Gameplay
First of all, every player has hunger, thirst, and a need to sleep. There will be food, water, and places to sleep everywhere around the map in addition to people being able to buy/sell food/water. If your hunger/thirst becomes too great, you die. If your sleep runs out, you will go to sleep right where you are standing, and it will take longer. Note that you can only sleep otherwise on a bed.
Every player has an infection bar, showing how much of the infection they have caught. When it gets to the top, they become infected. This is true for ALL stages (see below).
There are also basic jobs. At the beginning of a round, you choose a job. These will NOT be like RP jobs. In The Infection, jobs basically just give you one or two extra skills (craftsman can make hammer/nails, doctor can make medpacks and eventually shots that get rid of the infection... See listing below).
Weapons will be in the game, though if you kill someone other than the infected you will get a penalty (what that will be is yet to be determined).
Finally: Barricading. All around the map there will be things like wood planks, scrap metal, and all sorts of other things. You can use these to make barricades to keep people (or zombies/infected) out. Note that you will need a pretty large supply of water/food in the area. You will have a Physics Gun, but you will not be able to freeze things. Instead, you must buy a hammer and nails for wooden props, or a welder for metal props.
The game is divided up into internal 'stages'. Each stage has different objectives and gameplay. Note that you are never told when you are moving into a new stage, nor are you told what the current stage is. The stage system just makes it easier to understand the flow of the game, as well as being used in the code itsself. The stage listing is below.
Note that there is a money system, but you get no income except for winning a round. Also, all materials can be made into something by a craftsman, but none can be bought from the game itsself. The economy of the game is strictly run by players (except for a trading system between players).
Stage 1: The Sickness
In this stage, not a single person has been infected. Take the time to gather food, water, and materials to build barricades as well as to find a house or cave or something to stay in (unless you want to try to survive in the open world). If you die in this stage, you will respawn normally.
Stage 2: The Infection
At the beginning of this stage, one person is chosen as the infected. Their objective is to infect everyone else (or kill them). If you die in this stage, you will respawn as an infected person. If you do become infected, you must help the original infected person. Signs of the infection include:
-Coughing (everyone coughs, but the infected will cough more often)
-Vomiting
-Needing less food/water/sleep than others
The infected can try to infect others by staying around them for a while, or by attacking them with a melee weapon. If the original infected person dies without infecting anyone else, they will respawn normally and a new infected will be chosen. If everyone is infected, the infected win and the game resets.
Stage 3: The Epidemic
SURVIVAL! Any remaining survivors must survive for a set amount of time. Many zombie NPCs spawn, and all infected turn into zombies. If you die, you become a zombie.
Final Stage (Stage 4): The Extermination
This stage is based off Zombie Escape from CS:S ZombieMod (Zombie Escape is normal ZombieMod, but the map is set up so that if the Humans get to the end, all of the zombies are killed, ending the round). All survivors have to run through a hoard of zombies to get to an extraction point, where they will be taken away while the Army bombs the place.
Random Events/Other Events- Air-Drop Rations: In stage 3, the Army will air-drop rations to your position (outside houses of course) if you find a radio.
- Army Attack: In stage 2 and 3, the Army might just send some soldiers to help, though they will attack you if they see you and you aren't inside a specified area. Going to that area will also lower your infection.
Jobs- Craftsman: Can create hammers from wood and nails from metal.
- Doctor: Can create medpacks. In stage 2-4 doctors can try to research a shot to lower your infection bar. The shot may or may not work, and sometimes (very rarely) it may kill you. It also has a 25% chance of curing someone who is fully infected.
- Gunsmith: Can create guns and ammo from wood and metal.
- Militant: The most basic job. Moves slightly faster than everyone else and has slightly higher firepower and earns slightly more money when a round is won.
- NOTE: Welders cannot be created. They can only be found.