Scarier Zombies/Other Mods

[JoeySTM 4]

Before DayZ I liked to play the Chernarus Apocalypse mod and some of the undead mod. It only occurred to me today that if DayZ could learn from some of the features and especially how the zombies react in these other mods it could really improve overall experience. Honestly the zombies aren't really that scary or that big of a deal anymore. You see them all the time, they're easy to avoid if you know what you're doing, and you only have to watch out for them if you are near buildings. Zombies are the main feature of DayZ and they should be terrifying. Like walking through the woods of Chernarus worried because you know the zombies can be anywhere. Another big thing that can be improved is the sounds. These other mods did a great job hearing the zombies moans echoing through the woods and buildings. One feature I really enjoyed from the undead mod was whenever being taken down by zombies, your character would let loose with a blood curdling scream. This makes more sense when you think about it. Someone being mauled by zombie isn't just going to silently fall down. They sure as hell are going to be screaming about it. That would be interesting roaming the map hearing the screams of dying players. It would greatly improve the atmosphere. Any thoughts on this?

---

I forgot to mention in Chernarus Apocalypse it was neat that you could find random situations located around, like you could see a place where a car swerved into a tree and see the bodies of the people who died in the crash, or maybe more dead/eaten bodies found around buildings. Small little situations really add to the game.

[boxy0127 6]

You know that the 'zombies' in the game are just people that are infected, and they are STILL ALIVE!

[JoeySTM 4]

You know that the 'zombies' in the game are just people that are infected' date=' and they are STILL ALIVE!

[/quote']

Yes, but honestly that's just semantics and either way I don't believe Rocket ever specified whether they were the undead or just afflicted. They have the same goal still living or dead to kill you and it really makes no difference what you call them. Do you have anything to benefit this thread or were you just wanting to point out something completely irrelevant?

[wolfstriked 143]

Maybe Rocket should tone down the zeds skin so that they do not look like rotting corpses.

[BIttermace 31]

Like walking through the woods of Chernarus worried because you know the zombies can be anywhere.

I think there mainly based around towns as theoretically they would be in the more built up areas, but to have the odd zombie that wandered off into the woods would be nice now and then. I've been suprised a few times by the odd one wandering in a random location

[wolfstriked 143]

I love the idea.Make zombies spawn around you at a percentage so that your running thru woods and then sudenly you see or hear a few zombies ahead.This is probably what the game needs.Its too predictable as it is right now.Run thru forests for 10 minutes then spot a town.Look at town and count how many zeds.Infected would be way more scary if they did not spawn just around towns but around you the player at random.Some towns you enter have no infected at all is great for immersion.

[JoeySTM 4]

I love the idea.Make zombies spawn around you at a percentage so that your running thru woods and then sudenly you see or hear a few zombies ahead.This is probably what the game needs.Its too predictable as it is right now.Run thru forests for 10 minutes then spot a town.Look at town and count how many zeds.Infected would be way more scary if they did not spawn just around towns but around you the player at random.Some towns you enter have no infected at all is great for immersion.

Exactly! More unpredictable zombie spawning, more sounds, and better zombie movement would really improve this game. Like I said before if any of you have played the Chernarus Apocalypse, it's a fun game to play on the side with friends and they really nailed the whole zombie apocalypse atmosphere. If you could somehow combine the two games you would have perfection.

[FlashHawk4 44]

I agree. I've always taught my friends that "93% of all zombies spawn within 100 yards of a road", and of course even though I made that number up, it's still true.

And I would like to see more of those nice touches you talked about. I've seen about one of those, where the military clearly made a last stand around a certain building in Chernogorsk. Of course it had no gameplay connotations, because it had no military loot, but it was still kind of cool to see.

[Deviant (DayZ) 43]

Stalker zombie.

Limited spawn rate.

Similar to the "witch" in Left for Dead 2. Hard to spot when it's "roaming". Once it hears you (perhaps very high "Hearing" distance, but poorer "seeing" distance), it starts sneaking up on you, following you, going slightly faster then you travel, not making any noise.

