Patch 1.5.7 and this being an Alpha and fucking zombie spawns

[Astuneta (DayZ) 0]

I am also in favor of the increase in numbers. Zombies should be in large quantities and dangerous. Survival after a Zombie Apocalypse that´s the theme and now it looks more like it!!!! I also like the increase in numbers since it hampers bandits camping the cities. This increase also improves people cooperation since being a loner is possible but it´s better if you have a wingman.

Nevertheless I agree with others that with increased numbers their speed and awareness should be lowered. Maybe some could be faster (the fresher zombies) but the old ones should be slow. Their danger would be in the numbers more than in them outrunning you.

Also melee weapons are a needed addition to be able to perform silent kills.

Great Mod Rocket and happy birthday!! Keep it up!

[alienfreak 6]

I am also in favor of the increase in numbers. Zombies should be in large quantities and dangerous. Survival after a Zombie Apocalypse that´s the theme and now it looks more like it!!!! I also like the increase in numbers since it hampers bandits camping the cities. This increase also improves people cooperation since being a loner is possible but it´s better if you have a wingman.

Nevertheless I agree with others that with increased numbers their speed and awareness should be lowered. Maybe some could be faster (the fresher zombies) but the old ones should be slow. Their danger would be in the numbers more than in them outrunning you.

Also melee weapons are a needed addition to be able to perform silent kills.

Great Mod Rocket and happy birthday!! Keep it up!

The zombie numbers have to be low because of the ridiculous low amount of ammunition in this world.

[MuzzleRat 0]

Random comment to the dev in the dev notes, Rocket, I presume that's you - Happy Birthday, great work, better alpha build than most beta's i've played over the last couple of decades, keep up the great work and most of all, thank you for the mod to end mods!

[Astuneta (DayZ) 0]

I am also in favor of the increase in numbers. Zombies should be in large quantities and dangerous. Survival after a Zombie Apocalypse that´s the theme and now it looks more like it!!!! I also like the increase in numbers since it hampers bandits camping the cities. This increase also improves people cooperation since being a loner is possible but it´s better if you have a wingman.

Nevertheless I agree with others that with increased numbers their speed and awareness should be lowered. Maybe some could be faster (the fresher zombies) but the old ones should be slow. Their danger would be in the numbers more than in them outrunning you.

Also melee weapons are a needed addition to be able to perform silent kills.

Great Mod Rocket and happy birthday!! Keep it up!

The zombie numbers have to be low because of the ridiculous low amount of ammunition in this world.

I find it realistic that the amount of ammo is low, and honestly I think it´s quite easy to find pellets and slugs for the winchester. But again, a melee system plus slower zombies would ameliorate this situation.

[MuzzleRat 0]

Actually on that last note by Astuneta; this was something I was thinking of the other day. Having not only the runners, but shamblers, so that whilst you might "think" you've outrun or dealt with the horde, linger somewhere long enough and a lone walker or two that got left behind but continued to stalk you might catch up.

Further, if you logged, said ramblers would be left dotting the countryside in random numbers. Possible?

[monan101 2]

I love the amount of zombies, it means you have to be super carefull, much more than previously, even if the numbers were an accident i will say in my opinion it's a happy accident

[Malaclypse 3]

Loving the patch- the new zombie sounds are great, and the increase in zeds is a complete 180 from the severe lack of zeds before- they're actually, like other players, a threat now (and not just in the annoyance/giving away position sense). Smoke grenades and other thrown distracting agents are much more useful now (don't toss out those empties yet, boys), and camping high-traffic areas for player kills now comes with serious consequences, and will hopefully lead to more savvy bandits tracking people OUT of these areas and ganking them in the woods or fields more often.

Can't wait to see where panic (I currently lose my shit when I piss off like, one monkey) and temperature systems go!

Some suggestions/ideas that others have touched on:

-With more zombies + faster spawns, slower speeds (think fast shuffling or lurching but not dead walks) on a portion of the zombies would be pretty rad. Keep runners in the mix, "monkeys" too, but basically diversify the portfolio of zombos we encounter at some point at least in their speed aspect.

Thanks for all the hard work you've put into this awesome game, man, happy 31st.

[ShiftKnife 0]

This update takes some of the attention off of trusting other players, and turns it on the actual zombies. This is quite honestly, very fitting for the feel of the game. Last night my team and I drove our two trucks into a town for gasoline. Within a minute we noticed the zombie counter soaring from 100 to nearly 600. The trucks were swarmed, and we actually lost a guy.

