Combat initiation

[Kordanor]

Does this game have one of the most stupid combat initiations or do I miss something?

Currently the most dangerous zombies are the ones which are facing a wall.
Why? because attacking zombies which are not looking at you is dangerous.

Zombie faces a wall:
-You need to press space manually if you are about 4 tiles away. This means that you need to invest 3 AP or more to run to the zombie to hit him in melee. So normally you can only attack once
-If you get too close, the zombie will likely have the first turn, run to you and hit you
-if you didn't activate to move each party member on his own, and have party movement instead, your party is so spread out, that likely 2 or 3 (out of 4) won't even be in a range to attack with melee
-if you shoot him on range you attrackt more zombies. At least until you find silent weapons
-if you don't actually engage into combat with your character you entered turn based mode with, the game just switches back to real time mode

So all in all, there is no good way to take out zombies without risk if they are facing a wall if I don't miss anything.
In contrast to:

Zombie faces open field:
Tactic-> Just far away from zombie, approac zombie from his view, Zombie starts turn, runs towards you, the next turn you use to position perfectly 6-7 tiles away like:
XZX
....
XXX
HDH
XHX
X= empty
H= Human
Z= Zombie
D= Zombie destination
Zombie now runs into your group, all group members can use all their AP to attack. Zombie has no chance of surviving, does no damage.

So...am I missing something or is approaching a zombies from behind indeed far more dangerous than encountering it up front?

[LoveTruffle]

All the combat changes and new bugs did was put a large gap between the good parts of the game. The combat was dated to begin with but it was an acceptable time filler between enjoyable character and story interactions. Once Reanimated hit combat became a boring grind that killed the pace of the game. Its a harsh opinion for a game that I really want to enjoy and hopefully it can be taken as constructive for your next project, whatever that may be.

[Kordanor]

@SunwardMold: I think the current implementation could not be further away from what you apparently intended for the zombies.

Right now the zombies are not dangerous at all and just loot pinjatas (except the ones facing a wall as long as you don't want to use a gun or shoot with a bow).
If you use a gun (dependent on the level) and kill it, combat ends, it will stutter once, and combat is reinitiated in the next "screen" where you are completely surrounded without you able to do anything as the engine has a hard time to handle AI in realtime.
There are lots of maps which only consist of zombies standing around. It takes 2-3 hours to clear these maps and they are just not fun. It's 2-3 of pure repetitive grind, killing one zombie after another, completely without threat.
And to counter your example that you could do it with just one character before: You can still do it, as zombies cannot attack if you move 6+ tiles away. So with 10 AP, just attack with up to 4 AP and move away. Zombie comes, attack+move away and so on.
All it does is make the combat a pain in the ass. And even with 4 characters making noise it's basically impossible to attract other zombies with melee weapons. Maybe the noise levels of these melee weapons should have been increased significantly.

In any case: Zones with Zombies are not fun and I would actually call them the weakest point of the game. While zones with human enemies like the Junkyard, Medieval Times or Giddy Up Drugs make the interesting fights of the game.
Even as a strong believer in Turn Based combat, for zombies I would have wished something in Realtime to just get it over with.

[TheOldWolf]

Depending on how many APs you have you can run (from a range of 4) up from behind a zombie and one punch them with a sledge hammer. The alternatives (my toon had 12 AP and the skill that reduces the melee attack cost by -1) is to run in (range of 4 again), smack the zombie in the head with a claw hammer (now at AP2), then run backwards 6 squares to the rest of your party. This pulling technique worked well for me in the beginning of the game as the zombie didn't have enough AP left to attack and the 4 party members would easilly beat them senseless with claw hammers.

Lastly if you screw up counting and are closer then the 6 squares away, use the character swap (2 AP) to PULL your character a square or two back.

Oh, if you are close to your base (your dogs seem to slow you down on the world map becuase of the low survival skill) I found that Lightning and Pepper are really good at pulling due to their high AP. The can also not get infected.

[arconoff]

Sorry guys, don't agree that by alerting zombies you made it more realistic. You just changed the nature of the game.
The game i purchased originally with all of its faults, i loved to the tune of over 100 hours. Reanimated, i have put in less than 2 hours as it is just plain boring now.
Shame.

[KeGeL Trainer]

Arconoff, I could not have said it better myself. Although I recognize the community's concerns that the game was too easy, I can say that I have put nearly 100 enjoyable hours into the alpha release. Since Reanimated, I have dedicated maybe around 5.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but It seems as if it would be a simple addition to create the option of difficulty ratings. I.E: choose to have the zombie AI revamp and impossible morale management enabled or disabled. Heck, I'd be thrilled just to have the ability to play the original Alpha game.

[=MA= Drew]

The only problem I have with combat is how unbelievably slow turns take in zombie zones. It takes a full 20 minutes or so for me to clear even a small portion of one of these zones because of how the game decides to focus in on each zombie, even if they aren't attacking me

[Torres]

Yep, I think it was after the "animation" update that you can't simply attack from behind, the zombie will get his turn first and you'll be ♥♥♥♥♥♥... so you have to carry a bow or crossbow or silenced weapon to doubletap them from behind.

This game needs a stealth mechanic.

[SilverBullet]

AT LEAST THE ZOMBIES DONT MELT INTO THE GRUND LIKE IN FALLOUT NEW VEGAS.

ALSO JUST IGNORE ZOMBIES FACING THE WALL IF YOU DONT WANT TO FIGHT THEM, OR MAKE A NOISE, OR JUST SEND YOUR TANK AT THEM.

[praguepride]

I like the change. It was waaay too easy to just solo-hammer time most of the map. Now I've found it easier to just make a bit of noise and draw the zombies to me...more realistic and challenging I think...

[Alphaone]

is it possible to reuse the arrows?

[CaptainChaos]

I have to agree with the OP. The combat is not only bugged but just plain stupid now. Zombies NOT facing you are SO dangerous. If you shoot them, neighboring zombies literally TELEPORT to your location. You can't run. I had one zombie literally teleport nearly 15 squares when a shot a gun at it and ran. I can't believe these Devs were responsible for some of the best best RPGs of the past. This game is an tragic embarrassment. I want to love it, but it's so needlessly frustrating, especially when you look at XCOM or even Wasteland 2.

[red255]

generally I pop zombies not facing me with the unique crossbow. it generally drops them in one hit and doesn't generate noise.

alternatively I drop a timebomb. pull away and lob a noise maker on the area.

many quickly dead zombies.

But yeah use quiet weapons like crossbows and compound bows.

you can build more arrows/bolts from parts once you have a workshop.

you should only shoot zombies with quiet weapons. no point downing a zombie if the noise brings in more zombies from off the map.