How do you guys survive in large cities?

[Crazy8tyeight]

Because I am having soo much trouble and the horde seems endless. They just keep coming so no time to loot. Try to out run them and all I get is a bigger horde following me. Maybe a roof might be a good place to catch my breath.... Not a chance! These zeds climb! =) and the packs of dogs...
Mind you, the setting are as such
Spawning: low
Agressivness: Normal
Memory: 45 sec

Whats up here? I mean this Is hard and even with guns it seems to get worse. I love the game and all but my fovorite thing was to loot the large cities and now Its a waste of ammo and meds, even my life (most the time)

So, I want to know. What are some tips you guys can give someone like me to make my stay in the cities a little more comfy?

[Jazz0411]

in citys there is a 0 second timmer to respawn any killed zombies ,the only way to loot a city is by stealth

[MortVent]

If the numbers are too high
hit the ` key near the 1 to open the console
sq MaxSpawnedZombies # with the # replaced by a number you can handle (might want to write down the value it has by doing sq to list all the game options, and scrolling through to see it)

[Dillpickle1]

There is a mod that tells you when there are scouts inbound or hords. It might be a server only mod

[Zed]

I'm having serious issues with dog hoards. I'm an expert at this game, and have 340 hours logged. I had to change all the settings to the easiest possible way to play, and I can't even get through a single day on the game without dying multiple times from dog attacks.

[Tripping Pug]

Originally posted by Donnie:

I'm having serious issues with dog hoards. I'm an expert at this game, and have 340 hours logged. I had to change all the settings to the easiest possible way to play, and I can't even get through a single day on the game without dying multiple times from dog attacks.

Have you tried killing them?

[Patouski]

Originally posted by Donnie:

I'm having serious issues with dog hoards. I'm an expert at this game, and have 340 hours logged. I had to change all the settings to the easiest possible way to play, and I can't even get through a single day on the game without dying multiple times from dog attacks.

340 hours does not make one an expert. In fact, I doubt even the DEVS would consider themselves experts at their own game, as it all depends on skill level in an FPS setting and knowledge of all possible crafting recipes / combination and game mechanics.

Anyways - setting personal ego aside:

Dog hordes are indeed... a PITA. They are the biggest trolls and threats in the game IMHO. However, know that every 6th day - they WILL spawn several times/day and always aim for YOUR position (especially in SP or very low pop servers - like 3-4 people teaming up). There is always the option to turn around while stealthed and always be on the lookout for them.

Heck, I just went through a 6th day dog horde extravagenza... 3 I avoided because of said rotation of my character after each downed Cactus for Yucca fruits. They simply passed by me and stalled at the edge of the nearest chunk.

Also note tht staying near or in a prefab city, is pretty much asking for trouble. Prefabs have poor structural integrity and are a sure way to get a constant spawn of Zeds. Even worse in wasteland cities, since for each killed Zed, 2 more spawn (or sure seems like it after a while). Note tht hornets and spider zeds act as scouts and WILL call for more by either tracking you from up high, or screeching like mad.

Now, a mod that tells you a horde is inbound - sounds fun(although I never heard of it), but in SP - opening the console will show details on wandering hordes being spawned, even scouts.

My advice: Build outside the city chunk, crawl and loot when you feel you can handle one or two Zeds at a time. Guns are a big no no in wasteland cities. Crank the volume... hear them moan and try to find them - anticipate the fact that YOU ARE a moving target - especially in SP.

Anyways - that's my two cents... and then some. :P

...but I'm no expert (says my 400+ hours). ;)

[Zed]

I only say expert in the sense that I can basically do anything in the game. I know how to craft anything... I understand the complications that make the game fun, and can basically teach any new person who is playing how to play well.

In this new patch, I've never seen a city. I found a town that had about nine houses in it. I ran for miles upon miles and saw several of the same individual house about 20 times.

This game shouldn't be so hard on the easiest settings. It's become unplayable.

[Patouski]

Originally posted by Donnie:

I only say expert in the sense that I can basically do anything in the game. I know how to craft anything... I understand the complications that make the game fun, and can basically teach any new person who is playing how to play well.

In this new patch, I've never seen a city. I found a town that had about nine houses in it. I ran for miles upon miles and saw several of the same individual house about 20 times.

This game shouldn't be so hard on the easiest settings. It's become unplayable.

You will always see the "hub" city at 0,0. It may be small, but that can be modded in the xml files as to which type of city spawns there.

Now, I play with my girlfriend constantly - SP and MP (SP being more an MP game but passworded, since there is no real LAN option atm). And we always do fine...

Well, we struggle at times - heck, for the first time on an MP server, I had more deaths than kills at one point.... thrice! 0-1, 1-2 and 3-4. Only one death was from an actual Zed mind you, but still.

