From my own gaming experiences, I know how difficult it is to force the player into something without really making alternatives impossible.

I'm the type of player who tries really hard to do everything the game world doesn't want me to do. Snipe the terrorists instead of rescuing the hostages, destroy the tank that I'm supposed to run from, continuously fight the infinite onslaught of enemies when I'm really supposed to escape, jump the sand buggy over the battery operated road block, etc. Usually just to prove that I could I have succeeded where the hero of the story cannot. Bring on the armies; bring on the impossible odds. That's what makes it fun for me. I'm not sure how many other players play like me, though.

Imagine if the NPC characters actually realized that you beat the odds. You stopped the impossible and cut the entire mission time in half.

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Original post by umbrae That would be good, but I would vote for it to be player directed, not game enforced. I think that if the game enforced certain stages it would detract from the overall survival experience. It could be that going through a certain series of events is the only way to survive, but it should be up to the player to choose to follow those actions. So in a way it could be enforced indirectly by increasing zombie activity during the night to such an extent that it would be suicide to leave a safe location but I still think that the gameplay decisions should still be left up to the player. Or was that what you were meaning?

I'd say let the player switch modes at will, but have the clock ticking all the time. It would be impossible, I suspect, to have a single set of controls that manage combat, gear hauling travelling, and barricading activities. So have three different "Control States" that can be switched between. A left-click, for instance, could interact with people or items in explore mode, grab a table in barricade mode, or fire your shotgun in combat mode. If you had some squaddies, you could have them fight while you pop back into barricade mode and put the dresser in front of the door.

I think barricading makes it really work, and I'd like to see it implemented well in a game.

Another controller (standard) idea:
Use on a friendly character - talk/order
Hold use on (heavy) object - move/push/drag it
Use on something useful - pick it up
Use on door - open it
Use on door with a hammer (or another tool) equipped - barricade it (rapidly pressing the fire button to hammer the nails)
Use on a zombie - finishing move? ala Re4?

Alternatively you could go the Doom3 way and skip the use-key and use the action-key instead. In that case the "use" key could be used to build traps... On the other hand I have no idea on how to achieve this (other than using prebuilt ones), perhaps using a physics system in some advanced ways or perhaps by placing detectors and explosives/alarms/guns...

You also have to think about the opposite side of the wall, though. Can zombies break down the barricade? Can they only break down some? Is it possible to stop them completely? Or just for a decent amount of time?

Because I can imagine setups that would make it nearly impossible for them to get through. For example, if the zombies push and pound, they could eventually push the nails out of boards or move large objects blocking paths. But nailing the boards on the outside of the door or window would make it nearly invincible. As they push and pound, the nails just get pushed in deeper. If the character pushed a large dresser onto the opposite side of a door (the direction the zombies are coming from), then climbed over it or went through another entrance (the roof), the zombies would be screwed. That is, unless they can eventually break through it. Imagine a refigerator or stove barricade.

Short of welded steel plates or concrete walls, I think the zombies should be able to get through most anything. There are two ways I can see to get past this.

First, you could make the zombies smart enough to realize there's a difference between eating brains and breaking into a house, so they'll actually recognize boards and nails, and pull on them rather than just bouncing off of them indefinitely. They could systematically dismantle your barricades, requiring you to shoot them or otherwise slow them down if you want to last until they recede.

Second, just give every barricade-useful item HP. The zombies pound on it like zerglings chewing on a supply depot until they get through.

Both systems make it just a matter of time until your system fails. The first one is prettier, the second more easily implemented.

I think it should indeed be possible to make an effectively zombie-proof stronghold, such that you can repair any damage in a simgle day, and the zombies can never get through to your keep in a single night. In that case, you'll eventually run out of furniture to put over entrances or run out of food or run out of ammo or whatever, so you'll have to travel farther afield for gear and supplies each day, until finally your fortress is no longer viable.