It moves up to you, extremely close, then screams loudly and attacks you.

If you see it before it gets close to you, it screams and sprints towards you super fast until you kill it.

Needs to be more creepy shit ;)

[FlashHawk4 44]

Stalker zombie.

Limited spawn rate.

Similar to the "witch" in Left for Dead 2. Hard to spot when it's "roaming". Once it hears you (perhaps very high "Hearing" distance' date=' but poorer "seeing" distance), it starts sneaking up on you, following you, going slightly faster then you travel, not making any noise.

It moves up to you, extremely close, then screams loudly and attacks you.

If you see it before it gets close to you, it screams and sprints towards you super fast until you kill it.

Needs to be more creepy shit ;)

[/quote']

+1. I think some people take the "more hitpoints, more damage, more challenge" path, but frankly I think that's a bit silly. We can be much more creative. Not to say left 4 dead is anything comparable to this, but I did like how they thought outside the box when they made the special zombies. NOT THAT I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE NEED OH GOD DON'T KILL ME but we could go a bit off the beaten path.

For example, what if there were zombies tied to trees in the forest and whatnot? During the early outbreak, I'm sure a lot of people preferred to restrain their loved ones instead of shoot them, and now those guys are still out there. You'd hear them, and scan the area for the zombie, and creep through until you realized he was just tied to a tree like a dog on a leash. Not exactly dangerous, but atmospheric. They'd also be handcuffed to bedposts in houses and stuff, and you'd have to decide whether you would leave it alone or take it out before other zombies hear it. In addition to hearing it shout when you open the door, freaking out, setting up with your gun aimed at the door for fifteen seconds, slowly creeping back in with your gun aimed, and realizing "oh wait, it's handcuffed to the radiator! Ha ha, silly me!"

And then another one sneaks up behind you while you're focusing on the one inside the house.

Or, what if when you found a vehicle, and you got in, a zombie was in the floorboard of the back seat or whatever, and thirty seconds later, when you're driving off, he comes up out of nowhere and you have to deal with him all of a sudden.

Just spitballing, by the way.

What if the devs tossed in zombies in ghillie suits in wooded areas, so they look like they were actual bandits in-game who were zombified (do or don't tell people they still can't get zombified, either way has its benefits :P), so zombies just spring up from the forest floor when people are travelling along the treeline?

What if hordes roamed the area at a fast walking pace, so you could hear them coming and think, "I have to get out of here!", like a cowboy running in front of a stampeding herd of cattle?

[PlutoniumPlague 0]

+1

I'm in favor of spicing up the current array of zombie/infected AI...and agree with the OP on nomenclature. Whatever you want to call them is irrelevant when we're talking game mechanics here...people need to stop nit-picking all the time.

I like the idea of adding certain specialty zombies but just like your disclaimer I don't advocate turning this into L4D (which, I loved but clearly these are two different genres).

Right now the zombies are more of a nuisance and I think most of the guys on these forums who have been playing for a while would agree...even when soloing they're not that much of a threat. In fact, zombies are my favorite weapon...nothing like leading a pack of them at unsuspecting survivor/bandits...

[JoeySTM 4]

Stalker zombie.

Limited spawn rate.

Similar to the "witch" in Left for Dead 2. Hard to spot when it's "roaming". Once it hears you (perhaps very high "Hearing" distance' date=' but poorer "seeing" distance), it starts sneaking up on you, following you, going slightly faster then you travel, not making any noise.

It moves up to you, extremely close, then screams loudly and attacks you.

If you see it before it gets close to you, it screams and sprints towards you super fast until you kill it.

Needs to be more creepy shit ;)

[/quote']

+1. I think some people take the "more hitpoints, more damage, more challenge" path, but frankly I think that's a bit silly. We can be much more creative. Not to say left 4 dead is anything comparable to this, but I did like how they thought outside the box when they made the special zombies. NOT THAT I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE NEED OH GOD DON'T KILL ME but we could go a bit off the beaten path.