We've encountered some hardtimes now on our passworded game, but we've managed to get ourselves in a position to move to another location as soon as day 7 is over. We've looted a Working Stiff dry, same with a Born and Noble and a Shotgun Messiah store on day 3, so we're set.

Skill? Not really - she hates the bow. Luck? Maybe.

Our settings are high than yours and yet we don't find it hard enough to say it's unplayable. Annoying, yes. Frustrating, definitely.

I say, learn ot mod the dog hordes out, or alter their HP or something... the xml files are full of secrets for you to discover. I know I won't change them... they're the only "Zombies" that keep me on my toes.

[Crafter]

Don`t try to settle in a city - every time you kill a zed it regenerates immediately "just around the corner". The spawning rate is set to 0 days in spawning.xml - I can see the Pimps logic for this in that its supposed to be a large city with a zombie population. Personally, I mod the file so the spawn rate is set to 1, so any zed you kill in the city respawns 1 day later .
When in a city, stealth mode is your friend :)

[ViperV]

Yeah, don't settle in cities. Move a few yards away and when you see the sky turn blue / change music then you're already in a semi safezone to build your base.

[Zed]

I shouldn't have to mess with xml files just to play this game, and I think it's ridiculous for anyone to suggest it.

I'm trying to make the point that the average gamer or newcomer is going to just turn their back on this game. If I have 340 hours logged and know how to do everything already, and struggle the way I do, surely this game is going to get a bad rep to anyone who tries it out.

I didn't have problems with this game until Alpha 11. I'm just hoping they will be corrected. I shouldn't have to put the settings on easy across the board. It's ridiculous.

[Crazy8tyeight]

Thanks for all the info guys. This is great, I'm just going to change the spawn rate in the xml files to 1. now I can actually play on the difficulty I like and not have to completely avoid cities! =) and the dog packs are an issue but when I think about it zombies or not packs of wild dogs tearing the ♥♥♥♥ outa everything in the end of the world makes alot of sense. I'll just deal for now. plus mini bike is your friend with packs just run them the ♥♥♥ over and just repair

[Mr Windblade]

I do not, at all, ever take residence in the city. I prefer to live in the mountains, or in the ground in the desert. I don't mind having a loot camp near the city, where I can run supplies from the city to a central location then nomad squad them back to my real base, but I NEVER live in the City. It's way, way, way too dangerous.

[нιт◈ᴘᴏιɴᴛ]

End-game at level 60 with a plethora of resources and ammo makes raiding towns insanely easy. Madmole has stated that he doesn't want level 10's raiding towns easily and wants town POI's to be a progression incentive mid-late game.

If you don't like the developers design philosophy you could always turn the spawn/difficulty settings down and edit xml's. It's there for a reason. There is plenty of single POI houses out there that you can use early game if you can't be fussed with building your own. Be warned you will have to clear the area around the POI.

[LokitheWeaver]

Originally posted by HitPointG:

End-game at level 60 with a plethora of resources and ammo makes raiding towns insanely easy. Madmole has stated that he doesn't want level 10's raiding towns easily and wants town POI's to be a progression incentive mid-late game.

If you don't like the developers design philosophy you could always turn the spawn/difficulty settings down and edit xml's. It's there for a reason. There is plenty of single POI houses out there that you can use early game if you can't be fussed with building your own. Be warned you will have to clear the area around the POI.

That is great info - I don't always keep up with the Mole's latest posts. However, I do notice that sometimes when a Mole post discusses how "they" want the game played, it never seems to touch on game mechanics that actually punish that style of game play.

For instance, not looting even a small town POI, until level 10 would make sense. IF you could find needed resources outside of a town. Having raided several dozen individual cabins, metal sheds and "camps", since the advent of A12.x, I am willing to argue that this is not the case. Yes, there is one type of cabin with a forge. But where are the book cases? Every camp has a backpack or two, but the last time I found a skill book in one (from memory), the skill book was in a pile of trash - a completely random loot that I could have found along the highway . . .

I end up with tons of resources, which I cannot use, because no matter how many gun parts you find, without the specific skill book, they are just so much scrap metal. If I get real lucky and find a working weapon, there is no way to get enough ammo to make a difference, until you find at least two related skill books (not counting forge).

So while I often like / agree with the designers stated philosophy, I can't help but wonder why things do not seem to be well thought through. If you want to promote a particular play style, make that play style pay off - word of mouth will quickly spread. "Don't bother searching for a big city with a Born Noble / Tool Store - sure they have great loot, but they are guarded by many zombies. A small mining camp may only have one useful tool, but you only need to kill 5-6 zombies. A cabin may only have a single book case / book, but loot several of these in a hit and run mode . . ."