What do you think the new zombie AI will be like?

[Agilov 133]

Hi there!

Now that the navigation mesh is in and rocket told us parallelization is WIP, I've asked myself how the new zombie AI could look like that will be implemented soon?!

Back in the 90s we experimented with a multi-agent software called starlogo, where you could simulate complex swarm behaviour with a relatively simpel program running on each agent.

The parallelization approach is sheerly crying for an agent system, isn't it? There is an technology called "steering behaviours", which is an further development of the socalled "boids" model introduced by Craig Reynolds in the 80s. The goal of this model is to simulate the movements of swarms of birds or fish in a very reallistic manner. Would be great to see this on zombies. :)

I'd love the picture of a swarm like horde surging arround obstacles or climbing over them if low enough.

What do you think? Will we get somethink like I hope for or an completely different approach?

Locking forward your suggestions!

Sources:

[starlogo]: http://education.mit.edu/starlogo/

[steering behaviours]: http://steeringbehaviors.de

Edited June 29, 2014 by Agilov

[Red_Ensign 990]

for christ's sake don't make them smarter until you fix them being able to walk through walls and hit you from 2 floors below you.  it's bad enough having dead people that run like cheetahs.

[Agilov 133]

for christ's sake don't make them smarter until you fix them being able to walk through walls and hit you from 2 floors below you. it's bad enough having dead people that run like cheetahs.

First things first. The new AI will come AFTER the navmesh is ingame, which means they simply cant walk trough walls because they are not in the mesh. Swarm intelligence doesn't mean individuals are "smarter". It just means you can have a swarm act like one intelligent being.

The whole behaviour of the horde could be completely changed by altering a few parameters of the algorithm running on each zombie.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Agilov

[vladomir 8]

Sounds great to me... I am really hoping the zombie threat becomes way more in the future updates. I mean lots more zombies and a horde aspect. To see them group together and run after you... Yeah that's the threat I want!!!! Maybe not quite like world war Z but ya make them THE threat in the game. With the new mesh system it shouldn't be an issue for them to follow similar paths it's just making them act as one.

[Odrakis (DayZ) 20]

More Zombies and different types of 'em. Like in The Walking Dead - rotten Zs, crawling upper bodies and so on. A bit like the walkers and the jumping ones in the mod, only...better :D

EDIT: just a bit like that one fromt he series:

http://www.chud.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/walking_dead_bicycle.jpeg

Edited July 1, 2014 by Odrakis

[Rigor Mortis (DayZ) 141]

More Zombies and different types of 'em. Like in The Walking Dead - rotten Zs, crawling upper bodies and so on. A bit like the walkers and the jumping ones in the mod, only...better :D

EDIT: just a bit like that one fromt he series:

http://www.chud.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/walking_dead_bicycle.jpeg

 

Sadly, the zombies in DayZ are not undead, so having decomposing remains crawling after you won't ever happen in this game.

[Mark Darkers 151]

for christ's sake don't make them smarter until you fix them being able to walk through walls and hit you from 2 floors below you.  it's bad enough having dead people that run like cheetahs.

Did you not read his post? That is the whole point of a navigation mesh, its a mesh with gaps on all obstacles, the AI will only see the closed mesh parts as walkable area. this behavior the OP suggested would go amazingly well with a navmesh system. In fact the way some group technologies work have even barely an impact on the performance, since it all is based of the position of one.

Also (sorry if this is bitching), the zeds are not dead, they where living people infected with a virus, shooting vital organs will kill them, if a person died before the infection of during the infection, they would still be dead.

[Odrakis (DayZ) 20]

Sadly, the zombies in DayZ are not undead, so having decomposing remains crawling after you won't ever happen in this game.

 

Zombiies are always undead people. What do you mean, I don´t get it :D

Do you mean that the Zs in DayZ are a different kind of zombie? They´re that kind of zombies that originated from living people that got infected, not that kind of zombies that originated from already dead guys. Did you mean this, or...?

