Thoughts so far + questions (Steam 21 version)

[Guest]

My overall opinion so far is that the game is awesome and has tons of potential.

 

A couple of niggling issues have cropped up for me though, and I was wondering if this was just me or it was a known problem. Also just wondering on peoples thoughts on the Zed issues, if Im just being a softy or if people think the same 

 

1.Character starting/spawning

 

Ive noticed that there appears to be a fixed set of start locations, and very very few of them since I have managed to spawn in the same house 3 times in a row.

 

On top of this the game seems biased to spawning in Muldragh.Ive had multiple games where I started in West Point, gathered a good amount of resources then died. So then I make a new character in the hopes to spawning there to carry on,and load the same save and I have never ever ever managed to spawn in West Point. I can guarantee it isnt chance since I have retried about 10-15 times, and as I said before, I tend to respawn in exactly the same houses over and over in the lower area of Muldragh.

 

2. Zed combat/AI etc

 

Right now, zeds arent exactly balanced fairly. Attacks can be delayed, and can end up hurting you when you are a good 6 feet away from the acttcking Zed. Plus with no way of making armor/protective clothing, it basically is a dice roll when you enter combat whether you live or not.

 

The slowdown from Zeds being near you and following you is way way way too high right now. 2 Zeds with a slightly higher than average speed basically makes it impossible for you to get away. Which leads me into the next point.

 

Very close combat(ie pushing) is just plain bad. Even against a single slow moving zombie its almost impossible to push a zombie to the ground, even with weapons like crowbars. Against multiple enemies, even weapons like Bats basically have no effect in knocking enemies down.

 

The reason I think this is a problem, is because its quite easy to get jumped by 2-3 zombies, and without a gun you are basically resigned to a slow death. If you try running, you essentatially die by 1000 slow cuts as the zombies follow you across the map, and you cant push them away if you decide to go close combat. Its overall just a frustrating position to be in, and I wish there was more I could do to defend myself.

 

This plus the randomness of zombies attributes is a little bit irratating. Running into a zombie that runs ultra fast, and can take 6 baseball bats to the face over and over is basically a game over.

 

 

THAT SAID, I love this game and have been playing it every day almost. The emergent gameplay is a ton of fun

[Cyric]

I can't say much on your first point since I've never actually "continued" a world once I've died. As for your second point, I strongly disagree. I think the individual zombie is in a good place right now. I've never had an issue with being bitten/scratched from 6 feet away nor have I ever had an issue escaping zeds unless they're literally hanging from the back of my vest trying to bite me.

 

As for the pushing mechanic, I suppose I can understand your gripes on the topic but again, I don't have much of a problem with it. More often than not, when I push a zed it falls down. Every now and then a zed gets the jump on me and it takes a couple pushes before it drops, but that doesn't occur too often in my experience. Hell, I shoved a full group of 5 zeds in a single shove once! Granted, not a single one fell and I ended up having to bash 3 of them at once with an axe just to get enough space to start sprinting... I ended up with 3 scratches from that single encounter and I'm a month into that world. Miraculously, my character wasn't infected! Back on track though, I don't think the pushing mechanic is bad or really even frustrating. Honestly, if zeds are getting that close to you on a regular basis then you might want to rethink your strategy (no offense intended).

[EnigmaGrey]

As someone who killed a dozen zombies in a row just by pushing them to the ground and stomping them on the head . . . let me just say that it takes practice to master. It's not necessarily broken.

I'd suggest checking your framerate with an external program like FRAPS then setting your framelock to 30 and changing your resolution to the lowest necessary to maintain 30 FPS in all situations.  Zombies shouldn't be running or able to attack you outside of melee range.

[hyansith]

Starting houses are fixed to the starting professions as far as i'm aware. So if you always choose construction worker, you will always start in one of the starter houses allocated to that profession. 

 

Make sure you charge your attacks sufficiently before engaging a zombie, if you do this you should be able to knock them down easily and then finish them off once they are on the ground. 

[Invader Jim]

If you die the default location is Muldaugh. I don't have a link to the post but a developer commented that it would change. Ideally it would default to the city you died or started in but that was not stated.

 

Combat seems balanced to me. I have absolutely no fear in 1 on 1 if I see the zombie first. I have knocked down 3 at once. I don't recommend getting that close to 3 at once though.

