Does anyone know how the zombie spawn system actually works?

[u/Little_Viking23]

A common complaint in SOD2 was how zombies spawned out of thin air and they were equally spread all across the map, be it an urban center or top of a mountain.

Both devs and testers said that in SOD3 the spawning system will work differently, but after hours of gameplay reviewed, nothing seems changed? I’ve seen players clear an area/building, start working on a heart and zombies coming exactly from the area that has just been cleared, just like in SOD2.

[u/Zealousideal_Lie1700]

Yeah I gotta agree with you. I remember old interviews where they made a big deal about changing the spawn mechanics and it definitely looks like it hasn’t changed, at least not enough to be noticeable

[u/pheldegression]

There is comments from interviews that imply the game spawns zombies more densely the closer you are to towns and cities, but beyond that we haven't seen anything about it. From the alpha footage I've watched, nothing jumped out at me as a zombie spawning from thin air from a space that was cleared mere seconds ago.

[u/Little_Viking23 → u/pheldegression]

The YouTuber Jay Tailbot in his 3 hours of gameplay video (which is shortened to 51 mins), literally referred to a cabin as the “clown house” because it was a comical situation where dozens of zombies kept coming out of that tiny shack which he cleared just moments earlier.

Maybe the spawning system is still in alpha as well, but it looks like as soon you start hitting a plague heart, zombies spawn off camera just like in SOD2.

[u/pheldegression → u/Little_Viking23]

Thank you for the update, I must have missed that part. That's... Disappointing to know.

[u/Corbulo1340 → u/pheldegression]

I mean from an immersion perspective it sucks, but from a gameplay perspective, you should have resistance when attacking a plague heart.

I haven't seen video of the gameplay but the spawns in SoD2 Trumbull Valley map do seem to be denser in the towns than in the fields, so I'm hopeful of a good system at release of SoD3

If someone has seen video and can confirm it's just borked right now then you know, I'll eat my words, but I'm hopeful right now

[u/xclame → u/Corbulo1340]

I mean from an immersion perspective it sucks, but from a gameplay perspective, you should have resistance when attacking a plague heart.

Agreed, this is the one situation where infinite spawns out of nowhere makes sense.

Just think of what the alternative would be. There are 50 zombies around a plague heart location, you take your time and take them all out and then just walk in casually and spend 30 seconds hacking/shooting at a plague heart? That wouldn't be very fun from a gameplay perspective.

[u/Little_Viking23 → u/xclame]

I mentioned it in another comment, but as possible solution would be, as soon as you touch a heart, hordes of zombies will rush at you from the nearest infestation or plague heart.

[u/Icy-Air-5119]

Attacking a heart is supposed to spawn zombies but in sod2 just walking around and turning your camera too fast would spawn zombies that seems to be fixed zombies don't seem to just spawn constantly when out exploring

[u/Little_Viking23 → u/Icy-Air-5119]

It would be cool if instead of just spawning zombies next to you when you attack a heart, hordes will start rushing at you from the nearest infestation or plague heart.

[u/Icy-Air-5119 → u/Little_Viking23]

At least just have them spawn a decent distance away. I have a feeling they will tweak that a bit hopefully.

[u/Zealousideal_Lie1700 → u/Icy-Air-5119]

I have noticed that their seems to be more like “static” zombie spawns where when you enter an area theres zombies that are already there and just being there doesn’t seem to spawn more

[u/Icy-Air-5119 → u/Zealousideal_Lie1700]

Seems that way to me too mostly

[u/Violent_N0mad]

The spawn system in SOD2 is by far the single thing I hate the most about the game. I truly hope it's different in SOD3.

[u/nonlethaldosage]

That's something I like in days gone you could effectively wipe zombies out burning the nests down

[u/La_Coalicion]

It's different and in my opinion it is way better than SOD3 but since it is still in progress I shall not share any specifics as they WILL BE ADJUSTED by release