The Ultimate Thread of Traps and Distractions!

[GSC]

As for traps, I kinda want the old fashioned standby of tying a string to a door and connecting it to a shotgun.

I thought of this too (or with a crossbow when we have them), but in a few days I'd probably forget where I set it up and walk right into it when looking for the nearest bed.

[Rathlord]

Hopefully it doesnt stay rare or the talk of including cars won't get far.    The idea wasnt to distract but to lure them into a house that then endures a gas can exploding in the oven,  leading to a fire and some confused flaming zeds.   

 

Well obviously gas will have to be available but I still think it will be a 'rare' resource. Cars aren't meant to be used every day so I'm actually all for it staying quite rare. Other than what you could coax from pumps (and the safety measures on pumps in America means that's really not much without electricity/them being triggered on) and what you can siphon from cars, it should be quite rare. I hope that gathering fuel is a big part of the decision in whether or not you're going to drive somewhere. Also, you'll likely need gas for generators, too, so what to spend your fuel on is going to be a big decision. I still wouldn't waste it on a house, but like I said I hope the game does make it so you're free to.

[GSC]

I hope that gathering fuel is a big part of the decision in whether or not you're going to drive somewhere. Also, you'll likely need gas for generators, too, so what to spend your fuel on is going to be a big decision.

Ah yes, the ultimate distraction: have your buddy cruise around honking the horn / running the siren (in police car) and pulling a conga line of zombies while you loot the neighborhood. Meet up at a safe location, drive home, profit. You could save ammo this way, but would probably use up a lot of precious gas.

 

(If and when we have vehicles in the game, I'll probably just use them to drive between distant locations when I'm in a hurry or need to move a lot of gear. Well, in serious survival sessions anyway

[feral_donkey]

For boobytraps or passive defense I was thinking of logs / planks studded with nails or axes swung down when triggered, though these would probably be complicated to build and endanger me as much as the zombies or rogue NPCs.

 

Or a classic log roll thing.    Pile 10 logs into a frame,  set a trip wire of some sort and let the logs roll out over 3-4 squares,  crushing all. 

 

Edit: And feral, please don't hold any punches discussing this with me. If you feel I'm wrong feel free to go ahead out and say it. I'm not the kind of moderator that bans someone for disagreeing and I enjoy a good (insult free) back and forth. I'm sorry if I came on a bit hard in my previous posts.

 

No worries.  Thanks.

[Kajin]

Or a classic log roll thing.    Pile 10 logs into a frame,  set a trip wire of some sort and let the logs roll out over 3-4 squares,  crushing all. 

Or put the logs on the roof some how, so they crush to death whatever tried to open your door or go in through your window.

[feral_donkey]

Yeah,  falling logs seem like a pretty good weapon.

[GSC]

Or a classic log roll thing.    Pile 10 logs into a frame,  set a trip wire of some sort and let the logs roll out over 3-4 squares,  crushing all. 

I wrote "rolled" at first, then I changed it to "swung" when I realized I haven't seen a single incline in the game, apart from stairs. Self-built racks could work though.

[The_One_And_Only]

I wrote "rolled" at first, then I changed it to "swung" when I realized I haven't seen a single incline in the game, apart from stairs. Self-built racks could work though.

Developers, MAKE HILLS! it gives whoever's at the top an advantage!

[Rathlord]

I like the idea of a log roll, that's a new one!

[Aardman55]

Then it would just be the matter of making actual animations of logs rolling and hitting someone, eh?
Youd quite need physics too, so we shouldnt forget the whole development part of it, its easy said but would it also be easy made?

 

Edit: Not criticizing the idea, I like the idea but just stating.

[Rathlord]

I think you could probably get by without physics. When triggered, it just plays the animation of logs rolling in the direction the trap was facing. No need for real physics.

[Aardman55]

I think you could probably get by without physics. When triggered, it just plays the animation of logs rolling in the direction the trap was facing. No need for real physics.

Yes, that should work, so it would loop the animation til it hits / triggers a death to what touches it and then stop that animation?

[arbozaliyan]

when you say traps the first thing comes to my mind is holes. make holes, cover them, put a alarm clock or something that makes lots of noise, when zombies gather on the hole break the surface by using ropes or something else (like when you pull the rope it would unbalance the surface and they would fall in it). after that burn them or blow them or make just falling them kill them.

[Scyoni]

Distractions:

 

Flares / Fireworks

Noisemakers

Whistles / Kazoos

Battery Op. Radio

Turning on TV

Turning on a Microwave (they all beep when done, no?)

Car alarms (eventually)

Thrown bottles

Thrown nik-naks (snowglobes or something. More random stuff to sift through! )

Thrown anything, really

Paper planes (also good fun!)

[Aardman55]

...after that burn them...

I your ideas but this one.

From my experiences you only need one single spark of fire to hit your house (which is the probability of 1:10 depending on how far it is) and your house will catch fire burn down the whole neighbourhood and probably start a forest fire.

[GSC]

I have another - potentially silly - idea. Remote control toys (battery operated) that you use to distract zombies from a safe vantage point (e.g. peeking out from a window). They could use the same mechanic as real vehicles (when we have them), scaled down.

