So we merged Reaper’s prototype, it’s good code, the overall behavior has good points and bad points, we can definitely work with it though.
The good:
Attracts groups of zombies to your location through noise
They take time to arrive
With resources (mostly a vehicle) you could likely lead them away from somewhere and lose them.
The bad:
It uses dynamic spawn, so once you get in range, they start popping up all around you, the exact effect we like to avoid.
It’s particularly bad if you’re doing something super noisy when they arrive, like explosives or heavy firearm use.
It’s hard to tell where the “horde” is coming from since it uses the dynamic spawn “plunk them in the direction you’re moving” mechanic.
Once members of the horde spawn, it looks like they become static, so if you just keep running away you’ll leave a trail of zombies behind you, but they will stop chasing you.
Pretty much all of the down sides can be addressed by making static zombies form into hordes when they move off the active area, that way all the zombies can migrate around. The core of Reaper’s code is going to stick around, and it gives us a great starting place.
