Heat Sources

[Slaughts]

I know that I get more zombie spawns, especially screamers, by generating heat. However, I'm confused on how to reduce my heat signature.

For instance, in my MP game I replaced my torches to candles (and very few of them) and I'm being vigilant about turning off all my stations at night. This should've reduced my heat.

However I keep getting screamers every day, sometimes 2-4 a day. It's weirder because the other players on the server don't get them as much, if at all, and they're emitting more heat than I am.

Are there other ways to reduce heat besides the ones I listed above?

[crowbarzero]

Are you breaking up the zombie bodies afterwards?

[kooto]

Torches does not affect heating, or at least not that much. Keep only one forge or campfire at a time, you can keep it running 24/7 safely. 2 will generate too much heat and screemers will come.

[Slaughts]

Originally posted by crowbarzero:

Are you breaking up the zombie bodies afterwards?

I'm doing that as well.

[Ch53dVet]

In the past if you stayed confined to an area for a lengthy period of time you would constantly spawn all kinds of wandering hordes. screamers, spiders and such. The remedy was to go to a nearby different biome for the day, raise all kinds of holy hell & heat releated activities ( sack a town, chop trees, break big rocks into little rocks, etc...). Upon returning home the increased zed activity would reset to a more quieter level of civility.

[Slaughts]

Originally posted by Ch53dVet:

In the past if you stayed confined to an area for a lengthy period of time you would constantly spawn all kinds of wandering hordes. screamers, spiders and such. The remedy was to go to a nearby different biome for the day, raise all kinds of holy hell & heat releated activities ( sack a town, chop trees, break big rocks into little rocks, etc...). Upon returning home the increased zed activity would reset to a more quieter level of civility.

I'll try that, I got a little mine shack near my oil mine, I'll try it there.

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by Slaughts:

Originally posted by Ch53dVet:

In the past if you stayed confined to an area for a lengthy period of time you would constantly spawn all kinds of wandering hordes. screamers, spiders and such. The remedy was to go to a nearby different biome for the day, raise all kinds of holy hell & heat releated activities ( sack a town, chop trees, break big rocks into little rocks, etc...). Upon returning home the increased zed activity would reset to a more quieter level of civility.

I'll try that, I got a little mine shack near my oil mine, I'll try it there.

Thats not really accurate anymore. You have to remember the term heat system doesn't just refer to actual heat.

Lots of activities add to the heat map such as chopping down trees and i believe building. I don't remember all the mechanics of the heat map but the basic premise is the more activity in an area the more heat it generates which draws screamer.

The best way to handle them is to just have a layer of spikes around your base so if a screamer comes she dies on the spikes. She only calls zombies if she physically sees you, so if your inside and she comes she will never summon any.

[Ch53dVet]

OMG, it's time to break out the "Holy Hand Grenade" quick somebody consult the "Book of Armaments" (rotflmao)

[gamerhelligon]

Yeah as Brian said "heat" doesn't mean heat as in oven or furnace hot. "Heat" as in activity. Cut trees, bust blocks, hammer away on your base contibutes to "heat". Yes having your forge running and campfire / chem station will generate heat but not like you think. I think of it more as "attention" than heat.

Play a single player game, hit F1 to open console, type in "dm" without quotes, hit F8 2 times.
This will bring up a heat indicator. Now hit a tree, rock or shoot a rifle / pistol, you will see it go up by a certain amount. Also dead animals that have died on spikes or catus by "suicide" will also generate heat, and dispose of any and all zed bodies in the area around your base.

If your heat hits 100 in the area...a screamer will come around to investigate. Just like real life, you are out in the yard hammering away on something, you will have neighbors comeing to see what you are doing...same with zeds looking for thier next meal.

[Ͽ҈҉Ͼ]

Originally posted by gamerhelligon:

Yeah as Brian said "heat" doesn't mean heat as in oven or furnace hot. "Heat" as in activity. Cut trees, bust blocks, hammer away on your base contibutes to "heat". Yes having your forge running and campfire / chem station will generate heat but not like you think. I think of it more as "attention" than heat.

Play a single player game, hit F1 to open console, type in "dm" without quotes, hit F8 2 times.
This will bring up a heat indicator. Now hit a tree, rock or shoot a rifle / pistol, you will see it go up by a certain amount. Also dead animals that have died on spikes or catus by "suicide" will also generate heat, and dispose of any and all zed bodies in the area around your base.

If your heat hits 100 in the area...a screamer will come around to investigate. Just like real life, you are out in the yard hammering away on something, you will have neighbors comeing to see what you are doing...same with zeds looking for thier next meal.

To add to this, pretty much there are only 2 ways to reduce 'heat' buildup.

The first way is by having no activity in an area for a reasonably long amount of time. It is slow, but heat will slowly diminish. Some people use this method and only cook things at night or while mining since they're inside and relatively safe even if a screamer does spawn.

The second way is to spread out your activity so that your major sources of heat have 20-30 blocks between them. Screamers will still occasionally spawn near those sources of heat, but usually only because something else in the area caused it to tick over. One practice is to have little alcoves at bedrock every 30-50 blocks and have a forge cooking there melting through ore while you mine in other parts; even if a screamer does spawn, it won't be near anything important. In singleplayer, another practice is similar but building small 6x6 sheds outside and away from your base. You can surround these with wood spikes, load them once a day with 2000 iron ore and about 1000 wood and just leave them cooking. As these sheds are away from your base, if they tick over, the screamer will just walk up to them and suicide on the spikes.

The remaining option is to do what alot of people do at lategame... Build a well defended platform or loot collector somewhere, startup about 8 furnaces, and just let the spawns keep coming while you kill and loot.

[13334436565]

Solution: Build a Screamer Trap

You will never have to fight a screamer again if you follow these simple and easy steps.

(1) Locate a decent hill, go to the top of it and drop your quick waypoint marker.

(2) Go down to the lowest point of that hill and drop a wood frame then skirt around the hill until that woodframe is grid aligned with your quick waypoint marker.

(3) Start digging a tunnel straight into the hill from the low point towards the marker until you are directly underneith it. Then hollow out a little area and plop down 4 forges.

(4) Go back to the top of the hill and clear out all brush and grass so you have a nice pallet. Place wood spikes at the marker and all around it. A couple hundred should do for the entire game life.

(5) You may now run these 4 (or more) forges continuously without the threat of a screamer. She will go to the top of the hill and kill herself on the wood spikes...Each morning go clean up the bodies and repair/replace wood spikes as needed.

Cheers

[RobertW]

I'm using endgame a underground tunnel to a production room under a loot trap (steel log on piles - that I can kill, clean and repair from below). This room is 20 blocks away from the base.

With a falling to death trap you don't need this.