GodWaffle

Yeah, I think this isn't too important until there's other human presence in the world, when it can actually become useful other than just something funny to watch after you die. -GodWaffle

Hey everyone, As the title says, I'm suggesting some new zombie behaviour. Currently zombies will swarm the player relentlessly, smashing through windows and doors just to get to you, and what they do is scratch and bite you until you drop dead. Then, they mope around or wander off. This, in my opinion, takes away the whole motive for the zombies to come at you in the first place, by nature a zombie's primary objective is to eat. Most people would say this doesn't matter since you're dead anyway, but when NPC's and multiplayer are implemented, it could be a vital survival tactic. Let's go with a scenario: You and your partner are out searching for some supplies for the group, your partner is being clumsy and making too much noise, leaving doors open, etc. Before long you've got a huge amount of zombies swarming, and you end up getting surrounded. Now this story can split two ways: A - Zombie mechanics stay the same, your partner gets caught first, dies within about 7 seconds, the zombies then instantly come for you and thus you die too. B - Zombies feed on people, your partner gets caught first, the zombies pile onto him, tearing him apart and feeding on his flesh, while you sprint past and make it back to your camp. Or even option C - Zombies still feed on people, you're surrounded, your group is relying on you to bring food back, so you make a hard decision and shoot your friend, quickly grab as many supplies as you can from his inventory and run as the zombies pile onto him and eat his body. So we have a pretty cool game mechanic which can lead to realistic scenarios. The feeding behaviour could even be set up in the sandbox options: Under Zombie Lore, we have the 'Feeding Behaviour' dropdown.. - Doesn't eat - Eats living humans - Eats living creatures - Eats any meat The 'eats any meat' option would allow you to use meat as 'trails' for zombies to follow, so you could perhaps lead zombies to a hostile survival group using a trail of meat. Also, they would feed on any dead body lying around on the ground. This entire mechanic would require a new animation for the zombies, and perhaps if a zombie isn't eating much they could decompose faster. Let me know what you think, I'd love to see this implemented -GodWaffle

Pretty interesting ideas, I think the default zombie lore states that the infection is transmitted through blood and saliva, so assuming animals can be carriers (undead animals are a big no I think), then if one has been bitten then there should be a way to check. I believe hunting is a definite feature once animals have been implemented. I personally just can't wait for a bow and arrow/crossbow, we need quiet ways of taking down zombies from a distance. I personally won't be living in the wild so all the camping side of things won't affect me, I'd prefer to have four walls around me and a roof over my head. Probably living near to a forest to hunt in. I'm also wondering - once NPC's/Multiplayer is in, do you think cannibalism will be possible? In the Walking Dead comics there's a group of cannibals that kill and eat other survivors and take their supplies, now not saying I'd do it, but it would be another source of food in the game which could be a way of living for some people. It'd also be interesting if the military/government occasionally carried out supply drops into the map (I believe that the map is quarantined from the outside?), of course these would happen early on and eventually they would stop. Look at most disasters, the government usually drop food and water into the affected area, so it shouldn't be too different? The location of the supply drop could be heard on the radio which is yet to be implemented, and could form interesting scenarios when multiple survivors go for the drop, along with all the zombies that followed the plane/chopper. It would be a pretty intense battle, so you'd want to get in and out quickly. Just my thoughts -GodWaffle

Only way I could really see this working is just not having time fast-forward, I think sleep should last as long as it does when you fast-forward but just without the time passing. This would obviously mean players would basically be 'awake' during the night and day as their sleep essentially lasts for about 15 seconds. Basically, you go to sleep, TIME doesn't pass, but you get rested and wake up again. Only way I can see this working unfortunately. -GodWaffle

Well, seeing as I live in the UK, guns are pretty tough to get hold of.. Hat: I'd keep some form of baseball cap in my bag, wouldn't wear it all the time though Torso: Likely a thin t-shirt, for agility. Legs: Jogging bottoms, again for agility, and I'd wear any trainers, doesn't matter to me which, as long as I can step quietly in them Weapons: Crossbow, for quiet kills and practically infinite ammo. I'd also have a large knife for close quarters Bag: I'd have a quiver for arrows, and a backpack (for agility again) with: -Baseball Cap -Emergency food supplies (not a lot, just enough for a few days if need be) -Emergency water (2x full bottles) -Binoculars -Enough space for any other supplies Traits: Stealthy, good climbing/vaulting/jumping, agile, relatively strong, fast I would likely be the sort of person who would have a base somewhere, but would constantly be going out scavenging for supplies in zombie-infested areas (quieter places will get picked clean), I would try to form a group with close friends, nothing too big though. Instead of a large knife, I think my long-term goal would be to get a hold of two short swords, and dual wield them, great for running through areas cutting through zombie heads. I would be stealthy, and stay off street level as much as possible when going about my hunts for supplies -GodWaffle

