Lightning and thunderstorms should be the "helicopter event" of the mid to late game.

[Irken Empire]

So you've survived for some days, it's still early game and everything's still rough and BAM as you're reading in your safehouse a huge source of noise appears and goes north,east,west,south for less then a day maybe even less then half of that day, you're like eh ok, you click on the 4x speed and that's it next time you come out the game brought 3 zombies outside of  your house. This is maybe a bit more dangerous on a loot run but all the same, head to the bathroom/upper floor with a book, some food and you've got running water from the toilet, sink, bath. Speed up the time and that's it for the rest of the game forever, sometimes a gunshot will happen that lures 40% percent of a horde to that direction, but thunderstorms and ocasional rainy days with some lightning are a waste of potentional, they are loud as heck, they happen all around you, some are closer and some are further and happen for severl hours or up to a 1-3 days or maybe even longer, if they worked like the helicopter even it would have to keep playeres who survived over a month onto their toes, veterans and those less good altogethe, AEBS would be so much useful and zombie migration would be much more interesting, it could throw medium-huge zombie hordes that you were distracting in the other neighbourhood a few days ago, or just launch an zombie attack from the forest next to you.

This would spice up the game a lot for all kinds of players, the thunder is something that you experience atleast 10 times in a year and zombies love noise. This wouldn't be a feture that you could just you know "I want to turn off the nature" thing, and if it gets added it could force some people to play differently, some people won't leave their home at the sight of the rain, some may prioritize barricading their base before the end of the first month which would require looting for saws, hammers etc. and a thunderstorm might just happend on that loot run forcing you to improvise something.

I thought of this because I've got saves 6+ months old and I don't have any fun playing on them, basically nothing ever happens and a thunderstorm could change that, I'm interested in what you people think.

[undeadryker]

That sounds like an interesting concept, but using "lightning and thunderstorms" in the same sentence as "helicopter events" makes me think that the thunderstorm follows the player in some way. Also, it could severely displace the horde and inadvertently make mid-late game easier if certain areas of the map tends to be stormier than others especially with its advanced weather system. Especially since storms travel, it can just group up all the zombies and carry them to the edges of the map where you can easily avoid them all.

 

There should absolutely be something as drastic and impactful as a helicopter event mid-late game though. I initially thought of a singular bomb dropping that could wipe out an entire area from the outside world to try and clear out the infection. Just one huge single bomb that can be predicted through the use of a radio that can periodically go off (typically in cities and maybe rarely near the player) which not only causes a huge boom but a loud noise that will draw more zombies to it.

[vek]

I have a frequent helicopter arrival and a lot of zombies installed in my sandbox settings, and every week a huge horde of zombies comes to me without any lightning and thunder.

[Irken Empire]

4 hours ago, vek said:

I have a frequent helicopter arrival and a lot of zombies installed in my sandbox settings, and every week a huge horde of zombies comes to me without any lightning and thunder.

Yeah i had those setting on one of my six months later saves and huge zombie hordes came to my base that was located all the way at the Muldraught crossroads, but for a helicopter to be following you every 8 days again and again 2+ years and longer just doesn't make sense and zombies not being inerested in loud noise happening around them is kinda "out of character" thing.

[Irken Empire]

6 hours ago, undeadryker said:

That sounds like an interesting concept, but using "lightning and thunderstorms" in the same sentence as "helicopter events" makes me think that the thunderstorm follows the player in some way. Also, it could severely displace the horde and inadvertently make mid-late game easier if certain areas of the map tends to be stormier than others especially with its advanced weather system. Especially since storms travel, it can just group up all the zombies and carry them to the edges of the map where you can easily avoid them all.

 

There should absolutely be something as drastic and impactful as a helicopter event mid-late game though. I initially thought of a singular bomb dropping that could wipe out an entire area from the outside world to try and clear out the infection. Just one huge single bomb that can be predicted through the use of a radio that can periodically go off (typically in cities and maybe rarely near the player) which not only causes a huge boom but a loud noise that will draw more zombies to it.

Well the thunderclouds do move around so it's not that different at all, actually you could be the one following the clouds when you're in a car etc. It wouldn't affect them that much, the thunder would happen a bit to the south of you or north etc. it would be just a thing that gets them moving if you know what i mean, usually they just idle around and the only time they're dangerous is when they respawn in the chunk where your base is in late game.

Absolutely, and your idea sounds like an interesting concept too, but it would be something that happens in the first month at least , but I'm suggesting something that would/does occur naturally now and then, it's lound and it happens all around you most of the time, it would be an amazing way to spice up the game.

[Zombiologist]

On top of this I'd add lightning strikes. Having had lightning strike near me a few times in life I can imagine the extremely loud boom would probably draw every zombie for miles towards you in zomboid. I think lightning strike fires should be relatively rare though, given they usually happen during rain the fires they start are rarely very big and usually go out fairly quickly in my experiences.

Speaking of weather sometimes wind and rain makes noise by causing different things to move or fall. A gurgling rain gutter, a slamming shutter, the howl of the wind, or heavy rainfall could all stir up zombies. Plus with infrastructure not being maintained strong whether might cause some things to break. Transformers blowing, manhole covers launching off geysers from water pressure buildup, gas leaks, etc.