Getting used to Zombies.

[Taintedblood]

So I know that it is realistic for the player to panic at the sight of a zombie for a while at least. But after you kill hundreds of them, you would think that you wouldn't be scared of them anymore. Of course, you would panic if they break into your base. But if you are out scavenging you should be use to it.

[Footmuffin]

But wouldn't making them not panic sort of balance it in the players' favor? Panic causes reduced accuracy, and higher levels hinder their spatial awareness. I would seriously worry if somebody was unaffected by the presence of the undead, constantly and desperately seeking respite from hunger, almost always seeking you out with the intent to kill you and ingest your flesh.

[k12314]

But wouldn't making them not panic sort of balance it in the players' favor? Panic causes reduced accuracy, and higher levels hinder their spatial awareness. I would seriously worry if somebody was unaffected by the presence of the undead, constantly and desperately seeking respite from hunger, almost always seeking you out with the intent to kill you and ingest your flesh.

 

Well, people adapt. Eventually they would be desensitized to violence, gore, etc. if given enough time. It's like how I used to get sad about hearing about people die when I was little, but I got over it after a while. Same goes for the undead, but it would take a GOOD LONG WHILE to adjust to that.

[Brick]

People can adapt really quickly, I think your reaction to zombies should match your playing style-

 

E.G.

 

If you stay indoors and avoid zombies then you get scared easier

 

But if your a zombie murdering rampage machine after you've topped a couple of dozen of them you shouldn't really get scared anymore...

 

I'm not sure how the fear mechanic works but it would make sense for numbers to effect it- so you get scared by a single zombie at the start but it takes a horde to get you scared after a while.

 

You could even factor in where you have been attacked- so if your attacked a lot indoors then you get afraid exploring houses, we could all have bathroom fear!

[DrLopata]

I think Panic reduction should be a Skill ( like Blunt, coocking and so on). Whenever you kill a zombie you get so xp and investing in  it would reduce panic up to 50% if upgraded fully. I think it is realistic and a very cool feature

[Taintedblood]

Okay people, going by the flow of the conversation I think this would be best in the suggestion thread. That assuming someone haven't already suggested it. This seem like something commonly thought of so it probably was suggested. Anyways, I agree with the skill idea. Since the way skills work, the more you kill the less you are panicked by them.

 

Plus, when I think of people panicking I visualize people running around in circles in a burning building. They are completely out of their wits, and they would more then likely being burned to death. The more you panic, the weaker you are. So you would think the people that panicked in the burning building, and somehow survived would know not to panic the next time they are in a burning building.

[Taintedblood]

@Brick

That would be amazing, though I don't know how that could be programmed in. The Xp way seems easier to program. However, I like your idea more. Maybe after you get npc you can get use to a life away from zombies in your fortified fortress, and one day, months later, you get use to you easy life and you would be panicked like you were in the initial outbreak.

[Taintedblood]

My idea is that once the player character have been around zombies long enough it would get use to them and would not be afraid of them any longer. Now the PC would obviously panic if it sees a hoard of zombies out of the front door of its base. But I just don't think that a person would always run around like a chicken with its head cut off every time it sees a zombie. Especially if that person kills hoards of them in its spare time.

 

 

I had a general thread here, and after not finding any other suggestion like it I decided to make it into a suggestion.

 

Some suggestions already.

People can adapt really quickly, I think your reaction to zombies should match your playing style-

 

E.G.

 

If you stay indoors and avoid zombies then you get scared easier

 

But if your a zombie murdering rampage machine after you've topped a couple of dozen of them you shouldn't really get scared anymore...

 

I'm not sure how the fear mechanic works but it would make sense for numbers to effect it- so you get scared by a single zombie at the start but it takes a horde to get you scared after a while.

 

You could even factor in where you have been attacked- so if your attacked a lot indoors then you get afraid exploring houses, we could all have bathroom fear!

 

 

I think Panic reduction should be a Skill ( like Blunt, coocking and so on). Whenever you kill a zombie you get so xp and investing in  it would reduce panic up to 50% if upgraded fully. I think it is realistic and a very cool feature

 

 

 

[RegularX]

I like it.  Currently Panic is calculated - and I think the simplest route would be to have an overall reduction based on num of zoms killed, up to a certain max.  That way the player wouldn't be impervious to panic (50 zoms coming down the road will still panic anyone) ... but a couple here and there won't freak them out.

[Taintedblood]

Of course 50 zombies would scare anyone. Well not my brother, he is not scared of anything... Seriously, he is just weird. Anyways, you and Drlopta share a similar view, so maybe I should have a poll if bunch of people start sharing similar views.

[GSC]

I agree that the panic system shouldn't be static.

 

I think the more you encounter a given scare (bathroom zombie, crawler waking up, horde shambling toward you etc), the more you get used to it and the less likely you are to panic. Those things would always be dangerous and unnerving, but your mind would adapt.

 

Events encountered repeatedly should have a diminishing panic effect (intensity, duration). The undead would always be creepy and frightening to some degree, but I bet that most people would adapt to certain degree within a week or so (if they survived that long among them).

[ianopolos]

There is too much disvantages and some advantages is welcome.

Learning to lose fear is one of them.