First an update on the ZPG Closed Alpha: we are predicting a 4 week window until Closed Alpha launch. We are using this time to polish our current build and optimize our codebase. Please check our forums for continued updates on the ZPG Closed Alpha release here: http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/

Here's a few more details for those of you who contributed to the Closed Alpha Tier (and we know who you are!): 

• Closed Alpha will be a Single Player Survival Mode - How long can you survive an imaginary horde??.
• Steam Integration
• Leaderboards - If connected to Steam, you will have the option to save your survival time to a leaderboard (of course to show off how awesome you are).
• There will be different weapons/items (with varied stats) scattered randomly throughout the map for pickup.
• While there is some character customization that feature will be limited for now.
• Dev Map/Testing Arena will be included to play

*Note:

• Final Inventory System will not be implemented upon Closed Alpha release.
• GUI is minimal atm (not arted).

**Bonus**

Everyone who backed the Closed Alpha Tier will be receiving 5 Closed Alpha keys. One for yourself, and 4 extra to do with as you wish. We will be contacting you all via email closer to Closed Alpha launch. Time to make some friends!!

Dev Look: Character Controller & School Map01 

Last but not least, we have a Developers Look, showcasing the current state of our character controller and the first footage of the level which will be used for Closed Alpha, School Map01. What you will see in the video is very much a work in progress. This footage is not representative of the finished product, and should not be considered final by any means (We promise it will be much cooler!). Closed Alpha will include access to the Testing Arena seen in the video. We hope you like it. =))

You can discuss this video here: http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/343/zpg-dev-look-map01

Thank you everyone for believing in us; we are working non-stop to bring you an awesome game that you'll love to play. Stay tuned for more updates and thanks for your support! <3

Hello and Happy New Year everyone; we're back with a new update for ZPG. The game is going going going; we have a ton of momentum and are on schedule for an end of March Closed Alpha. Our knuckles are bl00dy in order to give those that have Closed Alpha access something playable. Extreme thanks for the continued support, patience, and excitement for this game, we heart you big time and couldn’t do this without you. On to shiny objects!

ZPG - MUSIC - 'Janitor Strikes Back'

To set the mood right from the outset, here's another quick excerpt from the incomparable Shawn Lee. Hope you guys enjoy; it's Boss Fight time!

You can discuss this music here: http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/314/zpg-music-janitor-strikes-back

ZPG – Shading/Lighting Test

Now it’s time for a quick flick of some Shader and Lighting tests done in Unity3D for ZPG. This is no frills, no lens effects, no bells or whistles, just baked Gamma lighting, some light probes, and our base Shader. We thought it might be cool to check out!

You can discuss this movie here: http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/315/zpg-shaderlighting-tests

ZPG – Enemy Dev Art – Nurse

A new enemy has joined the line up of ZPG, The Nurse. The question being, "Will she help you or hinder you?" Both perhaps? If you're not feeling well, you might want to think twice about coming to her for a fix-up. Which is your favorite? Concepts by Jason Chan. CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE!

You can discuss this image here: http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/317/zpg-enemy-dev-art-nurse

We’ve found some friends over at a company called Allegorithmic; they are the guys who make Substance Designer and B2M (http://www.allegorithmic.com/). If you didn’t already know, their software is very sweet, and we are more than stoked to implement it into our texturing pipeline. Among other bells and whistles, this tool will basically help us create a lot more, with a lot less resources, so we’re very happy to bring this software on board. Be sure to check them out and thanks Allegorithmic!

ZPG - 3D Sculpts - Puppet Enemies

If you've seen the concepts, you'll know our Puppet Enemies come in a few varieties, a cat, a monkey, a bunny, and a very large bear. Here's a few shots of the 3D Sculpts made for these guys. For scale reference, the bear is quite big, about 4 or 5 times the size of the other puppets in-game. Let us know what you think! (CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE!)

Monkey Puppet 

You can discuss this image here: http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/316/zpg-3d-sculpts-puppet-enemies

Cat Puppet

You can discuss this image here: http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/316/zpg-3d-sculpts-puppet-enemies

Bunny Puppet

You can discuss this image here: http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/316/zpg-3d-sculpts-puppet-enemies

Bear Puppet

You can discuss this image here: http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/316/zpg-3d-sculpts-puppet-enemies

Thanks again everyone, we hope you enjoyed the glimpse! Until the next update!

Progress Report - ZPG Closed Alpha Push

Hi everyone. We're back with another ZPG monthly update. First thing's first, we want to inform everyone that the decision has been made to push the ZPG Closed Alpha release date. The ZPG Closed Alpha release is now slated for March. This also effects the Open Alpha release, but by what amount depends mostly upon how well Closed Alpha goes. So - we know what you're thinking:  How the...what the...who when??? Here's the break-down:

1. Steamworks Works - Throwing a game on Steam for people to download isn't rocket science. We upload it, you download it. For ZPG we are striving for more than just that. There are several services Valve offers that we certainly want ZPG to leverage, some being:  matchmaking, Valve anti-cheat (VAC), voice, achievements, Workshop integration, and more. If we were using the Source Engine instead of Unity3D, it would make things much easier for us from the perspective of integrating these services.  But, having said that, just because things are very tricky, does not mean they are impossible. We are feature greedy for ZPG, so we want to integrate as many of Valve's services available through Steam as we can (plus a bag of chips). So we are making it work. The Closed Alpha push is the TLC needed to make this a potential reality with the ultimate goal of making ZPG a completely seamless experience.

