REDESIGNING THE INFECTED FOR DAYZ 2 | Better lore and behaviour depth / Gameplay / AI

[dannyboyle 15]

🔲INTRODUCTION
For this redesign I was inspired by the universe of 28 Days and Weeks Later, which is what Dean Hall was unconsciously inspired by and is what has made DayZ a success, just like The Last of Us, since Neil Druckmann was also inspired by that concept, although he opted for a design with a variety of monsters as it is usually done in most games. DayZ should not be like that, it should not base its design on monsters, just runners. I think 28 days later should be the canon to be inspired by, we should forget about George Romero and Zombies, or games with a wide variety of monsters. Yes, Romero was a pioneer, but his idolization during the last 20 years has made the infected genre not evolve and misunderstood, Romero has been a stick in the wheels for the past two decades.

THE REDESIGN OF THE INFECTED

"The intention behind this redesign is to sketch out a concept that makes the infected more believable — so that players feel they truly have to fear for their lives and check every nook and cranny before turning a street corner, before entering a house, before stepping into an open field, before going into a building. Each infected feels unique and different."

🔲1¿WHAT ARE THEY?
First of all, designers or developers, let's not call them zombies, calling them zombies could lead to the concept of treating them as such, like George Romero's monsters. DayZ succeeded because Dean, without realizing it, was inspired by 28 Days and Weeks Later without fully understanding that universe, and we have to keep this in mind: they shouldn't be treated like dead people who have come back to life, they should be treated like living beings, real human infected with a rabies-like virus that has no cure, a virus has invaded his central nervous system, turning them into primitive and violent beings that act as vectors of the virus, its only function is to spread the virus and multiply. They must not evolve from that primitive state, they only hit and bite, they must never grasp objects or perform intelligent human acts, we must never humanize them, only some primary functions should be maintained.

In the game they could be referred to as Zeds, Zombies, Monsters, Runners or Infected by NPCs if there was a narrative with non infected NPC characters arround the DayZ world, because there is a popular culture since 80s and some NPC characters would narratively associate them with Romero’s monsters, but the game lore always has to make it clear that they are not dead, they are infected humans with the same vulnerabilities of a normal human, they have not come back from the dead and can die at any time like any other human being
🔲2.PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
They should always look human, they should never look like big monsters or with strange elements, they have to look like humans, like us, dehumanized humans, humans who behave like rabid animals with a blank and empty stare. They should not show pale skins as it happens in DayZ, in the current state of the game, who look like they have flour on their face, that is an association that is made with the zombie and should be eliminated, since the dead zombie does look pale because it's something dead, and can be seen in classic zombie movies, remember, they are not dead beings.

The body and face degradation depends on their living conditions, whether they have eaten and drunk well, how long they have been infected, whether they have suffered injuries or health problems, and whether they have slept or not. As time goes by, it is more common for them to suffer scratches, wounds, malnutrition, dark circles, bruises, deterioration of teeth and gums, infections and rotten tissues, lack of tissues in some areas, etc...

In fact they should be difficult to differentiate between normal humans and infected humans, to the point that we can always doubt, at least at a certain distance.

They should not wear hats, as these would fall off when they have impulsive movements, putting hats on them is ridiculous.

Some may have visible wounds, but not all, some may have bruises on the face due to attack by others, fights with wild animals or falls, not all of them have to have blood on their clothes or be in bad condition.They cannot present very serious wounds such as dismemberment or the lack of a large part of an area of the body because they would be dead, although it would be good if there could be a case of someone with a serious wound but who ends up dying if we chase him. We can cause those wounds, but they don't live long with those kinds of wounds.
His gaze must be cold and empty, soulless, without humanity.

A degradation system could be created that affects all models equally.

2.1 GENDER / AGE / MORFOLOGY
The danger of the infected should be based on their size, weight and agility as normal humans. Because monsters should not be introduced, the gender and age of the infected should be taken into account, the introduction of children and teenagers of different gender and sizes should be necessary. I know that children have always been a taboo subject in video games, Bohemia has to make an effort to introduce them and be brave, in Days Gone it was done. Introducing children only enhances the simulation and gives more variety and depth to the game.

A hazard system can be designed based on these factors, where each factor may increase the skill stats, one or two factors may increase stamina, one factor may decrease it, another factor may increase QTE grapples, this can also be tied to the damage system.The fat infected, corpulent people, in melee will have more chance of knocking us to the ground into struggle Quick time event (QTE), where pressing the button will be much more complex to get rid of the infected, its strength must be felt in the QTE.. The small ones attack from the torso down and are difficult to see.

The size of the infected affects the probability of death:

2.1.1▶️INFECTED MORPHOLOGY TYPES
Morphology also has to be taken into account, because humans have different types of morphology, and this must have a key function in the game, the difficulty of facing the infected will be in it, for example, children will be very agile but running will not be able to catch us because we have longer legs, they do not. Body types and physiological traits will affect infected behavior, speed, strength, and resistance.

⏩STRONG/GOOD BODY SHAPE: Infected stronger body types are more likely to trigger quick time events, and their struggles are harder to escape. It’s often better to avoid them, trap them, or lure them into enclosed spaces. They run a lot and have a lot of stamina, they will hardly stumble, they are infected with good muscle mass and in good condition.

Strong doesn't mean superhuman, it means fit humans who were energetic and had an active life, mainly men with good muscles.

⏩NORMAL BODY SHAPE: are infected people who led an active life, but not one that was intensive in terms of exercise. They run less and tire faster than those in good shape, they are dangerous but in fights (QTE) there will not be such a hard fight.

⏩BAD BODYSHAPE: they are not very corpulent people, they are people who did not usually exercise and have little muscle mass. They run less and they get tired sooner than normal body shape ones, they are easier to control in a QTE fight.

⏩CORPULENT/FAT BODY SHAPE: infected with bulkier body types are more likely to trigger quick time events if they catch us, and their struggles are harder to escape. They run but slower and get tired sooner. Corpulent infected can be lethal, they have more mass and can throw us to the ground, it is better not to have close contact with them. Some are difficult to kick and should not be approached; it is better to avoid them or use a more distanced approach.

Running slowly doesn't mean walking like a slow zombie, they just run and get tired faster.

2.1.2▶️INFECTED MORPHOLOGY PER HEIGHT TYPES
Height is usually more closely linked to age, their danger system should be related to height, although I will specify this later, the longer their legs are, the faster they can run.

2.1.3▶️INFECTED MORPHOLOGY PER AGE TYPES
We’ll encounter infected that are children (ages 8–13), teenagers, young adults, adults, and possibly elderly individuals. A system could also be created where the length of the legs could determine their speed.

