Zombie Attack Priority

[Tunguska]

So I've been testing for a best base setup for my next playthrough since my last base destroyed when suddenly zombies stopped attacking from my front enterance where all the traps, turrets etc were and just came in from one of the walls by literally chewing hard stone.

Then I opened up a test server with cheat mode to test different types of bases and which one gives the best result but I ended up testing zombie attack priorities because nearly all base types especially with walls did not work at all because zombies never attacked where I wanted them to but instead attacked on random spot until they break through it so unless you are playing with minimum 4 people by everyone protecting one side of the wall this is not viable base for single player in my opinion.

Anyway we are getting distracted so only one of the bases was able to collect all the zombies into one spot and that was a base with a trench 3 to 4 block deep and 2 to 3 block wide with a 1 block wide bridge leading to the enterance of the base. Then I realised something, zombies were attacking the door only if the blocks next to the door are at least cobblestone, if not they attack the wooden parts r-wood or normal wood does not matter. Then I thought this must be about hit points, if the wall has lower hit point then they attack the wall instead of the thick iron door so I put a vault door with a 7k health, cobblestone has 1500 health in order to pass throught they must break 2 block of cobblestone so that sum up to 3k health, so they should attack the cobblestone right? Strangely no, they stupidly attacked on vault door and I just ended up confused, when it is wood zombies cleverly attack on wood but when it is stone zombies turns into morons and can even attack on steel vault door instead of stone walls and this only happens if there is a trench around the other parts of the base or else they will just randomly attack wherever they pleased. In all these tests there was always a clear path to me once they pass through the door via a ladder.

In the end I did not learn nothing but at least have a working base at some degree but if there is anyone can explain zombie attack priority in this game that would be perfect.

[Lady MacBeth]

Even if a door has more hp then a block, they will prioritize the door most the time. Now if you build a base with say only a hatch entrance at the top and no doors then they will prioritize the path of least resistance based off hp of the blocks. This also means you can learn to herd them where you want to by playing with these numbers. For example if you were to build a square box, and make 3 of the 4 sides double reinforced concrete, and one side one layer of reinforced concrete, they will hit the 1 layer side every, single time.

At least for now. The zombie ai is actually the bandit ai they are tuning. Which hopefully means that once bandits are in, zombies go back to their old unpredictable ai.

[Tunguska]

Originally posted by Ming:

Even if a door has more hp then a block, they will prioritize the door most the time. Now if you build a base with say only a hatch entrance at the top and no doors then they will prioritize the path of least resistance based off hp of the blocks. This also means you can learn to herd them where you want to by playing with these numbers. For example if you were to build a square box, and make 3 of the 4 sides double reinforced concrete, and one side one layer of reinforced concrete, they will hit the 1 layer side every, single time.

At least for now. The zombie ai is actually the bandit ai they are tuning. Which hopefully means that once bandits are in, zombies go back to their old unpredictable ai.

I think the most realistic way would be if the zombies take the shortest path to player since they are zombies they should not be able to understand the difference between wood and stone and which is stronger or weaker etc but they would follow the smell of the player and since doors are tinner and have little gaps around them they will let the most of the smell going through then a stone wall with little to no gap at all. For bandits I think it is good to choose the weakest point but for zombies there has to be at least a little predictable mechanic rather than randomness other wise it could be so frustrating as a game.

[Crater Creator]

If I recall correctly, the AI factors in the HP of the blocks, but doors have their own fudge factor. So they might be seen as having, for example, 25% of the hit points they actually have. I believe this is partly because the AI system doesn’t support dynamically noticing whether doors are open or closed.

[Nocternaldaze]

Originally posted by Crater Creator:

If I recall correctly, the AI factors in the HP of the blocks, but doors have their own fudge factor. So they might be seen as having, for example, 25% of the hit points they actually have. I believe this is partly because the AI system doesn’t support dynamically noticing whether doors are open or closed.

Now you mention that i am wondering if it has something to do with exploiters using a row of open doors for the first two floors of their base so zombies see the doors as being open and don`t attack them and just walk aimlessly around underneath and this is a fix for that exploit.

[Maddermax]

If I recall, Zombies see doors as half their actual HP, so zombies will still attack doors over other blocks they may break through, but only to a certain extent. In earlier alphas, zombies prioritised doors to such a degree that they would ignore open paths to players to beat on them at times.

