Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead - FUCK NO SPORTING GOODS STORES

[ChaosUnleash]

Man I loved this game back before it gained the DDA name, but I was absolutely awful at it. Don't think I ever made it past the second day. Is it still as hard, or am I just being stupid?

[Purple Magpie]

Depends on if you play on static or dynamic. Static is harder to start with because everything's already spawned, but you can also make a permanently safe area - except for animals, which always follow dynamic spawns. Dynamic is easier to start because things won't spawn until after a certain amount of time has passed and you've made enough noise, but on the other hand you literally cannot make any area completely safe from zombies as they will always spawn around you.
The game is harder than it used to be in a lot of ways, because zombies have more HP and there are more types. There's also more types of good weapons and they're easier to come by. Stockpiling food is considerably easier as there's more non-perishables and you can read something's description to see if it's perishable or not, - well, as long as it's not packaged, I've noticed there's a bug with that flag that doesn't tell you it'll rot if it's packaged - and hunting is easier for chunks of meat to make non-perishables as well as consuming to avoid having to eat stuff you've stockpiled. Archery, which is almost entirely based on easily renewable resources, is a lot better and actually possible to function entirely off of. Melee is still dangerous, only moreso now since they buffed zombie HP.

[ChaosUnleash]

[QUOTE=Lijitsu;44392343]Depends on if you play on static or dynamic. Static is harder to start with because everything's already spawned, but you can also make a permanently safe area - except for animals, which always follow dynamic spawns. Dynamic is easier to start because things won't spawn until after a certain amount of time has passed and you've made enough noise, but on the other hand you literally cannot make any area completely safe from zombies as they will always spawn around you.
The game is harder than it used to be in a lot of ways, because zombies have more HP and there are more types. There's also more types of good weapons and they're easier to come by. Stockpiling food is considerably easier as there's more non-perishables and you can read something's description to see if it's perishable or not, - well, as long as it's not packaged, I've noticed there's a bug with that flag that doesn't tell you it'll rot if it's packaged - and hunting is easier for chunks of meat to make non-perishables as well as consuming to avoid having to eat stuff you've stockpiled. Archery, which is almost entirely based on easily renewable resources, is a lot better and actually possible to function entirely off of. Melee is still dangerous, only moreso now since they buffed zombie HP.[/QUOTE]

This static/dynamic thing sounds a bit odd. Are you saying that in Dynamic mode it will just keep spawning enemies near me based on how noisy I am (after a set time) whereas Static mode spawns stuff only at the start so EVENTUALLY I could get a town that's completely bad-guy-free. Does it have a set number of enemies to spawn in a location or is there literally just towns stuffed full with zombies?

[Purple Magpie]

I'm not sure how it decides to spawn stuff in static, but dynamic is like that yes. After a certain period of time, the noise you make will "attract" - spawn - zombies. In static, zombies are spawned from the start wherever they're going to be spawned. They tend to be more common in larger buildings as well as deeper into cities. The outskirts tend to have relatively few zombies and specials, and once you kill them - and pulp their corpses, just smash them when you've got a few turns - they're gone for good.

[ChaosUnleash]

[QUOTE=Lijitsu;44392408]I'm not sure how it decides to spawn stuff in static, but dynamic is like that yes. After a certain period of time, the noise you make will "attract" - spawn - zombies. In static, zombies are spawned from the start wherever they're going to be spawned. They tend to be more common in larger buildings as well as deeper into cities. The outskirts tend to have relatively few zombies and specials, and once you kill them - and pulp their corpses, just smash them when you've got a few turns - they're gone for good.[/QUOTE]

Thank-you for telling me this. Sounds like I'd like to play on Static then, it'd be quite fun to slowly try and capture a town building by building.

[Purple Magpie]

Yeah, that's what most of us play on. It makes long-term looting easier too, you can clear out an area and scoop up the important non-heavy bits as you move, then come back later and slowly haul everything useful back to your base.

[Rahkshi]

I was doing really well in my last playthrough as a wilderness survival character named Bear Grylls.

Then I accidentally ate a hallucinogenic mushroom and was trippin so hard I assumed a zombie wasn't really there because there had been none around me for a while.
[I]
I was wrong[/I]

[Helari]

[QUOTE=Lijitsu;44392343]Depends on if you play on static or dynamic. Static is harder to start with because everything's already spawned, but you can also make a permanently safe area - except for animals, which always follow dynamic spawns. Dynamic is easier to start because things won't spawn until after a certain amount of time has passed and you've made enough noise, but on the other hand you literally cannot make any area completely safe from zombies as they will always spawn around you.
[/QUOTE]

I heard there is still a zombie population number per area and once you exhaust that they stop spawning in dynamic.

[Svinpels]

I had a thought, with the addition of fishing rod and underwater weapons like spearguns, wouldn't it be kinda cool with larger bodies of water and naval vehicles, like something in the vein of Waterworld?

[Bob_Namg]

[QUOTE=Svinpels;44394070]I had a thought, with the addition of fishing rod and underwater weapons like spearguns, wouldn't it be kinda cool with larger bodies of water and naval vehicles, like something in the vein of Waterworld?[/QUOTE]
It would be, but that won't come for a long time.

