A New Players Guide To Zombie Panic! Source.

This guide is aimmed at new players of the Half Life 2 Mod, Zombie Panic! Source.

In this guide i will explain the gameplay basics & i will also explain some more advanced stuff about the game as well towards the end.

Introduction.

Hello & welcome to another guide by: Cereal Killer.

With assistance from: Harkon. (Weapon Section)

In this guide i'm going to go over quite a lot of things to help you get to know the mod better & start you off on your journey towards becoming a valuable member of the Zombie Panic! Source community.

Before we begin with the guide there's a few things i'd like to say:

• This guide is aimmed at newer players of the game but may contain some useful information towards even senior players.
  
  
• In this guide i'll be going over quite a lot so if you're interested in learning much about what the game has to offer, stick around and read on.
  
  
• I host a server for Zombie Panic! Source and we're always looking for respectable players to join us, if you wish to join us you can find our server @ 218.214.181.11:27017.
  
  Note: The server is located in Melbourne, Australia so international players may not have good ping.

With those few things out of the way let's start the guide.

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If this guide has helped you or is well written, etc, please be sure to leave a Like & even a Favourite as it will get this guide more noteable & even has the chance to help out others!

Understanding The Basics.

Zombie Panic! Source is really quite a simple game to understand but there are quite a few different things that make the game a unique experience for everyone & some things can be quite difficult to understand whilst you're still learning.

The few things that make the game unique are below:

Weapons:

The weapons are all considerably balanced with damage, recoil, accuracy, weight, etc to compensate for the Zombies having no long range attacks.

The idea in Zombie Panic! Source for weapons is to find a weapon set that you are good with and stick to it as best you can, all weapons work differently and each weapon can be useful in another players hands, so if you're not good at it SHARE!

The Weight System:

The weight system in Zombie Panic! Source is quite unforgiving so make sure you're sharing those weapons & the ammo with your partners, so if you're wanting to be able to survive you're going to need to move fast.

The idea of the Weight System in Zombie Panic! Source was to combat the ever growing amount of ammo & weapon hording that happens during a round of Zombie Panic! Source. This way you can't carry around a lot of weapons & ammo and are forced to share with your team.

Infection:

Infection from the Carrier is a very important part of Zombie Panic! Source & it's balancing system because it can very quickly turn the tide of the game to the Zombie team if you've got a good team of Zombies & a good Infected player. (I'll cover more on this in it's own section later.)

Survival in Numbers!:

Survival in numbers is the core factor in a round of Zombie Panic! Source, you by yourself are a great target for a Zombie or for a bullet from a Survivor so stick with your team mates in order to win.

Barricades:

Barricading is a vital part of survival in Zombie Panic! Source, knowing how to barricade with props and using the barricade hammers plus using them effectively are important. (I'll cover this later in it's own section.)

Stamina:

Stamina & Feed 'o' Meter are important to use in order to escape from the zombies or to catch escaping pray as a Zombie. (These will be explained in their own sections later.)

The Common Room.

This is a major difference to Zombie Panic! Source that no other game has.

In Zombie Panic! Source when you first join any game you'll be placed in a random room with maybe 1 or 2 different rooms, this room will usually have 2 walls with "Join Team Here" Team in front of them.

The room should look something like this:

This room is called "The Common Room" it's a very smart idea by the creators of the Mod that allows players to go AFK between matches without actually affecting the gameplay, so they can remain in the server without ruining that game for the other players.

This room may sometimes not have a "Team Selector" block placed in the map, but don't worry the game has set keys to force join if you wish to quickly select a team.

• F1 = Survivors: Pressing F1 will select you to join the Survivor team
  
• F2 = Zombie Pressing F2 will nominate you to spawn as the Zombie first, you'll be put in a que and have the chance of spawning as a Zombie if nobody else has voted to be one either.
  
• F3 = Spectator: If you wish to just watch the game after it has started you can always just push F3 and watch without actually playing.
  
• F4 = Switch Teams: This function is only availble for Spectators to rejoin the waiting room and then join the game or for ZPA game modes to change teams. (I will cover this function later as it's not used a lot)

NOTE: Pressing F4 will NOT change you from a Zombie into a Survivor if you're selected during any other gamemode ZPS, ZPO or ZPH.

I will also cover the game modes later in the guide.

The Basics & Not So Basics Of The Survivors.

In this section we're going to talk about how to play as a Survivor & pretty much everything the Survivors have working for them ingame.

As a Survivor you have the ability to do many things which Zombies cannot do & are better at doing most the things that even the Zombies can do, these things include:

What only Survivor can do:

• Using Weapons & carry ammunition.
  