If you want zombies to come in a known direction, build your base raised up on columns, not at ground level, with Ramps leading up the entrance. The zombies may still get caught on the pillars and attack them, but they just swing a few times and then path back up the ramps, just reinforce the bottom 3 blocks as much as possible. You can do similar with digging a trench around the base, but building up is easier, and zombies stuck in a trench might undermine you if you don’t reinforce the trench walls anyway. As long as zombies have a reasonably clear path to you, they’ll happily run along a trap filled corridor, it’s when they can’t find a reasonable path that they get very destructive.

[Tunguska]

Originally posted by Maddermax:

If I recall, Zombies see doors as half their actual HP, so zombies will still attack doors over other blocks they may break through, but only to a certain extent. In earlier alphas, zombies prioritised doors to such a degree that they would ignore open paths to players to beat on them at times.

If you want zombies to come in a known direction, build your base raised up on columns, not at ground level, with Ramps leading up the entrance. The zombies may still get caught on the pillars and attack them, but they just swing a few times and then path back up the ramps, just reinforce the bottom 3 blocks as much as possible. You can do similar with digging a trench around the base, but building up is easier, and zombies stuck in a trench might undermine you if you don’t reinforce the trench walls anyway. As long as zombies have a reasonably clear path to you, they’ll happily run along a trap filled corridor, it’s when they can’t find a reasonable path that they get very destructive.

That is why I always use ladders in trenchs so when zombies fall down, they just use ladders like a civilised zombie to come up again to join others, without digging under my base like a freaking mole. One time I remember after a horde night I just found a spider zombie in a tunnel under my base... It was kind of cool but annoying to think about...

[Lady MacBeth]

Originally posted by Tunguska:

Originally posted by Maddermax:

If I recall, Zombies see doors as half their actual HP, so zombies will still attack doors over other blocks they may break through, but only to a certain extent. In earlier alphas, zombies prioritised doors to such a degree that they would ignore open paths to players to beat on them at times.

If you want zombies to come in a known direction, build your base raised up on columns, not at ground level, with Ramps leading up the entrance. The zombies may still get caught on the pillars and attack them, but they just swing a few times and then path back up the ramps, just reinforce the bottom 3 blocks as much as possible. You can do similar with digging a trench around the base, but building up is easier, and zombies stuck in a trench might undermine you if you don’t reinforce the trench walls anyway. As long as zombies have a reasonably clear path to you, they’ll happily run along a trap filled corridor, it’s when they can’t find a reasonable path that they get very destructive.

That is why I always use ladders in trenchs so when zombies fall down, they just use ladders like a civilised zombie to come up again to join others, without digging under my base like a freaking mole. One time I remember after a horde night I just found a spider zombie in a tunnel under my base... It was kind of cool but annoying to think about...

though they did add in a19 one of the recent revisions where if a zombie falls far enough they may go into destroy everything mode. which could result in that same problem of them tearing your base out from under you even with ladders if enough of them trigger.

[Tunguska]

Originally posted by Ming:

Originally posted by Tunguska:

That is why I always use ladders in trenchs so when zombies fall down, they just use ladders like a civilised zombie to come up again to join others, without digging under my base like a freaking mole. One time I remember after a horde night I just found a spider zombie in a tunnel under my base... It was kind of cool but annoying to think about...

though they did add in a19 one of the recent revisions where if a zombie falls far enough they may go into destroy everything mode. which could result in that same problem of them tearing your base out from under you even with ladders if enough of them trigger.

I hope they will decrease normal zombies damage to natural blocks in a future update to something like 10% of the current stage or maybe even less and add a new ground digger kind of boss zombie who will tear natural blocks and make path for other zombies to counter players who would try to build mole holes as bases.

[↯Zindy⛦]

Originally posted by Tunguska:

Then I opened up a test server with cheat mode to test different types of bases and which one gives the best result but I ended up testing zombie attack priorities because nearly all base types especially with walls did not work at all because zombies never attacked where I wanted them to but instead attacked on random spot until they break through it so unless you are playing with minimum 4 people by everyone protecting one side of the wall this is not viable base for single player in my opinion.

you do know on horde night zombies really only approach in waves from one direction. Whether they run around and attack other walls is random and they don't like crowding as much as in previous alphas. But it can be a strength as well, since all sides of your base generally speaking, takes equal damage, being more forgiving and less risky than many designs that leave like 2 black between the player and the zombies.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=777358420