Newbie

[Survivalist07]

I have couplequestions i pretty new in game.
* Starting in late spring or summer makes zombies purple i guess? I created one and Npcs are dying one by one. I saw couple yellows but mostly purple and they re in everywhere.no towns around im in the hood on the mountain, starting place etc.I cant even go for scavenge or hunt.
* If we use map edge fences as base wall i guess traders not come right? should be surrounded fences and gate for attracting traders?
* Lastly purple hordes coming next to my base wind shows opposite side.they go away a bit come again.And become infinite loop.any suggestions? thanks

[Midnight_Toker247]

Purple? Yellow? The colors in order of toughness are green, blue, red, and white, plus invisible strain which appears as white. Infected are everywhere when you first start. Traders will come no matter where you build and what you do, even if you keep your gates closed they will still come.

The types of infected and where they are is random in each map generation.

What is your presence at? Do you have fires going? Towers up? Put your fires out, assuming your presence is low enough stay in stealth mode and they should go away. Better yet though just kill them, got a bow? Shoot them in the legs, cripple them and they are not much of a threat. Since you are just starting I'm guessing there are only 3, shouldn't be too much to handle.

[Survivalist07]

Originally posted by Midnight_Toker247:

Purple? Yellow? The colors in order of toughness are green, blue, red, and white, plus invisible strain which appears as white. Infected are everywhere when you first start. Traders will come no matter where you build and what you do, even if you keep your gates closed they will still come.

The types of infected and where they are is random in each map generation.

What is your presence at? Do you have fires going? Towers up? Put your fires out, assuming your presence is low enough stay in stealth mode and they should go away. Better yet though just kill them, got a bow? Shoot them in the legs, cripple them and they are not much of a threat. Since you are just starting I'm guessing there are only 3, shouldn't be too much to handle.

I am seeing them like a mini skull coloured purple and yellow.mostly purple.when i start there is no star.with a fire axe it tooks 1 to leg and many hits to bodies. hits to kill.they re tough!

That time i made small wood walls with wood gate and i was in the tent. i didnt have stealth star tho.They look like just they stucked. no tower no fire. just me and some growing vegies...I cant kill hordes by bow they all runners.(4-5 of them) all purple.

Interesting thing is only i see them yellow and purple on mini map i guess.

[Lemonhead]

Starting in a red area is just bad luck. Particularly considering you're new.

When this happens I'd suggest using sneak ('C' key by default. Green tree means you're hidden, white not so much.) and getting far away from there. Stay off of the road you started on, just sneak off into the wilderness and look for smoke and towers on the horizon that indicate a settlement. That road may have a few cars with potentially very valuable loot, but eventually it's going to lead to a town, which is bad news in red territory. Only thing worse, would be white/beige zeds.
Avoid encounters if at all possible. Use your minimap. Enemies will be spotted there likely before you spot them, or they spot your character. You say you spotted some greens? That may be a good direction to try. Or simply restart if you're not too invested yet.

Sounds like you have a base though. If you've made it that far, you're probably in good shape assuming you have a food supply. If all you've done is wall yourself into a little map edge valley, you might want to consider ducking out when they leave next. Eventually, wanderers will thin out the lesser zeds, but reds are right on the borderline, more often than not wanderers just add to their numbers unless you're playing 'slightly easier' and even then it's iffy.

Presence is a number calculated by how many smoke plumes, guard towers (or other tall structures), and people you have. Also how many old world towns you've found/visited (as opposed to survivor settlements). This number has an effect on how frequently you attract 'visitors', including traders and refugees, and how large unfriendly visitor groups will be. i.e. zeds and raiders.
Traders will come if all you've done is build a campfire. (Presence: 1) Not often, but they will come, assuming they can make it to you. So will other wanderers, good and bad. Excepting traders, which type spawns is random.

The wind has a short range and obvious effect when it is affecting an encounter. A nose will appear over the head of whatever smells you. If they hear you, an ear, etc...

[Survivalist07]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2248572965

Again and again hordes are coming next to my tent.and no living im starving someones come across he took agro i can sneak away.try to hunt or scavenge and come back...when im home they came again. i cant even have a small time to build it up. i started to new game still it is same.now all the map full of whites.They just ramming all around my tent.it is just ruining my game :(

[Lemonhead]

Awww man. Yeah, even worse luck.
A hazard of procedurally generated replayability. It'll be worth it eventually.