• Running for long periods of time.
  
• Ingame Vocal Commands for communication. Note: Hold X or C to view these commands.
  
• Carry Weight which causes you to run slower & fatigue quicker.
  
• Panic! (This is covered in the Advanced section)

Things that you're better at than Zombies:

• Jumping.
  
• Running.
  
• Climbing.
  
• Barricading.
  
• Team Co-ordination.

As you can see, Survivors & Zombies really aren't very different in these perspectives (so why can't we all just get along?).

While there is varying similarities in Survivors & Zombies there are a few key things to remember as a Survivor, just because you're faster & better at doing things than the Zombies you're so much easier to kill & your strength really is in numbers.

The Survivor has a Torch that you can use in order to see in dark places, to use your Torch just press "F", but remember that it has a battery & if left on too long will go out, but it will recharge over time.

As a Survivor here's what your HUD will look like:

As you can see it's pretty basic but i'm going to explain it to you anyway.

Bottom Right Corner: This is your Weight section, this tells you everything you need to know about your current weight & how much Ammo you're carrying.

NOTE: You can drop Ammo & Weapons in order to lower your total weight, to do so you can use these keys:

• V: Cycles through the currently avalible Ammo in your Inventory.
  
• B: Changes the amount of Ammo you'll drop when you press the drop ammo key.
  
• T: Drops currently selected ammo by the amount selected.
  
• G: Drops the currently equiped weapon.

Bottom Left Corner:

This is the currently owned weapons you're carrying. You can carry a maximum of 5 weapons depending on the weight and size of the weapon, all of these weapons add weight to your inventory so make sure you share if you're too heavy.

Top Right Corner:

This is your Health & Armour meters. This is self explainatory.

Top Left Corner:

This is your Stamina gauge, as you can see it's measured in units (or bars) as you run around or jump it will lower. Once it's all used you'll be running at a slow jog speed & won't be able to jump, stamina is also affected by how much you're carrying, they more you carry the faster this runs out.

NOTE: You can set a key in the options menu to walk with if you wish to avoid using Stamina in situations that you're not needing to run. BE SURE TO DO SO AS THIS IS A SURVIVAL TACTIC!

Understanding Survivors (More Advanced Section).

Now that you understand the basics of being a Survivor here are some of the more advanced features of being a Survivor.

Prop Barricades:

Prop barricading is 1 of the more crucial features of Zombie Panic! Source to learn because this involves timing, precision & it also involves sheathing your weapon in order to move barricades, but it's a valuable skill to learn as this can prolong your life as a Survivor.

To prop barricade all you need to do is press "H" to holster your currently equiped weapon and then press your "Alternate Fire" button to push an object.

Prop Barricades are useful for blocking off doors or staircases & even for inflicting indirect damage on a Zombie which is trying to eat your face off.

NOTE: Not all objects in a map are moveable so if something doesn't move when you are trying to push it then you're most likely pushing one of the non moveable props.

Panic!:

As a last resort ditch for your Survival, if all else is failing you can always use the unique Panic! ability by pressing "P" on your Keyboard.

Panic! is a very powerful function because this can prolong your life by giving you some time to get away, when you panic you drop everything but the weapon you're holding so it's not a good idea to use this function unless you're almost going to die.

Panic gives you a surge of Energy for about 15 seconds and allows you to run at an increased speed that's generally just enough to get away at the loss of all your Weapons & ammo, so use it wisely.

Infection:

Infection is one of the most crucial to understand functions in Zombie Panic! Source more so as a Zombie than a Survivor, but as a Survivor you need to understand a few things that Infection is to you.

Infection for a Survivor can be both a good & bad thing.

The Good:

• Amusement factor of betraying your former team mates with a suprise face slap.
  As a Survivor that is Infected it's your duty to your Zombie bretheren to maliciously maul your unknowning team mates from deep within their camp sites.
  
  Generally when a Zombie stops attacking you and running away it means you're Infected so this is a good time to either warn your team mates (If you're the innocent type) that you're Infected, or you can sneakily run to your team and hide in the back and then slaughter then from behind. (If you're like me and enjoy a good laugh at their screams of fright & anger when you betray them).
  
  

  The Bad:

• Ruining a Streak
  As 1 of the many bad things Infection can really bring you down when you're on a streak killing zombies and when you escape you later find out you're Infected.
  
  
  There are some other things but those are the main 2 reasons why Infection is good & bad, the more you play the better you'll understand the reasons.
  
  

  Knowing when you're Infected:

  There are a few different ways to know when you're Infected, first and foremost is when the Zombie Team leaves you alone and lets you get away or when the Carrier backs down from killing you.
  
