zombie.city.tactics.manual.

ZOMBIE CITY TACTICS
Created by Alan Gordon, August 2006
v1.11

overview.

Zombie City Tactics is a turn-based strategy game that takes place in the eternally unfortunate Zombie City. The objective of the game is generally to expand your territory and capture zombie generators, until there are no zombies left on the map.

controls.

    WSAD...........Move Camera
    Arrow Keys.....Move Camera
    Control+Mouse..Rotate Camera
    Mouse Wheel....Zoom Camera In/Out
    Backspace......Reset Camera Tilt/Zoom
    Left Click.....Select/Order Unit
    Shift+L.Click..Chart path
    Right Click....Deselect Unit
    G..............Set soldier to Guard mode
    Tab............Select Next Unused Unit
    Z..............Undo Previous Move
    123............Build New Units
    Enter..........End Turn

basics.

When a game of Zombie City Tactics begins, it will be the player's turn. A white arrow will appear over every player-owned unit that hasn't moved yet this turn. The player then moves the units at his disgression, claiming territory as he moves.
The enemies are zombies, which are usually green. When the player ends his turn, all zombies will move towards the human forces, or, if they are adjacent to a human unit, they will eat it. Fortunately, the humans can retaliate - to attack a zombie with a unit, simply try to move onto the same square as the zombie. Usually, this will destroy it, but some special zombie types have to be attacked multiple times before being destroyed.
If you select a unit and hold shift, you can click on a series of adjacent squares to chart a long-term path for that unit. Until it is given another order, it will follow the path on its own.

generators.

Scattered across most maps are a number of tall towers, called Generators. Every turn, a new zombie will come out of each Generator, making them very dangerous objects. The player can and should disable these Generators by capturing them - simply try to move a unit onto the Generator, similarly to attacking a zombie. Be careful, though - if a zombie is adjacent to a Generator, it can reactivate it. Generators come in various types, each creating a different type of zombie. Some of the more powerful zombie types will only be generated every second turn.

energy.

In most situations, the human forces will be greatly outnumbered by the zombie forces. Fortunately, the humans have the ability to create new units, using energy. Depending on the amount of territory and Generators controlled by the player, a certain amount of energy will be added to their reserve each turn (1% for every 2 tiles of territory and 5% for every generator). By spending this energy, new units can be placed anywhere within player territory. Building a Militia costs 20% of your energy, a Soldier costs 30%, and a Slayer costs 40%. The energy is maxed out at 100%, although this can be exceeded by capturing Generators.

human.units.

Militia

Appearance: Blue
Cost: 20%

The militia is the most basic human unit. It moves one space per turn, and has no special attributes.

Soldier

Appearance: Grayish Blue
Cost: 30%

The soldier is slightly more powerful than the militia, and is very well-suited to defense. When this unit destroys a zombie, it does not move onto the square the zombie occupied. If a soldier is set to Guard mode, then they will automatically attack the strongest adjacent zombie each turn.

Slayer

Appearance: Black
Cost: 40%

These skilled warriors are the elite forces of the human army. They possess great speed, moving two spaces in one turn.

V.I.P

Appearance: Red
Cost: Cannot be built

V.I.Ps only appear on certain maps. They are civilians, and cannot destroy zombies. The player's task is to protect them - if a V.I.P is eaten by a zombie, the map immediately ends in defeat.

zombies.

Zombie

Appearance: Green

This is the most common type of zombie. They move blindly towards the nearest human, at a rate of one space per turn. They possess no special attributes.

Smart Zombie

Appearance: Light Green

This zombie has retained enough of its brain to possess basic problem-solving abilities. Unalike the common zombie, it can easily navigate complex terrain to find its prey.

Fast Zombie

Appearance: Small, Light Green

These zombies hunt their prey with incredible speed, moving two spaces in one turn.

Big Zombie

Appearance: Large, Dark Green

These massive zombies possess great strength, giving them the ability to knock down walls. In addition, they must be attacked three times before they are destroyed.

Reaper

Appearance: Purple

Reapers are zombies with unnatural speed and strength. They move two spaces in one turn, must be attacked twice before they are destroyed, and can climb over walls with ease.

Stalker

Appearance: Dark Purple

Stalkers are zombies that have developed adaptive camoflauge abilities. They cannot be seen until they come within 2 spaces of a human unit.

Zombie Lord

Appearance: Large, Yellow

This is undoubtedly the most powerful type of zombie, although little is known of its abilities. There are rumors that it possesses the power to rebuild itself even when destroyed. How to deal with it is for you to figure out.

map.types.

Rout: The most basic map type. The map ends when all zombies have been destroyed and all Generators have been captured. Satisfying this condition will yield victory on any other map type as well.
Seize: On this map type, there will be one or more tiles that are flashing. Bring any human unit to one of these tiles to end the map in victory.
Escort: This type is very similar to Seize, but with one modification: Only a V.I.P can be used to capture the marked destination.
Survive: After a certain number of turns, this map will end in victory for the player as long as at least one human unit is still standing.
Rout, Seize, and Escor maps can be timed. If the time limit is exceeded on such maps, the game ends in defeat.

tips.

The zombies behave in very predictable ways - with some careful observation, you should be able to learn what their priorities are, and what they do to achieve their goals.
In larger maps, it is frequently a good idea to build a militia or two to move through areas behind the battlefront and capture territory to increase your energy income.
For most types of zombie Generators, one well-placed soldier can hold off the influx of zombies while you deal with other threats.
Fighting zombies in a tight corridor is frequently slow and dangerous. If possible, bring the battle out into open air.
When fighting Big Zombies or Reapers, it is usually better to kill a small number of zombies than to injure a lot of them.

thanks.to.

Preston Whited, Eric Gordon, MrBusiness, GrimSweeper, samsamsamb, insertcredit.com

acknowledgements.

Zombie City Tactics owes a great amount of inspiration to Lost Souls, an excellent mac-only strategy game by Richard White of Spiderweb Games. You can find it at: http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/lostsouls/index.html The Zombie City series was, at its roots, based on the Zombie Infection simulator, created by Kevan Davis. You can find it at: http://kevan.org/proce55ing/zombies/

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Bug Reports? Contact the maintainer of the linux version at zct@miscdebris.net or the creator of this game kobuscrispi@gmail.com