're in for a shock. Again, very cool

Another thing that just sprung to mind is corners. Playing inside, there's going to be a lot of them and any powergamer is going to quickly realise that its the ideal place to tag someone without having to put up the "tic". After all, you either have to say that zombies can't use corners, or you'll have legitimate players getting annoyed because they did tag someone, but the player is calling them out for not displaying a "tic". I'm of the opinion that this is something humans should have to deal with. Anyone who wants to survive the zombie apocalypse is going to have to learn not to go blindly around corners, always check them. This could lead to some interesting footage of human players always skirting to the far side of a corridor before turning a corner, only for a zombie to lunge at them from a doorway that is opposite the corner

As for enforcing slow moving zombies, that's a tricky one. I'd like to say that you could try out a rule where zombies who are stalking a human have to move with the footdrag limp, but that's just as open to powergamers as any other rule we could devise. Perhaps you could instead have some sort of variable stun timer. When a player becomes a zombie, they make the choice of being either a fast or a slow zombie. Fast zombies are out of the game for 15 minutes when tagged whilst slow zombies are only out of the game for 5. That way, there is a bonus for being a traditional zombie.

Rules work, but incentives to follow the playstyle you want work even better. If you -really- want to try and get people to play slow zombies, give the slow zombies even greater advantages over fast zombies. Speed is a huge advantage, so to encourage people to play slow zombies, they'd need some big perks. I was thinking that they require more than one "stun" before going down, but that has the potential for exploitation and arguments. Fast zombies should have to wear the bandanna around their head, it's only fair to the humans. Perhaps, because slow zombies use less... zombie fuel(?) than fast zombies, they need to eat at the regular interval, whilst fast zombies must eat many more times.

Just some thoughts that might help. For your information, we're currently organising a game down at ANU in Canberra, so if you're willing to make the trip, we might be able to accomodate some people for a game sometime in the future We're still in the planning stages, but things are looking positive.

[Flay]

There are some really good points there.

You mentioned it in your post above, but I certainly think a short list of tics would be the best way to enforce this. And they would need to be obvious ones. I'm thinking something along the lines of a) An obvious limping foot drag, b) both arms raised as you move toward your target or c) both

I wanted the game to be partly about forcing people to be alert all the time, which is why I was going for the more subtle tics - to force the humans to watch everyone around them closely. I can see how this would facilitate powergamers though, so it's probably not a good idea. I'll see if I can come up with a list of more obvious tics and post them here.

Rules work, but incentives to follow the playstyle you want work even better.

Hmm... It seems like this is going to be the best way to handle things. I'm going to try and focus on this from now on.

I really like the idea of the moan. REALLY like it. It will keep human players on edge and if they hear anything that could sound like a moan, they'll be freaking out. Good psychological warfare games. Unfortunately, including it as a tell tale tic isn't going to work, because (like Cweed has mentioned) people who want to win are going to barely open their mouth and exhale and they'll consider that timely warning.

Yeah, it might be difficult to enforce as a tic. Well, going by that last quote, what if there was some sort of benefit for the moan? Maybe it could be like the zombie equivalent of a human stunning a zombie with a sock; maybe the human becomes paralysed with 'fear', if within a certain range. But here comes that old problem of actually enforcing this rule again.

Forgive me if I've forgotten, but is there some reason your zombies can't wear their bandannas on their heads? If they can't that's fine. If I postulate correctly, it's because you want humans to think people aren't infected, then when they get close, they're in for a shock. Again, very cool.

Bingo. This was also the reason for having the armband on the left arm exclusively: I was planning on using right-sided armbands as a tic.

Another thing that just sprung to mind is corners. Playing inside, there's going to be a lot of them and any powergamer is going to quickly realise that its the ideal place to tag someone without having to put up the "tic". After all, you either have to say that zombies can't use corners, or you'll have legitimate players getting annoyed because they did tag someone, but the player is calling them out for not displaying a "tic". I'm of the opinion that this is something humans should have to deal with. Anyone who wants to survive the zombie apocalypse is going to have to learn not to go blindly around corners, always check them. This could lead to some interesting footage of human players always skirting to the far side of a corridor before turning a corner, only for a zombie to lunge at them from a doorway that is opposite the corner.

