What's with the helicopter?

[Sparky]

I know it's there just to stir things up, but it just seems like it's in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It happens super early in the game when the player is weakest, when it'd be more interesting late-game when the player is actually set up and in a comfy position. As it stands, it's just something to piss off new players.

You also can't do anything about it with is a huge missed opportunity. You can't radio it for possible help/supplies and you can't shoot it down to possibly end it early but start a massive fire and commotion in the process.

As it stands the helicopter is just kind of a lame excuse for the game to unfairly crop-dust new players or kill more experienced ones in their sleep. Really hope it gets reworked into something more interesting.

[Orclover]

The event is actually pretty easy to mitigate if you are not caught outside, simply stay out of sight and it just wanders around randomly. If you get spotted it brings every zed in the county to you. Trick is to keep an ear out for it and not be outside when you first hear it or duck inside the moment you catch wind of it and keep your fingers crossed. With a bit of luck it just moves zeds already in the game around randomly, kinda shuffles them to one area. As long as the zeds dont hear a TV or you, or see you when they go chasing after the chopper then they should ignore your dwelling.

If you plan ahead, you can actually use the chopper event to wipe out every zed in the area. Just be ready for it. Set up a killing field with campfires or have a few molotovs handy. Have a sturdy fast car on hand.. When the chopper shows up, drive there and light all the fires you can or toss a molotov at the first group to show up chasing the chopper thats now following you. Now just drive around in circles staying just out of the zeds reach. The zeds will be on fire fairly quickly and it will spread to any zed that touches them. The chopper will drag every zed within a mile or two to your location and add to the "Burning Man Event". As long as you don't try to plow your vehicle through a group of them then you should be fine and leading them around a giant flaming mosh pit. This will go on for hours, and it will be risky as hell. But if you pull it off you will wipe out most of the zeds in that town in one day.

[sokolov]

It happens super early into the game because it's when there are still uninfected people alive somewhere, likely just random people or the military observing how ♥♥♥♥♥♥ you (or the world itself) are.
You can also look at the event as a way to prove yourself in surviving whatever the game has to offer, a lot of ♥♥♥♥♥♥ situations can happen at any time anywhere and the point of the game is to.. well, die.

You can also be warned about the helicopter arrival via the Emergency Broadcast System Station so "experienced players wont die in their sleep".

Late-game stuff would likely be NPC's imo. Humans themselves are worse than just a flying piece of metal or a simple zed.

If you want the helicopter event reworked (if not removed), try this mod;
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2458631365

[Orclover]

Aso there is a mod that adds different kinds of choppers to the event and even makes them crash (with loot!) occasionally.

[Orclover]

@Sokolov ya thats it. Been meaning to try it.

[Sparky]

Originally posted by Orclover:

The event is actually pretty easy to mitigate if you are not caught outside, simply stay out of sight and it just wanders around randomly.

What are you talking about? I've got 100 hours in the game and I've never once had the helicopter not notice me, even when I'm in a dark room with closed windows, closed doors, and closed curtains on every window.

I've even woken up part way through the event before with thousands of zombies surrounding my base.

[Orclover]

Originally posted by +Sparky-:

I've even woken up part way through the event before with thousands of zombies surrounding my base.

Bad luck? That used to happen to me a couple years ago but lately with IWBUMS, as long as I am indoors when the event kicks off then it seem to just bugger off to someplace randomly and not hang out over my base. Mind you I always keep curtains over all my windows, maybe they are spotting you through them. I had the event go off a coup.le weeks ago even. I just sat inside for the day and read books till it was over. When I took a drive the next day there was a whole lotta zeds downtown suddenly but nowhere near me. Not sure how many hours I got.

[Sparky]

Originally posted by Orclover:

Originally posted by +Sparky-:

I've even woken up part way through the event before with thousands of zombies surrounding my base.

Bad luck? That used to happen to me a couple years ago but lately with IWBUMS, as long as I am indoors when the event kicks off then it seem to just bugger off to someplace randomly and not hang out over my base. Mind you I always keep curtains over all my windows, maybe they are spotting you through them. I had the event go off a coup.le weeks ago even. I just sat inside for the day and read books till it was over. When I took a drive the next day there was a whole lotta zeds downtown suddenly but nowhere near me. Not sure how many hours I got.

I'll try that out in the new beta.

[bulbatrs]

Originally posted by Orclover:

The event is actually pretty easy to mitigate if you are not caught outside, simply stay out of sight and it just wanders around randomly. If you get spotted it brings every zed in the county to you. Trick is to keep an ear out for it and not be outside when you first hear it or duck inside the moment you catch wind of it and keep your fingers crossed. With a bit of luck it just moves zeds already in the game around randomly, kinda shuffles them to one area. As long as the zeds dont hear a TV or you, or see you when they go chasing after the chopper then they should ignore your dwelling.

