Zombie Fortress

“

Your friends are all dead... Good luck... Click to listen — The Administrator on fighting reanimated teammates.

”

Zombie Fortress is a SourceMod plugin and unofficial game mode for Team Fortress 2. There are two opposing teams: the Survivors (RED) and the Zombies (BLU), who wish to eat the Survivors. Survivors need to complete their objective, which may vary depending on the game mode. Survivors have the advantage of having ranged weaponry while the Zombies have the main advantage of having the ability to respawn and convert slain Survivors into Zombies. When a Survivor is killed, they are switched to the Zombie team. When no Survivor players remain, the Zombie team wins. One could compare the game mode to a mix between Arena and Medieval Modes, respectfully, each affecting a different team simultaneously.

The Survivors and Zombies can only select certain classes. The Survivors can choose the Soldier, Pyro, Demoman, Engineer, Medic, and Sniper classes. They are armed with regular weapons and several perk choices for modified effectiveness against the Zombies. The Zombies can only choose the Scout, Heavy, and Spy classes (which are only equipped with their melee weapons), most lunchbox items (such as Bonk! Atomic Punch, and Sandvich), a choice of perks, and the ability to use Kill taunts.

Objectives

On most maps, the goal is to survive until the timer runs out. On certain maps, however, specific objectives also need to be achieved in order for the Survivors to win. Some of these possible objectives are:

• Defense: Where the Survivors have to stop the Zombies from capturing one or two control points while staying alive.
• Capture: Where the Survivors have to capture all points while staying alive.
• Survival: Where the Survivors must hold out for a certain amount of time.
• Capture the Flag: Where the Survivors must travel around the level and grab intelligence briefcases from various places in the level and return each case to the center point.

Strategy

• Not all servers use the perk system. The perk tidbits are there for people who play on perk-enabled servers.

Survivor strategy

• All: Survivors should stick together so that the cluster is more difficult to kill, and, on control point maps, to increase the speed at which points cap. In addition, some Survivor perks affect nearby teammates, letting a cluster receive boosts in attack, defense, and crit-chance.

• Soldier: In Zombie Fortress, the Soldier is considered to be the best ally for the Medic when attacking. The Soldier is also the best class against hordes of Zombies due to his rockets' explosion radius (especially with crit rockets) and his ability to use either the Buff Banner or Battalions Backup to provide either mini-crits or a crit-negating defense boosts. In addition, like the Demoman, he can increase capture speed using the Pain Train. In Zombie Fortress, the Soldier will most likely use the "Tantrum" perk, so the 100% crits can be useful if dealing with a horde.

• Pyro: The Pyro is highly limited in the mod due to the fact that the Flamethrower's ammunition is restricted to 125 rather than the usual 200. Collecting ammo can increase the Flamethrower's ammo past 125, but will decrease by 10 every second. The Pyro is useful against large hordes due to his airblast and afterburn abilities. However, the Pyro uses up large amounts of his ammo every time he airblasts, so the Pyro has to be selective about how often the ability is used. The Pyro's survivability has increased since the Degreaser and Powerjack have been released. The Pyro is also useful for extinguishing survivors that have been set on fire by combustible zombies. The Pyro can use Spy check when his ammo is above 125 because ammo does not decrease faster at above 125. The Pyro can make good use of the Wise perk to take down a whole horde of zombies.

• Demoman: The Demoman is the best ally for the Medic in defensive situations due to his ability to lay sticky traps over entrances. The Demoman is also deadly in melee fights, especially if he gets a few heads with his Eyelander. In addition, on CP maps he can help increase the cap speed by using the Pain Train. A Demoman will often use the "Juggernaut" perk. Its ability to make the user resistant to explosives allows the Demoman to trick the Zombies into attacking him while he stands in a carpet of sticky bombs.

• Engineer: The Engineer is the most defensive class, but can be useful when attacking by using the Gunslinger. The Engineer's buildings are also changed in the name of balance. The Sentry Gun starts with half ammo and cannot be repaired, the Dispenser is unable to heal or dispense health or ammo but can be used as a blockade, while the Teleporter works as it would normally. Due to balance issues, server administrators often disable the ability to teleport or enable reparation of buildings. The Engineer also cannot upgrade his buildings. An Engineer will often use the "Supplier" perk for he can gain additional metal to help build Sentry Guns and Dispensers when in times against a horde.

• Medic: The Medic is an extremely useful asset in Zombie Fortress. His Overheal does not decay and his Syringe Gun does not need to be reloaded. He can also use the Crusader's Crossbow to heal survivors out of range of his Medi Gun and his health regenerates. However, the Medic should constantly watch his primary ammo so he does not run out and leave himself vulnerable. A Medic will often use the "Charitable" perk to increase his allies threat against the Zombies. With the Australian Christmas update, the Medic can also use the Amputator taunt to heal a group of Survivors without the need to use his Medi Gun.

