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New Zombie MMO on the way

Thinking Man Studios has revealed that it's currently developing a new survival horror MMORPG that will let you play as either a human or a flesh-eating zombie.

Titled Exanimus (that's Latin for 'without life', fact fans), it's set in a post-apocalyptic world where a few pockets of survivors are struggling to stay alive as armies of the living dead roam the Earth. You should "expect to see half rotten corpses walking around and tearing apart the bodies of the living for food," apparently.

You can join either side, playing on your own or in a team or guild. There will be a PvP mode, and you'll have to pay a monthly subscription fee - but according to the game's website, it will be "competitively priced to other MMOs currently on the market."


At the moment the game is only in development for PC, but as for Mac, Xbox 360 or PS3 versions - "You never know," says TMS. "With technology always changing, we are always interested in finding new outlets for people to play."

As yet there's no word of a release date, and we've yet to see any screenshots - but we'll keep you posted.

Is there PvP?

Imagine -- eating one's enemy.  Da H0rr0z

You know the undead in WoW can do that right?

Overview   
    
    What is Exanimus?   
     - Exanimus is a new type of MMO in development that is set in the Zombie Horror Genre.    
    
    Why a Horror Genre?   
    - With all the different MMO's on the market, 90% of them fit into either a Fantasy or Sci-Fi genre. While there are a few that are different, we feel that it's time for something new and completely fresh. Exanimus is the first step into a new market that we hope to jumpstart with this title. Besides, everyone loves Zombies!    
        
    What does Exanimus mean?   
     - In Latin, it means "Without Life"   
        
    What is a MMO?   
     - A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or MMO) is a type of computer game that enables hundreds or thousands of players to simultaneously interact in a game world that they are connected to via the Internet. Typically the kind of game is played in an online, multiplayer-only persistent world. (Source: Wikipedia)   
        
    Where can we find more information about Exanimus and some screenshots?   
    - The best place will be at our website at http://www.exanimusthegame.com. As we progress thru production, we will be posting new releases, dev logs, concept artwork, screenshots, and more.   
        
    When you say Mature Audiences only, what do you mean? Is this something my kids can play?   
    - Exanimus is designed to be a very intense and graphic game. There will be very disturbing imagery and content that is NOT intended for anyone under the age of 18. This is DEFINITELY NOT FOR YOUR CHILDREN!   
        
    Who is making this game?   
    Exanimus is being created by the Rotten Corpse team from TMSGames.   
        
    Who is your publisher?   
    - As of this moment, we are self publishing through TMSGames. We have been negotiating with several different publishers that have shown interest in our title, and if we find a publisher that we feel fits inside our plans with Exanimus, we will announce them as the official publisher.   
        
    What is the current state of development?   
    - Exanimus is currently in Pre-Production.   
        
    Will this be available in stores or will it be downloadable?   
    - While we hope someday to see it on store shelves, we are still too far away to say for sure. We are investigating direct download options and seeing where that leads.   
        
    Will there be a monthly fee?   
    - Yes, but the fee will be competitively priced to other MMO's currently on the market.   
        
    What platform will the game be available on?   
    - We are developing Exanimus for the PC.   
        
    Will there be a version released for my Mac / X-Box 360 / Playstation?   
    - You never know. With technology always changing, we are always interested in finding new outlets for people to play.   
        
    What kind of internet connection will I need to play?   
    - We recommend a broadband connection.    
        
    What are the requirements for Exanimus to run on my PC?   
    - We are still too far away to answer for sure, but the average PC should be able to run the game with no problems.   
        
    When will the Beta be available, and can I be a Beta Tester?   
    - A Beta has not yet been set, but when we do have one, we will post it on the Exanimus site. We are looking to allow as many people as we can into the Beta to ensure that the game will be ready for distribution, and as bug free as possible.   
        
Gameplay   
        
    Does Exanimus follow any kind of story?   
    - Yes, there is a storyline created for players that they will be able to immerse themselves in.   
        
    What kind of gameplay can I expect?   
    - Exanimus is a very dark and graphic game. Players will experience a very apocalyptic world, where everything is as bad as it can get, and then some more. Players should expect to see half rotten corpses walking around and tearing apart the bodies of the living for food.   
        
    Can I play as a Zombie?   
    - Yes, players will have the ability to become part of the walking dead and experiencing the game from a zombie's perspective. Nothing shows your friends that you care more than a big bite on the cheek.   
        
    Is there PvP?   
    - Yes. Exact PvP details will be released at a later date.   
        
    Is this a solo game or team play game?   
    - Both. We recognize that people like to play with others and sometimes by themselves. We have designed a format that will allow both types of players to enjoy their game experience.   
        
