Even though "zombies" are generally overused in just about everything nowadays, the idea of having a special event like this on board sounds quite fun! I hope you'll consider this suggestion!
CONCEPT
Name of Event: Code Z (subject to change)
One Sentence Description: Multiple crewmembers unknowingly have a virus inside them that will turn them into zombies within 12 minutes of the round beginning.
Map Changes: No
Code Changes: Changes that involve coding a "zombie", meaning a system similar to how a spider lays eggs except it would involve biting the deceased victim and either the player can go back to his body to be an undead creature or a NPC will take over and look for the closest human to maul. I've seen a zombie sprite on the server (usually spawns with skeletons in the maintenance shafts) so it'll pretty much just be coding this in.
Suggested Number of Players: 40+
INFECTION PROCESS
Full Description of Event:
At the start of the round a few players (2-4) will randomly be selected to be hosts of this virus (unknowingly) and soon will begin getting little hints such as...
The process of the round starting and you being randomly selected to be infected, you won't knowingly understand that you're infected but these hints are for immersive purposes to detail how your character is feeling and changing.
Beginning (first 2-3 minutes)
"You have a craving towards meat..." "You begin drooling..." "You feel restless..."
Midway (6-8 minutes in)
"You have a sudden urge to bite the people around you..." "The skin on your hands begins peeling away..." "You feel like you're losing your mind..."
Ending (9-12 minutes in)
"You begin shaking uncontrollably... ((prompt the character shaking, such as when you drink a lot of robust coffee))" "Your skin is turning black and peeling off..." "You have an undeniable urge to feast upon human flesh..."
and then finally the person will be completely undead and something similar to this will appear
INFECTION PROCESS COMPLETE
"YOU'RE UNDEAD
You're no longer living and have an unshakeable impulse to kill and reanimate the living into one of you.."
So now the player is undead and at this point the players sprite should change into the zombie sprite I mentioned earlier, I'm sure the developers have access to it so sorry for being unable to show what it looks like. But trust me, its pretty spooky and screams "ZOMBIE!".
This is where the event pretty much is in full effect. CentComm will immediately make an announcement prohibiting an escape shuttle from coming (to prevent anyone thats infected from getting on board, as I mentioned hosts of the virus aren't aware they are infected until they start turning, by then its too late.) and it will be the Captains decision on whether or not he wants to call the ERT or not. Since the whole "zombie" virus is very complicated I figure the best way to balance this event out is the only other way to become infected is to be bitten/attacked by a zombie, so no airborne zombie pandemics or Grey Tides running around sneezing on people. This way the recently attacked player becomes a zombie happens by either...
1) Bitten but escapes death, they will go through the similar process of turning. It'll be their decision on whether or not to report these symptoms to medical personnel.
2) Bitten and killed, at this point the player will come back to life within 25-30 seconds and be an undead.
UNDEAD KEY FEATURES
The undead are well.. dead! So with that being said they will have some advantages..
[*] Abnormal Strength, an undead doesn't feel pain nor does it care about injuries to itself, as long as it gets to bite into some flesh, it doesn't care. What I mean by this is that the undead can easily bash tables open with a few hits and not worry about well.. the pain of slamming a metal table to scrap. The same goes with windows, grilles and the other usual stuff. I did think about airlocks however I think that'd be a bit too much.
[*] Aim for the Brain, I couldn't really make up a title for this so I just went with that. Anyways, if you've read or watched anything involving zombies than you should know that a zombie doesn't fully die unless you bash its skull in. Meaning a zombie doesn't really mind losing an arm or two, it won't die from bleeding or from breaking a bone. It can only be killed by destroying the brain, which in simple terms meaning go full-on robust on his head. Of course though thats not the ONLY way to kill a zombie, you could also burn it.. or just throw him into space.. pressure could also kill it eventually, the normal stuff. The only difference is that robusting a zombie does nothing unless its directly to the face.
[*] Spreadin' the Infection, pretty much the core thing of any zombie, its ability to infect others! This can be done simply by harm hitting another player a few times and that'll start the whole infection process. However, if this event is highly considered and the developers are willing to do some hard-coding then possibly have a way to bite a player instead, just to add on to the immersion of well.. being bitten by a zombie. The same goes for deceased individuals, a zombie can just do something similar to how a changeling sucks up a persons brain juices, just give the zombie a few seconds with something popping up like "[Zombie] begins biting into [Dead guy].." for a few seconds and allow 25-30 seconds for the reanimation to come into effect.
[*] Feasting on the Living this feature will require some moderate coding, so this is optional for the developers Lets say a zombies left leg is shattered, that'll affect his movement speed obviously and well... no doctor is going to fix that up for him so heres the solution! A option to feast upon a nearby corpse or incapacitated crewmember that will heal the zombies wounds over the course of say 10-25 seconds. This'll allow the undead to have some way to get back into the fight after someone robusting everywhere but the head.
