bobchaos

Sneaking through West Point right now, without much issue. Sure, lots of zombies around, and if you're unfortunate enough to make noise, they'll be on your ass, but it's great fun.

There's no such thing as a too hard hardest mode as long as there's less hard modes too.  Otherwise all its doing is cutting out all the people who have put hundreds or thousands of hours into the game and don't find it a challenge otherwise.

Hitting a move key should return time to normal. Still requires you to do something but it's faster than using the mouse or even a keyboard shortcut to set speed.
 
You're lucky it was just the one, for me it's usually whole damn 100+ zombie hordes o.O I hear one bang on a window, figure "bah i'm upstairs it'll be fine" but then as soon as the window breaks the whole first floor gets flooded and there's zombies waiting under the windows too

I've been playing build 33 and was thinking (like you) that you now own a sledge or live out in the woods :/
 
Having ladders would add a new option at least. Assuming you can place it from below It would allow you to climb up to otherwise inaccessible areas. No one wants to sleep on a roof under the stars on a foldable chair but it's certainly preferable to being zombie food.
 
I also like the notion of 2 ladder types. You could have an option to pull the free standing ladder up with you after you've climbed it so you can use it again to get down somewhere else (assuming the zombies don't knock it over before you can grab it!). Fastened ladders obviously would require skill and tools to install and remove.

I've noticed something similar myself, seems whenever I settle in some area, no matter how remote the location or what precautions I take, within a few hours the place becomes flooded with zombies. If I sleep in a house and leave in the morning its fine but if I spend the day there too I usually find zombies littered everywhere before going to bed again. If I wait another day or 2 they'll start grouping up denser into proper hordes. If I try to leave between the zombies first showing up and them grouping up I end up dodging between zombies all the way out of town :/
 
In survival under build 33 I have found it impossible to have a classic "base" where you gather all your stuff until I find a sledgehammer to break stairs with. Prior to that it's safe to assume your safehouse will get overrun sooner rather than later, forcing you to go live somewhere else until the zombies clear out on their own. My last character has 6 different shelters in Mul. Feels like there's no choice to stock multiple shelters since they get completely overrun by zeds on a regular basis. I've also given up on using storage in my smaller shelters, bug-out bags only. No time to go through the cupboards when evacuating in the middle of the night as i've done on an alarmingly regular basis since build 33 came out.
 
Another example: My current character is camped out at the tavern on the West edge of Mul. When I first got there (coming from the big warehouse at the other end of town), I found about 12 zombies total in the entire area between the gas station and the small warehouse. I figured it was a quiet part of town and setup camp but 2 days later while I was getting ready to go raid the bookstore I saw them come streaming in. Roughly 500 zombies spent a few days indoors reading those books I already had, then (once they grouped up a bit leaving some "corridors" to navigate) I went out to look for a quiet spot to cut some trees, found one, hacked a few trees, checked around to make sure no zeds heard me, and went back to cutting. Hours later when I was almost done sawing, that magic super-horde came out of the forest behind me coming from the tavern's general direction, so I ran back home. There were entire streams of zombies everywhere on my path right up to my sheetrope, and my private horde back home was clearly missing a few hundred members.
 
These examples have me believing there's a super horde out there that cares nothing for the usual rules of zombie population and that's actively following the player around. Assuming that's true, you either have a sledgehammer, you're a nomad, or you're zombie food :/ I think I'll try having one of my characters go live way out of town in the middle of the forest and see if the zeds follow me there too. Maybe someone here's already tried and knows the outcome?
 

I've been pretty far out in every direction from my "main" base on my current life by now, but it still looks like the zombies follow me if I pause in an area for too long :/ That said I've been exploring in a more linear pattern, maybe I'll try your circles thing, see if that helps.
 
I guess the point to this post is difficulty has certainly increased, which is fine with me, but I'd like a bit more info on the new spawning and migration mechanics to understand where that magic 500 zed horde that appears to follow me everywhere comes from and what it's actually tracking, if anything (hopefully not the player through some magic 6th sense, that would be lame :/ )
 
*Edit* I was browsing around the suggestion forum and it occurred to me: Could this super horde that's harassing me be the first implementation of the "sadist director"? If so, I assure you TIS, it's working awesomely

Hey its Benson,

wanted to share some ideas about making the winter in PZ more cooler.
 
Ice:
- the water in all sinks, toilets should be able to freeze and no more be able to be exploited in this condition
- the small seas should be able to freeze. no more fishing possible, but you can walk on them
- the river is always free of ice

Snow:
- player should be able to catch huge amounts of snow, and to liquify it (tainted water)
- you can draw arrows in the snow, for  "orientation" (until it snows again...)
- maybe visible footsteps/tiretracks?

Health:
- player should be able to die from cold
- cold wind has bitten my flowers
- catching a cold from cold

Maybe just having a small bullseye as a cursor when aiming a gun so you can tell which zombie you are aiming at?
 
Placing the cursor [bullseye] on top of a zombie wont mean that you will hit him, but it means you are aiming/shooting at him.
 