2.

We breifly mentioned an Artificial Intellegence (AI) system we are using for Zombie Playground back in Update #20. To get into more detail, it is a system that plugs into Unity3D called 'RAIN{one}' and is made by a company called Rival{Theory} (http://rivaltheory.com/). Upon digging into Rain{one} for ZPG, we found we had some questions, comments, and workflow ideas, so we attempted to contact Rival{Theory} in order to hopefully begin a dialogue. As it turns out, that was the best thing we could have done. Not only are they great folks, but now we are working together to make this game as awesome as it should be. Who better to give the keys to the car than the person who actually made it? The team at Rival{Theory} was so jazzed, they have decided to actually trump themselves, and incorporate an even more robust AI system for Zombie Playground. They will first be removing RAIN{one} from our current ZPG build in order to replace it with their newest endeavor, a previously unannounced techonogy called Sentio.  Sentio is a much larger platform which does include RAIN technology. Since the Sentio technology is still super secret, super safe, we'll be releasing specifics once we're given the green light. You can check it out here: http://rivaltheory.com/sentio. Showcasing this new technology in Zombie Playground sounds just amazingly cool to us, and we hope you'll feel the same.

As a side note, we thought we would also post up an 'abridged' Programming Completed Tasks List. If interested, you can find it here: http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/299/programming-completed-tasks-list-abridged

All of us here at MB are committed to making Zombie Playground a game that is, above all else, fun to play. We have been spending the bulk of our time getting ZPG to feel good, responsive, and steadily inching towards that 'fun' thing. Gameplay is our A-Number1. The game absolutely has to feel good and be fun before we'll be satisfied.

3D Sculpts - More Janitor Love - !SPOILER ALERT!

We've got more Janitor 3D sculpt love for you today; one of which is an exclusive 'not yet revealed' Janitor. So, here's your SPOILER ALERT, close your eyes and DO NOT scroll down if you don't want to know!

But can you really stop your mouse wheel from scrolling down on it's own?? CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE!

Non-Spoiler Janitor

SPOILER JANITOR

You can discuss these images here:  http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/297/zpg-3d-sculpts-more-janitor-love-spoiler-alert

Two-Hand Weapons - Concept to 3D Coolness!

So there is this guy who likes to draw. Luckily he comes on our ZPG forum from time to time to show everyone his crazy skills, and illustrate his dedication to inventing cool ideas for Zombie Playground. You might know him from our ZPG forums as 'GillBates', but upon unmasking the moniker, we discovered his real name is Jomaro Kindred. Well, if you've ever seen his stuff, you probably know what's coming next. This guy absolutely rocks! So much in fact, that we yanked him aboard the ZPG train! (don't worry we reinserted his arm afterward).

We think it's just incredible to make relationships like this through a game idea and a forum, how cool is that!? There's nothing better than bringing a community member on board who is as stoked about ZPG as we are. Jason Chan and Jomaro teaming up on concepts is the coolest ever. So, with no further ado, here is a very small taste of the many new weapon ideas from the man himself, Jomaro Kindred. The first image you'll see is a selection of his two-handed weapon concepts, followed by their conversion into the 3D realm. Much love also goes out to our 3D team for getting these models spot on to Jomaro's concepts! Good work guys! Please also look up some of Jomaro's additional character concept art on our ZPG forum, and on his own site (http://kindredconcepts.com/), we promise you won't be disappointed. And who knows, you just might see... 

Enjoy the art and rock on Jomaro, you are awesome! We heart you! CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE!

Two-Hand Weapon Concepts

Two-Hand Weapon 3D Conversion

You can discuss these images here:  http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/298/zpg-2-hand-weapons-concept-to-3d-coolness

New Music

Last but never least, indeed we do have a new sound clip from Zombie Playground to share called 'Zombie Rider.' Shawn Lee is a composing animal, completing over 10 tracks for ZPG. So get out your headphones, jack up the volume and have a good listen; there's a lot of creepy-cool subtlety on the build-up of this one, and we've left you just a taste of the crescendo's payoff. Feel free to give Shawn a shout out in the comments! Enjoy.

As always, if you'd like to join us on our ZPG forum, please head over to http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/. Expect another ZPG update around this same time next month! We wish you all a jolly, safe holiday season and a Happy New Year! Full steam ahead. 