[agentneo 337]

they'll always be undead zombies to me when I play. i dont care about some lore someone made up. Some poeple say 'rocket' made this lore where the zombies arent even zombies their infected, and my character is immune, and all this bullshit. i called them out saying show me the link then where it was said, No one has come forward with any evidence or links, just a load of opinionated hear say. to me, their zombies, and Z in Day Z stands for zombies. I dont care anymore what someone might have said. Show me the link and I'll believe you.

[Ganjamaster 8]

Aren't zombies known for their stupidity and slow and predictible behaviour?

 

I think zombies should have loot and get rid of the usian bolt mode as it is pretty fking annoying when you have been running for 20 min to meet up with your mates, being really close, getting chased by 3 usain bolts with rabia, out of rags, running full speed, starting to see black and blurry get fucked up and die to spawn 3 cities more back then you spawned before you started running before...

 

or is that just me? :)

[Rigor Mortis (DayZ) 141]

they'll always be undead zombies to me when I play. i dont care about some lore someone made up. Some poeple say 'rocket' made this lore where the zombies arent even zombies their infected, and my character is immune, and all this bullshit. i called them out saying show me the link then where it was said, No one has come forward with any evidence or links, just a load of opinionated hear say. to me, their zombies, and Z in Day Z stands for zombies. I dont care anymore what someone might have said. Show me the link and I'll believe you.

 

Here's my evidence:  log into DayZ SA and shoot a zombie in the chest -- it dies.  If they were traditional 'undead zombies,' you would have to shoot them in the head to kill them.  Ipso facto, they are not traditional zombies but some form of infected.

 

I would really love if they changed the game mechanics so they _were_ real zombies... 

[Agilov 133]

Here's my evidence:  log into DayZ SA and shoot a zombie in the chest -- it dies.  If they were traditional 'undead zombies,' you would have to shoot them in the head to kill them.  Ipso facto, they are not traditional zombies but some form of infected.

 

I would really love if they changed the game mechanics so they _were_ real zombies...

I think they leave this for the modders.

[Anthony_Dayz 15]

I love how some people think they know how a zombie would act and what would and wouldn't kill them, zombies are fictional and because they are fictional the way they act is completely up to the designer and would have no bases in real life.

[alldaypk 63]

I love how some people think they know how a zombie would act and what would and wouldn't kill them, zombies are fictional and because they are fictional the way they act is completely up to the designer and would have no bases in real life.

 

well what's happened is we've created our own thing and given them rules, now we dispute over the rules.

 

I was trying to find a quote but i can't so just trust me with this

one of the forum mods said that in DayZ:

 

• zombies are humans that are sick with a virus, anything that kills a human will kill a zombie
• virus is not spread via bite but rather an airborne virus
• survivors cannot get infected, either by bite or airborne virus
• therefore survivors are humans that are immune

[agentneo 337]

Here's my evidence:  log into DayZ SA and shoot a zombie in the chest -- it dies.  If they were traditional 'undead zombies,' you would have to shoot them in the head to kill them.  Ipso facto, they are not traditional zombies but some form of infected.

 

I would really love if they changed the game mechanics so they _were_ real zombies... 

That doesn't mean sh*t, thats a balance decision partly due to all the people moaning on here that zombies are too hard!

I have said many times I think they should require a shot to the head (not a shot to anywhere on the damn body)

if you use the 22 pistol the balance is how it should be

And the fireaxe used to be head only until the most recent patch. This is simply a balance decision, and not a decision based on lore

 

And yes, modders will probably make a hardcore zombie version whenever private/moddable is allowed...And the guy says above those points- so it wasn't Rocket saying it, as some people told me, it was a random forum mod,, they are just as entitled to their opinion as any of us. everyone creates their own interpretation of the game, like any work of art

Edited July 3, 2014 by AgentNe0

[Rigor Mortis (DayZ) 141]

That doesn't mean sh*t, thats a balance decision partly due to all the people moaning on here that zombies are too hard!

I commend your ability to ignore reality and believe what you want regardless of evidence. I wish I could do the same.

[agentneo 337]

I commend your ability to ignore reality and believe what you want regardless of evidence. I wish I could do the same.

Lol, well it is a game, you aren't in reality and meant to enjoy it. Anyway, Many other games that truely have zombies use similar mechanics in their quest for accessibility and balance. Resident evil, the walking dead, project zomboid, 7 days to die, dead island, call of duty Zombie mode, and others, all will have zombies die off a couple shots / hits to anywhere on their body.

