Backup Generators - Your new frienemy

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Intro To The Idea:

      My friend and I were talking today when out of nowhere he came up with an amazing suggestion for Project Zomboid. I am sending it out to y'all for him as he isn't the greatest zomboid fan (having only 5 hours in). His idea was the possibility of finding back-up generators scattered throughout muldraugh.

 

      If TIS (The Indie Stone) does end up adding negative zed levels, ie basements, then there will have to be something occupying these spaces other than a garbage can or a couple of spare nails. 

 

      Imagine you have spent several weeks on a new character, preparing for the oncoming winter months of starvation, when suddenly the power goes out. You don't worry about it as you have stocked up on canned goods. Just moments later you hear a low humming coming from a near-by home. Running in to find the noise, you see a staircase downward, at the bottom: a backup generator. You rush to turn it off but know the zed have heard and are already on their way...

 

      This would add so much to the game as it would influence the player to loot nearby houses as some people (like myself) don't do that in fear of an alarm sounding. These generators wouldn't be too common but not too rare, just over the frequency of alarms. The player staying in a nearby home would be tempted to raid and check for a backup generator just to make sure hoardes wouldn't flood their area once the power went out. 

 

The Backup Generator Details:

      To prevent the misuse of said Generators, they will only be able to be turned off. Due to the utter gamey-ness of so many players, this will be beneficial towards the game. It wouldn't be able to be moved as it would have been welded or attached quite snuggly into the house with a Co₂ filter. They would; however, be able to be siphoned from to fill up your own gas tanks. Other than that they will do nothing else. This may seem like a bummer but combined with the rest of the game it is quite potential.

 

Conclusion:

I would love to see what y'all think and hope to see this along with many other things added to the official game. Thank you for reading this and comment below on what you think.

[BayCon]

Since working generators are already in the game, I don't see the use for such a feature if all they do is attract zombies.. However, I like some of your ideas. Having them create enough noise so that you can hear them in garages or basements (if basements are added) would be ok I guess. Problem is, backup generators, as far as I know, aren't loud enough to be heard from underground basements on the surface, and therefore wouldn't be loud enough to attract massive hordes. I might be wrong about the loudness of generators since I've never seen one honestly! xD However, I don't think a company in today's society would sell very many of them if they were loud enough to be heard from several blocks away. Some newer models of cars can't even be heard from very far away. :3

[fluffe9911]

Who knows this is the 90s lol

[Benson]

Noise? Zombie Hordes?
I wouldnt risk my characters life for electricity. But its good bait for new players.

[Johnny Fisher]

The are already generators in the game, came in with Build 32.

[CaptKaspar]

The are already generators in the game, came in with Build 32.

The OP is talking about backup generators and not the portable generators that are currently in game. Backup generators are typically permanent installations that are designed to automatically turn on in the event of a power failure. They are designed to fully power the building they are in and are directly tied to that building's electrical system. The portable generators in game are not.

I could envision some of the nicer homes in Muldraugh and WP having these. Perhaps some other buildings like the police station, town hall, or pharmacy as well. If there was a hospital, it would definitely have some.

I don't know about the ones from the 90s, but modern ones are very quiet. I was helping a friend during Hurricane Sandy who thankfully had one and you couldn't tell it was on when inside his home. Getting gas for it was a problem though. Portable generators are much louder.

If these were added to the game, and they were as quiet as modern ones, finding a safe house with one would be a boon compared to having to use a portable generator (which I don't even bother doing currently).