⏩CHILDREN (8-13)
Bohemia should make a conscious effort to include child infected, avoiding industry dogmas. Their inclusion adds a powerful emotional and thematic weight due to the stigma attached. There must be infected children: I know it is a controversial topic in games but you have to break that barrier, Days Gone did it, infected children exist in the world and play an important role, they are dangerous because they go to the legs and it is more difficult to see them coming, also, being smaller it is more difficult to target them.They are monsters, they have become, they are no longer children, and they are dangerous. Adding children would help break the barrier and give the game a unique identity.

-Attack from the waist down — targeting legs, hands, feet.
-Due to their small size, they’re hard to see coming, requiring low melee targeting, difficult to shoot due size.
-High stamina but slow speed due short legs.
-Rarely able to open doors or break windows.
-Silent, their low weight makes their steps not so loud.
-They drown more easily in the water because they are not tall enough to touch the ground.
-They are able to fit through small fence holes and other places that other larger ones cannot. You can design environments on the map that they can interact with, such as narrow walls, holes in walls, basement windows, etc.
-Weak to melee.

⏩TEENAGERS (14-17)
Bohemia should make a conscious effort to also include teenager infected, avoiding industry dogmas. Their inclusion adds a powerful emotional and thematic weight due to the stigma attached.

-Typically attack from torso upwards, targeting arms and shoulders.
-High stamina, speed moderate due short legs but faster than kids, some run more than others.
-Capable of opening doors.
-They can break house windows
-They still fit over some holes.
-Weak to melee.

⏩EARLY ADULTS (18-29)
-High stamina and high speed due long legs, high endurance.
-Capable of opening doors.
-They can break house windows
-They can break house windows

⏩MIDDLE ADULTS (30-40)
-High stamina and high speed due long legs.
-Capable of opening doors.
-They can break house windows

⏩LATE ALDULTS (41-56)
-Moderate stamina and high speed due long legs, high endurance.
-Capable of opening doors.
-They can break house windows

⏩ELDERS (57-83)
-Very low speed and very low stamina, only near spaces.
-Very weak to melee.
-Very easy to colapse and die.
-Strange to see, most of them died because weakness. 

2.1.4▶️GENDER TYPES
Speaking of adults, the only difference here is that, percentage-wise, in the statistical system, women will always be less likely than men to have better stats under the same conditions. For example, a woman in good physical condition can run more time than a man in poor condition, but it's very difficult for a woman to run more time than a man in good condition.


In children, there would be no differences between genders; the statistics would be similar. There could be some randomness, but in general, they would be very similar.

🔲3.BEHAVIOR AND BIOLOGY
-They always try to run, none of them will be as slow as a zombie, some will tire more than others, but they will all run desperately if they can. The only thing that could stop them from running is leg damage, a shot in a joint in their leg that would make them limp, they would still try to run but they would fall.
-Infected respond to sound and movement, they pursue anything that moves: humans, vehicles, animals, or even other infected (until the scent registers).
-They don’t reproduce; they don’t have children because they don’t know what it means. I wanted to add something related to sexuality, but I think it’s unnecessary.
▶️THEY REPEL EACH OTHER DUE TO ODOR
They do not attack each other, as infected individuals emit a distinctive chemical odor through their sweat glands and specialized dermal pores. This odor acts as a biological identifier—essentially a repellent marker—allowing them to recognize others of their kind. While they may initially react to movement or noise, their olfactory system quickly distinguishes the scent, causing them to disengage. The odor is believed to be a metabolic byproduct of the virus, possibly synthesized through alterations in the endocrine or lymphatic systems. These systems, known to be disrupted by the infection, may play a key role in modulating this unique biochemical signature—though the exact mechanism remains poorly understood.

Humans cannot replicate the odor. The repellent scent is secreted in real-time during specific physiological responses, functioning similarly to pheromones in animals. It is a volatile compound emitted through sweat and skin pores, triggered by internal cues only present in the infected. Attempts to mask human presence or “blend in” using infected fluids have proven ineffective and extremely hazardous. The viral agent remains highly active in bodily fluids, and any contact with open wounds, mucous membranes, or the eyes can lead to immediate transmission. This has made direct handling of infected materials extremely dangerous and has rendered any mimicry strategies virtually impossible.
▶️THEY ARE STILL BIOLOGICALLY HUMAN, WITH BASIC VITAL FUNCTIONS
Despite their extreme behavioral changes and altered physiology, the infected remain biologically human. 

-All fundamental vital functions are still active—meaning they can bleed out, suffer organ failure, or die from dehydration and starvation. They can be killed through conventional means, particularly by targeting the brain or heart, losing an arm would cause them to bleed out in a short time.
-They urinate and defecate on themselves. If you see urine or feces indoors, you’d better be cautious. Since the infected urinate and defecate on themselves, entering areas with waste will trigger a strong stench, which the character will react to verbally (e.g., “Ugh!”). However, the smell doesn’t guarantee what’s inside — there could be infected, a dead body, or maybe nothing at all, perhaps the infected managed to escape.The presence of odor is purely atmospheric and part of the lore, not a gameplay mechanic with fixed outcomes. The smell can be used in dark, enclosed environments to add more terror and warn the player that they may have trapped something very large, a horde.
-The infected suffer, if we shoot them in a leg they will agonize in pain and scream in pain and may writhe on the ground, they still have nerves.
-They do not grab objects — their behavior is animalistic, acting on pure instinct and base survival drives.
-Infected move their heads side to side and then lock onto a target — there’s a reaction time before they attack.
-They also sense cold and heat because they have nerves and sensitivity like us. In winter they might be shivering, so they may instinctively prefer warm places when it's very cold, such as the interiors of houses, industrial warehouses, garages, bunkers. This could fit with the seasonal system I proposed where they could be in more different places during the time of year.

3.1 THEY SLEEP
The infected must sleep, these still retain basic physiological functions because they are real humans, one of which is sleep. They will generally sleep inside open houses or in places where there is not much light when they are sleepy. So players entering a house will have to be careful if there is an infected and if it is dead, as it may be sleeping. They sleep, they do not have schedules, but they stretch and sleep, they may look dead, sometimes they huddle in closed places. You have to be very careful because they can get up from the ground very quickly, look for shadows or indoors when they are sleepy. They can lie on walls, stretch out on the floor, accumulate indoors forming hordes, you have to be very careful, waking them up in a group is not a good idea.
An infected person sleeping on the floor of a house.

The infected retain basic physiological functions like any human — among them, sleep. It's not unusual to see them resting in the shade during morning or afternoon hours, or piled up inside buildings taking a break. They may look dead, but no — they're just sleeping.

Stealth should be used to check if they're alive or dead. You could throw an object from a distance to wake them up, or sneak up and stab them in the head to kill them and avoid surprises. We should open the doors slowly, we can even knock on the door before entering.
Infected sleeping inside a house, the glass door could be broken by them and they could pass through it.

They usually sleep at night, though they don't follow a fixed schedule — they can fall asleep or wake up at any time, sometimes they accumulate during the day in dark, unlit indoor places like houses, dark tunnels, etc... It's not about putting all of them to sleep — it's about using terror creatively. Filling a building with them and forcing players to cross it in fear, making a place seem calm when it's actually infested — with many of them hiding inside. In another area, they don’t need to be asleep — it’s just another tool to vary the design and keep things unpredictable.

