why is the SCREAMER WOMAN so unbalanced?

[PoppaSmirk]

23 minutes ago, meganoth said:

 

If you are all away from your base all zombies will despawn. You don't need someone stay home, it is even detrimental as it is his presence that makes them spawn.

 

 AFAIK the screamers you see at your base when you come back were spawned because the heat reached 100% a long time ago and it only resets once you come back and the area gets loaded.

 

The best defense against the normal screamers are spike traps around the house or in your case around the walls of the house. If they don't see any of you they will simply walk into the traps and get killed because they don't have many hitpoints.

 

Thats a mighty fine theory but did it somehow slip the thought process that One or more of us returned to our Base POI  around Day 16 or 17 and that the Screamer and Zeds had broken through the wall section where the estate has a 4 block high fence and they were up at the main building thumping on the glass , walls and the exterior deco?  All of that didn't happen just as we rode up on our minibikes,  it takes some time to go through two doubled sections of cobblestone fence sections (4 blocks at 1500 hp a block )  We even had a deer within the grounds of the Estate/Base that came in through the hole the zeds made.  A day or so later another of our group found basically the same thing,  Same area of fencing,  but they broke through a few spaces/blocks away from the first 'invasion'.  After it happened a third time,  We started leaving someone at the Base,  and that was also when we set up the cement mixer and upgraded the blocks first on that section. 

[Sandman]

we dent so lot of quest however   we did lot of auger work, and it would draw   3-5 screamers at a time usually. 1-2 normal    2-3 radiated ones 

 

we have game set to hard. ( keep trolls out  bad things also noobs) 

 

I will note we have 15 dew collectors going too so that also may be the draw 

 

we are fine with it though 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Sandman (see edit history)

[meganoth]

4 hours ago, PoppaSmirk said:

Thats a mighty fine theory but did it somehow slip the thought process that One or more of us returned to our Base POI  around Day 16 or 17 and that the Screamer and Zeds had broken through the wall section where the estate has a 4 block high fence and they were up at the main building thumping on the glass , walls and the exterior deco?  All of that didn't happen just as we rode up on our minibikes,  it takes some time to go through two doubled sections of cobblestone fence sections (4 blocks at 1500 hp a block )  We even had a deer within the grounds of the Estate/Base that came in through the hole the zeds made.  A day or so later another of our group found basically the same thing,  Same area of fencing,  but they broke through a few spaces/blocks away from the first 'invasion'.  After it happened a third time,  We started leaving someone at the Base,  and that was also when we set up the cement mixer and upgraded the blocks first on that section. 

 

What I told you are the facts: In a chunk that isn't loaded there are no zombies and a screamer only spawns zombies if it has actually seen the player.

 

How that fits with what you were experiencing I can't say without actually knowing all details. You probably don't either because you just heard the condensed version from that other player.

Maybe the guy stopped in the neighborhood and harvested the farm or cut a few trees before actually going round the house and noticing them. Maybe he didn't see them but was seen by the screamer, went inside and only then heard the ruckus outside. A fence hasn't much HP, as soon as the screamer has summoned a few zombies that shouldn't be much of a defense.

 

As I said, spike traps are one way to deal with screamers. Though when the screamer already has seen you and spawned helpers you should intervene because the traps don't help as well against a group of "bigger" zombies.

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by meganoth (see edit history)

[fragtzack]

OP:

 

 Sounds like game is working as intended. 

[hiemfire]

1 hour ago, meganoth said:

a screamer only spawns zombies if it has actually seen the player.

From what I saw in vids from A20 the screamer doesn't just call in her horde when she sees the player but also after a couple minutes wandering around trying to get to the "heat" source.

 

1 hour ago, meganoth said:

In a chunk that isn't loaded there are no zombies

 

The chunk a player's base is in isn't guaranteed to be unloaded while questing/looting, I forget the total distance needed to be away from a location to unload it, but it is farther than you seem to think.

