Would you rather?

[SelfDefined]

Zombies that were blind but have extra clear hearing, e.g could hear even the slightest rustle of leaves.

OR

Zombies that were deaf but had extra clear sight, even the movement of an ant alerted them.

I would personally prefer deaf zombies, that way i could stay at home with the curtains closed and listen to some good music whilst looking at some sexy arsed porn. hehe what about you guys?

this is a serious post :P

[detpat]

I'd have to agree with you, line of sight zeds would be much easier to deal with.

[Cenobite]

Blind zombies.

Unlike some people who were born blind, zombies didnt have the training to run around unable to see.

Just lead them to a ditch or make let them charge a concrete wall with you sitting on top of it. SPLATT! :x

[SelfDefined]

but cenobite, youd have to be silent for the rest of your life. youd be sitting at home and a zombie could pinpoint exactly what direction you are. you couldnt talk to your friends or listen to music. itd be like living in a library for the rest of your life.

[Cenobite]

but cenobite, youd have to be silent for the rest of your life. youd be sitting at home and a zombie could pinpoint exactly what direction you are. you couldnt talk to your friends or listen to music. itd be like living in a library for the rest of your life.

Yeah but you can evade them easier, go through a couple of doors and youre free...it wouldnt even occur to them that they have to find a door, they'd just wander around, aimlessly.

[Behemoth]

Blind zombies would be my preferance, it would be easy to just confuse deaf ones, just leave a radio on in an abandoned car, the zombies would make for the noise while i get the hell outa there.

[Trebek]

I'm with the blind group. Unless they can echolocate really well, They would be easier to evade. Plus diversions are easier. Just throw on a movie or something with people yelling and fire away as they crowd the speakers.

[Faran Brigo]

Deaf. If they can't hear, basically you can forget about silencers or trying hard to stay undetected when moving or while staying at your hq. Also, this means you'll never have to worry about a whole horde of them gathering outside if you screw up.

I assume since you didn't say otherwise, either of those still have the sense of smell, so I doubt they could be standing right next to a speaker and confuse it with a human. From a distance maybe, but eventually they'd get close enough to know it doesn't smell like food.

That would also help them navigate I think, much like when you smell good food in a kitchen and track it even if you've never been to that house.

[mattifikation]

Deaf, for sure. I would much rather a zombie be able to detect me easily when it's facing me, than have a zombie be able to detect me easily no matter where I am.

[Dave Of The Dead]

Deaf makes every situation better, whether you're on the defense, offense, or just on the move. If you were on the defense, you could do whatever you pleased as long as you stayed out of sight... Now that sounds like a plan to me.

[Behemoth]

Well, think about it for a minute, would you rather fight a blind mike tyson or a deaf one? Same goes for zombies.
"What the eye cannot see the hand cannot catch"

[Faran Brigo]

I agree that it's a good comparison, dumb as rocks piece of meat that will bite off a chunk of you if it gets close.

But there's a couple of big differences here.

1.- You don't need to fight zombies up close, you can use guns.

2.- Do a little experiment. Turn on a tv, close your eyes, and try to grab the source of the sound. I can assure you after stumbling around for a little while, you're gonna grab your tv, I did.

[Behemoth]

2.- Do a little experiment. Turn on a tv, close your eyes, and try to grab the source of the sound. I can assure you after stumbling around for a little while, you're gonna grab your tv, I did.
Yeah but the tv don't move, if some shambling, stinking, maggot infested thing comes near me i'm moving, fast. The tv will still be on, the zombie goes for tv, i live to fight another day.
Ever played deaf mans bluff? No didn't think so.

" It is difficult to catch a black cat in a dark room, especially when there is no cat" K'ung-fu-tzu. 477 BC

[Faran Brigo]

Yeah but the tv don't move, if some shambling, stinking, maggot infested thing comes near me i'm moving, fast. The tv will still be on, the zombie goes for tv, i live to fight another day.

Moving fast means making more noise which in turn makes you even more detectable. Also, blind or deaf if you're moving they're not going to get you, they're slower than tax returns, so that's beside the point.