An infected woman sleeping inside a sewer drain, they could be anywhere.

The player must enter the house, watch for an infected and kill it with stealth, you can also stick knives in the head of a corpse to see if it was alive.

-The sound of rain wakes them. In general, they're drawn to white noise, as they associate it with hydration. It's common to see them step outside, staring at the rain in awe, mouths open.
-The noise of cars and other vehicles wakes them up — playing music makes it even worse, causing them to chase the vehicle.
-Doors should be opened cautiously.

It’s also common to see them resting on the floor, on stairways, and between building levels. If we go up slowly, we won’t wake them. We need to pay attention to the surfaces we step on and how we step on them — wood creaks just like broken glass on the floor, for example. We must stay aware of where and how we walk.

A horde of infected sleeping inside a cell. One has woken up. It's a matter of seconds before the rest wake up. Some may already be dead.

An instakill option should be available when they’re lying down and we strike their head with a crowbar, sledgehammer, or other blunt object — even a stomp. If the infected is lying on the ground, we can stomp on their head. As we approach, a stomp animation prompt appears — pressing the square button makes us stomp repeatedly. If we release and press again, a quick-time microscript is triggered where each press results in another stomp to the head. This could be a mini-game requiring timed inputs for successive stomps.

Infected individuals can be found resting in the shade leaning against the outside of a house, or accumulating inside a house because the sun bothers them.
They can sleep alone or in groups.

Not all of them are resting, they do not have schedules, they just do it when they feel the need for it.

Their strength to chase you, their stamina, will vary depending on whether they are very tired.

The concept is inspired by the sequence in 28 Days Later when the protagonist enters a church and sees several infected sleeping. A similar system can also be seen in Days Gone, where the Freakers (infected) sleep in caves during the day.

3.2 THEY EAT NON INFECTED HUMANS AND ANIMALS
They also eat, they are scavengers, they can eat animals or humans that have not been infected. If you kill a human before they get infected they are no longer infected, that's why humans also serve as bait. Without blood pumping the infection cannot reach the central nervous system, nor does the virus multiply generating that strong odor that repels them from other infected people.
Infected feed by biting flesh from humans or animals, many humans die from the bites before becoming infected, especially if they are bitten in arteries or areas essential for living.
An infected person eating human flesh from an uninfected human.

You can see them distracted eating carcasses of humans and other animals arround the map.

Infected eating dead deer.

If they see an animal they will try to chase it, but if they see you they will go after you.

3.3 THEY DRINK WATER
The infected drink water, when it rains they gawk at the sky with their mouths half open. At that moment we can take the opportunity to infiltrate a house or something, they are more distracted, but not all of them.
An infected woman drinking rainwater with her mouth open and looking at the sky during a storm.

During this moment, they’re distracted, but even a minor noise will instantly redirect their attention. They do it by instinct, they feel pleasure when they feel the water entering their mouths, that's why they stare at the sky while it rains. At that moment they are a little distracted and stealth works better, but they will be satiated at any moment and will stop looking at the sky.

Once hydrated, they will lose interest in the rain.
A group of infected people staring at the sky with their mouths open, trying to hydrate themselves with rainwater.

In principle they don't drink in rivers or from other places. They also hydrate by eating meat, with blood. This is one of the most difficult decisions, because drinking is very necessary, more than food, but drinking from puddles or rivers would kill many of them. The idea of them sucking on a puddle or on the bank of a river doesn't seem bad to me, but it doesn't seem very realistic to me either, although I like it. It's something I would consider implementing. Perhaps many of them get sick because of it, because they drink from those places. Perhaps we could add to the lore that the virus kills most of the external pathogens ¿Don't broad-spectrum antibiotics do this? ¿Why couldn't a virus do this to survive? It may have mutated and become stronger by developing resistance and killing external agents such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites, perhaps not all of them, but many of them, enough for the infected to adapt to the new world.

If this were added, the infected would crouch on the ground with their knees resting on the ground, their hands also flat on the ground, and would try to suck the water with their tongues. They don't fill their hands with water and drink from their hands, no, they drink directly with their mouths, they bend down and bring their head close to the river, lake or puddle, etc... 

Just as an animation and system where they crouch down to make it look like they're eating corpses, they can do the same at points where there is water.

While they're drinking water, they're distracted, so we can go behind them and kick them with our leg or kill them with a stealth kill.

3.4 THERE IS NO ZOONOSIS
Animals don't become infected if they are bitten by an infected human; the virus hasn't mutated to do so, but some predators like wolves or bears that devour the carcasses of infected individuals could infect us if they bite us, their teeth carry infected blood. They generally don't eat infected food because it smells too strong and unpleasant, but some do so out of necessity. For example, we might go somewhere and see an event of a wolf eating a corpse on the ground, its bite would be lethal, we would become infected if it bites us with 100% probability, that would make each situation different. At that moment we would know that this wolf is not the same as a wolf somewhere else that is not eating a human infected body, better not to bother him and leave him eating, other wolf would perhaps only give us some simple wounds that we could heal with bandages.
A wolf devouring infected, its teeth are loaded with infected blood, its bite is lethal to a healthy human.

If the game had seasons, I made a thread about the design of seasons in DayZ, perhaps in a season there could be some case of Zoonosis with a specific species and that could be part of the season, but in principle it would not be something common in the game, I think this is a card that should be played very well in the narrative.

3.5 THEY CAN'T SWIM
They can't cross a deep river and if they fall into the deep water they will probably drown, they are not good swimmers, they wave their hands but swallow water and drown, rivers are a good spot to mislead them.

-They can chase you in shallow areas, but if they fall into the deep water they will drown.
-They can fall into the water if they are pushed, for example with a kick with the foot.

It would be interesting to design a system where the current of water, for example a river, could drag them to the banks and then flee, if they don't drown first.
Here you can see how an infected person is drowning because she can't touch the ground with her feet and the current is so strong.

The drowning system could be determined by the time they can hold out without reaching depth, and this could be related to their physical condition, age, morphology, and health.

It would also be interesting to design rivers or lakes with irregular depths, with holes, where they could fall in and lose contact with their feet.
In this image concept you can see how the depth can change at any point in the river.

Water should also influence the acceleration of the infected and any element with AI, including players. If they run in shallow water, the force of the water will prevent them from running as fast; it will slow them down, and reducing their stamina.

It would be interesting to create a system where the river current can drag you if it has a certain force and covers you up to a certain level, at least your legs, even if your feet touch the ground.