    Is there a level cap?   
    - No comment at this time.   
        
    Is there a crafting system in Exanimus?   
    - Yes   
        
Community   
        
    Will there be Guilds in the Game?   
    - Yes, there will be guilds available that players can form on both sides, Human and Zombie.    
        
    How do you plan to integrate the community into the games development?   
    - We hope to do something that has not be done yet. We are going to give everyone a backstage pass during the development of the game. When production starts, we will be picking elements from the production team to post on. Players will then be able to view the artist progression day by day. So for instance, you will be able to log in and see the progression of a Zombie character from concept all the way to game engine integration. We also have several other plans that will allow players to get directly involved inside the game even before Beta. So we highly recommend everyone keep checking in on the site during production.   
        
    Is there an official forum for Exanimus?   
    - Not yet. When we launch the full website, there will be a forums section for players to talk directly with other players and developers about the game.   
        
    Is there a mailing list available to subscribe to for future updates and game releases?   
    - No, we will be providing a newsletter for players to subscribe to for news updates. That will be available when the full website goes live.   
        
    Do you have any banners or graphics that I can use to link on my website?   
    - Not yet, we do have some being created right now and they will be available when the website is ready to launch.    
        
Misc   
        
    Is this for real?   
    - Yes, this is very real. We wouldn't go thru all this work if it wasn't.   
        
    Why Zombies? Why not.....   
    - Why not Zombies? Are you anti-Zombie?   
        
    Can I be a Zombie in real life?   
    - Only if you have ever worked an office job, then yes.

That could be a fun game, Sam. But then only the HARDCORE UBAH would be human, which would be a good enough reason to want to wipe out the human race.

Never gonna happen. Web page too unprofessional and we're enterting the vaporzone with how long it is before release. Just write it off.

Edit: The game premise could happen. But not by these guys. And not any time soon.

Who died and made you fucking king of the zombies?

Zombie mmog is already out - its called WoW. Oh you are talking about NPCs...

Technically the undead race in WoW are "Forsaken" - difference being that they are still sentient and have souls.

Who cares about technicalities. WoW isn't a fucking horror zombie game. It's a Warhammer ripoff with more fantasy trappings thrown on.

What I'm asking is how you pull that off.  How do you let players be zombies and have fun, but not leave them as essentially "slouching, ugly humans" with no sense of the atmosphere intending to be conveyed in a survival horror.

What makes these survival horror zombies in a MMG environment any different from WoW's Forsaken?  Is there even a way to do it?

Never gonna happen. Web page too unprofessional and we're enterting the vaporzone with how long it is before release. Just write it off.

Edit: The game premise could happen. But not by these guys. And not any time soon.

Who cares about technicalities. WoW isn't a fucking horror zombie game. It's a Warhammer ripoff with more fantasy trappings thrown on. The discussion never should've even gotten to the fact there is an "undead" race in the game. Right now I'm holding out for Capcom to announce an online Survival Horror game. Simply because I don't think anyone else CAN do it. They may have the balls to do it, but they won't be able to correctly. Capcom....MIGHT be able to.

And that's a good example- do people playing the Undead in WoW really feel like zombies? 

Still how would you make players *feel* like zombies? Ask them to camp human spawn for hours at a time or make them form 40+ zombie raid group just to take on few human strugglers?

WoW Undead are Humans with cannibalize. There some immersive elements, particularly pertaining to sound. But otherwise, the world looked like what it was: Undead settling previously-human towns. The game play itself, like so much of the game, was otherwise largely the same.

It doesn't piss me off that Blizzard didn't do good Zombies though because I simply wasn't expecting true deviation from norm. Just like the game in totality actually.

Never gonna happen. Web page too unprofessional and we're enterting the vaporzone with how long it is before release. Just write it off.

Edit: The game premise could happen. But not by these guys. And not any time soon.

The greater irony is that you necro'd a zombie thread to tell us how the project is dead.

Ironic also that this gets Necro'd shortly after WoW had it's Zombie invasion too when players could play actual zombies and not just the "undead" race.

Look for one of the clans. Joining up will help immensely. Of course, 1/4 of the players will be zombie spies.

In Zombie Pandemic, are the zombies players or NPCs?  I really like Urban Dead's pure PvP nature, and the fact that when someone "dies" they theoretically join the other "team".  (Although I always felt like I was in the minority among UD's playerbase in that respect.)

Alas, the zombies are npcs. 

How is a newbie supposed to advance in Urban Dead starting out now?

Fastest way to level up is go zombie, get a few of the zombie skills (like the ones that increase your hit chance and the one that halves your movement ap use), then accumulate xp until you have a bunch, and then get revived and spend all your xp on human skills.