  
  
  
  The other way is when you see your Health icon change from a red cross to a biohazard symble:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Once you're Infected you have some decisions to make and not a whole lot of time to make those decisions either, so think carefully about what your game plan is.
  
  
  
  

  Stages of Infection:

  There are 3 stages to Infection and these are those stages in order:
  
  Stage 1: Incubation Period.
  After first being Infected by the Carrier you have a good 30 - 60 seconds time before you realise you are actually infected this time varies, during this time you will walk around unknowing that you've got a deadly poison seeping through your blood stream.
  
  Stage 2: Spreading.
  At stage 2 of the Infection your screen will flash black for a short period of time, your Health Bar will change to the Biohazard symble and you'll get an audiable que letting you know you're Infected.
  
  At this point you have exactly 1 minute to live before you change into a Zombie so now is the time to decide on whether you let your body change or if you take care of yourself with some sort of suicidal choice.
  
  Stage 3: The Change.
  Once you get down to the last 10 seconds of your life as a Survivor you'll notice another audiable que of your heart rate dropping and heavy breathing as the change starts taking place & your body is slowly changing into one of the night.
  
  During this short 10 second period the Survivors can kill you with any of their weapons to stop you from killing them if they're aware of your Infection. It is best to stay out of the line of fire if you're going to use your gift to destroy them unknowingly.
  
  
  
  

  Types of Infected Players:

  There are 3 types of Infected players and you'll see them throughout your play time.
  
  Good Infected:
  (These are the people who play by the rules and or choose to help out the Zombie Team)
  
  A Good Infected player understands exactly what is happening and does everything in their power to get into the middle of a group of Survivors to eat them from behind, you should strive to be one of these people or at least be a Netural Infected.
  
  Neutral Infected:
  (These people are tollerable and are normally new and don't quite understand what is going on or just don't care)
  
  A Neuteral Infected player is generally one of the newer players that doesn't quite understand what is happening to them & still chooses to kill Zombies but once they realise what has happened will attempt to kill the Survivors.
  
  Another form of Neutral Infected is a player who warns the Survivors that they're Infected so that they don't endanger the Survivor team.
  
  Bad Infected:
  (These are the clowns of the Zombie Panic! Source universe and you should strive not to be one of these people,)
  
  The Bad Infected players will, run around the map and try to get as many kills as possible and then before they change they'll generally leave the server or they will get all angry and start wasting the Zombies lives or calling the Zombies hackers.

Melee Weaponry.

Melee:

Melee weapons will generally be your last resort weapon when all ammo has run out and fleeing is no longer a viable option. Melee combat can often be quite challenging, especailly against veteran zombies. But with the right weapon, you can easily get the upperhand in any battle.

Axe

Weight: 10
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 40
Range: Short-Medium
Swing Speed: Fast

The axe is a fairly solid choice of weapon. Although you will never start with this weapon. It is fairly heavy and I would personally take a machete over the axe. It is still better than many other weapons due to its fast speed.

Chair

Weight: 10
Inventory Slots: 2
Damage: 50
Range: Medium-Long
Swing Speed: Medium-Slow

The chair has high damage and above average range, but generally is not a very commonly found weapon. I generally wouldn't bother picking up a chair as it takes up a lot of inventory space and the weight is better used for other things.

Baseball Bat

Weight: ?
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 45
Range: Medium
Swing Speed: Medium-Fast

The baseball bat is potentially the most popular melee weapon in Zombie Panic. This is due to its strong damage, decent range and fast attack speed. It also has knockback which can help disorintate zombies in close quarters combat.

Crowbar

Weight: 0
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 25
Range: Short
Swing Speed: Medium-Fast

The Crowbar is one of two weapons that have a weight of zero. The other being the plank, although the plank is superior in all ways to the crowbar.

Lead Pipe

Weight: 10
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 50
Range: Short
Swing Speed: Medium

The lead pipe is generally not that great of a weapon, its got a very short range which puts you in line to be eaten horribly by zombies.

Machete

Weight: 6
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 40
Range: Short
Swing Speed: Fast

Machete is a solid choice over many of the starting melee weaponry. Due to its fast speed, it is great at destorying baricades and other things that could be in your way.

Shovel

Weight: 7
Inventory Slots: 2
Damage: 40
Range: Medium-Long
Swing Speed: Medium-Slow

The Shovel is just a slightly lighter and weaker version of the chair. There are many better melee weapons out there if you keep looking!

Spanner

Weight: 7
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 50
Range: Short
Swing Speed: Medium

The spanner is okay for a starting weapon, it has an average speed and a high damage. However I would recommend picking up a frying pan or machete over this.

