H1Z1 is a persistent zombie sandbox

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

H1Z1 is a persistent zombie sandbox ? first screens and details

Thursday, 10th April 2014 02:10 GMT By Brenna Hillier

 

H1Z1 is a free-to-play sandbox MMO set in Middle America 15 years after a zombie virus outbreak.

 

Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley described the game in a Twitch livestream, as promised, noting that players can start anywhere on the map before heading off to explore cities and wilderness alike.

 

Players will gather resources, build shelters and can work together to create larger structures with weapons to fend off animals, Infected (zombies) or other players.

 

Weapons include molotov cocktails and explosives as well as ?other fun surprises?, and players can use vehicles and fire, with aircraft on the way. Crafting is said to be deeper than in competing titles.

 

Writing on Reddit, Smedley said H1Z1 is different from other survival sandboxes in that if offers a persistent world with ?thousands? of players on multiple isolated servers, with players able to leave a lasting change on the world, as in EverQuest Next Landmark.

 

Rulesets may vary from server to server, player economy will be fostered, and SOE hopes to enable all-out ?war? on other players or zombies if that?s what you want to do.

 

There will be no skills or levelling, as gameplay will be entirely freeform. Smedley described players forming ?roving gangs? based in shared headquarters, or living quietly as farmers trading away resources with other players.

 

?We?re going to make sure your zombie apocalypse fantasy is complete. If you?re like me and you want nothing more than to kill everything that moves, by all means see how that goes,? he said.

 

Players will also be able to customise their characters, and when you die, you?ll respawn with the same character ? and maybe even with your gear, although SOE?s still weighing that up.

 

H1Z1 is being built on the ForgeLight engine, and SOE will share its development with the community via a public roadmap ? like Planetside 2 ? and allow them to contribute via Player Studio. It?s expected on PC first, with early access available for around $20. The full game will be supported by microtransactions.

 

 

http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/10/h1z1-is-a-persistent-zombie-sandbox-first-screens-and-details/

[+John Teacake MVC]

There will be no skills or levelling, as gameplay will be entirely freeform. Smedley described players forming ?roving gangs? based in shared headquarters, or living quietly as farmers trading away resources with other players.

 

See now that will be good for me!! 

[Skiver Veteran]

sounds interesting, but I suspect that just like WWZ/Inestation Survivor stories it will just become another PVP with zombies around the edges game. I really wish someone would do this but remove the PVP side of things and promote people working together.

[Lingwo]

Lost me at free to play.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Sounds interesting, but the lack of leveling or skills has me concerned. I'm not a fan of grinding, but level progression made games last longer - there was no point in flying to Dantooine if you were under level 30 because everything there would tear you to shreds. I don't like the lack of skillsets either, but that isn't the end of the world.

Oh, and I think death should have consequences, not just be an inconvenience which is how it sounds above.

Still, I will check this out again when I get home and can see the screenshots.

[LaP]

Lost me at free to play.

Why?

[Lingwo]

Why?

 

because i hate the free 2 play model. Very, very few games manage to pull it off.

[trooper11]

Maybe it could be fun, but I feel like Zombies has been done and the whole survivor mini genre started by games like DayZ seem pretty saturated.

Maybe the final product is something unique, but the current info is not very exciting to me.

[McKay]

sounds interesting, but I suspect that just like WWZ/Inestation Survivor stories it will just become another PVP with zombies around the edges game. I really wish someone would do this but remove the PVP side of things and promote people working together.

 

If we kill each other the game will become a giant death match, zombies will take a sideline. I dont think people in DayZ or WarZ even knew there were zombies.

[Skiver Veteran]

If we kill each other the game will become a giant death match, zombies will take a sideline. I dont think people in DayZ or WarZ even knew there were zombies.

Nope, Within the first few hours of the game I realised that zombies were not what you needed to fear. Everytime you got anywhere near having some good kit someone would just come along and kill you and take it all.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

I'll be more interested once I see it hit PS4!

[LaP]

Maybe it could be fun, but I feel like Zombies has been done and the whole survivor mini genre started by games like DayZ seem pretty saturated.

Maybe the final product is something unique, but the current info is not very exciting to me.

Yeah i agree but the title of the game is really awesome XD

[HawkMan]

because i hate the free 2 play model. Very, very few games manage to pull it off.

More importantly they have the worst gamers and communities.

A bigger reason to avoid this game though.. Smedley, killer of good games.

[Zarbyte]

Game looks nice. Although, I do not trust SoE running the game.

[Lingwo]

More importantly they have the worst gamers and communities.

A bigger reason to avoid this game though.. Smedley, killer of good games.

 

True, if they're going for DayZ style gameplay. They'll need the community.

The reason DayZ is good and popular is because of the community.

[Argi]

Lost me at free to play.

 

They didn't lose anything if it's free. ;)

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

SOE spills details on post-apocalyptic MMO H1Z1 heading to PC, PS4

By Jenna Pitcher on Apr 09, 2014 at 9:11p @PitcherJenna

 

 

Sony Online Entertainment's post-apocalyptic massively multiplayer online game, H1Z1, is heading to PC first and PlayStation 4 later, SOE president John Smedley said on the latest Game Talk Live episode, and will be available in 4-6 weeks via Steam Early Access for $20.

