Travelling the New World - A timeline for a short series of maps to fill in some gaps.

[clueless]

Where did the Elemental Stones come from? What purpose do the Runes of Creation serve? What happened to some of the organizations that were at the peak of 115-based research? What is the nature of the Aether, of the Keepers and Apothicons? How do they tie into the deep dark conspiracies that started our journey over a decade ago?

 

If you have these questions and more, me and my friends have a story to tell. And if not, too bad I'm telling it anyway.

 

Over the past 8 years my friends and I have been trying to stitch together a string of maps to make sort of a 'sticky note add-on' to the Zombies Story if you will, but obviously things got only more complicated and convoluted between BO1-BO2 and hit the fan at BO3 and BO4. But with things finally seeming to settle down we're going more in-depth with making sure our points of interest do not overwrite things established by the story already. That being said, I am not ready to fully unveil these maps yet but can give enough to have a general summary and some points each brings up, along with a brief character roster. I'll make separate posts for each map once they're at least more fleshed out, but here's quite a bit for now....

 

Characters:

 

Crew Name is still being debated, either Oblitus or Ignotus which both fit the theme of "Forgotten/Unknown".

 

Shawn - Local mechanic, arrogant and strong-willed. Typical "shoot now, ask later" mentality with a very diverse variety of humor and pride that makes him believe he is the leader of the group.

 

Doug - A very calm and calculating coffee shop owner, with a VERY short fuse. While he gets along with others very well, he prefers to stay quiet and to himself to avoid accidentally venting anger at others.

 

Dean - A former postal worker, psyched beyond belief he no longer has to work for them due to the zombies. His self-righteousness often puts him in conflict with Shawn over who the leader of the group is. His smug tones often put him in a power struggle with Shawn for the title of leader of the group, but regardless people tend to get along fine with him due to his friendly attitude.

 

Tyler - A stoic Broken Arrow scientist who has worked very little with Element 115/Divinium compared to the more mechanical aspects of various projects. Nothing bad could come of this, right?

 

Maps:

 

Plaza

Date: August 21, 2023

Location: Franklin, MA, United States

Dimension: 2014

Zombie Eye Color: Standard Yellow/Orange

"A small town plaza with various shops and stores. Such a simple place to begin an important journey."

 

A fairly small and simple map, meant to be an introduction map to not only the players but the characters. Various buildables and Perks, along with minor steps to achieve the end goal of Pack-a-Punch. Our crew is contacted by Mr. Rapt, who begins our journey to "fix our world" by collecting the Runes of Creation. Lore includes a main Easter Egg Quest that is about on par with The Giant and some ciphers/radios/quotes that tie things together.

 

Château en Ruine (Ruined Castle)

Date: March 5, 2024

Location: Mont-Saint-Michel Castle, Normandy, France

Dimension: 2015

Zombie Eye Color: Standard Yellow/Orange

"Imagine somewhere calm. Imagine somewhere safe. Imagine yourself in a frozen forest."

 

The location was known as the lair of the Ice King, brother-in-arms to the Wolf King during the Great War. A thick mist veils the outskirts of the island, undead roam the once sacred lands and the lush forests are now flash frozen into a treacherous tundra. Most of the castle is inaccessible, and what's left is unstable causing players and enemies to fall to lower floors if they don't watch their step. Will the crew survive the odds and find the Shadow Rune of Creation?

 

Qabr Almawtaa (Tomb of the Dead)

Date: October 7, 2035

Location: Giza Necropolis, Egypt

Dimension: 1914

Zombie Eye Color: Red

"The Great Pyramids were not built to keep robbers out, but the true evil in."

 

The map plays similar to Call of the Dead, where we interact with Victis for the quest while fighting the undead inside the pyramid. Following the concept Zetsubou no Shima started, the Egyptian God Osiris is a corrupted Keeper holding the Fire Rune of Creation. The map holds ciphers on the walls involving Keeper and Apothicon backstory, while having a George Romero-style boss roaming the claustrophobic labyrinth. 