3.6 REACTION TIME
Before attacking you, the infected have a reaction time. When they hear a sound, they turn their heads and stare in silence before attacking. Their gaze is cold and empty, soulless. They simply turn their heads and stare before starting to run, the attack time could vary depending on each one (randomness system).
-If they see a lot of movement, they don't have that kind of slow reaction time. When they see very fast movements they don't stop to process it; they simply run, chasing whatever's moving. They can chase other infected people who are running or any other object—a car, an animal, etc.
-If they're eating some kind of carcass and are hungry, they might not get distracted or look away, but if they detect you, they'll look at you, quickly turning their heads. They'll stare at you frozen, they might look at the carcass and then back at you, and then lunge at you, or they might keep eating, it's unpredictable (random system). If you stay too long or get close, they will go for you.

An infected stares at a player while they are eating a dead animal, deciding whether or not it is worth attacking or continuing to eat.

I think the game's animation team should do a great job of turning their heads and bodies and looking at the players, terrifying them, like spasms, as if they were shaking, as if they were scared but they are not scared, they just turn quickly from the spasm, they stare at you and then they start running towards you.

3.7 THEY FEEL PAIN AND DIE LIKE US
They have a nervous system like us, they are more insensitive and aware of it, but they have nerves and if those nerves are affected they will also suffer pain like us.

If they suffer dismemberment they will die, they are infected humans, they are not undead, they will end up bleeding to death sooner or later. Death after dismemberment could be assigned by a random value from the randomness system, death could occur in less than a minute.

They also do feel pain. If we shoot them in the kneecap they will fall to the ground and put their hands to the area agonizing in pain, they will scream like any other person would.

An infected person puts his hand to his neck and agonizes in pain before dying from being shot in that area.

Shots to the head and heart should be instant kills, shots to major organs as well. In other areas they will not feel as much pain at first, they can withstand damage better. A fat infected person with a lot of body fat might be more resistant to pain and bullets in certain areas of the body, but a shot to the head or heart would be certain death.

When they prowl around, they may scratch their wounds or touch them with their hands.

Hitting them with forceful and solid melee objects in places like their heads could cause trauma, a stroke; these are very delicate areas; they are not superhuman. One blow to the head and they might start shaking and then die a few seconds later from a brain stroke.

A hit to the torso could also cause organ damage. If the infected person doesn't have much fat or muscle mass, they would put their hands to the area and die within seconds.

They can feel temperature. If they’re cold, they will seek enclosed spaces to shelter themselves. If it’s too hot, they’ll move to shaded areas or indoors as well.

3.7.1 DAMAGE STATES
Infected individuals can have various states of damage depending on what type of damage they have received or developed.

⏩Limping Infected ("limpers"): Infected people who limp are infected people who have suffered damage to the joints of their legs, mainly in one of them, they can stumble much more easily than others as they try to run. Leg damage can range from the foot to the knees and even the hips. If they fall to the ground because they stumble, they can crawl, and even get up again. Those infected with broken or dangling arms will be unable to get up from the ground or will have a harder time getting up if they fall.
⏩Malnourished Infected ("Starvers"): malnourished infected are those who have not eaten or drink in a long time, they crawl on the ground and are very thin, they cannot catch anyone because they have no energy, they are really about to die.
⏩Diseased Infected ("Rotters"): like humans, they can develop viral and bacterial infections due to poor hygiene and wounds. Those infected with a disease sweat profusely and tremble a lot, they may tremble while standing or lying on the ground, touch painful wounds, and can still attack, but they tire more quickly when running and can easily fall or even collapse and die while running.
⏩Blinded Infected: Some infected individuals may become blind due to multiple factors. These infected individuals will only be able to follow noises and may stumble more easily. There are very few of these, and it is very rare to see them. A frontal blow to their face with a blunt object could leave them blind, or make them blind and dizzy for a while. The blood in their eyes could also make it difficult for them to see well or caus glaucoma = blindness. 
⏩Crawler infected ("crawlers"): due to their poor condition they crawl, perhaps they have suffered damage to both legs or both arms, perhaps their health is very deteriorated due to lack of food and due to an illness, bleeding, trauma, etc... If it is damage to the legs they could crawl faster than those who are dying from some type of illness or bleeding.

An infected crawling towards a player.

I think Bohemia should develop a better system for damage control on bodies, taking into account the main joints, as these would directly influence their mobility capabilities after taking damage. Joints should also be able to be damaged by objects; for example, hitting an infected person on the leg with a shovel could destroy their kneecap, or hitting an arm with a shovel could bend it.
An infected woman cannot stand up because her arm is twisted and her leg is twisted.

A state of damage should also be added where they tremble and agonize on the ground, either because something hurts or because of an illness. Some infected people may have severe injuries but will not live long. Well, going to a house and hearing a noise from someone, and not being attacked, they're just dying on the floor.

An infected person in agony on the ground due to an infection.

3.7.2 ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS
Infected individuals generally don't wear protective gear, but some may wear it:
-Some police officers may wear Kevlar bulletproof suits, so torso shots are more difficult, as are stabbings.
-Some riot police may be wearing vests and helmets, so shooting and hitting the head with sturdy objects are more difficult. (Not all of these infected are wearing helmets; some have dropped them.)
-Some military personnel also wear body armor that is difficult for bullets to penetrate.
-Some civilians may also wear a vest.

It's not common to see these types of infected individuals; they exist, but they're not common.

-Infected players who transform might also wear protective suits or helmets.

3.8 THEY SOUND LIKE HUMANS
The sound design of their voices has to be adapted to reality; they don't have to sound like monsters with very deep ogre voices or demon voices; they have to sound like wild animals but with the anatomical characteristics of a human, like rabid humans.

Sometimes it's as if they sound like they're gasping for air.
🔲4.RUNNING STAMINA AND SPEED
Yes, all the infected run, they are runners. Here we need to differentiate two things:

⏩STAMINA: this is how long an infected can maintain chasing us. The infected have their own individual run stamina, different from each other's, and not being able to chase us without tiring, that would improve things a lot. The infected running stamina level should be similar to the player's running stamina, they have an advantage if there are more of them, because one might get tired, but suddenly another might appear from other side and that one might not be tired but you might be. On the other hand, if a horde chases you at the same time it might be that all of them start to get tired at the same time as you and therefore you would perhaps have the possibility of fleeing, it would all depend on at what moment the infected that are appearing have started to run.

A simple design change like that could greatly improve things and bring much more realism, players could escape from them more easily if they manage where they go, if one is chasing you and you see more in another area you don't go there because you know that when you get there you will be tired and they won't, and there will always be the doubt of whether at a certain moment you will find one who is not tired and you are due to bad luck.

⏩SPEED: the speed is how much an infected person runs, the speed at which an infected chases you — how many kilometers per hour. Their speed could deteriorate depending on their stamina level and other factors.

These statistics would be conditioned by morphology, age, and gender, and would also have certain random variables that could give unexpected results, with the idea that not all players feel what each infected person is like, that they could all be unpredictable.

Weather conditions could also influence these factors, including the time of day. For example, a hot area in the middle of the afternoon would cause more exhaustion than early in the morning, when it’s still cool.