 

H1Z1, where players to take on the role of an apocalypse survivor in a world swarming with zombies, was first revealed earlier today when details of the podcast were teased. The game will be a free-to-play title with microtransactions but it won't be pay-to-win and nor will it require a subscription.

 

"The H1Z1 virus devastated mankind and left nothing but death and destruction in its wake and a world nearly empty of human life where the remnants of humanity are in a fight against extinction against those infected with the virus," Smedley revealed. "It's been 15 years since H1Z1 was first encountered and what's left of the world before it is overrun with the Infected. Humanity has been reduced to hiding in the shadows, searching desperately for food and water and anything that can help to survive even for another day. But the Infected aren't the only dangers in the world. Everyday life in the Apocalypse means dealing with all kinds of wild animals and the brutality of other survivors, as well as finding your next meal and a safe place to sleep."

 

Continues...

[trooper11]

Wait, so it will cost $20 to get it via the Steam Early Access program but then once its considered ready to release in full, it will be F2P?

I have yet jumped into Steam Early access considering that you are basically paying for access to a beta, but this seems like an even worse proposition.

As far as the game itself goes, the more they talk about it, the more it sounds like some other zombie, post apocalyptic mmos that have popped up on pc. Now on console, that is different. I could see it doing better on console than the pc due tot he lack of competition alone. For me personally, I'll wait to see more of it in motion.

[astropheed Veteran]

There needs to be far greater consequence to killing people in these games. As it stands now it makes it completely un-enjoyable to get murdered every time you see someone because you're just starting the game (looks at Rust and DayZ).

 

If you get killed I'm all for losing all your stuff, that's fine. The killer should be harshly punished though. Perhaps a "karma" system where every time that you kill someone you lose luck. The luck attribute could affect many things, such as your ability to run without falling over. The accuracy of your bullets being severely lowered. The chance of eating poisonous food being significantly higher. A chance to injure/break your ankle by running up or down hills/stairs. And to re-raise your luck you would have to do good things, such as give some equipment away or even simple things like plant a tree or build a shelter.

[McKay]

There needs to be far greater consequence to killing people in these games. As it stands now it makes it completely un-enjoyable to get murdered every time you see someone because you're just starting the game (looks at Rust and DayZ).

 

If you get killed I'm all for losing all your stuff, that's fine. The killer should be harshly punished though. Perhaps a "karma" system where every time that you kill someone you lose luck. The luck attribute could affect many things, such as your ability to run without falling over. The accuracy of your bullets being severely lowered. The chance of eating poisonous food being significantly higher. A chance to injure/break your ankle by running up or down hills/stairs. And to re-raise your luck you would have to do good things, such as give some equipment away or even simple things like plant a tree or build a shelter.

 

I want an option for servers were PvP is disabled. I want a Zombie Survival game where the Zombies are actually deadly. Where stepping outside is a huge risk, just from the danger of Zombies. Playing Nether was the closest I've come to that, except PvP wasn't disabled. However Nether was in its early stages where it hadnt devolved into a giant PvPfest. The Nether Creatures could make light work of even high level players. 

 

I want a Zombie MMO where you are forced to work together because the Zombies are so deadly. The Zombies in DayZ are hillarious, harmless and easy to avoid, in later updates of WarZ (Survivor Stories) The Zombies were a nuisance, bordering on deadly when packs of 20 descended upon you. I want a Zombie MMO where they're as dangerous as the infected from the Last of Us.

[Skin]

This is a good thing to not have levels, cause after all, in most zombie apocalypse stories, do the zombies actually get stronger, or carry guns, or learn to run after you after hopping in a tank to run you down? Naw.

 

The game should be about resources, bases, communication or isolation, and plain old simple killing and avoiding of zombies. I would like something like running a lot eventually gives you more stamina, but it also attracts more zombies and people through noise, etc. things like that as a trade off. Less skills and more penalty/reward systems.

[riot]

I want an option for servers were PvP is disabled. I want a Zombie Survival game where the Zombies are actually deadly. Where stepping outside is a huge risk, just from the danger of Zombies. Playing Nether was the closest I've come to that, except PvP wasn't disabled. However Nether was in its early stages where it hadnt devolved into a giant PvPfest. The Nether Creatures could make light work of even high level players. 

 

I want a Zombie MMO where you are forced to work together because the Zombies are so deadly. The Zombies in DayZ are hillarious, harmless and easy to avoid, in later updates of WarZ (Survivor Stories) The Zombies were a nuisance, bordering on deadly when packs of 20 descended upon you. I want a Zombie MMO where they're as dangerous as the infected from the Last of Us.

 

I agree.  My ideal zombie game would play out like the Day by Day Armageddon book series.  Sometimes you encounter 5,000-10,000 zombies walking down the road.  The only way to survive would be to band together.

[Kalint]

So... what is this, theeee 250th zombie title in the past year?

[123456789A]

15 years after a zombie virus outbreak? All but just a few people would still be left alive and any zombies would have rotted by then.

[astropheed Veteran]

So... what is this, theeee 250th zombie title in the past year?

 

So long as people keep buying them, people will keep creating them. The purchasers are more at fault than the content creators.