HOW WIN? WHAT DO?
So now you're probably asking yourself, "how does the crew survive and win?" Well, it's quite simple. Since the escape shuttle isn't arriving you'll either have to get together with anyone that hasn't turned yet and begin cleansing the station of the undead or well.. everyone becomes infected and the undead win.
Of course though thats the blunt and straight to the point objective. The roleplay potential is gigantic considering this can introduce quarantining people, making "safe zones" that will pretty much be checkpoints manned by security and I'm sure plenty of other things.
Once the undead are fully exterminated than that will be the end of the round, similar to how in some cases eliminating a blob promptly ends the round.
This event overall is a station-wide event that includes all players, but medical will have one of the largest roles in this event.
IDENTIFYING THE INFECTED
If you've ever played a game called "Dead Rising" you'd see that a certain medication within the game can temporarily halt the infection within an infected, the virologist will need to develop this medication and give it to the infected with the assistance of the medical staff as well. (Distributing the medication and identifying the infected.)
Identifying the Infected is quite simple but could be more complicated with additional coding so this'll give you an idea of how identifying an infected will work.
1) Easier Option : Infected Individuals will show up on medical huds and upon inspection will alert the doctor that an infected has a virus inside them.
2) Better Option : Infected Individuals will not show up on medical huds BUT upon inspection will alert the doctor that an infected has a virus inside them and than show them as infected over medical HUDs
so now here comes the very important part, "How do we cure this infection and how do we develop this medication you speak of?"
THE MEDICATION, THE CURE, THE VIROLOGIST!
It'll work the same way as any virus, you'll need a blood sample OR you could put an infected inside of one of the isolation rooms within virology and begin immediate research and produce a vial of this medication that can halt the infection process by about 8-10 minutes. Curing or producing a medication will go in the same route that curing any virus within the game goes, you'll need to play around with all of the machines and what not inside of virology.
Producing a cure however will require more than having an infected lab rat, it'll involving the same process of having a lab rat except this time the lab rat is fully infected, meaning you'll need to capture and restrain a fully undead monster and develop a cure from that undeads body, which can easily claim a life or two but it's in the name science and for the greater good, right? Yeah sure you could easily pick up a gun or two and start blasting away at the infected but the way to win this event will involve win-types, which can be seen in some events.
WIN TYPES
Note that "infected" refers to those in the process of becoming an undead, once you're undead you cannot be saved. I mean, you're already dead anyways.
Major Crew Victory | Develop a cure and cleanse the station of all infected.
Minor Crew Victory | Cleanse the station of all infected. (Meaning instead of cures or meds, you just put a bullet to the head.)
Major Undead Victory | Infect everyone onboard (They must become fully infected (undead), meaning it won't count if they are cured.)
Minor Undead Victory | Infect half the crew onboard (They must become fully infected (undead), meaning it won't count if they are cured.)
IMPORTANT KEYWORDS
Infected | Someone who has been infected but has not become undead.
Undead / Zombie | Someone who has gone through the infection process and has not been cured. Meaning they are zombies now.
Cure | A medicine that can be injected via syringe that will fully eliminate the virus within the infected. This is ineffective against undeads.
Medication | A medicine that can be either injected or consumed that will temporarily halt the infection process within an infected individual for 8-10 minutes, this is useful for curing them.
LORE AND CENTCOMM
This virus is of unknown origin and the infected have unknowingly caught it from something, somewhere, somehow. NanoTrasen has no records of this virus but at round start once the first undeads are up and running will immediately prohibit anyone from leaving, so they're pretty much quarantining the place until either this infection is cured or everyone thats infected is dead. CentComm will dispatch a ERT if requested
SPRITES
Like I said earlier that a zombie sprite does exist however having custom sprites that can exist on a player, meaning these changes will not change the players sprite but simply add on to the players current sprite, such as giving the player a eerie greenish/decaying sprite when undead or possibly things like a bone sticking out of one of the players arms. Pretty much just making each undead sprite look different from each other so it doesn't look bland.
The cure is just a liquid within a vial, bottle or beaker.
And the medication can be the same as a cure (vial, bottle or beaker) AND can be made into a pill to be consumed.
You need to remember that this virus is totally unknown to NanoTrasen as a whole so they cannot send any neatly labeled cartridges of medication so this makes it much easier on the developers so they won't need a custom sprite for the medications. However if this event does take off I'm sure a spriter will come along and make improvements to the medications sprite. (Such as a custom pill bottle/pill.)
DEBRIEF
So thats my idea! If you have absolutely any questions or if you feel something is missing then please say something! I want your opinions, your constructive criticism, your praise and insults, EVERYTHING. I put a lot of thought into this and would love to see this added in the future. I'm all ears to you guys! Admin or not, developer or not, I want to hear what you have to say!
Changes & Edits
Most edits are fixing typos and added one additional sub-category titled "Undead Key Features"
