Lure Zs away with sound

[mjrudolphi]

Was curious to know if folks use this method much to access an area. Seems interesting but not sure how successful you can be with it. Any use it a lot as a strategy? Specifically referring to using alarm clocks or other devices...not shouting.

[Puppers]

Yah, I absolutely use sound to move zombies around in 42, I use fireworks a lot of the time to move them by throwing them downwind from where i want to loot or the opposite side of where they are all at and it works great. Fireworks give you enough time to run away and hide. Then i usually just ff time for at least a hour and it seems to be enough time.

For vehicles I just let them follow me and honk a ways away and just circle around to where i want to loot. Or i will honk and leave the car running to keep them to the car.

Can do the same with a shot from a gun too

[Siodog]

Yes ofc, keep in mind is a bit more difficult nowadays but usually zombie herding was the rule (still is in a minor way) Gunshots, noisemakers, cars etc anything works keep in mind is also a dangerous strategy coz zombie migration is a thing

[Regent]

I think it is one of the best strategies but may depend on your settings/situations.

Faster day settings make it more of a requirement.
Higher zombie population settings make it more of a requirement.
Both sprinters and super slow zombies mess with doing this easily.

When all the zombies are fast shamblers it can be easy to pool up a hundred zombies and walk them away from your loot spot.

sound is also the best way to get a zombie to stop chasing you. the sound will get their attention the very second they lose sight of you.

[Regent]

i realized i answered mostly in terms of using Q but a lot is still probably applicable.

Using a car horn to draw zombies to one side of town to loot another side of town is a great move. noise makers are great at distracting zombies while you want to work...

the big trick is to make sure they do not see you.

The only issue with alarms or watch bags is the amount of time it can take for setup.

Early game you maybe better off cutting through a house and turning the TV up really loud while you make your way out... any zombies that lost line of sight will get stuck on the tv.

[mjrudolphi]

Originally posted by Regent:

i realized i answered mostly in terms of using Q but a lot is still probably applicable.

Using a car horn to draw zombies to one side of town to loot another side of town is a great move.

Regarding a car horn, how do you do that and have them not see you? Do you just hit the horn once then move and they should all go to the car?

[Regent]

a car can have a big range of sound... each honk sends out a ping to the zombies in range (a few hundred squares i think). That will make them walk to the car. If any of them see you on the way they will try and chase you.

The car is a pretty heavy handed sound so I'd recomend it for trying to migrate lots of zombies and then the car beomces the zombie hot spot. Turning on the raido really loud will help keep zombies stuck on the car.

an emergency vehicle is generally the best for the sirens... which are a repeating sound... every second or so the zombies all get called to it. Note that they can damage the siren.

[Regent]

Originally posted by mjrudolphi:

Originally posted by Regent:

i realized i answered mostly in terms of using Q but a lot is still probably applicable.

Using a car horn to draw zombies to one side of town to loot another side of town is a great move.

Regarding a car horn, how do you do that and have them not see you? Do you just hit the horn once then move and they should all go to the car?

I guess I would specificlly recomend a couple of quick fast honks and then a run away. parked where you know a direction... or two... is already fairly clear... as that is the route you go back to then circle around to your desired location... maybe trying to keep the car within 100 tiles of you so if it has an siren so it stays active (if you are using that).

also use a burner car you don't need.

[NotForMe]

My top method of luring Zomboids, is towing a busted up police vehicle/ambulance/firetruck/ what ever with a siren, turning the siren on, and driving through town fast enough to avoid sprinters getting close enough to smash the drivers windshield(if any), and pull the hordes out of town to a empty field where I will cull them, or just leave them.

You can also use the towed vehicle as a Ram of sorts by lowering the pressure in the tires on one side, which will make it pull to that side when being towed, good way to avoid damaging your driven vehicle too much, and kill zeds without exhausting yourself or ammo supplies.

[mjrudolphi]

Originally posted by NotForMe:

You can also use the towed vehicle as a Ram of sorts by lowering the pressure in the tires on one side, which will make it pull to that side when being towed, good way to avoid damaging your driven vehicle too much, and kill zeds without exhausting yourself or ammo supplies.

