entspeak

Ah, I see, so they have an FOV of 30 degrees in the direction the zombie is facing (regardless of it's head position?) and a visible range of 80m arcing within that FOV, is that what you mean by cone? So, if you're 80m out coming in at a 30 degree angle to the front of the zed, you'll be seen, but if even if you're 10m away, but coming in at a 35 degree angle, you won't be seen.But, I did walk completely in front of it at a range closer than 80m - I walked passed the front of the zombie in the yellow shirt from left to right, so I crossed that cone within that 80m range. In fact in the video, I pretty much circle the zombie... twice... once walking, once running. It wasn't until I passed it a third time (almost running into it) that it aggro'd. Perhaps, I'm misunderstanding what you mean by the cone... is it angled downward or something? I understand the work in progress nature of this and really appreciate the work you guys are doing. What would be considered "clean" feedback?

This is actually my hope... that zombies will head toward the point at which a sound occurred and not "pursue" something they don't see. That for loud weapons, zombies will aggro toward the position at which the sound occurred and not the originator of the noise (unless they see him). The 10 seconds was the amount of time they would aggro on the way to that position before calming down if no player could be seen.For example: a player fires a Lee Enfield from the tree line outside a town and ducks behind a tree trunk. A zombie on the edge of town hears the Lee Enfield and aggros toward the sound. Running for 10 seconds, it doesn't see a player and gets half way to the tree line. The aggro stops and it continues walking toward the treeline to the point at which the sound occurred. The player has shifted position and is no longer at that point. Another example. The same player fires the Lee Enfield from the same spot in the tree line. The zombie aggros toward the noise. Another player emerges from the tree line closer to the town and in LOS of the aggro'd zombie. The zombie changes course toward that player, forgetting about the original sound it heard. A Lee Enfield should be louder than the sound of an idling engine, unfortunately, and louder sounds should trump quieter ones. So, in this instance, the survivor would pull the aggro off the UAZ toward himself after the first shot. Any non-SD gun shot would be louder than an idling engine. So, he'd likely only get one of the bandits before causing them to aggro toward his firing position and attacking any players they might see on the way. But, that brings up a good point that I missed, thanks! An idling engine should only attract zombies and not aggro them unless they are within 10m. So, if you turn on a car, it doesn't aggro all the zombies around, but attracts them. But, if they see a player in the car, they should aggro. I've updated the original post to reflect this. I do have that in the proposal for low noise weapons, but perhaps that could be expanded to all weapons. This may be something that could be variable on an ammo by ammo basis (audible range appears to be primarily determined by the ammo in game.) For example, 9mm pistols would aggro zombies at 40% of the audible range for zombies (about 20m or so), .45's at 50%, Stanag based guns at 60%, Lee Enfield at 85%, etc... Zombies outside those ranges, but still within audible range for zombies would still be attracted to the sound, but not aggro (unless they hear another zombie nearby aggro - at which point, they follow the zombie hearing zombie guidelines.) Does that sound good?

Yeah, I don't know if this is a bug or just the way zombies work now, but here's a video of me walking and then running circles around one retarded zombie as zombies from farther away aggro'd on me. It wasn't until I practically ran into him that he finally woke up. Even the one in the dark outfit took some time to aggro. This continued throughout the evening. I could walk right up to some zombies face to face before they'd aggro while some farther away were running toward me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvNcbdorZTQ&feature=youtu.be Also, the In Combat icon seems to be not working right. In 1.7.5, it came on pretty consistently and accurately, but since 1.7.6, it's been spotty. But, I do want to say that I love the new junk loot: Came across this and a razor... :) Very nice.

Yes, it's possible to exploit third person to see over walls and around corners, but the reason BI has kept it in is that 1st person doesn't provide an accurate representation of what real life people see through their eyes. Unless you've got six screens going, you're not going to get the FOV of a real person in 1st person view. Even if you set your FOV to 90 degrees, it's about half the FOV that a real person has. So, in fact, 3rd person provides a more accurate visual representation of the surrounding environment. So, excluding other characters from 3rd person view if they can't be seen in 1st person view doesn't make much sense.