Can't make things too easy for the humans. Personally, I think dangerous corners are a good thing.

As for enforcing slow moving zombies, that's a tricky one... [Maybe] when a player becomes a zombie, they make the choice of being either a fast or a slow zombie. Fast zombies are out of the game for 15 minutes when tagged whilst slow zombies are only out of the game for 5. That way, there is a bonus for being a traditional zombie. If you -really- want to try and get people to play slow zombies, give the slow zombies even greater advantages over fast zombies. Speed is a huge advantage, so to encourage people to play slow zombies, they'd need some big perks. I was thinking that they require more than one "stun" before going down, but that has the potential for exploitation and arguments. Fast zombies should have to wear the bandanna around their head, it's only fair to the humans. Perhaps, because slow zombies use less... zombie fuel(?) than fast zombies, they need to eat at the regular interval, whilst fast zombies must eat many more times.

This is a great idea! It won't get rid of the powergamer factor, but it'd probably do a lot of good in helping suppress it. Forcing people to play in a way they don't want to would only encourage 'rebellion' I guess. I think the gap between transformation time needs to be larger though, to make a more significant difference. Slow zombies could also wear bandannas around their foot or something, in order to make their presence more discreet. And I love the zombie fuel idea.

Another rule idea I had which might possibly inhibit powergamers: perhaps it is necessary for zombies to travel in groups. Maybe they can't tag a human alone, but instead must have at least two zombies in contact with said human at once. This might encourage players to enforce the rules amongst themselves, instead of supervisors doing all the work.

[Thesreyn]

A multiple tag idea! I love it!

Any human would be capable of taking a single zombie on if they knew how to kill it...

There are still some problems with rule enforcement, but I think this is a -really- cool idea. And humans would be looking for groups of ticcing zombies

[Flay]

Okay, here are the new proposed rules. Though they're not too different from the original, I've tried to prevent people from exploiting the game. I'd like to implement fast/slow zombie rules and whatsuch, but that would make much more complex, and I'm trying to keep things simple.

Everyone:

• Every player must wear an armband of a particular colour (probably red) on their right arm whenever playing the game (unless playing as a zombie, and changing the armband is part of a tic).
• Everyone (except the original zombie/s) gets their own individual ID number (eight randomly generated numbers and letters, written on a piece of paper), and must carry this whenever the game is being played.

Humans:

• Objective: avoid and outlive the zombies.
• Must carry their ID number at all times.
• May stun zombies by by throwing rolled up (and clean) socks, or by sneaking up on a zombie and tapping them on the shoudler.
  
• Must hand over their ID number when tagged by a group of zombies.
• Will become a zombie themselves half an hour after being tagged by another zombie.
• When a human transforms in to a zombie, they must report this on the website. If a human is unable to present their ID on the request of a game supervisor, but has not reported transforming they will be eliminated from the game, and banned if this is done repeatedly.

Zombies:

• Objective: turn every human in to a zombie.
• Zombies need only act like zombies when in pursuit of a human.
• Zombies 'eat' a human by tagging them.
• Two or more zombies must be touching a human in order to eat them.
• Only the original zombie(s) can eat a human alone.
• A zombie must eat a human every 48 hours or else 'starve' to death.
• Must take the ID number of any human they eat as soon as they have been bitten.
• Must report every kill online by 9pm of the night the kill occurred by posting the identification number of the person they have killed.
• Zombies may not run; that is, they must have at least one foot on the ground at all times when playing .
• Zombies cannot operate doors, elevators or other complex mechanisms while playing, however they may wait for a human or non-player to do this for them.
  
• Zombies must display an identifiable 'tic' in pursuit of a human (to be discussed).
  
