Morbo513

In my most recent playthrough I used the perks I said in the OP, and I've found 3 baseball bats, 2 fireaxes, 3 hammers, about 80 9mm rounds, 48 shotgun shells, the pistol and shotgun themselves and a load of other useful items all within the first 2 in-game days, from about 10 different houses (I found some of the 9mm round in a bin in the school, what were they doing there?!). I'm not sure if, and if so how, the Lucky perk actually affects loot rolls.

I like the idea of a few isolated fireteams, but they shouldn't be organised in anyway, at least not beyond the first month or two. I also don't believe their weaponry should be much better than other survivors - I'm not too familiar with the timeline, but say the quarantine collapses and what's left of the army are shooting anything that moves, their ammo wouldn't last very long, and neither would they with all the noise they'd make. As for an army base, I think no. It'd be everyone's main objective to get there, clear it out and fortify it, it'd be too good. Unless it was absolutely CRAWLING with zombies, and had already been looted near-dry. As for the living military's presence, I like to imagine that in zombie media, the military has gone to absolute sh** and whoever's survived has grabbed what they could and buggered off. The odd zombie soldier with a (very) low chance of having some high-end gear on them would be cool, but they'd have to still be wearing their armour making them more difficult to defeat. Either that or on average they'd be stronger than your regular zombie. One of the professions the player can choose will be military too, according to Professions.lua. Soldiers should have a positive modifier for interaction with each other.

I hope it happens automatically when the player is idle/reading or doing something time-consuming that doesn't require standing up. It'd also be nice if the player sits on the nearest chair or bed when doing so if there's one in the same room.

I don't know what you're talking about, I got an email from a Nigerian prince and I'm $2000 richer. If you're saying that a video is as believable as one of those schemes, then so are your facts about suppressors. "Blasting my way out" wouldn't be without consequence; that's however many bullets I used I'm never getting back (unless munition crafting is added), plus whatever effect it has on the equipment's condition. That and even with the suppressor, firing, then moving, then firing some more can have a similar result as firing an unsuppressed weapon and staying in the same position. Given enough ammo and maybe a spare gun or two, it's entirely possible to blast your way out of such a situation, suppressor or no. Here's a video of Hickock45 using one of those oil filter suppressors. I'm pretty damn sure this guy doesn't doctor his videos in any way: Granted, he's using .22s, but it still doesn't mean such an item would be ineffective. And of course even an unedited video might not accurately reflect the difference of volume, we're not there to hear it with our own ears. How many people in Knox county have the knowledge to apply bandages? How many of them can build walls, farm, cook and operate firearms near-flawlessly the first time they've used them etc. The fact of the matter is in PZ, player characters can learn how to do these things, and with knowledge in the right fields I'm sure it wouldn't be such a long shot that someone could work out how to suppress a firearm. As for commercial ones, do you know every single hunter and firearm enthusiast in Knox county? Are you sure that the statistics you used are 100% accurate? There's also two factors you're missing here; The military, and criminals/black market. Sure, in real life the latter may not be big in KY, I'm no expert on the county or America as a whole, but this entire game is fiction; there's any number of handwavey explanations for their presence in the area, for example SF enter the quarantine zone to extract a VIP but get themselves killed, something like that. Also, to tell me that the right course of action is to run is pretty much invalidating what you said earlier - "it should be a hard choice". How can you be so sure that such an item would either add nothing to the game, or break it when it hasn't been implemented? The one mod I've tried with them made them entirely silent which is exactly what I don't want - THAT is game-breaking. What I suggested is both a compromise and realistic. As for "adding nothing to the game", right now that's how I feel about the firearms themselves. Of course that'll change when NPCs are re-implemented, but when it comes to zombies they really aren't ideal. Again, say it was YOU and not some computer-controlled character in this apocalypse. If you even had the slightest idea of how to make a suppressor, even a shoddy one, wouldn't you try to? If you had knowledge in the pertinent fields (Physics, engineering etc), wouldn't you get to work on it? Even though as you said earlier you have no place to safely test it - Wouldn't you keep it on the firearm you're so afraid of using in the event that it actually helps? Hell, have that as one feature, a low-level crafted suppressor has a chance of failing and a chance of causing something catastrophic. I really don't understand why you're so vehemently opposed to their existence in the game. It might not be 110% realistic and factually accurate, but what is, in ANY game? Edit; I was looking at suggestion threads and came across this by chance - not to be an arse but these are your own words "We can't let the fear of having something done poorly keep us from attempting it"

