Question about zombie spawn system

[FTR]

Hello,

 

I wonder how spawn system actually works? Does it depend of amount of zombies in the area (too few zombies cause spawn of new ones to trigger) or overall amount of zombies on the map or something completly else?

 

Or maybe zombies always spawn despite of how many zombies there are, therefore forcing you to kill them non stop?

 

Do more zombies spawn the more time you survived?

 

Is there rule - more zombies in the city, less in the wild (like hut in the middle of the forest or farm) or it's completly random?

[Svarog]

The map is divided into cells and chunks. One chunk is what you see rendered on screen. A cell is a bunch of chunks. Each cell has a set Maximum Zombie Population. If number of zombies in a given cell < Max Population, respawning happens using the variables set in Sandbox options (Idk the exact ones in Survival)

So Zombies only respawn when you kill them and then only after X amount of time passes.

Zombies will not respawn inside a chunk that was recently visited by the player but zombies can migrate between chunks so it might appear that they did respawn. Killing a massive amount of zombies within a few chunks can appear like zombies randomly respawned to repopulate but it is not the case, each Chunk also has a set population (a % of Cell's Max), if said population < desired population. Zombies will migrate from populated chunks to populate the barren one.

Yes, there is a rule where urban areas are more populated than wild ones, however, as of Build 32 zombies can migrate to wild areas en masse if they hear something really loud going on in there. Eventually they will go back to their cell/chunk but they can do a lot of damage while they're migrating.

Edit: Note, I might have completely mixed up cells and chunks, I'm never 100% sure about which is which.

[EnigmaGrey]

A chunk is a 10 x 10 area; the visible area on screen is 50 x 50 tiles, or 5 x 5 chunks. There are 300 tiles within a single cell.

[Svarog]

A chunk is a 10 x 10 area; the visible area on screen is 50 x 50 tiles, or 5 x 5 chunks. There are 300 tiles within a single cell.

I knew I messed it up, thanks for clarifying.

[FTR]

Thank you that's a lot useful info.

 

So that means random events (chopper/woman screaming/gunshots etc.) are not really random but happen when zombies have to be redirected to repopulate certain chunks?

[Svarog]

Thank you that's a lot useful info.

 

So that means random events (chopper/woman screaming/gunshots etc.) are not really random but happen when zombies have to be redirected to repopulate certain chunks?

They are random, repopulation can happen without them. They exist to make it feel more natural and keep the player feeling threatened at all times.

[pesudopnuk]

Do these events appear only near a player or are they always calculated for the whole map?

[cool daddy shark]

Do these events appear only near a player or are they always calculated for the whole map?

 

I think someone has a bag of them and only throws them at the player when he is mad. Kinda like popcorn.

[CaptKaspar]

 

Do these events appear only near a player or are they always calculated for the whole map?

 

I think someone has a bag of them and only throws them at the player when he is mad. Kinda like popcorn.

 

 

the GOVERNOR! Sadistic Director.

[Svarog]

 

 

Do these events appear only near a player or are they always calculated for the whole map?

 

I think someone has a bag of them and only throws them at the player when he is mad. Kinda like popcorn.

 

 

the GOVERNOR! Sadistic Director.

 

Sometimes I wonder if El Gobernador is in already and I just missed a mondoid or something because the game does tend to throw me out of the most remote locations using zombie hordes sometimes, and I live there quiet as a mouse. I like it.

[Suomiboi]

Do these events appear only near a player or are they always calculated for the whole map?

Iirc it's calculated by chunks in the player's cell and by cells in everywhere else.