Zombie Behaviour

[sgtsnug 26]

I have little to no experience in regards to programming nor much understanding of ARMA2's AI and how it functions, but will make a suggestion all the same.

Zombies right now have one annoyance I'm sure is felt by all, once they detect you there's no escape, a death sentence if your sneaking in town as firing your gun will only attract more or have no ammo what-so-ever.

I'm not suggesting anything over the top, more a opportunity to escape without firing your gun, I believe the zombies should yes head toward sound but only be capable of pursuit if they can SEE the player, if you run they will hear you and head toward you, but if you run through a building, hop a fence etc then hide, they should only go to where they last heard you.

This would also make being heard through a wall less an annoyance, giving you time to hide quickly before they come in after you till they go away.

[griffinz 2816]

Zombies have next to no eyesight (by definition in this mod).

I think yes they should run to where they heard the shots, and if you dont make yourself gone quick, they will nab you.

...still wont be easy, as your running could set them off...or bumping in to 1 on your way out

[Adam (DayZ) 193]

Currently if you get 200m away they will stop chasing you.

[griffinz 2816]

Currently if you get 200m away they will stop chasing you.

Awesome' date=' if only they didn't run like Usain Bolt

[img']http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1htI54Ad54s/T3RXi4rGbMI/AAAAAAAAEEE/X4zJgpwdD34/s1600/The+man.jpg

[donziboy2 1]

Only way to do that is get them inside a building and run out the other side....

Not to many buildings like that inland.

I would be happy if they cant hit you thru a wall....

Had my back to the wall in a grocery store yesterday and one started hitting me thru the wall.

[TheRiddick 0]

Yeah the running animation could be improved, hitzones on body could be toughened up allowing for lesser runners (as they will be hard to kill now unless shooting in head).

The zombies overall atm are in somewhat basic form it seems, the runners was a solution to increase difficulty but I believe making their bodies able to take more damage to be a good alternative then decrease the mob of runners tiny bit, plus update the animation to make them look more like runners from movies of the gene.

[zrix 0]

If you angry a million zombies without the means to kill them, the smoke nade is your friend. It will attract most of them, letting your escape with only a couple chasing you.

They are fairly common as well, I keep finding more than I can carry.

[griffinz 2816]

Smoke grenades are more important than I realised...I had 2 on me, each nade stopped about 10 zombies in a town (where firing off my gun was not an option)

[sgtsnug 26]

Currently if you get 200m away they will stop chasing you.

Problem is, if you have no ammo, and say in a country village, there is no escape, they can run faster then you, fences n other obstacles don't slow them down, they don't seem to struggle when running uphill quite as easily as we do, what option is there for someone without means to kill or distract their pursuers?

I know it's their own fault engaging enemies or not being cautious enough to not be seen but it's kind of unfair to offer no escape. Aside what I've suggest above there's no real alternative other then slowing the zombies run speed which I wouldn't mind either, or making them clumsy and prone to tripping over.

[oktyabr 53]

Low humanity = more desireable as zombie kibble! Carefully adjust "stop chasing" range and "detection" range accordingly.

All in all I realize this is still an alpha and the zombies will probably get some more work done (stop attacks/passing through walls and doors would be nice for a start). I can imagine slower, tougher zombies and faster, easier to kill ones too. Obviously there are some that lie prone on the ground in wait and others that shamble about. This is the right path ;)

[n3uro 7]

making them clumsy and prone to tripping over.

I think this is a great idea. It should be possible to edit their "chase" state to randomly send them to prone for one or two seconds then back up, that would balance the fact that they can run as fast as you and don't get stuck in fences that you have to circle. After all, when shambling around, they don't show that much leg coordination... ;)

[bodycount 83]

I myself have outran hordes before. Zig zagging around obstacles only slows them down because eventually they catch back up. The trick is to run up hills at an angle. The zombies will try and go straight up but you can zig zag run up steep hills while they walk.

[sgtsnug 26]

I myself have outran hordes before. Zig zagging around obstacles only slows them down because eventually they catch back up. The trick is to run up hills at an angle. The zombies will try and go straight up but you can zig zag run up steep hills while they walk.

Yes but this shouldn't be the only available option, myself I've tried this and somehow they end up going faster then I do up the hill.

[Midaychi 9]

I ran out of revolver bullets once in Kamyshovo, then ran all the way from there to Elektrozavodsk with a single zombie chasing me. I then ran into the town, and realized that there were now 40 zombies chasing me. I managed to lose them by climbing to the very top of some sort of office building with 3 levels, one only accessable by a ladder on the second floor. I waited until they calmed down, mostly due to some other player taking a sniper shot at them and then hiding far away. Unfortunately, in my escape attempt thereafter I was slain by a 1 ft fall breaking my leg.

[sgtsnug 26]

An Update to my Idea regarding Zombie Behaviour.

As my OP stated zombies should only attack on Sight!

If a zombie hears you, or your gun goes off they should change their current walk path to the source of the sound much like when you throw a can or a whisky bottle, and start moving toward your location on all sides like a typical zombie.

If they are close enough the sound of your gun is Loud! say 4/5 bars on the hearing scale then they should engage you like normal, this to me at-least would fix MOST issues with zombies we have right now without rendering them entirely useless just more believable and to be honest FUN.

I know people with an Enfield or a sniper rifle would appreciate that they can shoot without every zombie in 1km running after them, having them approach the gunshot by walking while not as immediate a threat would at-least let them know they can't stay there or they will be surrounded.