This would force Bohemia to work on a good run acceleration and deceleration system that all of its games could benefit from, and this would also influence players and other types of NPCs like animals or humans. I think running animations would greatly improve the feeling of players experiencing the game more satisfying if they were fleshed out in more depth. I think it is a base of the game because the main enemies' function is to run and chase us and that is what they will see the most, feeling it organic, realistic, varied and different would be very beneficial.

The objects that the infected carry also affect these variables, for example, a backpack with many objects, although it usually has little effect since they cannot carry much either.
The infected could also have a conditional variable related to sleep or fatigue.
🔲5.HORDE SYSTEM
Hordes are large gatherings of infected, seen in open fields, urban areas, or inside buildings; these hordes can move across the map, the hordes can move with sounds, be it a car radio blaring, a gunshot, etc.. They also gather by vision, if they see things moving, a player, an animal, another infected, they will simply follow by inertia, one will follow another.

-Many hordes are generated by the game engine, they can appear (spawn) anywhere on the map without the player knowing their exact location.
-Hordes form in response to sound stimuli: gunfire, vehicles, music, alarms, etc. or by seeing elements move.
-Players themselves can create and manipulate hordes by using noise — honking car horns, playing music, or revving engines or moves.
-Every sound emits a radius of attraction, drawing infected from the surrounding area.
-If a horde catches you, 4 infected or more within a perimeter of half a meter around your body, it should be instakill, like in Days Gone. The goal of DayZ should always be to avoid close contact with the infected, and if there is a confrontation, it should be one-on-one or two-on-two. Large groups of infected should be dealt with with the help of other players, preferably with ranged firearms, or by using environmental elements, locking them in buildings, moving them and removing them from areas making noise (a car with loud music), etc.
-Hordes of infected can cause birds in the area to move elsewhere, which could alert players that something is happening nearby.
-The infected have stamina when running and will tire as they chase you, so they won't be able to follow you over long distances unless you stop and wait for them to regain their stamina. This is also a way to prevent large hordes from forming for long periods of time and to make the infected scatter. This prevents you from creating large groups or taking them very far with a car.

If you want to survive a horde and you are accompanied you can always shoot your partner in the leg, they will go to infect him.
🔲6.PHYSICS
Decent ragdoll physics
-Realistic vehicle impact and crushing physics need to be improved, realistic runovers.
-Realistic falling from heights, realistic gravity.
-Random stumbling based on terrain type.
-Dragging bodies, either by hand or with rope.
-The current of the rivers can drag them while they drown, and can take them to the shore, realistic float.

-GORE: realistic dismemberments, a real damage system that affects the infected and can be used for the rest of the entities.
-Realistic fire, their bodies catch fire and burn.

-Infected individuals can break fragile windows in homes and enter through them, or even grab us if we are standing near them while they are being broken.
-Infected can break vehicle windows and grab us (QTE).
-The infected are very clumsy on uneven ground. If they chase us and we jump off a high place, they'll most likely not jump, but simply fall in ragdoll mode. This can be applied to high walls or uneven dirt terrain, then they would get up and continue chasing us.

PHYSICAL OBJECTS AND THROWING OBJECTS
I think it would be interesting to try to achieve a series of physical objects throughout the map that the player could grab from the environment—objects of all kinds—and that they could throw or even use to hit people. A bit like the concept of Dead Rising but smaller and less exaggerated. Obviously, those objects should be scattered throughout the environment. Objects like bricks, stones, a radio, a stone figure, a candlestick, a flower pot.

🔲7.COMBAT DESIGN
Fights against infected should be more realistic and satisfying, but more dangerous. Realistic means that a well-delivered hit kills, you don't have to hit 10 times to kill.
🔲7.1 RANGED / DISTANCE COMBAT
⏩FIRE WEAPONS

⏩THROWING WEAPONS
I think it would be interesting to try to achieve a series of physical objects throughout the map that the player could grab from the environment—normal objects of all kinds—and that they could throw or even use to hit people. A bit like the concept of Dead Rising but smaller and less exaggerated. Obviously, those objects should be scattered throughout the environment.

Objects like bricks, stones, a radio, a stone figure, a video console,  a PC screen, a candlestick, a flower pot, iron, a corpse,

It would be interesting if there was a drop button between melee and throwing, where if you are at a certain height you can drop the object and gravity can kill whoever is below. Throwing objects from a certain height can cause more damage if they are heavy. Grabbing a flower pot or or a brick and dropping it from a certain height on top of an infected's head, and throw it from a balcony below. These items should affect the ragdoll physics, throwing a brick at an infected person's head should cause them to stagger or even fall to the ground and have spasms.

Grab objets: You can grab objects in the scenarios if you are close to them, in third person it would simply be being close to the object and press the X button to grab, in first person it would be focusing the center of the camera on the object.

Throw objects: you simply aim with a button, on a controller it could be the trigger, while with another button, the other trigger on the controller, you can throw the object a certain distance. The more you press the trigger that throws the further you can throw the object when you press the throw button. For example, you aim with the left trigger, once you have the target you press the right trigger, you see how the character's arm tenses, when you think you have tensed enough you release the trigger and at that speed the object will be thrown.

Hit with objects/melee: this is to hit with objects, the right trigger could be used simply, this way you can use the objects to hit, or another button, the square.

Release/drop: to drop the object you could simply press a button, like the X(xbox) and then release, and the object would fall to the ground. In first person mode it would be more accurate to see where the object will fall.  MANUAL RELEASE / DROP: Here it would be interesting to create a game system where if for example you press the X button (drop button) and move the right joy stick (camera stick) you can move and extend your arms dynamically (if you grab the object with two hands because it is large, like a computer screen), or your arm/ hand, if the object fits in one hand (brick). With this system, you could extend objects in space. For example, if there's a balcony, you could stretch your arms so the object fits over the railing and let it fall.

This mechanic ( manual arm moving system) could be used for other types of interactive actions, for example, with weapons, we could better control the cutting area, we could cut a tree or a piece of wood more realistically. It would be like entering a more manual and surgical mode, for example, to amputate the arm with an axe of a companion who has been bitten, you would extend the axe and hit a hit button at just that point.

🔲7.2 MELEE COMBAT
For MELEE combat I think the best references are Dead Island 2 and TLOU2 (third person and QTEs), melee combat should blend:

⏩DYNAMIC REAL-TIME COMBAT
Combat controlled directly by the player. In melee combat, I would give relevance to the kick with the leg and the push with a weapon to repel enemies.

I really love the leg kick system in Dead Island 2, I find it crucial for DayZ 2, Obviously, this has to be related to a system of staggering the infected person, where they lose the ability to react for a few seconds.

A button would also be necessary to dodge enemies, backward, sideways, forward, the button would react to the direction we select.

