I thought about the game some more, and I am no longer happy with my settings, 200% zombies who never run. This is gonna be a lot of text, so... my problem is, I don't like the design decision that light level somehow affects zombie walk/run-speed. Also, the game is much, MUCH to easy with vanilla settings. My solution *should* fix both of these, but if you don't have a problem with ether of that, you can skip this post. No need to waste anybodys time :D
My overall problem
I like consistent, somewhat predictable behaviour. If I see a zombie and have to play a meta-game of guessing the light level to decide my approach, it somewhat takes me out of the game, kinda like FlowerChild said a few posts back about mining with the "smooth" voxels makes him think about the underlying systems *more* instead of less, thus breaking immersion. Plus, it enables and in fact encourages exploity behaviour like brightly lit "killboxes" or choke points to slow down zombies at night for easy killing.
My "solution" up until now
Me and my friends played almost exclusively with zombies set to "never run". This gave me the desired consistency, but the game gets easier that way, there is no doubt about that. Even if I try to offset that by setting the game to feral zombies, 200% amount of zombies and 50 percent loot abundancy. You are still pretty much fucked if you notice a horde too late, but all in all, its easier than the vanilla settings, at least if you pay attention to your surroundings.
Problems with this solution
- Booooring after about a week, eg. no challenge left
- Crossbow OP nerf plz kthxbai
- Looting buildings with Zombies in them is too easy
- Kiting with stone axe or other melee weapons is too easy
--> Best-In-Slot items are accessible after a few minutes of play, at the very least before the first night. It doesn't get harder than this over time (alpha, I hope that changes in the upcoming versions, I have high hopes for this game)
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My NEW solution, or: "Sir, you are being hunted!"
(not tested yet, in theory only. Also, no relation to "Sir, you are being hunted")
What if:
- 50%-75% loot abundancy (thats a sure thing)
- no loot respawn (thats also a given)
- 100% zombies (subject to testing)
- feral (subject to testing)
- 50% enemy health (subject to testing)
- 50% enemy damage (subject to testing)
- ZOMBIES ALWAYS RUN (what *hopefully* makes these settings work)
Why should this be *better* than vanilla and *better* than my previous settings?
- Zombies are constantly terrifying
If you are not careful, even a single zombie gets one or two hits on you. You'll live throu it a few times, but you'll learn pretty fast that
- Sneaking is more useful
Zombies unaware of your presence are still slow moving and you *should* be able to pick them off with the crossbow, therefore
- The crossbow is a necessity
It will still be OP while you are not spotted, but without it, you don't stand a chance, so it is justified. If you get spotted, you are fucked regardless. And because of the slow reloading, the crossbow is pretty much useless if there are more than a few zombies aware of you, wich means that
- Hordes are really menacing
like, really really bad... no longer a minor nuisance at day, but a reason to bolt it, as far as possible. If you do get spotted by a horde, don't you wish there would be a way to deal damage very fast? Wich takes me to
- Guns are finally useful
mow them down. Guns are pretty much useless in the base game, with the exception of a horde in the night. With these settings however, if you carelessly aggro a horde, you better carry a firearm, or you're toast. Be ready for the stray zombies who might've heard you making a racket... And, last but not least
- Rebalanced risk/reward for Airdrops
They do feel kind of strange in the base game, but on these settings, at least in my theory, they work really well, or at least better than before. Since you have to make a split-second decision once you hear the plane, leaving behind everything you are doing at the moment, to run quite a bit to get to the package without losing sight of it, the conga-line of zombies you would pick up on the way would make you think twice about doing that the next time -> much better risk/reward-ratio. Conga - Conga - Co-Nga!
Conclusion
This should, while maintaining my philosophy that consistent enemy behaviour is better, provide a much better challenge than my "never run"-settings, while also solving a few balance problems of the game (sneaking is underused/not necessary, crossbow OP, no real challenge once you get a few basic items, useless guns... seriously, who even bothered with making ammonition up until now? Save for trying it once?)
Fixed settings:
- 50% loot abundancy
- Airdrops every 36-48 hours
- No loot respawn
- Zombies always run
Settings to test:
- Enemy health and damage modifier, so that not every slip-up leads to death, but does let you know that you fucked up. (IMHO, squishy, rotting, smelly zombies should not take more than one blow to the head with a stone axe, but I have to see how it plays before deciding. I'll try it with 50%/50%, because I think many smaller hits due to quicker zombies will lead to other problems, especially more bleeding and more infections, therefore not being "too easy" even with low enemy health and damage modifier)
- Feral, yes or no? (First test will be yes. If it's too hard that way, this is the best setting for a quick nerf of the zombies)
- Maybe 150% or even 200% zombie count to offset reduced enemy health and damage? (first test with 100% and I'll take it from there)
Things to test:
- I will test my 10 day world with modified settings first, if it's enjoyable, I'll try to start a new world
- Using these settings, if I do die, is it even possible to get going again, or is it too hard?
--> Settings playable from day one? Or maybe evolving zombies? (7 Days on "never run" with no airdrops, then switch config to "always run" with airdrops every 36 or 48 hours. This would give ample preparation time AND, as an added bonus, give the title of the game a whole new meaning.)
All of this is just theory until I test it, which I will do this coming weekend. Critique more than welcome!
There were horses and a guy on fire and I stabbed a guy with a trident.