This would work for the hunting rifle for long distances.

most of those techs were available in the 90s, but not widely distributed. I'm guessing finding a solar panel in averageville, KS back in the 90s would have been quite an impressive find. I personally liked an idea pitched in another thread about modifying cars and genies to run on booze (high level mechanic perhaps?) and having the ability to brew some good ol moonshine (high level cooking?) It's a versatile idea and lets face it, if you're trying to rebuild civilization you HAVE to start with a good distillery XD

I don't understand why everyone feels obligated to go for carpentry for a renewable source of water. Why not just settle close to a lake or the river? I like the idea of having other skills be able to make water (water filter and moisture condenser for engineers for instance) but overall, water is too easy as is.
 
Even in the 8 month later sandbox pre-set water is rarely an issue for me. +1 to all ideas that imply making water less plentiful o.O We could have a similar discussion about food :/ I assume NPCs will help with all that someday tho since players will no longer be the only ones looting and consuming resources.

Rathlord wins all arguments in this thread on account of having more, better sourced references. Science is that simple sometimes

Ignoring the argument and going on topic o.O
 
In RL, most blood-borne diseases can be contracted by mere contact under the right conditions. Human bodies are filled with holes! All it takes is one micro crack in your skin for an infection to wiggle its way in. Personally I'm just happy the game lets me get away with being splattered by zombie brains all day long without ever getting any in my mouth or eyes o.O To fight zeds in melee without risks of infection you'd need a complete level 4 bio-hazard suit.
 
Dying from a scratch is really frustrating (even more so when you bother to take thick-skinned) but it's realistic. I think its safe to assume the zombie virus is extremely virulent, the kind of shit they keep locked up in the deeper recesses of level four containment facilities with a finger close to the incineration button at all times o.O
 
+1 to sandbox option for deadly bites only tho, from a pure gameplay perspective it would be a great addition for more casual games.

I'm sure there could be a way to make sounds in game be as loud to the player as it is to the zombies. measuring decibels is pretty straightforward, surely it can be taught to a game engine. Turning on the sink should certainly come out softer than an axe swing at a tree through my headphones.
 
They could have the decibel value of certain action correlate directly to how far off it will attract zombies. Something like (just throwing numbers here of course, I'm not exactly a sound engineer) anything bellow 50db can't be heard/is ignored, anything between 50 and 100 is heard 1 tile away per decibel above 50 and 100+ pulls in all the zombies in every loaded tile like house alarms and gunshots currently do.

I don't notice much of a difference in game. Yes, I can observe the difference in reaction of the zombies to the noises I am making and correlate their response to different sound levels, thereby learning which is the loudest indirectly. But, to me listening to the sounds in the game, I can't tell much of a difference between chopping a tree, pouring water into a bottle, and breaking down a door on a decibel level.
I have no clue how loud a 'Q' yell is since it plays no sound in game. The only way I can tell is by comparing the zombies reaction to it to their reactions to other sounds.
You don't think this could use some tweaking at some point?

I didn't say wine couldn't be used as disinfectant, now did I? Maybe before telling someone else they don't know what they're talking about, you should actually read what they're saying. I said it had less alcohol than other alcoholic drinks except for beer (unlike your claim in the OP). [1]
 
The irony of you telling me I don't know what I'm talking about continues with the bloody rags bit. It doesn't "magically" get infected, it gets infected because it's exposed to all of the viruses and bacteria floating around in the air [2]. Hilariously, though, you're even more wrong; blood does indeed get infected in our system, it's called sepsis or a "blood infection" and is quite common [3][4][5]. This happens when the inside of the body is exposed to viruses and bacteria outside of it (sound familiar, just like the rag!). This is a common and life threatening condition with up to 3 million cases a year in the US alone.
 
Cutting and stabbing is not the same thing. The forces exerted on a blade are completely different. Further, kitchen knives also frequently break at the hilt, not the blade. They're frequently attached with cheap molded plastic [6] (the metal pulls through or out of this easily) or with rivets [7] (also frequently cheap which snap when exposed to sudden pressure). You don't exert sudden pressure on things with kitchen knives- they're meant to be gently pushed through food. Kitchen knives are made for cutting, not stabbing, and it shows [8]. You can kill a living human being with a kitchen knife because you can stab them in fleshy areas repeatedly without putting too much pressure on the blade and handle. You can't do this with zombies, because you have to stab them in the brain, which is surrounded by one of the toughest bones in the body when exposed to piercing.
 
 
Citations

Some of these valid points, some of them pretty far off of reality.
 
 
Wine actually has lower alcohol content than all other common drinking alcohols except for beer.
 
 
 
Rags with your blood on them definitely, definitely can and will get infected.
 
 
 
Kitchen knives don't handle stabbing at all well. You seem to have forgotten that people have bones in them as well as flesh. You can't kill a zombie without at least winging a bit of bone. I broke a kitchen knife the other day cutting pizza. They aren't as durable as you think.

