Found in: Experimental build #5265
Version: SDL/Tiles
OS: Windows 7
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[ul][li] Zombies seem to be attracted to fire and noise through the ceiling/floor.
[spoiler=Examples]
Example #1: I set camp in a survivor basement and started a fire so I could cook, craft and read my books. Within minutes the whole upper area of the building was swarmed with zombies, constantly making noise interrupting crafting, reading, and the worst of them all - sleeping. The street was sprinkled with zombies I never disturbed earlier, which now all seemed to be provoked by me starting a fire underground. Moreover, zombies directly above me (within 0-2 tiles) seem to also be able to follow my footsteps, since steps make sound too (6). That means when I wanted to go to bed, they follow me right to my bedroom and mase noise above that area too, making it impossible to sleep inside the shelter. This has happened (and still happening) for days, forcing me to either go out and clear the area or sleep somewhere else that isn’t home. Clearing the area, then not starting a fire after it got dark seemed to “magically” solve the issue, but it feels unfair to do everything right - keep to myself and stick to traditional means of survival - yet still get screwed over by some unknown and unexplained reason.
Example #2: I knew the house I was going to loot had zombies in its basement. I entered through the window and right into a dark corner of the room. I moved through the dark hallway and into another dark room, all this without hearing a single sounds from below. As soon as I stepped into a lit square, the zombies below started moving and making noise, as if they were now suddenly able to see me. From then on the source of noise followed me throughout the house, like the zombies either saw me or heard me through the basement ceiling or the house floor. I was actually able to catch a glimpse of them myself, through the floor, which brings me to the next bug;[/spoiler][/li][/ul]
[ul][li] Ability to see zombies from a different Z-Level (underground).
This bug is tied into the previous one, in the sense that zombies seem to be able to see you through the ceiling/floor - while you can also see them. When you go down a level you are still able to see all the zombies on the surface, meaning that they still show up in your UI, safemode still notifies you about them, and you are able to know their position using the (V) menu. If you do use the (V) menu, though, the cursor focuses on empty space, supposedly where the zombie on the surface is, and the list gets “refreshed” removing all the no-longer-seen monsters from it. Still, if you’re close enough to their position on the surface, these zombies WILL see you (yellow exclamation mark [!] beside their names), and follow your position from then on until dealt with. This is evident by the noise they make following you.[/li][/ul]
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I apologize if this is a known bug or if it has already been reported. While I realize Z-Levels are indeed experimental, they’ve been around for long enough for me to hope such bugs wouldn’t be a problem anymore. It really screws with immersion and feels outright unfair (not in the usual, !!FUN!! way) at times, as seen from the examples I posted. I never noticed this behavior up until now. I play with hordes (wander spawns on), which is why this is such a big issue for me.