Do Zombies Dream Of A Good Nights Sleep? (Zombie feedback)

[makomachine 263]

 

- The extremely brittle zombie-ankles. Sometimes when they chase me down a - let's call it hill, but not really that steep - they all of a sudden overtake me lying flat on their backs. I can only guess that they tried to jump, missed, landed a little bit down the "hill" (I mean really, it was not that steep at all), broke their ankles, a little pice of bone broke loose and somehow shot directly into their frontal lobe resulting in their imidiate death. Then through threir kinetic energy the continued on and overtook me. They actually kept sliding for quite some time, so they are probably quite greasy. I get queasy just thinking of it... .

 

 

I actually experienced this one today at the NEAF behind the hangers.  I was running through the fence and behind the little hill there.  One zed ran down the hill, I looked over my shoulder and he fell over and 'died'.  Freaked me out for a couple minutes as I thought someone had shot him and I just hadn't heard the shot.  Figured out later it was something else as I worked my way through without a player in sight.  Very strange...

[Mystyc_Kitty 2]

Here are some of my inputs... :)

1.) Zombie Glitches; before upping the speed of the zombies, as well as the spawn rate; I think they should be fixing the many annoying glitches that have lead us all into frustration.  Things such as the clipping, sight through the walls, running through the walls, etc.  Yes, I know and recognize they are working on this! =P
2.) Running Dead; I'm one of those who aren't crazy about every zombie running like a marathon racer; personally it gives a false sense of fear, that or a cheap adrenaline rush.  I guess I personally think there should be a much higher number of zombies with different levels of speed.  For example; their could be crawlers (slow, stealthy, and a pain in the rear to watch for in hordes or while exploring buildings), walkers (walking pace, maybe a bit faster.  Longer sight range, but easily deferred by running through a few buildings), fast-limpers  (Around the same speed as jogging with a weapon out, slightly shorter range of sight), and very few runners.  I think it'd be interesting to see something like every time a player dies, a "newly infected" zombie would spawn as a runner.  Once they were killed; they would randomly spawn as one of the others, depending on area or population.  I think it would be fun to go to the airfield, looking out at the runway and seeing hundreds of zombies.   A few race toward you, no problem, take out your gun and shoot the few in the head.  Next comes the massive horde of limpers and walkers; followed behind by the crawlers.  You're backed into a wall, suddenly *click* no bullets.  Dive through them or try to melee the hundreds to death? :P 
3.) Animations; this is just me being picky, but I'd love to see some different attacks. ^^
4.) I See You; zombie sight is nice, but I think it's a little too much.  Maybe bring it down so it's possible to sneak a bit.  Yes, if you're standing in an open field, zombies SHOULD see you; but walking slowly through a tree-dense forest and one sees you from 20 miles away is a little unrealistic in my opinion.
5.) Pin-Point Hearing; in a big town, the bullet should echo.  It's crazy if you shoot one bullet how they can pin point you; it'd be nice if they raced to the area and looked around for you.  I don't have too strong of feelings about this, but I thought it was mention-worthy.
6.) You Can't Run; zombies hitting you, or pulling you toward them while many feet behind is kind of glitchy, and frustrating. Oh well!

I love DayZ, and I think it should STAY a zombie-based game.  The survival would fall nicely with the slower, different kind of zombies.  This would make looting not easier, but more tactical; crawling about while zombies could be listening or heading toward you as you open a can of beans... Now we just race through towns, grab and run; that or take the time to clear our a town 3 or 4 times with the spawning! Haha. :) Those who want to remove the zombies, go play RUST, it's exactly what you're looking for.

Early Access games do come with great risk; the creator's original vision is easily lost by what the people want, when in reality, it could have been a much better game.  This isn't supposed to be the mod, and it's not COD; this should be it's own game.  Keep in mind that slower zombies don't mean they'd just be a nuisance; there is ways to incorporate tougher zombies, or more deadly zombies without them being as fast.  ^^  Oh, and if there would be a higher chance to be infected; like a 25% chance every hit; that'd be awesome!

*To anyone who reads or replies, please be respectful as I have tried to voice my opinions respectfully as well. =]

[kaix12 34]

We'll I would like how they are now if I they weren't buggy, I say change them back until later on

[Admiral_69 78]

Also I rather enjoyed the slightly slower than you Zombies. It gave me a chance to get ahead of them, duck into a building an speed loot it... Always knowing they are only seconds behind me.

