Devs Pass On ZombiU Survival Tips

[Karloff]

Devs Pass On ZombiU Survival Tips


This new Ubisoft developer diary gives a glimpse of what it takes to survive in ZombiU.

Ubisoft's ZombiU [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/10055-ZombiU-Review], the Wii U survival horror launch title, is one of those games that attracts fans despite some faults. If you're still not sure of the mechanics of the whole thing, this latest developer diary video should show you how that pad can come in very, very handy.

"The main point is that you need to use your brain to stay alive in these kind of situations," senior producer Guillaume Brunier helpfully points out. The Pad performs all kinds of functions, from spraypaint communication device, to machine gun turret, to in-game map. It's going to be a real wrench when your initial survivor dies and you have to pry the in-game Bug-Out Bag from his or her cold, dead fingers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119924-ZombiU-Is-a-Deadly-Relay-Race].

If you were already eager to get your mitts on a Wii U, this zombie title is probably just icing on the cake; but if you were looking for a reason to, perhaps the tricks the console shows off here will be enough to seal the deal.

Source: VG24/7 [http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/23/zombiu-dev-diary-teaches-you-how-to-survive-the-hard-way/]


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[Chairman Miaow]

That woman is clearly an AI. Just listen to how she speaks.

 

[KeyMaster45]

So the immediate problem I still see with this is that all the features they've described the gamepad doing is something that could have accomplished in the game without the player looking away from the screen. My question is why; this is forcing players to use the device simply for the sake of giving it a purpose. Scanners, minimaps, tasks and menu screens that don't pause the game; these are all things we can do right now without complicating the process of input between the player and the game.

The game, frankly, just sounds like a damned hassle to play and the novelty of all its bells and whistles I wager will lose its kick after it gets you killed a few times. (because be certain that it will) The game sounds like it would be a blast to play, but having that damned tablet tacked on as a mandatory peripheral just kills any enthusiasm I have for it.

 

[jollybarracuda]

So the immediate problem I still see with this is that all the features they've described the gamepad doing is something that could have accomplished in the game without the player looking away from the screen. My question is why; this is forcing players to use the device simply for the sake of giving it a purpose. Scanners, minimaps, tasks and menu screens that don't pause the game; these are all things we can do right now without complicating the process of input between the player and the game.

The game, frankly, just sounds like a damned hassle to play and the novelty of all its bells and whistles I wager will lose its kick after it gets you killed a few times. (because be certain that it will) The game sounds like it would be a blast to play, but having that damned tablet tacked on as a mandatory peripheral just kills any enthusiasm I have for it.

Apparently, from people who have played it, they say it really does build tension since the game is actually built around you having to take your eyes off of your surroundings, like you would in real life. You can't enter a keycode and look behind you at the same time, so that's what the game tries to emulate. I think while these sorts of things could be done through just a pop-up menu, having a tangible object that you need to work with while also looking up to make sure your safe seems like a really fun way to play the game, but thats just me.

 

[weirdee]

what would be more neat is if they used the pad to do tag team gameplay: one person is on the ground, getting stuff done, while the other helps them by scouting from above using the pad's screen as a tactical display

games are not always about making things simpler

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

what would be more neat is if they used the pad to do tag team gameplay: one person is on the ground, getting stuff done, while the other helps them by scouting from above using the pad's screen as a tactical display

games are not always about making things simpler

The pad's screen IS the controller.

 

[Beautiful End]

So the immediate problem I still see with this is that all the features they've described the gamepad doing is something that could have accomplished in the game without the player looking away from the screen. My question is why; this is forcing players to use the device simply for the sake of giving it a purpose. Scanners, minimaps, tasks and menu screens that don't pause the game; these are all things we can do right now without complicating the process of input between the player and the game.

The game, frankly, just sounds like a damned hassle to play and the novelty of all its bells and whistles I wager will lose its kick after it gets you killed a few times. (because be certain that it will) The game sounds like it would be a blast to play, but having that damned tablet tacked on as a mandatory peripheral just kills any enthusiasm I have for it.

You just pretty much summarized my thoughts about the WiiU overall.
The only reason I see for adding a table controller on top of the annoying *regardless how popular they are) motion controllers is because iDevices are trendy and it's all about touch screens nowadays.
Yes, it's neat to switch from your TV to your pad to p0lay but...it's as if they sell the PS4 with a wiffle bat-shaped controller. Developers would surely find a way to make the most out of the bat controller. I mean, it's there, it's trendy. So why not?

Now, I'll also admit ZombiU looks like one of the few decent launch titles if only because it tried to emulate the survival horror genre that's been kind of forgotten as of lately (*coughRE6cough*) and took it one step further by forcing you to be always alert of...well, everything.

But as curious as I am to play ZombiU, I'm probably not gonna get a WiiU. Fool me once, Wii...

 

[getoffmycloud]

So the immediate problem I still see with this is that all the features they've described the gamepad doing is something that could have accomplished in the game without the player looking away from the screen. My question is why; this is forcing players to use the device simply for the sake of giving it a purpose. Scanners, minimaps, tasks and menu screens that don't pause the game; these are all things we can do right now without complicating the process of input between the player and the game.

The game, frankly, just sounds like a damned hassle to play and the novelty of all its bells and whistles I wager will lose its kick after it gets you killed a few times. (because be certain that it will) The game sounds like it would be a blast to play, but having that damned tablet tacked on as a mandatory peripheral just kills any enthusiasm I have for it.

Apparently, from people who have played it, they say it really does build tension since the game is actually built around you having to take your eyes off of your surroundings, like you would in real life. You can't enter a keycode and look behind you at the same time, so that's what the game tries to emulate. I think while these sorts of things could be done through just a pop-up menu, having a tangible object that you need to work with while also looking up to make sure your safe seems like a really fun way to play the game, but thats just me.

Because the game is in first person that can all be done with out the extra screen you can just bring the map up in the characters hands to limit there view, you can have a close up of any keypads as you input the code the tablet does seem pretty pointless in this.

 

[Tumedus]

So the immediate problem I still see with this is that all the features they've described the gamepad doing is something that could have accomplished in the game without the player looking away from the screen. My question is why; this is forcing players to use the device simply for the sake of giving it a purpose. Scanners, minimaps, tasks and menu screens that don't pause the game; these are all things we can do right now without complicating the process of input between the player and the game.

The game, frankly, just sounds like a damned hassle to play and the novelty of all its bells and whistles I wager will lose its kick after it gets you killed a few times. (because be certain that it will) The game sounds like it would be a blast to play, but having that damned tablet tacked on as a mandatory peripheral just kills any enthusiasm I have for it.

Pretty much covered it for me too.

I will say, though, to throw in a word of defense for the gimickU, is that the sniper mode seemed appealing to me. Mainly because so many console games handle sniper mode poorly. The ability to look through the scope but not be completely locked in and lose all peripheral vision would be nice.

But that is a pretty narrow upside when everything else was something I was just thinking "I would rather do this on screen and use a smaller more precise controller"".

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Quite liking these tips and the whole keyboard entering on the pad while looking away from the screen is about as realistic as you're going to get since that's what you actually do in real life and not use thumbsticks to direct your actual fingertips and such.

 

[Glasgow]

I wish a similar game could have been made for the PC and not the WiiU.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I wish a similar game could have been made for the PC and not the WiiU.

But then if it were made for PC and not the Wii U then the Wii U wouldn't have a great game such as this.

I still love consoles as much as the other guy/girl which is why we have exclusives and the same goes for the PC and it's own exclusives.