So, what are your favourite perks and proession? Mine's got to be Construction Worker (Handy & Thick skinned), with Athletic & Strong. To make up for the perks I choose light drinker, hard of hearing, brooding, short tempered and hearty appetite. Honestly those drawbacks are easy to make up for and are far outweighed by the perks. Thick skinned came in handy just now, I tripped an alarm and made the mistake of hanging around, ended up fighting more zombies than I anticipated and took some damage, but made it out without getting properly bitten or scratched

Yeah, it is, and I agree on the ridiculous drop rate. Apparently that's the minimum though! Anyway, I think I've worked out how to do it, I just need to find where the vanilla weapons are defined Related: These are apparently "home" made but the level of equipment used to make them would probably be unobtainable in the zombie apocalypse. Pay attention to the part with the FN FAL and M14 (1:00 and 3:00). This makes me really want subsonic ammunition added, but right now I can't see a way to have a weapon's properties change based on the ammo loaded. It's probably possible with Lua but I'm not well versed in it.

Are you talking about suppressors or ammo here? This is exactly what I'm trying to accommodate with the way I suggested it; Firing a suppressed weapon while surrounded by zombies would still draw them to you, however it wouldn't get the ones that are way off-screen. Again, the point is to make firearms a more, if only slightly, viable option in an emergency situation. It's simple; Take two identical situations except for the fact that in one, the firearm in question is suppressed (In the fashion I proposed). So, you're in West Point's town centre, zombies around every corner. You've got a good 6 or 7 coming at you, with an almost-broken fire axe, and a pistol with a decent amount of ammo. With an unsuppressed weapon, using it would be out of the question. You're going to draw in more zombies than you have bullets. If it's suppressed, you might attract say 70% of the zombies on-screen, but you might have near enough the amount of ammo to deal with them. This simply isn't true in my opinion, but it's evident that this is the way you think. What's the point in balancing anything, with this view? Even more reason to add craftable ones! The video in the OP seems to prove that real improvised suppressors aren't ineffective (Granted, the AK-74 was still loud as hell) or dangerous. Maybe someone who has no idea what they're doing could totally mess it up and create a glocknade yes, but as I said earlier there could be skills, traits and professions to accommodate this. As for actually implementing them, I doubt that'd take major effort - It's the balancing and art that would. When I find the time, I'm going to attempt to do them myself for the sake of proof of concept. There's at least one mod that adds suppressors, but it makes the firearms in question entirely silent which I really didn't like. I've asked the creator for permission to convert them for use with the vanilla weapons, or the pistol at least.

Oh, but they did. That's exactly what I'm saying; I disabled the mod, started a new game and found an M82 in the closet. I fixed it by removing the mod altogether though.

Well, I'd say a window weighs at least the same as 4 cooking pots. Depends on whether they're single/double pane, and the size of course. Speaking of size, a big pane of glass would be very unwieldy.

Then why not up the rarity of ammo (Seriously, I find it all over the place)? The way I proposed the function of suppressors would mean firearms are still pretty much emergency only, but the risk of using them would be diminished only to a certain extent. As they are now, there's practically no reason to go out of your way to find them. A few bullet points: Suppressors would be extremely rare and difficult to craft They would only reduce the risks associated with use of firearms, rather than eliminate them Firearms would become a viable option in non-emergency situations With less common ammo and the low durability of crafted suppressors, suppressed firearms still wouldn't be your go-to weapon. They'd be useful if you are getting massively overwhelmed, but afterwards you'd be left with a broken/very damaged suppressor and little or no ammo. If you use an unsuppressed firearm in the same situation, you're simply adding to the horde possibly to the point that the situation is worse than before. To reiterate once more, suppressors if added shouldn't make the weapon totally silent, just less loud so as to make them a more viable for emergency use as well as use in relatively clear areas. It's not like as soon as suppressors are added, every gun has one attached to begin with - you'd need to take risks and in the case of crafting, invest time, resources and effort in the first place to gain their benefits. I really don't see how their inclusion would be game-breaking, if anything it adds more depth. Also something I've been meaning to ask, do buildings and other obstacles affect the way sound travels in the game?