[IIvIIozzie 31]

The zombies don't do enough damage. They don't spawn in enough quantities. The respawn time needs to be greatly reduced in order to get a sense of achievement for clearing an area. Fix those number tweaks then we can talk about th walking through walls, variety in zombies appearances, movements etc.

[Karakoz 141]

I'm guessing you are carrying a second primary.  If so, then agree.  If not, then that's only true for about 3 seconds.  After that first leap, you can outrun the fastest of them.  This patch is definitely requiring people to consider that second primary...

No I only have one primary. I was sprinting, i.e. running with my hands up. And they followed me on more than 200m before I decided to kill them. Someone above said that he was followed by zombies from the NW airbase to the military base in  the South.

 

 

A week ago maybe.  Now all you pvp'ers going in with guns blazing end up:

 

a.  Back on the beach.

 

or

 

b.  In here QQing about how everything's broken and the magic zombies are being beastly to you.

.

 

I love it.

C. They camp somewhere in the town until an idiot come with his axe and tries to kill all the zombs.

 

 

 

The zombies don't do enough damage.

Because ruining pristine ttsko pants and the pristine stuff inside in one hit isn't enough?

 

 

2.) Running Dead; I'm one of those who aren't crazy about every zombie running like a marathon racer; personally it gives a false sense of fear, that or a cheap adrenaline rush.  I guess I personally think there should be a much higher number of zombies with different levels of speed.  For example; their could be crawlers (slow, stealthy, and a pain in the rear to watch for in hordes or while exploring buildings), walkers (walking pace, maybe a bit faster.  Longer sight range, but easily deferred by running through a few buildings), fast-limpers  (Around the same speed as jogging with a weapon out, slightly shorter range of sight), and very few runners.  I think it'd be interesting to see something like every time a player dies, a "newly infected" zombie would spawn as a runner.  Once they were killed; they would randomly spawn as one of the others, depending on area or population.  I think it would be fun to go to the airfield, looking out at the runway and seeing hundreds of zombies.   A few race toward you, no problem, take out your gun and shoot the few in the head.  Next comes the massive horde of limpers and walkers; followed behind by the crawlers.  You're backed into a wall, suddenly *click* no bullets.  Dive through them or try to melee the hundreds to death?  :P 

 

We need player zombies. You should be allowed to spawn as a player or a zombie.  :)

Edited March 23, 2014 by Karakoz

[iBane 381]

Zeds are fast but manageable with a melee weapon. However I found them nearly impossible to lose once they were on my trail. They also of course detect players very easily.

A player with no weapon will be in a big trouble because of this. If their player detection wasn't quite as good an/or they could be lost once on the player's trail I think they'd be fine.

[makomachine 263]

No I only have one primary. I was sprinting, i.e. running with my hands up. And they followed me on more than 200m before I decided to kill them. Someone above said that he was followed by zombies from the NW airbase to the military base in the South.

I've read since my post that hands up they can catch you. I always run hands down - and never had this issue. They follow you a lot longer for certain, and if you run through an area with more of them, it starts all over. I still think its manageable though - but gone are the days when you didn't consider them. And to that point, I say, about time. Just need to fix all the items already mentioned next...

Edited March 23, 2014 by makomachine

[alferret 45]

After about 8hrs with my current char I have finally got to grips with dealing with Z's using the fire axe, im quite happy dealing with 4-5 at a time now. Spawing within 20ft of me while im being a noob and chowing down in an outside location does make the old chocolate starfish pucker a bit tho :blush:

While out on my travels this afternoon I came across/they found me in the middle of the woods miles from anywhere, all of a sudden as im running around i'd hear something, glance back an there would be 2 or more either right on my back or running a hell of a lot faster than I could up hill. I was under the impression that the were only within towns/villages and the close local not in the middle of the woods.

[SilverTrowel 5]

Firstly, let me congratulate you dev's on a great step in the right direction with Zombies.

They now present a stiffer challenge.

 

However, I fell that they aggro a player from too far away, they are after all, undead and should not have the eyes of an eagle.

It might be interesting if Zombies spawned with varying degree's of eyesight ..... that would add a new dimension to avoiding them as players would be unsure if they would be spotted by a Z when dashing across a street.

 

On the subject of spawning, I assume theres a timer on Zombies spawning right? For example, Zombie dies, Zombie re-spawns after 15 minutes.

