Urban Dead
Encyclopedia
Urban Dead is a Free To Play HTML/text-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game
created by Kevan Davis. Set in a quarantined region of the fictional city of Malton, it deals with the aftermath of a zombie
outbreak. Players enter the game either as a survivor or a zombie, each with different abilities and limitations. Survivors become zombies when they are killed, while zombies can be "revivified
" with appropriate technology, returning to life as a survivor - any character played for long will thus spend some time alive and some as a zombie. There are no non-player character
s in the game: all survivors and zombies are controlled by players.
Urban Dead went live in July 2005.
Gameplay involves zombie
s breaking into safe houses and attacking the inhabitants, and survivors trying to defend the buildings by barricading them and killing any zombies present. Safe houses tend to be located in or near buildings where useful items can be found, such as shopping mall
s, police station
s, hospital
s, and the laboratories of the zombie-related NecroTech corporation. Cooperation between players is not strictly enforced. Internal fighting between survivors and zombies is a frequent occurrence. Urban Dead has no economy
. Survivor characters can loot
supplies from abandoned buildings indefinitely, but cannot trade, sell, or give them to other players.
New players begin the game as one of the three survivor classes; Military, Scientist or Civilian; or as a Zombie. Each side in the struggle has its own advantages and disadvantages. Survivors move twice as fast as low-level zombies and are able to employ various weapons and tools. Survivor characters can communicate with each other in-game via speech, radio broadcasting, graffiti and text messaging
. They can also barricade
building entrances, keeping zombies at bay. Zombies, often referred to as "zeds", are limited to using claws, teeth, and blunt melee weapons. However, they are able to stand up on full hit points when killed, whereas a survivor needs another player to revive them after death if they do not wish to play as a zombie. Higher level zombies can communicate with each other via a crude form of zombie speech, as well as through groaning noises and hand gestures. It is possible to switch sides in the conflict: a survivor character that is killed will rise up as a zombie, and zombie characters may be brought back to life by a survivor who has the relevant skills and items.
Players receive action point
s as time passes, which are used up any time they move, fight, or undertake any other sort of activity. One action point is gained every half hour of realtime, up to a maximum of fifty points. When a character's action points drop to zero or lower, that character is unable to perform any action until they gain further points, survivors fall asleep and zombies' brains cease to function. Should a survivor run out of action points whilst in an unsecured area, they are at great risk of attack by zombies during sleep. Players must make sure that their survivor characters are in a safe place before logging out, encouraging quick raids from fortified safe houses. The use of Action Points as a limit on character actions is similar to the systems of several other free MMORPGs such as Kingdom of Loathing
.
As players damage their opponents or perform certain other actions, their experience points increase. While survivors can also gain experience from performing a variety of actions, such as healing other characters or repairing damage to buildings, zombies can only gain experience points by attacking other characters or objects in the game world. When players gain enough experience points, they can buy new skills. A character can only buy survivor skills while alive, and only zombie skills while dead; although skills of one type are not lost if the character dies or is revived, most survivor skills cannot be used by zombies, and vice versa. Survivor characters can effectively learn the skills of all survivor classes, not just the class they begin with, though skills outside of their chosen class can be more expensive. For a long time, the highest level that a player could reach if all skills were purchased was 42, however due to the skill "Brain Rot" making it harder to get revives, many players opt to leave it unpurchased and as a result there are a greater number of players at level 41 as opposed to level 42. On October 14, 2008, a new zombie skill "Flesh Rot" was added, thus making it possible to reach level 43. With the new additions of the skills "bellow" and "scout safehouse" in August 2010, the highest level possible to be obtain in the game is now 45.
Survivors who die
and return as zombies do not have to switch sides - they can gather at designated "revive points" scattered throughout the city where they wait for survivors with the relevant skills and equipment to revive them. Revive points are considered neutral ground and survivors are generally discouraged from killing zombies found there. Some players and groups on both sides have also set their own distinct goals, many of which are set for purely role-playing
purposes. Urban Dead is not limited to survivor versus zombie combat, groups of survivors can attack other survivors, known as player killing. Within the game, this is viewed as an act of murder
; however, it is not against the game rules and is seen by some more advanced players as playing the game on "Hard" due to only receiving half the experience points that one would receive for attacking zombies. Individuals that engage in this behavior are often tracked by bounty hunters. Some zombie groups use living characters as spies and saboteurs, usually during or in preparation for a major attack on a safe house (mainly mall
s). These collaborators are often referred to as "zombie spies" or "death cultists".
.
s. These were combined with elements of NetHack
, MUSHes, interactive fiction
and a zombie infection simulation he had developed in 2003. This created a game which required approximately 10 minutes of planning and play a day; involving exploration, interaction and item discovery.
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
created by Kevan Davis. Set in a quarantined region of the fictional city of Malton, it deals with the aftermath of a zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
outbreak. Players enter the game either as a survivor or a zombie, each with different abilities and limitations. Survivors become zombies when they are killed, while zombies can be "revivified
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
" with appropriate technology, returning to life as a survivor - any character played for long will thus spend some time alive and some as a zombie. There are no non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s in the game: all survivors and zombies are controlled by players.
Urban Dead went live in July 2005.
Gameplay
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s breaking into safe houses and attacking the inhabitants, and survivors trying to defend the buildings by barricading them and killing any zombies present. Safe houses tend to be located in or near buildings where useful items can be found, such as shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s, police station
Police station
A police station or station house is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, along with locker rooms, temporary holding cells and interview/interrogation rooms.- Facilities...
s, hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s, and the laboratories of the zombie-related NecroTech corporation. Cooperation between players is not strictly enforced. Internal fighting between survivors and zombies is a frequent occurrence. Urban Dead has no economy
Economic system
An economic system is the combination of the various agencies, entities that provide the economic structure that defines the social community. These agencies are joined by lines of trade and exchange along which goods, money etc. are continuously flowing. An example of such a system for a closed...
