DayZ gets terrifying new zombie AI

DayZ‘s zombies leave something to be desired. There’s no way around that fact. Their hitboxes are unfair, they can sometimes go through walls, and they seem to have the uncanny ability to always know where you are after they’re aggroed. But developer Bohemia Interactive has recently revealed a big change to DayZ‘s zombies, one that will not only take stealth into consideration, but also make zombies work together in the pursuit of players.

Bohemia’s Peter Nespesny recently uploaded a video showing DayZ‘s work in progress horde mentality that occurs when players alert a group of zombies. The video shows off a larger than average number of zombies aggroed to a player, moving together as a unit rather than independent NPCs. It’s pretty great stuff, and I can’t wait until it’s implemented.

In the meantime, Bohemia has just pushed an experimental update to Steam that features the initial implementation of the new zombie AI. While hordes like in the video are not yet possible, zombies will now react to sound and the visibility of players (player stance matters).

Additional changes in the experimental update include new animations, more animals per server, and adjustments to the loot system.

For the full rundown of what’s new and headed to DayZ‘s stable branch in the future, check the source.

[Source]