Monsters, zombies and so on

[Psilocybe 3]

in the films the zombies smell the humans at very far distances i think.

maybe the zeds should know about everyone on the map. then they would hunt the closest target. so you wouldnt be save in a hut away from anything else anymore.

Wouldn't be very fair :( I for one dont want to ALWAYS have to be on the move, and some evasive action should be rewarded, otherwise it is rendered useless.

Say I am doing a sweep through a village/town/city and suddenly I am faced in the distance with a horde, if I leg it out of there, double back and around them without being spotted, I think its fair that I managed to do so.

I guess it all depends on what sort of zeds were talking about, I for one am more in favor of rage virus zombies than undead, and thus to be it is less about smell, and more about sound/visual.

[irongrip 10]

maybe the zeds should know about everyone on the map. then they would hunt the closest target. so you wouldnt be save in a hut away from anything else anymore.

Say you have a few troops, all you do is glitch out the proposed system by putting one guy on a tower in the middle of the city, hang back on the outskirts, and wait until they mob the tower, then just walk in and pick em' all off from a safe distance while they mill about, focused on the one guy that's closest to them in the tower. Can I get a yahoo? I didn't think so.

It makes more sense that they tear off after any threat that they are able to see and reach. Hmmm, wait a sec... Charon, can they climb?

Say I am doing a sweep through a village/town/city and suddenly I am faced in the distance with a horde, if I leg it out of there, double back and around them without being spotted, I think its fair that I managed to do so.

My thoughts exaclty. "You can run but you can't hide forever" is perfectly reasonable; "you can run but you can't hide AT ALL" is perfectly ridiculous. Anything less would get tiresome very quickly, IMHO.

I guess it all depends on what sort of zeds were talking about, I for one am more in favor of rage virus zombies than undead,

How can you choose?! I can't choose!

and thus to be it is less about smell, and more about sound/visual.

Bears and T-rex can smell anything anywhere. Dogs can smell some stuff somewhere. People can barely smell anything anywhere. Undead people... all they can smell is their own putrid stench, I would figure.

[Tobie 10]

you are not the only non-infected person on the map i guess. so i think you would have enough rest^^

Say you have a few troops, all you do is glitch out the proposed system by putting one guy on a tower in the middle of the city, hang back on the outskirts, and wait until they mob the tower, then just walk in and pick em' all off from a safe distance while they mill about, focused on the one guy that's closest to them in the tower. Can I get a yahoo? I didn't think so.

i think you can do that already without what i said^^

and if they woudnt smell at far distances how should they infect whole countries or continents??

in resident evil extinction the zombies were collected arount that complex in the desert. how would they have found there else?

charon said that the zeds is told where to go to infect other cities. otherwise they wouldnt infect the whole map. that wasnt necessary if they would smell (know about everyone on the map).

im going to watch some zed movies...

[charon productions 10]

It makes more sense that they tear off after any threat that they are able to see and reach. Hmmm, wait a sec... Charon, can they climb?

I am considering checking the humans altitude, to prevent the zeds from lingering around a human standing on a roof. Maybe only if he is the last possible target. In that case it would be realistic to make them disregard their target if someone shoots them from behind.

I`ll put that on the to-do-list, but right now the envoy system has to be made bug free as a main priority.

Climbing would make sense, however they don`t just do that by themselves, it would have to be scripted and if it`s not just one straight ladder up there, it will be very hard to script that or in the case of stairs.

Maybe a check for the nearest house position of the target would work, gotta be tested.

@Tobie: You are right, but i think it has also to do with old habits while they were still human.

In Romero`s Dawn of the Dead the protagonists converse about the zeds`motivation to come to the mall and they point out that it`s remnant habits. So it makes perfect sense that the zeds would primarily approach capitals,cities,villages.

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There is a big amount of social criticism (consumerism) hidden in that movie.

Edited December 5, 2009 by Charon Productions

[der.hannes 10]

can i download this mod somewhere? dont need a final just want to place some zombies in editor and it sounds that thats possible?

searching for hours now...