Interesting tip on the Ram technique, did not know that about the tire pressure thing.

Question on the towing though, doesnt that kill the engine of the vehicle you are driving?

[The early worm deserves the bird]

Luring away zombies with sounds works fantastically well. Sirens, gun shots, fire crackers, shouting, alarm clocks etc. In fact I went into debug mode and looked at the sound radius of alarm clocks it's something like.... 5 tiles or so. I always wondered if you could get a couple of alarm clocks together and string them along in a path so that they go off one after another so that it lures zombies away. Have them go off a 1:01, 1:02, 1:03pm etc.

[Isabelle]

Originally posted by The early worm deserves the bird:

Luring away zombies with sounds works fantastically well. Sirens, gun shots, fire crackers, shouting, alarm clocks etc. In fact I went into debug mode and looked at the sound radius of alarm clocks it's something like.... 5 tiles or so. I always wondered if you could get a couple of alarm clocks together and string them along in a path so that they go off one after another so that it lures zombies away. Have them go off a 1:01, 1:02, 1:03pm etc.

This mostly depends on the individual zombie, and their memory values. Zombies can actually hear clocks from further than 5 tiles away, because zombie hearing values are capable of conferring a positive bonus to their hearing range- so, some zombies might hear that same 5 tile sound at a distance of 8 tiles, for example.

If they are currently engaging in horde behavior and chasing a target, noise distractions don't work, but otherwise new noises "reset" their aggro and they generally choose to pursue the most recent sound.

[NotForMe]

All sounds in the game have two values applied to them. I forget what they are called.

One is how loud the sound is, which is the sounds minimum range for zomboids to hear it. This is modified by their hearing level, I don't know the exact math, but I'm sure it's online somewhere, and objects in the way, particularly walls, and trees will dampen sounds.

Second is something along the line of importance to the zomboid. Louder sounds typically have a higher value in this case, but a loud gunshot can over ride a police siren, and the loudest and most important sound is the helicopter event.

Importance of sound is overridden again if zomboids see a living character, and will be overridden until their memory runs out.

You can take advantage of this system, by having a siren going off, while using a rifle from a safe distance, sometimes the zomboids will get attracted to the gunshot, but if their memories are short / if you aren't using a loud gun, and or are far enough away, they can be attracted to the siren again before spotting you.

You can prevent zomboids from destroying the siren on a vehicle, by building a half wall/fence/sandbag around the vehicle. Well... it wont prevent it from happening, but slow down the damage they do to the siren.

Originally posted by mjrudolphi:

Interesting tip on the Ram technique, did not know that about the tire pressure thing.

Question on the towing though, doesnt that kill the engine of the vehicle you are driving?

A little bit yes, but no where near as extreme as using your driven vehicle as the ram itself.

It can be a little dangerous, cause if the vehicle you are towing loses a wheel your towing power goes down quite a bit, but like with all things, caution and experimentation is the way to learn.

[IlPalazzo]

Hey, what's this bit about sirens getting damaged? I've been playing b42, and haven't noticed any such thing - I seem to be able to reuse the same emergency vehicle as bait without end, as long as I keep its battery topped up.
Was it something in b41?

[NotForMe]

Not sure about b41, but if enough zomboids are around a vehicle with a siren going, the light bar will start to get damaged until it reaches 0 condition, and that's where the siren noise comes from.
I think it's related to the number of zomboids needed to damage tall fences setting? but I'm not 100% certain.

[IlPalazzo]

Originally posted by NotForMe:

Not sure about b41, but if enough zomboids are around a vehicle with a siren going, the light bar will start to get damaged until it reaches 0 condition, and that's where the siren noise comes from.
I think it's related to the number of zomboids needed to damage tall fences setting? but I'm not 100% certain.

Hmm, I'm not getting that in my playthroughs. They keep going for days without issue, even the already damaged ones, while surrounded by a throng. Odd, if it's not supposed to be like that.