An idea for Zombie Spawning

[machineabuse 31]

Third Update

Edited based on community feedback, hopefully this will communicate the idea cleanly and avoid further confusion based on tl:dr. Thanks again to everyone who shared their thoughts and criticism. :beans: <- You know who you are.

Note: removed the older posts and images to prevent confusion. :)

Edited January 11, 2013 by machineabuse

[donpeppo 1]

like the idea

[morgan32 403]

Seems pretty interesting, I like it.

Could I dig up a mound and find an AS50?

[hoik 415]

Like the general idea.

My question: why mounds? They seem a bit redundant... Why not just simply have the zombie corpses? Apart from that if they acted the way you describe, I think it would be pretty cool.

[xepherus 10]

If you check out this thread http://dayzmod.com/f...40#entry1102050, Matthew Lightfoot (a developer) has confirmed that these are not "zombies" but "infected".

Q: Are they infected or zombies? Will there be a variety of zombies?

A: They are infected, Deans brother (a virologist) prepared us a 12 page document on what the possible disease could be and it's awesome, reading that was like reading a prequel to 28 days later. As for different types of zombies we have considered the longer a zombie has been around the weaker it becomes, longer since it's eaten the weaker it becomes and things like that to add variety.

If they were zombies, your idea would be a cool and natural way of integrating the spawn of zombies. Unfortunately, they are not.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Lakre

[machineabuse 31]

Hoik: the mound sort of came out when I though about how would you bring a zombie into the world in a visually subtle way that blended into the world, just as a way to make sure that infected didn't just appear in a player's vision out of thin air. You could do a zombie just lying down on the ground too but it sort of seemed that if you had an asset that blended with the environment it might be slightly stronger.

Lakre: I'm tracking. Thanks for the reference, I am aware they are meant to be infected. In retrospect it looks a bit like I drew them popping forth out the ground in a John Carpenter undead fashion which is a bit unfortunate, didn't mean for it to look like that lol.

You could just say that an infected behavior might just be to lie down to conserve energy until they sensed potential prey was nearby and got gradually got covered/concealed in stuff over time.

And you're right, there are dependencies on the narrative timeline of the infection that probably invalidate the idea wholesale :)

Edited January 10, 2013 by machineabuse

[xepherus 10]

You could just say that an infected behavior might just be to lie down to conserve energy until they sensed potential prey was nearby and got gradually got covered/concealed in stuff over time.

This is definately something that infected would do. When I saw the mound drawing, I immediately thought of the cartoons where zombies/undead would emerge out of graves in a graveyard, thrusting their arm out and slowly climbing out.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Lakre

[machineabuse 31]

Morgan32: If it spawned next to a helo crash I guess that would make sense :)

[machineabuse 31]

This is definately something that infected would do. When I saw the mound drawing, I immediately thought of the cartoons where zombies/undead would emerge out of graves in a graveyard, thrusting their arm out and slowly climbing out.

LOL yeah, illustration fail on my part! :lol: I'll iterate it later when I get home, that's what you get when you rush a doodle out over lunch.

[Dancing.Russian.Man 1631]

I would love this idea getting implemented for areas OTHER than cities or other human-constructed areas.

Graves, woods, etc.

For cities, though, I think it'd be better to have zombies laying more or less inactively about, or struggling to get around.

Edit; Welp. After re-reading that specific Q&A answer posted earlier, I think I should ditch the word 'zombie' entirely.

FFF- This'll take some time getting used to.

Edit2; You are a great illustrator, by the way. It'd be really awesome if you did more concept art of your ideas.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Dancing.Russian.Man

[hoik 415]

If they were zombies, your idea would be a cool and natural way of integrating the spawn of zombies. Unfortunately, they are not.

Sorry, but I think this is semantics, and not really relevant. Zombies/infected are fictional - i don't think any preconceptions should restrict your imagination.

@Machineabuse - about the mounds: that makes sense, but the image of them emerging from the ground like gophers is a bit commical... what about piles of courpses or crawling out from under carwrecks?

[Chris529 380]

didn't read whole thread but sounds like a really good idea

:beans:

Edited January 10, 2013 by Chris529

[morgan32 403]

What about the infected would have one leg half dug down in the ground and just laying there (for example), and takes effect when somebody gets close. Raises up and starts crawling etc.

[Michaelvoodoo25 3120]

Great idea, only the game ones are infected and not generally found kipping (sleeping for the non english slang readers) under the soil.

I think you could incorporate some sat down though in buildings and on street corners (Spawn mechanic dependant) or even huddled up against many of the in town areas like road smashes and barriers!

Maybe a few in Forests and hiding near damns. Still holding out for groups randomly walking the map maybey 20 of them just wandering.

Great idea though, well thought out.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Michaelvoodoo25

[DemonGroover 8836]

I do like the idea of a dormant zombie. Laying down, leaning up against walls, in cars..

Nice work.

[morgan32 403]

Would be amusing to spawn with a zombie just slacking around your neck like a scarf.

[DemonGroover 8836]

Would be amusing to spawn with a zombie just slacking around your neck like a scarf.

I hope you arent condoning zombie furs? That's obscene!

[morgan32 403]

I hope you arent condoning zombie furs? That's obscene!

Haven't I told you to shut up about my secret? NOW THE WHOLE FORUMS WILL KNOW THAT I WEAR ZOMBIES!!

[machineabuse 31]

Updated from feedback. Thanks all! It's been a fun exercise :)

morgan32: looks good on you bro.

[Chris529 380]

it would be cool to get creative with the getting up animation too, make some get up quick and some slow maybe throw up or something nasty :P.

maybe if it's dark and you don't make a sound after you wake up the infected it will just go back to sleep

Edited January 11, 2013 by Chris529

[victusmortuus 1074]

I know you put a lot of thought into this but I really don't like it. I've never been a fan of grave Zombies as it makes no sense.

[machineabuse 31]

I know you put a lot of thought into this but I really don't like it. I've never been a fan of grave Zombies as it makes no sense.

It seems a tl:dr occurred; my fault. The grave zombie thing was supposed to be addressed by the second sheet but evidently it still looks like that.

When I get home later I'll overhaul that post and the images to be clear at a glance that is not what it's supposed to be. Thanks for the feedback :)

[chris_heyward 47]

Don't call them mounds, just call it a "Dormant state". The reason I say that is the fact that if they were in a mound, that would mean they were either buried or were there for a damn long time. I like the idea you had with them lying there curled up in a ball and I really liked the grass one. Just imagine running through a field chasing your fresh-spawn when you step on one of these without seeing it, wake it up from its dormant state and it instantly grabs you and brings you to the ground and starts to feast on your face, arms, legs or genitals.

And while this is happening, the fresh-spawn is rolling around the ground in laughter and grabs ze loot after the feast has ended :P

Edited January 11, 2013 by Be4st

[Quartermaine 34]

This is an amazing suggestion if you are the OP of those pictures. Definitely a cool idea for different types of zombies, or a stage in the life cycle.

[Very Ape 748]

Dormant zombies would be a very, very good way of having zombies spawn. This is, and I'm not joking, the best suggestion regarding zombie spawning my eyes have ever had the honor to glimpse. I love you, and I'd appreciate if you had my children in order to pass on your artistic and intellectual genes. To clarify; I'm joking, and it's the second image that really got me going. Beautiful work.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Very Ape