With State of Decay 2 set to release later this year, developer Undead Labs has taken to the game’s blog to share details about the upcoming zombie survival title. The latest post describes the developer’s plans for the maps in State of Decay 2, which together will be much larger than the map from 2011’s State of Decay.

In the blog post, Director of Community Sanya Weathers describes how State of Decay 2 will launch with three maps for players to enjoy. While Weathers didn’t reveal exactly how these maps will be explored or presented for players, she did provide a few details as to why the developer is offering more than one map for players. Weathers said:

“Why’d we do it that way? Well, primarily, because it makes the game more fun. It really feels like you’re moving from one small town to another, and creates a tremendous sense of immersion. And perhaps counter-intuitively, it makes the world feel even bigger. You know how on one map (even one three times the size as the original game’s) the longer you play, the more you start feeling deju vu with every mission? That’s less of an issue with separate maps. And see above about strategies and missions. Oh, and one more detail – the multiple map set up makes it easy to expand the world down the line, if you know what I mean.”

Essentially, Undead labs is offering multiple maps in order to keep things fresh for players and to open the door to additional content down the road. It sounds like each map will come with its own missions and activities that will somehow link together with into the overall story.

If the recently released concept art offers any insight, players will be able to enjoy many different types of environments in State of Decay 2’s maps. In fact, Weathers touched on this topic in the blog post. Weathers shared:

"You should expect to see slightly different environments, definitely different landmarks and locations, different layouts lending themselves to different strategies, unique home sites, and even different mission types."

Additionally, comments in the blog post seem to hint that players will move from one map to the next in the post-apocalyptic world of State of Decay 2. As players make their way to each map, they will be able to take their characters, rucksacks, and weapons with them. Players will also receive a partial refund on any money spent in the previous area once they move on to the next map.

Based on that wording, it sounds like players may not be able to revisit maps once they’ve moved on. Hopefully more details on this point will be revealed at E3 2017, where Undead Labs is planning to share more information about State of Decay 2.

State of Decay 2 is expected to release in 2017 for Xbox One and PC.

Source: Undead Labs