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More use for batteries


willow512

  

26 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you like the idea?

    • Yes
      26
    • No
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How about creating more uses for batteries? Right now I believe they're only used to refresh flashlights. And since I don't dare go out at night I never bother picking them up. But maybe you can find other devices to use with them? The idea for these items is that they help the player without being overpowered, or even necessary.

  • Stationary lamps (that work from batteries and not the grid, put them around your perimeter to see incoming zombies at night, or in your safehouse to have some light at night, possibly add darkness activated versions that save batteries) (Once this exists you can create a "fear of the dark" trait and then better find a lamp before the electricity shuts down)
  • Radios (One way) (Allow the meta game to give feedback about whats going on to the player, planes flying over will be indicated by radio chatter before they show, gives reports of zombie locations, shares npc locations, shares weather forecasts? Put some backstory into the game, let the radio explain that the rest of the world is as fucked as you are. Can also use them as decoys to attract zombies)
  • Radios (Two way) (Player can communicate locally basically speak to other npcs even if they're not near you but posess radios, perhaps you can initiate trade, or forge alliances through the radio and then meet up with those people, basically the standard dev plans to communicate with npc's but now you can do some of it remotely.)
  • GPS equipment, (Either minimap or simple "set coordinates and follow the arrow" affairs, everyone's got one these days, and the satellites will probably keep working for a few weeks months or years after the apocalypse, they could come pre loaded with one or two good sites so the finder can go on a gps treasure hunt and find an abandoned shack, a secret stash or just the previous owner's house!)
  • Night vision goggles (When the military base opens up I'm sure these can be found, they work so vision is not affected at night, could change the night game, as long as you've got batteries you'll see zombies before they see you. But these probably also eat batteries like mad)
  • Hearing aids, (allows you to play a hearing impaired character and still hear on penalty of batteries)
  • Hand held video game (Reduces boredom)
  • mp3 player, (use to relieve boredom, or as an anti anxiety device, soldiers are known to do this, you're essentially deaf whilst using them though)
     
  • Maybe: cheap alarms, (attach to a door or window and they start to beep when broken or opened, not sure how much use they'll be)
  • Maybe: When advanced weapons come into the game, some sights would require batteries.
     
  • You could think about Solar power chargers (Commercially available chargers exist, they don't do a good job, 2 or 3 days probably to charge up a battery, but they do work!) In real life they come in two varieties, one is stationary, set up like a crate, the other is attached to your backpack, so just having it in inventory would charge your batteries.
  • Of course while the power is still up you could use regular battery chargers, half a day gives you a charged battery, or make it one day for two.
  • If ever generators are introduced you could use those to charge your batteries as well as keep your fridge cold.

Can you come up with other examples? ;)

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Stationary lamps, Interesting Idea I wouldn't mind seeing this possibly may use it if light is needed. Fear of the dark is a good trait too.

 

Radios, military chatter isn't just something you can tune into, even with military hardware you need to know frequencies and there are hundreds. Would be kind of pointless.

 

Hand set radios for communications would be difficult to pull off. For example what would you tell an NPC to do? How in-depth can the conversations get? It's not something I can see working out too well. Not that I reject the idea, if it can be made to work then I wouldn't mind it at all.

 

I think the Devs already have something in mind in terms of mapping or finding out where you are. otherwise the map project pretty much takes care of that need.

 

Night vision goggles... yeah as long as it's a very rare find. While a lot of military family settle in muldraugh I don't think equipment like this would leave an army base very often. It needs to be rare.

 

Hearing aid no... just straight out. I don't like things that have the sole purpose of negating a negative effect.

 

Sounds interesting, I could see handheld video games working if they consumed the entire battery. I can go for this.

 

Mp3 is already planned.

 

Would be against this, mainly because there's no use. Alarms are a major setback in PZ because they attract vast amounts of zombies too them. So essentially if an NPC trips it then you loose your safehouse.

 

Define advance weapons? If we are talking electrically driven Gatling guns then no (I would question the military's security if they allowed such a high powered weapon out of their sights) that and finding ammunition for it would be a nightmare. Tazers from the police station maybe, though I'm pretty sure both require a bit more than a standard battery to work.