I think I see where it may be going and, if so, I like it. I never considered the weapon OP (it's not the easiest weapon to use)... has there been that complaint? It's a difficult weapon to aim since the sights require that you picture an imaginary point somewhere above the centerline (unless crosshairs are on... and even then, there are no crosshairs when "scoped."); you have to take the time to retrieve the bolt (which isn't an easy process all the time... sometimes requiring going into first person, zooming in and fiddling about until you get the "take arrow" option in the contextual menu); in many instances you have to expose yourself to retrieve a bolt; and bolts, more often than not, are lost do to the absorption glitch - which, I'm assuming (since you didn't mention it), hasn't been remedied. I'm run with this weapon a lot as a second primary in the 2017 mod and have learned to adapt to its eccentricities, but it's still not easy. I don't use it in regular DayZ because I can use SD ammo, so considering the difficulty of the weapon, I leave it alone in favor of easier, less vulnerable options. Like I said, I would have no problem dealing with broken arrows if the absorption problem wasn't there, but that glitch combined with a 1 in 5 chance for a broken arrow nerfs an already difficult weapon pretty substantially. Even without the potential for broken arrows, unless you get a headshot (not easy with the sights and impossible on a crouched zed with it's back to you), it's a total crapshoot as to whether or not you will be able to retrieve the arrow. If you're going where I think you may be with wooden arrows... then the absorption issue might not be such an annoyance. If the absorption issue is a difficult fix, why not leave out the broken arrows until that future point where you've got this future change in place? Thanks for replying. :)

In viewing the latest dev blog video, I agree that, speed-wise, Rocket seems to prefer the 28 Days Later type zeds and the SA zeds will likely be more akin to those. They were even watching clips from the film for inspiration. In thinking further, I think they should aggro if you get too close to them... or if you run into them. Otherwise, they would be way to easy to deal with at night. Maybe 1m away? This gets you within hatchet distance, but if you miss, you could be in trouble. All this combined with the "sensing" that they already have to players, chemlights, flares, fire, etc... would make it very interesting. I'm glad people like the idea. And, if I've missed something or there's some flaw to it, let me know.

Of course, it turns into a single arrow again... How else is it supposed to work? But, you can add single arrows to the same quiver until the max, so you DON'T need to take up 6 slots (it would never require 7). Just get two arrows, combine, get third, combine... etc... You'd only ever need two slots to fill one quiver (one for the original arrow/quiver and one for the arrow your adding to the quiver.) And, I love that you still have to reload after every shot from the quiver. Has the absorption issue been fixed? In the earlier versions, if I shot a chicken or a rabbit (sometimes with the larger animals, too), my bolt was absorbed. And sometimes, this would happen with zeds, too. I don't like the added chance of breaking if there's still the very high chance of losing an arrow to the absorption glitch. It would seem like adding insult to injury. Can anyone say why they made the shift away from steel bolts to wooden arrows?

I love that they now spawn in the wild. I did not realize that bushes no longer lost line of sight... you mean the small bushes, right? If I run around a big bush that's as tall as me, they lose line of sight. I'm excited to check out this new pathing. I mean, I enjoyed killing 30 zombies with my hatchet after the guy I'd teamed up with fired his PDW in the office building in Elektro... and when we were trapped in the factory outside Polana by a zombie horde coming up both sets of stairs after he decided to fire his gun... again. It was the most intense experience I've had playing DayZ. When the zombies are killing me more than other players - that's a good thing, in my book. I wish I had a screenshot of the zombie carnage after I fully repaired a Little Bird in the hangar at the NWAF by myself one night. I loves me a good zombie challenge, so I was a fan of 1.7.5.1. I look forward to the changes. :)

I haven't experienced the zombie speed yet, but I hope they aren't too slow... I liked that they were faster than players and that it required some zig-zagging through brush to lose them... not simply out run them.

