Helicopters have gotten ridiculous.....

[matchinson]

Hey guys, this will be my first post so hi! Glad to be here, Sadly my first post is somewhat of a complaint. Let me be clear though: I really like this game. I just think Helicopter events have gotten ridiculous. I thought they were fine when they were random fly by's that attracted zombies to its loud noise. Now however, it seems that the chopper(s) will literally follow you around for at least a good in game hour if not longer. How is this right? To me it ruins immersion. There is no reason for a helicopter to be following you around for hour or more. Maybe switch back to random fly by's? Or have the chopper linger over you for maybe 20 in game minutes? Seriously, choppers have very limited fuel and if they are evacuating would not waste it all on following some guy around. Chopper events now just seem to be a cheap way to drag 300+ zombies to your location from all directions. It turns you  into a horde magnet potentially for hours. I love that the game is tough and out to kill you, but this just seems.....cheap imo. What are your thoughts on the new development of having choppers follow you around? 

[EnigmaGrey]

The chopper didn't randomly fly by you. It sat +/- 50 tiles over your position for up to 24 hours in prior versions of the game.

 

So no, I'd say the current "follows you around for an hour, unless you hide" is just dandy in comparison.

 

Flee your base, or avoid it in the early days.

[Slice985]

I thought the helicopter event was pretty cool. The radio gave the announcement from the general that they would come and find you and help you out. I figured the thing would crash eventually, probably a better ending since rescue isn't an option. It doesn't ever just crash though. I wish it would, I'd really like to salvage an M16 and some MREs. 

[Kelefane]

1 minute ago, Slice985 said:

I thought the helicopter event was pretty cool. The radio gave the announcement from the general that they would come and find you and help you out. I figured the thing would crash eventually, probably a better ending since rescue isn't an option. It doesn't ever just crash though. I wish it would, I'd really like to salvage an M16 and some MREs. 

 

Now this would be cool. Finding the Helicopter crash and salvaging things from it. 

[Sputnik]

That would be pretty cool indeed, but it could be a pain to find the wreckage. They would have to add some way to locate it. But yeah, getting there before all the zombies do and grabbing all you can find would be sweet.

[Necromatic_Corgi]

Same issue, I heard a helicopter then ran into my safehouse and slept hoping it would go away, It sat overhead for 10 hours and zombies destroyed my entire base.

[MrDeliberto]

You may think that is news helicopters filming you, as it is in the early days and the military say that "the infection is controlled" "Knox event is being controlled"

[Quigleyer]

So does the helicopter always draw zombies towards you?  

 

I could have sworn that it drew them away twice in my last playthrough.  I had two 4 day stretches where I didn't see a single one following the loud chopper noises (I was inside my house both times, luckily), which is really weird for survival right now.

 

Is the helicopter event scripted right now day-wise?  I'm curious because it seems to be really close to the 7th day, which is a place I've been a lot lately (started over more times than I'd like to admit).  I know it isn't coming at the exact same time every time, but it always comes at the end of the first week in my experience. 

Edited March 21, 2016 by Quigleyer

[Kelefane]

1 hour ago, xXSly_WolfyXx said:

Same issue, I heard a helicopter then ran into my safehouse and slept hoping it would go away, It sat overhead for 10 hours and zombies destroyed my entire base.

 

THIS is what happened to me. In fact, my base/safehouse was the Large Warehouse. Copter stayed outside for several hours and Z's rushed the place. Tore down barriers and doors and windows. I was overran pretty quickly and died. 

 

It was annoying. I find this whole Copter mechanic to be more annoying than immersive. If there was a reward for surviving through it, like finding the Copter crashed and getting things from it (ammo, guns, MRE's or whatever) then yeah, that would add a cool element. But as it is, nah, its more of a griefing tool.

[Kelefane]

By the way, here is the thread I created on this very topic: 

 

[LeetgamerBoi]

Where is this helicopter flying to and from?

And how has it withstood the millions of zombies it attracts? 

[Necromatic_Corgi]

38 minutes ago, Kelefane said:

 

THIS is what happened to me. In fact, my base/safehouse was the Large Warehouse. Copter stayed outside for several hours and Z's rushed the place. Tore down barriers and doors and windows. I was overran pretty quickly and died. 

 

It was annoying. I find this whole Copter mechanic to be more annoying than immersive. If there was a reward for surviving through it, like finding the Copter crashed and getting things from it (ammo, guns, MRE's or whatever) then yeah, that would add a cool element. But as it is, nah, its more of a griefing tool.

That was my safehouse too, And yeah that's a good idea. I also don't like the whole idea of having to find a secondary safhouse just so the heli doesn't destroy everything.

[Kelefane]

7 minutes ago, xXSly_WolfyXx said:

That was my safehouse too, And yeah that's a good idea. I also don't like the whole idea of having to find a secondary safhouse just so the heli doesn't destroy everything.

 

What did you use as a Secondary safehouse to the Large Warehouse? I was thinking about using that farm with the huge corn patch out front. 

[Necromatic_Corgi]

1 hour ago, Kelefane said:

 

What did you use as a Secondary safehouse to the Large Warehouse? I was thinking about using that farm with the huge corn patch out front. 

I never had one, But I remember one of the devs said that a secondary safehouse is what you are supposed to do, Seems like to much hassle in my oppinion.

[Strats]

The helicopter acts much like an invisible object that will, at least two times, fly around the player. If your character is outside, the copter will follow you for some time; staying indoors will lead to its departure after it circles a few times, but that leaves you vulnerable to horde migration. However, things do not always work perfectly, so for my survival runs, I have developed a strategy to use the helicopter to your advantage. Because the helicopter not only draws zombies, but follows you as well, it becomes the perfect lure. Carry a bag with some food for the first 2 weeks in game so that when the helicopter comes, you can lure the hordes out of high-loot areas. Once the copter eventually leaves, evade the zeds, go to that high-population area and rest, then loot it before zed population makes it impossible. Sorry if this isn't the answer you're looking for, but I hope that it helps make the copter a little more useful for you all.

[Demonic_Kat]

I do believe they're meant to be ridiculous. They're what cull the meek. I ride it out the sound inside hoping they don't start randomly banging on my base, then go out and kill them slowly...

[EnigmaGrey]

Mind, if there's an issue with time compression and the helicopter not respecting it, that's obviously a bug . . .

[ld-airgrafix]

16 hours ago, Kelefane said:

 

Now this would be cool. Finding the Helicopter crash and salvaging things from it. 

As long as its random and not always the same spot