A potentially amazing idea that I've just begun to break in.

Sooo I've toyed around with RPG Maker for years but could never make a project that I actually thought would be doable (by my newbish limitations), fun, and balanced.
For a while I've wanted to create a zombie-apocalypse themed RPG game (not exactly a horror game, it just has zombies) but I could never find a system that I had liked. At some point I zombified some of the RTP graphics and tried to make a medieval-era zombie game, but it just didn't sit well 'cause the idea sucked in my head.

In the shower three days ago I had an epiphany of a battle system that I could put into action. The idea was that I'd use the base Scene_Battle (since I don't know much about using an ABS, I wanted to use a first-person battle system, and Tankentai is for loserfaces) but with certain differences.

The feature I've gone further into is the gun/ammo system.
Basically, a character's equipment went as follows:
-"Weapon" 1 and 2 (all characters have Two-Swords Style) was the actor's Melee Weapon(s). This would be used for their basic attack. Dual-wielded weapons may include knives and such, while two-handed weapons can include baseball bats and sledgehammers
-"Helmet" is now a "Ranged Weapon" slot. It doesn't add any damage resistance, obviously, but it defines their "GUN" power, which replaces the "Spirit" stat. All characters have a low "GUN" stat of 10, that never grows, as a person's growth doesn't make their guns any stronger.

Now this is where I've set my attention to so far; the ammo system.
Basically, every character has a weapon type. There are four main characters, which all use different weapon types between Revolvers, Handguns, SMGs and Assault Rifles. I initially planned on letting anyone equip any type of firearm, but that would require some mad Common Event tweaking that'd drive me crazy; either that or Scripting.

I have the following items programmed into Common Events already (and am pretty proud of it) after working on it about two days ago:
-<Gun Type> Magazine/Clip: These fully restore a character's MAG while placing any spare bullets into the inventory. This also adds an Empty <Gun Type> Magazine/Clip into the inventory.

-<Gun Type> Round: This is what is obtained whenever a character reloads with spare bullets in their MAG. These can only be put into Empty Magazine/Clips (See below). Revolvers and Handguns have special features that are unique to them.
--Revolvers can be loaded by individual bullets (realistically) through the menu. During battle, the character can only load two bullets into his revolver per turn.
--A single handgun bullet can be chambered if the handgun is empty. However this seems like a last-resort feature, and is basically only ever going to be used if a player is caught with no handgun magazines left.

-Empty <Gun Type> Magazine/Clip: These are obtained whenever a weapon is reloaded by a full magazine/clip. They can be refilled by individual rounds, provided that the player has enough to fill it and they are in a Safe Room. (Inspired by Resident Evil, of course). Realistically, loading a 30-round magazine is going to take ages as the process requires precision, so they cannot be refilled in areas that contain hostiles.

Now, how the MAG, which replaces MP, is used:
Since the basic Attack uses a Melee Weapon, the Skill feature is renamed "Ranged". The player will be given individual skills which differ in where the character aims, or how many bullets the character spends. For example:
-A "Clean Shot" skill prompts the actor to shoot the target directly in the chest. It is the most accurate choice, but does not do anything special
-A "Leg Shot" skill will make the actor shoot the target's legs, decreasing their Agility with a chance of adding a Stun-like state.
-A "Head Shot" will make the actor aim for the target's head. It will be the least accurate choice, but offering critical damage.
-A "Burst Fire" option will be given to fully automatic weapons. It will be very accurate and spend the least amount of bullets, but also deal less damage.
-A "Spray Fire" option will also be available. It will deal a lot of damage, however wasting ammunition. It would be a method of destroying an enemy quickly before a damaged ally is defeated.

Since the primary enemies are zombies, I am thinking of giving them a variety of attacks. On some occasions they may use "Bite" which will give an actor the "Infected" state. This state would deal slip-damage and the player would have to use a type of rare infection medicine on the ally before they die. However, I have not yet settled on the story, or the explanation of the infection, so I have not decided on how that will be managed. I'm doing my best not to just straight-up copy Dead Rising 2's "Zombrex" medicine.

Another vague idea is how I will manage money. I know that I do not want to let the player purchase ammunition. That's stupid stupid stupid and stupid. However I had one certain idea that may or may not stay with the project:
A strange old survivor wants to create a "Coin Cannon" (a weapon based on my dream to create a Penny Gun, finally making use of pennies) and wishes for the protagonists to collect coins around the city for him. For a certain price, he would use his mechanical knowledge to upgrade a character's weapons, increasing their base GUN stat. However this is not logical as the character could switch guns and keep the stat bonus.
I've also thought that he could provide the player with unique useable items that would assist in battling zombies, such as debuffs or something that would allow instant escapes from random battles.

So, any thoughts? It's still in very early stages of development (considering it started like on Christmas Eve) so yeah.

Soooo, it's an RPG system, and not exactly a real shooter? And in a game full of zombies that certainly IS a new twist.