It would also be cool (And add to realism) if a Zombie cannot re-spawn when a player is withinn a set distance of the spawn spot but I think thats difficult code to produce and may add to lag etc.

 

I've noticed some people have mentioned Zombies hearing. Well they can't hear for ***t as far as I'm concerned. I can run full pelt up behind them in my size 10 combat boots and wack 'em twice about the head with my axe. I'm hoping that will change.

 

Once the code is right with Z's walking through obstacles ETC, i'd like to see them spawn in buildings too.

I'd also like to see them spawn in wandering hoardes from time to time. But that's for the finished game.

 

But for me, the biggest problem with Zombies is line of sight..... It's simply not working.

I've tested this several times and spent ages ducking into houses and dodging down alleys with a Z after me in town and no matter how many twists and turns I make, they find the exact spot where I'm hiding. The only way to avoid fighting a Z is to out run it distance wise. They are currently acting far to intelligently with regard to LOS.

 

All in all though, good job!

[Karakoz 141]

I've read since my post that hands up they can catch you. I always run hands down - and never had this issue. They follow you a lot longer for certain, and if you run through an area with more of them, it starts all over. I still think its manageable though - but gone are the days when you didn't consider them. And to that point, I say, about time. Just need to fix all the items already mentioned next...

I must try that then. I don't see why that would work with hands down even though you are supposed to be slower, but why not. Everything is possible in DayZ.

[AlphaDogMeat . 493]

C. They camp somewhere in the town until an idiot come with his axe and tries to kill all the zombs.

 

Hiding in a building, too scared to move because of all the nasty zombies?  Oh, I can see I'm letting all the best that this game has to offer just slip away from me right there.

 

Have a word with yourself.

[steve-024 1]

Here is a thought, let the crazy impossible Z's stay in hardcore mode then the hardcases can be happy.  Slow them down in the regular servers for us "easy goers".

[acoastalhero 46]

clipingprobs and this zomiebs?..ok.. lets begin us to destroy the game...i start elektro and zombies in zelo see me?...now i know why hall leave :P

 

make zobies harder...best onehit dead... now can i spawn faster....

I just can't decipher this.

 

Again but in English please.

[broccoli84 0]

really enjoyed the change at first, but after a couple of hours i am not a huge fan of the sprinting zombies overall. if you can spot them before they get to melee they are easy enough to deal with either with bullets or being able to draw an axe and time the swing. once the zombies get in close though, the clunky melee and erratic movement of zombies in close quarters can make it frustrating. smoothing out the pathing of the zombies could make a huge difference. as many have said, the current respawn mechanic is also quite frustrating. if you are bleeding and dispatch the last zombie in sight in a fairly open area, then immediately a zombie spawns 5m from you and starts attacking you from behind, that isn't fun.

 

now that you have my feedback on the current version, here are some ideas for zombies:

only military zombies sprint, but are mostly concentrated in and around military bases (uncommon in larger cities, rare in small villages)

killing a zombie requires either a headshot or a considerable amount of damage to the rest of the body (5-10 M4 shots)

leg attacks have a chance to knock zombies down and cause them start crawling (player crawl animations would work just fine)

[bauertschi 254]

C. They camp somewhere in the town until an idiot come with his axe and tries to kill all the zombs.

 

 

 

Hiding in a building, too scared to move because of all the nasty zombies?  Oh, I can see I'm letting all the best that this game has to offer just slip away from me right there.

 

Have a word with yourself.

To be frank that seems to be the preferred gameplay for quite a few people. The waiting in some building until some idiot comes that is. Said idiot now killing the zeds outside is just a bonus. So that kind of playing style might even become more popular...

[Powell (DayZ) 734]

Like I said previously, I enjoy the change. I think it'd be best though if we returned the old animations and did like a 50/50 or so mix with the zombies

 

How this would be done, however, I have no idea

[w00kie 42]

Like I said previously, I enjoy the change. I think it'd be best though if we returned the old animations and did like a 50/50 or so mix with the zombies

 

How this would be done, however, I have no idea

 

 

That's all good, which I do like but the only down side is that they clip though the walls/fences. They just run in a straight line towards you, if your in a town/city at least. Which is not good :(  I think if the Zombies didn't clip though every object/walls. I think there wouldn't be half of the bitching there is now.