If you had the radio item you could see a bit more of what's going on on the big map. That might be a wandering horde (biohazard symbol on the map with a radio equipped). They tend to beeline for the player settlement. Seeing them before they hit you could give time to prepare or evacuate.

Try to make for an NPC settlement when you start. They have the means to kill what's harassing you. Don't take those whites to a settlement. Entirely possible they'll kill a few of the settlers and you could be blamed. And shot. But other strains are easy pickings for NPC walls and towers. Once you've cleared a decent area of zeds then you may have a safe spot to try building. Until the raiders come...

One thing that might help this situation as mentioned above, is using the 'c' key to hide while you're inside the safety of the tent. Eventually the tree will turn green and those zombies will wander off a little.
I'd just restart though. I wouldn't wish that situation on any starting character.

Third try is the charm? For my ancestors it's the seventh. ;-)

[Survivalist07]

man couple raiders came took agro i sneak out again... i lure a bunny to them they start to run after bunny. i finally builded wooden wall i prepared a bunny put fire off and get in my tent for rest.i save the game and secınds later, full armed 4-5 raiders came and burn some walls.i went out soon as they go and see same white stain horde coming. i sneaked and went inside my tent agin.and they wonder around and find the broken wall came in and staying again inside my base 3 days i waited them to leave me alone again.i just quit rush. hope that dev will fix that soon.otherwise not worth to play for me :( i know the game kinda well but i started maybe 20 times. again and again...it is just the way how i said.cant be just coz of my bad luck :((((

[Midnight_Toker247]

If you want I can try to help you in co-op, assuming the lag isn't bad that is, I'll protect you :)

[Lemonhead]

I see there that you have some decent gear at the point in the screenshot. A large bag, an axe and a toolbox at least. A shame to see that all go.

A couple tips:

-Find friendlies early. They're going to be a food and seed source. As well as protection from snafus like this.

-Get food production going early. Anywhere. Throw a dozen sunflowers in the ground just outside the no build zone of a friendly settlement. Preferably on the far side from likely enemy approaches. Spread them out a bit so a single molotov won't get them all.

Odds are raiders will burn that crop, but odds are also that said raiders will then engage the settlement, and have loot for you on the ones that die. You can safely 'steal' from (red) raider corpses. The only people this pisses off is the raiders. Raiders are different than a (red) settlement that you've pissed off, but I think the same rules apply, you'll only be pissing off people already trying to murder you.

-Get a team mate. Productivity increases multiplicatively at this point. If they survive the early game, bonus. Refugees are easiest to recruit by far. You can see these on the map with the radio object. This guy is your new lumberjack/zed distractor. If they can farm well, big bonus.

-When you decide to start building, build somewhere high with lots of room to expand eventually. The height is to keep bandits from being able to shoot or throw molotovs into your settlement over the walls.
Alternately if you are so lucky, build around a town building that's on advantageous terrain. These are rare, but an easily claimed diner or better yet, motel, is a fast track to safety. You can hide from enemies here as you expand with a wall and other structures. They also have multiple exits should you need to sneak away. Each old world building section has a capacity of 3000 lbs. The largest building you can build from scratch has a capacity of 3200 and takes far more lumber. The catch is, you need a toolbox equipped and access to a few lumber to claim one of these. Otherwise, NPCs can come along and loot your food from these structures.

-Build your walls two or three tiles out from anything you don't want burned. Once they are complete, consider having your partner try and build a tower if they are able. I don't prioritize this right away, but it is very useful assuming you have ranged weapons.

-Arrows can be acquired from zeds that die near friendly settlement walls. Also check your minimap, stray arrows locations are drawn on there as a grey dot, even when they are no longer displayed on the 3D view. If you can kite a lone red or white under an arrow tower, AND get safely inside, you can often get quite a few arrows out of the bargain. They are also dirt cheap in trade. When a (player seeking) wandering horde spawns it's often a good idea to retreat to a friendly settlement, it'll try to follow you there, even from half a mile away. They may get wiped out by some other entity on the way, but if not, arrow farm for you as they die outside your friends walls.

-Don't build a campfire until there is a need. Cooked food goes farther. They attract traders, but so do friendly settlement campfires. They can prevent hypothermia and keep clothes dry. You can put out a campfire with a full water bottle.

-Again, get food in the ground early. Don't worry about watering. It will rain eventually. If for some reason it doesn't, cross that bridge when you get to it. The blue/red bar on crops denotes their level of watering/lack thereof. I've never had a crop get past 1/4 red without rain yet. Watering takes time that you'll need to focus on a wall. With two or three working at the wall, it should be quick done.