[PaxMayne]

[QUOTE=Svinpels;44394070]I had a thought, with the addition of fishing rod and underwater weapons like spearguns, wouldn't it be kinda cool with larger bodies of water and naval vehicles, like something in the vein of Waterworld?[/QUOTE]

would be cool to have a boat be a base, you could put a bunch of loot on it and go to another coastal town. The only problem would be sea monsters.

[Svinpels]

[QUOTE=Blockhead;44395060]would be cool to have a boat be a base, you could put a bunch of loot on it and go to another coastal town. The only problem would be sea monsters.[/QUOTE]

My thoughts exactly.
But knowing this game, there will never be a proper safe spot. We'd probably meet some Cthulu-esque abomination sooner than later.
I also wouldn't be surprised if they added som new burrowing enemy that'll fuck up our bunkers when the digging mechanic is properly implemented.
Or maybe just subterranean, amphibious zombears :tinfoil:

Or if not, rough sea weather effects could be interesting.

[Bob_Namg]

[QUOTE=Svinpels;44395172]My thoughts exactly.
But knowing this game, there will never be a proper safe spot. We'd probably meet some Cthulu-esque abomination sooner than later.
I also wouldn't be surprised if they added som new burrowing enemy that'll fuck up our bunkers when the digging mechanic is properly implemented.
Or maybe just subterranean, amphibious zombears :tinfoil:

Or if not, rough sea weather effects could be interesting.[/QUOTE]

It would be awesome floating out on a raft and finding a goddamn oil rig.
Or restoring an abandoned container ship and ramming it into a ravenous cephalopod.

[ChaosUnleash]

[QUOTE=Bob_Namg;44395208]It would be awesome floating out on a raft and finding a goddamn oil rig.
Or restoring an abandoned container ship and ramming it into a ravenous cephalopod.[/QUOTE]

Oil rig base would be the greatest thing ever

[Svinpels]

I'm getting hyped for stuff that I don't know if is even planned now!
[i]Is[/i] there any plans like this?

[PaxMayne]

[QUOTE=ChaosUnleash;44395226]Oil rig base would be the greatest thing ever[/QUOTE]

until a lightning bolt hits it.

then you have to jump off and pray your guy can swim 5 miles.

[Purple Magpie]

[QUOTE=Svinpels;44395273]I'm getting hyped for stuff that I don't know if is even planned now!
[i]Is[/i] there any plans like this?[/QUOTE]

I don't remember if I saw a dev talking about any of the stuff mentioned, but I swear I remember a few people mentioning on the Cata forums that it'd be awesome to have water based vehicles and buildings tiles like docks and such. It's probably something they [i]hope[/i] to do, but right now their focus is in z-levels and NPCs, one of those next update and the other the update after it. Those two have been sought after since Whales.

[Regorc's Chest]

Desert environment with the things from Tremors.
Arctic Environment with a potential for The Thing.

Both very dangerous and hard to survive in because resources but much safer from zombies and other stuff.

[Purple Magpie]

The problem with any other type of environment is the game is specifically set in New England. The only reason water based tiles might come into play is because of things like docks; there isn't any actual ocean because it's all procedurally generated.

[PaxMayne]

[QUOTE=Lijitsu;44396173]The problem with any other type of environment is the game is specifically set in New England. The only reason water based tiles might come into play is because of things like docks; there isn't any actual ocean because it's all procedurally generated.[/QUOTE]

well maybe it could be something like this

T
U
Y

where T is the arctic-like biome, U is the regular biome, and Y is the desert biome. Or maybe you can switch it to be like large blobs of desert,regular and arctic.

[Bob_Namg]

[QUOTE=Blockhead;44396260]well maybe it could be something like this

where T is the arctic-like biome, U is the regular biome, and Y is the desert biome. Or maybe you can switch it to be like large blobs of desert,regular and arctic.[/QUOTE]
Nuclear wastes maybe?

[Tagger]

[QUOTE=Lijitsu;44396173]The problem with any other type of environment is the game is specifically set in New England. The only reason water based tiles might come into play is because of things like docks; there isn't any actual ocean because it's all procedurally generated.[/QUOTE]

In the experimental there is an option to change what kind of map is generated. Specifically the theme, the two options being default towns and trees, or a desert.

[Rimbas]

What specifically is going to be in the z-levels update?

[Nutcake]

[img]http://p77.img-up.net/huehuehuehaa73.png[/img]

:>

[Terminutter]

The chosen one, bringing extreme kinkiness wherever he goes. Cephalapod mutations are the way to go.

[Nutcake]

I just found Lupine serum.
Should I?

[TurtleUnit]

I should stop playing CK2 and play this again.

[Purple Magpie]

[QUOTE=aurum481;44399208]What specifically is going to be in the z-levels update?[/QUOTE]

Multi-level structures. Apartment complexes and office buildings that go up instead of just down. Hospitals, fire houses, and houses can have multiple levels. Proper z-level support also allows for flying enemies and maybe mutations/CBMs that allow flight.

[Svinpels]

Climbing claw mutation/CBMs would be neat.
Have they only planned high buildings, or can we expect terrain elevations as well?

[Purple Magpie]

I don't know, I think they're planning on going primarily for buildings for right now. Terrain might be added, might not. I haven't read the forums in a while to be honest, been playing a lot of NetHack SLASH'EM.