Zombie aggro

[BeefBacon 1185]

Today I was followed by zombies from Stary almost all the way to NWAF. They did the usual thing where they chase you, slow down and then give up, but then they'd almost immediately follow me again. They were never more than a couple of pixels on the horizon, but they followed me for miles.

 

Is this a game feature or just a weird fluke? I've not experienced this before. 

[TX_ 22]

Is this a game feature or just a weird fluke? I've not experienced this before.

Likely a fluke as almost everything about the Zs is currently badly messed up. For example, I was sniping today and after shooting a couple of rounds, a Z runs at me out of nowhere, and after killing it soon another one comes at me, and this would keep going on for quite a while. Same goes with shooting in general, they'll just keep spawning & coming at you all the time after you fire a round. Judging from the many threads I've read about the current Z behavior, I'm betting we'll see a lot of changes / updates to them in the next builds.

[pilgrim* 3513]

Likely a fluke as almost everything about the Zs is currently badly messed up. For example, I was sniping today and after shooting a couple of rounds, a Z runs at me out of nowhere, and after killing it soon another one comes at me, and this would keep going on for quite a while. Same goes with shooting in general, they'll just keep spawning & coming at you all the time after you fire a round. Judging from the many threads I've read about the current Z behavior, I'm betting we'll see a lot of changes / updates to them in the next builds.

 

The zeds are not very messed up : If you shoot a zed, pick up your gear and run, or get ready for a fight - more are coming.

they hear gunshots as far away as you do

they hear you talking too

If you fight them, more will come

Dodge through trees, or round corners, break their line of sight, that helps

If you want to loot, lead them away, circle round and come back

If you run down a steep slope with zeds behind you, they can fall and kill themselves, they might even fall past over your head before hitting the ground

 

the (almost) only thing messed up about them is they run in straight lines.. it was more fun in the mod when they ran crazy zigzags - was much more zombie-like

 

And it was good in the mod when they walked inside buildings, and did not run.. it gave you a breathing space but ALSO increased the sense of MENACE

(you ran into a barn to bandage or reload, and one by one they start walking in, 3.. 5.. 7..of them just walking towards you.... heheheheh that was nice

and in the apartments they WALKED upstairs.. and they kept on coming, a stair FULL of them.... gave you enough time for it to be hair-raising)

 

A GOOD thing would be to bring back STEALTH to avoid zombies... attempt to crawl past them, try to sneak behind their backs when they are turned away. That was immersive for sure!

Hmm - but also perhaps these new zombies hit from a little too far off, I think. No fun for new spawns (lol) but that's the DayZ tradition

 

xx pilgrim

Edited March 23, 2014 by pilgrim

[SilverTrowel 5]

Breaking line of sight dones not work V Zombies for me.

I run around town, in and out of alleys or houses and then hide in a shed........... They allways find me, I mean find my exact spot.

I've tested it a lot.

 

The only way to loose them is outrun them distance wise.

 

Today Ive died twice to zombies. Once when a zombie gave me a broken leg and then two of his pals joined in and kicked me to death whilst I was down and the second time really pee'd me off when I was attacked by 7 zombies and eventually died when I was trying to bandage.

That second time, I had scanned the area intently and could not see a single Zombie.......... Then 7 appeared from nowhere.

 

Sometimes, outrunning a Zombie is not an option because we need to loot towns, so we eventually have to fight them.

I'm not complaining because I actually enjoy the challenge but the line of sight thing is broke imho.

[Jasonperson 78]

The zeds are not very messed up : If you shoot a zed, pick up your gear and run, or get ready for a fight - more are coming.

they hear gunshots as far away as you do

they hear you talking too

If you fight them, more will come

Dodge through trees, or round corners, break their line of sight, that helps

If you want to loot, lead them away, circle round and come back

If you run down a steep slope with zeds behind you, they can fall and kill themselves, they might even fall past over your head before hitting the ground

 

the (almost) only thing messed up about them is they run in straight lines.. it was more fun in the mod when they ran crazy zigzags - was much more zombie-like

 

And it was good in the mod when they walked inside buildings, and did not run.. it gave you a breathing space but ALSO increased the sense of MENACE

(you ran into a barn to bandage or reload, and one by one they start walking in, 3.. 5.. 7..of them just walking towards you.... heheheheh that was nice

and in the apartments they WALKED upstairs.. and they kept on coming, a stair FULL of them.... gave you enough time for it to be hair-raising)

 

A GOOD thing would be to bring back STEALTH to avoid zombies... attempt to crawl past them, try to sneak behind their backs when they are turned away. That was immersive for sure!

