Romero Zombie vs Rage Infected

[Captain Q 3]

I've always hated the slow-moving zombies. It's a cheap method for having an advancing horde, and it doesn't really provide much filler. The idea that "you can only kill them with a shot to the head" is physiologically flawed as well, as any machinegun can literally cut a human body in half, and as a matter of fact, hydrostatic shock would play a factor in the destruction of the brain.

All of the arguments for slow zombies are flawed. It would just make the game easy and incredibly unrealistic.

In all reality, the zombies as they are now are preferable. The running speed counteracts their smaller groups and vulnerability. It's also a far more realistic fashion.

If you want bullets to have a harder time killing them, make them "Dawn of the Dead 2004" zombies; shooting them anywhere but the head puts them into a coma, and they twitch on the ground for a few seconds (like a wounded human) when they're trying to get up.

Slow zombies are only good in an illogical cinema.

Edited July 12, 2012 by Captain Q

[pvt_ammo@hotmail.com 164]

Made this suggestion a while back Here.

My preference is definitely the Romero style zombie. But I wouldn't want them so slow that you could simply walk right by them. I like to think of the old game Gauntlet, how the mobs endlessly pursued you. They weren't speedy fast, they were just relentless which is the way zombies should be. Their numbers are their threat. The current zombie system has a good amount of zeds to create a good horde.

People have suggested having different variants of zombies depending on their level of infection/decomposition. From the fast to the slow. I quite like this idea as it gives them variety and mixed challenges.

I have to say a slightly faster version of these zombies in this video would be awesome! With a few fresh ones that would move a lot faster forcing the player to run through the slightly slower ones.

[jetao2008@hotmail.com 175]

I really like the way they move in this video, but i agree they could go a little faster.

Man, it would be the perfect game, that's the only thing i really want right now is the zombie behavior changed (no more zig-zagg!)

Edited July 12, 2012 by Fenrig

[unworldly3 2]

Even if the zombies were exactly like that but a little higher number wise and maybe slightly tougher so you have to get headshots to save ammo, it would be amazing on an urban map or even Chernarus if loot was more rewarding in cities and less rewarding in the countryside.

[Deuzerre 64]

Why do people oppose "28 days later" and "classic" zombies?

Slow one could be in towns, and occasional fast ones at random.

And several fast ones in the woods/other.

[jayarr916 15]

I prefer fast zombies. Makes you think twice about sneaking and it's harder to get them off of you. There's nothing better to keep you on your toes than fast zombies. Plus, it makes players concentrate more on zombies.

Also, what I never understood about zombies in DayZ is how they can actually catch up to you once they aggro on to you but they can't hit you while running. I hope they make it so they run at a constant speed rather than catching up to you only to stop once they reach you but don't hit you.

Edited July 12, 2012 by jayarr916

[Carl Weathers 3]

I think a balance of both is best for a game, but I would also like to see packs of them roaming. It seems the city is useful for gear but the country is where the best weapons are and the ratio of zeds to guns outside of town is questionable. I guess it is required considering the lack of starting weapon.

[Combine (DayZ) 247]

The people who post about this topic presumably want it to reach Rocket, yet at the same time they have clearly made no effort to see if he's discussed it at all.

I'm not saying I wouldn't like the idea, but it's irrelevant so long as the engine can't handle the things necessary to make slow zombies work. He's said it on forums and he's said it in interviews and most recently during his 30 minute Q&A session at rezzed. If you had slow zombies then even a smallish town like Bor would need 100+ zombies in the area to challenge a single player. The arma engine could not handle have several thousand zombies in a full server. You'd have to limit servers to 10 players, if not possibly less. Rocket's not interested in that.

As for the different tiers of zombies based on how long they're been turned and whether they've eaten a player and so on, he's said it's something he wants to do but he doesn't know if he can make it work yet.

I've always hated the slow-moving zombies. It's a cheap method for having an advancing horde, and it doesn't really provide much filler. The idea that "you can only kill them with a shot to the head" is physiologically flawed as well, as any machinegun can literally cut a human body in half, and as a matter of fact, hydrostatic shock would play a factor in the destruction of the brain.

All of the arguments for slow zombies are flawed. It would just make the game easy and incredibly unrealistic.

In all reality, the zombies as they are now are preferable. The running speed counteracts their smaller groups and vulnerability. It's also a far more realistic fashion.

