Apps4Gaps 2014
Entry by Barry Kennedy/Katie Kennedy
Email: baz@coderdojo.com
Mobile: 085 7284999
Overview
Attack of the Nearly dead is a mobile app for the Android platform. It’s a datadriven/map based game in the Zombie Survival genre.
The year is 2015. Ireland has been hit by a deadly plague. For reasons unknown
to scientists, the plague only affects those aged 65 or over, turning them into
zombies who now roam the countryside looking for survivors to feed upon.
A few weeks after the outbreak, only a small number of survivors remain. The
only hope you have to survive this dreadful plague is travel across the country
in search of food and supplies while trying to avoid getting eating by the
zombies
Players have to move across the map of Ireland collecting food and other items
while avoiding zombies. The aim of the game is to outlive the zombies. The
game ends in the following ways:
 Your strength goes below zero
 The zombies die out
 You quit
You need your strength above zero and get the plague index to zero.
Use of dataset
The location of the pensioners is based off the “people age over 65 by small
area” dataset from the 2011 Irish Census. The location of each “zombie” is
plotted on a map of Ireland, powered by
Google Maps.
The reason I picked this data set was inspired
by zombie survival movies and the Father Ted
Episode "Night of the Nearly Dead" (This app
is not an attack on the elderly – just a light
hearted use of census data to create a game)
Version 2.0 will include the internet access by
small area to allow users “connect” to the
internet to find fellow survivors
Game Design
The game is played on a map of Ireland. The
user is represented by a green figure and red
figures represent the zombies (black in the screenshots). In version 2, a blue
represents the survivors.
Using the app
On launching the app for the first time, you will be asked to create account or
generate an account using google, facebook or twitter (powered by OAuth).
Your start point is auto generated with
Move your avatar by dragging it along the map. Click on items such as food and
weapons to pick them up and improve your score.
Collisions with zombies causes your strength to go down. Move away quickly
to stay alive.
Avoid areas with high zombie populations (check the census to find out where
these hotspots are)
On finishing the game – share your score on our leader board and social media
sites. Compare your score to your friends via our website
Game Mechanics
Users have a strength index ranging from zero to one hundred. Users start at
75. The following actions affect the health index
Touching off a zombie
-25.00%
Touching water
-10.00%
Finding Food
10.00%
Finding Medicine
10.00%
The lower your strength is the slower you move. When you hit zero, that's it
You can also pick items such as phones, shields, guns.
Shields will protect you from 2 zombies (ie your score won't go down if you get
hit), once the second zombie hits you, you're on your own.
Guns can kill zombies. Each gun has 100 bullets. Use them wisely.
The plague index counts the number of zombies. Killing zombies obviously
reduces the plague index. The plague index also descreses gradually over time
(-10% for every 20 minutes of play). When you hit off a zombie, it goes up by
10%. If it hits 0%, the zombies have died out.
Survivors
In version 2, you can find other survivors playing the game.
If you have a phone, you can search for survivors. In areas with high internet
connectivity, you should be able to locate survivors using an arrow on screen.
When in close proximity to survivors your strength is doubled