Sterl500

We all have that one trait we can't seem to play without. Sometimes we sacrifice a whole lot in order to play it, other times it's pre-built into the character class. Personally I have three.
 
1) Outdoorsman - A lot of times, just waiting out the rain to prevent getting ill is just not very fun. That being the case, how about spending a mere two points for all the singing and dancing and running in the rain a body can handle? You could even pay for it with a tendency for illness and never get a cold! (Seriously, why is the rain cold mechanic still a thing?)
 
2) Lucky - I can't play without this perk. It's just amazing to get more rare loot off of zeds and find two or more axes in that warehouse. Plus it helps you not fudge a repair up. Score!
 
3) Axe man - Couples just fine with lucky and I get it by just picking my favorite class, the lumberjack or the fire marshal. Swing, swing, chop that tree! Swing, swing, until they bleed!
 
Honourable mentions -
 
1) Dexterous - For a few points, everything gets in and out of your sack fifty percent faster. Need a bat from your duffel but your dead neighbors keep chasing you? No worries, with dexterous you can shave precious seconds off the search and equip time.
 
2) Inconspicuous - While this one is kinda expensive, it's well worth the extra negative trait. I guess they mistake you for a dead comrade? Perhaps that bruise you've got from walking into that bar is making you look more dead than you will be in the next few days? Whatever the case, the dead just don't seem to notice you as often, and that's a rare gift indeed.

We all have that one trait we can't seem to play without. Sometimes we sacrifice a whole lot in order to play it, other times it's pre-built into the character class. Personally I have three.
 
1) Outdoorsman - A lot of times, just waiting out the rain to prevent getting ill is just not very fun. That being the case, how about spending a mere two points for all the singing and dancing and running in the rain a body can handle? You could even pay for it with a tendency for illness and never get a cold! (Seriously, why is the rain cold mechanic still a thing?)
 
2) Lucky - I can't play without this perk. It's just amazing to get more rare loot off of zeds and find two or more axes in that warehouse. Plus it helps you not fudge a repair up. Score!
 
3) Axe man - Couples just fine with lucky and I get it by just picking my favorite class, the lumberjack or the fire marshal. Swing, swing, chop that tree! Swing, swing, until they bleed!
 
Honourable mentions -
 
1) Dexterous - For a few points, everything gets in and out of your sack fifty percent faster. Need a bat from your duffel but your dead neighbors keep chasing you? No worries, with dexterous you can shave precious seconds off the search and equip time.
 
2) Inconspicuous - While this one is kinda expensive, it's well worth the extra negative trait. I guess they mistake you for a dead comrade? Perhaps that bruise you've got from walking into that bar is making you look more dead than you will be in the next few days? Whatever the case, the dead just don't seem to notice you as often, and that's a rare gift indeed.

Outdoorsman.
Lucky.
Thick Skinned.
Strong.


Ultimate Ranger.

Lucky and Dexterous, definitely.
 
I experience experiment with other traits but when I drop those two, I just eff up a lot.
 
Thick-skinned and Inconspicuous are starting to be part of my go-to traits too.

All of Those:

Aside from the common classics already mentioned, I'm very partial to Outdoorsman and Cat's Eyes.

dextrous, outdoorsman, weak stomach, slow healer (SP) slow reader (SP) maybe fast reader in MP

Illiterate, because reading books is boring and also unnecessary if you are aiming to kill as much zombies as you can and it gives a nice +8 points to spend.

We all have that one trait we can't seem to play without. Sometimes we sacrifice a whole lot in order to play it, other times it's pre-built into the character class. Personally I have three.
 
1) Outdoorsman - A lot of times, just waiting out the rain to prevent getting ill is just not very fun. That being the case, how about spending a mere two points for all the singing and dancing and running in the rain a body can handle? You could even pay for it with a tendency for illness and never get a cold! (Seriously, why is the rain cold mechanic still a thing?)
 
2) Lucky - I can't play without this perk. It's just amazing to get more rare loot off of zeds and find two or more axes in that warehouse. Plus it helps you not fudge a repair up. Score!
 
3) Axe man - Couples just fine with lucky and I get it by just picking my favorite class, the lumberjack or the fire marshal. Swing, swing, chop that tree! Swing, swing, until they bleed!
 