If you want bullets to have a harder time killing them, make them "Dawn of the Dead 2004" zombies; shooting them anywhere but the head puts them into a coma, and they twitch on the ground for a few seconds (like a wounded human) when they're trying to get up.

Slow zombies are only good in an illogical cinema.

QFT

Also, what is this "mixing" about? If you want a challenge, why would you mix zombies? If you have 100% and mix them to any x%, they just get weaker if you make x% to slow ones, out of the 100%. Get what I mean?

The way it is now, they're basically rather lethal. Not one or two, but a group. They all run, after all, but still have a very logical physique and no super human (or undead) BS, in my opinion.

To be honest? The way they're designed (not referring to AI or pathing!) is fine. They're already a threat. No need for "endbosses" or slow ones you could outrun.

[N0DemonZ 17]

I would LIKE to see a mixture of both, as was stated before - Slow hoards in cities and perhaps faster ones in the wood and smaller towns. However I would be happy with these faster zombies currently in the game once the few bugs with them are worked out.

[zombie3000@hotmail.co.uk 27]

I prefer standard shufflers but there's a place for runners too. The best description i heard in a zombie movie (i forget which one) was that the runners are freshly turned zed's where as the slow movers have decomposition & rigor mortis setting in etc.

[drewmaw 56]

Holy shit! This looks amazing! Which mod is this?? Dude, if DayZ was like this.... salivation. I agree though with some of the others, having seen this video, I think a 5-10% chance of running zombies would do the trick.

But geez this animation is incredible! I'm going to repost in OP too. Thanks mate.

Edited July 12, 2012 by drewmaw

[Roarkz 1]

I like them both. Each create anxiety and exciting game-play, but runners are a bit more intense and I think DayZ is going for that. Once they no longer hit/glitch through walls and whatnot and players up their skill level and/or team up to stave off death I think slow moving would not be enough of a challenge. Maybe if cities were just awash in zombies where players had to group in order to clear massive amounts in order to get to food. That could be interesting although a bit mmoish.

[Old Ham 1]

Have a mixture, with multiple types of zombies. Right now we have ones that crawl, ones that are upright and running, and some that run along crouched. Keep all of those, add in slower moving stronger zombies with more HP that can shamble along at about the pace of crouch running, and have multiple spawn together. Make them indistinguishable from the ones that run until they're aggroed, and now you have no idea what kind of zombie you'll be facing until it's too late, which makes the faster-moving ones even more frightening. You can have a pack situation where the running zombies hit you initially and slow you down, and then while you're bandaging or finishing up the fast zombies, now you've got a mini-horde of slower zombies that take more ammo and are all up in your face within attack range. Imagine watching a slow-moving horde closing in after the faster zombies chased you down and broke your leg. Additionally, the slower moving zombies have another effect when it comes to looting things, and that is that they take longer to lure them away from buildings before you shoot so no more hear the shots. Having a mixture like that lets the zombies be harder in just about any situation.

Edited July 12, 2012 by Old Ham

[bryantjudoman 3]

I want slow zombies that simply can't be killed. They can only be slowed down by blowing their limbs off or hacking them to pieces with an axe. I know this is an impossibility because of the limitations of today's computers and the time it would take to program however SOMEDAY? Kind of in the same vein as return of the living dead but slow as apposed to fast. Perhaps they could be fast just for a brief time after initial death due to their blood still being warm however they would slow down within a minute or two.

[FAAmecanic 5]

I like the zeds the way they were in pre 1.7.1 ..... if you were stupid you paid a price, but if you were stealthy you were somewhat safe. This new Zed Bionic vision is for the birds. Especially when a zed aggros thru a building that I have been laying down in for 5 min and not moving.... but it is alpha as they say.

[drewmaw 56]

I prefer standard shufflers but there's a place for runners too. The best description i heard in a zombie movie (i forget which one) was that the runners are freshly turned zed's where as the slow movers have decomposition & rigor mortis setting in etc.

That's a good logical argument for mixing.

[thisisbleep 32]

A variety would be good, especially if it is not possible to distinguish between each type until after you have aggro'd.

I would also like to see them become more aware of each other. If one aggro's and runs past another, the second zombie should turn around and look.

[{CQF} Ian 4]

That video was orgasmic.. Is that a mod?