Only games i know of that have zombies die from head shot only true to zombie lore, is No More Room in Hell and Contagion, their both not very good games in my opinion, and still in those you will kill a zombie with a few chest shots. I wish Day Z would have true head shot only = kill, but please let me know any games that follow the lore correctly Sir

[Rigor Mortis (DayZ) 141]

Lol, well it is a game, you aren't in reality and meant to enjoy it. Anyway, Many other games that truely have zombies use similar mechanics in their quest for accessibility and balance. Resident evil, the walking dead, project zomboid, 7 days to die, dead island, call of duty Zombie mode, and others, all will have zombies die off a couple shots / hits to anywhere on their body.

Only games i know of that have zombies die from head shot only true to zombie lore, is No More Room in Hell and Contagion, their both not very good games in my opinion, and still in those you will kill a zombie with a few chest shots. I wish Day Z would have true head shot only = kill, but please let me know any games that follow the lore correctly Sir

 

Don't get my cynicism wrong -- I completely agree that zombies should be headshots only and it would really make my day if the most realistic zombie survival game around would go for... you know... realism.

 

However, until they change the zeds to headshots only, I will forever think of them as infected people, like in 28 days later.  I guess I should stop calling them teh Z word until this happens....

[Mark Darkers 151]

Zombiies are always undead people. What do you mean, I don´t get it :D

Do you mean that the Zs in DayZ are a different kind of zombie? They´re that kind of zombies that originated from living people that got infected, not that kind of zombies that originated from already dead guys. Did you mean this, or...?

They are not undead, so technically they are not zombies, altough every one calls them that. They are what you suggested, living people who got an infection, it made them crazy, Dean Hall said that the creatures from 28 day's later come the closest to the ones in Dayz.

[Mark Darkers 151]

Don't get my cynicism wrong -- I completely agree that zombies should be headshots only and it would really make my day if the most realistic zombie survival game around would go for... you know... realism.

 

However, until they change the zeds to headshots only, I will forever think of them as infected people, like in 28 days later.  I guess I should stop calling them teh Z word until this happens....

You are right, they will never be headshot only, Dean  Hall even confirmed that the Z'ds from  28 day's later are the most similar to the ones in DayZ, the people never died, they became infected, it messed with their brain and they have gone haiwire. The reason the Z'ds die is because if we shoot any vital organs like lungs, liver, major damage to the intestines, etc.. The body will cease functioning and thus the infected dies, just like a human would, because they are not dead.

[Mark Darkers 151]

Lol, well it is a game, you aren't in reality and meant to enjoy it. Anyway, Many other games that truely have zombies use similar mechanics in their quest for accessibility and balance. Resident evil, the walking dead, project zomboid, 7 days to die, dead island, call of duty Zombie mode, and others, all will have zombies die off a couple shots / hits to anywhere on their body.

Only games i know of that have zombies die from head shot only true to zombie lore, is No More Room in Hell and Contagion, their both not very good games in my opinion, and still in those you will kill a zombie with a few chest shots. I wish Day Z would have true head shot only = kill, but please let me know any games that follow the lore correctly Sir

If they would be zombies it would make sense, but as I have stated in other quotes here. They never died, people got infected with a virus and their brain changed, rocket confirmed that 28 days later comes the closest to Dayz. The reason why survivors do not get infected is because of some mysterious reason they are immune, wich will be covered in the added story line later on.

[Rigor Mortis (DayZ) 141]

Dean Hall said that the creatures from 28 day's later come the closest to the ones in Dayz.

 

Do you happen to have a reference to the conversation where he stated this?  I couldn't find anything close to this from him directly.

[Mark Darkers 151]

Do you happen to have a reference to the conversation where he stated this?  I couldn't find anything close to this from him directly.

You would have to look on dayz tv, if I recall correctly it was in one of the interviews with rocket there. (pax or somewhere?) Its an older video before the alpha was released, would take very long to find it since I don't know the name of the video, ofcourse I understand that the credibility of this claim lowers as I do not have the video evidence.

 

check the Q&A vids.