If you can't move much because you're in a constricted space like say, a hallway, in a dorm or small apartment, in most kinds of stores, an alley, etc. Then... what? Unless you can disengage regardless of how much you move a zed only needs to know your general direction, whereever it bites, it will be a kill. It won't be able to grip you easily but this holds true blind or deaf because you'll be moving, and they're clumsy.

The TV was just to illustrate the effect, I didn't mean you're going to be in a room with a zombie and a working TV.

Mostly though, consider that with deaf zombies you're safe if you're outside the line of sight. That means in most cases you'll rarely have to worry about zombies attacking en masse since each zombie needs to see you to come at you. Blind zombies however will hear you for hundreds of yards around and will converge around the source of the sound. If that's a decoy great. If that's you, you got a huge problem on your hands. Consider also that zombies don't learn, so when you dissapear from a blind Zed's LOS you no longer exist, this is harder to do if it can track you in a larger radius. Not so important outdoors but in a structure this could mean the difference between killing a couple and having time to bash open a door, and being trapped with the whole building behind you and who knows how many behind the door.

Ever played deaf mans bluff? No didn't think so. play it? I don't even know what that IS...

[SelfDefined]

Good replies guys,

I would definetely want deaf zombies, imagine tons of blind zombies walking your direction, at least with deaf zombies you may just get the odd one or two. not tons like if they had great hearing.

on the other hand, zombies could also follow each other, that way it wouldnt matter if they were death.

[SelfDefined]

Good replies guys,

I would definetely want deaf zombies, imagine tons of blind zombies walking your direction, at least with deaf zombies you may just get the odd one or two. not tons like if they had great hearing.

on the other hand, zombies could also follow each other, that way it wouldnt matter if they were deaf

[Faran Brigo]

Good replies guys,

I would definetely want deaf zombies, imagine tons of blind zombies walking your direction, at least with deaf zombies you may just get the odd one or two. not tons like if they had great hearing.

on the other hand, zombies could also follow each other, that way it wouldnt matter if they were death.

Zombies (apart from Bub and Big Daddy) have not shown any sort of curiosity other than tracking sounds, and zombies in a horde are not a group but rather a bunch of individuals tightly packed, I doubt they would follow each other, they can tell they are NOT prey, and they don't appear to respond to anything BUT prey and sound (probably because they figure it's a sign of prey).

[bandits1]

Hmmm...this is a tough one.

When it comes to sneaking around and scavenging, I'd want to be up against deaf zombies. In relatively close-quarters, I think it would be easier to stay out of sight than avoid making any noise. Plus, if one or two happen to spot you and you have to shoot them, the other zombies won't hear the commotion.

But...if and when they do locate and surround you and you have no choice but to fight, I'd rather face the blind zombies. This is where Behemoth's example of a choice between fighting a blind or deaf Mike Tyson makes sense.

Since I plan to spend most of my time sneaking around trying not to be noticed by zombies to begin with, I guess I would choose "deaf".

[Behemoth]

Well if zombies are not a group, then some would follow the sounds of one decoy, where others would follow the sounds of another, so you would end up with singles or just a pair of zombies to deal with, again if they are blind it would be too easy. If you are in a corridor ( restricted space ) & zombies are at both ends, well you're in trouble, be they blind or deaf. Try putting a pair of ear defenders on & walk around, try the same thing blindfolded. What is easier?

[Dave Of The Dead]

But comparing your sight and hearing to the zombie's sight and hearing is unfair. As said in the first post, they would either have amazing hearing or sight. Yeah, if the zeds are blind, they will run into a lot of walls, fall into a lot of ditches, and trip over a lot of things. But, that doesn't really matter to them because they are spending that entire time trying to hone in on the noises of their prey.

[Faran Brigo]

Well if zombies are not a group, then some would follow the sounds of one decoy, where others would follow the sounds of another, so you would end up with singles or just a pair of zombies to deal with, again if they are blind it would be too easy.

So what happens if you don't have a decoy? or by the time 80% of the power is gone? What happens when a battery decoy runs out of juice? or if one of the zombies accidentally breaks it?

If you are in a corridor ( restricted space ) & zombies are at both ends, well you're in trouble, be they blind or deaf. You missunderstood my point. If they are deaf they would not converge around you because they wouldn't know you're there. If they were blind they would still do it and the sheer numbers would offset any disadvantage being blind would give them on melee, by a large margin.

