Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead - FUCK NO SPORTING GOODS STORES

[MuffinZerg]

Somehow I reached that level of cataclysmisation that I survive past day 5 90% of times. And I can't really point out why. I just know where my stuff is. Analyzing my actions I would note advice for beginners:

- If you have 10 Dex or so feel free to smack some zombies, not more then 2 at a time though and only with the use of environment
- You don't really need to go to big towns until you will need a specific item or resource. Raiding some outskirt houses for stuff is fine, but if you are going deep - do it at night and do it quick.
- Never ever sleep in houses when enemies are around (wildlife doesn't count). This will happen in the morning:
[img]https://photos-4.dropbox.com/t/0/AADnYjI1goYuiSUHzkPpZvtbG5cpWbfBzYJvuC_i87l7IA/12/14273442/png/1024x768/3/1396522800/0/2/fungie.png/EjfaVVlYzAX-qJU8faAY_jktsMOPcFqW1dT3nz2Clwc[/img]
- If you want to fight melee - drop your backpack, kill your enemies and put it back on. 1 encumbrence matters, a lot.
- Use bear traps when you are strating out.
- If you don't need to fight - don't.
- When starting out look for places with free equipment. Mines, farms and other distant locations usually have most stuff you need without a big treat to your life. Finding a car on a parking lot could be a bonus too.
- Simply build a two-by-sword to block most zombie blows with ease.
- Don't stockpile food.

[Svinpels]

Oh god! How do I even[sp]kill a shoggoth[/sp]??
It ate three of my bear traps and everything I shot at it!

[Twistshock]

I suppose that's my main issue with melee builds, you either have to drop your backpack/duffel bag before fighting or travel light all the time, as well as rely mostly on dodge/block to protect you. I like carrying a small mountain of foodstuffs, drugs and tools.

[M1nks]

[QUOTE=Twistshock;44437936] I like carrying a small mountain of foodstuffs, drugs and tools.[/QUOTE]

I do too but you can stuff it in a shopping cart or wheelbarrow. And with care you can fit a lot of storage space on your character without impacing torso encumbrance. But it does catch up with you eventually.

[editline]3rd April 2014[/editline]

[QUOTE=Svinpels;44437928]Oh god! How do I even[sp]kill a shoggoth[/sp]??
It ate three of my bear traps and everything I shot at it![/QUOTE]

Never seen one. By the sounds of it I'm quite happy about that...

[Svinpels]

[QUOTE=M1nks;44438024]Never seen one. By the sounds of it I'm quite happy about that...[/QUOTE]

Oh well, I did the responsible thing, and released it into the wilds so I could loot the lab in peace.

[Twistshock]

[QUOTE=Svinpels;44438070]Oh well, I did the responsible thing, and released it into the wilds so I could loot the lab in peace.[/QUOTE]

I went and looked on the forum, and someone wrote a method they used to get rid of one.

[img]http://puu.sh/7UfzE.png[/img]

[Svinpels]

[QUOTE=Twistshock;44438081]I went and looked on the forum, and someone wrote a method they used to get rid of one.[/QUOTE]

Neat,[sp] gonna have to look for some tasers now.
I lured that bastard into a dissecting table several times without it killing it, luckilly they're really slow.[/sp]

Didn't think this would be considered spoilerish, but done.
Sorry about that.

[M1nks]

[QUOTE=Svinpels;44438109]Neat, .
I lured that bastard into a dissecting table several times without it killing it, luckilly they're really slow.[/QUOTE]

Err, spoiler block maybe? I now know what to do and I avoided looking at the wiki so I wouldn't.

[SteakStyes]

[QUOTE=M1nks;44438115]Err, spoiler block maybe? I now know what to do and I avoided looking at the wiki so I wouldn't.[/QUOTE]

What's to say that if you encounter one that it will be under the same conditions?

[StrawberryClock]

[QUOTE=SteakStyles;44441130]What's to say that if you encounter one that it will be under the same conditions?[/QUOTE]

I think mentioning the creature itself is spoilerish.

[Rimbas]

I went against a smoker zombie.

You miss x 5
You dodge x 5
You miss x 5
You dodge x 5
You bash the smoker zombie for 16
You miss x 5
You dodge x 5
You miss x 5
You dodge x 5
You bash the smoker zombie but you don't do any damage
You miss x 5
You dodge x 5...

[Teh Zip File]

Uh, okay. I activated a laser turret and put it on the ground... and it turned around and shot me in the face and I died.

So much for it recognizing me as a friendly.

[Ajaxial]

[QUOTE=Teh Zip File;44442497]Uh, okay. I activated a laser turret and put it on the ground... and it turned around and shot me in the face and I died.