• Sniper: On open maps, the Sniper is extremely useful due to his long range of fire. In smaller maps, however, the Sniper may have to resort to using his Huntsman to deal with close-range threats. His ability to give teammates mini-crits by using Jarate and the Sydney Sleeper can come in handy when dealing with hordes. The Sniper's SMG does not need to be reloaded, although care should be taken not to run out of ammo in a critical situation. Snipers using both the Bushwacka and Jarate can defend themselves against most zombies with the Bushwacka's crit attribute. Using the Razorback while sniping is also a viable option since Spies will most often aim for Snipers.

Zombie strategy

• Scout: The Scout still maintains his speed and double jump. The Scout excels at distracting Sentry Guns and ambushing lone Survivors due to the ability to use Sandman, Bonk! Atomic Punch, Mad Milk and Crit-a-Cola. A Scout in Zombie Fortress will often use the Thieving perk, which can create havoc among survivors in maps with limited ammo packs.

• Heavy: The Heavy in the mod functions much the same as he does in regular gameplay. The Heavy excels at picking off stragglers in a Survivor group and then attacking the bulk of the Survivors using his Showdown taunt kill and the Crits from the K.G.B.. A Heavy may too use the Thieving perk so that he can steal a gun from a survivor causing total havoc amongst the survivors.

• Spy: The Spy still remains a very large threat due to retention of his Cloak (the maximum Cloak he can have is 80%) and backstab but is unable to disguise. The Eternal Reward cannot grant a disguise due to it acting like the Knife. A Spy in Zombie Fortress will often use the Magnetic perk so they can disable Sentry Guns while cloaked with the Cloak and Dagger. The Dead Ringer can be used but is pointless because it needs 100% Cloak to work.

Perks

Perks are special abilities that both the Survivors and Zombies can use. They can change health, defense, attack, speed, and introduce new gameplay mechanics. Some perks stack up on each other when used by several players.

• Server administrators may disable certain perks (for balance issues or other possible reasons), or may even run Zombie Fortress without perks altogether by installing the ZF vanilla version of the plugin, ZF vanilla is the standard ZF that's been maintained and updated for almost a year. Think of it as the basic version of ZF.

Survivor Perks
Perk	Description
Athletic	You have innate speed and rate of fire bonuses. You have an innate attack and crit penalties.
Charitable	Each kill or assist grants 'gift points.' Call for Medic to redeem these points and toss out a gift for other survivors (or zombies). Gifts grant various temporary bonuses.
Carpenter	You have an innate defense bonus. You have an innate attack penalty. Call for Medic to place a barricade. Barricades have 350 health and can be destroyed by anyone. Ability has a cooldown of 30s.
Cowardly	You have a passive 'panic' ability. When hit, you gain temporary speed and defense bonuses. Panic ability lasts 10s and has a cooldown of 30s.
Friend	Call for Medic to select a friend (must be looking at target, setup time only). Friend is randomly selected otherwise. When near your friend, you have attack and regen bonuses. You gain crit time for each kill or assist with your friend. Crit time is activated when your friend dies.
Heroic	You have innate attack and defense bonuses. You gain Crit time for each kill or assist. Crit time is activated when you're the last remaining survivor.
Holy	You have an innate attack penalty. When crouched and not moving, you heal yourself and nearby survivors.
Juggernaut	You have innate attack and defense bonuses. You have an innate speed penalty. You are immune to self and fall damage. You knockback zombies with melee hits and stun with fall damage impacts.
Leader	You have an innate Crit bonus. You grant attack and defense bonuses to nearby survivors. Call for Medic to place a rally point. You gain attack and defense bonuses for each survivor near your rally point, and survivors gain attack and defense bonuses when they are near your rally point. Rally lasts 60s and has a cooldown of 120s.
Ninja	You have an innate speed bonus. You have an innate defense penalty. You are immune to fall damage. Call for Medic to place a decoy retreat point. When hit, you will retreat to that point. Decoy ability lasts 15s and has a cooldown of 30s. You can super jump over a normal jump. Super jump has a cooldown of 5s
Nonlethal	You have an innate attack penalty when using bullet-based weapons. Bullet damage causes knockback.
Resourceful	You receive ammo, health, and metal from kills. You receive temporary attack bonuses from ammopacks and temporary defense bonuses from medpacks.
Selfless	You have attack and defense penalties. You grant a defense bonus to nearby survivors. You explode on death.
Stash	Call for Medic to place a secret stash. Stash can't be placed near other stashes. Stash becomes active after 40s and grants ammo, health, and a temporary attack bonus. Ability has a cooldown of 30s.
Stir-crazy	You have attack and defense penalties. You receive an attack bonus proportional to how much distance you travel.
Supplier	Your reserve ammo is resupplied periodically, and can hold twice the normal limit. Call for Medic to place supply boxes. Other survivors can resupply ammo from these boxes. Supply ability has a cooldown of 10s.
Tantrum	Call for Medic to throw a tantrum. Tantrum grants 100% Crits and lasts 15s. Ability has a cooldown of 30s, during which you have a speed penalty.
Traitor	You have a crit penalty. Zombies nearby get added Crit. If you are one of the two last survivors, you poison the other survivor.
Trapper	Call for Medic to place proximity mines. You can place up to 3 mines. Ability has a cooldown of 30s.
Wise	Bonuses are permanent. +Att on kill or Assist. Temporary defense bonus when hit.
Zenlike	When crouched and not moving, you regenerate health and accumulate a Crit bonus. Crit bonus decreases after each attack.

