Anyone noticed zeds 'camping' loot spawns?

[Target Practice (DayZ) 1335]

Not sure if this is new to 1.7.7.1 or whether it's been a known issue for a while, but recently started playing again and noticed that on many loot spawns there will be at least one zed stood completely still on top of the loot spawn - not just wandering around it or whatever, but stood there running through the various 'idle' animations.

Is this just me on a spectacular run of bad luck, or have others been noticing this too? I did check the bug reports thread, but if it was reported in there, I must have missed it. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be a feature, as it makes no sense for them to behave that way.

Edited June 19, 2013 by Target Practice

[Welch (DayZ) 756]

Well zeds are pretty buggy right now, so that might contribute to it. But I'm pretty sure a patch sometime before 1.7.7 they made zombies spawn in with the loot, in the building, so it wouldn't be too easy.

[Target Practice (DayZ) 1335]

Oh yeah, I'd assumed that was the case, that it's spawning zombies more or less on the loot spawns and then they're wandering out from there, but there seems to be quite a few cases where one of the zombies is bugging out slightly and just standing still right on top of the loot, making it more or less impossible to get that loot without either aggroing or killing the zombie.

It's not a problem if you're geared up, but for a fresh spawn without a real way to kill zombies and with loot being harder to find, it's a bit of a frustrating one.

Edit: just to clarify as well, it's not just inside spawns - I've noticed that they're doing it a lot around the spawns near the non-enterable houses.

Edited June 19, 2013 by Target Practice

[FreshmeatDK 22]

I think it adds to the suspension. I have nearly walked into a crawler in a dark corner on a couple of occasions. However, they are bugged, and I have stolen loot from under their noses without them noticing.

[Target Practice (DayZ) 1335]

I shot one in the face with a double-barrelled shotgun. It noticed that. As did every single one of its buddies in a five mile radius.

Not one of my better ideas.

[Target Practice (DayZ) 1335]

Just to revive this, as it's actually making the game unplayable for me at the moment, and I'm amazed that more people aren't reporting this issue - maybe it's because every thread about 1.7.7.1 keeps dissolving into people arguing over whether it's too hard or not.

I just jumped into the Balota Buddies public server to give it a whirl, and as I'd not played that particular server, I started as a freshspawn not far from Solnichniy. For me, that was ideal - nice quiet area, decent loot spawns within a reasonable distance, and none of the hassle that goes with spawning anywhere near Cherno or Elektro. So I hit Z and started crawling around to get my starting gear together.

Only I couldn't. I must have checked 8-10 different loot spawns, and every single one had a zombie standing on top of it or inside it and not moving an inch. I sat and watched one for fully five minutes waiting for it to move - nothing. I threw a tin can to distract it - nothing. The second I go near it, thinking it's bugged out? I get aggro.

Now, don't get me wrong - I love a challenge, but it needs to be a fair fight - if you want to fill every single town and city with hundreds of zeds that can Falcon Punch me across the map in one hit, go for it - that will make the looting raids all the more tense and enjoyable, but at least give players a fighting chance of getting some loot without HAVING to get aggro.

I don't want to be 'that guy' who claims that 'OMFG NEW PATCH HAS RUINED DAYZ I'M NOT PLAYING AGAIN EVAR!!!!!111!!ONE!!', but this bug (which is what I'm assuming it is) has sapped all of the enjoyment out of the game for me, and I'm struggling to find motivation to play the game, as I know what's going to happen before I even get to a town.

[tajjuk 65]

Had the same problem, loot is scarce enough without the zombies camping it. If you have no weapon it basically excludes you from that loot so it's extra tough as a new spawn.

Zombies are simply terrible now, nothing to do with their strength speed etc. but all to do with their spawning, movement and detection. None of it makes any sense.

[Target Practice (DayZ) 1335]

Had the same problem, loot is scarce enough without the zombies camping it. If you have no weapon it basically excludes you from that loot so it's extra tough as a new spawn.

This.

I think the actual scarcity of the loot and so on is pretty much spot on - it's rare enough that you have to dedicate time to actually finding food and drink now, whereas before you were falling over it. The only issue is that every can of coke now comes with a free zombie glued to it. Not a problem if you have a makarov or a crossbow or whatever, but when all you have is a handful of road flares and a bandage, it becomes a pretty huge issue.

[Trizzo 632]

To the OP and others it's no bug...and it is challenging...but like all things it can be overcome.

Use direct chat from outside (or just aggro them), give them a sam fischer whistle (or a noise of some kind but i've taken to the Chaos Theory whistle), they walk outside, then they run, then you circle back into the building and pick up the loot knowing that they can only walk indoors. Serious suggestion? It is and it works.

To the OP isn't it obvious they know you want the loot, they know what it's worth, would you step aside if somebody came into your house armed with an axe stealing beans from you? For your childrens sake i hope

not!

