Zombie spawning might need some work

[willow512]

But i'm still very maddened by how zombies are currently working. I played in sandbox mode with low zombie density. After 3 days, there are about 500+ zombies within an ingame 1/4 mile radius of my base and nearby storage house. This lead to my death because this new zombie walking seems a little broken atm. Seems like they just walk at your position instead of randomly and the very few map sounds don't really lead them away anymore. I mean I miss the big group of a hoard all grouped together not really moving since no food was to be found, where you could at least use strategy and sound to lead them out of your way. Currently these 500+ zombies are spread out and there is just no possible way to kill them all, lead them away from my base, or anything else. Very maddening. I appreciate all the work you do but can you explain why I have 500+ zombies in such a cluster fook in a low zombie density setting? Would very much like to know if this is a bug in settings, AI, pathfinding, etc. 

I kinda agree with this, it seems that wherever you are zombies just begin to eventually spawn. I could be wrong but the meta game events seem spread around the player, which causes any meta game event to draw zombies into your area. 

 

If you go to the western farm, and stay there minding your own business, farming crops and building walls, then the odds of a large horde arriving should be minimal. It could have course happen. But it should be rare. Right now it seems that wherever you settle, a big horde will arrive on your doorstep in a few days.

 

The spawning is also a little off. I even had a zombie spawn inside my fence once, I was gardning with my back turned to a blind fence that surrounded a very small and uncluttered area, then suddenly a zombie appeared behind me. Even Ezio Auditore could not have repeated that feat. Great way to keep me on my toes. But not as realistic as I'd hope. If a zombie is inside my walls, I expect the barrier to be broken.

Ok so I posted this to the forum, went to bed in the northern farm, not a zombie in sight. The next morning I wake up, save, reload, brush my teeth, look out over my new porch and shat my pants.

 

I don't understand why they're there or have any idea on how to get rid of them. I've heard no gunshots or other meta game events, and even if I had, I'd figure I'd be out of earshot. Maybe 2 or three would show up but that would be it. The area was deserted, I walked around to be sure.

 

I arrived at the farm two days before the screenshot. I wanted to build a fortress here and go for a long term self sufficiency game staying away from the town and just laying low, trying to finally get some seeds to grow. The day before I chopped some wood and broke the door to the hen house because there was one of those deadheads hiding in there. I also planted some seeds and watered them.

 

I'm posting this in bugs, to hopefully raise this functionality to bug status, because I very much doubt that just planting 100 zombies in formation in the players backyard is intended. I'm sure there are better ways of doing it. If it were the first time I'd see this I'd consider it a fluke, but it isn't, this happens a lot (See quoted post). And to be honest, it ruined this game for me. I could roll with the punches and go someplace else. But I keep doing that, the game before this one the same thing happened, I wanted to try my hands at base building. But I'm pretty sure that if I go someplace else and start building in just a few days I'll find a horde parked outside in a similar fashion.

 

 

[nasKo]

Rats. I'm so used to running the EXE directly. I didn't let Desura work its magic.

Desura isn't the latest release.

The latest builds are on the Steam beta branch of the game.

http://projectzomboid.com/blog/2013/09/steam-keys-available-to-all-customers/

[dupedupeshakur]

After reading through the last 12 pages of posts, I'm saddened a bit.  It's become clear to me that comparatively to other reported "issues", this seems to affect a significant sample of people adversely.  The arguing over whether what some have observed as being a "bug", "design flaw" or "intended behavior" draws away from the fact that many would like to see a change in the current behavior.  I hope the sheer length of the this thread draws the appropriate level of attention from development in this regard.   

 

Thank you devs for making it clear that this is being looked at!

 

As a professional software tester, I can safely say that there are people in *software development* that don't always properly distinguish software defects from design, and often mistake intended design as unintended.  My ask to the Mods is for some additional patience and empathy for players expressing their concerns, and likewise, that players try not to make assumptions as to what a design flaw may be.  Stating that you dislike "behavior x" (while not a bug and shouldn't be reported as one) would be a better way to put it, and IMO more likely fitting in a suggestions thread. 

 

/soapbox

I love this game

[Rathlord]

Rest assured we take all complaints seriously, the mods (including myself) just wanted to be sure we had factual reports. The spawning system has actually changed since this was reported, and things should be much better.