Zombie Types and Varieties

[11tw 106]

Zombie movies and games have inspired a lot of different types of zombie, each with its own charms.

 

The original 'shambler' zombie is a decaying and slow zombie. It is determined however, and will track its prey in hordes. It works best when overwhelming survivors, and will happily lay siege to buildings. However they are easily outsmarted due to a loss of all but the brain stem function. These are good for a game because the large numbers inspire interesting tactics. Firing a gun is dangerous when you risk attracting the attention of a horde of 20 zombies.

 

The more modern 'infected' are a balance between 'shamblers' and 'creatures'. Infected are like humans, but with keen senses and vicious strength. They will relentlessly pursue their victims, and retain a small amount of complex cognitive ability. These zombies won't be fooled by basic avoidance tactics.

 

At the opposite end of the spectrum to the 'shamblers' are 'creatures'. These are for zombie movies like 28 days and WWZ. They are faster and stronger than humans, and have the cunning hunting instincts of an animal. They can leap and dodge, and a single one poses a serious threat. However, they are less fearless than their reanimated cousins. They will not walk blindly towards the most dangerous game, and will happily settle for weaker prey. This makes them harder to trick, but easier to deter.

 

As far as HP goes;

- Shamblers would be taken down by one blow to the head from a splitting axe

- Infected would need a bit more than that, as they would usually be encountered individually. I would suggest five direct body hits from a splitting axe

- Creatures need to pose a serious threat, so I would suggest that they need to take a lot of damage. However their weakness could be bleeding damage, as they are more 'vital' than other zombies, so loss of blood would kill them.

 

Now they all have their pros and cons, and because of server limitations I am sure that many will disregard this as being too ambitious, but I propose that the game have each of these types of zombies in some capacity. The majority of zombies (70%) can be 'shamblers', zombies who have been infected for weeks and have begun to decay due to a lack of food. This will help reinforce the idea of being outnumbered. This is good, because a feeling of helplessness encourages cooperation, and if faced with swarms of weak zombies players will be more likely to team up. A minority of zombies (25%), those who have been recently infected, will be 'infected', and will occupy building interiors. A rare portion (5% or maybe less) will be 'creatures', zombies who were infected weeks ago but have killed survivors and strengthened themselves. These will just be a case of run or die for those using melee weapons.

 

 

A variety of different situations in a game forces the player to adapt, and thereby creates a more immersive, choice-driven environment. I would argue that a variety of enemy types forces creativity and makes each approach valid in different situations. For example, the gun-nut may do well against infected, but when faced with 20 shamblers has little choice but to run

[Redstar Payne 54]

Honestly I don't agree with this completely. Yes I hope he makes the Zeds a little more attractive as in game play terms but I don't believe we need a different type of zombie as in one "smarter" type and then a "shambler" type, I believe the game should stick to one and maybe introduce the fact of one being a less of a threat by moving relatively slower vs. a pack on a feeding frenzy. I do agree that we should be less keen on firing off random shots though and I would hope for instance if I was in Electro and I shot off a gun I would attract multiple Zeds to my position, nothing OP but enough to make me want to get out of the area and not stand around the same area looking for loot or trying to mess with my inventory. All in all I don't wish to see different kinds of Zeds but maybe more variety as in single vs. groups .

[alexeistukov 272]

Would love to see other mutations... such as the ability to vomit blood at their victim (28 days later and 28 weeks later)

[Jvalor 59]

Nice idea and concept. Well thought out.

 

I would rather just have one single type of zombie/infected, like the ones we have now, but more of them. Some people already have a hard time fighting one zombie as it is right now, but imagine if they added more zombies in-game and improved the hit detection. But that is just my opinion.

 

Fact is, if they want to balance the whole bandit/hero/survivor thing they have going and to lower the KOS rates and improve player interaction, they need to make zombies more of a threat. If a bandit is in a major city and "spray and prays" with his M4 like most bandits do, he should attract a horde of zombies on his location. That way, the pansey either gets ran out of the city by zombies, wastes more of his ammo killing the zombies, or gets trapped on a roof/in a building and everyone can tell where he is because there are like 10 zombies standing around a certain building waiting for him to come down.

 

What I am basically getting at is that zombies need to be more of a threat. Not just to bambis, but everyone. 

 

And before any of you wise-asses hop in here and try to feed me your whole "the engine can't handle all the zombies or the engine don't support that, noob" spill, save yourself the time. Nothing wrong with being ambitious and dreaming. So go "impress" someone else with your unlimited knowledge.

[Redstar Payne 54]

exactly what he said ^

[alexeistukov 272]

Nice idea and concept. Well thought out.

 

I would rather just have one single type of zombie/infected, like the ones we have now, but more of them. Some people already have a hard time fighting one zombie as it is right now, but imagine if they added more zombies in-game and improved the hit detection. But that is just my opinion.

 

Fact is, if they want to balance the whole bandit/hero/survivor thing they have going and to lower the KOS rates and improve player interaction, they need to make zombies more of a threat. If a bandit is in a major city and "spray and prays" with his M4 like most bandits do, he should attract a horde of zombies on his location. That way, the pansey either gets ran out of the city by zombies, wastes more of his ammo killing the zombies, or gets trapped on a roof/in a building and everyone can tell where he is because there are like 10 zombies standing around a certain building waiting for him to come down.