⏩STRUGGLING QTE (Quick time events)
Sequences, mainly of struggle, enabling quick time events for cinematic kills or counters. A QTE sequence could involve an infected grabbing the player, triggering a button-mashing or quick input sequence (struggle). Failing it results in being bitten, scratched, or struck.
-If a quick time event (e.g., an infected lunges at the player’s leg) is executed correctly, it can result in a finisher animation, such as the infected getting their head stomped or another form of execution.

-If two infected engage the player simultaneously and are within range, it can trigger a death or infection sequence, or tackle the player to the ground, initiating another struggle QTE script.
-A teammate can intervene, interrupting the QTE by shooting or hitting the infected during the sequence.

QTEs animations can be tied to interactive elements such as windows, walls, vehicles, objects:
-House windows could trigger a QTE if an infected person is nearby and detects us, and they could break the window and grab us. For example, if an infected person hears us talking to a teammate through the microphone's sound field detection, they could come to the window.
-If we are on top of a car, a QTE could be triggered where an infected person grabs us by the leg and throws us to the ground, the roof of a car would no longer be safe.
-If we are in a stopped car, an infected person could break the window and grab us.

Some finishers could be anchored to elements of the environment, for example, if we are near a wall a finisher could anchor itself to a wall with an animation where the infected ends up with their head crushed against it.The finisher can also do the same thing but on the ground.

Children and teenagers tend to target the player’s legs, hips, or hands, if not dealt with quickly, the player will likely get bitten on the leg.

🔲8.INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT ELEMENTS
-There is a car on a hill and there are infected below, be able to take the handbrake off and have the car fall down the hill and kill several, let the player have a lot of interaction with the environment and let it be varied, such as gasoline or electrified water. Players can push vehicles without gas or batteries by releasing the handbrake and making them fall down slopes so that they run over several infected.
-Getting several infected into a pool, going out the other side and grabbing an electrified wire and throwing it into the pool.
 

⏩DOOR INTERACTION
-Infected can open doors with handles/knobs if they haven't been locked with a key or latch.
-Door opening is determined by a probability algorithm.
-If the player stops moving behind the door, the infected may stop trying.
-Knob-type doors have a much lower probability of being opened than lever-type handles.
-The chance of the infected opening a door is influenced by several factors, including player movement and vocal activity.
-If the player remains completely still and silent, the infected will eventually leave, drawn away by ambient noises elsewhere.

 

Do not allow the infected to open all the doors. For example, doors with cloth that have a 1% chance of being opened, doors with handlebars that have a 68% chance. Infected do not know how to open doors, if they open them it is by mistake with their primal urges.

 

It is necessary for players to calculate the timings when closing doors and to take them into account.

Develop animation scripts to be able to interact with the doors in different ways, for example, if you come running to a door you can open it suddenly by pressing a button but if you keep it pressed the character does the open animation, goes through the door and closes it.

Set up a perimeter around each door that detects if an infected is stepping on it so that when you do the close animation, if an infected is stepping on that perimeter there will be a struggle at the door to close it, while if it is outside you will close the door.

The more infected there are in the perimeter, the more difficult it will be to close the door with a Quick time event of pressing a button as fast as possible.Give the option with a specific timing to be able to abandon the struggle and run away before they push you totheground

 

The doors of buildings and houses aren't open; most are closed and locked. Not all are equally easy to open. Some can be opened with a foot kick, but others can't. Others require a lockpick (mini-game), the original keys, or a medical X-ray. Still others can't be opened directly; they can only be opened from the inside, jumping from one balcony to another, or with an explosive, If we use an explosive on the door, it will fall backward.

It would also be interesting to be able to break some walls, non-load-bearing walls, to access certain rooms, with an explosive or a sledgehammer. For example, if there is a horde on the other side of the door and we have blocked it, we can break a wall and exit through another door, or search for resources until they leave.

Doors can be locked with objects, for example, a cupboard next to the door can be pushed in, or if they have a lock, we can lock it.

 

 

🔲9.STEALTH SYSTEM
-Car oil filters can be repurposed as makeshift silencers for firearms. Their effectiveness degrades with use — roughly three shots before they become ineffective. It must be one of the most important resources if you find firearms.
-Music attracts infected
-Infected people can hear players if they speak into their microphone and do not adjust their near field.
-The player can make noises or whistle using a microphone, with manual decibel control.
-Floor surfaces have sound-producing elements that can alert the infected by perimeter detection, such as creaking wood and broken glass.
-Forcing doors, opening windows, or forcing car doors or trunks would also have a detection perimeter that could alert nearby infected individuals.
-Lying on the high grass would reduce the detection of infected people.
-Players can hide in bushy areas so that the infected don't know where we are.
-Players can hide under the cars, but the infected could also reach down and grab us by the leg and bite us or pull us out.
-Players can hide in closets in houses.

-Infected can lose sight of us if they lose sight of us, and they might get confused and not know where we are. If there are groups and one doesn't lose sight of us, the other could follow, but if a single infected person loses sight of us, he would become confused.
-Players can lean against the back and front of vehicles if there are no teammates in the seat next to them. This would improve stealth by making the infected pass by if the car is stopped and we're inside, or a player could hide in any car. For example, if we're inside a car, we can stretch out and wait for the horde to leave.
-Players can lean sideways in the back and front of vehicles if there are no teammates in the seat next to them. This would improve stealth by making the infected pass by if the car is stopped and we're inside, or a player could hide in any open car. For example, if we're inside a car, we can stretch out and wait for the horde to leave. If we're waiting on the street for a friend to come down from a building, we might lean back to avoid an infected person scaring us by breaking the car window and grabbing us.

The hearing status of the infected could be determined by their age and some randomness that determines a deterioration of the sense, so the detection systems could be conditioned by this. Suppose the sound we produce generates a fixed circle that simulates the extent of the sound over the environment. The infected person would have their detection circle, but it would be larger or smaller depending on their hearing status.

DISTRACTION MECHANICS
-Players can use environmental tools to distract infected — for example:
-Throwing flares or other objects
-Sound plays a major role: every sound generates an audible radius, which can attract infected to specific locations

 

🔲10.RANDOMNESS SYSTEM

-Each NPC infected is assigned randomized variables upon spawning (running stamina).
-The infected can trip and fall through a probability-based algorithm. Chance should play a role in the simulation.

🔲11.GAMEPLAY FEATURES

⏩QTE / QUICK TIME EVENT STRUGGLE SEQUENCES
-The infected can smash the side window of a car and grab you in a quick-time event struggle sequence. They can do the same with house windows, which is why it's better to seek higher floors that place us outside their hearing range.
-Infected can also be found sleeping inside cars — these are recently infected individuals who turned while inside the vehicle.
-They can also be found in trunks, providing jump-scare moments. These were people locked inside before they turned. Opening a trunk with an infected inside can trigger a quick-time event involving a grab/struggle microscript.
They may also be found already dead, with a chance of loot, or tied up — they were restrained before turning. The tied ones can be carried and used as weapons, or chained to a post.
-Dead or injured animals found in the world might be infected — eating their raw meat could cause infection.
-Whenever possible, infected corpses should be incinerated to prevent contamination of wells or rivers. Water can also be disinfected by boiling. It's a good system to eliminate risk.
-Bodies can be loaded/unloaded, similar to Red Dead Redemption 2, and can be stacked into trucks for later incineration.

