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

[finnpalm 312]

Ok yes i will go kill myself now because I recognize the very real possibilty that a zed could get the drop on some people. Ive only seen it happen several times(to different people).

 

I'm pretty sure he meant "die in-game". Not irl. Please, don't kill yourself. ;)

[Murlough 192]

I'm pretty sure he meant "die in-game". Not irl. Please, don't kill yourself. ;)

But i was so prepared! Dammit im slow! On the bright side you just saved a life.

[doctorbadsign 645]

So the game was a walk in the park before the updated zombies?

 

I see this "annoying" thing a lot. Seriously, did anyone sign a clause that stated "Zombies should not be annoying" before buying this zombie survival game? I didn't. What should the zombies be in such a game, a pleasantry?

 

Well the thing is killing zombies in almost every other zombie game is kinda fun. Mashing them until their heads burst with a satisfying squelch. Or that thrill when you think you've killed one but then it mauls at your ankles as you turn away. If the zombies were anything like this then it would be good fun and I wouldn't care how many there are or how difficult they are.

 

The problem is that zombies beeline straight towards you through walls, and attack in a formulaic manner with 2 variations which are totally predictable and easy to dodge. There is no necessity to destroy their brain, one hit with a fireaxe will suffice. Ergo they are not a challenge. The rate at which they aggro at you is nothing more than an irritation, that makes me sigh and think "oh for fucks sake" as soon as I see one running towards me from inordinately far away. Not wanting this utter shite to ruin your experience does not equate to wanting pleasant zombies. I want good zombies.

 

I know they are supposedly placeholder. But fuck me, are they terrible. What you need is for zombies to be unpredictable so that there is no one size fits all strategy for coping with them. You also need some pay off for stealth tactics. As long as you can look at a zombie and know what it is about to do from how it is moving, they will never be very good. We need zombies to surprise us, so that dealing with them is a challenge that gets our blood pumping, not an irritation that can be dealt with once you have the formula down. 

 

Yes I know its alpha, all I am giving is my feedback, I know they aren't finished and that's fine. I just don't feel compelled to play the game with them in their current state.

[AlphaDogMeat . 493]

Ok yes i will go kill myself now because I recognize the very real possibilty that a zed could get the drop on some people. Ive only seen it happen several times(to different people).

 

I have no reason to doubt your word that such people exist, however I would imagine such spectacular ineptitude could only be attained by actually wearing the Official DayZ Burlap Sack^® merchandise whilst playing.

[finnpalm 312]

Well the thing is killing zombies in almost every other zombie game is kinda fun. Mashing them until their heads burst with a satisfying squelch. Or that thrill when you think you've killed one but then it mauls at your ankles as you turn away. If the zombies were anything like this then it would be good fun and I wouldn't care how many there are or how difficult they are.

 

The problem is that zombies beeline straight towards you through walls, and attack in a formulaic manner with 2 variations which are totally predictable and easy to dodge. There is no necessity to destroy their brain, one hit with a fireaxe will suffice. Ergo they are not a challenge. The rate at which they aggro at you is nothing more than an irritation, that makes me sigh and think "oh for fucks sake" as soon as I see one running towards me from inordinately far away. Not wanting this utter shite to ruin your experience does not equate to wanting pleasant zombies. I want good zombies.

 

I know they are supposedly placeholder. But fuck me, are they terrible. What you need is for zombies to be unpredictable so that there is no one size fits all strategy for coping with them. You also need some pay off for stealth tactics. As long as you can look at a zombie and know what it is about to do from how it is moving, they will never be very good. We need zombies to surprise us, so that dealing with them is a challenge that gets our blood pumping, not an irritation that can be dealt with once you have the formula down. 

 

Yes I know its alpha, all I am giving is my feedback, I know they aren't finished and that's fine. I just don't feel compelled to play the game with them in their current state.

 

Well, I understand that stealth is something that's being worked on already, and there have been suggestions about different "types" of infected with different characteristics here in the forums, so let's just hope they consider those suggestions.

 

And pathfinding, well.. let's not

 

[doctorbadsign 645]

Well, I understand that stealth is something that's being worked on already, and there have been suggestions about different "types" of infected with different characteristics here in the forums, so let's just hope they consider those suggestions.

 

And pathfinding, well.. let's not

 

 

Different types may or may not work depending on how its done. I'd rather 1 type of unpredictable zombie to 10 types of predictable zombie.

 

I know its probably impossible to script AI that is impossible to figure out, but they sure as hell could make it harder to figure out than, "its doing that animation, its about to jump attack" or "its doing the other one so its going to claw me". 

 

As I say I am fully aware that this is alpha and so on. However the zombies are very important to the game, and have been neglected pretty much up until this update in which they have just become baneful and annoying. My sincerest hope is that they will add good zombies to DayZ, but I fear that they won't ever get them right.