Hmm - but also perhaps these new zombies hit from a little too far off, I think. No fun for new spawns (lol) but that's the DayZ tradition

 

xx pilgrim

I agree that stealth should be brought back to avoid zombies, but walking indoors was really stupid in the mod. It didn't give a sense of menace, it just broke immersion. Same thing with zig zag zombies,that were impossible to shoot. Zeds should walk in the most direct way possible to you, and should also run indoors. In the mod you could just lose the zombies indoors and not have to fight them at all throughout your entire life. I don't see why indoors should have some sort of magical essence to it forcing zombies to walk.

[pilgrim* 3513]

Breaking line of sight dones not work V Zombies for me.

I run around town, in and out of alleys or houses and then hide in a shed........... They allways find me, I mean find my exact spot.

I've tested it a lot.

 

Yes you are probably right about houses and streets. I've been inside a house, heard a zombie howl at a distance, then after a moment he comes straight in through the wall. But have you (anyone) seen a zomb run through a tree? I've dodged between thick pine trees, and seem to loose zeds quite quickly. I put my gun away to run faster. This has worked for me.

[BeefBacon 1185]

The zeds are not very messed up

 

Yeah, walking through walls is normal.

 

I know the game is alpha but I'm really surprised noclipping zombies is still an issue. Feels like the zombie AI and pathing should have been the first thing to get right, yet the devs seem to be prioritising new guns and hats? Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying DayZ immensely, it just seems odd that the devs appear to be adding new things rather than fixing the game at its core.

 

Stealth is something I'd really like to see. I'm fed up of freshly spawning and trying to find a can of beans or a screwdriver and having to dance around the half-a-dozen zombies that have somehow spotted me. Staying behind zombies, unless you make a sound, means they won't notice you, though.

[pilgrim* 3513]

I agree that stealth should be brought back to avoid zombies, but walking indoors was really stupid in the mod. It didn't give a sense of menace, it just broke immersion. Same thing with zig zag zombies,that were impossible to shoot.

 

Yes for stealth - But in the mod how did you get away from zombies in the apartment buildings when they started coming upstairs to you? The more you shot, the bigger crowd you got at the door. Remember how they walked around all the rooms, step, step, step, step... They came in and checked the rooms from time to time even when there were no players in the building.

You say you didn't like them running in a zombie zigzag because you couldn't shoot them... is that bad? - them being more difficult to hit? Do you like them better to run straight at you from 100 yards so you have plenty-bocoo time to aim down the sights ?  That's kind of easy, don't you think? But ok, no prob if that's your opinion. Personally I like to have to worry about them.

When you were crawling across a field to a helicrash in the mod, and you suddenly see 2 changing direction and walking  towards you, and you knew you couldn't stand up or you'd have maybe seven zomb pilots on you fast.. so you turn and start crawling like F towards a bush, to get round behind them ... but then you notice a hopper crossing your path ..now THAT was ... interesting..

 

xx pilgrim

Edited March 26, 2014 by pilgrim

[Foxtails 7]

Lately I have noticed zombies are more likely to use an open door or fence opening if nearby than clip though walls. If the door is closed or you are on an upper floor of a building they are more likely to clip. Also some buildings are more likely to have wall clipping than others.

[Jasonperson 78]

Yes for stealth - But in the mod how did you get away from zombies in the apartment buildings when they started coming upstairs to you? The more you shot, the bigger crowd you got at the door. Remember how they walked around all the rooms, step, step, step, step...

You didn't like them running in a zombie zigzag because you couldn't shoot them... is that bad, them being more difficult to hit? Do you like them to run straight at you from 100 yards so you have plenty-plenty bocoo time to aim down the sights ?  Kind of easy, don't you think? But ok, no prob if that's your opinion. Personally I like to have to worry about them.

 

xx pilgrim

I would most likely just prone in the biggest room in the apartment and wait for them to leave. That's the problem with walking zombies indoors. They lose los and then you don't have to fight them. I think the best thing they could do is just have them be in large numbers, spawn a ways away from you and run in a relatively straight line. Maybe some zombies could be slow, some be the same speed as you, and some faster than you, so your guaranteed to have to kill some.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Jasonperson

[Gandroid 3]

I'm totally okay with the zeds hearing gunshots from far away and swarming. Seems like they respawn way too fast at the moment, though. I found myself caught at NEAF fighting a never ending zombie horde. I'm pretty okay with that, it would just be nice if they weren't spawning right next to me and already aggro'd. It did feel really intense, which I want more of in DayZ, just seems like the spawn mechanics are a little wonky right now. Would be happier with a large amount of zombies already spawned that you can clear out for a few minutes instead of a never-ending flood.

[pilgrim* 3513]

Yeah, walking through walls is normal.

