Fun idea for a item: retractable ladder

[ProxyJames]

so it would work like a door or something where you need to hit a switch to lower or raise a section of ladder so you can trap the hell out of the front of your base but still have a easy way inside without leaving a backdoor open for zombies

[Amanoob105]

If you place the bottom of a ladder at least two blocks off of the ground you can still climb it, with just a little jump to get it.
But zombies will never be able to follow. They never think to try jumping while under it.

Still. Fun idea. A lot of people feel that the trick with the ladders is somehow cheesing the enemy (because learning your enemy weaknesses and then using that knowledge to your advantage is a big no-no for some reason) so it would be nice to have another way to do it that's more active. It would also look better.
Also be nice if you can place them flat on the ground. Retractable bridges!

[seven]

I like the retractable bridge idea. Or a smaller drawbridge that was for people, not vehicles.

[ProxyJames]

Originally posted by Amanoob105:

If you place the bottom of a ladder at least two blocks off of the ground you can still climb it, with just a little jump to get it.
But zombies will never be able to follow. They never think to try jumping while under it.

Still. Fun idea. A lot of people feel that the trick with the ladders is somehow cheesing the enemy (because learning your enemy weaknesses and then using that knowledge to your advantage is a big no-no for some reason) so it would be nice to have another way to do it that's more active. It would also look better.
Also be nice if you can place them flat on the ground. Retractable bridges!

honestly I had zombies climb ladders two blocks off the ground because the engine is kind of wonky and the zombies will pile up and one or two will be able to climb up. hell I have had zombies spawn IN MY BASE; I was using a junkyard and my land clam black doesn't cover all of it and my bed is all the one on one side of it so from time to time the game goes IMA SPAWN A ZOMBIE RIGHT HERE!.....gods zombie spawning is so dumb, I had zombies just spawn in right behind me the second I turn around

[Amanoob105]

Originally posted by ProxyJames:

honestly I had zombies climb ladders two blocks off the ground because the engine is kind of wonky and the zombies will pile up and one or two will be able to climb up. hell I have had zombies spawn IN MY BASE; I was using a junkyard and my land clam black doesn't cover all of it and my bed is all the one on one side of it so from time to time the game goes IMA SPAWN A ZOMBIE RIGHT HERE!.....gods zombie spawning is so dumb, I had zombies just spawn in right behind me the second I turn around

I have never seen a zombie make it up a ladder like that. But I admit I am normally not that close to the way into the base that uses that so they don't tend to have reason to be near it.
If that doesn't work, there's always the option of just having some frames outside the base to get in by and simply removing them when you come in.

As to the others. Yeah. When I start a new game I have always set the area on those two to their max to cover as much as possible just for the peace of mind.
The LCB only stop zombies that would have spawned in the building itself (if you placed it in a POI) and only if the zombies, as I understand it, were already dead at the time it was put down.
The bed works as you think it does. I've just always tried to place it on a first floor, so it can cover both that and the ground floor below. Also because if they brake in they don't get the chance to destroy it without somehow taking out the building as a whole.

Never had one spawn in right behind me. Not unhappy about that.

[JimmyIowa]

Not that it's a bad idea, but I think the same thing can already be accomplished a number of ways.

In addition to the already mentioned trick of simply leaving out the first section of ladder and jumping onto it. You can also leave out any number of ladder sections then use wood frames or flagstone or whatever placed 2 blocks away from the bottom to jump onto the ladder from 2 blocks away. You can leave out 3 or 4 sections of ladder doing this, and this even prevents the "pile up" of zombies from getting onto a ladder (they won't pile up 5 high even on a 64 count blood moon).

Not to mention, the existing methods are actually faster and easier to execute than having to turn around and do the retract step on the suggested ladder.

Also not to mention, the retractable ladder has the rather significant issue of - what if you are outside and the ladder is already retracted (say you jumped or fell off your base wall or left by some other back route). This isn't a problem with the existing ladder gap methods.