 

Stan rozpadu (State of Decay)

Date: October 12, 2027

Location: Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, Ukraine

Dimension: 2014

Zombie Eye Color: Green

"Scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn't stop to think if they should."

 

Secretly recommissioned by the ASCENSION Group, the Chernobyl Facility becomes a prototype for infinite energy experiments after the group's change in direction following the disappearances of Gersh and Harvey Yena. Of course, this means experimenting with Element 115 and its reactions to certain radioactive isotopes, which is always an accident begging to happen. Mr Rapt's instructions to collect the Electricity Rune of Creation are hard to hear over the conflicting commands coming from voices telling us to energize a Global Polarization Device in their favor....

 

Convergence

Date: February 24, 2033

Location: Devil's Slide Bunker, California

Dimension: 2114

Zombie Eye Color: Purple

 

"We should seek the greatest value of our action." - Stephen Hawking

“Arriving at the Devil’s Slide Bunker, the crew discovers how blindsided they truly were in their goals.”

 

The crew manage to find the fourth Rune far too easily. The four Runes open a gateway to the Dark Aether, allowing Mr. Rapt, who reveals his true identity of the Shadowman, to re-enter the physical realm. Using the Summoning Key, he cracks open the already unstable dimension to allow the Dark Aether’s assimilation. By opening such a large rift, other coinciding dimensions begin to bleed into one cluster of in-between dimensions. The above-ground terrain is reminiscent of a war never fought on this soil, while underground boasts of technology far beyond the prime years of the bunker. The crew will need all the help they can get in this final fight against the Apothicons, even taking the fight to their dimension if necessary.

[RichKiller]

"The Great Pyramids were not built to keep robbers out, but the true evil in."
"Scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn't stop to think if they should."
Those quotes are dope man. I really like some of the concepts you have here. Especially Stan rozpadu. 

[clueless]

3 minutes ago, RichKiller said:

"The Great Pyramids were not built to keep robbers out, but the true evil in."
"Scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn't stop to think if they should."
Those quotes are dope man. I really like some of the concepts you have here. Especially Stan rozpadu. 

I can't take credit for Stan rozpadu, that's classic Jurassic Park but it fits so well I couldn't help myself

[anonymous]

I saud it before, it's awesome. Quoted my previous comments here, may anyone be interested

 

Spoiler

Love it! I would genuine be fond on continuing the story this way: No further dragging but more in-depth explanations of what we encountered already. As for the maps:

 

Plaza: Having a relatively small and simple map (like the Giant and Nuketown) in a game of larger and complicated maps is a pre, espessially to make new players get in touch with the basics of Zombies. A shopping centre sounds like the perfect location for various fun weapons that can be built from all the objects found in the shops. Think about the Jetgun, the Sliquifier, the Trample Steam, the Headchopper, etc. Preferable no overpowered wonderweapons and buildables, but ones with a fun effect. The setting itself isn't really scary but it could go the goofy way.

 

Chateau en Ruine: We already had a castle map, so maybe this map could be set mainly on the land surrounding the castle. Normandy is famous for its dense hedgerows and fields, add a little darkness and mist and you've got your creepy atmosphere. Parts of Normandy also have a Celtic culture, which would perfectly fit with Origins' theme of ancient megaliths and menhirs. Perhaps adding an old Celtic cementary and make the castle severely ruined, with a broken roof etc, to make it very different than the 'high tech castle' that Der Eisendrache is.

 

Qabr Almawtaa: This one is my favourite, creating a claustrophobic effect with all its narrow subterrean tunnels. Adding a certain dark music theme when the George Romero-like boss approaches, but not yet visible, would certainly contribute to the fear. The Pyramids of Giza are also believed to be a gateway to Agartha/Hollow Earth, so maybe adding deeper tunnels that lead to a room filled with lava (similar to Shadows of Evil's undercroft), or perhaps put the Pack-a-Punch machine here so the players can merely temporary stay there due to the lava.

