At least I've heard them called that. Zombies that only spawn when you do something specific with the environment, like open a locked door, or press an activation button, etc.
The current implementation of this system and "hidden" zombies in general, is not fun to play with. Its detracting from the gameplay and less interesting than the A20 mechanics.
First, I come from a pen and paper RMG background and have a great appreciation for games that understand the concept of *CLEARING* content. if i drain a room of all doors, walls, etc., nothing should magically spawn there. This isn't a fantasy RPG, or a space game with teleporters. Zombies magically appearing all around me isn't compelling or even remotely horror based gameplay, it just feels bad and forced.
Second, the A20 hidden mobs in walls, behind everything, etc. Yea, it was cheesy, but at least most of it made sense... Even better though, were those few instances, that you can tell someone put up a barricade and died inside... you know you have to face whatever is in there, but you don't know what it is yet. To me, that was far more compelling.
Third, the addition of more "breakable" wall tiles for no other reason than to hide zombies was a bad choice. no it's not a surprise when a zombie breaks out of a solid concrete wall. It just feels like badly forced gameplay the POI designers are just trying too hard to hide zombies. Too many closet zombies now. It feels too much like a video game and not enough like a zombie game... Zombies don't have a reason to seek out small places and close the doors behind themselves.
In short, if you cannot realistically think of an explanation why the zombie is where it is, it should not be there. A cop and a hooker in the jail cell during the apocalypse makes perfect sense. The lumberjack that bursts out of the projection TV screen in a conference room makes no sense. (although the same setup with 2 suits and a secretary worked)
A few suggestions for ways to alternatively address this stuff:
1. Use more of the audio triggers that cause zombies to spawn outside the area and rush to it from the surface of the POI (please note, only use this for small POIs like houses where it makes sense that the player was heard inside from the street) Again, change the trigger to be the area, not just a button. entering the garage should cause the wandering zombies outside, the sound of the door should have them come investigate. but if i stealth in and out without making any noise, no spawn should happen and instead it should fizzle.
2. Develop a system for volumetric based triggering, IE don't force the player to find a small button on a wall to finish the content. If they have moved through the area that was supposed to be triggered by said button, flag it as complete, even if they don't trigger the zombies. This way militant diggers like myself that like making my own doors in your walls don't get stuck searching a tier 5 for several hours because I decided not to follow the one single path you laid out for me through your content. (seriously, if i have to follow a sequence of events we are no longer playing a sandbox game, and you are ignoring the fact that you specifically are giving us the tools to NOT follow your path)
3. Never spawn zombies in the same space as the player. They should be triggered by the playering being close to that space at best (realistically all zombies should spawn once a player enters a POI box, but I know that can be computationally expensive) If the player breaks into a volumetric space without hitting your intended trigger, the trigger should fizzle and complete without zombies spawning.
4. If you are trying to force players to take damage, consider their actions limit. a player in a tier 1/2 POI likely doesn't have full auto weapons, nor do they have deep clips, so 2-3 zombies at once can overwhelm them, while a player in a tier 5 POI will likely handle hordes just fine with full auto weapons, but a few strong zombies in the mix may slow them down enough to force a reload or force them to get tunnel vision and miss other attackers.
5. More difficulty sliders... let people choose if POIs will have less/more/stronger/weaker zombies. More player agency when setting up the servers will allow us to better tailor our play. For instance, if you offered me a server command to not use audio blocks in zombie placement, I would currently disable that. but finding the lock on a 10,000 health door that has ~10 zombies on the other side? doesn't bother me.
I love that A19 and A20 felt like a Zombie movie of old. the slow walking inevitable horde that just forces you to move on or tech up. I dont want yet another run and gun "Left for Dead" clone. This game to me is like the grown up version of Minecraft... the bad guys are annoying and potentially dangerous, but not "The Forest/Valhiem"" style badguys where nothing you can do prep-wise matters.
The current implementation of this system and "hidden" zombies in general, is not fun to play with. Its detracting from the gameplay and less interesting than the A20 mechanics.
First, I come from a pen and paper RMG background and have a great appreciation for games that understand the concept of *CLEARING* content. if i drain a room of all doors, walls, etc., nothing should magically spawn there. This isn't a fantasy RPG, or a space game with teleporters. Zombies magically appearing all around me isn't compelling or even remotely horror based gameplay, it just feels bad and forced.
Second, the A20 hidden mobs in walls, behind everything, etc. Yea, it was cheesy, but at least most of it made sense... Even better though, were those few instances, that you can tell someone put up a barricade and died inside... you know you have to face whatever is in there, but you don't know what it is yet. To me, that was far more compelling.
Third, the addition of more "breakable" wall tiles for no other reason than to hide zombies was a bad choice. no it's not a surprise when a zombie breaks out of a solid concrete wall. It just feels like badly forced gameplay the POI designers are just trying too hard to hide zombies. Too many closet zombies now. It feels too much like a video game and not enough like a zombie game... Zombies don't have a reason to seek out small places and close the doors behind themselves.
In short, if you cannot realistically think of an explanation why the zombie is where it is, it should not be there. A cop and a hooker in the jail cell during the apocalypse makes perfect sense. The lumberjack that bursts out of the projection TV screen in a conference room makes no sense. (although the same setup with 2 suits and a secretary worked)
A few suggestions for ways to alternatively address this stuff:
1. Use more of the audio triggers that cause zombies to spawn outside the area and rush to it from the surface of the POI (please note, only use this for small POIs like houses where it makes sense that the player was heard inside from the street) Again, change the trigger to be the area, not just a button. entering the garage should cause the wandering zombies outside, the sound of the door should have them come investigate. but if i stealth in and out without making any noise, no spawn should happen and instead it should fizzle.
2. Develop a system for volumetric based triggering, IE don't force the player to find a small button on a wall to finish the content. If they have moved through the area that was supposed to be triggered by said button, flag it as complete, even if they don't trigger the zombies. This way militant diggers like myself that like making my own doors in your walls don't get stuck searching a tier 5 for several hours because I decided not to follow the one single path you laid out for me through your content. (seriously, if i have to follow a sequence of events we are no longer playing a sandbox game, and you are ignoring the fact that you specifically are giving us the tools to NOT follow your path)
3. Never spawn zombies in the same space as the player. They should be triggered by the playering being close to that space at best (realistically all zombies should spawn once a player enters a POI box, but I know that can be computationally expensive) If the player breaks into a volumetric space without hitting your intended trigger, the trigger should fizzle and complete without zombies spawning.
4. If you are trying to force players to take damage, consider their actions limit. a player in a tier 1/2 POI likely doesn't have full auto weapons, nor do they have deep clips, so 2-3 zombies at once can overwhelm them, while a player in a tier 5 POI will likely handle hordes just fine with full auto weapons, but a few strong zombies in the mix may slow them down enough to force a reload or force them to get tunnel vision and miss other attackers.
5. More difficulty sliders... let people choose if POIs will have less/more/stronger/weaker zombies. More player agency when setting up the servers will allow us to better tailor our play. For instance, if you offered me a server command to not use audio blocks in zombie placement, I would currently disable that. but finding the lock on a 10,000 health door that has ~10 zombies on the other side? doesn't bother me.
I love that A19 and A20 felt like a Zombie movie of old. the slow walking inevitable horde that just forces you to move on or tech up. I dont want yet another run and gun "Left for Dead" clone. This game to me is like the grown up version of Minecraft... the bad guys are annoying and potentially dangerous, but not "The Forest/Valhiem"" style badguys where nothing you can do prep-wise matters.
