Zombies should run faster than players

[alleycat 135]

Zombies should be able to sprint faster than players.

 

Even with the newly added more zombies (bumped into 9 in solnichny) the zombies are never a real threat to your life. They only act as a delay that pushes you out of the area gently. All you need to do when you trip some of them is to run a few 100 meters out and they will get bored chasing you and leave you alone.

 

However it should be "shit I alerted 5 zombies, my life is in danger!" And the only way to get that is to make them faster than players. Because then alerting zombies poses a real threat.

 

 

The romero religious fanatics can stay out of the topic because in a game where you can easily run several kilometers in any direction and where zombie numbers are severely limited slow zombies can never pose a real threat, because too easy to out run and impossible to get cornered,

[DeatHTaX 1217]

Not in the alpha stage they shouldnt. The zombie AI right now is pretty much a placeholder, and the last thing we need is new players getting frustrated because they can't escape a horde of zombies. Zombie tweaks I expect will come later once major glitches and bugs are ironed out. 

 

For example, the control UI and player movement is a nice thing to upgrade before you have to fight off a bunch of "faster than you" zombies lol :D

[Grimey Rick 3417]

Yeah, they're pretty terrible as-is. My favourite zombie archetype is of the 28 Days Later variety.

 

Y'know, sprinting frantically and spitting goo at your face type of thing. Shuffling, foot-dragging zombies are a thing of the past and can stay there. I've had literally a half dozen zombies slowly chasing me around as I searched a city before. You can have a handful of them in the same room as you and they pose no danger as long as you're strafing around.

 

Beans, sir.

[TD808 71]

Being a new spawn is bad enough trying to avoid the psycho players. New players would quit the game in droves if they also had no chance of outrunning zombies. They are working on the game and the AI and when performance is improved, zombies will have a much higher spawn rate, so looting will be harder as you will escape the aggro of 1 zombie just to run into another.

[DeatHTaX 1217]

Being a new spawn is bad enough trying to avoid the psycho players. New players would quit the game in droves if they also had no chance of outrunning zombies. They are working on the game and the AI and when performance is improved, zombies will have a much higher spawn rate, so looting will be harder as you will escape the aggro of 1 zombie just to run into another.

 

Honestly if new players are going to quit a game after spending 30$ on it because they die a lot in an ALPHA, then I don't want them in the game to begin with lol xD

[BrainlessZombie 190]

Zombies should be able to sprint faster than players...

 

Are you out of your mind? They go through walls and you want 'em to be faster than players so the game would be unplayable, for fresh spawns (no weapons of any kind).

[eleventhavenue 204]

Are you out of your mind? They go through walls and you want 'em to be faster than players so the game would be unplayable, for fresh spawns (no weapons of any kind).

 

I think the OP assumes that this will be fixed, and the zombie aggro system be tweaked to work nicely.

The way fresh spawns will survive is to avoid upsetting the zombies (press z to hit the dirt, or just walk carefully)

Altough I think newspawns should run a lot faster than someone kitted out. Really, a filled hiking backpack is really heavy, and if you add combat vests, weapons, a huge fire axe...

[Admiral_69 78]

Zombies run at the same speed as players. But players can sprint, which most players think of as running. Once stamina is introduced (likely after vehicles), Zombies will be a bigger threat.

Making Zombies run faster than players can sprint is silly. It would be a bloodbath.

[P3Nn 53]

No no no and no not yet anyway

[jasher11 67]

if this is survival of the fittest and only the fittest arent zombies, why would zombies be faster? i thought they would be slower as they are the ill/old/disabled/unfit who couldnt get away from the zombies and becoming a zombie doesnt make you a super-human

[funky_mish 75]

I'd like variation. Some slow and some faster than you. Some weak hitters, some Mike Tysons. That way each zombie is an unpredicatble threat. That would make approaching them and dealing with them much more interesting, as well as reflect some 'realism'; is the infected body chasing you that of an athlete or a fat middle aged office worker?

[TD808 71]

Honestly if new players are going to quit a game after spending 30$ on it because they die a lot in an ALPHA, then I don't want them in the game to begin with lol xD

 

You may not want unskilled or new people to join the game but we can't all be elitist and besides, I didn't say anything about people quitting because they die a lot, that happens anyway. I said new players would hate the game if they couldn't outrun zombies. I also wouldn't like it, it would mean that the only way to survive as a new spawn would be to avoid zombie aggro, this would completely change the meta game and besides, if the dev team thought zombies were too slow they would have made them faster, so I'm not the only person who thinks this isn't a good idea.

 

The zombies are alpha zombies and the team seem to be taking a really good approach to the way they want them to behave, I for one like what they are doing and the direction they are taking with the game, Beans to rocket.

