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Zombies shouldn't pick roam targets in a circle - obstructions should be considered


MXXIV

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A problem you can often observe is how zombies

 

  1. Jump back and forth over a fence, looks really funny when whole group does that.
  2. Walk long distances around the fences to get to the opposite side, for no reason (not chasing the player)

This is caused due to random new target being picked in random distance and angle of the zombie. Instead, ray-cast should be used. Or maybe ray-cast already is used but fences, windows or doors are not considered.

 

In the most ideal case zombies should still roam over fences, windows atc, but less likely. This would make it a nice probability defense line (eg. build a fence to keep most of them out).

 

I made an image to explain the problem:

 

i9eM8.png

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A problem you can often observe is how zombies

 

  • Jump back and forth over a fence, looks really funny when whole group does that.
  • Walk long distances around the fences to get to the opposite side, for no reason (not chasing the player)
This is caused due to random new target being picked in random distance and angle of the zombie. Instead, ray-cast should be used. Or maybe ray-cast already is used but fences, windows or doors are not considered.

 

In the most ideal case zombies should still roam over fences, windows atc, but less likely. This would make it a nice probability defense line (eg. build a fence to keep most of them out).

 

I made an image to explain the problem:

 

i9eM8.png

I agree zombies shouldnt vault fences unless provoked by something :P so creating a perimeter fence can be usefull

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What irks me about this issue is how the zombies know the most efficient way to get to that point on the other side of a wall/fence/etc. They don't try to go through the fence, wander about a bit and then eventually find their way around it. They immediately walk around the obstacle in the most efficient manner possible.

 

If a zombie hears a noise on the other side of a tall fence, why would they know to immediately go around it? Wouldn't they try to go in a straight line to that stimulant? Once they hit an obstacle they blunder about for a bit and maybe eventually find a way around it? There is no point in putting obstacles in a zombies path if they know how to get past them in the quickest and most efficient manner.

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8 hours ago, CaptKaspar said:

What irks me about this issue is how the zombies know the most efficient way to get to that point on the other side of a wall/fence/etc. They don't try to go through the fence, wander about a bit and then eventually find their way around it. They immediately walk around the obstacle in the most efficient manner possible.

 

If a zombie hears a noise on the other side of a tall fence, why would they know to immediately go around it? Wouldn't they try to go in a straight line to that stimulant? Once they hit an obstacle they blunder about for a bit and maybe eventually find a way around it? There is no point in putting obstacles in a zombies path if they know how to get past them in the quickest and most efficient manner.

The first part is because these walls/fences are considered uninteractable. There's nothing to run into. This is done for performance reasons.

 

The second part is . . . obviously a mistake, since anything the player places is IsoThumpable, meaning zombies do collide and try to go through that object.

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17 hours ago, EnigmaGrey said:

The first part is because these walls/fences are considered uninteractable. There's nothing to run into. This is done for performance reasons.

 

The second part is . . . obviously a mistake, since anything the player places is IsoThumpable, meaning zombies do collide and try to go through that object.

I think just about everyone is a big fan of performance, but maybe in this case zombie behavior should supersede system performance?

Zombie behavior has a direct impact on game-play. How they respond and behave often dictates how we respond and play. Performance is also important because bad performance can hinder game play and make the game unplayable. I have a decent rig and if I got to choose, I would choose the more believable zombie behavior over performance. This sounds like a tricky double-edged sword though. On one hand you could make the zombies more believable, which IMO, would make for a better game. But, on the other hand you could alienate some of the player-base by raising the performance limits. Tough call... I personally would like to see a more believable behavior though.

I haven't tested this, but do zombies interact with placed furniture by the player? If I put a pre-existing chair in a zombie's path, they wouldn't attack the chair would they? Player built objects they would.

 

Edited by CaptKaspar
grammar
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42 minutes ago, CaptKaspar said:

I haven't tested this, but do zombies interact with placed furniture by the player? If I put a pre-existing chair in a zombie's path, they wouldn't attack the chair would they? Player built objects they would.

 

They do attack moved furniture too, at least when they see you, I've been barricading with furniture and for a while. I can't confirm if they will attack it just so, or only if they saw you (but they attack furniture that is not essentially blocking the only way to you though.

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On 29. 2. 2016 at 2:53 AM, EnigmaGrey said:

The first part is because these walls/fences are considered uninteractable. There's nothing to run into. This is done for performance reasons.

 

The second part is . . . obviously a mistake, since anything the player places is IsoThumpable, meaning zombies do collide and try to go through that object.

The second part is not mistake. It's because zombies use generic A* pathfinder. They optimize their path to the sound location by cost, and walking around is considered better than thumping. Instead of A* some simpler (faster) algorithm would actually make better zombies.

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