 

Stan rozpadu: Maps based on real events always do good. Chernobyl lays in an interesting area, and due to human evacuation much of the local rural areas, as well as the city Pripyat, are fully abandoned and overgrown by plants and trees. An abandoned Soviet city certainly provides a creepy atmosphere, espessially if you take in mind the nearby DUGA radar, which could be used as a Soviet Global Polarization Device.

Good to see Convergence and Ozzoth Arkatugua have collided into a single map. Love the details you added: the dimensions, eye colour and additional quotes. Also the character building. Brains to you!

[clueless]

7 minutes ago, anonymous said:

I saud it before, it's awesome. Quoted my previous comments here, may anyone be interested

 

  Spoiler, click to open contents

Love it! I would genuine be fond on continuing the story this way: No further dragging but more in-depth explanations of what we encountered already. As for the maps:

 

Plaza: Having a relatively small and simple map (like the Giant and Nuketown) in a game of larger and complicated maps is a pre, espessially to make new players get in touch with the basics of Zombies. A shopping centre sounds like the perfect location for various fun weapons that can be built from all the objects found in the shops. Think about the Jetgun, the Sliquifier, the Trample Steam, the Headchopper, etc. Preferable no overpowered wonderweapons and buildables, but ones with a fun effect. The setting itself isn't really scary but it could go the goofy way.

 

Chateau en Ruine: We already had a castle map, so maybe this map could be set mainly on the land surrounding the castle. Normandy is famous for its dense hedgerows and fields, add a little darkness and mist and you've got your creepy atmosphere. Parts of Normandy also have a Celtic culture, which would perfectly fit with Origins' theme of ancient megaliths and menhirs. Perhaps adding an old Celtic cementary and make the castle severely ruined, with a broken roof etc, to make it very different than the 'high tech castle' that Der Eisendrache is.

 

Qabr Almawtaa: This one is my favourite, creating a claustrophobic effect with all its narrow subterrean tunnels. Adding a certain dark music theme when the George Romero-like boss approaches, but not yet visible, would certainly contribute to the fear. The Pyramids of Giza are also believed to be a gateway to Agartha/Hollow Earth, so maybe adding deeper tunnels that lead to a room filled with lava (similar to Shadows of Evil's undercroft), or perhaps put the Pack-a-Punch machine here so the players can merely temporary stay there due to the lava.

 

Stan rozpadu: Maps based on real events always do good. Chernobyl lays in an interesting area, and due to human evacuation much of the local rural areas, as well as the city Pripyat, are fully abandoned and overgrown by plants and trees. An abandoned Soviet city certainly provides a creepy atmosphere, espessially if you take in mind the nearby DUGA radar, which could be used as a Soviet Global Polarization Device.

Good to see Convergence and Ozzoth Arkatugua have collided into a single map. Love the details you added: the dimensions, eye colour and additional quotes. Also the character building. Brains to you!

Funny enough I was already on the fence on if it should be one map or two, I'm confident I can make it work and ultimately my goal for the map is a Revelations "done right" in that the Easter Egg makes sense and the map isn't just a jumbled mashup of older maps (which i found fine but I'd like more exploration of the Dark Aether and Apothicons. I've already made a few new types of Apothicons for the map and I'm hoping they don't seem too out of place or too close to something from other similar genre games

[RichKiller]

15 hours ago, clueless said:

I can't take credit for Stan rozpadu, that's classic Jurassic Park but it fits so well I couldn't help myself

It's more about an Ascension group facility with storyline related to Hyena and Groph, 
as well as combing the Shadowman with the fight between Richtofen and Maxis. 
It's really something I would have liked to see. Chernobyl really fits the storyline here and would be cool nonetheless. 

[clueless]

Just tweaked a few details after working more on Plaza and Convergence, I'm hoping to push out a detailed post on Plaza before the week is over!!!

[anonymous]

8 hours ago, clueless said:

Just tweaked a few details after working more on Plaza and Convergence, I'm hoping to push out a detailed post on Plaza before the week is over!!!

Look forward to it!