Although in my opinion I believe those numbers should be reserved for larger cities, as we drove into a smaller town and found at least fifty zombies overwhelming.

[Goldenkrow 0]

I am also in favor of the increase in numbers. Zombies should be in large quantities and dangerous. Survival after a Zombie Apocalypse that´s the theme and now it looks more like it!!!! I also like the increase in numbers since it hampers bandits camping the cities. This increase also improves people cooperation since being a loner is possible but it´s better if you have a wingman.

Nevertheless I agree with others that with increased numbers their speed and awareness should be lowered. Maybe some could be faster (the fresher zombies) but the old ones should be slow. Their danger would be in the numbers more than in them outrunning you.

Also melee weapons are a needed addition to be able to perform silent kills.

Great Mod Rocket and happy birthday!! Keep it up!

The zombie numbers have to be low because of the ridiculous low amount of ammunition in this world.

So stop trying to kill all the zombies? This isnt Left 4 dead. Save your ammo, sneak around

[Hurz (DayZ) 0]

For all those who find the new Zombie spawnrate good, please keep in mind, that there are many new players, that have very limited ressources, despite of knowlage about the area they are in.

For me as a noob, firing one shot a a zombie that ambushes me or that is "guarding" a valuable ressource ends up in death. You simple have not the ammo, weapon and backup to take on 10 to 20 Zombies rushing at you. Yes, it may be, that Zombies were to few to make them a thread, but the point is, that you need a balance for new players and experience players.

A good way would be, to make the number of Zombies depended on the "value" of the equipment around and/or the number of item-spawns. Usual these spots are within (formaly) populated areas as tows, villages and factorys and that is where zombies would usualy be found in masses. This would make it a challange for "older" players to hunt and search there, while loner places as small villages and farms would be a great place for new players to start up and "farm" the first (better) equipment. To make is short: a bit less Zombies (50% to 75% of the 1.5.7 numbers) and better "distribution" of them ... would be perfect.

I started playing two days ago and had much fun (but to be honest not much challenge) during the time in 1.5.6. But after dying 3 times now in 1.5.7 (despite of not getting into the game at the moment ... "waiting for server response" ...) it is getting frusttrating. Just sneaking around and waiting for "hours" to get near a house where maybe something is in (empty tin can ;) ) is fun for some time, but not all time.

[Reklin 56]

Thermometer/Chemistry icon - anyone know what it is?

[junkyarddog 4]

I patched and logged in tonight and saw the counts and everybody freaking out and went "I can tell none of you were around 2 weeks ago!"

The last couple patches have been a vacation - low zombie counts and low-ish respawns meaning that the cities are shopping malls and the north is a playground.

Everybody who was against PVP should be celebrating the change, since firing shots is now extremely dangerous. Everybody who wants to PVP can celebrate as well, since there will probably end up being a lot more movement and a lot less hold-and-defend mentality.

This. A thousand times this. First of all today's number of zombies is only SLIGHTLY above the number of zombies we had in patches 1.5.1 through 1.5.5.

Second of all, we had the vocal minority(?) cry through LOUDSPEAKERS that zombies were no threat, and Cherno/Elektro were pvp gankfests filled with bandit snipers. Now the same vocal minority is crying that the situation is fixed? That this game got infinitely more about surviving and fending off/avoiding zombies, and banditry in towns is at an all time low?

Well, there is no pleasing you then.

Personally I feel this is precisely the amount of zombies the mod should have, and should maintain. Uncertain how realistic that is though, because every server I've been to, the stability has been spotty at best, possibly due to increased amount of zombies.

[WirlWind 0]

Just adding my 2c in what I've seen on this patch:

Back before 1.5.6 broke zombie respawns, there were enough that you had to fear shooting in a town, but not so many that if you did, you died.

This allowed alot of player interaction and some amazingly tense moments which is one of the big things I constantly hear people talking about with the game.

Tonight, I got onto a 40 man Aussie server and saw atleast that many players in 3 hours. Not a single one of them shot me.

There were no standoffs, there was no pvp, there was no excitement.

Instead, I spent 3 hours looting junk, seeing a bandit walking past, wave at them, keep looting. It got quite boring very fast. I had zero sense of community in the game anymore as there was no tension or drama going on because of how many zombies there were.

I read in an interview where you said you loved the stories that people have from the mod, well atm all of my stories since the patch are "Killed by wallhacking zombie, looted stuff, saw a guy, looted stuff, surrounded by zombies, died, quit out of boredom".