Ignoring the argument and going on topic o.O
 
In RL, most blood-borne diseases can be contracted by mere contact under the right conditions. Human bodies are filled with holes! All it takes is one micro crack in your skin for an infection to wiggle its way in. Personally I'm just happy the game lets me get away with being splattered by zombie brains all day long without ever getting any in my mouth or eyes o.O To fight zeds in melee without risks of infection you'd need a complete level 4 bio-hazard suit.
 
Dying from a scratch is really frustrating (even more so when you bother to take thick-skinned) but it's realistic. I think its safe to assume the zombie virus is extremely virulent, the kind of shit they keep locked up in the deeper recesses of level four containment facilities with a finger close to the incineration button at all times o.O
 
+1 to sandbox option for deadly bites only tho, from a pure gameplay perspective it would be a great addition for more casual games.

Well, when your wounds have the bleeding status in PZ that's typically a really bad, heavy bleed. I can see scratches breaking the skin and bleeding a little bit but not bad enough to incur the bleeding penalty.

Smaller natural water sources like Creeks in Muldraugh would be useful too

2 days, 15 hours :/ first attempt was a pretty epic fail XD
 
Here's the journal:
 
Day 1: I awake in a house and am immediatly aware of a group of zombies right outside the door. I grab everything I can and manage to sneak in a few neighboring houses. I've found a trusty hammer and some reading material but the only food I could get my hands on is a bag of chips and a water bottle. It's going to have to last a bit... Zombies find me while I contemplate my bad situation and a make a run for it. I end up coming out of the wood near Twiggy's which is surpisingly quiet. I sweep the inside for zeds and settle here for the night.

Day 2: I tried to go downtown, clearly it was a bad idea... I got chased around by zombies right out of town and ended up at the camping spot. I found some nice supplies in the kitchen and I thought I could catch some sleep there but I was so tired from running I couldn't even clear the building of zombies. I'll go get some rest in the forest for tonight and clear it tomorrow morning. Won't be sleeping tonight I hesitate to write this, but a zombie managed to scratch me during my frantic escape from the camping spot, hope it doesn't get infected.

Day 3: Still on the run, zombies everywhere, can't get to a bed... so tired... so thirsty... think i'ma just lay down right here...
 
*Edit* I'd never noticed there was a preset sandbox option. It's just great! Challenge or not I think i'ma keep playing this "mode" for a while. Even without the "scavenged food only" rule this is pretty damn brutal

lemmy101, I just went through the whole steam thread that started this, and I can't help but notice that between that thread and this one there's like 7 pages of people all telling the angry poster to fuck off and TIS to keep up the good work. I can't think of many other games studios that garner such damn near unanimous support from it's community.
 
A former colleague of mine used to say "Give me your numbers I'll make em say what I want" but even he would have a hard time putting a negative spin on your current 92% favorable steam reviews. I'll chuck off the occasional mean thread to that Dunning-Kruger effect some guy mentioned: Unskilled people fail to appreciate the difficulty of jobs that require skill
 
Just thought I'd point out those facts.

lemmy101, I just went through the whole steam thread that started this, and I can't help but notice that between that thread and this one there's like 7 pages of people all telling the angry poster to fuck off and TIS to keep up the good work. I can't think of many other games studios that garner such damn near unanimous support from it's community.
 
A former colleague of mine used to say "Give me your numbers I'll make em say what I want" but even he would have a hard time putting a negative spin on your current 92% favorable steam reviews. I'll chuck off the occasional mean thread to that Dunning-Kruger effect some guy mentioned: Unskilled people fail to appreciate the difficulty of jobs that require skill
 
Just thought I'd point out those facts.

Don't even mention them the week before. That's just asking for trouble!
Just release them in secret one day and hope for the best. It will be a nice little surprise

I do have to insist that the action name will be 'Push all teh butt0ns!1!'.

I was thinking about how some things require a certain profession (Electrician for generators and whatnot) and I was thinking "Hey, what about some kind of feature where you can screw around with certain objects that gives you a chance of figuring out how to use it......or break it?"
 
No offence, but the magazines that teach you this stuff are sometimes difficult to find.
I was thinking how a tamper with feature could help out with the dilemma.
 
With it, you could think "I checked all the nearby places and STILL couldn't find that book.
Should I just mess around with the generator to try to figure it out, or check out that building all the way across town?
If I mess around with it, then I might break it, but the books that would help me learn it might not even be across town and I'd waste my time."
 
What do you guys think?

It would be easy to argue that the zombie infection is just more infectious than common infections one might get in real life. It did just wipe out all humans no problem after all :/ 
 
Also may be worth pointing out that because you did not get symptomatic doesn't mean you didn't get infected with something, just that it's not brutal enough that your immune system can't deal with it. The common cold is a great example of this: most people are carriers but only become symptomatic and transmission vectors when their immune system takes a hit from playing half-naked in the snow.
 
Regarding wounds closing, it does seem to be long in game, but then again we only get "scratched" as a wound desciption. "scratch" describes every not-bite wound in game, so it could be a damn deep cut like an actual scratch. THat's where I'd improve it personally, extend on the kinds of wounds one can get. Then a scratch could stop bleeding in a few hours where a deep cut could take a few days.