[feral_donkey]

Then it would just be the matter of making actual animations of logs rolling and hitting someone, eh?

Youd quite need physics too, so we shouldnt forget the whole development part of it, its easy said but would it also be easy made?

 

Edit: Not criticizing the idea, I like the idea but just stating.

 

 

As mentioned above I think it could be highly abstracted.   An animation of the trap releasing logs then just teleport the log items onto random squares and abstractly knock over a group of zombies near the trap.   Damaging and killing a few.     If they wanted to get fancy just lay over a cartoony particle effect or animated image of cloudy dust to obscure the trick.

 

But that's code and art and might not be worth the effort.   Who knows.   I'd prefer an alarm clock.

[Stimixs]

Simple but effective!

Box Trap:

1x Rope

1x Stick

1x Box

 

Capture a small animal or even bigger ones? Zombies? Or even a human npc? XD

(lmfao I know this won't be put in but who knows :3)

 

-Stimixs

[Rathlord]

I could see this put in for small animals (rabbits more often than not) when combined with a vegetable (as bait) once animals and hunting are introduced.

[Aardman55]

I could see this put in for small animals (rabbits more often than not) when combined with a vegetable (as bait) once animals and hunting are introduced.

It could be done before animals are introduced, you could add a random timer going from 1 hour to 1 day, and then just have it spawn a "dead rabbit" food item that you can cook, just like with the chicken and such being in fridges. Im not a coder though so I can be wrong.

[feral_donkey]

I was reading that shooters say that propane tanks will explode.   Quite nicely.   But you need something more reliable to actually ignite the gas.   A lit road flare. So lay down a propane tank + lit road flare (or candle or matchbook) combo,   then shoot it with a rifle.    All will be common enough in Kentucky and you get a raging fireball explosion whose size depends on the tank size.   Larger fixed propane tanks that you might find supplying multiple units at a mobile home park or at a factory will be extremely dangerous.

 

IIRC, they used this exact thing at the end of Dawn of the Dead (2004).   He lights a flare, then shoots a propane tank at close range. Earlier in the movie,  iirc,  they had tied lit flares to tanks and thrown them.    Road flares themselves are a good idea to light an area at night or provide a distraction.    If they like fire,  they like flares.

 

This story made me look it up tonight

 

 

"We've probably heard close to 100 or more [explosions]. I mean there are hundreds of propane tanks out there," she said. "You could hear the explosions just…one after another and then after it would explode, a fireball would shoot up into the sky"

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/explosions-reported-florida-gas-plant/story?id=19811188

[GSC]

Simple but effective!

Box Trap:

1x Rope

1x Stick

1x Box

 

Capture a small animal or even bigger ones? Zombies? Or even a human npc? XD

(lmfao I know this won't be put in but who knows :3)

 

-Stimixs

I would totally fall for it if it had a cupcake, strawberries or ice cream (although that would melt quickly)

 

But I say it sounds like a totally viable trap if / when wildlife is introduced.

[GSC]

It could be done before animals are introduced, you could add a random timer going from 1 hour to 1 day, and then just have it spawn a "dead rabbit" food item that you can cook, just like with the chicken and such being in fridges. Im not a coder though so I can be wrong.

Just no dead rats please, those things gross me out

[GSC]

I was reading that shooters say that propane tanks will explode.   Quite nicely.   But you need something more reliable to actually ignite the gas.   A lit road flare. So lay down a propane tank + lit road flare (or candle or matchbook) combo,   then shoot it with a rifle.

 

Road flares themselves are a good idea to light an area at night or provide a distraction.    If they like fire,  they like flares.

Exactly. With only shooting the most you can hope for is a sudden release of pressure through the puncture. This might topple the tank and make a lot of noise, but that's about it. I think the Mythbusters even tried shooting containers of flammable stuff with tracer rounds (which are illegal in many US states, afaik) and even those didn't produce classic movie fireballs.

 

Now if you add an open flame to the release of propane, that could be trouble indeed.

 

And flares would definitely be useful. +1

[feral_donkey]

Exactly. With only shooting the most you can hope for is a sudden release of pressure through the puncture. This might topple the tank and make a lot of noise, but that's about it. I think the Mythbusters even tried shooting containers of flammable stuff with tracer rounds (which are illegal in many US states, afaik) and even those didn't produce classic movie fireballs.

 

Now if you add an open flame to the release of propane, that could be trouble indeed.

 

And flares would definitely be useful. +1

 

They finally did make it work and created a huge explosion but needed incendiary rounds fired from a mini-gun.    Better to just tie on a lit flare.  Incendiary rounds for various weapons are a step above tracers and legal in many states,  but not very common at all.

 

And if you light a flare you've got 15 minutes to decide if you want to pull the trigger.   And they are more reliable than matches or candles.   You'd then need to associate the tank with a new flare if you didnt blow it up and wanted to reuse the bomb.

 

And just to make a trade-off,  if propane tanks do get included they could include portable propane stoves in the game.   Forcing you to decide if you want to cook food with the tanks or use them as improvised bombs.