 

I know the game is alpha but I'm really surprised noclipping zombies is still an issue. Feels like the zombie AI and pathing should have been the first thing to get right, yet the devs seem to be prioritising new guns and hats? Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying DayZ immensely, it just seems odd that the devs appear to be adding new things rather than fixing the game at its core.

 

Stealth is something I'd really like to see. I'm fed up of freshly spawning and trying to find a can of beans or a screwdriver and having to dance around the half-a-dozen zombies that have somehow spotted me. Staying behind zombies, unless you make a sound, means they won't notice you, though.

 

I agree with this. In the mod the zombies were supposed to have "very poor tracking" and be "makeshift", but they never came through walls (sometimes they could hit through walls though). They always came through doors - even if the doors were shut - but NOT walls. If you vaulted a fence in the country, the zombs ran all the way round the end of the fence to get back to you.. and they also walked up stairs, they climbed ladders.. AND they didn't just stand still in the middle of town, they walked about without being agroed, they went in buildings and upstairs and ladders for no reason - you had to hide or evade if a zombie came down the street, maybe it would go on past, they wandered around, they came in supermarkets to hang out...  and my understanding is that those were supposed to be makeshift zombies, just kind of cobbled together to get the game off the ground.

 

they were fairly unpredictable, and they were tweaked quite often, but they were definitely OK, they were crazy, they really made the game. There were ways of geting away from them but sometimes even experts got caught out.

 

And also STEALTH was a VERY important in all that... I've crawled through a WHOLE town from one door to another, looking for an axe, with zombies lurching past only feet away,... (and not only one or two, more like 5 or 6). I've crawled across roads right after they went by, hoping they wouldn't turn round...

 

xx

Edited March 26, 2014 by pilgrim

[pacific_coast 632]

zombies seem to detect the player when they enter their "vertical eyesight range"

eg climbing up a ladder or going past a high window and a zed aggro's to you from 200m+

i can walk/run behind them and "stealth kill" due to this outdated cone vision they have

 

i also figured the AI from the mod would not have been copy pasta into the SA

dissapoints :(

[Death By Crowbar 1213]

Yeah, walking through walls is normal.

 

I know the game is alpha but I'm really surprised noclipping zombies is still an issue. Feels like the zombie AI and pathing should have been the first thing to get right, yet the devs seem to be prioritising new guns and hats? Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying DayZ immensely, it just seems odd that the devs appear to be adding new things rather than fixing the game at its core.

 

Stealth is something I'd really like to see. I'm fed up of freshly spawning and trying to find a can of beans or a screwdriver and having to dance around the half-a-dozen zombies that have somehow spotted me. Staying behind zombies, unless you make a sound, means they won't notice you, though.

I agree with this as well. As I've said before, the zed clipping is the 4th most voted issue - clearly the community would like it corrected.

[mgc 92]

About walking through walls:

It would be awesome if the Z were delayed by walls with an animation or 2 (bust wall, walk through gap). This would increase immersion, give players the time to feel the fear, make Z more Z-like and eliminate the need for complex path finding.

[pacific_coast 632]

I agree with this as well. As I've said before, the zed clipping is the 4th most voted issue - clearly the community would like it corrected.

only 4th?

 

sigh.

[DannyRed 32]

 

the (almost) only thing messed up about them is they run in straight lines.. it was more fun in the mod when they ran crazy zigzags - was much more zombie-like

 

That was the bad part in the mod imo. Not because they were harder to target at but because z's shouldn't be smart and try to dodge bullets. I say the more zombies the better and not some freaking outsmarting zombies that look freaking stupid. 

Maybe the zombies could stumble a little sometimes and even trip over too for their own feet. would be much more immersive way.

 

Edited March 24, 2014 by DannyRed

[pilgrim* 3513]

That was the bad part in the mod imo. Not because they were harder to target at but because z's shouldn't be smart and try to dodge bullets. I say the more zombies the better and not some freaking outsmarting zombies that look freaking stupid. 

Maybe the zombies could stumble a little sometimes and even trip over too for their own feet. would be much more immersive way.

 

 

In the mod the zeds ran in zigzags only because they had bad tracking - the AI '"saw' you, ran the zombie towards that place, then looked again to see where you were, and ran to THAT place, and so on... so the AI only checked from time to time where the player was and sent the zombies there. Zombies were always going to where you 'were' and not where you'd got to. This is an easy 'low budget' AI to set up. So to make the zombies a threat the devs had to make them run really fast, to compensate for the lousy tracking.. so it wasn't to make them look like zombies, it was just a cheap and cheerful way of getting zombies to chase you. My point is that it worked, and the zombies were kind of interesting too.