[mightytechmarine 2]

They are a serious issue now and not in a good game play way either. with the patch most everything is looking good but can you guys seriously fix the following zombie issues (in no particular order)

 

1. rapid spawn rate (allow us to clear an area w/ teamwork needed for heavier infestation areas, "clearing" can be a goal that should be able to be accomplished for a short period of time, not 20 sec)

 

2. the phasing through walls thing (this is practically a game breaker, and when combined w/ all the other zombie issues it really is. love everything that's been done w/ the alpha but i cant believe this hasn't been fixed yet)

 

3. their insane speed ( maybe ok for a specialist zed but all of them??? no way. zombies need numbers not superpowers)

 

thank you for allowing me my input, not to say anyone else is wrong but that's just my feelings on it. i want that "OMG" moment when you realized your mobbed rather than getting killed by a never ending stream of ethereal, zombie Jessie Owens's that have the senses of a well trained guard dog... 

Edited March 23, 2014 by mightytechmarine

[Ninja_Meh 115]

zombies cause me no issues, unless due to lag/desync, people complaining about respawn are clearly sprinting around on loud surfaces shooting guns ablaze like they were in cod zombies mode. in dayz shooting your gun is a BIG no no unless to defend yourself from other players (bandits namely) also using direct chat is another key thing some people dont seem to grasp, u shout in game, zombies hear this, they run to you, you sprint away cos your scared, alerting yet more zeds in vicinity, hmmmmm sounds remarkably like some of my favourite george romero films....

 

stage 1 sneak a bit more and be observant

stage 2 find axe asap

stage 3 only carry dual guns if your man enough to deal with zombie flood after (foolishly) shooting at one

stage 3 use axe on zombie noggins from behind

stage 4 DO NOT RUN AWAY

stage 5 do not complain because you are not used to this games core aspect yet

stage 6 accept that you paid very little money to be involved in an alpha, where many changes will occur

 

stage 7 eat beans and drink pop

stage 8 MAN UP

[Khanarac 252]

the age old problem with zombies has always been the aggro,

 

it hit a sweet spot a few times in the mod where being stealthy was rewarding, but the truth is the zombies arent fun if you cant stealth past them, at the moment when guns seem to have the same audio effect, zeds see you through walls and from far away when you arent moving, and other bullshit, expect to hear people complain about it, you would have to be completely blind with fanboyism to accept the current state. Maybe acknowledge that a bit of criticism in the right places can help the development?

+1. They are so broken atm, that they should be disabled entirely. I watched a stream the other day where a sniper was standing on a hill. She had to fight Zeds most of the time and had to walk away from her position because they kept coming endlessly, even though she hardly moved in the first place (on a grass underground => barely hearable)

 

Zeds remain unchallenging. They are annoying. I consider their runspeed all right though! But not the new Axe animations. Those broken animations make it impossible to fight Zeds in smaller Rooms and hallways, and its unpredictable where you might hit your target. Please revert the changes for the axehandling. Sorry for the effort you put in that, but right now it is not working.

 

Also...please change their soundeffects :D Their high-pitch sounds are killing my ears, accustomed to hear for footsteps.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Khanarac

[Ninja_Meh 115]

They are a serious issue now and not in a good game play way either. with the patch most everything is looking good but can you guys seriously fix the following zombie issues (in no particular order)

1. rapid spawn rate (allow us to clear an area w/ teamwork needed for heavier infestation areas)

 

2. the phasing through walls thing (this is practically a game breaker, and when combined w/ all the other zombie issues it really is. love everything that's been done w/ the alpha but i cant believe this hasn't been fixed yet)

 

3. their insane speed ( maybe ok for a specialist zed but all of them??? no way. zombies need numbers not superpowers)

 

if you hit them with melee, when they respawn they do not aggro to the last place they heard gunfire when respawning, the way i see it is the respawning is a way to reproduce the effect of having a lot of zed numbers which you cant see, but once you alert them with gunfire they would obviously run to you in swarms in a real life situation. as it is they cannot implement hordes of zeds or large numbers across the map server side because of the hugs lag and sync issues it will cause. until they figure a way to achieve this i think this is a good system to ready you for a more final mechanic.