But for the sake of discussion...why shouldn't zombies be on loot? Is it crazy to assume that survival minded surviors might have had loot close by before they died or succumb to infection? It makes the first weapon grab tense. I like the feeling of seeing a stupid zombie standing on axe. I outwit it and mush its head. Very satisying.

Edited June 25, 2013 by Trizzo

[Target Practice (DayZ) 1335]

To the OP and others it's no bug...and it is challenging...but like all things it can be overcome.

Use direct chat from outside (or just aggro them), give them a sam fischer whistle (or a noise of some kind but i've taken to the Chaos Theory whistle), they walk outside, then they run, then you circle back into the building and pick up the loot knowing that they can only walk indoors. Serious suggestion? It is and it works.

To the OP isn't it obvious they know you want the loot, they know what it's worth, would you step aside if somebody came into your house armed with an axe stealing beans from you? For your childrens sake i hope

not!

But for the sake of discussion...why shouldn't zombies be on loot? Is it crazy to assume that survival minded surviors might have had loot close by before they died or succumb to infection? It makes the first weapon grab tense. I like the feeling of seeing a stupid zombie standing on axe. I outwit it and mush its head. Very satisying.

Thanks for your input, but I'm not sure exactly how you've worked out that the zombies 'know what its worth' with regards to loot - I don't want to start the dreaded 'realistic zombies' discussion, but that certainly doesn't match the behaviour of anything I've ever seen depicted as a zombie in any films, books or games.

Also, if you have a read of the post, it's not the zombies spawning inside that I have a problem with - I quite like that feature - it's the zombies stood outside and completely static on the spawns that I have the issue with. I'm more than capable of navigating around the ones in houses, but it's the ones that resist any attempts at distraction and just stand on the loot that I have the issue with, because if you aggro that one, there's a pretty good chance that you're about to do the 'Benny Hill run' around the town of your choice with a conga-line of pissed-off zeds in hot pursuit. Not ideal when you have no food or drink!

Edited June 25, 2013 by Target Practice

[Trizzo 632]

Thanks for your input, but I'm not sure exactly how you've worked out that the zombies 'know what its worth' with regards to loot

That to me constituted a joke at close to 2.30 in the morning...it was an awkward attempt

[Powell (DayZ) 734]

yeah I'm not a fan of it, but the best way to deal with it currently while it is in is to throw flares near them

they'll move

[jubeidok 495]

Why shouldn't obtaining loot represent a problem needing to be solved?

[Target Practice (DayZ) 1335]

That to me constituted a joke at close to 2.30 in the morning...it was an awkward attempt

Haha, oh right, my apologies - it's difficult to tell sometimes on here... There are people who would probably try and make that claim seriously!

[puk 12]

I'm the same and am actually going to take a break from DayZ for a bit now. The loot spawn camping zeds is taking the piss when you are a new spawn, added to the total shoot on site regardless mentality now is ruining it for me. The last 2 days I must have had 10 new spawn attempts, each time I cannot find jack all but every loot point has zeds which agro and 9/10 i get punched to the floor first time and before I'm up I'm infected. I've tried going into cities but get shot on site when unarmed, tried going into the rural but no f-ing loot. And apart from all this, the times I have found anything, I nearly always end up getting infected on the 1st or 2nd zed punch so thats it, no chance of finding antibos so its a death sentance. To me its taken the fun out of it tbh.

And the last straw for me was just on a new spawn, run into elec where I spawn, find a map, m14, m9, gillie, alicepack and then I glitch thru the firestation wall and fall to my death. Dammit. :(

[tajjuk 65]

But for the sake of discussion...why shouldn't zombies be on loot? Is it crazy to assume that survival minded surviors might have had loot close by before they died or succumb to infection? It makes the first weapon grab tense. I like the feeling of seeing a stupid zombie standing on axe. I outwit it and mush its head. Very satisying.

On the last point it would make sense for Zombies to be near a body, also possibly trash. If you presume them to be animal like in their instincts and I believe it has been mentioned that smell plays a big role in their senses, then they would be drawn to dead bodies and food etc. They wouldn't however have any concept of going to guns or medical supplies, unless they are like Magpies now and like shiny stuff?

If it;s not a bug then if confirms my general feeling from that the devs are just making the Zombies hard in traditional lazy cheating AI ways and disregarding the plausibility of them. There is no logical reason for a zed to camp a loot spawn, so they are there to purely to make it more difficult for human players which spoils the immersion IMO.

Edited June 26, 2013 by tajjuk

[Target Practice (DayZ) 1335]

Yeah, I get what you're saying with that, and in some ways, that would make sense, and I could live with that - as long as they weren't standing completely static on top of the item in question, I'd have no problems with certain items of loot (food, corpses etc) attracting zeds to the general vicinity.

I'm reasonably sure that this is a bug though - I can't think Razor and co would stoop to such a blatantly 'fake' kind of difficulty. We all know that zeds are buggy as hell at the moment, so I'm fairly happy that this is just a passing phase. Hopefully 1.7.7.2 isn't far off and will fix this!