[BadAsh (DayZ) 1513]

Well the thing is killing zombies in almost every other zombie game is kinda fun. Mashing them until their heads burst with a satisfying squelch. Or that thrill when you think you've killed one but then it mauls at your ankles as you turn away. If the zombies were anything like this then it would be good fun and I wouldn't care how many there are or how difficult they are.

 

The problem is that zombies beeline straight towards you through walls, and attack in a formulaic manner with 2 variations which are totally predictable and easy to dodge. There is no necessity to destroy their brain, one hit with a fireaxe will suffice. Ergo they are not a challenge. The rate at which they aggro at you is nothing more than an irritation, that makes me sigh and think "oh for fucks sake" as soon as I see one running towards me from inordinately far away. Not wanting this utter shite to ruin your experience does not equate to wanting pleasant zombies. I want good zombies.

 

I know they are supposedly placeholder. But fuck me, are they terrible. What you need is for zombies to be unpredictable so that there is no one size fits all strategy for coping with them. You also need some pay off for stealth tactics. As long as you can look at a zombie and know what it is about to do from how it is moving, they will never be very good. We need zombies to surprise us, so that dealing with them is a challenge that gets our blood pumping, not an irritation that can be dealt with once you have the formula down. 

 

Yes I know its alpha, all I am giving is my feedback, I know they aren't finished and that's fine. I just don't feel compelled to play the game with them in their current state.

 

Killing zombies is repetitive business. I can't think of any zombie movie or series where, after the initial scare of them appearing and all that, it doesn't become a repetitive chore killing them when they appear.

 

This is unavoidable in DayZ as well.  Sure they can and most assuredly will become more of a challenge when the placeholders are gradually replaced by the end product, but I am under no illusion that even these will not eventually become kind of a chore to kill.

[doctorbadsign 645]

Killing zombies is repetitive business. I can't think of any zombie movie or series where, after the initial scare of them appearing and all that, it doesn't become a repetitive chore killing them when they appear.

 

This is unavoidable in DayZ as well.  Sure they can and most assuredly will become more of a challenge when the placeholders are gradually replaced by the end product, but I am under no illusion that even these will not eventually become kind of a chore to kill.

 

I agree. 

 

What I want though is situations where you turn a corner, see something a load of zombies and think "oh fuck" and have to turn on your heel and run as fast as you can.

 

Or going into a certain building looking for loot and finding it full of zombies, meaning you have to quickly get out of there.

 

Things like that will make zombies scary and challenging regardless of how boring it might eventually get to kill them.

 

At the moment there is nothing scary or challenging or even interesting about them. They just serve to annoy you whilst you want to stop and have a drink. If they stay anything remotely like this, then as far as I'm concerned DayZ is fucked.

[BadAsh (DayZ) 1513]

At the moment there is nothing scary or challenging or even interesting about them. They just serve to annoy you whilst you want to stop and have a drink. If they stay anything remotely like this, then as far as I'm concerned DayZ is fucked.

 

It seems we are almost on the same page, except for this. As I stated in the other thread currently discussing this subject, I am of the belief that the current placeholder zombies serve an important purpose in that they should be exactly that annoyance during those moments, only of course with more polished means. They are currently a lot cruder than the end product, but still their current result is something like they should be in the end product, something besides other players to interfer with your survival game.

 

Removing them completely would create a result completely alien to what they are aiming for. The artificial means of making zombies a constant threat, before actually implementing zombie AI and other features, serves to keep the game from being offset by a scenario where it is only pvp action and nothing else.

[doctorbadsign 645]

It seems we are almost on the same page, except for this. As I stated in the other thread currently discussing this subject, I am of the belief that the current placeholder zombies serve an important purpose in that they should be exactly that annoyance during those moments, only of course with more polished means. They are currently a lot cruder than the end product, but still their current result is something like they should be in the end product, something besides other players to interfer with your survival game.

 

Removing them completely would create a result completely alien to what they are aiming for. The artificial means of making zombies a constant threat, before actually implementing zombie AI and other features, serves to keep the game from being offset by a scenario where it is only pvp action and nothing else.

 

I wouldn't say remove them completely. I would just say aim for some substantial progress with them by the next update.

 

Whenever I look at the changelog it always seems to be a long list of various stuff and then one or two things about zombies. It's almost like an afterthought. 

 

I know I am not one to speak about what the dev team focuses on, and there may be various legit reasons for not being able to put a lot of focus into the zombies at this moment in time. However I for one would love the reassurance that they are actually going to get sorted in terms of AI and pathfinding etc. My experience of the mod and of the SA so far has shown me nothing to convince me that the RV engine can even do decent zombies. So it would be nice to get a little dev blog or video showing some progress just so I don't feel like all hope is probably lost.