I don't like the idea, mainly because you would essnetially change an NPC's personality by playing as them, you may switch to someone who could be about to rob the group or murder someone, and that's the kind of dynamics I want to see with NPC's, I want people to lose their sanity, I want people to betray my group. Once you switch to that person, they're no longer a psycho (you may never know if they were, as they never had the chance to commit the act). I think it would be more exciting to make a new character, and upon arriving at your group's camp, find them all dead/zombified or have this guy as the leader now, and be able to learn about how he went out on a supply run with their old leader and came back alone. It's not a bad idea, but simply because I want NPC's with personalities, I'm gonna have to say it's not for me. -GodWaffle

But it would be more interesting to newcomers if there was an explanation to why you are there at that time without anything and no experience with the zombies at all. I think it would just feel a bit more immersive in my opinion.

I think that weaker zombies could be a pretty awesome addition, I don't really agree with vomiting/exploding zombies though, seems way too 'special infected' for my liking. Fat zombies would be great, except that'd require a ton of new art for fat zombies (clothing for example) in all 8 directions. One thing that could be awesome is if when hunting is added (I believe it's something that will be in the game, correct me if I'm wrong), you could lure hordes to NPC/Other players using trails of meat, this has also been seen in the Walking Dead (Andrew in Season 3, leading all the zombies into their part of the prison, and also in the Season 4 trailer someone is using dead rats or something to lure more and more zombies to the prison). Could be a great tactic for taking out a group without them knowing who is doing it, and especially if you are outnumbered by them, zombies would be a great distraction. I'd love to see a lot more ways to use zombies as weapons too, or distractions, once vehicles are in, you should be able to load up a truck/van with zombies and release them in enemy territory, or lead them there by blasting music out loud. I reference a lot of things from the Walking Dead as I think that's pretty close to what PZ's zombies are like. But before any of this, we need zombies to wander about again, to be honest it's not very realistic (in a zombie context) for them to just stand around until they find people, I think that SOME of them should stand about, but a lot of them should wander about on their own. It's scary to see a horde on the move after hearing a gunshot, but really there should be a threat in smaller groups or single zombies who might wander into your area and catch you off guard. -GodWaffle

Hey guys, I've been thinking about the NPC system that's coming shortly, and I was imagining some scenarios that could be pretty interesting, and then I noticed something about the game that is a bit odd: Zombies don't eat people I think that even when NPC's were last in the game (if memory serves correctly) the zombies would attack the person and once they die, the zombies go about their day. Think about it, by nature, zombies are searching for food, so I think that there should be some sandbox options to accomodate this (in case people wouldn't want it). So we have a new option called: Feeding Behaviour And in options for this we have these: 1. Doesn't eat This option is literally the same as the game currently is, zombies will kill but not eat, they will then mill around or wander off after they kill somebody, leaving that person to turn. 2. Living only This option basically means that zombies will kill and eat anyone who is alive, they won't stop to eat a dead body but if you've just died, then they will feed on you (or an NPC). Of course if someone is eaten then they won't turn into a zombie. 3. Eats everything This option will cause zombies to feed on any meat, whether it is human, animal, alive or dead, they will eat it. They won't eat other zombies while they are still animated, but once you kill zombies, they will feed on the corpses (assuming they haven't seen you).. this option will also have the preference rule, in which they will always choose living meat over dead meat, so if there is a bunch of zombies feeding on corpses and they see you, they will stop eating and come for you. I think this could be interesting as another way of moving zombies about (I also think we need zombies to move on their own again, please), the more bodies you have piled up around your area, the more zombies will be drawn in, so you'll have a big problem on your hands if you don't burn bodies (once it's implemented). So I think this could be interesting, for one thing it's be a lot easier to sneak past zombies that are feeding on bodies, rather than those that are wandering around. Also, you could sacrifice another survivor to escape if you are being overwhelmed (Shane killing Otis in The Walking Dead is a perfect example), injuring or killing the survivor and letting them be eaten to give yourself time to escape. I'm also hoping in future if your legs are injured you'll move slowly and have crawling or limping animations, could be awesome if that was implemented. Thanks for reading, let me know what you guys think of this? -GodWaffle

Personally I'd like to see other starting scenarios such as waking up in the hospital, as cliche as it is it makes a hell of a lot more sense than waking up in a house about a month (by how many zombies there are) after the apocalypse has started without any supplies or anything. I would like to see NPC's panicking and quickly dying out, but if that's a total no, then some other scenarios to start the game in would be neat. -GodWaffle