Just downloaded and played the update and love the changes I've come across so far - especially the quiver!! To the guys who spent all that time creating the food and drink models, thank you! I don't understand the controversy - I thought it was cool and clever and a nice nod to the mods. I mean, you really have to look to read them... and if you're looking that close and complaining about immersion, perhaps it's time to take a break, a pill, a breath and maybe sit down to a warm serving of Herpy Dooves. Mmmm... it's tasty cuz it's fictional... like zombies. And if mod names on food items is triggering some kind of post-traumatic stress due some previoius encounter with a mod online... well, just shoot the food and think of them... ...and then run from the zombies.

After playing DayZ for a couple of weeks, I thought to myself, "This would be awesome if there were only shotguns, pistols and you had to deal with the night - no NVGs." My approach to playing DayZ would frustrate and bore many - I play to survive, not to kill unless it's necessary. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to play DayZ 2017 - I'd been looking forward to it since I first heard about it. I downloaded it pretty much as soon as it was available. It is an early stage of the DayZ variant mod and, as I understand it, the Devs have more ideas that they are going to implement. Currently, it is like a re-skinned DayZ with no military grade equipment, tougher zombies, 11 vehicles and much, much, much less loot - which is the state the devs said it would be in for this alpha release. But on to the game play: If you love playing DayZ as a survival horror game, DayZ 2017 may be the mod for you. If you're looking to go in and simply kill folks... you may get bored and frustrated real quick. That's not to say that there's no killing - oh, that's still in there, but you really are hoping to kill someone for their can of dog food or their box of matches (a seemingly rare item now.) Here's an example of one encounter I had on my second life in the mod... Having spawned in Komarovo, I made my way to Zelengorsk in the hopes of finding some hunting supplies and, maybe a better pack... thinking I'd loot the deer stands on the way. When I finally made it to Zelen, I still had no weapons, no food, one bandage (you start with none) and an extra water bottle. So, I go into the market and find a better backpack (the "College Pack") and a map... the rest is all garbage. So, I decide to take out the trash and come back in a little bit in the hopes of better luck with re-spawned loot - a time consuming and, therefore, very dangerous endeavor. I clear out most of the store, head out into the town a bit and come back. I find a box of matches and a hunting knife. Suddenly, I hear a gunshot nearby in the direction of Pavlovo. Being unarmed, I decide it's best for me to get out and hide until I can come back and loot the remainder of the market. I run out the back, find a spot and wait for about 5 minutes. Nobody seems to be coming and I haven't seen anyone go into the market. So, I head back. On my way to the wall behind the market, someone fires at me with a Lee Enfield. They miss and I keep running. As I turn around a gap in the wall, he fires again and I'm hit. But he gets aggro'd zombies and seems to fall back. So, I'm behind a wall, bleeding with a broken leg. I bandage myself and wait for a moment, deciding my best course of action. I don't hear him coming, so I crawl along the wall hoping to get away... Pausing occasionally in the grass to listen, look around and see if he's coming. I get to a corner where there is another gap in the wall and I hear crawling... I stop... is it a zombie? No, this guy is crawling about 5m in front of me in through this gap. I freeze, just looking at him thinking I'm going to be shot at any moment. But, he either doesn't see me or thinks I'm a rock or a dead zombie in my worn soldier outfit and pack of the same basic color scheme. I wait and he just crawls, he crawls right by me a couple meters to my left and then gets up, scanning the market area for me - not knowing that I'm right beside him and powerless to do anything. Needless to say, my heart is racing. This is the point where most people say, "You had a broken leg, about half your blood, no morphine and no food. I'd just get myself killed so I can start over." But this is a survival game, so getting yourself killed is kind of counter to that... it's a cheap cop out. I mean, what's the point of the game if you just log out or suicide yourself when it gets hard. But then, I'm the guy who crawls through the woods and into the hospital in Cherno after breaking my leg on Pik Kozlova trying to get an ATV - only to be killed by a bandit in the apartments 5 minutes after getting fixed, but such is the game. I still had a chance to survive and I was going to take it - that made the game more intense for me. So, he starts heading toward the market and when it becomes clear that he's not going to look back the way he came, I crawl out into the field and behind a couple of bushes... and I wait... and I wait. Thankfully, I really do just look like a pile of rocks in the bushes, so I just keep still and look around. After a few minutes, I hear him fire again... but not at me. Maybe he's killed someone else. So, I wait. It's getting dark... my hope is to wait for it to be a bit darker, crawl down to the industrial area - pray for a hatchet, crawl into the woods kill a pig or something and get my blood back up... then when it's completely dark, crawl back into the market and pray for morphine. But, I'm not going to just let my character die. When the sun is setting, I crawl into the industrial area and look for a hatchet... suddenly, my right foot starts bleeding slowly - did I clip it on a rock or something? Do broken legs start bleeding if you don't take care of them? I have no more bandages. It seems a slow leak, so I'm hoping I can find a hatchet, kill the cow in the nearby field and cook it up before I bleed out. In the end... no luck. I'm just too low on blood and succumb to that wound not 10m from the last building in the industrial area by the small power station - which, with my luck, would've been the one with a hatchet in it. Many will likely find the above an incredibly boring experience, but I enjoyed it. That's the game, to me. It's not just about shooting people or finding cars and the cool guns - though, I hope to get a vehicle at some point and I think I may have to kill someone eventually. It seems that this is what DayZ 2017 is aiming for - to make it hard to survive. And I like that. The next hour of gameplay for me was ruined by a skiddie douchebag. But, once that got sorted, I played for another few hours and had a couple more harrowing run-ins with other players, but got away unscathed. After several hours, though I'd found a Lee Enfield, a revolver, a flashlight, a hatchet and a hunting knife... I still hadn't found another box of matches. Hopefully, I can find one before my luck with dog food runs out. So, to the Devs... great work! I look forward to seeing how the mod evolves.

