I'm Building a Zombie RTS Where the Army Actually Wins

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:01]It's not about how to survive the zombie apocalypse. It's about how to stop it.

[00:00:07]Most zombie games put you on the ground.

[00:00:10]You're scavenging. You're running.

[00:00:12]You're trying not to die. My zombie RTS put you in the operation center. You're the commander. You have units. You have a map. And you have 72 hours to keep the infection under control before it spirals beyond recovery. Your job is to do better than every army in every zombie movie you've ever watched. That's the fantasy. That's the game. I'm David.

[00:00:37]I make games solo and this is the devlog for my zombie RTS. It's my second game currently in prototype being built in good 4.

[00:00:53]The design philosophy is orchestration over microcontrol. You're not directing individual units turn by turn. You're setting intent. You move this unit here.

[00:01:03]You hold this position and you watch what emerges from those decisions.

[00:01:08]Simple rules, complex outcomes.

[00:01:11]That word emergent gets used a lot in game design. I want to show you what it actually looks like in practice.

[00:01:18]In the prototype, refugees move away from zombie hordes and towards army units. They cluster around for protection. When a horde appears, they scatter. When it leaves, they drift back. Nobody scripted that specific behavior. It came out of three simple rules, interacting with each other.

[00:01:37]That's the thing that I'm chasing in this game. The feeling that the world is alive and responding, not just executing a script.

[00:01:45]You're looking at a NORAD style tactical display. Green on black unit icons, map overlays, and infection data. Every map is procedurally generated. The theater you're defending is unique every run.

[00:01:59]City placement, road networks, river crossings, even the name of the region you're trying to hold. There are two reasons for that aesthetic. The first is that it fits the commander fantasy. This is what an operation center looks like, not a game HUD. The second reason is more honest. I'm a solo developer and I can't paint. A tactical display is a deliberate art choice that I can actually execute.

[00:02:28]The prototype has a working game loop.

[00:02:31]You load in, the clock starts, and the world begins moving. Zombie hordes grow, split, and merge based on size. After 72 in-game hours, you get an afteraction report.

[00:02:44]The core systems are there. The map generates, the units behave, the emergent interactions are already appearing, but I'm going to be straight with you about where it sits right now because that's the point of this devlog.

[00:03:02]Right now, the prototype feels more like a simulation than a game. The current win condition is keep infection under 60% for 72 hours. That's a waiting game.

[00:03:12]You set your units. You watch the clock.

[00:03:14]You win or you don't. There are no meaningful decisions after the opening move. There are no consequences that teach you anything. That's not a game.

[00:03:23]That's a screen saver with stakes.

[00:03:26]The direction I'm moving in is consequence-driven objectives. The idea is to use objectives not just as targets, but as a tutorial layer, one that teaches through action rather than instruction screens.

[00:03:40]For example, move an army unit to an urban center in the first game hour.

[00:03:45]That's the objective. The consequence is that you learn units can move, and you see what happens to infection rate when they do. Hold two urban centers simultaneously. The consequence is that refugee production slows, infection slows, and you receive a reinforcement unit as a reward. The objectives train you to understand the system by making you interact with it.

[00:04:09]The spiral mechanic I want underneath all of this is simple. More infections breed more infections. More refugees breed unrest. Army presence stabilizes both. If you're not watching all three, it gets away from you. That's the tension the prototype needs. And that's what I'm building towards.

[00:04:33]Over the next few episodes, I'll be documenting that build. the objective system, the consequence layer, the spiral mechanic. I'll be honest about what works and what doesn't because that's more useful than a highlight reel.

[00:04:48]Have you ever wondered what it actually looks like to design a game from the inside? The decisions, the dead ends, the moments when something unexpected works better than what you planned, that's what this channel is. The prototype is a work in progress. So is this devlog. Come back next week and we'll see how far we've got. Heat.

[00:05:21]Heat.

[00:05:28]Hey hey.

[00:06:04]It's the vibe right here.