[2021] 19.3

Zombies have jumped for a long, long time now; They just need to be presented the opportunity to.

And they do not register traps as anything more than a block in the world- If you obstruct the path with traps, they will make a path some place else.

EG: Don't build wood/iron spikes 2+ high above ground level, only build them 1 high, or better yet sink them into the ground- They perceive 2 high spikes to be as solid a wall as if it were two normal blocks.

Further, Zombies navigate by block HP and time taken- The path of least overall resistance is the one they will typically take.

Traps of all kinds are viewed as blocks with HP values, just like building blocks- Iron spikes for example have i think 350hp(?) times 5 layers for a total of 1750hp; So a 2 tall 'wall' of iron spikes would not only equivalent to a cobblestone wall, but in fact more durable than a cobblestone wall.. So if you build yourself a square wall of cobblestone blocks(or worse than cobblestone) and plug the only entryway with iron spikes, they'll prefer to go through the wall. than to go through the spikes.

If you ever fully obstruct the path forward, they will find a way that may not necessarily involve your trapped corridor. You need to leave them an avenue even if that avenue is essentially a 'lie'.

Originally posted by Other Barry: Y'know...typical zombie behaviour...

Well, at least you didn’t call for “realistic” zombie behavior, as some have done.

Any time you have a game where your enemies need to navigate a fully destructible, 3D, sandbox world, you’re pretty much going to wind up with AI similar to what you see 7DtD. Otherwise, it’s too easy to have some situation, some topological conditions that are trivial for the player to create, which the AI can’t handle. The only way out of having smart enemies is if each zombie is cheap enough, performance wise, to send in dozens of extraneous ones as cannon fodder, that don’t need to be effectual at reaching the player to justify the system resources they’re using.

That’s the heart of the issue to my mind. Each zombie comes with a cost, and a smart zombie gives more bang for your buck than a dumb one. Their expertise as structural engineers is unfortunate but seems to be a necessary evil, at least for now.