However, that's basically all that's new here. You're really just giving new names to old terms. All of those techniques for the guns aren't really inventive; just techniques. The MAG, as you said, is just MP. Finally, the "Infected" state is also not really new, just a renamed Poison.

The Ammo system, however, is something quite new, and would be a good way to adapt to the (active?) environment, if done properly. It really gives the player that survival element they'd need in this Survival RPG. I think this is a great way to counteract the fact that is not an Action Game. Good idea, in my eyes!

Another thing that's, not really new or revolutionary, but interesting, is that GUN stat. Sure, it's just a renamed stat for the Magic, but it never goes up or down upon leveling up. However, there is a major problem with this:

If the GUN stat never changes naturally, how do you progress the strength of your guns? Would you rely on Knives and melee weapons the whole time? Hope not, because then that interesting Ammo System is wasted. Would you fight the same zombies throughout the game? B-O-R-I-N-G. I'm not saying that an unchangable combat stat is bad, but be sure that, if you plan on continuing this, that you find a way to still steadily devlop that GUN stat; I'd assume that equipping different guns would affect this stat? Maybe even the ammo you use, as well.

The money idea is actually pretty funny, I'll say that much. I think this should be a time where you can get either GUN boosts, bonus MAG, or maybe some secret gun techniques, like the fabled, "Bullet Time!" (Just a joke right there, but you get what I mean!)

Overall, not a bad idea! Don't try to set the bar too high though; this won't be the next Resident Evil. This is a different idea that would breathe new life into the Horror / Survival genre, and possibly even change the views of some of those narrow-minded Shooter idiots who wank to pictures of undead, rotting corpses.

Thanks for the reply, I was afraid I'd get no feedback since I know that one man alone can't see the full potential behind an idea.

Anyway I've gone a bit further into the idea and began databasing items and the like, along with digging into the actual story of the game.

Hmm, yeah, the Infected stat (renamed Virus stat now just to shorten it) IS sort of a renamed poison, it just has a small stat penalty (-5% to all primary stats) and that it can only be cured by an uncommon, limited item. I really wish I could alter the amounts of Slip Damage dealt by such a state, but I'm no scripter.

The GUN stat had me stumped when I thought of it. It would be infinitely better if I could find a script that changes the default Spirit stat into something that defines spell accuracy rather than damage, but damn.

You progress the strength of your guns by, well, FINDING BETTER GUNS. Of course, it's not gonna be easy to hide them without being cheap about it, so they'll often be behind some sort of optional puzzle, battle, or given to you by a survivor.

Did I say Survivor? Yeah. I logged in a couple more hours of Dead Rising and figured, what the hell, why not add survivors? Right now I'm thinking about 15-20 is a good number, and I've already created 5 of them.

Also, to answer another question, no, you won't be fighting the same zombies throughout the game (I played someone else's zombie game for reference, and it was god awful). I've listed 20 common enemies, with at least 49 variations (MOST types have both gender types, and the more common types have two palette swaps just to make sure you're not shooting at the same middle-aged zombie guy).
8 of those 20 common types are different from run-of-the-mill zombies, inspired by things such as Resident Evil's Tyrants and Left 4 Dead's Special Infected
The other 12 are variants of regular zombies, including "elite" ones that are identified by certain signs such as paler skin, and later on, glowing eyes, strange growths, etc.
There will also be child zombies (because Silent Hill's school scared me) and obese zombies (because Zombieland made me laugh)

Also, just like Dead Rising, there will be human enemies. Right now I only plan to have about 5 or 6 of them.

I tried toying with the currency idea and it then turned into a more realistic approach. Since there won't be a prominent comedy theme during the game (though there will be funnies) I instead made it so that the characters collect money just like anyone else, and can later pay survivors for their findings. However the purchase-able supplies are limited to healing items. And they don't sell the virus cure.

Also I finally settled on a "zombie cure" name. It is know called "Z-Away". 'Cuz I thought that "Zomb-X" sounded too much like Zombrex, that "Zombaway" sounded stupid, so "Z-Away" sounded suitable.

Oh, and just to note on what other progress I made, I wanted a way to add some other states. Right now, some of them are:

-Wound -> Slip damage and a small RES debuff (-10%). Occurs when slashed by certain attacks. Can be cured by any "Bandage" item, which also restores CND

-Dizzy -> Accuracy debuff. Occurs when a character takes blunt force from certain attacks. Can be cured by Painkillers.

-Downed -> Character cannot move or evade for 1 to 2 turns, while suffering a RES debuff. Occurs when a character gets knocked down by a heavy enemy (and no, I didn't import the Tank or Charger into this game).

-Crippled -> SPD and RES debuff. Occurs when an enemy attacks your legs, and can be infliced on enemies with "Leg Shot"-like Ranged attacks. Oh, and meanie survivors have guns sometimes, so yeah. Cured by Anasthetic shots.