-Once a wall is up, crops are in the ground and everyone is getting very hungry... Start trading in earnest. For food. If you have the skillset for rabbit hunting or have had the good fortune of finding a bucket for a trap, start getting rabbits. You'll need to keep people from starving while the crop comes up.

If you manage all that, then you're set to explore the rest of the game. Getting a pick for the stone needed to start a well would be my next priority. Don't plant until mid-spring at the earliest, or early/mid fall at the latest. If you've started near winter, well you're playing on a whole different difficulty level. The AI can't even survive winter usually. Good luck.

[Survivalist07]

Originally posted by Midnight_Toker247:

If you want I can try to help you in co-op, assuming the lag isn't bad that is, I'll protect you :)

i can protect myself too but hordes on watch will ruin our efford.((

Originally posted by Lemonhead:

I see there that you have some decent gear at the point in the screenshot. A large bag, an axe and a toolbox at least. A shame to see that all go.

A couple tips:

-Find friendlies early. They're going to be a food and seed source. As well as protection from snafus like this.

-Get food production going early. Anywhere. Throw a dozen sunflowers in the ground just outside the no build zone of a friendly settlement. Preferably on the far side from likely enemy approaches. Spread them out a bit so a single molotov won't get them all.

Odds are raiders will burn that crop, but odds are also that said raiders will then engage the settlement, and have loot for you on the ones that die. You can safely 'steal' from (red) raider corpses. The only people this pisses off is the raiders. Raiders are different than a (red) settlement that you've pissed off, but I think the same rules apply, you'll only be pissing off people already trying to murder you.

-Get a team mate. Productivity increases multiplicatively at this point. If they survive the early game, bonus. Refugees are easiest to recruit by far. You can see these on the map with the radio object. This guy is your new lumberjack/zed distractor. If they can farm well, big bonus.

-When you decide to start building, build somewhere high with lots of room to expand eventually. The height is to keep bandits from being able to shoot or throw molotovs into your settlement over the walls.
Alternately if you are so lucky, build around a town building that's on advantageous terrain. These are rare, but an easily claimed diner or better yet, motel, is a fast track to safety. You can hide from enemies here as you expand with a wall and other structures. They also have multiple exits should you need to sneak away. Each old world building section has a capacity of 3000 lbs. The largest building you can build from scratch has a capacity of 3200 and takes far more lumber. The catch is, you need a toolbox equipped and access to a few lumber to claim one of these. Otherwise, NPCs can come along and loot your food from these structures.

-Build your walls two or three tiles out from anything you don't want burned. Once they are complete, consider having your partner try and build a tower if they are able. I don't prioritize this right away, but it is very useful assuming you have ranged weapons.

-Arrows can be acquired from zeds that die near friendly settlement walls. Also check your minimap, stray arrows locations are drawn on there as a grey dot, even when they are no longer displayed on the 3D view. If you can kite a lone red or white under an arrow tower, AND get safely inside, you can often get quite a few arrows out of the bargain. They are also dirt cheap in trade. When a (player seeking) wandering horde spawns it's often a good idea to retreat to a friendly settlement, it'll try to follow you there, even from half a mile away. They may get wiped out by some other entity on the way, but if not, arrow farm for you as they die outside your friends walls.

-Don't build a campfire until there is a need. Cooked food goes farther. They attract traders, but so do friendly settlement campfires. They can prevent hypothermia and keep clothes dry. You can put out a campfire with a full water bottle.

-Again, get food in the ground early. Don't worry about watering. It will rain eventually. If for some reason it doesn't, cross that bridge when you get to it. The blue/red bar on crops denotes their level of watering/lack thereof. I've never had a crop get past 1/4 red without rain yet. Watering takes time that you'll need to focus on a wall. With two or three working at the wall, it should be quick done.

-Once a wall is up, crops are in the ground and everyone is getting very hungry... Start trading in earnest. For food. If you have the skillset for rabbit hunting or have had the good fortune of finding a bucket for a trap, start getting rabbits. You'll need to keep people from starving while the crop comes up.

If you manage all that, then you're set to explore the rest of the game. Getting a pick for the stone needed to start a well would be my next priority. Don't plant until mid-spring at the earliest, or early/mid fall at the latest. If you've started near winter, well you're playing on a whole different difficulty level. The AI can't even survive winter usually. Good luck.

