Troy Liston

Zombies are coming to RADelaide!!!

Everyone privately wonders or even debates openly what they would do if a Zombie Apocalypse ever actually Occured....

With Our Final HourZ....... YOU finally get that chance!!!

Our Final HourZ is a Real Life Zombie Survival Simulator set inside an abandoned 6000m2 building in the south of Adelaide. It draws its inspiration from Zombie Survival video games and requires you to work in Co-Op, scavenge for supplies from your surrounding areas and rely on teamwork to survive. Survival is one thing, but saving the world by finding the cure to the Z virus is a whole nother story.  Teams will need to work together to scavenge for supplies, weapons, ammo, health kits, keys and anything else that you think might help you and your crew get out in one piece and the cure intact.

Unlike other Zombie Simulators on the market, Our Final HourZ is an all inclusive full day event that gives our customers the opportunity to be both the hunter and the hunted. We give every participant the chance to gear up as “The Survivors” trying to complete our survival course in an attempt to save the world. You’ll also get the chance to get your Zombie on by dressing up in our professionally made  Zombie costumes in an effort to take down the human race and let the undead inherit the earth.

THE TEAM

The key to any successful team is making sure that you get the right people in to get the job done properly and the team here at Our Final HourZ is no different.

At the helm are Tom Moore and Troy Liston who have over 30 years of combined experience running a variety of different businesses and Corporate Teams all over Adelaide. 

You’d have to think that if two mates have been willing to dedicate the last 2.5 years of their lives to bringing a Zombie Apocalypse Simulator to life then they’d have to be pretty big fans of the genre. Well you’d be right. 

While watching many Zombie movies and spending countless hours playing the video games we started talking about what we’d do if a Zombie Apocalypse ever occurred. 

Plans started to be formulated and some of the details were hotly debated. It was during one of these discussions that one of us said “How cool would it be to have a Zombie Simulator that actually tested many of the skills you needed to survive”. And from that conversation the concept for Our Final HourZ was born.

It was early 2015 when things first started and we spent the next 6 months or so working out how we’d take our concept into a workable business and speculated if it would even work. Then came the challenge of finding a venue, speaking to council and trying to find someone that would insure us. 

After getting all that lined up we thought it was time to test the waters and see if there was a market for our idea and we could think of nothing better than the 2015 Adelaide Zombie Walk. The response that we got came as no real surprise, but it lit the fire underneath us that still burns powerfully today.

The next two years certainly threw many challenges our way from both a personal and professional point of view and no challenge has been bigger than getting council approval for our venue. The Compound, as we affectionately call it, could not be more perfect if we tried. We’ll say it again. IT'S PERFECT!! The problem that we’ve faced is trying to bring a building that was built over a 100 years ago (and been abandoned for over a decade) up to current day Fire Safety and Building codes. Added to this we’ve had Fire Engineers, Structural Engineers and Environmental Consultants  make sure that we provide the safest venue possible. 

With all that said and done we only need to cross off the final few stages and council approval will be finalised. While the challenges we’ve faced have tested our resilience on many levels and have sometimes lead to months on end of us simply treading water, giving up on this dream of ours was never in the equation.  

Apart from the FACT that we have the most badass venue in all of Australia organised (exact location to be revealed after we hit our goal) we needed to find someone that could help us make it darker and creepier than The Compound already was. So we thought there’d be nobody better than award winning Adelaide based set designer and director, David Lampard, to help create the most amazing set possible.

What good would be having an awesome set if we didn’t have the costumes to match..... So the hunt started. They needed to be an Adelaide local, they needed to have over 20years of experience in the costume industry and needed to be just as big a Zombie tragic as us..... That’s right Tribe we had to get FANCY THAT down at Christies beach on board and they’ve drawn on the decades of experience to come up with an awesome range of costumes just for you.