[libertine 351]

+1 Definitely faster than they are. I had a zombie chasing me last night for the first time who gained on me in the beginning. I was like holy shit, now this could be a problem. If you want to make your zombies a dangerous threat, you've got to make them a dangerous threat. I just don't know how they're going to do this and make them look real and sophisticated....

[Atomizer 53]

Making zombies faster is a balance they tried to do in the mod, it is not a proper solution, zombies are completely placeholder in terms of how they work right now.

Have any of you seen the zombie leap animation? That I believe, is intended to knock you over if you get hit by it, but there is many other aspects they can change to make them more challenging, run speed is not one of them however.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Atomizer

[BadAsh (DayZ) 1513]

There is going to be a lot more zombies in the game in the future. A lot more. When they are going to appear in hordes they will pose a lot greater threat, even without being extraordinarily and silly super fast.

[minime1000 78]

Agree. Even if they add a lot more zombies you could just outrun them and again they will be of no threat.

Either make them sprint faster than you or make the stamina run out fast during sprinting so you cannot indefinitely outrun them and have to either hide or fight them at some point.

[DeatHTaX 1217]

 

You may not want unskilled or new people to join the game but we can't all be elitist and besides, I didn't say anything about people quitting because they die a lot, that happens anyway. I said new players would hate the game (you actually said they would quit in droves :D ) if they couldn't outrun zombies. I also wouldn't like it, it would mean that the only way to survive as a new spawn would be to avoid zombie aggro, this would completely change the meta game and besides, if the dev team thought zombies were too slow they would have made them faster, so I'm not the only person who thinks this isn't a good idea.

 

Lol what is elitist about me not wanting people who get upset about not being able to outrun zombies in our game? that's somebody who doesn't like a challenge :P and this game is going to be one big challenge so its best to weed them out now

 

and why on earth would your first thought as a new spawn to be "OMG LETS RUN AT ZOMBIES!" lmao of course you're going to avoid zombie agro as a fresh spawn. duh. you have no weapons (smh) of course it should be the only way to survive because that's incredibly realistic

[BadAsh (DayZ) 1513]

Agree. Even if they add a lot more zombies you could just outrun them and again they will be of no threat.

Either make them sprint faster than you or make the stamina run out fast during sprinting so you cannot indefinitely outrun them and have to either hide or fight them at some point.

 

In the future players will have working stamina, and the zombie AI would be better. They would for example likely be able to surround you, so I think it is doubtful that you will just be able to outrun them.

[tsandrey 379]

No, they shouldn't. They're OP as they are (1 hit bleed), buffing them anymore would be insane. 1 hit bleeding should be changed into a chance, and then maybe buff the zombies in some other areas.

[DeatHTaX 1217]

No, they shouldn't. They're OP as they are (1 hit bleed), buffing them anymore would be insane. 1 hit bleeding should be changed into a chance, and then maybe buff the zombies in some other areas.

 

idk about one hit bleeding. I've been hit several times across a couple characters and haven't bled. I mean it does happen to me but not every hit

[Monkfish (DayZ) 339]

Wait until the new AI is in, the zombie numbers have increased significantly (and they respawn), and the meleé combat are sorted before making rash requests like increasing the speed of them. Zombie speed will be a balancing thing most likely done in Beta and not before.

[Grimey Rick 3417]

if this is survival of the fittest and only the fittest arent zombies, why would zombies be faster? i thought they would be slower as they are the ill/old/disabled/unfit who couldnt get away from the zombies and becoming a zombie doesnt make you a super-human

 

Source: http://zombie.wikia.com/wiki/Rage_virus

 

The Rage virus causes its hosts to permanently enter a primal state of murderous rage and attempt to spread the infection or kill the uninfected above all else, even self-preservation. The Infected are reduced to an animalistic state of permanent hostility and aggression, driving them to attack non-infected with no concern for their own safety and no moral or other inhibitions that could control their actions and behaviour. In this state of permanent and extreme psychosis, the brain is continuously pumping adrenaline into the host's system, giving the Infected huge powers of endurance and super-human strength, but at the same time placing enormous stress on their metabolism, which alongside their disregard for their own safety, leads to eventual death through physical exhaustion, coma and/or starvation. The Infected experience spasms in the extremities, and their irises become blood red. They also vomit copious amounts of infected blood as well as violently gibbering for reasons unknown.

 

In the film 28 Days Later the virus that spreads is called "Rage". DayZ also uses a virus archetype. It could work, and would make it more fun. Stupid, slow, shambling zombies are boring.

 

#releaseyourrage

[BHBDeano 18]

yeah the zeds are a bit of a joke at the moment they should have the physical edge on players being able to sprint for longer and be stronger, punching them to death should be a real risk only used as a last resort.

 

new players should learn to sneak in and around towns and be afraid to sneeze, even fully armed players should still be fearful of attracting to many and being over run.

[Really Old Man 53]

No. Zombie speed is fine now.

[Monkfish (DayZ) 339]

Give it time.