In this case, thread content = thread topic.
The higher the number the slower they evolve. Normal is 4.00 I like a long slow game so I go with 100 which is max.
Normal zeds will evolve into tough zeds and then brutes and then hulks, or similar evolution lines, not sure exactly.
As far as I remember from the wiki, grenadier zombies become elite grenadier zombies. Going with thekobold’s example, I assume shocker zombies become shocker brutes, but I haven’t played with zombie evolution yet so I have no experience with the subject itself.
I should have included my total lack of knowledge in the OP: the extent of my knowledge about zombie evolution is that “zombies evolve over time”. I’ve never even seen the config screen (I’m presuming on worldgen) where Zombie Evolution was there and had a default value of 4.00, but then again I may have overlooked it because zombies were definitely getting tougher over time in my last game. I mean, if I wasn’t even playing with Zombie Evolution on at all then I’m severely confused because SOMETHING was happening, as I traveled through suburban and urban areas and the seasons changed from spring to summer to fall I noticed a definite increase in the density of brutes and hulks but other specials as well (grabbers in particular).
It’s on by default so you were playing with it. It’s under world settings, it can be turned off.
In 0.C-3782? Weird. Don’t remember seeing that particular widget, must have missed it.
Anyway my main concerns with this were: A) are we looking at an “end state” in zombie evolution where everything is a Hulk or a Brute thereby making being on foot in a populated area for anything but the shortest sprints completely unplayable, and B) how many in-game seasons do these “dark days” (more accurately: days of you are completely fucked) take to arrive on the default settings?
Also do regular Zeds (or for that matter, Zeds with professions, Zombie Cop, Zombie Firefighter, etc.) “evolve” into Grapplers, Grabbers, Spitters, Shockers, Smokers, Acidics, Corrosives) too? Where does the Evolution start? Is every Zombie destined to one day be a Zombie Hulk or do only Tough Zombies have the potential to HULK OUT? I’m filled with questions about this. I should probably get on GitHub and start figuring out some spoilars.
I dunno when they introduced the mechanic. As for in depth details… yea code surfing is the only way to figure out probably.
Jeeze thats an old map.
A regular zombie can evolve into almost anything (except the “profession” kinds), but what they get first limits their further choices.
acidic → spitter → corrosive
fat → those green gassy ones that explode (name escapes me all of a sudden)
boomer → huge boomer
shocker → shocker brute
brute → hulk
feral runner → feral hunter → feral predator
grabber → grappler
Probably some others I’m not thinking of. Also, there’s the necromancer and the master, which are both rare direct evolves from the normal (IIRC). The master insta-evolves another zombie near him every so often, so having one of those around makes things get nasty fast.
Oh, and child zombies have their own little “mini-me” versions of several main types to evolve into - a screaming one, a boomer-type, etc.
I’m not sure, but my own observations suggest regular zombies become tough, then they end up turning into a number of other things. They may just expand to brute-hulk, or maybe spitter-acidic, feral-hunter-predator, etc etc. Even child zombies have evolution chains that mimic common regular zombie types.
It’s default seems to fast, a regular city will be straight up backed with brutes and hulks by fall/winter your first year. Zombie masters are the most dangerous type, as they instantly evolve zombies into stronger and then special types, apparently at whim with no real cooldown. You should take risks and spend resources to kill zombie masters immediately every time you see them, as having one next to a big source of noise is going to result in a horde of uber-powered zombies that you’ll need kill with vehicles and better weapons, or avoid entirely.
The master insta-evolves another zombie near him every so often, so having one of those around makes things get nasty fast.
I’ve seen this happen recently, although my instinct has been to eliminate zombie masters for two plus years on the basis of their name alone!
Generally, I find necromancers far more annoying than the masters. Sometimes five of them are with a horde, often at the back where it’s harder to tear through the zombies to reach them, or there’s just too many around to get a good shot in. You either have to shoot at them all fast enough before one of them revives another, or melee them and smash the corpse while other zombies try to attack you.
Even worse if you’re fighting in a city, as necromancers often enjoy reviving zombies while hiding in a building, or in general just past the light radius when it’s dark. Things can get quite problematic if you just killed like five of them without smashing the corpses and you realize there’s two more hanging out in a place you can’t spot and they revive the other necros and you have to start all over again.
[quote=“Azrad, post:11, topic:14075”]Generally, I find necromancers far more annoying than the masters. Sometimes five of them are with a horde, often at the back where it’s harder to tear through the zombies to reach them, or there’s just too many around to get a good shot in. You either have to shoot at them all fast enough before one of them revives another, or melee them and smash the corpse while other zombies try to attack you.