[RipClaw]

1 hour ago, meganoth said:

What I told you are the facts: In a chunk that isn't loaded there are no zombies and a screamer only spawns zombies if it has actually seen the player.

That's how it should be, but I've also had screamers spawn zombies when they shouldn't have seen me. But apparently the line of sight thing is sometimes a bit buggy. Also, she doesn't always scream but still spawns zombies.

[theFlu]

2 minutes ago, hiemfire said:

when she sees the player but also after a couple minutes wandering around trying to get to the "heat" source.

Hmm, made me think if they might agro to animals under some conditions.

[PoppaSmirk]

2 hours ago, meganoth said:

 

What I told you are the facts: In a chunk that isn't loaded there are no zombies and a screamer only spawns zombies if it has actually seen the player.

 

How that fits with what you were experiencing I can't say without actually knowing all details. You probably don't either because you just heard the condensed version from that other player.

Maybe the guy stopped in the neighborhood and harvested the farm or cut a few trees before actually going round the house and noticing them. Maybe he didn't see them but was seen by the screamer, went inside and only then heard the ruckus outside. A fence hasn't much HP, as soon as the screamer has summoned a few zombies that shouldn't be much of a defense.

 

As I said, spike traps are one way to deal with screamers. Though when the screamer already has seen you and spawned helpers you should intervene because the traps don't help as well against a group of "bigger" zombies.

 

 

Now, I'm not aiming to be confrontational,  I simply related an experience that Myself and two other players have gone through over the past six calendar days.  That covered three play sessions, with all of Us in a Voice Chat together.   You make a fair amount of hypothesizing on possible ways that things 'could' have gone down.  Plus I am sure that you feel you are relating facts;  but bottom line is;  Facts are only called facts until they are dis-proven.  Whether by design or bug, Our little Group has seen a sharp rise in the amount of screamers coming directly to our Base location, both when We are there and when we are not in close proximity.  Please remember that I stated We are in Voice chat,  so on at least two of the 'screamer and zed invasions',  I heard the Member of our Group as they opened the front gate....rode minibike in,  then exclaimed "No %F@&I#G Way,  We Got A Screamer!  I hear it around the back side,  going there now.  Oh &%#@ theres like 4 or 5 of them here  (sounds of gunfire).  I got 'em but they almost broke through the glass door here on lower level, and man you are going to be @%$#ed at what they did to your planters" ....."How did they get in?"....  "I dunno man, let Me take a look. (pause)  %$#* they broke through the wall,  the fence side to the East.  They broke through two sections and came right in"

 

On the third occasion of a screamer visit while our group was away,  I saw almost the same scenario as I returned with another Group Member after scavenging in a nearby township that was 1.7 km away from Our base location; with the exception that they broke in and 3 zeds were close to the Main House stupidly flailing at the walls, while the screamer was still down by the Fence/Wall area...chirp-screeching as she attacked the fence from the inside,  6-8 blocks length away from the NEW hole they had put into Our Fence/Wall.  I know from experience how long it can take a few zeds to pummel a wall section if they are dedicated to it, just as I know that Myself and My other Group Member rode in together staying within 30 meters from each other with Myself in the lead as I raced to get back before 22:00.  The third member of Our intrepid ensemble was more than 3 km away and was staying the night on top of a Carport outside an Office building.  They had been gone from the base at least 6 game hours,  I remember because they stayed in the local area to fetch an airdrop then went back to base to empty before taking off to scout/scavenge another town locale. So EVERYONE was away from the base between approx 13:30 and 21:40 hours game time.  To Me, that seems to go against your facts that the zombies would de-spawn or would only spawn once We returned.  There simply wasn't enough time as We rode up, for a screamer and multiple zeds to spawn in,  break through two DOUBLED wall and Fence sections, cross the yard and start damaging the Main building, before I ran up to visually see them.   I heard the screamers "harashh" sound effect as I opened the front gates and ran to the side of the Base immediately.  So that action taking MAYBE 12 seconds at most.  I am also the one most concerned with maintenance, so I know how  much repairs I had to use to "fix' things back up after I dispatched the screamer and the zeds.  They did not, in My opinion "just spawn in" as We rode up.