Plank

Weight: 0
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 34
Range: Short
Swing Speed: Fast

Although the plank has below average damage, the fact that it weighs nothing can be a great advantage. I would hold onto this if you intend on having heavy guns.

Golf Club

Weight: 4
Inventory Slots: 2
Damage: 34
Range: Medium
Swing Speed: Medium-Fast

The golf club is generally more uncommon than other weapons. It doesn't really get used much due to the fact it takes up 2 slots of inventory and has very little damage.

Frying Pan

Weight: 9
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 50
Range: Short-Medium
Swing Speed: Medium-Fast

The frying pan is one of the better melee weapons you can spawn with. It has a high damage and range and speed is enough to kill zombies effectively. I would hold onto this unless you find a baseball bat.

Cooking Pot

Weight: 6
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 35
Range: Short
Swing Speed: Medium-Fast

Another melee weapon you can spawn with, although its not the best, it is a solid start. However if you can find an alternative like a baseball bat or frying pan then I would swap this for them.

Sledgehammer

Weight: 15
Inventory Slots: 2
Damage: 75
Range: Short-Medium
Swing Speed: Slow

The sledgehammer is the most powerful melee weapon in the game. A headshot is powerful enough to take out a standard zombie in one hit! Although its range and speed leaves something to be desired, if you are accurate, this weapon has incredible stopping power. Though I wouldn't bother having the sledgehammer if you have a gun other than a pistol on you due to its weight.

Keyboard

Weight: 5
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 25
Range: Short
Swing Speed: Fast

Generally you will only have the keyboard if you join the game later as a survivor. It is one of the weaker melee weapons in the game, but it is quite amusing. When you hit zombies with it, it will spam random letters in the chat!

This melee weapon really is only used for comical value due to it being so weak, if you manage to get a kill with it then it's quite funny & the zombies are generally ashamed.

Tire Iron

Weight: 9
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 50
Range: Short
Swing Speed: Medium-Slow

There are many better alternatives to the tire iron, so generally I wouldn't bother picking this up.

Ranged Weaponry.

Guns are the bread and butter of the game and there are many different varieties to choose from. Whether you like getting your headshots, or just aiming for the chest. There will be an option for you here.

Handguns:

Important Note: All Hundguns in the game have the exact same damage value. The only difference is the clip sizes.

In Zombie Panic the Pistol are split into two kinds. Common handguns and a powerful magnum. Every Survivor spawns with a common handgun and they are very versitile, however they do lack the stopping power of other guns. With some good headshots though, you can take down a couple of zombies in one Magazine. I would advise to keep one on you at all times if you have ammo for it.

Glock 17

Weight: 11
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 14
Capacity: 17
Fire Rate: User Dependent
Reload Time: Fast
Ammo Type: Red - Pistol

The Glock 17 is the best of the standard hanguns, with no other pistol having an advantage over it (other than the Glock 18C which is identical to this one). Aim for those headshots and you could live longer than your friends using a shotgun anyday!

Glock 18C

Weight: 11
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 14
Capacity: 17
Fire Rate: User Dependent
Reload Time: Fast
Ammo Type: Red - Pistol

Is identical to the Glock 17 other than it looks a bit stronger, though this is just an illusion!

USP

Weight: 11
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 14
Capacity: 15
Fire Rate: User Dependent
Reload Time: Fast
Ammo Type: Red - Pistol

The USP is identical to both of the glock's except that it has two less capacity. Although the difference is not too much of a problem, unlike the PPK.

NOTE: [AUS] Cereal Killer approves of this Pistol!

PPK

Weight: 10
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 14
Capacity: 7
Fire Rate: User Dependent
Reload Time: Fast
Ammo Type: Red - Pistol

The PPK is the worst of all the ranged weaponry in the game. With only 7 capacity and no advantages over other pistols, you may as well drop this gun as soon as you find an alternative. Generally you will only have one of these if you spawn late as a Survivor!

Magnum:

Revolver

Weight: 15.5
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 80
Capacity: 6
Fire Rate: 1.35 Shots per Second
Reload Time: Medium
Ammo Type: White - Magnum

The Revolver is an incredibly powerful gun if used correctly. A well timed headshot is powerful enough to kill a standard zombie or to leave the Carrier with 10 health. If you are good at headshots, this gun is definitely worth taking. If not then you would be better off with a standard pistol due to the slow fire rate of the revolver. It is the only gun in the game that uses Magnum ammo.

Assault Rifles:

Assualt rifles would be one of the most veristile guns in the game and are my personal favourite. With a couple of good headshots, you can take out multiple zombies with one magazine.