1.5.5 level of zombies with a few more and longer respawn timers would be good. Going solo SHOULD be viable as it creates tension, you should still be scared in a big town, but you shouldn't reach a point where it's more about battling the dodgy AI of the zombies, than having a mexican stand-off with a guy who just stole your beans.

The game shone because of player interaction, not the zombies.

[beefalo 0]

I can say I don't really mind the numbers and that it definitely adds a high risk factor. The only issue I've seen is that there isn't a reward to the high risk in any case. With a group of 5, we've wasted more supplies than we've gained in our outing with the new zombie numbers. I'm not complaining, just stating what the situation is and how some of us see it. I'm always for bugs and new things happening because it ultimately changes the game and how its played to make it something new again and forces you to find NEW ways to do things. Takes you out of your comfort.

Again, thank you for working on this and the alpha itself. We should take this as an opportunity to see how this fits into the gameplay and if it is actually a better idea to naturally do this when the bugs are fixed and actually implement this.

[thegent 0]

Made an account just for this as I think it's a very important topic to get involved in. (but first: Happy Birthday man.)

I think the increased zombie numbers are an EXTREMELY good thing. Clearing things out either takes extreme stealth or lots of ammo, which in itself has the consequences of attracting attention. Obviously this is the other side of the extreme, but during my time playing 1.5.6, I found that I only ended up really using at most 6 rounds of whatever weapon I was using if I was being efficient to clear many areas. I personally very much enjoy that people clearing areas out now makes quite a bit of noise, as I enjoy keeping tabs on people and scouting them out to see whether they're bandits or just other survivors, and now if you want to clear out towns you really need to be both armed with enough ammo to take them on, and either keen enough to watch your back or be in a group to help prevent any bandits from catching you unawares.

However, there are two problems that I find very apparent with this, and if these are fixed I would be completely okay with the hugely increased spawns:

1. Increase player check distance when spawning zombies

With the increased count, I found it likely that I would end up attracting a horde if I fired in proximity to the zombies. However, being at a distance meant that zombies shortly after respawned, or being close and then mobbed meant they respawned after I had ran far enough away to deal with them safely. If zombie spawns ceased when there was a player within a 200-300m radius or so, then you could clear compounds from a short distance with ranged weapons, and wouldn't be surprised by zombies respawning in places you just cleared. Clearing groups of zombies out before you walked up would be vital to ensure that you weren't mobbed when you approached, as well. In player-heavy cities like Cherno and Elektro, this would also mean that while there is a heavy zombie count, if someone has cleared them out and is still in the city, other players approaching may find less zombies and will have a chance to smash and grab in their path without being mobbed.

2. Gauge zombie numbers based on demographic of area

While high zombie numbers in big cities like Cherno add to realism and immersion, there are a little too many in some areas now, making them difficult to clear or just breaking immersion. Small towns should probably see their numbers reduced by about 50% I've seen a 3-building town with 10 zombies, which seemed completely screwy considering that only 2 of the buildings were human-inhabitable (one was a barn), but I'd say that 5 zombies wouldn't seem too out of the ordinary in that situation.

I've not yet been to many military installments yet, but if the Bolota medical camp is any indication, there should probably be a 30-60% reduction in zombie numbers for those areas (there were well over 70 zombies in the camp when I visited it, with about 20-30 walking around the outsides, it was pretty ridiculous).

With these two changes, big cities will be much more difficult to raid outside of quick smash and grabs on specific buildings, which will cause people to move more inland, and make them less enjoyable for deathmatchers to camp because less and less players will want to enter until they have good gear, at which point they might just take them on and win. Having a marksman weapon will be more useful as you could pick off zombies in the open from a distance where you wouldn't attract mass hordes, lessening any hordes you might cause when taking out zombies further into the town. Clearing out anything will take more effort, but you won't have problems with zombies respawning when kiting zombies away to take care of them safely, so there will be some 'permanence' of you clearing out an area until you leave.

[dogsbd 12]

Been playing ArmA / ArmA 2 for ~3 years now so I’m not an ArmA newbie, but I am new to DayZ as of this past weekend. First of all let me say this is an excellent mod. I’ve been hooked on Xenos excellent Domination mod almost exclusively for many months now, but I can see that DayZ will now be my mod of choice for the foreseeable future.