⏩ACTION–REACTION
Infected will respond to the stimulus that alerted them — whether it’s a noise, a sound, a decoy, or the player themselves. They have a reaction time before attacking, just like human enemies. Facial animations should be refined — how they stare with hollow eyes, how they tilt their heads before charging. We need varied reaction animations to give the world a sense of realism and unpredictability. Currently, they all react the same way.

-Infected can crawl under surfaces to chase the player, navigating through tight spaces on the ground.
-They don’t jump over high walls, but if enough infected gather at a point (e.g., a metal fence), they can bring it down through sheer force. Some may be crushed or injured by the horde itself.-Infected may leap from balconies or windows to reach a target. They might die from the fall — or land on a player, potentially killing the player while surviving the impact.

 

🔲12.INFECTION SYSTEM
There is the issue of infection which I think is important to address, how long does it take for a human to get infected. The infection of an infected person to a non-infected character, whether it be us or an NPC, should have an evolution process and an important playable implementation to take into great consideration, details of its design are given in this section.

The virus spreads toward the central nervous system at varying speeds, depending on the wound type and location.
-A bite = you’re screwed. It starts a countdown — you will turn, no matter what.
-If you only received a scratch or bumps you may not be infected or you may be, scratches carry a lower probability of infection via blood or fluids, but it’s not impossible, the player never knows if he has been infected until severe symptoms begin.
-The spread of the infection depends on the area of the bite, a bite near to the neck results in almost near-instant transformation because it's near from brain.
-The number of bites, the more bites a player has received the earlier it will become, many bites or blows can kill you too, before you turn. (randomness system)

-Amputation of a limb is a real option for survival, teammates can amputate limbs (legs, arms, hands, feet) to prevent the virus from reaching the CNS, There is a time limit to do it and it must be fast.
-Certain medications can slow viral spread, buying time — but transformation is still inevitable. Antifibrinolytics clot the blood and can delay the process for a while.

Symptoms of infection are:
Tremors, dizziness, and vomiting.
Eventually, you'll end up vomiting blood because the virus has an anticoagulant effect that causes bleeding, and you'll turn in seconds. If you are in front of another player at the time of vomiting, you could infect them if you vomit in their eyes.

-Players can control and play as infected if they want, they can become and control them. If a player becomes infected, they unlock a gameplay mechanic: they can bite other players and infect them.

-The virus only transmits human-to-human. Although infected may attack animals, the virus has not mutated to infect other species.

Should the infected kill? Yes, and infect players and turn them into infected. Even give the opportunity for players to control infected or let the AI control them, just for fun, as an infected player controlled by a real human can be much more unpredictable. Maybe a player knows he's going to turn and attacks the group of people around him out of revenge.

¿ARE THE PLAYERS IMMUNE OR ARE THERE IMMUNE ONES?
Players are not immune to the virus and can become infected and transform, as I mentioned before.

It's true that if there were seasons, narrative depth, there could be some case of immunity to play with the narrative—an NPC who is immune and we have to take to a base without them dying—but in principle, there wouldn't be any immunes. Immunity is a very clever narrative card that must be played very well, just like zoonosis, it should not be something that permanently affects the world.

🔲13.PLAYER CHARACTER EDITOR =
INFECTED CHARACTER GENERATOR
Many developers create complex character creation editors, such as the one in Dragon's Dogma 2, where normal players can customize and create their custom characters, they can create their own characters in a very deep and detailed way. If Bohemia were working on a good character editor, they could also use it to randomly generate random infected, there might be some created with more love, but it would be interesting if most of them were generated by this good random character generator system, this way, the infected would never feel repetitive because they would always vary in different ways.

In addition, a degradation system should be added, where each infected can also have a unique degradation that can be adapted to that random generation. For example, a facial wound can be adapted to any age of the infected during its generation due an procedural system adaptation of the wound to the character, or a leg wound. It is necessary to take into account the damage states, age, morphology, and gender of the infected when generating them and creating their statistics.

The gaming community could create and publish these infected characters in the workshop, and Bohemia could use their profiles/values—the ones they like best and best fit the game—to create a good dataset of well-made infected humans for the vanilla mode. In this way, over time, most infected would be generated through a data set of good pre-made presets created by the community and not randomly, since random generation could also generate strange characters with very extravagant aspects that would not fit very closely with reality.

Because the character creator has to give freedom, this tool always has to be limited to offering realistic infected and not aberrations, height and other aspects will have limitations adapted to this, obviously in some scenarios some users could make authentic aberrations, but there always have to be some limits. It's interesting that some infected humans show some deformity, whether from trauma or birth, a curved eye, severe starvation, a crooked jaw, or something like that, but what we don't want is to go around the world and find infected people who look like monsters, like Shrek or infected people who are very deformed like a stick insect, extremely bizarre creations need to be avoided by Bohemia Interactive in order to have a good adaptation of the game's vision in its vanilla mode.

Community-generated infected could only be used for publishing in the workshop and for use on modified servers, modified servers could use bizarre infected ones created by the community, Bohemia is the one that would choose the ones that best fit in the official vanilla mode.

That generation and dataset could also be used to create non infected human characters, both for human NPCs and for players. For example, I'm not a big fan of manual character customization because I prefer to play, in my case I prefer a random generator with good presets, although I understand that some people really like creating. The character editor for vanilla mode would have to be more restricted from the workshop editor to prevent players from using characters with extreme aberrations. Only Bohemia would offer a wide dataset of different and varied characters that have extreme customizations.
 

🔲14.THINGS TO AVOID
Here I explain the things to avoid when designing infected humans so that the IP is not distorted in the long run:

-All infected walking like monkeys, this is something that has been around for a long time in Dayz but it is horrible. The infected shouldn’t crouch like monkeys on all fours — that needs to be changed, relating them to monkeys is not good design. I understand that this has been around since ARMA 2, I think, but the concept has to mature; sometimes you have to let go to be reborn. This has happened with many games, Red Dead Revolver concept has nothing to do with Red Dead Redemption.
-Humanized infected, infected that grab and throw objects, speak, and perform acts of intelligence with a certain logic; this must be avoided.

-Infected mutants or those with unique powers, the screamer, the fat one that explodes, the one that walks on walls, the one that throws acid, the one that walks on all fours like a spider and is faster, those should be avoided. It is necessary to focus more on designing hostile animals and good AI for hostile NPCs, as well as good AI for infected runners, hordes and good design, good interaction with the environment and with us instead of adding rare monsters, adding monsters can end up distorting the game and diverting resources to more important things It is not something I am closed to in the future, some very specific and very well designed surprises, but not now.