[nicolasroger 11]

it's not released yet

[charon productions 10]

The migration system works satisfyingly now. Chernarus is infected in no time.

In the tests there was just civilians placed, so in an actual combat mission the infection would be slowed by soldiers killing the "envoys", but to do so there is the need for roadblocks or aerial surveillance to find them and slow them down.

Something that could really be an exploit is the situation that a human stands on a roof or in a safezone being the selected target for the infected while the player or his commanded AI sneak up behind them surrounding their target and taking them out one by one. A target priority system needs to be implemented for cases like this.

[bddizzle 10]

The migration system works satisfyingly now. Chernarus is infected in no time.

In the tests there was just civilians placed, so in an actual combat mission the infection would be slowed by soldiers killing the "envoys", but to do so there is the need for roadblocks or aerial surveillance to find them and slow them down.

Something that could really be an exploit is the situation that a human stands on a roof or in a safezone being the selected target for the infected while the player or his commanded AI sneak up behind them surrounding their target and taking them out one by one. A target priority system needs to be implemented for cases like this.

First of all, I would like to say that this mod looks amazing, and that I cannot wait to play it ;)

I do have a couple of questions though:

1) Will the Player become a zombie if he/she is infected, or will he/she just die?

2) With your infection migration system, if I am on the other side of the map from the initial infection zone, how long will it take for the infection to reach me?

3) Is that blood animation going to be the final one you use? No offense, but it looks kind of.... wrong. I would prefer no blood animation, or maybe a small one (very small). The one now looks like a explosion of blood rather than blood loss caused by a bite.

4) Does the amount of Zombie AI lag on the players computer? I remember the CZM mod for Arma did A LOT, even with a good computer.

5) How do the Zombies behave when Idle? (do they just walk around, or is there something like L4D where, if you run into a unaware zombie, you can see them leaning against a wall, laying down, etc.)

6) is there a max number of zombies possible, or can there be infinite?

7) Do you need a beta tester? My rig is pretty good, if that has any benefit to beta testing (GTX 295, i7 920, 6 gigs of DDR3)

8) will you make it so that all non-infected know to get away from the zombies and don't just hold their ground when a zombie is 1 foot away from their face??

Something that could really be an exploit is the situation that a human stands on a roof or in a safezone being the selected target for the infected while the player or his commanded AI sneak up behind them surrounding their target and taking them out one by one. A target priority system needs to be implemented for cases like this.

Well, I have seen this happen in movies about zombies. In Shawn of the dead, Shawn lures the undead horde away from his friends and family when they are trying to gain access to the Winchester. I do agree that there should be something in place to prevent a exploit, but then again the Zombie hordes are known to be very dull (intelligence wise)

Cheers,

SCrUBSFan

Edited December 7, 2009 by bddizzle

[irongrip 10]

6) is there a max number of zombies possible, or can there be infinite?

Think about this question very carefully bdd.

Well, I have seen this happen in movies about zombies. In Shawn of the dead, Shawn lures the undead horde away from his friends and family when they are trying to gain access to the Winchester. I do agree that there should be something in place to prevent a exploit, but then again the Zombie hordes are known to be very dull (intelligence wise)

True.

[charon productions 10]

1) Will the Player become a zombie if he/she is infected, or will he/she just die?

90% of all players would not enjoy continuing the game as a zombie, so i do not sacrifice development resources to something that won`t be used.

2) With your infection migration system, if I am on the other side of the map from the initial infection zone, how long will it take for the infection to reach me?

Between 30-50 minutes (have to measure that again to be exact).

Supposed that you are in a location (City/town).

3) Is that blood animation going to be the final one you use? No offense, but it looks kind of.... wrong. I would prefer no blood animation, or maybe a small one (very small). The one now looks like a explosion of blood rather than blood loss caused by a bite.

Have you seen an aorta being severed? ;)

4) Does the amount of Zombie AI lag on the players computer? I remember the CZM mod for Arma did A LOT, even with a good computer.

Sure, i have explained that in detail in this thread.

The more zombies the more lag, not in graphics due to BI`s new script handling, but in the movement of the zombies.