So much for it recognizing me as a friendly.[/QUOTE]

-Snip-

Nevermind! Wrong thread...

[Purple Magpie]

They've been fixing that bug since like 0.6.

[lightningstreak]

Well one of the damn NPCs finally went and broke into my house, and despite all my items being neatly placed in organized storage containers they went and helped themselves to every item they could fit in their pockets, starting with a shotgun, then my medicine and food, and finally my goddamned dog whistle.

They weren't hostile after I put away my weapon, but I took it back out and murdered them. Then I stripped them of their clothes, cut their body into pieces, burned the flesh in my fire place, and cut up their clothing to make into future blankets.

My character, on the other hand, is traumatized.

It's been three days and they still haven't gotten out of the THESE HANDS OF MINE ARE STAINED WITH THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT mood.

Toughen up you big baby you're in an apocalypse not a jrpg

[Purple Magpie]

Yeah that's why I don't play with NPCs. I have a specific organization that can take a while to fix if a bunch of shit gets moved because some asshat broke in.

[MuffinZerg]

[QUOTE=lightningstreak;44447031]Well one of the damn NPCs finally went and broke into my house, and despite all my items being neatly placed in organized storage containers they went and helped themselves to every item they could fit in their pockets, starting with a shotgun, then my medicine and food, and finally my goddamned dog whistle.

They weren't hostile after I put away my weapon, but I took it back out and murdered them. Then I stripped them of their clothes, cut their body into pieces, burned the flesh in my fire place, and cut up their clothing to make into future blankets.

My character, on the other hand, is traumatized.

It's been three days and they still haven't gotten out of the THESE HANDS OF MINE ARE STAINED WITH THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT mood.

Toughen up you big baby you're in an apocalypse not a jrpg[/QUOTE]

He's having a "I never thought humans can be such dicks" crysis over theft attempt, it's fine.

[Svinpels]

I just discovered I can "cauterize...for FUN!" :v:
I guess it's because of a certain trait I've developed.

[Rimbas]

[QUOTE=lightningstreak;44447031]Well one of the damn NPCs finally went and broke into my house, and despite all my items being neatly placed in organized storage containers they went and helped themselves to every item they could fit in their pockets, starting with a shotgun, then my medicine and food, and finally my goddamned dog whistle.

They weren't hostile after I put away my weapon, but I took it back out and murdered them. Then I stripped them of their clothes, cut their body into pieces, burned the flesh in my fire place, and cut up their clothing to make into future blankets.

My character, on the other hand, is traumatized.

It's been three days and they still haven't gotten out of the THESE HANDS OF MINE ARE STAINED WITH THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT mood.

Toughen up you big baby you're in an apocalypse not a jrpg[/QUOTE]

That's why I took psychopath perk. Went through a horde of zombie children and no fucks given. I wonder if you can develop that perk though.

Also unlucky mutagen roulette, got a snout.

[Nutcake]

Does 0.A still have the debug menu?
I went down some stairs in a lab and there is no way back up for some reason.

[ChaosUnleash]

I took a bunch of presumably free 'negative' traits to get more points to spend, and started with the bowman job like you suggested. As luck would have it, literally about ten steps from my evac shelter was a pile of dead bodies and a single crossbow trap, so I now have a crossbow and a shit load of ammo for it! I butchered the corpses to raise my butchery skill and instantly regretted not taking the cannibal trait as there was enough food there for ages! However I sustained on strawberries and the bottles of water that the corpses held, and found a vehicle which appears to be fully functioning but is in need of petrol. I am going to scout the outer boundaries of the town during the evening to try and find a petrol station, so I can fill my empty bottles of water (I hope) with it and get that car moving.

I don't know the exact time but the thing in the bottom right corner appears to be at the right hand side which I presume means it's the evening. It also started raining so I took cover inside my evac shelter. Want to have a crack at starting a fire but I'll probably wait until it's not raining for that. Am I fine with piling up some splintered wood outside and just using the lighter on it? Seems like that'd get a fire going. I want to try and get some squirrel meat or something that I can have a go at cooking too, feels like I'm learning a lot with this playthrough.

My guy outright refuses to sleep though, despite dropping a blanket on a bench AND a lab coat, it just says 'you try to sleep, but can't.' I gave up trying and instead lit that fire outside, using the light it gave to craft some stuff.

Ffs, I got attacked by a pack of wolves that I couldn't get away from or do any damage to. Quite frustrated as I was having fun and then that happens and just spoils it.

Okay so this second start is interesting. I spawned in a shelter which was near a bunch of houses and had to kill quite a lot of zombies to begin with. Thank god for the compound bow. Then, I found a 'shimmering portal' and probably about 15 dead scientists, all with clean water bottles and CBM modules.