-Ridiculous weapons, like those in Dying Light 2 or Dead Rising and Dead Island 2, melee weapons with electricity or that shoot fire and weird things, I'm not talking about a flamethrower. The game should feel real, with real objects like normal farm axes and normal mundane items, like right now. The game just needs to improve the gore and melee to feel satisfying.

Everything related to zombies:
-Emaciated infected people who are still alive, missing half a head, an arm, a torso, a leg—remember, they're normal humans and can't live long in that state. The gore is necessary, and it can take them a minute to die under certain circumstances.
-Infected emerging from under a grave in the ground.
-The eyes glow, especially at night. It's something some zombie games have and it's horrible; it's pure fantasy and feels fake.
-Infected with pale skin, reminiscent of the cliché of trying to look half-zombie, and looking like they've eaten a bag of flour, that's something to avoid.

🔲15.MISC
-Players can leave a warning on doors using chalk or spray paint to notify others.
-Rappelling from buildings could be an interesting mechanic for trapping infected. One player lures them inside, rappels down, and another closes the building doors. It could also be used to escape from or infiltrate buildings, especially apartments whose doors are barricaded from the inside (with furniture or other means) — perfect for scavenging or exploration.
-Towing vehicles, with the possibility of getting stuck in mud.
 

🔲16.SOME MOVIES AND SERIES TO GET INSPIRATION
I have always differentiated two genres, the infected genre and the zombie genre, the only difference is that the infected are not beings that return from the dead, they are infected living beings, obviously a zombie can also be an infected like in Resident Evil, but it is more of a fantasy element without realistic sci-fi arguments to back it up.

🔲28 X LATER Danny Boyle TRILOGY | 2002 - 202x | INFECTED
There's not much to say, this IP changed a lot of things, DayZ and TLOU come from here whether we like it or not, and probably the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake would not have existed without the first film.
28 days later (2002)| Excelente |  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/
28 weeks later (2007)| Excelente |  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463854/

I love this sequence and it would be awesome to be able to do this with helicopter blades someday using the physics engine.

🔲RAMMBOCK / SIEGE OF THE DEAD (2010) | INFECTED |  https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film581747.html
This movie has a lot of DayZ vibes, even though it only takes place in one neighborhood. The concept I like most is that in order to move around the building, you have to break through walls, wait for the infected to relax and leave the landing, etc. I've always dreamed of a slower-paced design like this, where if there are a lot of infected people and you're in the city, you have to resort to those things: descend from one balcony to another, checking if the next one between floors is safer.

🔲APOCALIPSIS Z (2024) | INFECTED https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film485650.html
It's a novel adapted into a series, it's good, I'd say they seem infected in the series, it's a good reference.

🔲DEAD SET (2008) | INFECTED | https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film413740.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7bUbpt5Xb0
It's an old series that's very good, although it mostly takes place on a television set, in a kind of Big Brother setting.

🔲THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD / LA NUIT A DÉVORÉ LE MONDE | ZOMBIES  https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film283836.html
This film is very good, the concept of a city enclosed in a building and breaking the ground to move from one floor to another also fascinates me, or how it tries to move from one building to another. I say this because it would be interesting to consider the design of DayZ, which is different from starting a game in a rural area or far from the city, as it is from starting in a building in the middle of a city with a lot of infected people. It would be interesting to make it feel very different to cross each street and all that.

I would really only take 28 Days and Weeks Later and RAMMBOCK as reference.

 

AVOINDING SOME FILMS AND SERIES
I would add more like the Black Summer series, although it actually has many plot holes, Les affamés, It's a very good movie but I don't think it adds much to DayZ, It's a bit like The Crazies 2010, I also think this one is great but they are infected who don't act rabidly. Devil’s Playground is good but infected sometimes act like if they were superstrong. Obviously I'm going to avoid any kind of slow zombie movie, I'm avoiding korean films like Train To Busan or Alive. I like Bird Box, it has nice ideas but infected play another role. The Girl with All the Gifts is nice but infected has another role too, World War Z has a concept that has nothing to do with DayZ (There is a coop video game that captures the essence of the film quite well). REC 1 and 2 are nice as setting. La Horde is a very good film too.

🔲THE WALKING DEAD SERIES | MUMMIES
The Walking Dead are slow and ugly zombies, they look like mummies, but it has good stories and characters, although the last seasons I saw bordered on fantasy, I ended up leaving it, and that's even though I used to read the comics, I think that the last thing I saw from this IP was the first season of Fear The Walking Dead. You can get interesting things from these series for narrative, acting characters and stories, but not as a universe to design the infected.

🔲DAWN OF THE DEAD REMAKE 2004 | ZOMBIES https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film473237.html
Here they look infected, but they're actually zombies; they die and then turn. Romero commissioned the film after seeing the success of 28 Days Later, using such a small budget. They copied the formula with runners. It's a very good film, but you have to ignore the part about the dead coming back to life. You can take their actions and movements as a reference; the settings are also interesting. What I like most is the prologue in the urbanization.

🔲TO THE LAKE  (2019) | INFECTED | https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film457177.html
It has two seasons, it's a very good series but they are not aggressive infected, they don't bite, is just like a flu virus, but the setting to pose and develop stories, take inspiration is very good. What I don't like so much are the chapters with cults since they are a bit cliché.

 

Later perhaps I will open a thread dedicated to the genre and its evolution, but here I want to focus more on the redesign of the infected in the game.

 

🔲17.SOME VIDEO GAMES TO GET INSPIRATION

🔲DAYZ | INFECTED |
Obviously, it's worth mentioning that DayZ's survival foundations must be respected. Dean's military survival approach is also a big part of its success, and it must remain that way.

🔲THE LAST OF US GAMES | INFECTED |
From here, what I emphasize most is the gameplay, the melee, the gunplay, the AI, the diving and swimming, the ability to climb onto surfaces, climb up and down ropes. I think it's difficult to achieve something like that, but it should be the goal. The design of the runners, the infected inspired by 28 Days Later, is also a great reference. I don't like the type of design of a world eaten away by vegetation and very degraded for DayZ, but I think it's also interesting to see the placement of vegetation in more paved areas and things like that, plants growing up walls.

🔲DEAD ISLAND 2 | ZOMBIES |
What I emphasize most here is the melee, QTE and gore, their interaction with the environment is interesting, how they keep hitting a window without being able to cross it.

Or how they crawl on the ground if we hurt their leg, or if it was already hurt.

I would mention Zombie U and many other games, but I think it's not a good idea to give too much importance to zombie games because many things have been done wrong and it can distort the concept of DayZ.
The Dead Rising concept of being able to grab any object to defend yourself is interesting, but DayZ already has that a bit, so maybe it should be enhanced a bit more and the throwing of objects improved as well.

WORK IN PROGRESS

 

 

 

Edited May 31 by dannyboyle