All in all, at best a cute cosmetic block that would never be applied for actual practical use by any smart or experienced player.

[...👑 JOST AMMAN 👑...]

A "quick and dirty" idea would be to allow the drawbridge to have advanced rotations.

Then you'd be able to place it diagonally so that when it's out it touches the ground
When you retract it zombies wouldn't be able to climb up.

[JimmyIowa]

Originally posted by ⚜ JOST AMMAN ⚜:

A "quick and dirty" idea would be to allow the drawbridge to have advanced rotations.

Then you'd be able to place it diagonally so that when it's out it touches the ground
When you retract it zombies wouldn't be able to climb up.

I do that now by building a small ramp of cobblestone wedge blocks at the point where the open end of the drawbrige comes to. So when the drawbride is open, I just drive/walk up onto it. And when it is closed, the ramp is just a 3 block high ramp 5m away from my base wall that connects to nothing.

[...👑 JOST AMMAN 👑...]

Originally posted by JimmyIowa:

Originally posted by ⚜ JOST AMMAN ⚜:

A "quick and dirty" idea would be to allow the drawbridge to have advanced rotations.

Then you'd be able to place it diagonally so that when it's out it touches the ground
When you retract it zombies wouldn't be able to climb up.

I do that now by building a small ramp of cobblestone wedge blocks at the point where the open end of the drawbrige comes to. So when the drawbride is open, I just drive/walk up onto it. And when it is closed, the ramp is just a 3 block high ramp 5m away from my base wall that connects to nothing.

Nice!

[JimmyIowa]

Originally posted by ⚜ JOST AMMAN ⚜:

Nice! :yay:

Ends up looking like this. For me it's mostly just cosmetic roleplay, since I park outside, and I can easily jump into my base. But...it's functional for driving onto for those who want that.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2490390540

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2490390638

[seven]

Originally posted by ⚜ JOST AMMAN ⚜:

A "quick and dirty" idea would be to allow the drawbridge to have advanced rotations.

I tried to make a bridge with the garage door and advanced rotation. It worked except it really screwed up the pathing of the zombies. They'd walk on it then start trying to dig. Or walk in circles.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2490409188

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2490409197

[Amanoob105]

Originally posted by seven:

Originally posted by ⚜ JOST AMMAN ⚜:

A "quick and dirty" idea would be to allow the drawbridge to have advanced rotations.

I tried to make a bridge with the garage door and advanced rotation. It worked except it really screwed up the pathing of the zombies. They'd walk on it then start trying to dig. Or walk in circles.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2490409188

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2490409197

The walking onto it and then attacking it does make a bit of sense. Zombies are programed to "see" doors as half the health they really are. So if you have a door into the house, they will normally go for the door.

So when they get atop your door bridge some of them are suddenly compelled to attack the 'door'.
Not sure that's going on the ones going in circles though. Maybe there's a limit on how many will try to attack the door at once and the rest are left without anything to do?

[seven]

It was just one zombie when walking in circles, so no crowd. Actually, I don't think they were seeing it as a path. They preferred to just beat on the concrete base rather than walk up the stairs, and when they did, I think it was just to get up to my level. I didn't really test it much since it wasn't working, and as far as I know not something I can change in xml.

I also made a bridge with the roll up garage door. They would path across that just fine when in the up position.

[ProxyJames]

Originally posted by seven:

It was just one zombie when walking in circles, so no crowd. Actually, I don't think they were seeing it as a path. They preferred to just beat on the concrete base rather than walk up the stairs, and when they did, I think it was just to get up to my level. I didn't really test it much since it wasn't working, and as far as I know not something I can change in xml.

I also made a bridge with the roll up garage door. They would path across that just fine when in the up position.

yeah zombie pathing can get wonky, they tend to want to go for any entry point that is connected to the player (thats why you only want one entrance to your base) and my first base....well it was in a building with more than one entrance and the way I layed out traps they ended up running in circles and ignoring me lol