 

What I am basically getting at is that zombies need to be more of a threat. Not just to bambis, but everyone. 

 

And before any of you wise-asses hop in here and try to feed me your whole "the engine can't handle all the zombies or the engine don't support that, noob" spill, save yourself the time. Nothing wrong with being ambitious and dreaming. So go "impress" someone else with your unlimited knowledge.

 

Beans for your profile picture man!

[ld-airgrafix 403]

I would prefer the slower but larger number of zombies as seen in walking dead. Best portrayed in 7d2d, and even though they are slow, they are still a big threat. One on one they are easy to get rid off, but towns are very hard to loot if you don't have a large amount of ammo. I don't like anything about current dayz infected. They run fast, glide even faster, completely ruined in last update. Impossible to kill if you don't have any ammo. Can kill you in one hit, and killing them is a lottery, sometimes can kill them with one hit, sometimes you just can't kill them at all. They have no hearing capabilities, unless it's a gunshot. Yes I know alpha.

[Redstar Payne 54]

I would prefer the slower but larger number of zombies as seen in walking dead. Best portrayed in 7d2d, and even though they are slow, they are still a big threat. One on one they are easy to get rid off, but towns are very hard to loot if you don't have a large amount of ammo. I don't like anything about current dayz infected. They run fast, glide even faster, completely ruined in last update. Impossible to kill if you don't have any ammo. Can kill you in one hit, and killing them is a lottery, sometimes can kill them with one hit, sometimes you just can't kill them at all. They have no hearing capabilities, unless it's a gunshot. Yes I know alpha.

 

just use a machete lol seems to work better then a gun for me ... and silently  

[ld-airgrafix 403]

just use a machete lol seems to work better then a gun for me ... and silently

I haven't tried machete since last update, but every melee weapon I came across was useless mate.

I picked up a hacksaw, and killed a zombie in one hit, I thought ok maybe hacksaw isn't broken, but then I couldn't repeat this. No matter how many times I hit a zombie and made him bleed just couldn't kill it. I got so upset to the point I said f**k it I will stand still and test this hacksaw. While zombie was hitting me I lined up my crosshair to his head, nothing, above his head nothing, blood spurting every time I hit it. Surely not long I get "you are unconscious" screen. You can call this alpha but it is game breaking along glitching through walls. I also think this has nothing to do with alpha stage but rather a broken engine. I was eager to criticise devs for being too lazy and slow, however I think poor buggers are busy fixing the engine.

[Redstar Payne 54]

I haven't tried machete since last update, but every melee weapon I came across was useless mate.

I picked up a hacksaw, and killed a zombie in one hit, I thought ok maybe hacksaw isn't broken, but then I couldn't repeat this. No matter how many times I hit a zombie and made him bleed just couldn't kill it. I got so upset to the point I said f**k it I will stand still and test this hacksaw. While zombie was hitting me I lined up my crosshair to his head, nothing, above his head nothing, blood spurting every time I hit it. Surely not long I get "you are unconscious" screen. You can call this alpha but it is game breaking along glitching through walls. I also think this has nothing to do with alpha stage but rather a broken engine. I was eager to criticise devs for being too lazy and slow, however I think poor buggers are busy fixing the engine.

 

Not all weapons are going to be fine tuned till later when the Devs feel it necessary I mean hell a Zed took a shotgun shell to the face and still lived a little earlier then glitched and hit me, but my machete finished him off, seems to be the only melee weapon of choice for me besides combat knife. Its going to take some time for the development team to get the Zeds in complete working order but i have faith in those guys and know soon this game is going to be off the charts (2 million sold im sure its already off the charts lol). Either way my advice is stick to those blades or the fire ax seems those are the more perfected ones i use and as i said sometimes they will get the job done better then a gun ... just not the M4 ... I love that gun lol 

[11tw 106]

Okay, what about zombies bleeding? How 'alive' do we want them to be? I think for the sake of realism they should have all the same weaknesses as humans.

[matejkvassay 13]

Many very slow zombies would be awesome but you can't put that many AI units on the map at one time due to optimisation. Superior zombies are not realistic enogh. I like zombies same speed and strength as human beings or weaker. I also like that they can be killed to body not only to head, that's realistic.

[11tw 106]

I think I have a fix for zombie swarms. The server would be slowed down by the huge numbers, unless they only appeared when players came within a certain distance of them. Say no one is in a city on a server. Then there would be no zombies there (this is realistic, they would go towards food), but a city with 10 or so players would have a few swarms of 20 zombies wandering the streets.

[Redstar Payne 54]

I think I have a fix for zombie swarms. The server would be slowed down by the huge numbers, unless they only appeared when players came within a certain distance of them. Say no one is in a city on a server. Then there would be no zombies there (this is realistic, they would go towards food), but a city with 10 or so players would have a few swarms of 20 zombies wandering the streets.

 

I believe thats whats being aimed for in the end game like the mod just for now i think its all random spawn throughout the map ... cant really tell because i only see Zeds in eye sight lol ;)

Edited May 29, 2014 by Redstar Payne