Honourable mentions -
 
1) Dexterous - For a few points, everything gets in and out of your sack fifty percent faster. Need a bat from your duffel but your dead neighbors keep chasing you? No worries, with dexterous you can shave precious seconds off the search and equip time.
 
2) Inconspicuous - While this one is kinda expensive, it's well worth the extra negative trait. I guess they mistake you for a dead comrade? Perhaps that bruise you've got from walking into that bar is making you look more dead than you will be in the next few days? Whatever the case, the dead just don't seem to notice you as often, and that's a rare gift indeed.

Empty notebooks are a valuable commodity IMO. Why not rip pages from the books which become sheets of paper. You could use nails, tape and other forms of fasteners to mount then notes, or simply place them on tables, floors and other places like you would a trap.

How about gasoline/diesel generators?
 
Windmills and Solar panels between the 1970s and the late 90s were uncommon, especially in an extremely conservative state like Kentucky. You might find them on buildings like the logging area and possibly electrical relays and powerstations, but they'd be far too bulky to simply carry back to your base and install them.
 
Small generators could be used to power a small home, and with a prevelance of gas, it would be a simple task to keep things running. The gasoline generators are also user friendly. Bigger generators that run off of diesel would be found in warehouses and logging companies. They'd require more knowhow to keep running, but you might be able to use power tools as well as the general appliances. Diesel is noisy, so maybe not such a good idea?
 
Whatever the case, I think generating your own electricity would be a good idea. Heck, if you were really industrious and knowledgable, you might even clear a way to the water purification plant and put the water supply back in good standing.

Bye bye.
 
http://xkcd.com/1357/

I like the idea of using other fasteners other than nails!
 
There are already sheets of paper in game, and an empty notebook seems like a great place to get more to me!
 
But, the reason I mentioned the empty notebook and not a sheet of paper was that currently we can only edit empty notebooks. At least I think that is true. A sheet of paper that we can leave a note on instead of an entire notebook makes a lot more sense I agree.
 
My idea of attaching them to the signpost was meant to be a way to leave player made messages on sign posts. We can leave edited notebooks around our safehouse already, but I wanted to expand on the use of signs. Right now we can only put arrows or a skull and crossbones on them. While its cool that we can paint those graphics in whatever paint we find, it isn't all that useful. But, if I could leave a player made note on a sign, I would find a lot more value in them.

This is why you need a charge controller, but nobody seems to ever mention that in these threads...probably because the 'average joe' doesn't know.
 
Also no standard appliances will be able to run off a solar panel for a couple of reasons. Primarily because they use AC and a solar panel generates DC current. That's why a DC inverter is required.
 
Solar panel --> Charge controller --> Battery Bank --> DC inverter (that has the appropriate wattage output) --> Appliance.

So as far as I can remember, Panic has remained unchanged. For those of you who are new or haven't played for a while, Panic is the "shocked" moodle which can narrow your cone of vision and reduce weapon accuracy. As far as game mechanics goes, it's decent though relatively unrealistic.
 
I propose a future rework of the panic mechanic where stress levels take a front seat to driving many combat and other related mechanics. Higher levels of stress lead to both beneficial and adverse effects.
 
Stress is caused by things like combat, tense situations with survivors, and general illness or lack of basic needs like sleep and nourishment. Things like drugs and food reduce stress as well as getting out into the sun. Hyper/Hypothermia can negatively impact stress.
 
Low levels of stress promote a relaxed state of mind. This means you read faster and gain increased benefits from these activities (increased reading speed, slight xp multiplier). While relaxed you sleep better, eat consistent portions and are generally a less moody survivor which makes it easier to deal with other people. Health is consistent and you perform complex tasks with ease.
 
Medium levels of stress can cause blurred vision, increased heart rate and breathing, and an increase in strength (making it easier to carry a heavy load if mildly overburdened and fight off one or two zombies). You are likely engaged in sustained combat with a zed. The longer you spend in combat, or running from things, the quicker your stress increases. If you try to sleep while in this zone of stress, you will suffer from mild insomnia which decreases your sleep and interrupts your circadian rhythm.
 