• Zombies must 'moan' when within three paces of a human.
  
• A stunned zombie must stop and stand where they are. They cannot move until the confrontation is over (all humans have left the area), but a few seconds after being stunned they may help eat or hinder any human that comes within their reach.

Restrictions and Safezones:

• The game is played only between 7am and 8pm.
• Places where the game cannot be played: Lecture theatres, computer labs, the library, union or UTS staff facilities, or any place where that might cause trouble or be dangerous for yourself/others.
  
• The game must not interrupt other students, staff, lectures or tutorials/workshops.
• Non-players are not allowed to interact with the game, however they may inadvertently aid zombies.
• A player may call immunity (for example, if they were sick or particularly busy etc...) but they must report this on the forums and remove their armband. A player may be immune for a maximum of three whole game days, at the end of which they must either resume playing or be eliminated from the round.

So, what are your thoughts?

Also, I need to talk about the tics. I will used a list of tics which would be known only to the zombies, and the zombies would be able change between these tics whenever they want. However, humans may observe patterns within the zombies behaviour, and gradually learn what to look out for. Have you guys got any suggestions for tics we could use? I've got some ideas - moving the armband from the right arm to the left; limping or taking off a shoe - but we'll need more than that though.

[Thesreyn]

Your new rules look good, just a few things I might point out:

1. You need an unreproduceable form of ID. A number on a piece of paper is far too easy to forge, meaning that any human who was of that mind could effectively cheat.
2. You need to specify if the human must hand over all of their ID cards when tagged. Otherwise it seems like humans have eight lives. I'm pretty sure I know what you mean, but it could cause confusion for some of your players.
3. I LOVE the idea of a human being able to tag a zombie by sneaking up on them. That is a really cool and risky rule
4. 3 hours is a long time for a player to be out of the game. How long is the game going to go for? Someone who is out for an hour until they can play again is probably going to be chomping at the bit for that hour to end, but with three hours on the clock, a player may get bored or frustrated having to wait so long, particularly if they see other people playing in the meantime.
5. With the paces, you need to specify how far that is. In my mind, a pace is as far as you can step from a standing position, so three paces is a good amount, but other people might have different views or could exploit that rule.
6. I'm not sure about the "stunned zombies have to stand still" rule. In the traditional rules, a stunned zombie must remove themselves from the game area, so as not to provide cover for other zombies, or generally interfere with the game when they're supposed to be unable to do anything. Perhaps a variation of this could be that stunned zombies must sit down on the spot until the confrontation is over. They may still chomp on people who get within reach, but they aren't allowed to move and provide less interference with the game overall.
7. I would strike lecture theatres from the play area entirely. It is a place of learning after all. However, you may need them in there because of how UTS is designed. If that's not the case however, my recommendation would be to disallow playing inside lecture theatres.
8. A player who is unable to play due to outside reasons is a tricky situation. Sickness is understandable, as is critical assessment, but the general idea is that players are supposed to work the game in alongside those. Certainly we don't want players performing poorly academically because they put HvZ first. However, it gives players who were immune an unfair advantage. Except in extenuating circumstances (Sickness, bedridden or emergency) I would say that a limit should be set on how long a player can go immune before being removed from the game.

As for tics, I really think the raised, rigid arms (i.e. the Classic Zombie Pose) is a good one. It's obvious, can't be exploited easily and really adds to the "zombie" effect, particularly with the slow walking zombies you're trying to go for.

Other than those few things I mentioned, I think your game is really progressing well Perhaps, if it's possible, get some video footage of people playing. I'd love to see how it goes in contrast with the fast moving, generally outdoors game that is typical HvZ!

[moonstrife]

As for the card, I think you misunderstand (or perhaps I do O.o) I think what he is trying to say is that the *ID CODE* has 8 characters, not that each player gets 8 cards.

[Thesreyn]

Huh, I must have skim read that part, you're quite right...

I thought he was giving out multiple cards so multiple zombies could feed off one person

My bad! Ignore that point then!