An average computer can handle i would say 200-300 zombies okay, everything more will be laggy. 500+ won`t be able to hunt anything efficiently anymore except for standing around civilians.

5) How do the Zombies behave when Idle? (do they just walk around, or is there something like L4D where, if you run into a unaware zombie, you can see them leaning against a wall, laying down, etc.)

They are never idle, they always wander around looking for prey.

6) is there a max number of zombies possible, or can there be infinite?

I have not implemented a limit, although i should have in case someone mindlessly uses the ambient civilian module and ends up with 500+ zeds.

7) Do you need a beta tester? My rig is pretty good, if that has any benefit to beta testing (GTX 295, i7 920, 6 gigs of DDR3)

I did most of the testing already, 90% of the things reported will be issues related to personal preferences which can not be considered.

Any serious gameplay deteriorating bug can be reported with a bug report form, which must describe the exact circumstances of the bug. Otherwise it can`t be replicated.

8) will you make it so that all non-infected know to get away from the zombies and don't just hold their ground when a zombie is 1 foot away from their face??

It has been finally considered to be like this:

If there is any dropped weapon by dead soldiers within 100 meters, civilians will pick them up and fight.

A civilian will run away when another civilian or soldier is being attacked by a zed within a 100m radius.

He however will not run indefinitely, but also only something like 150 meters.

That is because one running civilian would result in all zeds chasing that one civilian over the whole map, which is detrimental to the gameplay.

And ,as in the movies, a stupid behaviour of humans is needed to get the infection going.

Well, I have seen this happen in movies about zombies. In Shawn of the dead, Shawn lures the undead horde away from his friends and family when they are trying to gain access to the Winchester. I do agree that there should be something in place to prevent a exploit, but then again the Zombie hordes are known to be very dull (intelligence wise)

Consider this case: 100 zeds surround some human standing on a shack.

You as the player walk up to them 10 meters behind the mob and pick them out one by one. Does that seem likely?

The zeds will disregard hit-eventhandlers inflicted by helicopters,planes,tanks or any human standing on a roof.

[Purplehasiso 10]

Is there an estimate when this will be released? If not thats understandable but you have no idea how ******* excited i am for this.:pet12: I LOVE YOU!

[irongrip 10]

It's how we all feel, but I don't want to pressure him, since I know we are getting a quality product for free. I mean this is going to be a whole new game using the same engine!

[bddizzle 10]

Any news, or possibly a Video :)

I cant wait to kill some zombies...

[LJF 0]

Sounds awesome, It's been a while since I was in here, didn't know you got the thing working.

I was just curious, what are the zombies like in terms of damage? Are they like in 28 weeks where it's pretty much all over once they get a hold of you or more "grghhh, grghhh, rghhh, grhhhhh, grrhhh, Aahrrhhg!! - thud"?

I can't wait for this, ACE2 is now coming second on my list of most awesome mods ;)

Edited December 9, 2009 by LJF

[Treelor 0]

I think this, a Quarantine mission, and ACE2 all together would make a great zombie RPG gamemode.

[3inar 10]

Hello there CP!

Just got a cuple of questions that is a cuple of folow upp questions.

You said that the Zombies wont attak a unit/Civilian if it is on a roof or in the air, so my question was will they still attak you if your on the second floor of a building or even higher(EDIT: inside the building offcors :P) on a building? Or do they jut ignore you if you are in a building no mater what foor you are on?

If this questions have ben answered already then sorry for bothering you, gotta have missed them in that case.

Thanks in advance!

BTW BEST ARMA 2 MOD YETT NOMATER WHAT YOU DO WITH IT!!!:)

GL and take your time pls ;):bounce3:

[charon productions 10]

Hello there CP!

Just got a cuple of questions that is a cuple of folow upp questions.

You said that the Zombies wont attak a unit/Civilian if it is on a roof or in the air, so my question was will they still attak you if your on the second floor of a building or even higher(EDIT: inside the building offcors :P) on a building? Or do they jut ignore you if you are in a building no mater what foor you are on?

If this questions have ben answered already then sorry for bothering you, gotta have missed them in that case.