Medium levels of stress can trigger the adrenaline moodle near the high zone which grants you bonuses to combat while exhausting you more quickly. Bleeding is lessened, and broken bones impede you less until it wears off. Better give yourself some first aid. Minor tremors prevent fluid lock picking and increases the chance of failing to open a window. Go out for a smoke, it'll calm you down.
 
High levels of stress decrease cone of vision and shoots more adrenaline into your body. You're fleeing for your life by now, increasing your endurance and speed of climbing over fences and ascending/descending rope. Don't look back. Minor injuries to medium injuries (like scratches and bites) will not be noticed until you calm down some. You will not stay in high stress normally unless you are still in combat or have taken the brooding trait. You are quick to anger in this level. Massive tremors prevent timely lockpicking. By the time you have that door open, you're either being eaten, or back into the medium levels of stress. Spend your time running. Time to pop open that wine bud.
 
Fatal levels of stress can cause heart palpitations and overweight players will likely suffer a heart attack. Your body is shutting down and needs rest, you are blacking out. You are distinctly aware of injuries, stamina recovers slowly, you're basically one of them. Very real chance of death unless you find a safe place to rest. Can't bring the stress down with alcohol or smokes. Both will make your situation worse.
 
This is what I came up with. I think the panic mechanic is outdated and needs an overhaul or total rework. I think even encountering one zed and getting panicked is silly.

It would be great if there was some way to label your containers. This would make organizing your supplies so much easier, especially on multiplayer if you share a base. 

So as far as I can remember, Panic has remained unchanged. For those of you who are new or haven't played for a while, Panic is the "shocked" moodle which can narrow your cone of vision and reduce weapon accuracy. As far as game mechanics goes, it's decent though relatively unrealistic.
 
I propose a future rework of the panic mechanic where stress levels take a front seat to driving many combat and other related mechanics. Higher levels of stress lead to both beneficial and adverse effects.
 
Stress is caused by things like combat, tense situations with survivors, and general illness or lack of basic needs like sleep and nourishment. Things like drugs and food reduce stress as well as getting out into the sun. Hyper/Hypothermia can negatively impact stress.
 
Low levels of stress promote a relaxed state of mind. This means you read faster and gain increased benefits from these activities (increased reading speed, slight xp multiplier). While relaxed you sleep better, eat consistent portions and are generally a less moody survivor which makes it easier to deal with other people. Health is consistent and you perform complex tasks with ease.
 
Medium levels of stress can cause blurred vision, increased heart rate and breathing, and an increase in strength (making it easier to carry a heavy load if mildly overburdened and fight off one or two zombies). You are likely engaged in sustained combat with a zed. The longer you spend in combat, or running from things, the quicker your stress increases. If you try to sleep while in this zone of stress, you will suffer from mild insomnia which decreases your sleep and interrupts your circadian rhythm.
 
Medium levels of stress can trigger the adrenaline moodle near the high zone which grants you bonuses to combat while exhausting you more quickly. Bleeding is lessened, and broken bones impede you less until it wears off. Better give yourself some first aid. Minor tremors prevent fluid lock picking and increases the chance of failing to open a window. Go out for a smoke, it'll calm you down.
 
High levels of stress decrease cone of vision and shoots more adrenaline into your body. You're fleeing for your life by now, increasing your endurance and speed of climbing over fences and ascending/descending rope. Don't look back. Minor injuries to medium injuries (like scratches and bites) will not be noticed until you calm down some. You will not stay in high stress normally unless you are still in combat or have taken the brooding trait. You are quick to anger in this level. Massive tremors prevent timely lockpicking. By the time you have that door open, you're either being eaten, or back into the medium levels of stress. Spend your time running. Time to pop open that wine bud.
 
Fatal levels of stress can cause heart palpitations and overweight players will likely suffer a heart attack. Your body is shutting down and needs rest, you are blacking out. You are distinctly aware of injuries, stamina recovers slowly, you're basically one of them. Very real chance of death unless you find a safe place to rest. Can't bring the stress down with alcohol or smokes. Both will make your situation worse.
 
This is what I came up with. I think the panic mechanic is outdated and needs an overhaul or total rework. I think even encountering one zed and getting panicked is silly.