 

 

point of interest, zombies hardly ever kill me, like hardly ever. so i presume it is peoples playstyles that is getting them bummed by zeds as i just axe them fuggahs and grabs my loots

[mightytechmarine 2]

if you hit them with melee, when they respawn they do not aggro to the last place they heard gunfire when respawning, the way i see it is the respawning is a way to reproduce the effect of having a lot of zed numbers which you cant see, but once you alert them with gunfire they would obviously run to you in swarms in a real life situation. as it is they cannot implement hordes of zeds or large numbers across the map server side because of the hugs lag and sync issues it will cause. until they figure a way to achieve this i think this is a good system to ready you for a more final mechanic.

 

i totally agree with you on that its the best system at the moment. Im all OG and have been playing the standard mod for a log time now and i think that's why im deff not feeling the current zeds. although i DO NOT like their quickness for all zombies at all, im more of a shambling zed kinda guy. they should not be able to overtake you. it will make things way to hard and frustrating for fresh spawns and bambis just learning the system. like it or no, this is for the masses now... although i think they are doing an awesome job of reinvisioning the classic that i love. i think that by keeping it close is spirit to the original they will help keep some of the magic that made it so enjoyable in the first place.

[neo2121 1]

Here's my two bits:

 

- running speed upgrade is quite ok, it makes them harder to kill (sorely needed) - maybe it would be nicer to have a bit of variety, maybe some are thin and fast, some are fat and tanky, some are half-rotted and they poison you.. stuff like that

- zombie re-spawning is very bad at the moment - it's not ok that they spawn within your area after 10 seconds. It leads to situations where you fire off one shot then spend the rest of the day running and shooting the herd that is following you. If you kill 3-4 in one place you're basicly screwed until you reconnect to the server, they will keep spawning near you however far you run after you kill them, others will hear you killing the ones following you and run after you and so on. Maybe this could be a 'Death Incarnate' kind of game mode for some servers, or could be nice if everything else was working properly. But for a normal mode I think they should just spawn in set areas, not relative to player, after 5-10 minutes, gives u time to clear an area out, loot then run screaming to the woods and zombies will be there ready for next poor slob to come along. I also like the idea in the dev videos, where it was suggested that making a lot of noise could attract zombies from farther away, they will slowly make their way to where there's a big fight. I guess this would be a problem for server performance keeping track of all those zombies but.. who knows.

- i suspect the respawning thing wasn't really intended or tested enough before released, or is just a side-effect of some other bug. I'm curious to see how the devs stand on this particular aspect. It's hard to imagine they intended the endless spawn to be a feature, not how it works now anyway. If you ask me they just set the range the zombos spawn at wrong, if it was 700m-1000m it would be AOK imho, far enough to not aggro you again or be in sight of you in most cases. Now they spawn at 50 meters or less so they just aggro you instantly.

- i also wish they would implement silencers faster, right now if you don't have a fire-axe you're basicly locked out of towns because noise wakes up every zombie around. It's pretty silly to feel safer with an axe than an M4 with attachments and a backpack full of ammo clips.. I couldn't see it happening in a realistic setting.

 

I love the idea of being afraid of the zombies, I hope they never water it down like the mod where you just hide in a bush and you're safe. They should scare the pants off you when all you have is an axe and your clothes. They should really swarm to where shots are fired, even from 1km away so they discourage camping towns with a sniper rifle. They should come in droves to all firefights so it forces them to be skirmishes at most, fire off a few rounds then run like hell before the zombie army comes to town. Very hard zombies would really start co-op in a natural way, the common enemy. They should also be optional for server owners, thus pleasing ultra-realistic mil-sim fans (turning them off) and uber survival co-op rp fans (turn them up to 11 for zombie hordes).

[philjksn 10]

I for one thoroughly enjoy the real threat that infected now pose. They are aggressive, cause real damage and cause more of a problem, which in reality feels more true to what the game is supposed to be; a survival game. I've not really experienced zombies spawning directly in front of me like others claimed to have experienced, and It's definitely not an issue dealing with multiple zombies with an axe (I found it fairly easy to kill a group of 5 zombies just by running in circles and swinging), if you have one, and the fact they can run faster than you isn't a problem if you zig-zag...

There's definitely work to be done though, ie. zombie wall clipping, spawning and probably mixing it up between super-agro infected and more docile infected, but the latest patch has definitely created a genuine fear for them, which I really like. It was far too easy, prior to the latest updates, to just run past a group of them without any concern, whereas now you have to be far more careful, skirting around towns to lure any infected out to kill rather than leaving yourself vulnerable in the middle of a street.