Evolved Zombies - They Stalk the Forests

[zak757 146]

It was a man.

It was infected.

It became a zombie.

It was irradiated.

It mutated.

It evolved.

It came from the Green Mountain.

Aside from possibly adding to the backstory of DayZ (assuming we get one in the standalone), another enemy type that fits the atmosphere of DayZ would be nice. If anybody has read the book called "Cell", they know what I am talking about when zombies evolve into something smarter. They retain a lust for blood, but they are capable of thought and have methods of hunting down flesh. Something I've seen around the DayZ community is an encounter with a Slenderman-esque character known as Ghillieman, an unarmed man in a ghillie suit who stalks the player and progressively gets closer, and is capable of walking at sprinting speeds. Having "Slenderman" appear in the game wouldn't fit the atmosphere at all, but something that puts "horror" back in "survival horror" would be nice.

Evolved zombies are found out in the wilderness, far away from any civilization, and appear more often the further you are to the North. They will wear the attire of their last victim, and will keep a ghillie suit on. They do not shamble and sway, shriek or growl, they move with purpose and stealth because the motor control part of their brain has actually improved. Like Romero zombies, they can only be killed with a shot to the brain. They have almost catlike night vision, batlike hearing, and much much much stronger senses then normal zombies. Being struck by one does quadruple the damage of a regular zombie, causes you to bleed twice as fast, and has a higher chance of causing infection. They can move as fast as pre-1.7.2 zombies, so slightly faster then you. If one sees or hears you (you might not even know), it will run away from you until out of sight (it will turn invisible even if the game doesn't imply they can actually do that). If you continue to move in the general direction you were heading, it will appear behind you eventually (or in front of you if you check your back) and run at you very fast and shriek loudly. In your panic, you must shoot it in the head. It will likely be a surviveable encounter, but damaging.

It would be something that sets it apart from other zombie games. I would especially want this in the standalone game if there is more reason to explore outside of cities and airfields and farms (adding things like poacher camps). Who wants it?

[Blakbewwy 8]

...but something that puts "horror" back in "survival horror" would be nice.

Awesome. Just completely reminded me that, at the end of the day, DayZ isn't overly scary.

It definitely needs something to spice up the mod's horror a bit, and perhaps this idea. I think it should be nerfed a little bit though; this practically makes forests more deadly than the cities which doesn't seem quite right. However, as a rare spawn and perhaps not having 4x as much health (just because they're smart doesn't mean they are super strong all of a sudden), or maybe even less health than the average zombie.

Also, love the idea of a ghillie suit. The general DayZ player would look at a zombie and not interpret it as a major threat; but anyone who spots another player will almost always perceive them as a threat and try shoot or hide. Now, if we can't even tell the DIFFERENCE between zombie and player... :D

[zak757 146]

Well to be fair, zombies are a threat because they charge you in groups. They also zigzag and glitch around alot which makes them hard to hit, but I imagine that will be fixed in the standalone.

Quadruple damage isn't as bad it sounds because zeds really only do maybe take off 50-100 blood when they hit you. At most an Evolved Zombie will take off 400 blood faster, and since you have 1 to deal with, you can just bandage right away after you kill it. As for health, getting a single headshot on a target running right at you isn't that hard. Of course, you will probably freak out a little bit when you see it appears.

I don't want these guys all over the woods. If you were running from Cherno to Starry, you will come across maybe 1 of them. If you were running from NE Airfield to NW Airfield, you will find 2 or maybe 3 of them. Just a little scare factor that will keep some players on the roads. They should probably spawn 800m away or so from the player, and the amount that spawn depends on how many are in a group.