MP5

Weight: 17
Inventory Slots: 2
Damage: 16
Capacity: 30
Fire Rate: 13 Shots per Second
Reload Time: Medium
Ammo Type: Yellow - Rifle

Although the MP5 has the lowest damage of all the rifles, it makes up for it with its increased accuracy. When using rifles, and especially the MP4, it would be recommended to aim for headshots when possible.

M4

Weight: 17
Inventory Slots: 2
Damage: 17
Capacity: 30
Fire Rate: 15 Shots per Second
Reload Time: Medium
Ammo Type: Yellow - Rifle

The M4 is probably the most popular rifles in Zombie Panic. It has better accuracy than the AK 47 and higher damage than the MP5. Also being much lighter than the AK 47, I would recommend picking this rifle over the other two if you have the choice.

AK47

Weight: 27
Inventory Slots: 2
Damage: 21
Capacity: 30
Fire Rate: 10 Shots per Second
Reload Time: Medium
Ammo Type: Yellow - Rifle

The AK47, being the hardest hitting rifles, is a great gun to have if you can get it. Headshots are even more vital, as it is a slower and stronger rifle. However it is not without its drawbacks, it has very high recoil, which means burst fire is the best strategy. Also it is the heaviest gun in the game, which will slow you down considerably.

Shotguns:

Shotguns are good weapons that you don't have to always aim perfectly. A good headshot of course will kill in one shot but with their high stopping power, they are not always needed. Just make sure to have a pistol on hand to finish the weak zombies off. This will help to preserve your ammo, especially if you are running low.

Double Barrel Winchester

Weight: 16
Inventory Slots: 2
Damage: 90
Capacity: 2
Fire Rate: 1 or 2 Shots per Second
Reload Time: Slow
Ammo Type: Shells - Shotgun

The Winchester is unique in the fact that it is the only shotgun to have an alternative fire mode. Instead of firing just one shot, it fires both simultaneously. However I wouldn't generally advise using it. You would be better off aiming with one shot to the head, which can kill any zombie if it hits perfectly.

Remington 500 Super Shorty

Weight: 13
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: 90
Capacity: 3
Fire Rate: 1 Shots per Second
Reload Time: Medium
Ammo Type: Shells - Shotgun

The Remington 500 Super Shorty is a fairly underrated shotgun and is equally as strong as the Winchester. However unlike the Winchester, the Super Shorty is a pump action shotgun which does mean it can is slower to kill zombies. If you carry a Super Shorty, I would advise having a pistol on hand to finish the zombies off as often they will be left with small amounts of health left.

Remington 500

Weight: 24
Inventory Slots: 2
Damage: 90
Capacity: 6
Fire Rate: 1 Shot per Second
Reload Time: Slow
Ammo Type: Shells - Shotgun

The Remington 500 is identical to the Super Shorty, other than having twice the capacity and almost twice the weight. It is a fairly popular Shotgun and therefore can be hard to find spare ones laying around maps.

Explosives:

Explosives are the most powerful weapons in the game, however when used incorrectly they often end in your death! They can be used as a last stand against zombies if death is certain.

Grenade
Weight: 4
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: Very High
Capacity: Stacks of 3
Timer: Approximately 5 seconds

With grenades generally it is advisable to hold them a couple of seconds before throwing to ensure it blows up near the zombies. If you are in close quarters I would advise against using them as you will likely die yourself, which defeats the purpose in a zombie apocalyse right! If you accidentally take the pin out of a grenade, dont fear, just switch weapon and it won't blow up on you!

IED

Weight: 8
Inventory Slots: 1
Damage: Very High
Capacity: 1
Timer: 1 second

IED's are a favourite of mine. You can either throw them to the ground with normal fire, or you can stick them to walls or floors with alternative fire. By sticking them to the wall, you will prevent zombies from pushing them around, which could end badly! These are genearlly good when you place them around the corner so you are out of the line of fire. To blow an IED, press J to open your cellphone and just press fire. Be aware there is a 1 second delay between pressing fire and them blowing up, so press it before its too late!

The Basics & Not So Basics Of The Undead.

In this section we're going to go over everything that the Undead are good at & what they have going for them ingame.

As a Zombie on Zombie Panic! Source you have many different traits and abilities to your advantage that Survivors do not.

Things only Zombies can do:

• Super Push Props
  
• Lunge
  
• Regenerative Health
  
• A Large Health Pool (Infected: 200, Carrier: 250)
  
  

  Things Zombies can do better than Survivors:

• Damage Resistance.
  
• Prop Pushing.
  
• Presistance in Numbers.
  