[Trizzo 632]

There is no logical reason for a zed to camp a loot spawn

Sure but only if you think a person is incable of dying close to supplies or a zombie is incable of randomly wandering there.

Say they took shelter in a house or any enterable building and never got out? It's pretty easy to imagine someone being injured -> seeking shelter with supplies->dying->now a zombie is on the loot.

Zombies spawning on every loot pile is a bit silly and i've experienced that (In the corner of industrial sheds is a bit silly) a good mix would be welcome. A house that contains more zombies could have better loot. The more survivors that died in one place stands to reason that they were holding up there for a reason.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Trizzo

[Target Practice (DayZ) 1335]

Sure but only if you think a person is incable of dying close to supplies or a zombie is incable of randomly wandering there.

Say they took shelter in a house or any enterable building and never got out? It's pretty easy to imagine someone being injured -> seeking shelter with supplies->dying->now a zombie is on the loot.

Zombies spawning on every loot pile is a bit silly and i've experienced that (In the corner of industrial sheds is a bit silly) a good mix would be welcome. A house that contains more zombies could have better loot. The more survivors that died in one place stands to reason that they were holding up there for a reason.

I'm still not 100% sure you're understanding the point here. As far as I can see, no-one in this thread has any problem with zeds spawning and lurking around loot spawns and inside houses. That's explainable behaviour and still gives the player a reasonable chance of getting the loot without getting aggro (as long as they're careful), and I'm all for that.

The problem that this thread is addressing is the one you alluded to in your third paragraph - zeds spawning on every single loot pile and standing right on top of it without moving. That's neither explainable nor particularly fair on the player.

[Trizzo 632]

The problem that this thread is addressing is the one you alluded to in your third paragraph - zeds spawning on every single loot pile and standing right on top of it without moving. That's neither explainable nor particularly fair on the player.

And we agree it should be changed. :) Consensus!

[tajjuk 65]

Sure but only if you think a person is incable of dying close to supplies or a zombie is incable of randomly wandering there.

Say they took shelter in a house or any enterable building and never got out? It's pretty easy to imagine someone being injured -> seeking shelter with supplies->dying->now a zombie is on the loot.

Zombies spawning on every loot pile is a bit silly and i've experienced that (In the corner of industrial sheds is a bit silly) a good mix would be welcome. A house that contains more zombies could have better loot. The more survivors that died in one place stands to reason that they were holding up there for a reason.

Yeh essentially what target Practice said,.Yeh there could be/could not be zombies in a loot area, that's fair enough. Although I think some visual clues would be helpful, personally I think it would be cool if for example you find a dead player body then there is a possibility there are some zeds have been attracted to it.

It's the same thought I had with Zeds being in buildings, the possibility should be there and it would be nice to see some logic as to why they are in that building, like a body or food etc. but they shouldn't be in that building just because you are in that building or are going in that building. Same applies here, They shouldn't be sitting on loot not moving just because a player might want that loot. They should be there for a reason and should have a chance to move on somewhere else.

I hope the standalone completely revises the whole zed spawning system as at the moment it just seems a bit to much like -

here is a player <- insert X amount of zombies here.

player is near loot <- put zombie on loot.

player going towards building <- zombies move towards building.

player is in building <- spawn zombies in building.

etc.

I'd love to see zombie migration if you like, with player actions causing changes to where and how many zombies are, so as in my previous example a dead player on the ground could see a concentrated group of zeds in one spot or drawn out of a town. Or a big firefight could draw zombies out of town or for example you could drive a vehicle and bail out letting the vehicle attract the zombies out of an area for a little while.

[Target Practice (DayZ) 1335]

I'd love to see zombie migration if you like, with player actions causing changes to where and how many zombies are, so as in my previous example a dead player on the ground could see a concentrated group of zeds in one spot or drawn out of a town. Or a big firefight could draw zombies out of town or for example you could drive a vehicle and bail out letting the vehicle attract the zombies out of an area for a little while.

I'm pretty sure Rocket has expressed a desire to see some more variety in zombie behaviour, too. I know he said recently that he wants 'well-fed' zombies to be stronger and more dangerous, so zombies that get lots of kills will be more dangerous than those that don't. The only downside to this that I can see is that Kamenka will become a deathtrap, as pretty much anyone who spawns there immediately commits suicide by zombie - the place is going to be full of incredible-hulk style zombies!

I'm pretty sure that I've also read/seen somewhere that he quite likes the idea of roaming 'hordes' of zombies, which will be possible in the Standalone, as the way zombies are spawned will change completely. Now that would be an interesting thing to stumble across on that long hike from Stary to the NWAF!

[jubeidok 495]

You know you can ask them to move, right?

[Dagwood 680]

Maybe it's just a lazy zed that is fed and doesn't feel like roaming around? I don't think it's too implausible that some would choose to stay in one spot and not wander