Thanks in advance!

BTW BEST ARMA 2 MOD YETT NOMATER WHAT YOU DO WITH IT!!!:)

GL and take your time pls ;):bounce3:

That is an issue that is entirely limited by the engine.

It is not made for indoor combat, but for large outdoor areas.

The collision geometry alone is very poor inside buildings and the path-finding inside a house is a lottery, so i did not even bother wasting resources trying to imlement a house position finding system, when any kind of AI can fall through floors, can get stuck in walls or simply won`t move at all to the house position assigned. I would do it if this would be a more indoor-capable engine.

[3inar 10]

That is an issue that is entirely limited by the engine.

It is not made for indoor combat, but for large outdoor areas.

The collision geometry alone is very poor inside buildings and the path-finding inside a house is a lottery, so i did not even bother wasting resources trying to imlement a house position finding system, when any kind of AI can fall through floors, can get stuck in walls or simply won`t move at all to the house position assigned. I would do it if this would be a more indoor-capable engine.

Ok Cool! Thanks for the answer and still looking forward to the best MOD aout there :):bounce3:

[zombo 10]

I can only say one thing " VERY NICE WORK ".

[3inar 10]

Ok Cool! Thanks for the answer and still looking forward to the best MOD aout there :):bounce3:

Oh and yea I just remembered another qouestion I had.

The Zombies will probably be on the independant side? So in that case will we se the guerillas added to the Bluef side and the OPF side? so they still will beabeled to be used?

/// 3inar

[That guy Over there 10]

(It may be me but)

i notice a small problem with civilians picking guns up Mainly females

as Bohemia did not add a Weapon Holding Animation For Females (Tested and they only get the T-Pose position unless i'm missing animation of sorts).

[Tobie 10]

maybe its consciously because girls cant handle weapons as good as boys do:D

[zombo 10]

is this going to release soon ?:)

[charon productions 10]

The thoughts brought across by Dissaifer have found the need for consideration in a similar form during the course of testing the module with an actual mission with the plot of containing the infection.

The migration of the infected works nearly perfectly, but the towns are basically empty many times when the player`s presence does not coincide with the event that a group of infected just arrived to infect the town civilians.

So a system is implemented to declare a location "infected" and just like in the ALICE module, it will be populated with infected that don`t follow the migration system once the player enters the town area.

Only if the location is completely cleared of infected the location will be declared "infection-free", so no more infected will be spawned there.

That way, missions will be much more dynamic and the objective for players is to "clear" towns rather than only chasing the migrants, which is important to actually win against the infected.

Edited December 11, 2009 by Charon Productions

[bddizzle 10]

The thoughts brought across by Dissaifer have found the need for consideration in a similar form during the course of testing the module with an actual mission with the plot of containing the infection.

The migration of the infected works nearly perfectly, but the towns are basically empty many times when the player`s presence does not coincide with the event that a group of infected just arrived to infect the town civilians.

So a system is implemented to declare a location "infected" and just like in the ALICE module, it will be populated with infected that don`t follow the migration system once the player enters the town area.

Only if the location is completely cleared of infected the location will be declared "infection-free", so no more infected will be spawned there.

That way, missions will be much more dynamic and the objective for players is to "clear" towns rather than only chasing the migrants, which is important to actually win against the infected.

Will that mean that the infection clear towns can be re-infected? And will civilians spawn their once it is cleared?

If that is the case, I cannot wait for this mod to come out! Just Imagine, You "liberate" a town from the infected and garrison some of your soldiers there to protect it. While on the other side of the map, you hear your garrison unit say "Enemy Infected 100 meters away!" **Guns Shots and yelling citizens** "Im Hit". When you radio back to ask their status, you get no reply :butbut:

"Shit, 4 is down" lol

Ohh, and will you make it so that some sort of police force will spawn with the Civilian? Not too many, but 1 for every 15 citizens? There needs to be some (small) number of civilians with guns. It would make it seem a lot cooler to drive into a town and run into a policemen who is fighting off a horde, only to see him get overrun and turned into one of the living dead :D

Edited December 11, 2009 by bddizzle