After spending a few hours in the game one of first thoughts was that there needed to be more zombies, but that they also needed to be neutered a bit too. I’ll break down my ideas on the number and nature of zombies point by point:

1. Increase the number of zombies, 600-800 or more on Chernarus should not be too many.

2. Slow the zombies down, humans should be able to run 20-50 percent faster, zombies should be somewhat clumsy.

3. Take away the zombies ability to swim or climb ladders, again zombies should be too clumsy to do these things.

4. Stop the zombies from walking through walls. Players should be able to take refuge, regroup etc. inside some buildings.

5. Decrease the zombies’ eyesight and hearing ability slightly, it doesn’t seem logical that “dead” people would have better senses than living people.

6. Zombies should die only from a headshot, but you should also be able to slow them down, make them halt their approach momentarily with multiple body shots and/or disable them by leg shots of sufficient quantity or caliber. They could then continue drag themselves with their arms, at a much reduced speed. Which would be cool to see, LOL

7. Concentrate zombies primarily in large cites (I would have at least half the total number of zombies in the 5 largest cities in Chernarus), small towns should have few and lone buildings out in the country should have even fewer around and sometimes none. Assume zombies like to congregate with their own kind and that they are drawn to the larger cities where most people were at the time of the original “outbreak”. There should still be a few field and forest wanderers who never find the city however.

[tso 5]

Might be worth keeping things like this if there is some heavy adjustments made to managing zombies.

Add flares drawing zombies like smoke grenades.

Make zombies lock onto disturbances for a short time and not trade up targets so easily?

Add anything else you can think of?

Otherwise. Keep up the good work on this mod!

[viral187 2]

Here's my issues. Before I go into this, keep in mind I am a heavy PvPer. I am not interested in meeting new groups to play with, I have my group, we work together. Anyone crosses our line, we kill them in a heartbeat. We expect the same. Dog eat dog world out there, etc. Previously my/our strategy was controlling the airfield and stary as we saw fit. We have the gear, the guns, the teamwork to do it, so we do. We've been flushed out a couple times, only by guys who have better equipment than us though. Before anyone goes "OMG PVPER", I am not playing it for the "frags/kills", I am playing to survive, this is just the most effective way. I am not out to get the lowest humanity(if you meet me ingame youll notice my survivor skin), I just do not bother trusting pubbies when I know they are itching to get their hands on my gear. ANYWAYS, THATS THE BACKGROUND.

We know that the fast spawns are a glitch, and should be fixed. I will mention that it needs to be fixed, as by the time you finish clearing out a town/base/area (if you can) you will be getting swarmed from spawning zombies. You need some leway time, to get your rewards. We know this. Moving on.

My nest issue, is with inconsistency of loot spawns. I camped the airfield for 2 hours last night in 1.5.7. A little about my team: we are well equipped (NVG, nice guns) well, but still can barely fight off the zombies. I can imagine it being IMMENSELY frustrating for new players to get into the action. Two of us managed to clear out the airfield three full times, including both barrack's and all the hangars. By the time we reached out destinations, we'd have to fight our way back. There is no sneaking around unless you have an SD weapon, as most of the zombies are sitting on the loot (or close enough). So what did we find after we spent almost all of our ammunition? Some empty tin cans, a couple of mags.. that's about it. Which means to me, it's no longer worth it to kill zombies for loot. Now to me, it is only worth it to PK other people for loot. Before we could control the airfield and take our loot, now we are going to be forced to head south and find groups of players to kill and take their subpar loot. Which is fine by us, but sucks for everyone we're going to encounter. Especially considering the new nighttime, and our NVG advantage. And don't even mention trusting pubbies to play with us.. My NVG > the advantage anyone gets for working with me, so they will kill me and take it in a heartbeat.

If it wasn't for the fact there was 2-3 of us, we'd be dead for sure. Maybe that's how its supposed to be.

The zombie count with the ridiculous fast zombies, is a little insane. Couple that with zombies spawning infont of you, broken hit mechanics through buildings, zombies that magically pull you out of buildings, sketchy bullet registration at best.. and you have a recipe for a shitshow. Yeah I get it, zombies should be difficult to deal with, you should be worried about zombies, not pking, etc.. But I am still saying it's too much.

Personally I feel that there is a fine balance here. You have a few directions, go with an insanely hard game, weed out all the casual players. If that's what you want, then so be it. I can already see the playerbase is probably 60-80% casual gamers, and they are all complaining in game right now. The other 20-40% really love the new difficulty, and kudos to them. But we must also realise there is a much larger playerbase coming into the game now, NON-ArmA'ers and people who are looking for a casual, exciting zombie game. So to me, the mega-hard difficulty some are crying for is too much.

