ZM Update Thread

[Zaku-x109]

im srry i havent been on lately b/c my beginning grades is shit hittin the fan so im trying to focus on that more. but i can try and populate the server when i have time.
________
Lovely Wendie99

[Natalya]

09/17/2008

New Maps:
zm_poon_institute_b1
zm_churchofmint



zm_poon_institute_b1
Welcome to the Zombie Mod Institute of Technology!! Sponsored by Michael Jackson, we specialize in pwning newbs. Our campus has a number of secret rooms, climbing spots, and props to barricade with.



zm_churchofmint
This cathedral map is mixed between climbing and barricading. It appears to have no secrets, but it's a rather creepy place to be anyway. There are lots of spots in the map so it should be fun to play on.

[Natalya]

Winners have been chosen for September's ZM skin contest. I'll announce them once I get their access set up.

[Natalya]

10/01/2008
September Skin Contest Winners:
[KBK]BabyJ
Kamikaze Bad Ass

Congrats to them, and good luck to everyone who tries to be top 10 next month.

Skins Update:
- Replaced Hell Knight with Alien
- Added Lara Croft (Admin & VIP)
- Added Default T-Leet to Public Menu

No one used the Hell Knight skin, so it was just taking up space. I switched it to be the Alien instead. Additionally, the Alien had been removed earlier but I apparently forgot to take it off the DL list so by removing the Hell Knight, this caused a net loss in file size. When I put on Lara Croft at Vit's suggestion, that just brought the dl size back to what it was. And then putting the Leet on the menu just lets players switch back to it instead of a custom model.

[Natalya]

10/09/2008



Well, we seem to be pulling out of the stink again. Hopefully it will keep up. 17 players on at peak today... That's a high for the last few weeks.

[Natalya]

10/12/2008

I've been thinking that the server needs a name of its own. For anyone who cares to read this, I'm starting to think that the server name is too lengthy. Here it is in all its glory:

24/7 ZombieMod N00b Unlimited | props | skins | (66 TIC)

So basically, it gives us 3 pieces of information in the first and larger half, then 3 more pieces in the smaller tail. We've got that it's 24/7, that it's a Zombie Mod server, and that it's run by N00b Unlimited. However, this doesn't look .

Let's compare with some of the top 10 ZM servers:


#5:
ZOMBIEMURDER.COM | RUN BITCH RUN | *ESCAPE*

#3:
]=[ Zombie Network I ]=[ ZombieInfection - Reload, HLstatsX
(They also have the 9th ranked server.)

#7:
AVANGARD-HuB.ru CS:S Zombie Infection 2.0

#1:
i3D.net - Server #11 - Zombie escape - Alien skins
(They also have the 8th ranked server.)


So, some things these servers all have in common:

A: Like ours, they have two parts -- title and informative text
B: They all have names, save i3D which is a massive game server company
C: They all mention Zombies. (DUH)
D: Their titles are short and upfront.

Our server doesn't meet D. Our server's name is long and drawn-out. I've been toying around with how the server name is formatted. I think that Zombie Mod needs to stay up front, but so does N00b Unlimited because players like to see that there is a community or clan behind a server. The problem is that Zombie Mod N00b Unlimited is long. So I've been trying to work around that, with ideas such as Zombie Mod Unlimited or Zombie N00b Unlimited, but neither of these are satisfactory. For the time being I've settled with the following:

N/U [ Zombie Mod 2.0 ] Props | Skins | Weapons | (66 TIC)

But even this I don't like because who's gonna know wtf N/U means right? Though perhaps the fact that it signals that there is a community is enough. That's impossible to tell though. D:

The conclusion I have arrived at is that it might be good if our zombie server had its own name. You see Zombie Murder, Zombie Network, Zombie Mayhem, etc... Purely technical names aren't very common probably because players might not remember a technical server name very well. I was thinking it might be good if we had a name for it; something along the lines of Zombie Directive or Zombie Empire. If we took Zombie Empire for example the server name could look like this:

24/7 Zombie Empire [ N/U ] Props | Skins | (66 TIC)

It would obviously need to be ironed out but that's just a starting point IMO.