Oh, well... they could put the proper amount of zombies in a town... but I think you'll find that number to be more on the side of what people are exaggeratedly calling "infinite" than what currently spawns in a town. It seems to me that guns are still needed even with the zombies being what they are in 1.7.5.1... one just can't use them with the reckless abandon one could in the earlier versions. And running is plenty fun when it's strategic. The kind of people that running annoys are the kind of people who probably wouldn't like DayZ in the long run... and certainly will be disappointed when they've got to deal with things like Cholera and other health related issues in the standalone. Well, you're joining in the hyperbole... there are options in the current update for violence from players, so... I don't know what you're talking about. And, DayZ is supposed to be different. This ain't your typical shooter... those that can't hack it (no pun intended) won't play long. To them I say, "Adios." But, considering the number of successful RPG's out there (of which this is a kind of hybrid), I think the standalone will do just fine without those who are in it just to play a PVP FPS with zombies as the backdrop. You still can. Just need a greater distance... which requires one be a better shot. So... skill is required. I agree with this. I made a suggestion in another thread about having zombies react differently depending on whether they hear something or see something. With some exceptions, zombies should only aggro when they see food... a player... even if they are hearing other zombies aggro'ing and are responding to that noise... they should only aggro when they see a player.My point is that if a zombie is killed it should respawn... the game is way too easy otherwise. And, I currently haven't had an issue with the respawn timer in 1.7.5.1... I went into Elektro, fired an M1911 in the street and killed the resulting aggro with a hatchet - bad ass Hollywood style... rinse, repeat... I got hit a few times... even got a broken bone once, but didn't die. I can fire a weapon and lose the aggro in a matter of seconds by knowing how to use the environment around me to my advantage. So, it really is a matter of skill. And, you can currently gear up and get bad ass even with guns... silenced ones. Use an M9SD, M4A1 CCO SD, G36 SD. But, if you're going to use an M249, better have a lot of ammo. The problem is most people haven't really played the game keeping the zombies in mind and so, haven't learned how to ditch aggro or adapted to their awkward paths, glitchiness... I, for one, have... it's a skill... people need to learn it rather than simply complain about how hard it is. It's a hard game, it's not like, nor is it intended to be like, other FPS games.