[pilgrim* 3514]

No when zombies are chasing me im not gonna run into a building and assume im safe cuz im indoors im not a N00B. And no it is not a good thing. Say you didnt kniw a single zombie was chasing you. U walk into a pne door building looking for something(food, clothes, rotten fruit) and the zombie gets the jump on you. What are you gonna do? Some would just plain shoot it to save themselves and then what would happen? Congrats your trapped in a building with zombies indefinatly spawning and rushing into you. So yeah not good. Im not hating on the zombies more so to the way they spawn.(And i know its in alpha and its being worked on.)

 

U walk into a one door building looking for something (food, clothes, rotten fruit) and the guy already in there shoots you

Congrats, now he's trapped in a building with zombies indefinitly spawning and rushing into him

You sorted HIM out good.

 

Back in the Bad Wild West a long time ago - didn't somebody say something about always checking there was a back door?

Where did I hear that?

[The_Monk 320]

Wear a helmet. When a zombie does its occasional super powered falcon punch, it ruins whatever item it hits. If it hits you in the head, sans helmet, you die.

[VonHabdekeiten 38]

Learn to work with an axe son. They will drop like flies before having time to do anything, no one will hear you coming, no need for Mr.Fancypants equipment and headwear.

Edited April 12, 2014 by VonHabdekeiten

[Murlough 192]

U walk into a one door building looking for something (food, clothes, rotten fruit) and the guy already in there shoots you

Congrats, now he's trapped in a building with zombies indefinitly spawning and rushing into him

You sorted HIM out good.

Back in the Bad Wild West a long time ago - didn't somebody say something about always checking there was a back door?

Where did I hear that?

I dont even no what your fucking saying.

[venkman302 6]

Guys, just saying,...from the mod a couple years ago down to the current state of Alpha...

 

These zombies move like they were made by my 5 year old, they react as if they were created in a drunken daze....and it is embarrassing.  I mean, games that were made 20 years ago have enemies that move better and "feel" better than this.

 

Ever tried hitting a zombie?  Embarrassing

 

Ever watched the way they do ANYTHING at all?  Embarrassing.

 

Ever watched the way they face away from you and hit the air...but are hitting you?  Embarrassing

 

 

lol, they seriously are a bad joke.  

 

Through the mod and alpha, they are poorly made.  Even with it being an alpha.  

 

Play any other game out.  Starcraft 2, dota 2, smite, battlefield, anything. heck, Lol, Lego star wars.  Even the top 10 worst games of all time, "The Simpson's Wrestling" on PLaystation 1 in 2001.  They at least have characters that move and react as if they were professionally made.  The zombies in Dayz are so pitiful that it is plain embarrassing.

 

I mean, dude, come on guys.  Great game,  great premise, but man, ....even placeholders should be more inspiring than this.  

 

Day z, besides the zombies, IS A GREAT GREAT GAME.  Even with its frame rate issues...the rest of the game is fun and exciting.  The environment, loot, and customization is compelling.  Thrilling even.  But let's really call a kettle black when it comes to these here zombies....my 5 year old was seriously laughing at how the zombies moved, reacted, and just...are.

 

PUT ANY ENCOUNTER WITH A ZOMBIE IN DAY Z IN A YOU TUBE CLIP AND POST IT ON THE INTERNET.  It is pitifully embarrassing.

 

 

[So Sexy 259]

And the point of this topic was?

Edited April 12, 2014 by So Sexy

[NinjaTurkey 255]

Another one? How many is that now? Anyone keeping score?

[xalienax 621]

I would settle for them to stop magically moving and strikeing thru objects that I cant....

[The_Monk 320]

[sess130 50]

Rant. Lock the thread mod. Honestly, its a WIP. The zombie movement is easy to predict if you learn to adapt to your environment. I rarely run into problems with the 'new' zombies unless its like 5 of them at once (only using the axe). BI has an entire 40 man team in Slovakia only working on zombie AI and pathfinding so they will be fixed eventually. Just give it some time. And yes, it's an alpha. You gave examples of games that were finished.

[Etherious 907]

I have no idea what I just read....I do not get the point...lol

[hefeweizen 254]

So there is an entire second team at BI specifically working on Zombie behavior. You know they're place holders yet you still come to the forums and bitch about them? I gotta ask, do you understand the concept of "place holder"? The zombies in the alpha are pretty much there so that there are zombies in the alpha. Not much other work has been done on them, what little has been done was the bare minimum in order to make zombies at least factor into the gameplay. If the second team introduces the completely reworked zombie behavior and zombies still act all super derpy then come back and be a little chode about it, until then go away.

Edited April 12, 2014 by Hefeweizen

[finnpalm 312]

Just to clarify, they don't have a team working only on zombie pathfinding.

 

They have a team brought in to work on the hunting system, which includes pathfinding for animals, and they will be looking at the zombies as well.

[boneboys 7988]

I was attacked by a Z upstairs in a house yesterday !

Anybody else ?

[St. Jimmy 1631]

I got to say the zombie speed is awful. The engine can't handle that speed correctly so they miss you all the time or circle around you.The old speed was more natural. Better slow down people than speed up zombies ;)