Zombie attack range is too far?

[Earth Spirit]

I started a new game, version 20.6 and well... just like the title. I mean it doesn't make sense at all when my character is holding a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ wooden hammer and i can miss sometime (attack range is too short) and the zombies can attack me from 2 blocks away with their bare **arms**.

[RedHeadFury]

more challenge, game would be way too easy if every weapon had way more range than the zombies

[Shurenai]

Every single weapon in the game, including bare fists, has a longer reach than zombies. Some of them only narrowly beat their reach (like bare fists), but you should always be outranging zombies.

Perhaps you're swinging too early? If you're positive you're not swinging too early to connect, then it could be some kind of desync between the visuals and the mechanics of the game

[Zent]

I've also noticed that sometimes zombies will hit unusually far away, as though their model says they're 2m away but their attack range acts like they're 1m away. Attacking through the future etc. Not sure if you moving + them moving is reading correctly, perhaps their hitrange is moving before they are, or your hitbox is still where you were a quarter second ago, but it's definitely irritating on higher difficulties. I advise avoiding melee unless you're confident with it, and spear's are your friend

[SiEgE]

Originally posted by Earth Spiriz:

I started a new game, version 20.6 and well... just like the title. I mean it doesn't make sense at all when my character is holding a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ wooden hammer and i can miss sometime (attack range is too short) and the zombies can attack me from 2 blocks away with their bare **arms**.

1. Your reach is actually quite big, and for two handed weapons like spears and sledgehammers, your reach is far greater than the zombie's. You're literally able to hit them while they cannot hit you. The main problem is that you are expected to target the exact spots on the zombie's body with your cursor, otherwise, the attack will be counted as a slash blow, which deals around 10-30% of the total possible damage, or misses completely.
2. But, there are cases where zombies will LOOK like they have a greater reach, and that is usually when you're a client of a 7DTD server. Zombies see players slightly "out of sync" with their actual position on the server. Zombies are following not you, but your "past state" they see serverside, that is based on how big your lag/ping is. Basically, if you're fighting zombies, you need to "control your own past state" to not be too close.

[SiEgE]

Originally posted by Zent:

I've also noticed that sometimes zombies will hit unusually far away, as though their model says they're 2m away but their attack range acts like they're 1m away. Attacking through the future etc. Not sure if you moving + them moving is reading correctly, perhaps their hitrange is moving before they are, or your hitbox is still where you were a quarter second ago, but it's definitely irritating on higher difficulties. I advise avoiding melee unless you're confident with it, and spear's are your friend

Are you playing multiplayer? Or singleplayer on your own local server?

[Macdallan]

Originally posted by Shurenai:

Every single weapon in the game, including bare fists, has a longer reach than zombies. Some of them only narrowly beat their reach (like bare fists), but you should always be outranging zombies.

Perhaps you're swinging too early? If you're positive you're not swinging too early to connect, then it could be some kind of desync between the visuals and the mechanics of the game

Yep, once you get the timing and range of your own weapons dialed in you won't get hit very often. Part of the issue is that the weapon attacks and punches don't look like they reach as far as they actually do. You can practice your range against just about anything, try different weapons against a tree or some blocks until you get used to the distances.

You probably aren't missing because the attack range is too short, it's more likely that you are not aiming at them properly. You have to actually aim your swings, especially with weapons like the spear. Make sure the crosshairs are over the zombie. Again, you can practice this on a tree or some blocks to see how far the crosshair can be off target for a hit to still land.

[Mardoin69]

And...if your going by how far away the zombie 'looks' to be........make sure you haven't turned FOV up too much. That's a misleading setting anyway. It doesn't increase your peripheral vision...it just makes everything seem further away so you get a little bit more scenery into your field of view. Too much though and it looks like the zombie is too far away to be able to hit you even though they aren't.

[Earth Spirit]

Originally posted by Mardoin69:

And...if your going by how far away the zombie 'looks' to be........make sure you haven't turned FOV up too much. That's a misleading setting anyway. It doesn't increase your peripheral vision...it just makes everything seem further away so you get a little bit more scenery into your field of view. Too much though and it looks like the zombie is too far away to be able to hit you even though they aren't.

Oh well i think this is the exactly the problem. I increased FOV and it was like zombies had 4 meters arms to attack me.

[Blehh.....]

Originally posted by Mardoin69:

And...if your going by how far away the zombie 'looks' to be........make sure you haven't turned FOV up too much. That's a misleading setting anyway. It doesn't increase your peripheral vision...it just makes everything seem further away so you get a little bit more scenery into your field of view. Too much though and it looks like the zombie is too far away to be able to hit you even though they aren't.

Wrong see screenshots:
https://i.postimg.cc/KvNSL0XV/FOV-50.png
https://i.postimg.cc/mksJ1HmB/FOV-85.png

As you can see there is a significant more viewing area with a higher FOV value. I'd preferably set it at 90 (if V-FOV) or 120 (if H-FOV) but the max is 85.... Interesting to note is that the player hands and SMG doesn't scale with FOV when it should be....

[Midas]

I expect this is less to do with range and more to do with misleading animations. The zombies hit further than they look like they should.

[Vi-El]

Originally posted by Earth Spiriz:

I started a new game, version 20.6 and well... just like the title. I mean it doesn't make sense at all when my character is holding a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ wooden hammer and i can miss sometime (attack range is too short) and the zombies can attack me from 2 blocks away with their bare **arms**.

Out of all the things I give this game ♥♥♥♥ for, this is not one of them.
Granted the system is something you gotta get used to but once you did, its honestly kinda OP with how easy you can kill Zombies with literally any weapon on any difficulty.

[Katitoff]

Originally posted by RedHeadFury:

more challenge, game would be way too easy if every weapon had way more range than the zombies

Too bad zombie animations don't even synch up to attack.
You slap one in the head, it holds it for couple of seconds and you've just got hit from a distance, because it decided to use its stand on you.

[Blue Hasia]

I use a mod to lower there reach.

when on a server zombies get really unfair advantage with there reach and syncing.

[Mardoin69]

Originally posted by I like tasty melons:

Originally posted by Mardoin69:

And...if your going by how far away the zombie 'looks' to be........make sure you haven't turned FOV up too much. That's a misleading setting anyway. It doesn't increase your peripheral vision...it just makes everything seem further away so you get a little bit more scenery into your field of view. Too much though and it looks like the zombie is too far away to be able to hit you even though they aren't.

Wrong see screenshots:
https://i.postimg.cc/KvNSL0XV/FOV-50.png
https://i.postimg.cc/mksJ1HmB/FOV-85.png

As you can see there is a significant more viewing area with a higher FOV value. I'd preferably set it at 90 (if V-FOV) or 120 (if H-FOV) but the max is 85.... Interesting to note is that the player hands and SMG doesn't scale with FOV when it should be....

NOT 'wrong!' All your doing is pushing the scene further out so more scenery is in your field of view. It's not increasing peripheral vision. That's a misconception. You just proved my point btw.

Originally posted by Blue Hasia:

I use a mod to lower there reach.

when on a server zombies get really unfair advantage with there reach and syncing.

Server latency / synch can be an issue. That's a good reason for choosing the closest (lowest ping) server you can for MP.

[Earth Spirit]

Server latency / synch can be an issue. That's a good reason for choosing the closest (lowest ping) server you can for MP.

I played on my local machine and i still feel that thing. Maybe it was the FOV as you said, but there was a zombie that attacked me really far (like 3 blocks, further than regular cases). It was normal zombie from the start. I'm not sure if it was the problem of FPS drop / animation sync or the hit box bug.