Try putting a pair of ear defenders on & walk around, try the same thing blindfolded. What is easier?
You keep bringing this up. It would be harder to navigate blind, than deaf, but zombies don't care about difficulty do they? they just keep homing on something regardless of how long or how hard it is to get there.

In relatively open city streets or rural areas frankly, it barely makes a difference since they're on open ground so they just wave to walk ahead until they bump into a wall.

[Behemoth]

You keep bringing this up. It would be harder to navigate blind, than deaf, but zombies don't care about difficulty do they? they just keep homing on something regardless of how long or how hard it is to get there.

In relatively open city streets or rural areas frankly, it barely makes a difference since they're on open ground so they just wave to walk ahead until they bump into a wall.

Sure i do, it's the most important point, how hard or how long are the most important factors, if they keep bumping into walls, great, let 'em. While they are doing so, i'm alredy making my escape.

So what happens if you don't have a decoy? or by the time 80% of the power is gone? What happens when a battery decoy runs out of juice? or if one of the zombies accidentally breaks it?

It would be easy to make a decoy that uses no power, hunters have been doing it since the stone ages. I would set up dozens of decoys, if one breaks, no problem, put up another, as the zombies can't see me i have nothing to worry about.

[Faran Brigo]

So how many of those would bump into walls and how many would actually have a clear path towards you? In a suburban or rural area your chances are good, but since there's a lot of open ground and few obstacles for the zeds it evens out a bit. In a city you can bet that blind or not, if they have excellent hearing you'll be facing thick swarms coming all around you.

Assuming that nothing goes wrong while you're placing said decoys, since until said decoys are in place and working you're a big high profile target, it would work. Ok, care to share an example of a reliable, powerless auditory continous decoy?

[Behemoth]

Assuming that nothing goes wrong while you're placing said decoys, since until said decoys are in place and working you're a big high profile target, it would work. Ok, care to share an example of a reliable, powerless auditory continous decoy?
Well you can use plastic bottles/bags & the wind just use some imagination, other older ones are like the deer scarers use running water, beehives would be good are just a few.
As for the swarms of zombies if they keep bumping into things other zombies will go for them, they would be forever going around in circles between the decoys, other foolish surviors who choose to fight it out with the zombies ( good luck to them ) and cars that might have stopped to collect supplies, yep it sounds like i'll be having an easy time of it with blind zombies.

[Faran Brigo]

Deaf and blind zombies can still smell

[Dave Of The Dead]

And I'm sure that they can tell the difference between a bottle clanking against another or someone running and breathing.

[Behemoth]

Yep, but that works for both types, you can't say deaf zombies would have better sense of smell than blind ones.

[Behemoth]

And I'm sure that they can tell the difference between a bottle clanking against another or someone running and breathing.
But there would be lots of other noise aswell, who says i will be running, as they can't see me i'm taking my time.

[Faran Brigo]

True, but I didn't suggest decoys, you did. As for not running, he said "excellent hearing". Someone with even average hearing can hear you walk.

[Behemoth]

True, but I didn't suggest decoys, you did. As for not running, he said "excellent hearing". Someone with even average hearing can hear you walk.
Yeh, but they would also hear other people walking about, not to mention wildlife. As for hearing me walk it depends in what you're walking on, when i was young my friends & i used to play a game to walk past the scrapyard ( junkyard you would call it ) without waking the dogs on a windy day it was quite easy as the wind would bring sounds from all around, ok i'm alot older now but i think, no i KNOW, blind zombies would not have anything like the hearing of a dog.

[Faran Brigo]

Did you do it with all the gear you would need to survive in case something went wrong loaded on you?

P.S: I like the idea of decoys though, mostly mixed with perimeter defenses. There ought to be a thread for that...

[Behemoth]

Well i have always travelled light, my friend however had a backpack, a bb rifle & was wearing combat boots, he made it.

[bandits1]

After reading the arguments for and against deaf vs. blind zombies, I'm even more on the side of choosing to survive among deaf zombies.