 

This is just an experience We have had.  Those events were the motivation for Our group to leave someone at base to watcb things while the other two go scavenging.  Now that the entire side that has the fence is fully upgraded to cement,  We aren't so concerned anymore with THIS situation.  But it did happen.

[bloodmoth13]

Screamers are weird this patch, Ive seen about 3 instances of them, first 2 I killed before a scream went off, last instance was a t4 and the @%$# didn't shut up, summoned wave after wave and when I finally killed her found 2 more I needed to kill.

Jumped on roof of a building (parkour op) and blew all my ammo barely making a dent in the horde, it was like a zombie movie it was great

Was down to bow and arrow  in my agi build, ran out and tried kiting them through a minefield and they all went dormant thanks to the stealth perk, snuck around and stealth killed them all.

Was fun but I've never had that happen before it was like a horde night on a random day

[NekoPawtato]

11 hours ago, RipClaw said:

That's how it should be, but I've also had screamers spawn zombies when they shouldn't have seen me. But apparently the line of sight thing is sometimes a bit buggy. Also, she doesn't always scream but still spawns zombies.

Can confirm, I stood inside a steel box with AI tasks on, when the screamer's "investigate" timer hit 0 she went from "ApproachSpot" to "Look" then quickly switched to "ApproachAndAttackTarget" because it "saw" me. And then proceeded to call in some friends without screaming

https://i.imgur.com/iFI3fhg.mp4

Edited July 2, 2023 by NekoPawtato (see edit history)

[RipClaw]

2 hours ago, bloodmoth13 said:

Was fun but I've never had that happen before it was like a horde night on a random day

The difference to a horde is that you have no limit how many zombies spawn. Then the game becomes a slide show.
 

[bloodmoth13]

20 minutes ago, RipClaw said:

The difference to a horde is that you have no limit how many zombies spawn. Then the game becomes a slide show.
 

Yeah actually it was far more intense and I wasn't prepared.

I had Stax of ammunition filling my bags so I dumped it all at my base thinking I'd make my ammo back since that was normal and ho boy. Can screamers call screamers? There were dozens of them

[RipClaw]

5 minutes ago, bloodmoth13 said:

Can screamers call screamers? There were dozens of them

Yes, on high gamestages can screamer call more screamer. Even feral and radioactive versions of a screamer.

[AtomicUs5000]

11 hours ago, PoppaSmirk said:There simply wasn't enough time as We rode up, for a screamer and multiple zeds to spawn in…

They did not, in My opinion "just spawn in" as We rode up.

I’m uncertain if it is still a possibility these days, but a few alphas ago, this would happen to me. It turned out that it wasn’t screamers spawning as I was arriving back at my base, they were spawning near my base just as I was leaving and I just didn’t see them. 

[Old Crow]

13 hours ago, PoppaSmirk said:

Now, I'm not aiming to be confrontational, 

 

 

You may not be, but the moderator is.

[meganoth]

14 hours ago, PoppaSmirk said:

Now, I'm not aiming to be confrontational,  I simply related an experience that Myself and two other players have gone through over the past six calendar days.  That covered three play sessions, with all of Us in a Voice Chat together.   You make a fair amount of hypothesizing on possible ways that things 'could' have gone down.  Plus I am sure that you feel you are relating facts;  but bottom line is;  Facts are only called facts until they are dis-proven.  Whether by design or bug, Our little Group has seen a sharp rise in the amount of screamers coming directly to our Base location, both when We are there and when we are not in close proximity.  Please remember that I stated We are in Voice chat,  so on at least two of the 'screamer and zed invasions',  I heard the Member of our Group as they opened the front gate....rode minibike in,  then exclaimed "No %F@&I#G Way,  We Got A Screamer!  I hear it around the back side,  going there now.  Oh &%#@ theres like 4 or 5 of them here  (sounds of gunfire).  I got 'em but they almost broke through the glass door here on lower level, and man you are going to be @%$#ed at what they did to your planters" ....."How did they get in?"....  "I dunno man, let Me take a look. (pause)  %$#* they broke through the wall,  the fence side to the East.  They broke through two sections and came right in"