 

Problem is with most batteries their not rechargeable and those that are rechargeable need to be recharged in their own specific recharger. Thus if we're to take this into consideration rechargeable batteries is really not plausible given the overwhelming number of disposable batteries. putting the wrong battery into a charger can cause it to explode.

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

The main thing here is that some of your suggested items have come up in the commonly suggested ideas: http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/192-commonly-suggested-suggestions-read-before-posting/

Specifically advance weapons, overpowered weapons have been confirmed as no as well as specifically named weapons like the AK-47. So when treading into the realm of weapons have something specific in mind.

Additionally your Idea of a GPS mini-map I should point out that the idea of a Mini-map has been rejected. Most likely we'll be seeing an item that we have to actually check to see our location. Whether it is a GPS or a map we'll see.

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Hearing aids are very common. It's not unlikely to posess one. I take the trait all the time and it's a barely noticable hindrance for now. So I don't see why choices in the game should not negate the negative effect.. You can deal with the two phobias and the coward traits by swallowing beta blockers.  And they are far bigger problems to have than a hearing impairment. 

 

I did not suggest advanced weapons, you made a mistake and read that while it was not there! I certainly never mentioned a minigun. I just suggested that weapons could use batteries. Laser dots for example, or low light scopes.

 

I understand the devs have plans to add a military base. If that's the case then night vision goggles, like the mentioned advanced weaponry is definitely a potential find. Aswell as radio sets that can pick up millitary chatter! 

 

But I would not even go that complicated, I'd simplify the situation, you got a radio, so you can talk to other people with radios. 

 

Rechargable batteries don't need their own specific chargers there's generic chargers for that. They also don't explode. Maybe sporadically it happens with production errors, but my family has used rechargable batteries since the first generations, and none have ever exploded.

 

You're very strict on realism, it occurs to me that realism is not the ultimate goal of a zombie survival simulator. Zombies... You know? I'm surprised you didn't complain about me putting the same batteries in hearing aids that I put in flashlights. :)

 

You could make the distinction between rechargable batteries and regular batteries, and make the former the rare variant. That makes sense.

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IIRC lemmy already confirmed more plans for batteries.

 

 

A tip: If you hold your tongue to the battery and it twitches, then it's loaded. :D

 

And yes, all electrical devices should need batteries or rechargeable batteries.

 

Now I imagine you running around in a Zombieapocalypse licking batteries and laughing manically :D

 

nice suggestion altho it is stuff for future or modders

 

Every Suggestion is ;)

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I'm in favor of the hearing aid if they introduce spectacles to counter short-sightedness.

This is really quite a different thing. If you're short sighted you can't just take any pair of glasses and expect them to correct your vision... This is why we have opticians. Most likely with random glasses you'd just end up getting too strong (which won't really help, just causes a headache) or too weak (in which case it won't help much...) where as with hearing aids work on everyone with bad hearing and are adjustable in my knowledge? But, they certainly don't use regular batteries and which is why I'm not that into this idea. And they aren't THAT common either. But that's just an opinion.

 

Hey, btw why is the old forum (search and direct links) giving 404?

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This is really quite a different thing. If you're short sighted you can't just take any pair of glasses and expect them to correct your vision... 

Actually... You can. (Sorta)

 

Before opticians produced prescription glasses. They sold glasses of varying strength. Getting yourself a pair implied going to the store, putting a few on the nose and bring home the pair that you saw best with. Even today you can buy standard factory (non prescription) glasses. They do the job in a pinch and are dead cheap. Which is why they're still produced and sold. The reason people opt for prescription glasses these days is because they just work far better, there's a whole host of eyesight problems that factory glasses can't hope to remedy.

 

The point is, if you can't see without glasses to a degree you really need glasses then picking up random glasses gives you a decent chance to get at least an improvement.

 

In gaming terms I think it's okay to simplify even more. If you have poor eyes, then spectacles give you normal sight. So I'd vote yes on that.

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I'm in favor of the hearing aid if they introduce spectacles to counter short-sightedness.

This is really quite a different thing. If you're short sighted you can't just take any pair of glasses and expect them to correct your vision... This is why we have opticians. Most likely with random glasses you'd just end up getting too strong (which won't really help, just causes a headache) or too weak (in which case it won't help much...) where as with hearing aids work on everyone with bad hearing and are adjustable in my knowledge? But, they certainly don't use regular batteries and which is why I'm not that into this idea. And they aren't THAT common either. But that's just an opinion.