IMO if the zombie count is to stay at the current state, something needs to give. Fix the building glitches, or lower the speed that they run at. Add a mechanic to outrun the zombies, reduce their ability to serpentine. Add a ton more loot and keep the zombie count as is. We know respawn is bugged, so that's obvious. Something definitely needs to give, as it is it is just not rewarding enough to press on and play (to me). I am sure a lot of people think otherwise, but to each their own.

One last thing. Some people are mentioning "look at all the players who are FOR the changes, keep it that way!". You must realise that only a very small amount of the playerbase is represented here. You must realize there are non-english speakers playing the game, players who are so casual they wouldn't sign up on any game forum, players who simply do not care about the forum, etc, etc etc. They are still playing too, and they are keeping this mod popular, and in sight of the masses. Let's keep it this way, because to me, to force it to only be a niche game for hardcore players would really be a slap to the face of many players who are looking for the "zombie sim". Because as it is right now, this game is EXTREMELY unique and it would suck to alienate many players who have just bought the game, or finally found something worth playing on the ArmA engine.

Before anyone goes off on me about complaining about zombie count, etc. Please realise I am only posting because I feel those who are unhappy with the current state of the zombie population are under represented here. Either because rocket himself has said STFU I KNOW ABOUT IT or because they are not here. I still feel the need to voice my opinion.

TL;DR - Rocket HBD man and have a good one! Keep up the great work, regardless of my nitpicking it's still a great mod that I hope to watch grow. Cheers. Also please remember this is just my opinion, I am not here to upset or start arguements

[Lady Kyrah 1109]

I would say that i like the new numbers, on a side note, the average life expectency dropped by 30 minutes.

[alienfreak 6]

I am also in favor of the increase in numbers. Zombies should be in large quantities and dangerous. Survival after a Zombie Apocalypse that´s the theme and now it looks more like it!!!! I also like the increase in numbers since it hampers bandits camping the cities. This increase also improves people cooperation since being a loner is possible but it´s better if you have a wingman.

Nevertheless I agree with others that with increased numbers their speed and awareness should be lowered. Maybe some could be faster (the fresher zombies) but the old ones should be slow. Their danger would be in the numbers more than in them outrunning you.

Also melee weapons are a needed addition to be able to perform silent kills.

Great Mod Rocket and happy birthday!! Keep it up!

The zombie numbers have to be low because of the ridiculous low amount of ammunition in this world.

So stop trying to kill all the zombies? This isnt Left 4 dead. Save your ammo' date=' sneak around

[/quote']

DayZ is the worst stealth simulator ever.

OMG LOOK AT ME I AM CRAWLIIINNNNNNNN!!!1111

Only the best players can be that good at stealth.

[Kenko 0]

The amount of zombies is great. It makes sneaking all the more important to master. Patience in combination with skill and smarts = Lots of loot with no trouble. Whereas IMMA RUN IN AND SHOOT MY WAY TO THE LOOT will end with alot of wasted ammo and little rewards.

Might need some tweeking but I think it's for the betterment of the game if the zombies are much more of a threat.

[alienfreak 6]

The amount of zombies is great. It makes sneaking all the more important to master. Patience in combination with skill and smarts = Lots of loot with no trouble. Whereas IMMA RUN IN AND SHOOT MY WAY TO THE LOOT will end with alot of wasted ammo and little rewards.

Might need some tweeking but I think it's for the betterment of the game if the zombies are much more of a threat.

So you now found out about the "y" key in a EXPERT FORUM?

[quincunx 0]

So just out of curiosity, if, when I disconnected last night, I was in the middle of an empty town with zombie sounds coming from the house at the end of the road....am I fucked tonight as soon as I connect?

hehe

[soLch 1]

The increased number in zombies is excellent, it makes this really feel like a survival game now.

I had a post that they should just be removed cause it felt like this was only player vs player.. Haha how dumb of me, not anymore! It's definitely a challenge.

I agree 100% though on slowin them down and making their threat in large quantities rather than 5 of them running faster than you. Certain zombies yes faster but not all. Maybe some ravenous dogs!

Anyway this is truly feeling like a survival test with the increased zombies, and being a bandit is a lot harder now hahaha

[dmarrs@live.com 0]

This being my first time playing I did not have any issues with sneaking past the Zombies. The new 1.5.7 update risk-vs.-reward system is working great had no issues filling my pack wishing I could carry more.