# "Infestation" map ideas



## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Looking for some creative ideas for a zombie infestation map we plan to use in our haunt this year. A portion of it will be a zombie research facility that has been over-run. We are putting the elements together now but one of the things we want is a large map showing areas of the U.S. that have been infected/infested. This will hang on a wall in one of the scenes. Saw this on a website and can print it out/enlarge it but any ideas on how to mark it or show infected areas. Open to all ideas.
TIA

http://www.50states.com/maps/usamap.htm


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

What kind of conditions would this be shown in? e.g. A dark room with spotlights and or blacklights, posted on a wall with miscellaneous ambient lighting, etc.
How close will the viewers be?
How technical or crude do you want it, the indicators, to look?

Using fluorescent paints or glow in the dark paints to "highlight" the "infected areas" with a mildly strobing light source would make those areas glow with an unnatural light or color. To keep it from looking like it was done by a third grader, you might use a mister or spritzer to apply a fine mist of the paints over the areas you wish to highlight. Having the colors fairly subtle when exposed to normal light just raises the creepy factor when the lights strobe of flicker. You have lots of options to play with, it's just a matter of what you want and need.


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

It will be in a darkened room/area with ambient light. Patrons will likely be about 4-5 feet away from it. As far as the indicators, I'd like it to look as though the infection area was expanded manually by someone; thinking of shading in some areas on the map, leaving some remote areas unshaded or lightly shaded. I had even considered using a lot of push pins as indicators, maybe with different colored heads?


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Found something like this which is pretty close to what we had in mind


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

The CDC and USGS have some maps that could spark ideas.

Lyme disease interactive:

http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/maps/interactivemaps.html

Seasonal influenza:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/usmap.htm

West Nile Virus:

http://diseasemaps.usgs.gov/wnv_us_human.html


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## Rahnefan (May 1, 2009)

Love this idea. What I'd do is create an animated map that shows the spread of infection, and loop it in a digital picture frame or projector. If you know how to use Flash it should be easy. I made a demo of one in 2004 and can send you the .fla if you like.


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

RoxyBlue said:


> The CDC and USGS have some maps that could spark ideas.
> 
> Seasonal influenza:
> 
> http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/usmap.htm


I love the influenza one, especially the key that says how much activity is in a certainb area. I could do something similar but change things up to read "overrun", etc..



Rahnefan said:


> Love this idea. What I'd do is create an animated map that shows the spread of infection, and loop it in a digital picture frame or projector. If you know how to use Flash it should be easy. I made a demo of one in 2004 and can send you the .fla if you like.


Cool idea. I may play around with it a bit to see what it looks like. Thanks for the offer!


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## Rahnefan (May 1, 2009)

Also this map of Wal-Mart expansion is great, but is not a layout of equally distributed dots: http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/ But I can think of a few ways to do the same thing with a lite-brite looking map.


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Rahnefan said:


> Also this map of Wal-Mart expansion is great, but is not a layout of equally distributed dots: http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/ But I can think of a few ways to do the same thing with a lite-brite looking map.


Holy crap!! Walmart spreads faster than any zombie apocalypse!


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

Setting, theme and environmental conditions are key components that drive the look of your map.

What year is your zombie attack, what setting will you be in and what are they conditions of the environment (e.g. clean, dirty, etc.)


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## MapThePlanet (Nov 12, 2010)

This one is interactive. http://wonderfl.net/c/uodm


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

Wow - that is certainly 'the' infestation map! 

There might be a better way to do this, but as a simple hack, I think I'd play the animation in a player so I could adjust size / ratio to fill my screen, set up screencast-o-matic and record a video of one 'infestation' run. Then edit that a bit and play it in a loop. Or maybe make several videos with different starting locations, and let them all play in one loop. With appropriate titles and/or commentary, it could make for an interesting display on a video projector or computer screen.

This last scenario is the most interesting to me, because no matter where it starts, it doesn't really stop until the whole world is infested...save generally Greenland and a few remote islands.

Say...not to steal the topic, but how is that ebola doing??


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## provprops (Jun 18, 2014)

*Plague Inc.*

You could record the game as you play. With the ability to start in different locations, mutations for the virus, and etc... One could record it, edit the video, loop playback.

Most any project as this, I always enjoy the quick and easy. This route allows for complete video progress without building the animation from the ground up. Win Win!


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## Mattimus (Oct 23, 2013)

MapThePlanet said:


> This one is interactive. http://wonderfl.net/c/uodm


 Map, you have the perfect name for this post. I played with this program for the last 15 minutes.... FUN!


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## MapThePlanet (Nov 12, 2010)

I did the same thing when I found it.....and still go back and play!! It is pretty kewl!!


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