Devlog #7 – Perks & The Mystery Box

This week was a big one — I finally got perks working and set up the core system behind the mystery box. These two additions massively change the way the game plays and feel like a true callback to classic Zombies, with my own twist.

Functional Perks

Perks aren’t just set dressing anymore — they now have real gameplay effects. Here's what I’ve got working:

SwiftShot Soda

• Doubles reload speed

• Doubles weapon swap speed

• Boosts sprint speed

This one instantly makes combat feel snappier — and it's a game-changer for surviving late-round chaos.

Health+ Hooch

• Increases the player's max health

Simple but effective. It helps counterbalance tougher zombie waves later on.

DoubleOrNothin Daiquiri

• Activation-based (press Y)

• Rolls the dice: everything is either FREE or DOUBLE price for 30 seconds

• Works on doors, wall buys, perks, mystery box, etc.

• UI updates dynamically to show the temporary pricing

• May later include 2x points/No points based on which one you get.

This perk adds a great risk/reward twist to the standard point economy. It also required some backend work — I created a central manager that all interactables now check to determine the current price modifier.

Perk Machine System

Perk machines are now:

• Buyable (only once per perk)

• Integrated with the points system

• Set up to show TextMeshPro prompts that reflect the correct price orFREE if DoubleOrNothin is active

Mystery Box System

The other major addition is the mystery box — a randomized weapon dispenser inspired by CoD Zombies.

Core features:

• Costs points to roll

• Cycles through random weapons with an animated raise/lower sequence

• Plays a looping jingle (Teddy Bears Picnic) while rolling

• Lets the player accept the weapon with [F]

• If you already own the weapon, it instead refills your ammo

The whole system is modular, using a list of weapon GameObjects and a bunch of coroutine magic to make the animations smooth. I also integrated ammo refill logic so weapons not currently held get topped up when unequipped, and duplicates from the box get max ammo instead of cluttering your inventory.

Next Up

• Create more perks with unique effects (e.g., Blastproof Bourbon, Phantom Punch, Voltage Vodka)

• Expand the mystery box with rarity weighting or Pack-a-Punch integration

• Build out the perk UI — currently it's all debug logs and placeholders