If you plan ahead, you can actually use the chopper event to wipe out every zed in the area. Just be ready for it. Set up a killing field with campfires or have a few molotovs handy. Have a sturdy fast car on hand.. When the chopper shows up, drive there and light all the fires you can or toss a molotov at the first group to show up chasing the chopper thats now following you. Now just drive around in circles staying just out of the zeds reach. The zeds will be on fire fairly quickly and it will spread to any zed that touches them. The chopper will drag every zed within a mile or two to your location and add to the "Burning Man Event". As long as you don't try to plow your vehicle through a group of them then you should be fine and leading them around a giant flaming mosh pit. This will go on for hours, and it will be risky as hell. But if you pull it off you will wipe out most of the zeds in that town in one day.

I can see how engine dies and car won't start fast enough and it's a rip.

[Sparky]

Originally posted by Orclover:

Originally posted by +Sparky-:

I've even woken up part way through the event before with thousands of zombies surrounding my base.

Bad luck? That used to happen to me a couple years ago but lately with IWBUMS, as long as I am indoors when the event kicks off then it seem to just bugger off to someplace randomly and not hang out over my base. Mind you I always keep curtains over all my windows, maybe they are spotting you through them. I had the event go off a coup.le weeks ago even. I just sat inside for the day and read books till it was over. When I took a drive the next day there was a whole lotta zeds downtown suddenly but nowhere near me. Not sure how many hours I got.

It half-worked?
The heli only made 2 passes but after a night of sleeping, around 30ish zombies had ripped through the entire first floor of my base with a few smaller groups outside. Thankfully I save-scummed, but yeah, that only seems to half-work.

[Kaldrak]

Originally posted by +Sparky-:

Originally posted by Orclover:

Bad luck? That used to happen to me a couple years ago but lately with IWBUMS, as long as I am indoors when the event kicks off then it seem to just bugger off to someplace randomly and not hang out over my base. Mind you I always keep curtains over all my windows, maybe they are spotting you through them. I had the event go off a coup.le weeks ago even. I just sat inside for the day and read books till it was over. When I took a drive the next day there was a whole lotta zeds downtown suddenly but nowhere near me. Not sure how many hours I got.

It half-worked?
The heli only made 2 passes but after a night of sleeping, around 30ish zombies had ripped through the entire first floor of my base with a few smaller groups outside. Thankfully I save-scummed, but yeah, that only seems to half-work.

Depends on how many zeds are in the area and if you have environmental attacks turned on or off. Still better than if it has noticed you and hundreds or thousands descend on your position.

Isolation probably works the best. if you're waaay out in the countryside not near anything. It won't matter much at all.

[sokolov]

Originally posted by +Sparky-:

It half-worked?
The heli only made 2 passes but after a night of sleeping, around 30ish zombies had ripped through the entire first floor of my base with a few smaller groups outside. Thankfully I save-scummed, but yeah, that only seems to half-work.

Some zeds will make their way through literally anything to get to a source of noise like an alarm, some get distracted cause some zed is banging on a door so others join him then they forget that they were moving towards the heli noise so they will proceed to chill at your/other house zeds just broke into.
Some are just programmed to make their way to you after x amount of hours.
At least that's how it works from what I've seen.

[[B&E] Killer Pineapple]

Couldn't get a car last run.
Ducked out to the train tracks south east of Muldraugh.

Final death toll

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2606919675

Make sure you sit down in between kills. Overweight is certainly not your friend in this situation.

I got trapped in the back room of the south west Muldraugh petrol station previous run.
Banging on the external and internal entries to the room was pretty scary. Finally I opened the external door and ran for it. It was just one lone Z there who I easily got past.

Can you switch off chopper in sand box?

It's pretty much a non event if you can get a car. Otherwise get off the beaten track.
I've only ever had choppers between 11am and 4pm. Can they come at night?

[Animalman]

I’ve had a chopper stay around until beyond 10pm before during true night time on unlimited chopper events.

[Animalman]

I agree there isn’t much depth to the event. And when it’s looping it’s useful only for killing all the zom making sure that everyone in the radius is dead. But this is subjective to the possibility of killing everyone.

Depth would be radio contact or player interaction and by default having this event loop. By default it exists only once and is like a hurdle for lots of people or a mark of progress. But it should by default loop randomly, and the further in game you get the more interactive it becomes. But atm is just a free surprise noise maker that tends to show up when you’re tired or unable to run.

[Nordil(Hun)]

Just wait till you get the chopper on day 3:D
Or if you allow it to come back every 2 weeks.
So far the longest hovering above my base was from 1400-2430:) My guy even took a nap inside, but it was still around when he woke up at 2300:)