[Sgt Abraham Ford 82]

Slower zeds, more of them, only die when the brain is destroyed. That would make this game flawless imo. Ever since I was a kid I have dreamed of the day that a game like DayZ would exist, so I could pretend I'm in the Romero Apocalypse. This is that game, with only one major flaw (my (probably wrong) opinion only, don't get heated). Anyways, I love and will play the shit out of DayZ until another game comes out that does it better. Given the tragic course our beloved industry seems to be taking, that's a day that may never come.

[Horr1d 7]

Slow zombies are miles better for gameplay, hands down. That slow, crawling death you know is coming but struggle to prevent.

Fast zombies give only one emotion, similar to someone shouting "boo" at you when not expecting it. BORING after a few times.

[p0orboii 0]

Personally, it would be much better if the current zombies would stop zig zagging trying to dodge all the bullets. It's kinda frustrating actually.

However i am cool with both kind of zombies but a slower zombies with vast amount of numbers will definitely make me shit ma pants.

[{CQF} Ian 4]

I think that it should be possible, with slow zombies being implimented that they can ambush us. Lying in wait behind a counter or something that the survivor fails to look behind and boom 3-5 zeds blocking the door.

[Archon (DayZ) 14]

Simply introduce an endurance system (i.e., you can't sprint forever) and hordes of slower zombies instantly become a little more feasible.

[pvt_ammo@hotmail.com 164]

Simply introduce an endurance system (i.e., you can't sprint forever) and hordes of slower zombies instantly become a little more feasible.

This ^

I don't get this idea that slow zombies are easier. It's usually the slower ones that take you out after you have shot the faster ones first and are in the middle of reloading or ran out of ammo. A mix of fast and slower ( and I repeat by slower I don't mean snails pace )

The current system is, pull agro from fast zombie, run into building, lose zombie. This system is good for the first 20 minutes but then just gets boring.

Now imagine a world where zombies don't give up unless you're very far from them. They are relentless, more numerous and a little slower. The scenario of getting cornered goes up. There's that feeling of never feeling safe. Zombies may still be pursuing you and you don't even realize it. You've shaken off the fast ones and are patching up in the woods and getting your blood back up when a group of zeds start stumbling through the trees after you. That delayed attack time adds more to the immersion. None of this, I feel safe now the fights over and I've lost agro.

Also putting a stamina mechanic in the game would force the player to have to stand and fight the fast ones. You can try to outrun them but they will catch up with you eventually. If you choose to run into a building to lose agro or take them out you will then have to deal with the 15 more slower ones now filling up the exits.

The times where I've felt really paniced in this game is not when there are a dozen at a door trying to get in all at once, they are easy to take out. It's the ones that keep trickling in over time. You've just killed a horde and then some more spawn, now I have to deal with this second wind. With slower harder to kill zombies this would really ramp up this feeling of panic. That feeling of, I don't have enough bullets to kill all these. I'm going to make a run for it after I put this next one down.

Slower doesn't necessarily mean easier if executed the right way. One might argue, well why not just give the fast zombies the same attributes as the slower ones you ask for, that would make them more of a challenge. In this case, no. We would simply end up as we did a dozen patches back where the zombies were simply too hard and had no real immersion to them.

Rocket keeps going on about wanting an authentic experience. As of now, the current state of zombies aren't authentic. I feel like one is trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to how zombies behave. Instead of continuing to try and rewrite the zombie mechanic which this game engine is clearly not suited for, perhaps there should be more focus on a zombie mechanic that is more fitting to the game engine, ie. slower shambling zombies where the player gets tired and is unable to out run.

The fact that this mechanic hasn't already been tested on a public patch doesn't give me too much hope in ever seeing such a mechanic being tried. This is an Alpha so I do hope this mechanic is at least tested. It might be the best thing to be added to the game. It might be a pile of sh!t. But we will never know if it is never tried.

I just hope the devs prick up their ears and take note of some of these suggestions and say fuck it, lets give this a go what do we have to lose?

For those wondering, the mod that video is from a mod called Undead Mod which can be found here. Unfortunately this mod doesn't work too well with multiplayer and the AI of the zeds is a bit sketchy. Still, it does look very authentic and certainly gives a lot of immersion with the awesome zombie sound effects.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Ammo

[jukaga 271]

Anyone know what mod is running in the op? That looks like a great alternative when I need some open world zombie fix but only have 30 minutes to game. Looks really, really good.