Well, that's the thing, I can't run the game in non-compatibility mode because I get the black screen bug. So, if I start a new game with the mod disabled it will still spawn the items? How can I stop this from happening?

Yeah, I think 2 is probably a bit too low. How much is one of the game's weight units meant to... weigh anyway?

You'd need more than a screw driver to remove a window. The concept makes sense though.

My opinion on suppressors, as expressed in a suggestion thread I made, is that they should be in the game. They wouldn't make a gun silent, but they'd reduce the distance the sound travels. Manufactured suppressors would be extremely uncommon with the chance of none spawning at all. Improvised ones would require an investment in pertinent knowledge, as well as a lot of materials. They'd also be a lot less effective than a commercial one. Right now I never use firearms unless in a very remote area or I have absolutely no other choice. Suppressors would make them a viable option in non-emergencies. It'd also come into play in PvNPC and PvP. Again, you shouldn't just be able to stroll into the police station with a near-guarantee of finding one. They should be EXTREMELY rare or very difficult & time consuming to manufacture. And again, they wouldn't "silence" the weapon. If subsonic ammunition is added, supersonic ammunition could increase the degradation factor of the suppressor. Here's the thread I posted

Ah, fair enough, that's a pity. As for the cheating, I don't know why it doesn't work. I installed it all in the right place and stuff, all the items are in the game but I can't spawn any. Could it have something to do with compatibility mode? Anyway, I've got a problem now. I disabled the mod in the main menu, went and started a new game. However, all the mod's items were still in game. Now, when I try to load the save, regardless of whether the mod is "Activated" or not, it crashes during load with a blank error box with the title "tommyguns.BB".

That's good to hear. I wonder if they'll add Nicotine patches & gum too, in addition to the medical consequences

How so? Don't forget that there's only a CHANCE of spawning with each piece of equipment - this means you could pick a specialisation and still start with nothing - and the more advanced roles incur larger penalties on trait points, so to even pick them, you need to take a negative trait or two.

This idea's gonna be a little convoluted since I haven't fully thought it through, but it'd be nice to see different roles within the generic jobs. This defines some possible starting gear, as well as the traits. Let's take for example, police (Percentage represents chance of spawning with item, keep in mind that a lot of these items/traits do not and may not exist): Patrol Officer: Equipment: Slash/Stab proof vest (75%) Shotgun (10%) 12ga. Shells x 18 (20% per shell) Traits: Lawman (Some kind of bonus to NPC interaction, specifically with especially aggressive ones) -1 trait point Riot Cop: Equipment: Truncheon (75%) Riot Shield (15%) Traits: Crowd Control (Less likely to panic vs. large numbers of zombies) -3 trait points SWAT member: Equipment: Ballistic Vest (50%) Pistol (20%) 9mm Rounds x 45 (25% chance per round) Traits: Marksman Teamwork (Recruited NPCs less likely to flee) -4 trait points Same could be done for a Medical profession Paramedic: Bandages x6 (60% per bandage) Traits: First Aid (Faster application of healing items, 30% higher chance of success) Surgeon: Surgery Kit (40%) Traits: Can't think of a name - Bonus to healing grave injuries The list could go on and on, basically the concept is, in addition to the basic professions, the player could specialise at the cost of trait points, in exchange for bonus traits and the possibility of some decent starting gear.