 

Also (as I remember) the AI checked to make sure the player could not see the zombie spawn locations, so you would never see them appear from nowhere, even if they spawned fairly close. And you could easily get swamped by dozens of zombs, especially at NWAF - for instance it was easy to get trapped in the control tower if they detected you were there. Also there was a max number of zomb spawns per area, or player, so if you kept fighting them eventually they'd thin out, if you were still alive. And finally their movement before agro was almost random, but weighted, so as they wandered around - bit by bit they tended to come closer to where players were.

 

Again - the stealth stuff was very important to the game. Starting from the beach and finding something to defend yourself was sometimes difficult, and exciting. I dont know how you can deal with getting into a village to find an axe now, unless you run full speed and punch good, but with the one-hit bleed and zombs that can outrun you, and hit you from 12-15 feet, and no way of hiding.... can't be easy :)

 

AND the different zombie skins were cool - there was one fat farmer with a chewed up face - I HATED HIM... I always gutshot that THING. The new zombs just look like they been sleeping rough. The lady with the deep voice needs to wash her hair.

Edited March 24, 2014 by pilgrim

[Death By Crowbar 1213]

only 4th?

 

sigh.

Yep... check here - only 69 votes to be the 3rd most voted issue the community wants addressed. It's up there. The feedback I'm hearing is there's concern it can't be fixed thus why it's been outstanding so long. That's a concern.

[DannyRed 32]

Again - the stealth stuff was very important to the game. Starting from the beach and finding something to defend yourself was sometimes difficult, and exciting. I dont know how you can deal with getting into a village to find an axe now, unless you run full speed and punch good, but with the one-hit bleed and zombs that can outrun you, and hit you from 12-15 feet, and no way of hiding.... can't be easy :)

AND the different zombie skins were cool - there was one fat farmer with a chewed up face - I HATED HIM... I always gutshot that THING. The new zombs just look like they been sleeping rough. The lady with the deep voice needs to wash her hair.

It is actually kinda easy to run into a house and get the loot since the zombies now run a lot slower than before. Just make sure you deal with zombies before you enter a house by killing them or just by going to places where you don´t see any Z´s near the house. If you get spotted then just sprint away and mostly you´ll do just fine. Just make sure you got some bandages. Rip a shirt my man.

Yeah some more zombie skins would be swell. But i´m sure we will see some in the next couple of months. Here´s hoping for some variation for them: Short,Tall,Skinny,Fat,Faster,Slower,Crawler and the list goes on :P

Edited March 26, 2014 by DannyRed

[Jonah_Hobbes 171]

Was being chased by the blonde zombie chick in the pink skirt she does her new leap attack, (you could learn something from her Barbarian from Diablo) and then she just drops dead. Fairly sure no one shot her.

 

Breaking line of sight does not work either. Was being chased by a zombie that looks, walks and acts uncannily like my brother, the one in the checked shirt with the beard. He followed me for ages and I used old Mod tactics of zig-zagging and breaking line of sight, I stop to check the damage from my kit and there he is again standing behind me.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Jonah_Hobbes

[BadAsh (DayZ) 1513]

Today I was followed by zombies from Stary almost all the way to NWAF. They did the usual thing where they chase you, slow down and then give up, but then they'd almost immediately follow me again. They were never more than a couple of pixels on the horizon, but they followed me for miles.

 

Is this a game feature or just a weird fluke? I've not experienced this before. 

 

That can only be because you ran in a straight line. As soon as the zombies reached their waypoint they would spot you again and resume the chase. If you took you angled your course they would not spot you when they reached their waypoint and cease following you.

[randomspawn 215]

I think most people like harder hitting zombies, but I've respawned a couple times the last 2 days, and they are rough on new spawns. They can run as fast as us even when unarmed. This, coupled with the hurdle move, they can hit and attack you at full run speed. It is challenging if your spawn area doesn't have any melee weapons around. I read the clipping issue is complicated and they have a new team working on it. I suspect it will be 2+ months to get it mostly fixed. Until then, enjoy those bump rides when you have a new spawn.

[ld-airgrafix 403]

They made the zombies harder but forgot to fix the mellee weapons. So now without a fire axe its impossible to loot anything as a fresh spawn

[Laneige 2]

I feel like the zombies are just cheap now. They follow you for way too long, and if you're unarmed (or even armed), it's just an annoyance to deal with them. If you stop to axe one, another will invariably spawn already aggro'd on you. Rounding corners just makes them clip through the buildings and keep coming after you, an even bigger reminder that they can ignore structures and you can't. They'd be less of a hassle once melee isn't so wonky, but that might be 11 months from now. But then fixing the melee combat will somehow give everybody terrible desync and may cause duct tape to kill the user if they accidentally clicked the middle mouse button on it in the inventory screen. Because reasons.