Zombie Perks
Perk	Description
Alpha	You acquire minions by killing survivors or assisting existing minions in killing survivors. You receive attack and regen bonuses when near other zombies or minions. Call for Medic to summon up to 4 minions. Ability has a cooldown of 15s per minion summoned.
Combustible	You have an innate defense penalty. You explode on death (unless hit by a melee weapon). Can't Cloak or use Bonk!.
Tarred	Call for Medic to spit tar. Tar slicks last for 30s or until you die. You slow survivors with melee hits or when hit with melee.
Horrifying	Each melee hit causes temporary defense, rate of fire, and speed penalties to the survivors.
Hunter	Call for Medic to place a spawn mark. If there are survivors near when you spawn, the point is destroyed. Att bonus temporarily on spawn.
Leap	You have innate attack and defense penalties. You are immune to fall damage. Call for Medic to perform a long jump. Scouts have a cooldown of 2 seconds, while other classes have a cooldown of 4 seconds..
Magnetic	Disable nearby Sentry Guns and proximity mines.
Marked	One survivor is randomly selected as your mark. You gain an attack bonus when attacking your mark and an attack penalty otherwise. New mark is chosen after current mark dies and there are more than 2 remaining survivors.
Rage	Call for Medic to active a 2-stage rage ability. First stage lasts 15s, during which some damage taken is converted to an attack bonus. Second stage lasts 5s, during which damage taken is delayed by 2s. Each stage grants speed and health bonuses. Ability has a cooldown of 20s.
Roar	Call for Medic to push back nearby survivors in front of you and give them -Def. Ability has a cooldown of 30s.
Sick	You have an innate defense penalty. Call for Medic to spit acid. Acid lasts for 35s or until you die. Damage caused is proportional to distance between you and acid.
Swarming	You have an innate speed bonus. You have innate attack and defense penalties. You have instant respawn, and zombies that die near you have instant respawn.
Thieving	Destroy metal, Ammo, and ÜberCharge on each hit of that survivor. If there is no reserve ammo then you take the ammo that is equipped in that survivors weapon. Is possible to steal a gun from a survivor
Toxic	Poison survivors on hit. More hits = more time poisoned. Damage near survivors when not moving. -100%Att.
Vampiric	Leech HP per hit based on damage. You have a regen bonus.
Vindictive	+Att +Def on killing a survivor. Buffs carry when you respawn or change classes.
Scorching	You have a speed bonus. You have an attack penalty. You are immune to fire sources. You ignite survivors when you hit them with melee or touch them. Can't Cloak or use Bonk!.

Super Zombie Fortress

Super Zombie Fortress is a remake of Zombie Fortress and was developed by Mecha The Slag.

Super Zombie Fortress works the same as perk-less Zombie Fortress, except survivors only start with melee weapons and collect randomly generated weapons from spawn and from certain areas around the map. Players can only pick up class-specific weapons (multi-class weapons such as the Shotguns can be picked up by all classes who can use this weapon). This makes class variety and teamwork even more important due to limited firepower (and for the Medic, healing power) and distribution of weapons.

It is not uncommon for survivors to lack key weapons such as the Medigun or the Rocket Launcher for the majority of the map, especially on smaller teams. Therefore teams should have a variety of different classes to ensure that most weapons can be used and less weapons need to be passed up due to the lack of the corresponding class in the team.

External links

• Zombie Fortress (semi-official) website
• Zombie Fortress thread on AlliedMods
• Super Zombie Fortress thread on AlliedMods
• Zombie Fortress maps on GameBanana
• SLAG Gaming Super Zombie Fortress website
• intox Gaming Super Zombie Fortress server