With deaf zombies - you just stay out of sight and you're in great shape. They can be in one room, you could be in the room right next door making all the noise you want and they'll never know you were there. And like I mentioned earlier, if you have to kill a few that have spotted you, you can do it without alerting every other nearby zombie.

However - with blind zombies who have improved hearing, you pretty much have to take most of the same precautions that you would if the zombies had their sight. They don't have to be actively looking for you in order to hear you.

[Victor Clark]

I would rather deal with deaf zombies. Chances are almost certain that I'll be driving and listening to my MP3 player throughout most of the outbreak, and blind zombies would follow both of those noise makers to the edge of hell if they had to. If they were deaf, than all I would have to do is stay behind them!

[SelfDefined]

I ****ing hate victors picture of that dawn of the dead girl. it gives me the creeps. I always have to scroll down each page to make sure its not there, otherwise i get frightened lol.

Anyway, back on topic.

Some of you guys dont realise, if theyre blind, theyve got super smart hearing, they can distinguish what a plastic bag sounds like between what a footstep sounds like.

But if theyre deaf, at least you wouldnt have to sneak. But then again a zombie could see you from a mile away, since they have practically binocular vision.

[bandits1]

...Some of you guys dont realise, if theyre blind, theyve got super smart hearing, they can distinguish what a plastic bag sounds like between what a footstep sounds like.

But if theyre deaf, at least you wouldnt have to sneak. But then again a zombie could see you from a mile away, since they have practically binocular vision.
The OP stated that they have very acute vision or hearing...but not super vision or hearing.

[SelfDefined]

I am the OP.

[Behemoth]

While it is correct to say that deaf zombies would have better sight or blind zombies better hearing than living humans, it is just silly to say they would have binocular vision, they were after all humans once & still have the same eyes. Unless you're sugesting that some mad scientist gave all the zombies eyes from an owl & let 'em go:loon:

[Faran Brigo]

Well the whole premise is a bit silly, since zombies barely use their sight because the eye is one of the first things to go due to decomposition, so most zombies are already blind or going blind.

Zombies with ultra sight would necesarily have the ability to regenerate tissue (or at least fight off microbes) so I'm not even sure they would be zombies per se.

[mattifikation]

Well, it's been hypothesized that zombies and their parts won't rot at any appreciable rate because most bacteria and parasites won't eat it, due to the whole undead thing. If you think about it, life on this planet has evolved to consume either living things or dead things, but not undead.

It's been suggested in the Zombie Survival Guide, which isn't the be-all-end-all of zombie works, but it's definitely mainstream enough to consider. It's also about the only way to explain why zombies can still function at all after a day or two.

So I think that if we're to go by conventional assumptions, it's safe to say that zombies will rot just enough to stink but not enough to affect them in any way.

(Off topic: I still think your idea of weaponizing microbes would work, it's just a matter of finding the microbes causing that "rot just enough to stink" thing to happen.)

[Behemoth]

I don't buy into this zombies don't rot, flies will lay eggs on any dead meat, in the 1st world war, it was common for soldiers to allow flies to lay their eggs on festering wounds, once the eggs hatched the maggots ate the rotting diseased flesh. The same will happen to the zombies, they will be gradually eaten away.

[Faran Brigo]

It's been suggested in the Zombie Survival Guide, which isn't the be-all-end-all of zombie works, but it's definitely mainstream enough to consider. It's also about the only way to explain why zombies can still function at all after a day or two. So I think that if we're to go by conventional assumptions, it's safe to say that zombies will rot just enough to stink but not enough to affect them in any way.

It was also suggested by Brooks that zeds would survive in the ocean bottom when in fact the pressure would grind them to pudding, this isn't biology but simple physics. I don't trust Brooks.

That aside yes, they probably rot slower, which is why in Dawn, Day and Land zombies that should have been long disabled still roamed. If I were to venture a guess...

I would say that if a microbe IS what turns people into zombies, then that same microbe saturates the body with toxins that kill most higher organisms that attempt to feed off the dead tissues (which is why zed flesh is toxic to animals and people), and possibly also to many decomp microbes, which makes them rot slowly, like an embalmed corpse. This means that in theory, a zombie could last decades, maybe centuries, depending on environmental conditions.

