Zombie types and possible improvements?

[Nexian]

It would be nice to do two main things with zombies to improve the game:

 

1. Add more modifiers that make zombies harder over time.

By this I mean that right now a zombie can be Irradiated or Feral. But more common attributes could be added to zombies that become more common as the game goes on.

 

- Climbing -

Gives a zombie the ability to climb. This would likely be restricted to the less hefty zombies, but I imagine adding a climbing animation for them would be fine. Maybe an animation for attacking, so they could climb up and attack windows or weak points. This would allow zombies to become more of an issue as the game goes on with more variation than just the spider zombie. You can't tell a zombie is a climber until it actually climbs.

 

- Silent -

These zombies make no noise until they actually attack. This sometimes happens by chance, but it would be nice as a trait. They try not to break anything and have silent footsteps and no growling. If they attack you first they get a damage bonus. Maybe they can be identified by having a crouched gait or bright, light blue eyes.

 

- Jumpers -

These zombies can jump long distances (another trait of the spider zombie). They can use it to attack or to get across large gaps. Again, you don't know until they do it.

 

- Chargers -

These zombies charge you on seeing you. Maybe they have a wind-up and sprint, but don't change direction, so you can dodge. If it hits you take more damage and stun? You know these ones as they cry out and do the wind-up when about to charge. This attack is generally an opener. It's possible they may also charge doors or walls.

 

 

2. We need more dumb zombies. Not the level of "dumb" we have currently.

The main zombies focus doors, avoid spikes and path right to you. I am on about low CPU heavy zombies. They won't try any direct pathfinding until quite close, instead just moving towards you in a straight line. They are too dumb to ignore pits and spikes, they don't care about doors or walls and attack whatever is in the way unless there's a very obvious way around it.

 

I suggest these because they'd be pretty low maintenance on servers. The idea is you can spawn a lot more of these and they won't take up processing time on pathing. These are the dumb horde zombies that simply want to surround you and eat you. Having these can create large hordes that pose less of a threat than a smarter horde, but can cause a lot of havoc if they reach you. I imagine they'd be worth less xp and generally spawn as a group, ideally using a group AI (so multiple zombies follow the same path, commands, etc) The entire idea here is larger numbers, but dumber. You might find these as random hordes in the world, roaming city streets, spawned by a screamer or, as a group, sleeping in more open areas like underground car parks or caves.