I know almost all of them tht u were talking about.i played more than 24 hours.Just want to get rid of camper hordes.I will do good but campers ruining the game.i cant go out.i will out of stamina very soon. i will try one more time on the hill.if not work again well i will wait until bugfix. thank you for detailed instroduction though.

[Midnight_Toker247]

There is no bug to be fixed. Like I said I can try to help you, at least until you get a base built, I have over 800 hours in this game. Once you know what you are doing it is not a hard game I tend to complain things are too easy. Just don't give up, and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

[Fin]

It sounds like you had a rough start. You could always just start a new game.
Sometimes the fates conspire against you and you're going to check out early no matter what you do!

[Survivalist07]

Originally posted by Fin:

It sounds like you had a rough start. You could always just start a new game.
Sometimes the fates conspire against you and you're going to check out early no matter what you do!

After maybe 20 games i found a normal start.I didnt visit hostile camps and they didnt come.I made 2 gates if hordes come i sneak out from other side.Traps everywhere. got 2 bandit attacks and was easy to get rid of them. i dont care about plunders i have plenty of wood.Just chicken wire i couldnt find it yet.slowly slowly building up.And hopefully i will get some villagers too.Finally i can play. that was frustrating.

[Midnight_Toker247]

While you can sometimes find chicken wire in towns and such you will likely need to make your own, to make it first you need a kiln, you will need to find some iron rocks and mine them, make charcoal in the kiln from wood then make steel from the iron, after that you will need a forge and someone with level 5 construction, make sure you get plenty of charcoal as you will need it for the forge as well.

[󠀡󠀡]

Originally posted by Survivalist07:

I have couplequestions i pretty new in game.
* Starting in late spring or summer makes zombies purple i guess? I created one and Npcs are dying one by one. I saw couple yellows but mostly purple and they re in everywhere.no towns around im in the hood on the mountain, starting place etc.I cant even go for scavenge or hunt.
* If we use map edge fences as base wall i guess traders not come right? should be surrounded fences and gate for attracting traders?
* Lastly purple hordes coming next to my base wind shows opposite side.they go away a bit come again.And become infinite loop.any suggestions? thanks

Seems on my map (publicbeta branch) there are nothing but red/purple in my areas too. I disabled the white strain until I get better at the game, but there are purple/red EVERYWHERE and I can't out run them. I hide in buildings too but they don't leave. They just sit outside and wait. >.<

[CrazyJKGaming]

I'll give you a few tips that might make things a little easier for you and hopefully not spoil things.

1. When you find a good area that you want to build in you can first start by building some walls around a car to store your gear in and sleep. Nothing special. Since you technically dont own a building or tent you wont attrack much even with a fire.
2. When find a new settlement and you dont know if they are friendly or not...kill a zombie close by and put all of you money on the zombie except like 5 gold. If they are looters they will only get your 5g. You can even carry the zombie into the camp when you first go in. Drop it and get your gold...
3. Arrows are your friend. Once you master the art of the bow and stealth you can pretty much take any settlement or horde with some sneaky tactics.
4. Learn to hunt rabbits. Push them into the wooded areas and stay upwind so they dont smell you. sneak up on them. Never in the open unless you are max bow and stealth skill. Wind also affects zombie aggro radius in the same way.
5. Sneaking around and looting towns will give you the best books if you are careful.
6. Once you get a area map you can watch the traders. They will travel to the friendly camps to trade..
7. If you dont have a brain scanner listen for a random growl from people when no zombies are around. They are infected. watch their face. Don't recruit them.
8. If you are weak build close to a friendly settlement. You can lure your enemies to their towers and people. It works for zombie hordes also. Then go pick up the loot and arrows.
9. If a friendly settlement guy dies dont let anyone see you loot them or pickup the body.
10. You can loot graves if nobody is looking.
11. You can lure White strains into a enemy or friendly settlement. Open the gate and hold it open until they all come in and run! hahaha If you are lucky they will all get infected and you get a free base and loot.
12. You can cook up a nasty meal with some white strain infected human meat if you are feeling a bit evil. Trade it or give it to a player. Let some time pass and see what happens. Wait for them to bury their old friend and loot the grave. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to survive in this world.
If you have any questions I've pretty much mastered this game to the point where its super easy for me. I can clear a map solo. I'd love to see some new updated stuff come to this game to make it more difficult. Good luck! Its a great game.