We'll need you to sign up again so that everything is set up correctly. An email with a new beta key will be sent out when the server is ready. Thanks for all your help with the testing. We're looking forward to hearing what you think of the changes!
Here's an exclusive look at just some of what we have in store for you.
Active movement
No waiting for the chronometer to tick. You control the progress of your squads. Fatigue, fear and z-density are the factors you must consider when planning their next move. If you stop while on a route, your survivors will find somewhere to keep away from the horde, but their fear will continue to rise.
Active scavenging
You're in control of when your survivors scavenge. Each attempt to scavenge will tire them and their fear will increase the longer they stay at a location. Balance the need for resources against the risk of exposure to the living dead.
Levels
Gain levels to unlock advanced features, safehouse types, safehouse upgrades and titles. Your level depends on your overall Survival Points gained, so your progress won't be completely wiped out even if you lose characters.
A Home of Your Own
Your survivors can now improvise safehouses. As you advance, more options will be available, including upgrades. There will be fewer NECRA safehouses, and they have limitations on recovery rates and storage security.
Safehouses must be defended if they are to last. An undefended safehouse will eventually fall to the patient battering of curious zombies. Any characters dedicated to defense will not recover fatigue or fear as they struggle to keep watch on the barricades.
Only the player who built a safehouse can enter the safehouse, but any zeds trying to get in will reveal the location if another player gets close enough.
Territory
Any safehouses you own will give your survivors unique knowledge over the surrounding neighborhood. Any locations within your territory will receive a scavenge bonus - as long as nobody else stakes a claim to the area.
You can warn other players away from locations you consider to be in your territory by writing on the walls, or by contacting them with a polite message asking them to move on. You could also just drive them off with a frenzied attack...
Remember: resources do not respawn! Once something is gone, it's gone forever.
Injury
An often overlooked danger with slow-moving zombies that one of your survivors may receive an injury which will not lead to infection or death. Minor to major injuries such as a sprained ankle, torn ligaments, concussion from a fall.
Injuries are a good sign that you're in dangerous territory or your characters are in trouble. You should consider bringing injured characters to a safehouse where they can recover. Injuries will increase the risk of death as your characters find it more difficult to evade the zeds.
Player versus player (PvP) combat
After you reach level 5, you can engage in combat with your fellow players. The limit is there to protect new players from you bloodthirsty lot. The squad icons of other players will be updated live on your map as they or you move.
There are limited resources in any apocalypse. Supplies can be scavenged from shops and buildings but they will run out. This means that you will find yourself competing with your fellow players to meet your needs.
You can attack any squad in the field or at a location. Safehouses are presumed to be heavily barricaded and are impregnable - for now.
If you have firearms, your survivors will open fire if within range if you give the order to attack (each firearm has a different range). The attacked squad will not automatically respond even if armed. Sometimes it might be better to save bullets rather than fight back.
If you rely on melee weapons, you have to get really close to your target - within 10 meters. Melee attacks are risky. There's a chance on injury or death on both sides.
Items dropped by dead characters can be picked up by anyone
Rankings
We've moved to a complex rankings model, which takes into account multiple factors to determine the overall highest ranked players. Making it to the top is not just a question of completing missions or collecting infocards.
Private missions are now limited to the initial stages of the game, as part of the tutorial, or may be awarded in unusual circumstances, but they will no longer be ranked. Don't worry - there are plenty of other ways to prove your survival skills!
Achievements
We're testing a limited number of achievements but will be putting out more as the beta nears its end. From travelling vast distances to maxing out skills, unlocking some achievements will be relatively easy, while others will be a real challenge.
More complex combat
Combat now takes into account every factor you might expect to affect your survivors chances as they brave streets filled with stumbling ravenous corpses, or when they come up against other groups of hostile survivors.
Fatigue: exhaustion will really make a difference in combat. Fatigue is accumulated by moving, scavenging, even by carrying items (anything over a few kilos will have an effect). Get too tired by staying out too long and you may not make it back alive.
Fear: moving through medium to high z-density areas without suitable weapons will make inexperienced survivors nervous. Frightened people make mistakes. Mistakes can kill. Being properly armed and trained can help keep your characters calm.
Hunger and thirst: these will have a small but noticeable effect on the performance of your survivors.
Z-density: keep a close eye on the z-density indicator. Fear is your biggest enemy as you move. Avoiding high z-density areas should be your primary goal. Spending too much time traversing a dangerous block could be suicide.
Firearms: range, rate of fire, caliber and firepower of each firearm are all considered when working out how many zeds your characters put down, or how well they can attack or defend in a skirmish with other survivors. Some firearms are more suited to some situations.
Melee weapons: melee weapons can really help your survivors defend themselves when things get tough or the ammo runs out, but they can only decapitate a limited number of zombies. A good melee weapon should be able to keep them safe in low z-density, but when the streets are filled with the living dead, a gun is a real advantage.
Zombie kill count
Combat now tracks the actual number of zombies your squads kill as they move through blocks, and this kill count is reported as you move. You will gain Survival Points as you kill zombies, but this gain diminishes over time as this becomes second nature.
Fun fact: there are over 9 million zombies in LA County!
Inventory management
It can be time-consuming to manage the equipment for your characters. You can now automatically distribute food and liquids amongst the members of a squad. Even more importantly, ammo will be distributed by caliber, so that you can quickly get your survivors ready for action when (if) you find some rounds.
Filters have been added to allow to easily see items at a location or safehouse by category, along with pagination for those of you lucky enough to stockpile resources for a rainy day.
Infocards
Infocards now have their own menu at the top, and characters are sorted by squad. You can also exchange unwanted infocards for a modest SP bonus. More infocards have been added, and the full range will be released as testing progresses.
There are also filters to make it easier for you to manage categories of infocards.
Factions
Factions are now enabled after you reach level 5. You can start or join one faction. There will be faction rankings and other features to come, but for now these are primarily a declaration that you're working together.
Faction members can message each other, and the leader of a faction can administer members. Having a faction to call on in a time of need could make the difference between survival and death.
Background
The story of Infection Containment Plan No. 21 will reveal the lengths NECRA was willing to go to ensure the survival of the human race, and your role as a NECRA operative in the Survival Cell System...
