Just in time for Hallow’s Eve, or what some call “All Saint’s Day”, I am working on a first person zombie shooter starring “Nurses”. Yes, you read that right. Those saints who wear scrubs and do the jobs, some of us couldn’t handle for 5 seconds, let alone a full time job.
I’m learning how to use “Godot” and doing the cool trend of “vibe coding” with assistance of “Claude”. It’s not been the smoothest ride. I’ve had to rely on my education a few times, to see what the hold up was in the code.
So what you’re seeing in these little clip videos I made are green zombies coming from the left side, red flamethrower nurse burning them to a crisp, or white tranquilizer shooting nurses stopping zombies in their tracks. If the zombies get to the left side of the screen, that’s where the hospital is and it’s game over. I’m proud of my simple mechanics, with loop, and even a scoreboard showing supplies, zombies defeated, and the hospital’s health.
I do apologize for the watermark courtesy of “Filmora”. I am learning a few programs simultaneously (“Godot”, “Filmora”, and how the code works). I’m excited to add some sound effects and more animated sprites soon (a.k.a. rectangles).
I know that some have strong feelings about using A.I. for creating images, videos, or coding. I only have one thing to say to you. It’s okay if we remember that it’s a tool. I plan on taking tutorials for the above programs so I can make the most out of them.
Hopefully prospective employers can see that I’m a fast learner, I care deeply about healthcare, especially nurses, and that this is a useful way to learn UX, or how the user interfaces with the game.
I am admittedly biased, but I am satisfied with my last update and immensely enjoy building an army of nurses to take down all those evil zombies. In truth, sometimes we correct reality with fiction. It’s been a long hard road to recovery and in truth I wish I did have a real army of nurses to take care of me and my wife.
I have no delusions of grandeur about this game though. As cool as it would be for it to become something other people would want to play or even purchase, the market is saturated with similar content vying for peoples eyeballs and digital wallets.
I just want to have a good time and make myself and others laugh, because life is hard and short. You might as well have some fun if you can. However, if for some reason this “ridiculous game concept” idea becomes a commercial success, I would love to turn around and sponsor hospitals and nurses who display “bravery and courage in the face of overwhelming odds”.
I was once a phlebotomist for a small hospital in Missouri. I rubbed shoulders with nurses all the time. If you think drawing blood is difficult, you should watch these nurses put in an IV like a pro. I’ve never forgotten the t-shirts some would wear that said, “2020 Year of the Nurse”. Covid was probably the defining disease for all of us in the past 10 years. Working day in and day out keeping things quarantined, clean, and according to medical standards could be grueling for anyone. These guys do it everyday. My favorite nurses were the traveling ones. One nurse in particular, who shall remain nameless to protect their identity, had trouble with a door that had a reputation for getting stuck. Before we entered, a key detail in this story, she drop kicked the door open so that everyone, including patient could go in. That action is what has inspired this entire video game.
What if there was an army of nurses that fought back in a zombie apocalypse? In fairness, according to “Gemini”, a university has done something similar with “Nurses Against Zombieism” (University of Calgary Qatar Faculty of Nursing and Structured Abstraction). Hopefully this does not destroy the opportunity for business, but if nothing else I’m here to have fun and learn. Coincidentally that’s the main task of the game too!
So far, I’ve been told I have one customer interested in playing (my nephew). He is in my target audience, so I’ll find out if it hits the “cool factor”. I’m also hoping to put in different historical facts about nurses while in loading screens or something.
I was recently inspired by Thomas Brush’s YouTube vid,
He also has a very cool free webinar on how to pitch games to publishers, crowdfunding, etc. Yes, he has a game developer course. Too bad I’m broke. Replays on Youtube works for me! I like this guy a lot. I feel like he would be fun to hang out with.
Along with everything else I’m working on, I do hope to have a better game trailer soon. Please feel free to post comments or feedback on what you’ve seen so far.