However the eyes are extremely delicate, a shift in pH would be enough to cripple them, and you bet the anoxic environment of an eye no longer irrigated will be enough to damage it. If it rots "enough to stink", that's a sign of damage, the stink comes from the tissue breaking down.

Off topic, I'm starting to think a zombie "virus" would not be a virus, but rather an anaerobe microbe more akin to clostridium botulinum. Something that can live on dead meat (but not really "off" it), doesn't need oxygen and will actually die if exposed to enough (which explains why breaching the skull brings zeds down almost instantly). Hmm...

[Death Insurance]

I'd take the deaf zombies.

The blind zombies would have Daredevil-esque remote sensing, wouldn't they? They could pinpoint noises and follow you. Meanwhile, if you were to stay out of a deaf zombie's cone-of-vision, they wouldn't even know you were there.

[mattifikation]

The thing is, I've never seen a zombie portrayed as being blind. In LotD they would even watch fireworks.

So, something preserves their eyesight just as well as it preserves the rest of them.

[Behemoth]

Well if a blind person gets bitten they would return as a dead zombie, likewise a deaf person.

[mattifikation]

Well, we're sort of veering off topic here. Let's assume for the sake of argument that we're dealing with modified versions of the Zed Virus, which make them be either deaf or blind.

[Victor Clark]

I ****ing hate victors picture of that dawn of the dead girl. it gives me the creeps. I always have to scroll down each page to make sure its not there, otherwise i get frightened lol.

:lol: You don't know how much you made me laugh with that comment. If it makes you feel any better, it creeps me out too, and I have it so I can get used to it.

Back to topic, I wouldn't think that a blind zombie would have super hearing, or that a deaf zombie would have super sight either, but it would still be quite a challenge to conquer the weaknesses of both types of the undead without dealing with their strenghs. However, I feel that it would be easier to be loud and kept out of sight than to be right in front of a zombie and still be silent.

[Augustus Desius]

I would prefer deaf over blind zombies. I can shout commands, use radio, and fire wepons without giving away my or my friends positions.

I don't think any of us have to worry about a zombie smelling you out of anything. The human sense of smell is very weak, and with the zombies rotting as they are, emitting a very pungent (sp?) ambient scent, we would be virtually impossible to smell.

[Faran Brigo]

It's not coyote like true, but if I can smell cookies from a bakery a couple blocks away, I'm pretty sure zombies can also smell humans from at least that range (given proper wind conditions of course). As for the zombie smell, everyone smells of something, yet we're rarely aware of our own smell, this is because senses gradually phase out information that repeats itself, this is particularly true of odors. An easy way to test this is by rubbing some vicks near your nose, the smell of menthol is intense for awhile, then gradually subsides, yet other people are able to smell it on you.

[Dave Of The Dead]

Or if you're a smoker, you don't smell or taste your cigarette after being a smoker for so long. Other people can still smell it on you, but you have gotten used to it.


EDIT: Unless you change brands, of course.

[Augustus Desius]

I don't know if zombies would have an adaptive brain, capable of phasing out scents. I would think that it smell lots of things before being able to smell a person, such as septic backup, smoke, rotting matter (not just flesh, but plants as well), animal and human feces (mainly city issue) and so on.

Also, with the bakery, the smoke released from there outputs more scent than a human is capable of making without being lit on fire. I imagine any scent more powerful than a mans is going to hide a mans scent from the undead unless he is right next to them.

[Faran Brigo]

I got no idea if they could adapt to smells, but I wouldn't count on them not being able to. This is one of the issues where catching a live one would prove useful. You're right about the bakery though, forgot that.

But I can also smell fruit if it's in the same room, much closer but it could be enough so a zombie could say, tell appart noisy decoys from people or know if you're in front of it even without eyes. Not precisely where mind you, but enough to know the general direction.

[Augustus Desius]

Thats a good point, I'm more speaking of locating, but being indoors and sweaty may give you away at least in the vicinity, after which it's only a matter of time before they locate you.

We need a real zombie.

[Faran Brigo]

I'm thinking after the water pressure and showers go out, everyone will have rather nasty BO in a few days, especially if you're running for your life constantly so even if you're not sweating, it's going to know you're there.