My suggestion for those who want to loot without aggro... go in a group and have an appointed person to draw the zombies away... controlled aggro. You can also do this on your own by firing, say, a Lee Enfield into the air while in one area near a large bit of cover... once the aggro occurs, run around the cover and get behind the aggro to the place you want to loot. I did that once to get to a heli crash on the NWAF... I drew 15 zombies toward the trees and then did a huge circle through the trees and back out onto the airfield to the, now abandoned, heli crash site. Easy peasy. Just takes skill.

No, the impression I'm getting from the video that was released by the developers is that they won't be finite. Zombies and loot will spawn everywhere on the map at server restart and not just when players enter an area; they will respawn as needed. They only mentioned this process with regard to loot, but I'm sure it will apply to zombies as well. The idea is to make the spawning system more server based (it's more client based in the mod which lends itself to hacking), make the spawning system more efficient (getting rid of the more complex spawning mechanics used in the mod) and to get away from meta-gaming where you could tell if there was someone in the area by the presence of zombies. Having only a finite number of zombies would seriously kill the game.

What I find hilarious is the complaint of endlessly spawning zombies. These are people who think that the solution to a zombie aggro that they've caused by firing a weapon is to KEEP firing the weapon. Seems like Darwin Award material to me. You fire a gun, best to lose the aggro BEFORE firing again. The only time I've been in serious trouble with 1.7.5.1 is when I tried to take out zombies with a LMG... in other words, I was being stupid. Stupid actions will kill you in this game... which is also kind of the point to the game.

When trying to get away from family at the holidays, you hide amongst the branches of the Christmas tree.

Yes.

When I first started playing DayZ all the servers with the best pings for me were night for me at the times I could play, so... I learned to play the game at night. Tactics... well, for getting around, you learn to read the treeline, the stars, the buildings and roads to know where you are and where you're headed. A compass is essential at the very least. If you don't know the map, either the in game map or the map at DayZDB work wonders. I go with chemlights, using a flashlight only when necessary (the military flashlight being best). I go with blue chemlights because they emit the hardest to be seen from a distance... they also don't attract zeds as much as the others. I stay out of Cherno, Elektro and the NWAF (unless, I'm feeling really bold). I also wish people couldn't exploit the gamma and brightness, you lose an element of the game that way. It's much freakier playing at night when you are forced to use a flashlight or chemlights. But, it's a fun dance with the zeds. I remember the first time I looted every lootable building/tent in Stary by flashlight... it was an intense experience.

Animals get attacked by Zombies. Currently, the zombies are oblivious to animals. It would be cool if seeing them aggro'd the zombies resulting in attacks on animals by zombies... leaving a gutted animal with infected meat. Also, aggroing on animals might cause a player to get chased if the animal caused aggro results in the player being seen. The bell in Cherno: So, this church bell goes off every once in a while in Cherno... it would be great if that aggro'd all the zombies in the city toward the bell, resulting in any players in their path to the bell being chased.

One of the biggest issues I discovered after playing DayZ for a while was how little the zombies played a role in the game. They were part of the backdrop and not a big deal. Other DayZ variants have worked to make them more difficult to deal with... DayZ + and DayZ 2017, for example. I really think DayZ should be more focused on zombies as well. Here's the thing: this isn't a PvP game with zombies as a backdrop, this is a zombie survival game with PvP elements. PvP tactics should have to adjust to the behavior of the zombies and not the other way around, in my opinion. Yes, there are major glitches that should be addressed (and are, as I read it) - hitting through walls, through vehicles... things like that. Zombie movement... we're stuck with it in the mod, so you just have to adapt. But, I stopped playing DayZ and switched to other variants primarily because of the fact that the focus was so not on zombies and survival. You shouldn't be able to run into a town and quickly kit up, shaking off zombies like puppies nipping at your heels. It should be hard to kit up. It should be hard to fix up a vehicle. It should be hard to go it alone. Survival is still possible with the harder zombies... and it's much more intense. As a, primarily, lone wolf player, I can honestly say that 1.7.5.1 doesn't go too far.

