Server owners will now be able to customize animal and infected spawns on the fly on the DayZ Server Exp\mpmissions\dayzOffline.chernarusplus\env folder.
With that being said, I am releasing my completely revamped zombie_territories.xml file to the community.
What was wrong with the default config:
Spawn points in the middle of nowhere, remote places with only a couple houses spawning 7-13 zombies. (A huge waste of server resources)
The different types of infected (InfectedIndustrial, InfectedPolice, InfectedMedic, InfectedReligious, InfectedFirefighter) all had copied and pasted spawn values. They all spawn the same amount of infected regardless of location. The hospital in Cherno spawns the same amount of InfectedMedics as a small clinic in a remote village. Cherno Police Station spawns the same amount of InfectedPolice as a tiny village police station. There was no thought given to it and again a LOT of server resources are getting wasted.
A lot of spawn points were just straight up not in the right location. Their coordinates were off, or they were placed to the side (Explains why you see a lot of infected wandering in the fields instead of the actual villages/towns)
Almost 80% of villages and small towns have no spawn variety and spawn the same number of infected (7-13). Again, regardless of location.
The default config is spawning infected in a HUGE radius (100+ meter radius). This is why we don't see infected in dense numbers. They're always too far spread out with already little numbers spawning.
What is different with my config:
I have hand combed through EVERY spawn point and adjusted their values up/down corresponding to their location, adjusted their spawn radiuses, gave them better placement.
Spawn points now have their location commented on them.
You will see a reduction in the InfectedVillage, InfectedIndustrial, InfectedSolitude zombie types. Basically slightly less infected in villages, small towns, industrial areas and one-off hermit houses. These areas are low risk = low reward.
The extra infected I have saved have been relocated to major cities, high traffic areas and end-game military camps. Cities appear more infested and military areas are actually dangerous and feel like end-game areas. You will have to sneak, distract or plain old wait for the infected to clear in some areas. If you fire a gun be prepared to fight incoming hordes or get the hell out. High risk = high reward.
Slightly lowered spawn radiuses so zombie count would appear more dense.
Tweaked almost every spawn point's coordinates for better placement.
Added a higher variability to certain spawn points so that every trip to a location feels different. (ie, a spawn point will dynamically spawn anywhere from 3-12 infected). A location won't always be infested or empty.
This was made with server stability in mind. There should be minimal impact to server performance as I merely optimized numbers that did not make sense and relocated the spawns. I did not blindly increase numbers and spam new spawn points.
Added a few entirely new spawn points placed in once barren locations the devs never bothered with.
For comparison, here is my config. And this is B.I.'s default config. I suggest opening it with Notepad++
And some photos of course.
My main gripe with the game was how little zombies actually impacted the game or influenced your gameplay. This changes all of that and makes the game an actual zombie survival game. The devs have given us the tools to handle them in the last few patches, zombie dispersion upon losing visual, 1 hit sneak attacks, melee attacks using firearms and most recently, throwing to distract infected. Now go and actually utilize them! 🙂
Installation
Any server owners that want to try it once EXP hits stable just copy and paste the contents of my config into zombie_territories.xml within DayZ Server Exp\mpmissions\dayzOffline.chernarusplus\env. If you don't like it, just paste back the default config and restart your server. Please let me know of any bugs, issues or performance impact this brings as I have only been able to test it on my LAN server. You might have to up "ZombieMaxCount" in globals.xml if you are not seeing spawns. I highly suggest following DUG's steps and nerfing zombie drop rate to discourage zed farming.
Events.xml tweaks
Refer to this guide (https://www.reddit.com/r/dayz/comments/9mr7fm/infected_spawn_research_server_files/) for what the parameters do. Under event name=InfectedCity, InfectedArmy, InfectedSolitude, InfectedIndustrial and InfectedVillage you will have to change <distanceradius> to 0.1. This allows spawn points to trigger close to each other.
If anyone wants to customize it to their liking, it's very easy but it takes TIME. This took me hours of combing through every spawn point
Legend:
Minimum zombie spawn = smin + dmin
Maximum zombie spawn = smax + dmax
X and Z are the map coordinates. (You can paste them on IZurvive)
R is the radius (in meters) of where they can spawn.
Locations are commented on the side.
smin/smax = static amount of zombies, they will always spawn even if a player isn't near. Better to keep these low.
dmin/max = dynamic amount of zombies, these will spawn based on player proximity to the area, gunshots and other possible factors.
Shoutout to Sumrak for making this happen! This was inspired by his Namalsk Status update showing off infected density