Zombie types - Ideas

[Redrunner 0]

Hey, first post here.  Just started playing the game a few days ago with 3 buddies.  After being in the Dayz world for about 20 play hours now I have to say this game is all kinds of awesome and fun.  It's scary and challenging at first but it doesn't last long.  We have all ready kinda stopped worrying about zombies so much.  It's really the players who are dangerous.   This game is quickly turning into a post apocalyptic deathmatch more than a zombie game.   I want more zombies!  Force players to work together more! 

Here are some of my suggestions:
1. A very large variety of zombies including but not limited to:
fat ones
skinny ones
mostly skeleton ones or crippled  (make some of them so deteriorated they can't really move or attack and are super contagious)
slow zombies (easy to kill)
mindless (they don't engage you)

fast zombies

player zombies (they look exactly like other player survivors but not.  they are zombies!  creates a level of doubt when you see anybody!)
tough zombies (some are just tougher, used to be big strong farmer types) 
blind zombies! (they only attack if they hear you, eyes and face deteriorated)  
SCREAMERS (they make extra loud terrifying noises, can be heard from far away, attract other zombies from distance)
scared zombies (they run from you screaming!!  but alert surrounding zombies!)
slime zombies (they puke, spit, or secrete fluids that are infectious if contacted)
roaming zombies (they are going... don't know where but they are going!)
cop or soldier zombies (they are wearing armor!)
zombie packs 
Make them all more dangerous and or numerous

I could do this all day, but you get the point.  This is a zombie game.  Lets mix it up! Mix up the types too, like a Fat roaming slow screamer cop zombie!   Perfect.

2.  I know the map is huge, but I have plenty of hard drive space left.  I would love to see more map space with some natural barriers like mountain ranges, plains, marshes, islands, rivers etc.   This way you might be able to implement vehicles later maybe.  The natural barriers with limit the distance and effectiveness of vehicles, and therefore, won't disrupt the mechanics of the game so much.  This would also allow for different geographical regions and differing weather.  Just an idea.  Anyhow, would love to just see more space to roam and explore if anything.

3.  Zombies drop loot maybe?  Especially zombies of once players.  I would think these items would be almost always ruined or damaged, but every once in a while you'll get lucky.  But in that occurrence, you would have to disinfect the item before using it.  Or you will get infected.  

4.  Sickness.   If you play hungry and dehydrated all the time, your asking to catch a cold.  Or the flu.  Coughing all the time, giving away your position.  Needing medicine and cough suppressants or whatever... think about it.  In post apocalyptic world, sickness would be a constant threat.  Also, wounds bleed, you can stop the bleeding with bandages or rags, but you should have to also disinfect it with disinfectants or by cauterizing with fire or hot metal.  Else your wounds get infected.  

5.  Decoys and noismakers and traps!!  If you can't fight them, lure them away!  I would think this should be cleverly implemented in a zombie world.

6.  Skills?  You get one or two random skills that is unique to your character when you spawn.   Like can make a fire with two sticks, or athletic - runs a tiny bit faster, or marksman - slighty more steady rifle aim, or skills that make more efficient with certain item types, like cook - food you make goes further.   I dunno the more the better,  just an idea.  Make every character unique so they might have a specialized roll in a team.  

All I'm getting at is.... make the world more dangerous so players won't be so quick to run around killing each other to get the best machine gun so much.  All just food for thought.  Hope this helps!  

Teamwork = survival.  
Love the game so far!  Keep up the good work!

Edited August 6, 2014 by Redrunner

[d.walker43 196]

Im going to split all of your ideas into 3 groups.

 

1: Good Ideas

-more types of zombies

-more zombies

-good ideas for different aggressive zom's

 

2: Bad ideas

-non-aggressive zombies (whats the point of wasting valuable bandwith if they don't do anything?)

-player look-alike zombies (just a bad idea)

-zombies that scream, roam aimlessly, etc.

 

3: already planned to be added later

-more zombies

-different types

 

Some of your ideas were good, but most of them are either pointless and waste of bandwith or they are already going to be implemented. Overall after reading your ideas I immediately thought I should suggest you go play Left 4 Dead 2.

[Redrunner 0]

Kind of an abrasive reply.  Like I said, I just started playing this game a few days ago.  I really like it and felt compelled to give input.  

Okay I agree with ya about non aggressive zoms and  bandwidth concerns.  But I still like the player-like zom and my screamer and roaming idea.  The screamer could add a neat dynamic (hearing one in the distance). 

[applejaxc 2500]

 This game is quickly turning into a post apocalyptic deathmatch more than a zombie game.  You really are new. I guess you didn't visit the forums before buying, did you? DayZ is never going to be anything more than a sandbox deathmatch on the public hive. Good luck finding not-shit private servers. 

 

I want more zombies!  More zombies are coming, but not until the dev team fixes their pathfinding, hit detection, and performance. ATM they're more worried about making zombies work than making zombies common. Keep in mind the game is in very rough alpha, and the zombie count will increase in future updates.

 

Force players to work together more! No. Never force players to do anything.

 

 

The map is not huge. It's tiny. I have a harder time getting lost in my backyard. Bohemia map design is very easy to learn, especially in titles that include an editor. I do agree the map needs natural borders, though; if you go north west far enough, you reach a magical land called the debug forest, where everything stops working and you may never return.

 

Zombies do drop loot? Or if they don't already, they eventually will.

 

You're complaining about zombies not being scary, and you want mindless ones?! Seems a little counter productive.