[WarRage]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/KeMEfYB.png[/IMG]

This is my build it utilizes late game instead of surviving early. (Live early and have a easier late game(Also clown profesion for mad points for stats)

[Svinpels]

[QUOTE=ChaosUnleash;44449305]I am going to scout the outer boundaries of the town during the evening to try and find a petrol station, so I can fill my empty bottles of water (I hope) with it and get that car moving.
[/QUOTE]
You can also siphon gas from other cars with a rubber hose, you can find one by disassembling, or smashing a fridge.
[QUOTE]
My guy outright refuses to sleep though.
[/QUOTE]
Messed up sleep cycles can be annoying, I tend to take some cough syrup (if ambien is unavailable), or some beer or alcohol if I happen to find it.
Though if you have a light source, you could get som reading done instead.

[ChaosUnleash]

So some yellow question marks kept appearing outside my house, I opened the door and was hit by a bear, dying instantly. Grr. Started a new save (again) and am this time in a bit of an odd location that feels kinda crappy. Tempted to suicide and hope for a better place but that's not really in the spirit of the game so I'm going to stick with it. There is a 'hazardous waste sarcophagus' nearby which I may go check out just out of interest.

[Svinpels]

*knock-knock* "Good evening, have you heard the gospel of claws to the face?" *Maul'd*

[StrawberryClock]

Question marks means you hear noise in that general direction outside your field of view.

[M1nks]

[QUOTE=SteakStyles;44441130]What's to say that if you encounter one that it will be under the same conditions?[/QUOTE]

I don't of course, but I still don't have to figure it out for myself which is 90% of the battle. Sounds like it's a bit of a beast to take down.

[editline]4th April 2014[/editline]

[QUOTE=StrawberryClock;44441195]I think mentioning the creature itself is spoilerish.[/QUOTE]

It was spoiler blocked out. So I guess if you didn't look at that then you wouldn't know what critter it was.

Oh well.

[editline]4th April 2014[/editline]

[QUOTE=aurum481;44448819]That's why I took psychopath perk. Went through a horde of zombie children and no fucks given. I wonder if you can develop that perk though.

Also unlucky mutagen roulette, got a snout.[/QUOTE]

You can if you kill enough of them. Faith went through a schools worth and now she's totally blase about killing the little undead tykes.

[editline]4th April 2014[/editline]

[Svinpels]

[QUOTE=M1nks;44451700]
You can if you kill enough of them. Faith went through a schools worth and now she's totally blase about killing the little undead tykes.
[/QUOTE]

Does this count a static number, or do you have to keep the "guilty" mood going until you reach said number?

[M1nks]

Does anyone here know what the bionic 'Protective Lenses' actually does? I've installed it going on the description which sounded like something my near sighted Faith would want. Perhaps it would mean she wouldn't have to wear glasses anymore (nope), perhaps it would provide straight eye protection from physical attacks, perhaps from gas or toxins?

Even after being installed though I can't see any hint as to their actual function.

[editline]4th April 2014[/editline]

[QUOTE=Svinpels;44452368]Does this count a static number, or do you have to keep the "guilty" mood going until you reach said number?[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure but my zomkid massacre was spread over a couple of days. The first day it tanked, the second day I noticed I was getting the 'you feel terrible' message but my morale wasn't actually being affected. And then the messages stopped altogether.

So I think you just have to kill enough of them and eventually you get inured to it. I don't play with NPC's on (because of all of the horror stories I've heard) but I have been tempted to try it with eating human flesh and see if the same thing happens. Unless eating human flesh when you don't have the cannibal trait just makes you sick rather than uber guilty?

[ChaosUnleash]

SURVIVED A DAY!

How did I do it? Does anybody care? Probably not, but I'm gonna type it anyway :).

I started off by making a crowbar after breaking a locker in the shelter, then used the crowbar to break into a house on the edge of a town. The house had three zombies in it, but the bow I started with using the bowman job was just enough to kill them all. Inside the house I found a trench coat which I equipped for extra storage space and then I just looted as many drinks bottles as I could carry. I then cooked up some Moose meat after being attacked (and nearly killed) by a moose, and ate some of it while putting some away in lockers. After recovering a little from the near death experience with the moose I went back to the house I had broken into before and butchered all the corpses in the area. I also found a crossbow trap and disarmed that to get a crossbow, which I made arrows for by breaking the benches in the shelter. By this point it was getting quite late so I found a hose, siphoned as much petrol as I had empty bottles for and then went to sleep in the shelter - waking up because of the cold twice. It's now day two, I'm still alive!

Gonna try find a screwdriver so I can disassemble a bed and try to get the blanket to make a makeshift bed.