Even worse if you’re fighting in a city, as necromancers often enjoy reviving zombies while hiding in a building, or in general just past the light radius when it’s dark. Things can get quite problematic if you just killed like five of them without smashing the corpses and you realize there’s two more hanging out in a place you can’t spot and they revive the other necros and you have to start all over again.[/quote]
Necromancers can only revive so many HP worth of zombies in a given time period - I don’t know the exact limit, but they get depleted eventually, and it takes them a while to be ready again.
The way I deal with it in the day time is to pull small groups away, deal with them beyond the range of the necros, and come back for more.
At night, I do something similar, but it’s hard to draw groups long distances, so I get a small group to attack me, then I use advanced inventory to pull the corpses into my own square each time I get a kill. When I get a moment, I smash them all, then I draw another group, but to a slightly different spot (so “my square” doesn’t get too full of corpses). 5+ necros in the area really doesn’t cause any problems with this method… as long as you pull hulks/brutes father away and deal with them separately. Grapplers can also disrupt things a bit.
I thought zombie evolution was just an increase in damage and HP. I once made a Very Bad Day character with high martial arts skill and he effortlessly destroyed all zombies in his starting town, but a few months later when he fixed a car and went to the next town he got his ass kicked by a handful of common zeds.
[quote=“deoxy, post:12, topic:14075”]Necromancers can only revive so many HP worth of zombies in a given time period - I don’t know the exact limit, but they get depleted eventually, and it takes them a while to be ready again.
The way I deal with it in the day time is to pull small groups away, deal with them beyond the range of the necros, and come back for more.
At night, I do something similar, but it’s hard to draw groups long distances, so I get a small group to attack me, then I use advanced inventory to pull the corpses into my own square each time I get a kill. When I get a moment, I smash them all, then I draw another group, but to a slightly different spot (so “my square” doesn’t get too full of corpses). 5+ necros in the area really doesn’t cause any problems with this method… as long as you pull hulks/brutes father away and deal with them separately. Grapplers can also disrupt things a bit.[/quote]
Recently I just try to kill everything to the point where the necros can’t keep up with reviving. Takes some extra ammo to do so for guns, but at this point I got bullets to spare.
That said, earlier on I did the same tactic of luring the crowd out away from the necromancer.
Perhaps you’re more encumbered than usual? Or you’re surrounded by zombies? Since zombies can grab survivors if they’re next to each other, and the grabbed status stack which severely slows down survivors.
So what would be a rough formula for the value in worldgen? If I want the evolution to run its full course in X seasons, what do I enter?
Also, does the evolution apply to future spawns or only Zs already on the map?
My understanding is that there is an evolution tree that includes the possibility of backwards evolution, and that there were “dead-end” branches. I remember reading a changes post that noted that the dev making the statement had done so.
Which implies that zombies evolve seperately from one another and that even at endgame you are not likely to have ALL brutes and such, but the further (time) you progress the more the hordes will lean to greater concentrations of more evolved zombies. I believe it is all managed by percent values, though exactly what they are and where I do not know.
One thing I’ve noticed is that is basically seems to eliminate acidic zombies and feral runners as time goes by. Sometimes, I’d spot a normal zombie, or a fat one, or a standard boomer. Not those two; it’s either spitters or corrosives, or feral hunters or predators.
Agreed - feral runners, acidic zombies, and “normal” zombies all get phenomenally rare (makes the “lets kill 100 normal zombies” quest a HUGE pain).
As to evolution, it affects new area generation and old areas that you return to, but not zombies currently in the reality bubble (at least, from what I’ve seen).
Was rather amazed that my survivor ran into an acidic zombie just a couple of hours after posting my previous post. In hindsight, perhaps I should have turned that one into a zlave for collection purposes.
Anyway, they really should change that quest into kill 100 zombies of any kind. Hell, changing it from zombie to tough zombie would be manageable. Finding a plain vanilla zombie several hundred days after game start is a pain, and you gotta find 100 of them.
And, with regards to evolution within the reality bubble… not sure on this one, but I could’ve sworn that I’ve seen a zombie die then get revived into a different type.
[quote=“Azrad, post:19, topic:14075”]Was rather amazed that my survivor ran into an acidic zombie just a couple of hours after posting my previous post. In hindsight, perhaps I should have turned that one into a zlave for collection purposes.
Anyway, they really should change that quest into kill 100 zombies of any kind. Hell, changing it from zombie to tough zombie would be manageable. Finding a plain vanilla zombie several hundred days after game start is a pain, and you gotta find 100 of them.
And, with regards to evolution within the reality bubble… not sure on this one, but I could’ve sworn that I’ve seen a zombie die then get revived into a different type.[/quote]
When I first put it in, it just chose a more advanced zombie group to spawn in as time progressed, and zombies that you didn’t kill got upgraded based on the ‘master zombie’ upgrade path. The system since then has gone through several iterations since then.
The idea at the time was the make the beginning of the game more manageable, and allow developers to put harder zombies and creatures in later, when the player is better equipped to handle them