 

Hey, btw why is the old forum (search and direct links) giving 404?

 

 

Indeed but reading glasses are usually standardized also, at any case you could find some relief if you suffer from myopia and find another myopic person's glasses. If you're astigmatic (like I am IRL) though you are fucked and can only see with your own prescription.

 

But the trait is for Myopia, if they add it, they should add a worse version for Astigmatism.

 

Apologies all round for the post drifting off-topic.

 

On-topic: Could the gap maybe be filled by adding like for example wrist-watch batteries or one of those coin shaped battery variants to be used in certain more 'fine' objects such as hearing aids? BTW would love more battery uses.

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On-topic: Could the gap maybe be filled by adding like for example wrist-watch batteries or one of those coin shaped battery variants to be used in certain more 'fine' objects such as hearing aids? BTW would love more battery uses.

 

It's only a simple game mechanic. Wrist watch batteries are more realistic to be sure, but more battery types will complicate something that effectively is only a means to an end.  You don't collect batteries for the batteries, you collect them to operate one of the devices with them. I personally would gladly accept the silly game reality of operating your hearing aid with a d-cell. 

 

I can't think of any more battery uses.. :(

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Hearing aids are very common. It's not unlikely to posess one. I take the trait all the time and it's a barely noticable hindrance for now. So I don't see why choices in the game should not negate the negative effect.. You can deal with the two phobias and the coward traits by swallowing beta blockers.  And they are far bigger problems to have than a hearing impairment. 

 

I did not suggest advanced weapons, you made a mistake and read that while it was not there! I certainly never mentioned a minigun. I just suggested that weapons could use batteries. Laser dots for example, or low light scopes.

 

I understand the devs have plans to add a military base. If that's the case then night vision goggles, like the mentioned advanced weaponry is definitely a potential find. Aswell as radio sets that can pick up millitary chatter! 

 

But I would not even go that complicated, I'd simplify the situation, you got a radio, so you can talk to other people with radios. 

 

Rechargable batteries don't need their own specific chargers there's generic chargers for that. They also don't explode. Maybe sporadically it happens with production errors, but my family has used rechargable batteries since the first generations, and none have ever exploded.

 

You're very strict on realism, it occurs to me that realism is not the ultimate goal of a zombie survival simulator. Zombies... You know? I'm surprised you didn't complain about me putting the same batteries in hearing aids that I put in flashlights. :)

 

You could make the distinction between rechargable batteries and regular batteries, and make the former the rare variant. That makes sense.

Good point, though in saying that the effects of beta-blockers are very temporary. I can go 2 ways in the regard that a hearing aid is a temporary item and yes it can be compared to beta-blockers but at the same time the life span for a hearing aid can range from days to weeks compared to the beta-blockers 1-2 hours. That is the main issue for me.

 

I did miss read that part, I'm sorry bout that.

 

Indeed military base could contain specific gear like night vision goggles, as well as some durable tools and rations. But I standby my thoughts on military chatter, if you could just pick up any military radio and tune it the military wouldn't be very secure talking to each other.

 

I get that, but I'm more inquiring as to a specific use. Like what sort of orders can you issue to NPC's? that's my question. Like I said I support the idea, it's just idk how it would work. Thus why I'm asking.

 

lol yeah I've got a bad habit of over thinking things. Sorry bout that. Your right in saying just 1 type of rechargeable would do for a game like pz.

However batteries aren't exactly a rare item in the first place. Renewable batteries combine with a hearing aids you could effectively nullify your negative trait entirely. Unlike beta-blockers, these rechargeable batteries are renewable and you don't have to rely on pot luck to find them if you got them already. Enough chargers/batteries and you can run your hearing aid 24/7.

 

Like I said I'm not in support of hearing aids personally, sorry. I also apologize for running off your list in a bit of a blunt manor, I missed things I should have read and I'm sorry.

 

 

EDIT: oo while I'm at it what do you think of Tazers located in the Police Department? Low voltage temporary stun weapons. They cause zombies to become immobalised for 5 second, npc's for 10 seconds. Consumes 1 full battery.