  

  Unique Carrier Abilities:

• Unique Character Model
  
• Slightly Increased Movement Speed
  
• Increased Damage (Infected: 25 Damage - Carrier: 35 Damage)
  
• Carrier Roar
  
• Infect Survivors
  
• Largest Health Pool 250 Health as Carrier
  
  The list of unique abilities as a Zombie is quite higher than the Survivors and even more so as the Carrier, so to Nominate as a Zombie first is a huge bonus!
  
  As a Zombie there are a lot of things you need to understand to better learn how to play.
  
  

  Here is the Zombie HUD:

  
  
  
  
  As you can see it's pretty basic, here's what all the icons mean:
  
  

  Bottom Left Corner:

  This is your Feed'O'Meter bar location this is covered further in the Guide.
  
  

  Top Left Hand Corner:

  This is your current amount of Lives that the Zombie team has left before it's game over. Each time a Zombie kills a Survivor you gain 1 extra life & each time a Zombie dies you will lose 1 life, once those lives reach 0 you'll be placed into Spectator and have to wait for the final game to be decided.
  
  Note: Some game modes don't use lives and in this case lives will always be displayed as 99 so don't stress about dying alot on those game modes.
  
  Below that is your Horde Health meter, every zombie in your current vacinity will have it's health totalled here so you can keep an eye on the Hordes health at any time during a Raid.
  
  

  Top Right Corner:

  This is your current Health.
  
  Always knowing what you are doing as a Zombie is a good way to win, you need to be able to make quick decisions in the heat of the moment to prolong your chances to survive, ensuring you have a good team of Zombies in the begining of a match will increase your chance of success, if you've got a bunch of zombies running into oncoming fire you'll lose really fast.
  
  Remember: Strength in Numbers.
  Unless you are a compitent Zombie or have the best possible chance to sneak in behind a Survivor without them noticing you'll very often die alone.
  
  
  RULES TO LIVE BY: If you're one of those people that goes "Oh no i've been picked as a Zombie" *pushes esc* *disconnect*, You're going to have a BAD TIME. Under no situation ever should you disconnect just because you've been selected to be a Zombie nobody will like you for it & on our server you'll be slain next time you're given Survivor, if you decide to rejoin. DON'T DO IT be a top bloke and just play it through eventually you'll learn to do it and you'll enjoy it.

Zombie Tactics & Abilities.

In this section i'm going to explain the different kinds of Tactics & Abilities that zombies have to use against the Survivors.

[h1[b]Zombie Abilities:[/b][/h1]

Health Regeneration:
As a Zombie your health regenerates over a short period of time, so if you've got time to duck away after killing Survivors then you should attempt to hide & regenerate yourself so you can save those precious lives. (Depending on the game mode)

Carrier Roar: The Carrier Roar is a unique ability to the Carrier that allows other Zombies to see him through walls and it also gives him the ability to spawn Zombies around him when they die.

Note: This ability does use Feed'O'Meter so use it wisely.

Feed'O'Meter: As a Zombie you have a unique ability to use and this is called "Feed'O'Meter, the Feed'O'Meter governs a Zombies ablities to perform unique actions such as Lunge or Carrier Roar.

When the Feed'O'Meter is White it means it's not being used and is somewhat full:






When the Feed'O'Meter is Yellow or Gold it's being used and will continue to deplete:





When the Feed'O'Meter is Black it means it's empty or is getting low & needs to be refilled.




When the Feed'O'Meter is flashing between Red & White you're ready to unleash your inner fury:


The Feed'O'Meter can only be filled by causing damage to or killing Survivors and using some other sneaky tactics but i won't release those details :).

So make sure you save that Feed'O'Meter for those situations where you need it.


Lunge: Zombies have a great ability to stop a fleeing Survivor by using Lunge in order to get a quick burst of Speed to catch up, if you save up your Feed'O'Meter above the standard 6 bars your meter will begin to flash red & you can then use the awesome Berserker ability,
NOTE: Lunge can be used by pressing the "Shift" key.

Berserker Ability: If you're cunning enough you can save up your Feed'O'Meter to gain Berserker & this can really quickly cause a panic from Survivors, Berserker allows the user to sprint at a very fast pace, (Even faster than a Survivor can run) and lasts up to about 30 seconds, during this time Zombies become much faster & can swing their arms even faster as well, so start saving up!!!

NOTE: Berserker can only be used by pressing the "Shift" key when you have a flashing red Feed'O'Meter.

Zombie Vision: Zombie Vision is the same as a Torch to a Survivor it's the way Zombies can see in the dark it also highlights Survivors when they've been moving around too much or are scared.

To use Zombie Vision just press the "F" key and it'll switch on, unlike the Survivors you can use this vision for an unlimited amount of time.

