Power Musings

[sadpickle]

I recently started a game and was thrilled to find I started quite near the hardware store in WP. I enjoy this start because the store guarantees an axe and saw, the upstair apartments are an excellent, cheap early safehouse while waiting for the helicopter meta to fire. Upon arriving I found over half a dozen axes, more than I've ever seen before, and was quite pleased. I figured I would level my carpentry and cooking with the large supply of food in the store below and nearby. Right?

 

Imagine my surprise when the power failed <12 hours into the game. I was not expecting to get more than a few days, but this is a little ridiculous. 12 freaking hours? This of course really screws my plan to grind out a couple levels of cooking with supplies on hand. I have no idea how long they'll last; tbh I have not played the game for several months. But I've never seen the power die this quickly. I'm tempted to reroll, but this stack of axes is too beautiful to pass on.

 

Now some questions:

• What's the fastest you've had the power go out? I'm playing custom sandbox, but I have not touched the 0-30 days for outage. I doubled the real-time of the day (2 hours) and made Other loots normal. Everything else is hardcore survival.
• Are house alarms still going to fire forever and ever? Or will they stop working after 24-48 hours which is at least somewhat realistic? Battery backups for these things are not tremendous. It IS 1993.
• How much gas can I conceivably find in the world? Will I ever get to use generators or am I SOL?
• ... 12 goddamn hours?!?

 

These answers and more will determine where I go from here. Thanks.

[thefu3z]

My power has always cut out 2 weeks in, almost like clockwork. 

 

If you have 6+ axes just chop down tons of trees and cook on a campfire - you can level cooking that way. I usually set up a campfire from day 1 as my bases usually don't have an oven - and I think you need electrical skill to move them? (Maybe that's to dismantle them) 

I think there are a couple of wood stoves in West Point. Grab one of those with +1 carpentry skill and you're set for inside cooking.

 

I've had house alarms trigger 4 months in. It aggravates me too but by that time I've usually done a few mass burnings and my blade maintenance skill is good enough to tactfully kill all approaching zeds with a handful of butter knives.

 

As for gas I couldn't tell you. I use lamps on pillars and take every battery from every device I come across. If I see radios in containers, I'll take them out, place them down, and remove battery via device options. Never ran out of batteries before I ran out of life.

[Veromaye]

1. If I remember correctly, the fastest was half a day, that I didn't even noticed it.

2. I don't know because I'm a baby who turns off the alarms, having the helicopter event is enough torture for me LOL.
But from what I've read, they stay active I don't even understand how, I guess a battery power supply (?)

3. No Idea, but most of the time I've played I could fill a lot of gas can in the same station a lot of times, I wasn't aware that the gas station could go empty. or be empty lol.

 

4. Could be worse, trust me. 

 

[sadpickle]

51 minutes ago, Veromaye said:

3. No Idea, but most of the time I've played I could fill a lot of gas can in the same station a lot of times, I wasn't aware that the gas station could go empty. or be empty lol.

 

4. Could be worse, trust me. 

 

Regarding the gas, I was under the impression that when the power fails, the pumps fail too. Or is this not the case?

 

Also, I have to say you're right on things being worse... having burned down the hardware store (campfire goes outside next time), I rolled another game. And it would seem the the water is out. Immediately. I mean like 30 game-minutes and taps are running dry. Is his normal now or am I just getting tough love from RNGesus my lord and savior?

[FireOnAsphalt]

I'd take the water-less playthrough over the power-less playthrough. Water is extremely easy to find in abundance for a single survivor; any tap, bath or toilet bowl will keep you supplied with water for a day or two. Water coolers are life savers (don't move them though, otherwise the contents are drained out... Unless they fixed that. Been ~6 months since I last played or logged onto the forums). I often build a base where I have a few bathrooms and coolers within a screen or two distance from one another, and that typically lasts me until I have enough carpentry skill to build a water collection barrel.

 

Just make sure you put your barrels on platforms that zombies can't access. It's not fun to come home thirsty to a busted barrel and a hungry zombie (or fifty, you know).

[Veromaye]

3 hours ago, sadpickle said:

Regarding the gas, I was under the impression that when the power fails, the pumps fail too. Or is this not the case?

 

Also, I have to say you're right on things being worse... having burned down the hardware store (campfire goes outside next time), I rolled another game. And it would seem the the water is out. Immediately. I mean like 30 game-minutes and taps are running dry. Is his normal now or am I just getting tough love from RNGesus my lord and savior?

Oh I have no idea actually. Never tried to do it and I tend to get angry at the non-perfect survival of my game and just start another one, the most I've been playing was 2 months ingame heh.

I think your game hates you :c , maybe that explains your name.

[sadpickle]

24 minutes ago, Veromaye said:

Oh I have no idea actually. Never tried to do it and I tend to get angry at the non-perfect survival of my game and just start another one, the most I've been playing was 2 months ingame heh.

I think your game hates you :c , maybe that explains your name.

Yeah I just got two horrible rolls back to back. Died early and rolled again, now I'm in day 2 and everything is still on.

 

I wish there was some sort of 24-hour minimum or something though. The 2-6 months sandbox setting it way too cheesy. Realistically speaking, a single coal-fired power plant could probably keep the lights on in every vanilla city for several days at least if it was topped up before evacuation. And that's assuming the plants are located in the exclusion zone.

[BoogieMan]

On 0-2 months power/water sandbox settings

 

Earliest I had water cut out was 8 days. For power I think it was 11 or 12.

[WrittenInBlood]

I had an immediate shutoff of power twice and water once. And there was time I left my base (bar in south Muldraugh), stacked full with empty gas cans I've gathered in two days earlier wherever I could, going to nearest gas station. Power failed when I was on my way. 

 

Personally, my favorite shutoff setting would be "0-7 days". Hope I'll see it someday.