Progress Report - Closed Alpha Info

With our noses to the grindstone, we have been voraciously prepping the Closed Alpha release. For those of you who backed that Kickstarter Tier, Closed Alpha is still slated for release sometime in December. The Closed Alpha build won't include all the content we have planned for the March Alpha release of ZPG, but this early look will certainly give you a good feel for what ZPG is intended to ultimately be. While the Closed Alpha build will be a single player experience, the March Alpha release will of course include coop online multiplayer (at the very least) and tons of additional assets/options/encounters/textures/etc that aren't yet ready for the Closed Alpha. Those of you who backed the Closed Alpha Tier and have the rare opportunity to play the Closed Alpha build, expect to receive an email with unlock codes when the time is ready. Exciting!!¡¡

New Music

Up next, a new music clip from Shawn Lee for Zombie Playground! We hope you enjoy this morsel, since we're absolutely loving his stuff! This one has quite a different feel than the last sample, can you guess where we might use this tune in-game? Let us know your thoughts!

You can discuss this music here: http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/286/zpg-music-playground-love

3D Sculpt - Janitor

The following image is a high resolution 3D model sculpt; we promise he will be even freakier in-game. Enjoy!   

CLICK HERE TO ENLARGE IMAGE!

Janitor 3D Sculpt

You can discuss this image here:  http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/287/zpg-3d-sculpt-janitor

Paypal Donations - CLOSING!

Quick note that our Paypal Donations 'Rewards' page is closing next week!  If there's a tier you've had your eye on, now's the time to pounce.  Once closed, all the rewards will be locked and we'll begin tallying it all up,  You can find the Paypal Rewards page here: http://zombieplaygroundgame.com/donate/ 

Thanks everyone, please look for a new update from us at the end of November, and Happy Halloween!

Programming & State of the Game

Thanks for being patient everyone; the past couple months have been extremely busy for us in regards to Zombie Playground.  In the time since the Kickstarter Campaign ended, we have been digging into the nuts and bolts of Zombie Playground in order to lay a much stronger foundation for the entire game.  So, while there hasn't been any new art content to showcase for you, ZPG from a programming standpoint is much more robust.  Here's the break down:

Networking

We have decided to go with Photon Cloud (http://cloud.exitgames.com/) as our networking backend.  This means Photon will provide the structure for you all to get into the game and play together.  Photon also 'plays nice' with the Unity engine, so networking integration is going very smoothly so far.  Photon has made this part of development straight forward and fun. 

A.I.

We have recently integrated a complete A.I. behavioral system into ZPG.  The enemies and NPC's in Zombie Playground take full advantage of this system in the hope of creating smarter (and dumber) enemies.  We plan to go into more specific details on the next update, but it's amazing to see a zombie 'smell' the player's brain from behind a wall...

Animation

Animation is really important to us, so we want to make sure it looks great and that we have as many options for the player as possible.  Due to this, we've integrated Unity 4's IK (Inverse Kinematic) animation system, Mecanim, where we can easily mirror, blend, add, retarget, or layer animations.  And guess what? It works!  Now any class can be any gender, instead of being locked to one gender per class, and we can also have a much larger animation pool to draw from for players and enemies.

Battle System 

This Animation System plays a huge role in our new Battle System.  When we said this game is not a hack and slash, we meant it.  The pre-alpha footage was intended to be more of a 'proof that we can build something,' and less proof of what ZPG will ultimately be.  Through the use of both PlayMaker and Mecanim, we are utilizing a node based Battle System that we can alter on the fly: combos, blocks, dodges, platforming, knockdowns, special abilities, charge moves, it's all available to us.  Also, while things may change, currently any class can utilize any weapon, which we think is awesome and adds tons of variety.  We're not quite ready to release specifics on the battle system just yet, but it is something we've been working on and honing since the project was successfully backed.  

Making A Fun Game

So while everything mentioned above is great progress for us, we'd like to stress that our main, overlying task right now is not to make the game pretty, but to make it fun. This coming month we are focusing solely on fundamental designs of the game and making sure we all think it's fun.  We will of course continue to focus on this 'fun' aspect until the release of ZPG, but this month will lay the ground-work for the general flow of the level and full battle system integration.

Enemy Dev Art - Janitor

It goes without saying, the Janitor is not your run-of-the-mill enemy.  These guys will certainly punish uncoordinated teams, but also give a nice edge and unique rewards to teams that can take them down.  There are 3 Janitors total in the school, each having unique abilities and behaviors.  You can leave them alone to do their thing (and deal with the consequences later), or take them head on. The key to the Janitor is gettiing his, um, key...  But what do they unlock..?

You can discuss this image here:  http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/263/zpg-enemy-dev-art-janitor

You can discuss this image here:  http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/263/zpg-enemy-dev-art-janitor

Music - First Listen!

Finally, we are ecstatic to give you a 'First Listen' to the music in Zombie Playground.  The extremely talented Shawn Lee has completed an initial 5 original compositions for Zombie Playground and, budget permitting, we hope to get 5 more from him.  Can you believe he's also a really cool guy!?  Thanks Shawn, we love it!  You rock! 

You can discuss this music here:  http://www.zombieplaygroundgame.com/forum/discussion/264/zpg-music-first-listen

Thanks for hanging in there everyone, we have a lot of work ahead of us but it's all going great.  We have tons of assets in progress, so in the coming months, we'll be stoked to show you all more cool stuff!  And to all of you who are lucky enough to get in the Closed Alpha, we can't wait for December!  Happy Labor Day weekend!