Note: There are 2 kinds of Zombie Vision that can be toggled in the Multiplayer Options menu, Old Zombie Vision is a lot easier on your graphics card so if you're experiencing any FPS lag you should change the vision to that.

Super Push: Super Push is a Zombie only ability that is for them to use to destroy Survivors prop barricades, it's useful for shoving props out of the way & even dealing indirect physics damage to a Survivor that is hiding behind a barricade.

Super Push can only be used when you have avalible Feed'O'Meter left to use, it uses 1 bar of Feed'O'Meter and can be performed by holding in the "Walk/Lunge" key and then using Alternate Fire to push a barricade similar to standard pushing.

Survivor Highlight Colours:

Red: A Highlighted Survivor that is Red is a Survivor that has either Paniced recently or has been moving around too much and has become fatigued. Survivors sometimes appear a dull Red colour when they've been camped up too long since they haven't been moving.

Green: A Survivor that is Highlighted Green is an Infected Survivor that has about 1:30 minutes to live, if you can allow them to survive long enough they will change into a Zombie which can be useful to you later on.

Zombie Tactics:

Dodging: As a Zombie there is really only 1 thing you can do to avoid players killing you & that is to duck & jump constantly in different directions in order to avoid being shot, as a Zombie it's important to do this because when a Zombie just runs straight at you, you've got too many options for a 1 shot kill. So keep on jumping & ducking to stay alive long enough to get in close.

Horde Gathering: As a Zombie gathering your Horde to ready for the onslaught is a great idea, making sure each zombie does his or her part is a vital part to the plan that can cause Survivors to panic and make a break for the nearest escape route, which then causes the rest of the team to fall victim to the Zombies.

Understand The Zombies. (Advanced Stuff)

Now that we've covered pretty much everything about the basics of Zombies it's time to make the jump to the more Advanced stuff, this stuff may take time to learn so don't get frustrated as a Zombie.

The Carrier: (AKA Whitey)

The Carrier is a Special Zombie class that is given to the first player selected to be a Zombie, the Carrier is pale skinned and beautiful to look at (unless he's eatting your face off.)




The Carrier is lucky because he has many different perks that make him the ultimate killing machine here's a few of them:

• Increased Movement Speed over Regular Zombies.
  
• Increased Health.
  
• Increased Damage.
  
• Chance to Infect Survivors. (Default Server Value is 10% but increases in certain game modes or on certain servers)

As the Carrier you're more likely to be targetted by Survivors because of all the perks you have plus the chance to be Infected by you so prepare to face the wrath of the Survivors if you come unprepared.

As the Carrier your team will usually listen to you & protect you. (Because you're their father after all.)

Infection: The best part about being a Zombie and the even better part about nominating to be the Carrier on first spawn is the fact that you can become a Survivors worst nightmare.

But the most satisfying part about being the Carrier is spreading your love to the Survivors in the form of Infection. There's nothing better than seeing a batch of young green ones scurrying about and then changing to destroy those pesky Survivors from the inside.

An Infected Survivor is visable to all Zombies with or without the use of Zombie Vision, any Survivor that is Infected will shine a bright green colour:




Survivors who are Infected can also be seen using the Scoreboard:






Remember that Infected Survivors only have 1:30 minutes tops to live so if you can clear the way for them to get into a high population area then you're good to go for a raid when they change due to the massive panic they'll cause.

Infected Escorts:

Infected Survivors are no longer working for Survivors and this is where the "Good Infected" part fits in that we discussed earlier, if you've got a Good Infected player Infected you should ensure that you escort them to safety from the Rogue Zombies that will just kill everything.

The best way that's descreet to let a Survivor know they are Infected is to stop attacking them and then jump infront of them once or twice, Good Infected players will catch on quickly and will play the innocent card, but if a Survivor insists on killing you then don't be afraid to kill them for their insolence.

Escorting an Infected Survivor can be risky business because the moment that another Survivor sees you walking with them they'll instantly be aware of Infection, so the best idea is to run at a conciderable distance behind them swinging your arms around and acting like you're actually trying to attack the person.

Once you've got them where you want them, you should back off to avoid unwanted live loss and wait for the panic to set in, once the panic has set in you should rush in with the other Zombies and claim your victims.

Zombie Panic! Source Game Modes.

In Zombie Panic! Source there are 4 different game modes to choose from & each is slightly different but pretty much the same general idea.

The 3 game modes are:

Zombie Panic! Survival ZPS
Zombie Panic! Objective ZPO
Zombie Panic! Hardcore ZPH

No longer supported game modes (As of ZP!S 3.0)
Zombie Panic! Arena ZPA


The game mode selection is very different in Zombie Panic! Source to other games, instead of selecting a game mode from the server selection screen the game modes are determined by the map you choose to play on.

