Mission Toolkit


So, you want to make a mission? Awesome!

But there's a lot more to a good mission than just an idea.


Every HvZ mission we run, whether it's a one-night or a weeklong has a set of slides to go with it, and these slides are typically presented when we run a mission. Even when we don't present slides to the club, however, we still have a set of slides for our reference. If you want to submit a one-night or a weeklong, we'll need those slides.


~General Mission Creation~

All submitted slides should follow this template. There are two methods you can use to edit the template.

Method 1 - Suggested:
To edit the template using Google Slides, first click the template link above. Once the Google Slide interface finishes loading, go to 'File -> Make a copy...'; this will open the Copy document interface. In the Copy document interface, type a name for the copy and click 'Ok'. This will place an editable copy of the slide template into your home directory in Google Drive (this requires a Google account to use - all UMBC email accounts are able to use Google Drive)

Method 2:
To edit the template using Microsoft PowerPoint or other presentation editing software, first click the template link above. Once the Google Slide interface finishes loading, go to 'File -> Download as -> Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx)'; this will save an editable copy of the slide template, formatted for PowerPoint, on your computer.

~One-Night Mission Creation~

Every mission has at least 5 parts:

  1. A title slide with "UMBC HvZ Missions Briefing", the mission's name, and the name of its creator(s)
  2. A story slide that sets the scene, but doesn't go into mechanic details
  3. A victory conditions slide that contains the win/loss conditions for both sides
  4. A special rules slide that explains the specific details of the mission's mechanics
  5. A summary slide with the map*, the objectives restated, stun and death timers**, and final hold information***.

*You can find a list of our current maps and hold locations here. However, if you want to make a custom map, please contact the officers and they'll work with you to create a custom map. They make all the maps for selected missions to ensure they conform to the same standards and can be reused in the future.

**The stun timer is generally set by the officers when the mission is run, since it is usually based on the number of players in attendance. You are more than welcome to use mechanics that require altering the initial stun timer, but please note that in your submission (Using the presenter's notes on Google Slides is a great way to do this).

***Final hold information should be structured in the format "for Xmins. - (nc./cm.) - last Ymins", where X is the length of the final hold, Y is how long from the end of the mission the hold can be started, and (nc./cm.) is whether or not the hold is non-cumulative or cumulative. A non-cumulative hold's timer resets if all humans have left the hold, whereas a cumulative hold's timer simply freezes if all humans have left the hold.


~Weeklong Creation~

A weeklong has at least 3 parts:

  1. A pre-game set of slides* that contains:
    1. A title slide with "UMBC HvZ Missions Briefing", the weeklong's name, and the name of its creator(s)
    2. A story slide that contains the overarching story of the weeklong, but doesn't go into mechanic details
    3. A special rules slide that explains overarching special rules of the weeklong, such as blasters being locked
  2. Five sets of mission slides (in the format of one-night missions), labeled with the day each one is supposed to be run.**
  3. A list of requirements for the weeklong in this format. (This can be edited in the same way as the mission slide template).

*The officers will add the pre-game rules to the slides.

**Every map for the weeklong should be the Full Campus Map. However, you are allowed to alter or divide this map into sections if the context of your weeklong requires it.


~Submitting~


Once you have finished the slides for your mission, you can submit them to the officers at umbchvzofficers@gmail.com. Once received they will be reviewed by the mission selection team within a reasonable amount of time.


That's enough to get you started. Something to keep in mind: Don't change things in the middle of a mission. For example, don't cut the stun timer in half if zombies complete some objective. There's no realistic way to let all players know that the stun timer has changed.

Thanks for helping!
~The UMBC HvZ Officers~