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I like the idea of doing more with batteries. Presumably the devs already have plans for this, but there's no harm in giving them more ideas.

 

I would definitely like stationary lamps / lanterns to place around my farmhouse. You can also get solar powered LED lights for gardens in most shops now. They are super simple, long lasting, independent and turn on automatically when it get dark. I'd plant those around my base so that I can keep working through the night.

 

There should also be some other battery powered electronics. When the zombie apocalypse hits, we won't have to fall back to medieval technology immediately. Most single use batteries remain usable for several years, rechargeable ones can last even longer.

 

GPS devices, walkie-talkies, radios, personal entertainment devices, electronic survival equipment etc should all be usable as long as you can power them. Some of these are less likely to be put into the game than others, but modders will probably take care of the rest :)

 

We've already had ideas for various noisemakers in the traps and distractions thread, some of which would be battery powered.

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I also apologize for running off your list in a bit of a blunt manor, I missed things I should have read and I'm sorry.

 

 It's quite allright, I had already noticed you can be quite critical about new feature suggestions, after I read your response I thought to myself. "Well this is high praise... Considering... " ;)

 

EDIT: oo while I'm at it what do you think of Tazers located in the Police Department? Low voltage temporary stun weapons. They cause zombies to become immobalised for 5 second, npc's for 10 seconds. Consumes 1 full battery.

One zombie per battery for 5 secs would be a very pointless weapon, the knockdown of a baseball bat is equally effective and has many more 'charges'. How about this: Let a stungun stun a zombie for a full minute, allow the player to drag the body around during that time (once body dragging is implemented) 

 

Lets face it, attacking a zombie horde with a stungun is plain silly. BUT, if you could stun them and drag them around! You could lock some up in the cells in the police station call them Bob and Sally, and have meaningfull conversations with them to relieve the monotony of the apocalypse a bit. (Which is not silly at all)

 

At that point a stungun becomes somewhat useful and gives the player an option he would not otherwise have that is both fun and does not imbalance the game.

 

15 seconds stun time on an npc would be okay, if you could use that time to steal his weapon. Otherwise it has no practical use.

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What about a light saber, not as a weapon but for illumination and to reduce boredom.

Would that not fall under the rule "(No) Specific named weapons (such as AK47, M14, etc.)"? :P

 

 

How about A Lighted Orb Sword?

 

Edit: now it just sounds stupid :(

Edited by kinyoshi
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15 seconds stun time on an npc would be okay, if you could use that time to steal his weapon. Otherwise it has no practical use.

my thoughts exactly. More a weapon usable against NPCs to disarm and disable them. but still has a purpose as a last resort weapon to help try and escape zombies.

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I'm not sure that a taser would work on a zombie. Tasers do to a certain extent lock up the muscles in the body, but they also rely hugely on pain to be effective (which obviously would not work for zombies). Also, they require the ability to conduct electricity and since parts of zombies may be drained of blood and dry (or even bare bone) you'd be much less likely to get a solid connection out of it. At best I'd like about a 75% chance of failure against zombies (they don't even work against the living a fair amount of time).

 

More battery uses are indeed planned, but I really don't think they should all use the same battery. If I recall correctly one of the devs mentioned car batteries in the future which would be useful for bigger stuff. I think a medium sized battery (Something like a AA) could be used to power radios for entertainment purposes, iPods, flashlights, alarm clocks, portable lamps, etc.

 

Small batteries just wouldn't see enough use, and I don't really think hearing aids are viable for one important reason: the vast majority of people would have been wearing their hearing aids. Which means in all likelihood they're walking around with them on their person, soaked in dangerous blood and having been exposed to the elements. It's one of those things where the benefit to the player + the likelihood of actually finding it aren't decent enough to offset the time it would take to program and sprite it.

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Some great suggestions here, from what I have heard from the devs in the past more use of batteries is planned for sure. I love the idea of spectacles and hearing aids, lamps and solar panels. I think when we start considering stuff like generators, solar panels, make shift alarms, electric fences then skill books for electrical skill should be introduced with it. This can then allow things like radios to be repaired with a certain level of this skill and the player finding batteries, wiring and such for replacement parts.  

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