For example if i choose to play on:
ZPO_Subway

This map would automatically set the game mode to Objective, this is the same for each game mode.


Now to rundown each game mode:

Zombie Panic! Survival or ZPS:

This game mode is the standard game mode for most maps, the idea is simply kill all of the other team to win.

Zombies have lives in this game mode and can be wiped out. So keep an eye on your lives as a Zombie.

Zombie Panic! Objective or ZPO:

This game mode is the Objective mode, the only way to win as Survivors is to complete the Objectives before you're killed by the Zombies.

Zombies do not have lives in this game mode so you can keep spawning without any sort of penalty.

Zombie Panic! Hardcore or ZPH:

This game mode is exactly as it sounds, Hard, the idea of this game mode is for the Survivors to hold off or hide from the Zombies for 5 minutes to win.

Zombies do have lives in this game mode but they may as well not have since you can never really kill all of them, you have to try and hide from the Zombies in order to win this one so don't stand out in the open and try to fight.

The "Carriers" also have an increased infection rate set at about 60% and yes you read right i did say "Carriers" which i mean multiple Carriers so be aware of that!

Zombie Panic! Arena or ZPA:

This game mode is King of the Hill, the idea is to capture all the points in order to score for your team.

Zombies & Survivors don't have lives in this game mode, each team is balanced at the start of the rounds & then swapped after the first few games are won.

NOTE: You can swap teams in this game mode by using the F4 command.

Before You Join A Server. READ THIS!

By this point you should be pretty farmiliar with the Zombie Panic! Source game mechanics from reading & you'll be a fairly good new player, however guide reading doesn't give you the skills of an experienced player, (but at least you'll understand what to expect when you begin playing). There's absolutely nothing that beats lots of gametime & HEAPS of practise!

Before you go rushing into a game there's a few simple & easy things we can do to ensure we're playing at our very best.

As this is an Online enviorment unfortunatly we often have to deal with "Power Hungry Admins" who ban because you're a "useless" player, etc etc or people who will try to be as annoying as possible using any and every annoying tactic in the book.

So to better prepare ourselves we should ensure:

• Our controls are setup.
  You can do this by clicking options & then clicking on the Keyboard tab.

• Change our Player Model: (Optional)

There are a few different models to choose from in the game and each has it's own unique skin both as a Survivor & as a Zombie but nothing else.

To change our player model just open up the Options menu and then click on the Multiplayer tab.

• Change our Advanced options:

In the Multiplayer tab there are some advanced options you can change to enhance your gameplay, much of it is not really important, but 1 of the things that is important is the "Toggle Walking" command which should be ticked.

Now that we're all set up & ready to go lets find a game if you choose.

For Those Who Are Sure They're Ready To Go Read Here!

Exit the options menu & click on the "Find Server" tab and it will open up our server browser. On this little window there's a box called "View Map List" untick it so that you can view all the servers avalible in the game.

You can customize your search by pressing the advanced options & then mucking around with the settings in there to find the best servers avalible for you & your language barriers.

Credits.

Creator Of This Guide:

[TPZ] Cereal Killer

Weapon Section Edited by:

Harkon

Other Contributors:

For taking the time to allow me to take screenshots of the different player models:
Elgo
Harkon
Lord Oxygen Theif
Jacob
Ling
Trainjumper
oX Silence Xo

Infomation Sources:

Zombie Panic! Source Wiki: http://zombiepanic.wikia.com/wiki/Zombie_Panic_Wiki
And lots of playtime.

[RSIBoi]

No problem

[@TheyCallMePinCushion]

Apologies for that, we had an IP change for our servers a while ago and I never updated the guide.

The server has relocated to this IP Address: 119.252.190.127:27085

I also took this chance to update the section in the guide with the IP as well, thanks for bringing this to my attention.

[RSIBoi]

Where is your server?

[@TheyCallMePinCushion]

Glad that you liked my guide, hope it helped. Thanks for reading :)

[RNX]

that is great

[@TheyCallMePinCushion]

Thanks for bringing the simple mistake to my attention it has been fixed.

Yes some of the infomation is copied from the Wiki it's a good source of Infomation about the game however it was only a reference & doesn't serve as a complete copy & paste so i don't believe that this is an issue. However i will add a link down to the bottom of the Credits to the Wiki just so i can set this straight.

Thanks for you input.

[CougarMagnum]

It's an M4, not an MP4, lol. Also, mentioning the wiki for "Other Contributors" would be nice, considering every weapon picture and stat was taken from there.