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Zombie Activity issue


JudasPriest

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When you think of it zombies are pretty boring in this game. When i'm walking around looting and i see a horde, they're not shambling mindlessly looking for meat like proper zombies, but rather standing still with their undead buddies looking at the ground hoping some fresh meat to appear at their feet. And whenever they are actively walking (Which is rare for me) it's only for a few feet until they go back to statue mode. I was wondering if there was any sort of Mod or anything that made them actively move around? Thanks. 

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I think both the hearing and the general nosiness of the zed could be improved. Very seldom do I worry about breaking windows even in eyeshot of groups of zed- certain features of zombie behavior can be improved, i think, to make it more visceral. That said, I think zed are currently set as "good enough for now" and adding the major content features has been the name of the game. Once more of the cars/anims/maps are in, then it will really make sense to do some core revisits to zombie migration patterns and some of the larger scale world issues.  

 

I've tried coming up with sandbox settings that give the appropriate lower intensity at the initial start and then growing hoards over the next 60 days, thinning out the groups and then upping the hearing a bit. I don't like sprinters (which make it very challenging) . Most of the time, sheer numbers and volume of zed is the easiest way to make them more threatening. This isn't very much fun all the time, though, where every area is slammed with zeds at 4.0 settings. Its tough to find a balance that makes the beginning tense but not apocalyptic and the end threatening.

 

One thing I would like to see is more periodic, and dynamic extremes of zombie density and interest. I want them to be like the wind, blowing through the area and coming and going. where somedays is really threatening but if you're quiet and get through it they can move on. 

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7 hours ago, thiosk said:

I think both the hearing and the general nosiness of the zed could be improved. Very seldom do I worry about breaking windows even in eyeshot of groups of zed- certain features of zombie behavior can be improved, i think, to make it more visceral. That said, I think zed are currently set as "good enough for now" and adding the major content features has been the name of the game. Once more of the cars/anims/maps are in, then it will really make sense to do some core revisits to zombie migration patterns and some of the larger scale world issues.  

 

I've tried coming up with sandbox settings that give the appropriate lower intensity at the initial start and then growing hoards over the next 60 days, thinning out the groups and then upping the hearing a bit. I don't like sprinters (which make it very challenging) . Most of the time, sheer numbers and volume of zed is the easiest way to make them more threatening. This isn't very much fun all the time, though, where every area is slammed with zeds at 4.0 settings. Its tough to find a balance that makes the beginning tense but not apocalyptic and the end threatening.

 

One thing I would like to see is more periodic, and dynamic extremes of zombie density and interest. I want them to be like the wind, blowing through the area and coming and going. where somedays is really threatening but if you're quiet and get through it they can move on. 

Exactly. I do hope they will Atleast eventually, Make the zombies a little more active. Because that adds to the scary part, it makes you want to think more, Strategize. It's easy to get into a building with all the zombies sitting in one corner. That's a completely different story if they're shambling all over the street, Which makes the player have to think under pressure, and that adds to the realism and the effect of the game. 

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Yeah, pretty much. 

 I think once they get The Feature That Shall Not Be Named in (And no, it's not anims :P) they really aught to take a long, hard look at a "Campaign" mode where you start off initial infection with low Z-count and a buttload of NPCs and few zombies, but ratchet things up as time goes on, but in a way that's a bit more... fun?  Initial infection on "Normal" is more or less a snore-fest... but bumping up to other difficulties, I hit spots where I'm able to survive but it just isn't all that fun anymore, if that makes sense.  And depending on the difficulty and "Time since start of infection" hitting the non-fun zone can come pretty quickly.

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More random wandering would be a good thing. Would probably increase server load a bit.. But I agree the statue zombies aren't a good thing.

 

To split the difference (and server load?) maybe have indoor zombies stand around much as they do now, since there is less stimulus to react to, and have the outdoor ones wander more, since they're the ones that need to be more "lively." :)

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You can change how often the zed travel in the zed settings now so you can change these values yourself.

 

Personally I think the docile zed fit the zed lore better as I've never thought of "dead zed" as the explorer types.

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18 minutes ago, Paul Redeker said:

It would be nice if you could mix and match.  So when you approach a horde or building, 10 or 20% turn out to be sprinters.   Something like that.

 

That's a cool idea. I think I'd set the number very low so when it does happen, it'd be real shock. Would be scary.

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4 hours ago, BoogieMan said:

 

That's a cool idea. I think I'd set the number very low so when it does happen, it'd be real shock. Would be scary.

 

 

Speaking of sprinters, do they still use the same running animation as humans? I always found that to be quite immersion-breaking. However, I wanna do a game soon with strong sprinter zombies that are practically blind and deaf. I'm getting to that point where I need new challenges as well.

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Jesus Christ no sprinters. Sprinters suck. There is no terror with sprinting Zombies. The main point about zombies is that they are slow, tough, and relentless. Sprinters are cheap. The main point with slow zombies is that there is hope, hope that you can kill all of them and hope that you can squeak by the horde as they swarm around your building. You get a group of sprinters coming at you and there is no hope. Let go of the keyboard right now because you are dead. Om nom nom.

 

Randomly adding sprinters into a house or horde is also bad design. You know when zombies are in front of you and behind you that you can time when and where they will come from. Now there is also one sprinter that COMES UP BEHIND YOU even though you checked it two seconds ago and game over. You got bit. You plan the pacing and timing of zombies and because one sprinter was behind a house two frames after you looked away your playthrough is killed.

The zombies of this game can use some fine-tuning. Reacting to windows breaking more would really make you use the "break" option seriously. Should you break in or try the window again? Maybe break a window in order to distract a few zombies, luring them in. See that is adding strategy to the game. Taking threats and using them to your advantage not only is a danger to the new player, but as the player evolves they can use it to a boon. Guns are a fantastic example of this. Need to loot a place? Fire a gun a block away and RUN. Risk, strategy and possible rewards come from your understanding of the hordes and the game itself.

 

If there were a chance of sprinters, you wouldn't do that because you'd have to fire, switch weapons (because good luck using a gun with RNG), and then fight off sprinters while a horde is coming after you, which might be blocking more sprinters that will break away and chase for you to deal with as you try to run away.

Migrating hordes on a more larger scale would be great. Identifying them before they RANDOMLY show up at your base (no script for them to find you, apart from noise) and taking strategy to lure them out (guns, setting off alarms) and away from your base is another example of the threat/positive system.

 

The thing is, and in all zombie survival situations, zombies aren't the main threat. They are surely the short term threat in terms of making sure you don't get bit and such. However the long term challenges are food, water and not dying by wasting away in the winter. NPCs when they are added will be a long term issue due to the fact that no AI will be perfect and that they gotta eat too.

 

That is the long term issue with having zombies. The only issue is going to be "Okay we just gotta throw more of them at the player" is the main difficulty of the zeds.

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19 minutes ago, Damien Darkside said:

*snip*

 

 

I was initially neutral to the idea of random sprinters, but you got your point across extremely effectively and I align with your stance due to the fact that you thoroughly explained its effect on gameplay. Great post, very well said. ;-)

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1 hour ago, Viral Influx said:

I think that having a preference among the zombies options that allow the setting of sprinters to add to the mix would be awesome. I think setting it around 2-5% could create some good scares.

Among the zombie options, yes, but not as a part of the main game.

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