Now if you’re gonna be saving the world and getting chased down by hungry ass zombies in the process then you want to be damn sure you get your hands on the most technically advanced hardware to GET THE JOB DONE!! Maybe the type of hardware that the US SWAT, FBI, Homeland Security, Police and military use during their tactical training yeah? The guys at iCOMBAT were our next port of call. Let’s make this easy for you. 3 different types of assault rifles (these are so realistic SAPOL approval was required to even allow them in the state), pistols (see previous SAPOL approval), live noise, muzzle flash and actual recoil, interchangeable 25 shot magazines, PAIN BELTS (that’s right you’ve read it correctly PAIN BELTS!!), stun grenades, zombie mode and a fully electronic tagging and scoring system. NUFF SAID!! **drops mike**

The story behind the outbreak and what happened inside The Compound that lead to the place being overrun is a key component to making Our Final HourZ one of the most immersive experiences available. To help breath life into the backstory we brought together a collaborative group of writers that have been working tirelessly to bring depth to the characters that you will be meeting, helping and interacting with in the story. Added to that we are also working closely on a back story for The Compound which will allow our fans to get the heads up on the hidden Easter Eggs throughout the facility. 

Since the very early days we've had the wonderful team at Paradox Marketing helping to give Our Final HourZ a voice and profile on Social Media. And like a crafty zombie waiting for its chance to pounce they are quietly preparing to launch our live website in the weeks after we hit or fundraising goal. We can't thank Joshua Ballard enough for all the support and guidance he's given us over the last 12mths and look forward to many more ahead of us.

Added to this already gun team has been a dedicated group of structural engineers, environmental consultants, OH&S consultants, lighting techs, sound engineers, town planners, makeup artists, SFX designers, accountants, business advisors and the list goes on. We've worked tirelessly over the last 2 years with these people so that when we hit out target we can bring you the most immersive zombie experience that Australia has even seen.

The funds raised can be broken into 6 main categories - Admin Building, Laser tag gear, Costumes, Set Design, General Expenses and Business running costs.

Admin Building

 We will need to create a safe haven for everyone where people can meet at the start of the day and somewhere to escape to after each session. In here we'll have change rooms, toilets, locker rooms, merchandise and a stocked canteen so that you can replenish your energy ready for the next session.

Laser Tag

 As you've seen we have the most advanced laser tag technology IN THE WORLD lined up JUST FOR YOU!! This sort of tech does not come cheaply, but it's an area where skimping out and taking second best just wouldn't do. Using a second rate product that looks more at home in a Sci-Fi movie would only detract from the experience and draw you away from the realism that Our Final HourZ brings.

Costumes

 At the start of each day every customer will be issued with two costumes that will be theirs for the entire day. As much as the apocalypse will be a sweaty and dusty place there is no need to share your costume with others on the day. Our Z costumes will come in a variety of different styles but each one will have its own individual identity in the story, so it's first in best dressed. LITERALLY!!

Set Design 

With a facility as awesome as The Compound the set design is like adding the icing and sprinkles to your favourite cake. We'll open up this part of the budget to the experts and let them do what they do best.

General Expenses

This will cover all of the additional items that are the one off purchases like the GoPro's that will be mounted on every survivors helmet, signage, CB radios, SFX , crowdfunding cost etc etc.

Business running costs

Now with so many of the "donation" amounts having tickets to Our FinalHourZ attached to it, something we needed to factor into our budget was the fact that while people are redeeming their tickets each week we will be having very few paying customers in the first 4-5 months of trading. So what we've done is allocate a portion of our goal to business running costs, so that we can stay trading during that period. ;) smart thinking .. we know

As with any start up business there are numerous challenges that lie ahead. Time is always one of the major factors when building something from the ground up and once we hit our goal ;) the more time we can free up from our normal 9-5 commitments the sooner we can breathe life into Our Final HourZ. The key to doing this will be to not only hit our crowdfunding target but continue to raise funds well past our target goal.

Community support is paramount in any crowdfunding project and that will be no different for us, however support can come in many ways. Obviously "cash is king" the main way that you can support us is by committing to one of our rewards and hopefully with enough support we exceed our goal. Secondary to that is the fact that Our Final HourZ is a team based event, so if you are keen to come and experience an immersive Zombie Experience like nothing you've ever seen before then start building your team and get them all to contribute.

The last point is a simple one and one that you can be part of even if you are not in a position to financially contribute. We all know the power of social media and the part that it plays in our lives, so maybe your part in this campaign is to help spread the word about what we are doing over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blogs or even amongst friends and family.  Who knows the one extra person you tell about us could be the difference between us hitting our goal or not. And then you can come and visit us once we are open. Let's not forget that even the people that are able to contribute can help spread the word too.

The easiest way for you to share our campaign page is by clicking the links at the top of the page. 

We're confident that with a passionate and enthusiastic group of Tribe mates helping us beat our drum this campaign will be a success and we can all “Help bring The Zombie Apocalypse to life”