For example, what if there were zombies tied to trees in the forest and whatnot? During the early outbreak, I'm sure a lot of people preferred to restrain their loved ones instead of shoot them, and now those guys are still out there. You'd hear them, and scan the area for the zombie, and creep through until you realized he was just tied to a tree like a dog on a leash. Not exactly dangerous, but atmospheric. They'd also be handcuffed to bedposts in houses and stuff, and you'd have to decide whether you would leave it alone or take it out before other zombies hear it. In addition to hearing it shout when you open the door, freaking out, setting up with your gun aimed at the door for fifteen seconds, slowly creeping back in with your gun aimed, and realizing "oh wait, it's handcuffed to the radiator! Ha ha, silly me!"

And then another one sneaks up behind you while you're focusing on the one inside the house.

Or, what if when you found a vehicle, and you got in, a zombie was in the floorboard of the back seat or whatever, and thirty seconds later, when you're driving off, he comes up out of nowhere and you have to deal with him all of a sudden.

Just spitballing, by the way.

What if the devs tossed in zombies in ghillie suits in wooded areas, so they look like they were actual bandits in-game who were zombified (do or don't tell people they still can't get zombified, either way has its benefits :P), so zombies just spring up from the forest floor when people are travelling along the treeline?

What if hordes roamed the area at a fast walking pace, so you could hear them coming and think, "I have to get out of here!", like a cowboy running in front of a stampeding herd of cattle?

This is some of the stuff I was looking for from people. In the other mods I mentioned there actually were ghillie zombies that would pop up in tall grass. It just makes sense from how they're playing things that when the military groups were sent into Chernarus that they obviously were overrun, but wouldn't some of them be zombified? I know there is a soldier skin already, but it would be cool to see maybe some British or American soldiers who got turned in the mix.

[ZomboWTF 527]

Yep, this game needs more zombies roaming around unpredictable, in the woods etc.

also some sort of stalking zombies would be great, The zombies from the game "Project Zomboid" follow you without you even noticing, often arriving half an hour after you left, they just start slowly walking into the direction they saw you the last time,

it added really great to the atmosphere of the game, and made you never feel really safe

players should never feel safe in dayZ, just my opinion

[FlashHawk4 44]

ANOTHER ZOMBOID PLAYER!

I think that game has so much to offer this one, and vice versa. Like your suggestion. As well as a lot of other stuff.

[gotima 0]

So, what you are saying is that you want more atmosphere?

Well, you know, pre-alpha that small details like that arent their #1 priority

[FlashHawk4 44]

But this game WILL get past that point, I believe in it! And what then?

[mike.emig@gmx.de 0]

I like it much the way it is now.. It shouldnt get too hard with Zombies cause you still have other Players as the bigger threat.. They could randomly let spawn some "zombie" animals in the woods..

[JoeySTM 4]

I like it much the way it is now.. It shouldnt get too hard with Zombies cause you still have other Players as the bigger threat.. They could randomly let spawn some "zombie" animals in the woods..

Why wouldn't you want zombies as a bigger threat? The more threat from zombies the less pvp there is. I understand there is a lot of issues with the engine, but at this point the glitchy, physics defying zombies really give me much of a reason to worry about them.

[mike.emig@gmx.de 0]

I like it much the way it is now.. It shouldnt get too hard with Zombies cause you still have other Players as the bigger threat.. They could randomly let spawn some "zombie" animals in the woods..

Why wouldn't you want zombies as a bigger threat? The more threat from zombies the less pvp there is. I understand there is a lot of issues with the engine' date=' but at this point the glitchy, physics defying zombies really give me much of a reason to worry about them.

[/quote']

actually i think the pvp wont decrease..

[FlashHawk4 44]

I like it much the way it is now.. It shouldnt get too hard with Zombies cause you still have other Players as the bigger threat.. They could randomly let spawn some "zombie" animals in the woods..

Why wouldn't you want zombies as a bigger threat? The more threat from zombies the less pvp there is. I understand there is a lot of issues with the engine' date=' but at this point the glitchy, physics defying zombies really give me much of a reason to worry about them.

