Board Thread:Suggestions/@comment-29781728-20191022232653

Summary
What R2DA needs right now isn't another boss, event, or weapon, it's a complete massive addition / rework of the way the core game is played to keep people coming back.

1. The addition shouldn't piss people off, or be frustrating to play. Minimize frustration.

2. The addition should reward grinding at a reasonable pace, and find a way to make repetition engaging and fun.

3. The addition should involve teamwork on both sides of the game, zombies and survivors, and balance out the combat between the two.

This is why I believe R2DA needs a Story Mode.

Story Mode would be the best way to keep players coming back, fix the issue with repetitive boring grinding, balance out the core gameplay, and revolutionize the way the game is played. R2DA is stale, and Story Mode would fix that.

Gameplay
In my eyes, Story Mode should provide a combination of gamemodes to keep it entertaining and fresh. To begin with the basics, the entirety of Story Mode would be treated, gameplay wise, as one round - survivors will not be chosen until the round ends, and the zombies chosen at the start will remain until the "round" ends as well. So, while there are at max three rounds, zombies will be chosen before the first map, and will not be re-chosen until the final map. Survivors who die will become zombies. If all survivors die, the "round" ends, as normal.

This means that if you lose three survivors on the first round, but complete the map, you will go in to the second map with three less survivors. Losses will add up over time, incentivizing teamwork.

How do you make this not frustrating for the zombies? Simple, make them only spawn as special infected.

Yes, this may get tiresome, but PR has already demonstrated the capability to ramp up special infected spawns. Simply do the same here - the game starts with the chosen zombies only being able to spawn as Edgars, Leapers, or the extremely rare Brute, and as the game progresses the rest become available.

Additionally, for every survivor killed, the zombies ALL receive $100. This will be the most tricky part of story mode, making zombie gameplay not rage-inducing as you will have to not play survivor for three rounds at max, but making it rewarding will counter-act this.

'''TL;DR: Story Mode should function as one "round", but with three maps. If you die, you're out for the rest of the maps. To make zombies not rage after knowing they have to play zombie for three maps in a row, add extra rewards and make them only spawn as specials.'''

Progression & Rewards
The progression of the Story Mode is honestly up to PR, but in my eyes there should be a way to show progression - begin with a relatively easy map, then a harder one, and then a big finale, similar to Left 4 Dead. My hypothetical situation is: Panama Beach Campaign, to lead into Bouri Rig Rescue, then finally end with S.S Boliviar Rescue as an intense, close quarters finale. In a best case scenario, I would want for there to be a specific gamemode variant, similar to what PR did with Coastline Clash (complete objectives and survive), but this is a reasonable idea.

Now, rewards. Rewards are very important, and also incentivizing teamwork is important, as I mentioned. If you lose a teammate, they're out for the rest of the Story Mode round, so inherently it's a smart idea to keep teammates alive.

But how about some money? Let's discuss this in terms of a money pool.

If you win the first round, $200 or so is added to the pool. Second round, $300. Final round, $500. So, $1000 total if you win the entire story mode, along with an appropriate XP reward. Finally, for every player alive, add $25. For every player dead, minus $50 from the pool. (IF THERE ARE LESS THAN FIVE SURVIVORS AT THE END, IGNORE THE DEATH PENALTY TO ENSURE THERE IS A APPROPRIATE REWARD).

So let's say you start with 20 survivors, five die, and you win the entire Story Mode round. You would have $1000 from the maps, $375 more from the survivors, and $250 less since five people died. This would lead to a massive cash reward, but also incentivize teamwork. (inspiration taken from Oeriam).

If you fail part-way through the Story Mode:

If first map is complete, grant $300.

If second map is complete, grant $400.

If no maps are complete, grant $0.

Ignore survivor death penalty in all of these.

'''TL;DR: Play through three maps. First map gives $200, second $300, final (hardest) $500. For every survivor still alive, you get $25 more, for every player dead you get $50 less. Values can change, it doesn't matter, just make it appropriately rewarding based off of difficulty.'''

Best Case Scenario
In a best case scenario, this is what I would want out of Story Mode:

1. The first map is a simple Campaign map, pretty short and easy.

2. The second map involves a few objectives, then surviving until rescue arrives.

3. The final map involves completing a few objectives and a long survival time.

Survivors will receive money based off of maps completed and how many survivors are still alive at the end. Zombies can only spawn as special infected, but at the start of each map they only can spawn as Edgars, Leapers, or Brutes, ramping up to include the rest. For every survivor killed, zombies will receive $100. Zombie teams should be appropriately sized e.g 6-8 zombies to increase difficulty.

There should be multiple different "Story Mode" sets, some longer, some shorter. The one included in this suggestion is three maps, and I think going up to five is reasonable. Story Modes should be sorted by difficulty, and there should be dedicated "Story Mode" servers similar to Battlestation. The feeling Story Mode should evoke is one of progression, both in the gamemode and player-wise. Winning story mode sets should be satisfying, and reward you properly, similar to how Tower Defense Simulator rewards you appropriately based off of difficulty, and makes completing maps feel satisfying due to difficulty and the reward. 