Maps

General#

Outbreak has three locations, each built at several scales. The game only offers versions sized for the number of people playing, so a four-player round is a tight corridor fight and a twenty-player round is a full building.

Every map runs a twelve minute round regardless of size.

The Vote#

Three maps go to a vote before each round. You will never be offered two versions of the same location at once, and the winner is pushed to the back of the rotation so you do not play the same place twice in a row. Voting ends early as soon as everybody has voted.

Because the vote list is filtered by lobby size, you only ever see maps that fit the current player count.

Sizes#

Larger layouts carry more loot chests, but they also spread the same number of players over far more ground, so gearing up is generally easier and finding people is generally harder.

Time of Day#

Each map loads at one of four times of day, from full daylight to the middle of the night. It is fixed when the map loads and does not advance during the round.

Night maps favour zombies heavily. Every zombie has permanent night vision; humans have none.

Spawns#

Humans and zombies spawn at opposite ends of the map, spread across a large number of points so a group never all lands in one place. Respawning zombies avoid spawn points with a survivor standing within about fifteen blocks, so camping a zombie spawn does not work for long.

Size Over Setting#

The practical difference between rounds comes from layout size rather than which building you are in. Small layouts are close-quarters fights decided by shotguns, barricades and who holds the better doorway. Full buildings let survivors spread out, loot properly and stay hidden right up until the Human Tracker is handed out with two minutes left.