[/quote']

actually i think the pvp wont decrease..

Concur. So long as players are walking loot boxes, bandits will exist. So long as fear and uncertainty exist, jumpy, shooty-on-sighty noobs will exist.

Perhaps in some situations, players will worry a bit from aggro in cities, but otherwise, PvP is a fact of life that I don't anything will get rid of short of making this a singleplayer game...

[Siri302 37]

For example' date=' what if there were zombies tied to trees in the forest and whatnot? During the early outbreak, I'm sure a lot of people preferred to restrain their loved ones instead of shoot them, and now those guys are still out there. You'd hear them, and scan the area for the zombie, and creep through until you realized he was just tied to a tree like a dog on a leash. Not exactly dangerous, but atmospheric. They'd also be handcuffed to bedposts in houses and stuff, and you'd have to decide whether you would leave it alone or take it out before other zombies hear it. In addition to hearing it shout when you open the door, freaking out, setting up with your gun aimed at the door for fifteen seconds, slowly creeping back in with your gun aimed, and realizing "oh wait, it's handcuffed to the radiator! Ha ha, silly me!"

And then another one sneaks up behind you while you're focusing on the one inside the house.[/quote']

Yes please!! :D Would love some things like that to add more atmospheric touches and back-story to the game. Like when you find certain bodies/remains in Fallout 3, and you wonder what their story was.. Well, at least that's what I do. I think the game needs more things like this, while they may only really be aesthetic (unless they become small loot spawns) - I think it would really add something to the game, especially If you're exploring alone. Say you come across a dead man in a house with his brains blown out, still limply clutching his gun, and then you see the rabid infected woman and child clawing at you from where they are tied to a table/radiator or something, and you realize that they were probably a family. Those kind of things really make a game for me, but of course they shouldn't really be added until Day Z is nearing its final stages.

[mike.emig@gmx.de 0]

ya.. thats sounds pretty amazing..

[JoeySTM 4]

I like it much the way it is now.. It shouldnt get too hard with Zombies cause you still have other Players as the bigger threat.. They could randomly let spawn some "zombie" animals in the woods..

Why wouldn't you want zombies as a bigger threat? The more threat from zombies the less pvp there is. I understand there is a lot of issues with the engine' date=' but at this point the glitchy, physics defying zombies really give me much of a reason to worry about them.

[/quote']

actually i think the pvp wont decrease..

Concur. So long as players are walking loot boxes, bandits will exist. So long as fear and uncertainty exist, jumpy, shooty-on-sighty noobs will exist.

Perhaps in some situations, players will worry a bit from aggro in cities, but otherwise, PvP is a fact of life that I don't anything will get rid of short of making this a singleplayer game...

I believe it will decrease pvp. My rationale is when you have to worry more about zombies. You actually have to think before you shoot. Not that players won't want to kill each other as much, but they'll have to weight between the chance for more loot, and alerting an entire city of zombies to their location. If there's more zombies and random spawn points you don't have the safety you had before. You can't just take shots from out in the woods and know you'll be perfectly fine. If there's that constant threat of zombies I feel it will decrease the incidents of shooting on sight and increase communication even if it is just to lure a player to another place to shoot.

[mike.emig@gmx.de 0]

Sure. but will there stay that many players.. This idea makes it much harder for beginners.. Will they stay or get pissed pretty fast? And it shouldnt get to much like other Zombie games.. At the moment it has its unique own style.. We should try to keep that alive..

[FlashHawk4 44]

Sure. but will there stay that many players.. This idea makes it much harder for beginners.. Will they stay or get pissed pretty fast? And it shouldnt get to much like other Zombie games.. At the moment it has its unique own style.. We should try to keep that alive..

I fail to see how some unique zombies would throw it off so badly that people will rage quit. We're not talking about simply buffing their stats so they take three revolver bullets instead of one, or two Enfield rounds instead of one, or have sharper claws that increase risk of bleeding. We're just talking about creative ways to vary them up so they aren't all factory workers in maroon coveralls or goofy looking villagers in argyle sweaters.