[Zombie Massacre] Quality of Life Improvements

Suggestions Zombie Massacre Suggestions
1

I adore ZM, and there’s a few tiny things that bug me as well as some things I wish were improved / changed for the benefit of players and the overall fun of the gameworld. So I’ll just list some off.

Doctor's Syphon Nerf
As it is, Doctor’s syphon is disgustingly powerful. Making Doctor a go to for solo players due to it being able to out heal damage from up to 3 zombies slapping you over and over. Due to this; and the ease that is gaining a 5-kill streak, makes any challenge a bit of a joke.

My suggestion would be to change the siphon to target only one zombie, but increase its range of effectiveness whilst also healing nearby players for the health siphoned.

Zombie Spawns
Right now it’s a bit hectic, and it’s possible at times for a vampire or a dog to spawn a meter from you while you’re sprinting and instantly slap you for 30 - 40 damage. Which if you don’t have a doctor is usually guaranteed death for that round.

My suggestion is a large one, each map similar to Acrophobia should have out of bound spawns. Zombies will spawn from them regardless of player distance, and line of sight spawns. This is similar to Killing Floor’s system for spawning in Zeds, to prevent unpreventable damage or cheated deaths. Essentially to prevent players from being chipped to death for running from a group of zombies, and something spawning in front of them and slapping them. This would however require some maps to be updated with OoB spawns.

Auto-Aim Generosity
Currently it is possible to aim at zombies on another level from you, a necessary addition due to Acrophobia’s verticality. However at times it’s still rather difficult to aim at zombies on another level from you.

My suggestion is making the auto-aim a little more generous via a priority system.
Zombie closest to cursor > Closest zombie within sightline > Zombie on another level within sightline
This comes to the added benefit of helping players who play via controller or the steam deck.

Line of Sight Lasers
Currently difficult to judge what your player is aiming at if you’re not vomitting a constant line of bullets.

With this, it’d allow players to see what they’re aiming at and could be incredibly helpful for the heat of the fight, in addition, this could also tie in to upgrades where you can ‘buy / earn’ different colours or gradients for your laser.

Electrician's Home-Made Turret Soft Revert
Currently it is in an okay spot, but I do sort of miss the range it used to have.

My suggestion is to revert the range of the turret, but give it a cone of range (130’) that aims where the player was aiming upon placement. This gives it a bit more strategic depth whilst also making it a fantastic area denial tool.

Points Pot
Currently the game is a bit too competitive, where players who have the most kills reap all the rewards for points, but other players are left with scraps.

My suggestion is players work and survive to accumulate points for that round, that is shared between all current players at the end of the round. The physical points dropped by zombies that can be picked up however, aren’t shared.

Melee Vs Bosses Nerf
Right now melee melts bosses, which can end an ‘intense boss fight’ in a matter of 10 seconds.
And it feels quite jarring.

Reduce melee weapon damage or give bosses natural melee damage resistance to prevent melting their health in seconds.

2

This especially for controller, having no cursor to go off of and having to rely on the tracers is sorta funky

I think it’d also be nice to have an option to disable the auto-aim/aim-assist, at least for the same height level as the player, because sometimes it can be almost impossible to hit the queen even if you’re hovered right over it. Could also help when you’re desperately trying to kill a pumpkin running after you that’s about to take most of your health but the aim locks to some random default zombies around it instead.

3

This is why I’d prefer a priority system for aim assist.
Where it prioritises an enemy you’re directly aiming ontop of with the cursor, versus any enemies that can be blocking sightlines.
And if you’re like me whom doesn’t often aim directly at an enemy, then it trickles down the priority list, to enemies that are in sightline and are the closest to the player between the cursor and player. And then finally zombies on another level within sightline.

1 Like
4

Ye, I’m mainly a melee player so like- the only times I’m using ranged weapons is when I’m fighting the pumpkins since they’re so inconsistent on whether or not they’ll blow up. When fighting the queen I, as you mentioned, use melee to chew through the boss, which is made difficult when it starts auto aiming to basic zombies instead. I guess that’s something I should’ve mentioned–I don’t think melee really needs auto aim… :confused:

5

I had an idea for a rework for the Transplant which I wanted to make a thread for but it’s actually pretty similar to your nerf in a lot of ways so I’ll just include it as a reply here;

Basically, when activating Transplant you’d receive a Blood Transfuser weapon which works similarly to the Egon, blasting a laser at zombies. When you damage a zombie, a healing radius would grow around you, which would heal both yourself and teammates (teammates heal for the same amount as a medkit, you heal for 2hp per tick).

My issues with the Transplant are that it’s functionally nearly identical to the Electrician’s Tesla Zap, it doesn’t feel very engaging to use, it’s very OP, and it doesn’t benefit teammates at all, and my suggestion (I feel) addresses all of these.

(I also agree with all of your other suggestions but the Transplant one is the one I was most passionate about)

1 Like
6

Agree with everything, but especially “Points Pot” and “Line of Sight Lasers”. It’s so easy to lose your character in the chaos and that would help a ton.

Also a huge QOL improvement would be giving players who joined late some points so they aren’t stuck on Day 5 with a pistol and no upgrades.