 

There is sickness. Already.

 

5. All in design, just not implemented yet. Watch the DayZ youtube channel, like half of this stuff is covered already.

 

6. Skills are confirmed, and hopefully won't be as stupid as luck-of-the-draw. Everyone will just suicide until they end up with the two best skills using that system. The skill system should be a reward, not a gimme; you develop skills through usage.

 

Teamwork doesn't equal survival. Teamwork equals people that could shoot you in the back any moment, steal your gear when you aren't paying attention, attract attention and get you killed, and use up all of your supplies.

[Redrunner 0]

Yes, as stated, I'm a Dayz noob.  But be nice ffs.  

Okay... got it everybody!  Mentioned items are already covered and talked about.    

About sickness... I have been playing with 3 personal friends for the last week and none of us has had to deal with sickness.  I still have not seen it.  One of my friends said you get ill by eating rotten items, it's not the factor it should be imho.  My comment on illness stands.

Teamwork does matter.   So far I have been playing with friends and family and the team environment is a benefit.   No question there.  It's not a team if you don't trust the toon.  sheesh

Okay, force was a poor choice of words.  I think the devs should ENCOURAGE team work in the face of more environmental dangers.  That's all.  

Be nice to the noobs!  I just dropped cash for the alpha because I am excited to see this baby grow.     

[zaydmag 0]

Im going to split all of your ideas into 3 groups.

 

1: Good Ideas

-more types of zombies

-more zombies

-good ideas for different aggressive zom's

 

2: Bad ideas

-non-aggressive zombies (whats the point of wasting valuable bandwith if they don't do anything?)

-player look-alike zombies (just a bad idea)

-zombies that scream, roam aimlessly, etc.

 

3: already planned to be added later

-more zombies

-different types

 

Some of your ideas were good, but most of them are either pointless and waste of bandwith or they are already going to be implemented. Overall after reading your ideas I immediately thought I should suggest you go play Left 4 Dead 2.

Hey man is high bandwidth good or bad?

[alexeistukov 272]

Infected Animals

[BeefBacon 1185]

Eh, I actually quite like some of these ideas. I don't like the screamer zombie or the puking one or any nonsense like that, but some of the others are rather good. I like the idea of a half starved zombie that can barely move. Not very threatening, but adds to the atmosphere. It's not as if every zombie would be well fed - this is set years after the downfall of society, after all. Zombie food is scarce. I don't really like the idea of mindless zombies, but a docile zombie that takes a while to react, or only reacts to running players or gunshots or something would be cool.

 

But yeah, a lot of these ideas have either already been suggested or are planned. Try using the forum search feature. People tend to get a little abrasive - as you put it - when people suggest things that have been brought up before. You'll have a better time if you do a quick search to see if anything similar has cropped up before.

[Evil Minion 943]

2: Bad ideas

[...]

-player look-alike zombies (just a bad idea)

-zombies that scream, roam aimlessly, etc.

Whats the problem with those?

Now I don't want zombies to be clones of players but I also don't want players to be clones of players. So if the final game features a great varriety of appearances (which it definitely should) you might also use those for zombies. Now the zombies should still ne clearly infected if you look closer (pale, zombie animations and sounds etc.) but the overall appearance (body shape, facial features, clothes) should be shared with survivors. Would be silly if you had tons of clones running around or waste resources by making zombies and survivors use discrete feature sets.

Same with zombie behavior. Why shouldn't some zombies make loud noises drawing in others? Not some supernatural Nazgûl-screams but just load versions of the usual zombie noises. And zombies wandering around makes them less predictable requiring you to keep your eyes open. This makes them less predictable and stealth more important.

Now I think a zombie should still stay an infected human and should not mutate into some kind of monster. They should be about as strong/fast/tough as survivors but more numerous and stupid. So all of their abilities should still stay within the possibility of the human body. This includes causing disease, bleeding etc. but excludes things like spitting slime or running faster than a cheetah. Zombie animals... I don't really like it and would rather have authentic animals with authentic behavior. But thats just personal preference.

[alexeistukov 272]

Rabies is also a possibility

[lauri7x3 100]

zombies in dayz are living humans.. so no slime or something else

[Sleeves 98]

I miss the mod zombies. Cities overflowed with infected that were always on the prowl. Back then in the good ol' days, when traversing cities, we had to CRAWL! You kids have it easy.

[BeefBacon 1185]

Oh, in regards to zombies looking like survivors - I read that the devs will be effectively dressing zombies up in clothes that players can find. I don't doubt we'll find some zombies wearing survivor-esque clothing, so that'll be nice.

[doomdude1 48]

Oh, in regards to zombies looking like survivors - I read that the devs will be effectively dressing zombies up in clothes that players can find. I don't doubt we'll find some zombies wearing survivor-esque clothing, so that'll be nice.

What'd be nice is when a player dies there is a set chance of a zombie with his clothes respawning at his location after a while.

[TheWeedMan 132]

I think I'd rather see Zombies being specific to areas above anything else and have variations of each.

For example:-

Doctor and nurse zombies.

Firecrew zombies.

Police zombies.

Pilot zombies.

Religious zombies.

Pensioner zombies.

Child zombies.

Office worker zombies.

Farmer zombies.

Construction worker zombies.

Bus driver zombies.

Industrial zombies.

Most of these were in the mod.

I'd also like to see them being placed (starting position) in vehicles and on hospital beds etc