. Survivor characters can loot
Looting (gaming)
Looting in a gaming context, specifically in massively multiplayer online games and MUDs, is the process by which a player character obtains items such as in-game currency, spells, equipment, or weapons, often from the corpse of a creature or possibly the corpse of another player in a PVP situation...
supplies from abandoned buildings indefinitely, but cannot trade, sell, or give them to other players.
New players begin the game as one of the three survivor classes; Military, Scientist or Civilian; or as a Zombie. Each side in the struggle has its own advantages and disadvantages. Survivors move twice as fast as low-level zombies and are able to employ various weapons and tools. Survivor characters can communicate with each other in-game via speech, radio broadcasting, graffiti and text messaging
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
. They can also barricade
Barricade
Barricade, from the French barrique , is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction...
building entrances, keeping zombies at bay. Zombies, often referred to as "zeds", are limited to using claws, teeth, and blunt melee weapons. However, they are able to stand up on full hit points when killed, whereas a survivor needs another player to revive them after death if they do not wish to play as a zombie. Higher level zombies can communicate with each other via a crude form of zombie speech, as well as through groaning noises and hand gestures. It is possible to switch sides in the conflict: a survivor character that is killed will rise up as a zombie, and zombie characters may be brought back to life by a survivor who has the relevant skills and items.
Players receive action point
Action point
An action point, commonly abbreviated AP, is a point in games to determine how much action a player, unit, or video game character can do in a single turn.Within computer and video games they are predominantly used in the turn-based tactics genre...
s as time passes, which are used up any time they move, fight, or undertake any other sort of activity. One action point is gained every half hour of realtime, up to a maximum of fifty points. When a character's action points drop to zero or lower, that character is unable to perform any action until they gain further points, survivors fall asleep and zombies' brains cease to function. Should a survivor run out of action points whilst in an unsecured area, they are at great risk of attack by zombies during sleep. Players must make sure that their survivor characters are in a safe place before logging out, encouraging quick raids from fortified safe houses. The use of Action Points as a limit on character actions is similar to the systems of several other free MMORPGs such as Kingdom of Loathing
Kingdom of Loathing
Kingdom of Loathing is a browser-based, multiplayer role-playing game designed and operated by Asymmetric Publications, including creator Zack "Jick" Johnson and writer Josh "Mr. Skullhead" Nite. The game was released in 2003...
.
As players damage their opponents or perform certain other actions, their experience points increase. While survivors can also gain experience from performing a variety of actions, such as healing other characters or repairing damage to buildings, zombies can only gain experience points by attacking other characters or objects in the game world. When players gain enough experience points, they can buy new skills. A character can only buy survivor skills while alive, and only zombie skills while dead; although skills of one type are not lost if the character dies or is revived, most survivor skills cannot be used by zombies, and vice versa. Survivor characters can effectively learn the skills of all survivor classes, not just the class they begin with, though skills outside of their chosen class can be more expensive. For a long time, the highest level that a player could reach if all skills were purchased was 42, however due to the skill "Brain Rot" making it harder to get revives, many players opt to leave it unpurchased and as a result there are a greater number of players at level 41 as opposed to level 42. On October 14, 2008, a new zombie skill "Flesh Rot" was added, thus making it possible to reach level 43. With the new additions of the skills "bellow" and "scout safehouse" in August 2010, the highest level possible to be obtain in the game is now 45.
Survivors who die
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
and return as zombies do not have to switch sides - they can gather at designated "revive points" scattered throughout the city where they wait for survivors with the relevant skills and equipment to revive them. Revive points are considered neutral ground and survivors are generally discouraged from killing zombies found there. Some players and groups on both sides have also set their own distinct goals, many of which are set for purely role-playing
Role-playing
Role-playing refers to the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role...
purposes. Urban Dead is not limited to survivor versus zombie combat, groups of survivors can attack other survivors, known as player killing. Within the game, this is viewed as an act of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
; however, it is not against the game rules and is seen by some more advanced players as playing the game on "Hard" due to only receiving half the experience points that one would receive for attacking zombies. Individuals that engage in this behavior are often tracked by bounty hunters. Some zombie groups use living characters as spies and saboteurs, usually during or in preparation for a major attack on a safe house (mainly mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s). These collaborators are often referred to as "zombie spies" or "death cultists".
Other cities
As well as the city of Malton, two other cities - Monroeville and Borehamwood - have been set up on the same server. Account creation in these cities has been disabled, and the population of active characters is very low. Both feature permanent death, since there were no revivification syringes in the game. When a survivor character was killed, that character remained dead and there was no way of reviving them. Monroeville was named after the shooting location of Dawn of the Dead, and Borehamwood was a tie-in with the TV series Dead SetDead Set (TV series)
Dead Set is a critically acclaimed BAFTA-nominated horror drama created by English writer Charlie Brooker.The series takes place primarily on the set of a fictional season of the real television show Big Brother...
.
Development
Urban Dead was created by Kevan Davis, a freelance video game designer and web developer, in 2005. Davis was inspired by a similar game called Vampires!, which was created by a friend, and play-by-mail gamePlay-by-mail game
Play-by-mail games, sometimes known as "Play-by-post", are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John...
s. These were combined with elements of NetHack
NetHack
NetHack is a single-player roguelike video game originally released in 1987. It is a descendant of an earlier game called Hack , which is a descendant of Rogue...
, MUSHes, interactive fiction
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
and a zombie infection simulation he had developed in 2003. This created a game which required approximately 10 minutes of planning and play a day; involving exploration, interaction and item discovery.