 

On the third occasion of a screamer visit while our group was away,  I saw almost the same scenario as I returned with another Group Member after scavenging in a nearby township that was 1.7 km away from Our base location; with the exception that they broke in and 3 zeds were close to the Main House stupidly flailing at the walls, while the screamer was still down by the Fence/Wall area...chirp-screeching as she attacked the fence from the inside,  6-8 blocks length away from the NEW hole they had put into Our Fence/Wall.  I know from experience how long it can take a few zeds to pummel a wall section if they are dedicated to it, just as I know that Myself and My other Group Member rode in together staying within 30 meters from each other with Myself in the lead as I raced to get back before 22:00.  The third member of Our intrepid ensemble was more than 3 km away and was staying the night on top of a Carport outside an Office building.  They had been gone from the base at least 6 game hours,  I remember because they stayed in the local area to fetch an airdrop then went back to base to empty before taking off to scout/scavenge another town locale. So EVERYONE was away from the base between approx 13:30 and 21:40 hours game time.  To Me, that seems to go against your facts that the zombies would de-spawn or would only spawn once We returned.  There simply wasn't enough time as We rode up, for a screamer and multiple zeds to spawn in,  break through two DOUBLED wall and Fence sections, cross the yard and start damaging the Main building, before I ran up to visually see them.   I heard the screamers "harashh" sound effect as I opened the front gates and ran to the side of the Base immediately.  So that action taking MAYBE 12 seconds at most.  I am also the one most concerned with maintenance, so I know how  much repairs I had to use to "fix' things back up after I dispatched the screamer and the zeds.  They did not, in My opinion "just spawn in" as We rode up.

 

This is just an experience We have had.  Those events were the motivation for Our group to leave someone at base to watcb things while the other two go scavenging.  Now that the entire side that has the fence is fully upgraded to cement,  We aren't so concerned anymore with THIS situation.  But it did happen.

 

Ok, I agree, that is not fitting with the "facts", so that I have to write them in quotation marks from now on. 😉

 

Bugs are certainly possible, also I don't know if there aren't other effects I don't know about. Thanks for all the details.

 

Do some of you have drones already?

 

[playlessNamer]

Funtweak:

-increase max zombies alive to the limit of your machine 250+ recommended

-go to xml

-increase screamer spawn

-add screamers to several zombie groups

-put screamer with 0,05 probalility into screamer horde group

-competition done

 

I suggest increase all ammodrops and recipes x5.

Will be the first time you see a really uncontrollable horde of zombies.

 

[mrflippy]

7 hours ago, NekoPawtato said:

Can confirm, I stood inside a steel box with AI tasks on, when the screamer's "investigate" timer hit 0 she went from "ApproachSpot" to "Look" then quickly switched to "ApproachAndAttackTarget" because it "saw" me. And then proceeded to call in some friends without screaming

https://i.imgur.com/iFI3fhg.mp4

I didn't test it like this, but I've had multiple instances of a screamer starting to scream while I'm still completely inside my base with no line of sight.

[Ramethzer0]

On 6/28/2023 at 3:16 PM, 7daysOfFun said:

when im at home NO screamer

when im in the city no screamer

when i get Quest 1-3 no screamer

when i get a quest lvl4 or higher , EVERY 30sek since start of quest a get a screamer

when i make a lvl4 house an get 2 the second floor  down at the door are 5 screamers + 50zombies = impossible to make the quest

 

why its so unbalanced?

 

Because you're not quantifying the correct criteria, so of course would seem unbalanced as a result.