Soo, does anyone have thoughts on this? Sios? Random?

[RandomHero]

idk about zombie empire or anything like that, but i think the server name change could be good if it brings in more ppl...

i think we should keep the new name we have on the server now and see if it increases server population. then if it doesnt improve, we can change it back for the sake of consistency with the rest of the N/U servers.

[kamikaze_bad_ass]

Ok Natalya and random here is just my personal feed back on the new zombie mod name.
First off i think that it needs to reflect what kind of sever we are and also let ppl know what kind of zombie mod it is since there are now 2 basic verisons. 1st version being the zombies kill humans and humans barricade which we are. 2nd one being where the humans kill the zombies.

I too think it need a custom name like zombie hell or zombie panic just to throw out some names but i don't like the sound of Zombie Empire just doesn't sound right to me.

Just to throw this in i noticed that server name has a weapons tag on end which anyone overe the age of 5 should be able to figure out maybe take it off or replace it with unlimited ammo to let ppl know.

To be honest with ya'll thou not sure what ya'll are tring to get the server pop back up to but me personaly i won't play in a sever with over 20 some ppl just feels over crowed to me and too many ppl talking and typing at one time for me to keep up.
Also i really like the new N/U tag cause it's short and anyone that knows the community should know it and i see the whole community took it up.
Thanks Kami

[Natalya]

I'm not actually a fan of Zombie Empire, it was just brainstorming. D:

@Kami -- 2 Things:

A: The post-text with skins, weapons, etc... Yea it's not terribly important. Just lets people know what's on the server. Maybe Unlim Ammo would be good instead of weapons, you're right.
B: The server used to be very popular. Way more than it is now. Before I started tweaking it, the server for a myriad of reasons took a nose dive in terms of activity around the end of March, and for two months from April through May no1 played it at all and the server was slated for deletion, to be replaced with something new. Then Sios gave me access to add stuff to the servers and change their settings and the plugins that they run, etc at the start of June. Since then I've worked my butt of f to bring the server back. But even during the best of times over the summer, the few weeks of insane activity with 10 people getting on each day, it still does not compare if you look at an activity graph from before the April-May death. So yea my goal has always been from the start to bring it back and get it very popular. I can understand why crowded servers aren't that fun to you with stupid kids mic spamming and everything, but I think that more active admins enforcing the 1 person on a mic only rule and larger maps like lv426 will kinda negate these.

i think we should keep the new name we have on the server now and see if it increases server population. then if it doesnt improve, we can change it back for the sake of consistency with the rest of the N/U servers.

Looks like this is the new standard for the other servers. D:

[Natalya]

10/31/2008

Map List Update:
I went through and cleared out a ton of maps from the rotation. Some have been on the server so long that it's just hard to take them seriously and most of us older players would just fuck around on them. Maps like Bumfight and Industry... They're still on the Admin map list, just not in rotation. Here's the new list:


zm_moonlight_v2
af_omega_v2
ze_space_stationzz
ze_thelostworld_v1
zm_3dubka_v1
zm_420_office_v6
zm_4way_tunnel_i3d
zm_apparts
zm_atix_helicopter
zm_b-town_hood_night
zm_base_day
zm_concretejungle_v1b
zm_deep_thought_remix
zm_desert_fortress_v2
zm_Fidlers-Green_b2
zm_ghs_flotsb4
zm_lila_off!ce_v4
zm_lila_panic66
zm_little_city_v5
zm_luv_city_b2
zm_lv426
zm_moon_zombie_run_night
zm_natalyas_ship_v3
zm_neko_athletic_park_v2
zm_omi_facility_nu
zm_onadega
zm_poon_institute_b1
zm_pyramid_final
zm_roy_old_industrial
zm_roy_the_ship
zm_umbrella_corp
zm_westside_cali_v1
zm_wtfhax_v6


I'll also be doing the skin contest winners for October later tonight.