 

It sounds like you may be getting some lag. Change your grphics settings as instructed above. Also, you should be able to walk faster than the fastest zombie unless there is somethng wrong with you. Are you encumbered? Are you drenched/wet? Do you have any other conditions that are slowing you down?

 

Nothing is broken concerning knock downs. I can do it bare handed. Timing is important. Don't rapidly click attacks. If you just click incessantly you will most likely die. Practice your timing a lot. Do it one on one. Avoid facing more than one at a time until you have mastered killing one. I usually kite a little with multiple zombies but be careful to watch your back. When I first started I did not understand the mechanics of fighting well and got killed a lot.

 

I don't follow the advice in the in game "how to" guide to charge into an attack. I typically am standing still or walking forwARD or backwards if I am kiting.

[EnigmaGrey]

Really, about combat, the best thing you can do is ignore the in-game guide now. It was written during a simpler time.

[American Steel]

What everyone here has said is solid advice, but it does not point to the biggest pain in the butt Zed in the game... crawlers.  If you see a corpse and know it is a Zed playing possum, dont approach it head on (or foot on).  They have a disgusting reach and can scratch your very easily.

1. If you have to approach the head, do so slowly and back up.  Move forward a bit to bait it and back up.  Then it will not get you with the suprise attack.
2. Attack them from the flanks.  Crawlers move slow and you can dance around to the side or behind them.  Then "boot to the head!"
3. If you dont have to engage them, then dont.  If you open a bathroom door, the moodle pops and you see a crawler; close the damn door!  Tight quaters plus insane reach = you getting down with the sickness.  The bottle of bleach and tube of toothpaste is not worth your life.  I have gone so far as to drop a plank and barricade a bathroom door!  I can just see my guy scrawling "Dead Inside" or "Out of Service" across the plank.
4. Save your ammo.  I have had terrible luck shooting at crawlers.  It is like my sprite was not informed to aim down a bit and then pull the trigger.  I am shouting "Hey!  I cant hit this weak Zed crawling toward me.  Can someone lend me a hand!?"
5. Crawlers love trailer parks.  I dont know why this is.  I always see a larger amount of crawlers around trailer parks than I do anywhere else.  It is bad enough that every other trailer has a house alarm but crawlers too.  Just say No!

[Jatta Pake]

Crawlers take some finesse.  I like to sprint behind them and kill with two hits.  They usually get about 90 degrees turned before I land my first blow, but I can get off three hits.  If they aren't dead in three, I back away and sprint around again.

 

The trailer parks are good for boxes of nails. (Beta Build 21).

 

Pushing gets you killed.  Charge your blow and hit with a longer ranged melee weapon like a bat so they fall down in one hit.  If the zombies aren't falling due to hits, you might be: tired, exerted (pink lung moodle), hungry or injured.  Best not to fight in any of those states.  Only fight zombies at full health.  Also, fighting over encumbered is a death sentence.  Drop your crap before fighting.  You can always get your stuff back later.

[Connall]

I guess I should take some of this advice and integrate it into the wiki guide, since this is quite useful.

[MisterRice]

My only complaint with this update is that zombies seem to be deaf to me, I shot a gun in a group of about six zombies and only 2-3 got alerted and no other zombies came hurtling towards me, which makes me feel awkwardly safe when using a firearm. Maybe I should play sandbox instead with their hearing up, but I think their hearing in survival should be at least a little more keen in my opinion.

[American Steel]

My only complaint with this update is that zombies seem to be deaf to me, I shot a gun in a group of about six zombies and only 2-3 got alerted and no other zombies came hurtling towards me, which makes me feel awkwardly safe when using a firearm. Maybe I should play sandbox instead with their hearing up, but I think their hearing in survival should be at least a little more keen in my opinion.

 

I have not seen this at all.  I was moving toward the rail yard yesterday (Build 21) and saw two or three Zed's perched in/near the trees along my path.  I lined up my shotgun and let them have what for.  It was like I kicked off the top of an ant hill and this was way to close to my farm.  I backed up, shot twice and reloaded, backed up shot once and reloaded, rinse, lather and repeat.  I did this for a solid two minutes, until my shotgun jamed and I had to switch to a bat.  I think I killed 50 or 60 of them before the last one quit twitching.  When I made it into the Rail Yard proper, I switched to a fresh shotgun and started walking toward my objective.  I put at least 30 of them down before that shotgun jammed and I had to start kiting them with the bat.  Scary fun stuff!