Dwarf Fortress Bug Tracker - Dwarf Fortress
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IDProjectCategoryView StatusDate SubmittedLast Update
0005312Dwarf FortressUndeathpublic2012-02-19 14:242014-07-19 07:20
ReporterBlah 
Assigned ToToady One 
PriorityhighSeveritytweakReproducibilityN/A
StatusresolvedResolutionfixed 
PlatformOSOS Version
Product Version0.34.02 
Target VersionFixed in Version0.40.01 
Summary0005312: Undead reanimate too quickly
DescriptionUndead reanimate forever unless atom-smashed or burned in magma. They reanimate very quickly also. While this is supposed to be challenging to deal with, I think everyone will agree that some tweaks would be good.

All body parts need to be dumped. For non-dwarf corpses, options exist to automate this. For dwarven corpses however this is not possible. Placing the dead dwarf in a coffin will not prevent reanimation, it must therefore be destroyed entirely, and a slab engraved to prevent a ghost from appearing. Micromanaging this is not challenging but simply annoying as typically evil biomes tend to result in numerous dead dwarves.


I suggest the following:
- Corpses and body parts gain a chance to reanimate that is initially 100%.
- Periodically each body part must pass a reanimation check: if they succeed, they reanimate, otherwise they continue to rot.
- Every time undead are struck down, they lose a variable amount of their reanimation chance.
- When the chance reaches 0%, they stop reanimating: they're dead for good.
- Body parts inherit the current reanimation chance of the body they belonged to when they were severed.
- Coffins reduce reanimation chance to 10% of current. They do therefore only slow down the overall reanimation process.

Essentially this changes corpse management in evil biomes from "dump dead dwarves ASAP" to "let some soldiers patrol your graveyard" which I like a lot more.
Steps To Reproduce
Additional Information
TagsNo tags attached.
Relationships
related to 0000033resolved Toady One Bronze colossus, skeletal creatures, fleshballs, and others are impossible to kill 
has duplicate 0005672resolved Footkerchief Fighting off deadly resurrected fingers, skin, ect 
Attached Files
Issue History
Date ModifiedUsernameFieldChange
2012-02-19 14:24BlahNew Issue
2012-02-19 15:15FootkerchiefSummaryUndead reanimate quickly and forever => Undead reanimate too quickly
2012-02-22 13:56DarthCloakedDwarfNote Added: 0020487
2012-02-23 02:59BlahNote Added: 0020526
2012-02-23 03:58malvadoNote Added: 0020529
2012-02-23 05:11XotanoNote Added: 0020532
2012-02-25 04:08BlahNote Added: 0020648
2012-02-25 06:01the_game_huntNote Added: 0020652
2012-02-25 06:49RusAnonIssue Monitored: RusAnon
2012-03-09 13:48KijiroNote Added: 0021315
2012-03-19 06:48FootkerchiefRelationship addedhas duplicate 0005672
2012-03-24 08:31KogutIssue Monitored: Kogut
2012-03-24 08:32BuglistIssue Monitored: Buglist
2012-03-24 08:33KogutIssue End Monitor: Kogut
2012-03-31 14:28ArnosNote Added: 0021956
2012-04-23 13:41dree12Note Added: 0022360
2012-04-24 07:13CheesoburgorNote Added: 0022367
2012-04-24 07:14CheesoburgorNote Edited: 0022367bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0022367#r8332
2013-12-07 04:39ThundercraftIssue Monitored: Thundercraft
2014-01-26 10:07FootkerchiefRelationship addedrelated to 0000033
2014-07-19 07:20FootkerchiefStatusnew => resolved
2014-07-19 07:20FootkerchiefFixed in Version => 0.40.01
2014-07-19 07:20FootkerchiefResolutionopen => fixed
2014-07-19 07:20FootkerchiefAssigned To => Toady One

Notes
(0020487)
DarthCloakedDwarf   
2012-02-22 13:56   
I butchered a horse in an Evil biome and IMMEDIATELY the fur and skin reanimated, with no time to take them to be processed and rendered inert.

I'm okay with it happening, but-- at least let me tan it if I have my stuff in order!
(0020526)
Blah   
2012-02-23 02:59   
Oh yes, near-instant reanimation should also not occur by "natural-evil" causes.
(0020529)
malvado   
2012-02-23 03:58   
It seems that Undead reanimation has been overdone.
When you kill a zombie by whacking its brain you would surely expect that it would stay erm, dead.
Same with skeletons, skins etc, whenever you actually slay such creature with the appropiate weapon it should be way harder for it to reanimate again.

Perhaps silver weapons could destroy them forever untill we get blessed weapons or some other ways to dispose of undead?

Also, recently butchered animals shouldnt reanimate as quickly as they do now.
(0020532)
Xotano   
2012-02-23 05:11   
personally i think skeletons should get back up on there own without having to be reanimated, unless you can: destroy the magic that holds them together, damage the bone enough that it is broken, or spread the parts far enough that they cant reanimate.
(0020648)
Blah   
2012-02-25 04:08   
Another reason why something should be changed: it's entirely possible to get a zombie chain reaction going in dwarf mode.

A variation of this is having to deal with a group of crundles. Let's say you kill six crundles and have to dump twelve body parts as a result. Before you manage to dump half of them, they start reanimating again and as they're killed, even more body parts are created and as long as even a single body part is reanimated, you can't dump the rest. Plus, certain reanimated body parts like hands can easily kill civilian dwarves. If that happens, you get even more body parts.

I'm not saying that it's an insurmountable problem but I wonder what will happen when you get a siege with 50 corpses and probably at least 100 body parts?
(0020652)
the_game_hunt   
2012-02-25 06:01   
Well, if you have a goblin siege,you beat them all, and then all body parts and corpses will reanimate,causing like a 2nd siege.

I agree in the part

"- Corpses and body parts gain a chance to reanimate that is initially 100%."

but when killed i think it should be 50%
(0021315)
Kijiro   
2012-03-09 13:48   
Right now, the constantly reanimating bodies make playing in evil biomes annoying instead of fun. At the very least, have the bodies only reanimate a finite amount of times, and increase the time between death and reanimation.

While this suggestion is good, it has some flaws. To avoid slow down caused by having to constantly calculate the chances of a single body part reanimating, just keep it simple. Kill it once, and after some period of time if the body isn't dealth with properly, it reanimates some finite amount of times.

Body parts that are damaged too much never reanimate (example, no zombie teeth or fingers, but maybe zombie arms and legs).

Just my two cents.
(0021956)
Arnos   
2012-03-31 14:28   
I agree with the above, Smaller body size and damage should make a zombie last for a shorter amount of time and make it harder to rezombify after it is dead.
(0022360)
dree12   
2012-04-23 13:41   
I would just like to point out that this has been listed as the "worst bug" in the http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=106010 [^] for a while now.
(0022367)
Cheesoburgor   
2012-04-24 07:13   
(edited on: 2012-04-24 07:14)
i find it funny that
i have killed hunreds of forgotten beasts that have all kinds of venoms and fire attacks
i have survived over fourty sieges
i have struckt to adamantine causing huge waves of demons and surviving them
yet i cant survive longer than 10 minutes in evil biome.