I don't believe the glitch was that you couldn't give yourself one. I think it was giving people who administered the transfusion an infection.

I sense hyperbole in some of these posts.

The way to make them more a part of gameplay is to make them more of a threat. I posted an idea in the Update thread, that I think is a reasonable way to increase the threat of zombies.

I play on a Dell 14r, and it hasn't really impacted playability... maybe a bit more lag due to larger numbers of zombies in aggro, but not so that it's unplayable.__________________________ Here's an idea to make the zombies more of a threat, but not so OP that it becomes impossible to play (in my opinion, it isn't with 1.7.5.1, but I realize it just might be that I'm better at the game than others... ;) :P ). It will also make the zeds more like the zombies we've come to know in films. There should be a difference in the way the zeds react to sound vs. sight. For weapons with a moderate audible range or higher, the zeds should aggro toward the sound, but,if they don't see a player after 10 seconds or so, they should stop the aggro and continue on the path toward the sound. For weapons with a low audible range, the zeds hear them, but it's only enough for them to change their path toward the sound, and they will only aggro if they see a player. And silenced weapons stay the same. If the zeds hear a player moving (sprinting, running, walking on cement... whatever), they should change their path toward the sound, but only aggro if they see you. Yeah, zombies shouldn't aggro from 300m away if you're prone, but if you're 200m away and running, they should aggro if they see a player. Then after a couple of minutes of not seeing a player, they can lose interest completely and change direction again. Don't slow them down - they should be able to outrun players, but have the path fixed (or as fixed as it can be with the Arma 2 Engine) so that they run straight toward you. Keep the tree safe zones, but keep the aggro if the player can be seen in the tree. If running in buildings can be added, awesome, if not... I don't mind an added safe zone for players to be able to loot and have an escape route from an aggro'd zombie horde. I like the massive zombie hordes, myself... it's terrifying, but I know I can also lose the majority of them in less than a minute. Currently, in terms of sound, I can sneak up behind a zombie and get to within hatchet striking distance (zoomed in) before it spins on me. Maybe make that hearing slightly better so that they start turning just before I get within distance... that way if I miss, I could be in trouble. Oh, and zombie communication should be at the same distance as zombie awareness of players... if it's 120m for a player target, zombies within 120m should respond to a zombie who sees a player. In fact, treat zombie aggro screeches like pistol shots, the other zombies change their path toward the sound, and only aggro if they see a player. Vehicle repair and refueling should be treated like low audible range weapons. Vehicle engine noise should be treated like moderate or higher audible range weapons; the difference is that, because engine noise is constant, the aggro should be constant until the engine is shut off or goes out of audible range... then they disengage as they would with a weapon. Make the bicycle like a low audible range weapon. This will give players a chance to prevent aggro's before they happen by either dealing with the imminent threat or disengaging from what they're doing to lose line of sight. As far as damage goes, I don't know how that works now, but maybe base it on proximity. If you get a glancing blow, it's not that bad, but if they're right on you, it's worse - like broken bones... and also, have blood level be a factor as it is now, in terms of knockouts. Changing the way zeds operate with regard to sound vs. sight will kind of mimic the zombie brain and also impact player interactions. Zombies will chase you when they realize what they hear is food - even if it's food driving by in a vehicle. And, imagine you're in a squad and one of your teammates is making some noise behind a zombie, the zombie starts to turn, but sees you before he sees your teammate... it forgets the sound your teammate is making and aggros on you.

I thought I'd try to make a video for noobs showing how to survive as a new spawn with 1.7.5.1, so I played late last night on a server I'd never played on before (it's recruit, but it had daylight and a good ping for me, so...) But, after easily kitting up in Cherno (everything except a gun and a compass), I headed to Elektro. Found an M1911 and decided to have some fun. Went into the field outside the super and fired the M1911 in the air. Killed the resulting aggro with a hatchet. Went to the center of town and did the same thing. The following short video shows the aftermath. Did the hotfix go into effect? http://youtu.be/jUfgOb1WG4k