I really like the mod but I have a few problems: (This is playing in survival) 1: Too many guns, not enough ammo - The house I started in had an M82 on the bookshelf and a Remington 700 in a dresser. The next house I went in had an M1911 and another Remington 700. The only ammo I found was standard 9mm and some BBs 2: No in-world sprites, this is pretty self explanatory and if it's doable with MS paint I'd give it a go 3: Spawning/cheating doesn't work. I try the hotkeys but it doesn't work, nor is there a Cheater class available. I'm running on the latest Steam version

That's a shame, but I can see the reasons why. Still, these things would be around in a zombie apocalypse, so I hope they're added in some capacity.

Simple enough. If you consume a lot of cigarettes or alcohol over a period of time, you become addicted. If you go long enough without the respective item after becoming addicted, you will suffer consequences like increased irritability and such. If you use these items often in certain circumstances, you will begin to "need" to use them when those circumstances arise. This bit's gonna be a bit off the wall; Other less legal (But hey, what's law in a zombie apocalypse?) drugs could be added with their respective positive and negative effects. Heroin (and Morphine): Positive effects: Pain relief (For extreme pain/agony) Negative effects: Incapacitation Queasiness (Vomiting implemented?) on first few uses NPC interaction effects: Incapacitated (Higher chance to be robbed, outright killed etc.) Risks: High addiction rate Zombie infection or other disease when administered with non-sterile needle Required materials: Syringe, Lighter, Spoon, Belt Cocaine: Positive effects: Reduced mental fatigue Reduced physical fatigue Fearlessness Negative effects: Post-high; Pain (Headache) Physical and mental fatigue NPC interaction effects: Increased aggression Risks: Mid-high addiction rate Cannabis: Positive effects: Massive stress relief Boredom reduction Negative effects: Massively increased susceptibility to panic Slightly increased susceptibility to physical fatigue Neutral effects: Drowsiness NPC Interaction effects: More suggestible (Player would have a higher chance to be forced to concede to aggressive NPCs) Risks: Low addiction rate Queasiness Required materials: Cigarette, lighter OR (If added) Tobacco, Papers, lighter Bong/pipe, lighter OR Cooked into edibles (Can you bake cakes and cookies in this game yet?) Ecstasy: The PC feels a compulsion to hug and rave with any zombie/npc in sight. PCP: Control of the PC is revoked from the player; Watch as your character goes on a rampage fighting dragons, minatours and life-size Spiffos hell-bent on world domination. When NPC survivors are added, your use of drugs, if witnessed or obvious could have an effect on their loyalty to you. If a given NPC is a drug addict themself, they may pressure you to use them, threaten you for them etc. There could also be pertinent traits that increase your resistance to addiction and such.

This is exactly my point. The suppressors wouldn't make the guns silent as everyone believes. A high-level or commercial suppressor would severely reduce the radius yes, but if there were zombies about a quarter-way across the screen from the player, they'd still hear it. The point of their inclusion in the game would be so when you fire the weapon, every zombie on and off-screen wouldn't come bearing down on you, it'd reduce but not nullify the risk of having to deal with a much bigger horde. And their extreme rarity is what makes them a good thing to add, it'd be no fun if you could just run around killing every zombie you see, 20 mintues into the game. As for crafted ones, it'd be a good pay-off for all the time and effort put into creating it. There are many examples of improvised suppressors around the world, some more effective than others. I don't see why, with the right tools, material and knowledge it would be impossible to make one. Thanks for the welcome by the way!

I'm very torn on the existence of traders at all. I do like the idea of being able to trade with any neutral/friendly NPC, but having a trader in a fixed place with everything available as presented in the OP sounds completely against the point of the game to me. If any of you have ever played a game called Survival Crisis Z (Very worth checking out, by the way), you'll know what I mean - You just run around collecting everything possible, sell it, and in the space of 20 minutes you have an M249. However, I really do like this take on it:

Huh. I just read that suppressors have been suggested before, but I didn't see it in the "Commonly suggested features" thread. Apparently, people don't like the idea. Why?

I think this'd be a great idea, with ear-protection, improvised ( ) or otherwise, as a counter-acting item. Outdoor shooting wouldn't cause much of an impact depending on the weapon, but indoors, especially in tight spaces, it'd wreck your eardrums. I also like the idea of having traits based on this.