Zeds should not move in players general direction until detected

[Guest]

Based on this thread in the new player forum.

Currently the infected will move in the players general direction as you enter an area, even when sneaking undetected. Heres two quotes from DayzWiki:-

When approaching a spawn zone (buildings) with no other players nearby, zombies will spawn and start heading towards player's general direction

Zombies have a programmed propensity to move towards a nearby player; they will continuously sense and move towards nearby player's general location after a short while after arriving in their spawn zones, which can be observed if remaining in a town or other heavily built area for long periods

This, imo, should not be the case. I'l summarise why:-

• It kills off the idea of being sneaky and planning your movements in advance, the infected are just going to move your way even if you're undetected.
  
• It's unrealistic and breaks immersion( this is my big personal gripe with it). The infected movement shouldn't revolve around the player unless they actually detect them via sight or sound.
  
• It feels like a cheap, unfair way of making things more difficult for the player as it doesn't matter how careful you are... the zeds will come your way. Maybe make their hits do a little bit more dammage instead? It makes more sense (to me) that the player should have the ability to plan things out without the zeds having this sixth sense of always knowing your location, but if they mess up by going into the zeds view or make to much noise then give them hell.
  

[richard_b 15]

Well actually it makes a tiny bit of sense (except for when a zombie comes into the house you're looting and get messed up randomly.) Because zombies might be able to smell you. But I agree, remove it.

[uranidiot 18]

My 2 Cents.

Zombies should walk around randomly. Not towards unseen/unheard players.

Zombies should WALK towards players when heard. Not run full speed at sound.

Zombies should RUN towards players when visually Spotted.

Zombies should RUN to last known player location after losing LOS. And then walk around randomly.

[richard_b 15]

I agree with uran dot. Zombies shouldn't pull aggro until they SEE you, so if you fire a gun, they should walk towards the shot.

[Guest]

My 2 Cents.

Zombies should walk around randomly. Not towards unseen/unheard players.

Zombies should WALK towards players when heard. Not run full speed at sound.

Zombies should RUN towards players when visually Spotted.

Zombies should RUN to last known player location after losing LOS. And then walk around randomly.

Spot on! though on the last point i dont think they should instantly go back to walking randomly after losing LOS, they should search the general area randomly for a bit before going back to walking.

[bladerunner 11]

Don't know about the aggro, but my strongest suspicion is that they walk towards you because they DID detect something indeed.. they're just not sure what it is and are they going to investigate.

At least in my experience, this kind of behaviour only happens when zombies are relatively close (5-10mts) and not when they are 50mts away

[jay.pis 32]

That seems to be only when they spawn but from what I can tell they go into sensing mode after once the player starts to move and trying to avoid them. That's when players need to make sure they're on splinter cell mode.

[Jean Jacques Serrault 37]

I agree with the TS. This "sixth sense" feature ruins the tactical ability from unseen and unheard players. Need to remove this ability from zombies.

[-=seany=- 65]

It never really gets me killed, but I do agree that it seems a bit of a cheap trick to make the game harder. It does spoil some imersion for me also.

I understand why it is in the game and it is a pretty clever mechanic, to make the game harder and make it feel as though there are more Zeds than there actually are.

Maybe if 2 in every 5 zeds (for example) did this it wouldn't seem so obvious.

[kovalhuk 19]

My 2 Cents.

Zombies should walk around randomly. Not towards unseen/unheard players.

Zombies should WALK towards players when heard. Not run full speed at sound.

Zombies should RUN towards players when visually Spotted.

Zombies should RUN to last known player location after losing LOS. And then walk around randomly.

This!

[Mister Christopher 0]

Well thr problem is that there can only be so many in one place for that player. Until the servers and support more zombies at once, they have to make do this otherwise they would either be too easy, or the worse case scenario: people start walking through towns and dont see a single zombie because they are all completely unaware of the location of the player that they should be near. (not sure if that last. Part makes sense)

[drseptapus 49]

My 2 Cents.

Zombies should walk around randomly. Not towards unseen/unheard players.

Zombies should WALK towards players when heard. Not run full speed at sound.

Zombies should RUN towards players when visually Spotted.

Zombies should RUN to last known player location after losing LOS. And then walk around randomly.

seconded

Everybody else was quoting you too. I didn't want to feel left out.

Edited July 20, 2012 by drseptapus

[wh1tey 1]

its strange sometime i prone and zombie detects me instant, but he cant saw me. a other time i prone again between some rocks and trees and a zombie was 0,5 m away from me and didnt aggroed. generally its a little delay from crouch visibility to prone visibility so u need to wait a few seconds before proneing away.

[Zetal 90]

If it spoils the immersion, I don't think it should. They smell you, and move in your general direction. Simple as that.

Removing this would make the game waaay too easy, and the game itself is already too easy as it is.

[Guest]

Smell is effected by the elements like wind, to say its "as simple as that" just doesn't cut it.

There are other, more genuine ways to make zeds more difficult.

[chefwillis 33]

Smell is effected by the elements like wind, to say its "as simple as that" just doesn't cut it.

There are other, more genuine ways to make zeds more difficult.

For you to say that just doesn't cut it. This is a game. Not real life. If he wants to program wind in and how smell travels through it then he should also program in things to find out which way the wind is blowing.

You know what it should be as simple as. Having them move toward your general direction when within a proximity of say 30m. It would be better that way. But not much different.