Base Building: Generator noise/sound distance experiment and questions.

[Turbo50]

Hi. About to build a extra wall layer on my central base location. I really REALLY like this one base to be something I can count on. So I'm making it the only true safe spot on the map. Why I'm making a extra wall around it as It will be my food storage hub and farm land. So I like to have some lean way with the Z around here and play the Sims.

 

But I'm quite worried about being able to hear in game the generator from my existing wall. It is as loud standing in my kitchen as being on the outside of my dam walled in home. 

 

Do the Z also hear it from that distance? Like I can not find any answers about when Z's are going to be attracted to stuff. Yea guns and house alarms there exist some kind of info about. But generators? Nope.

 

So I created a cheat save on 41.50.1 to check how my test subjects would do coming to close to a generator.  Apocalypse preset. Only NecroForge mod installed for easier testing. 

 

This is a good basic idea of the radius of the sound created. This group was all in the middle of the road before turning the generator on. If anything they where more centered around the lane closeted to me. Ones turned on everyone reacted as seen here. The ones literally on the center line did not notice the generator.  And the one in green shirt and long black hair had just noticed and turned facing the generator. 

 

As seen here the sound radius is quite a medium sized one, but in game I would clearly here the generator standing where the Z's in the street where.  So the sound of the generator in game is misleading. 

 

Why the green hat dude first now turned facing the generator being inside of the fence I have no idea. Invisible and had killed of some of the subjects inside of the fence area. He might have been sitting on the ground? Anyways the image was taken right here to give a visual on the range with actual subjects in a real but controlled environment. 

 

I count the tiles roughly to be 15 tiles that is 100% going to make them notice the sound. And then a extra few that is hard to judge. I think 20 tiles are a fair assessment?  So 20 tile radius from the generator is a dangerous zone.

Now a base line done. We go into some more scientific stuff. Lazy and not competent. But more scientific when it comes to base building!

 

 

Hope the image do not screw up to badly being in such a odd form factor.  But it shows a descent idea of how loud your generator actually is. 

The road event of that black car had 2 Z's roaming around it. You can notice one of the test subjects interrupting the setup phase as I was making some noise making the building. It was disqualified from the test.

 

Inside of the walls on the center tile of the 3x3 building  (lvl 10 carpentry walls and a door) we got our generator running.  No roof no floors.

 

First when the Z roamed this close to the generator and walls did it notice the sound. It made a B line towards the sound and missed the building since it was going diagonal but the building was not diagonal to it. I missed taking the screenshot of it turning it's head but it had just moved a tile or at most 3 tiles diagonal towards the building. 

 

This is quite close to the generator I would think? I mean going by the sound it was quite high sound coming from it here. I would here the generator standing next to the car too just as load. So? Do this give anyone some idea of how screwed your bases are?  

 

Even walled in it did not seem to change the noise distance that the Z reacted to it. Changed the in game sound but not much more. Did not seem to affect the noise radius. Unless a metal fence do as good of a job as the wooden walls? Anyways this seems to be the radius needed to remember when making a walled off base. 

 

It was worth sharing I think. Since the noise radius looks to be quite predictable and by eye sight you now know how far away from your generator room you would have to build your walls to avoid Z's. My walls are not far enough btw just looking at my tests here. Not sure if I will deal with it. But I now know roughly how close they got to get to it before they are a pain in my ass. Might rethink my base and make a mini Fort Knox for my tomato's and hamburgers XD  Or build it for my next playthrough. 

 

Generators are not as loud as you hear in game. But they are quite a danger to your base non the less. And should be placed accordingly.  Without better testing I would only build a room for the generator to cut down on the noise for us players.  Seem to do nothing to the noise radius. Only the sound playing for you is quieter it seems. But double walls might help the noise but I do not think it matters. I mean should the generator also be loader if under load? IRL they are a bit louder when under full load. 

Anyways I honestly think it changes nothing and it is a fixed noise radius. But agen without some proper testing I might be wrong. But next base I will place it just outside in the open and focus more on having walls far enough away from it to cover the noise radius instead  Keeping the house in one of the corner of the wall to cut down on how many walls needed and maximizing the space in the garden. Also I think it looks better then walling the house into a wall box. Rather fortify the outside house walls and scarifies a room or 2 to be hammered shut downstairs.

 

But for base building this basic images should give a grate idea of the noise range. Images tells a thousand things. Please I do not need to make this post longer XD

So it might be worth making a ridiculously big fenced off base just to avoid the sound to attract them. Since you will have them attracted to it anyways within that radius. I usually place the generator in the middle of my base but looking at this I'm building to small of a fences of area to take away the sound pollution. 

 

PS: 

Was quite funny to speed up time following the Zombie around.  And ones the Z had passed the generator walls it looked over it shoulder and started to walk towards the generator agen. But first when it got to the door did it start to try and get in.  And there was no signs of the Z trying to destroy the generator under all of my testing. It was spawned in with the mod if that mattered. But it should not have affected the noise test. Since dropped and picked them up just in case it would matter. 

 

HF with "This is how you died" the game!