Is this new? All my characters are getting sick...

[JeffMakesGames]

EDIT: Don't build heaters for now. It seems to trigger the bug that causes survivors to become sick and get worse. Play custom stories with winter disabled until it is fixed.

We can now carry on from this post.

[MazyRun]

There have been a lot of posts about it, some suggest it could be a bug, but I guess there is also a chance it could be a new feature or tweak to the health mechanic..

I've found that it just means you have to use meds more often instead of using them as trade items (which is what I mostly used them for in the past ..it was a little too easy to prevent sickness before this change)..

..it makes it almost the same as the hunger & tired statuses, where infection is something you have to keep on top of..

I've only played 2 playthroughs on final cut version so far (one was a classic scenario) but I think once you get the ill ones in the clear (with herbal meds & pills) they are fairly likely to stay sickness free for a while.

[vikpr]

Looks like a bug to me. I've just finished the final cut scenario, and starting from day 12-13 (don't quite recall) I got a character sick every day, they were all well fed and warm but no matter what I did one always got sick. Sometimes it was "slightly sick", sometimes it went right to "sick", and near the day 35 Roman (he joined at day 19) got severely sick out of nowhere. Luckily the hospital was accessible so I managed to get him the meds from the nurse.
I saw a suggestion somewhere on Reddit that this happens once you build a heater; can't confirm that but I did build my heater early so it could be the trigger. And once it starts it never ends, and since sometimes it takes more than one day to heal (even with the meds) you end up needing 1-2 meds per day until the end, 3 if you're lucky. So if it's a "thou shalt not trade your meds" mechanic it seems to be a bit excessive.

[mystafyi]

did you keep your temps above 18C? and keep folks well fed? You dont need meds for slightly sick, just warm and well fed has a good 50/50 cure chance when sleeping. While I have more sickness now, it only gets bad towards the end of scenario.

[爪☯ȪƉ丂₩Ĭ刀₲]

Yeah, clearly an introduced bug.. I've started a custom scenario and found that all three characters are sick constantly that are not going out looting.. its made me a lot more brutal in how i play the game but is clearly a bug. All characters are content, well fed all the safe house is boarded up, secure door is installed and i have two heater/furnaces upgraded and constantly running 5/6 lots of fuel in them.

EDIT: I've also just found that when i go to the pharmacy with mods on in a custom scenario every single loot location has nothing in it..

guess i'll play again when they've fixed this.. i came back to play with the new locations available on the custom scenario but its obviously broken at this point..

[JeffMakesGames]

According to my character's thoughts...

Marin: "Without meds, the disease will kill us all."
Roman: "I need meds... I don't care how you get them, just get them!"
Marko: "My friends are very sick. I have to do something!" (Is not sick, has been out scavenging so, probably avoids getting anything.)

And the radio reports:

Famine and disease reign over the ravaged city of Pogoren. Death takes heavy toll due to no access to food, clean water, and medical supplies.

------------------------------------------------

I remember the radio reporting things like this before but never had my characters get ill like this ever.

[Urumi]

Originally posted by vikpr:

Looks like a bug to me. I've just finished the final cut scenario, and starting from day 12-13 (don't quite recall) I got a character sick every day, they were all well fed and warm but no matter what I did one always got sick. Sometimes it was "slightly sick", sometimes it went right to "sick", and near the day 35 Roman (he joined at day 19) got severely sick out of nowhere. Luckily the hospital was accessible so I managed to get him the meds from the nurse.
I saw a suggestion somewhere on Reddit that this happens once you build a heater; can't confirm that but I did build my heater early so it could be the trigger. And once it starts it never ends, and since sometimes it takes more than one day to heal (even with the meds) you end up needing 1-2 meds per day until the end, 3 if you're lucky. So if it's a "thou shalt not trade your meds" mechanic it seems to be a bit excessive.

I'm pretty sure it's a bug as well. My house is 24°C constantly, even when I keep my characters well fed they still get sick every day. Even using the quit and reload trick rarely has any effect which is definitely not normal. I also noticed characters that were fine would suddenly become sick or severely sick out of nowhere.

"The night was calm" prompt used to be common, now it seems to be the rarest thing ever. Getting the last achievement was a pain because of that. I hope they fix this bug someday otherwise I don't think I'll ever play this game again, it's just too frustrating.

[vikpr]

Originally posted by mystafyi:

did you keep your temps above 18C? and keep folks well fed?

As I wrote, "they were all well fed and warm". Moreover, this sickness spree started before the winter started so I was able to keep 22-24C around the clock.

Originally posted by mystafyi:

You dont need meds for slightly sick, just warm and well fed has a good 50/50 cure chance when sleeping.

Well, with the 50/50 chance to cure and a 100% chance to get a new sick person each day the math doesn't seem to be in the player's favor. And since it's not always "slightly sick" you still need a lot of meds.

[Ēarendel]

No. It has been completely randomized, the rate of sickness that is. You could give meds to your character and he can get sick again the next day.

[JeffMakesGames]

Well, that's garbage, because it can put you into a no-win situation if people keep getting sick for no reason. You WILL run out of meds at a point.

[MazyRun]

One way of managing the current system (without burning through meds) is to not worry about the 'slightly sick' status as much and only use meds if it goes beyond 'slightly' (rest seems to stabilize sickness but not cure)..

For example, I left 1 or 2 characters as 'slightly sick' for the first 10-15 days, then when the stockpile of meds & bandages was looking decent (5+ pills/bandages) I healed everyone who was slightly sick & slightly wounded..

..this stabilizes the situation, they can be healthy for a few days now, if any of them get sick or hurt again, repeat the same process, let it slide for a few days before taking action.. this way you are finding (and/or buying/crafting) more meds & bandages than you are actually using..

..winter falls and you're prepared for it, everyone is healthy and you've restocked on meds (5+ pills/bandages.. as well as the means to make extra on demand).

I should also mention that it is worth being very proactive when scavenging, get guns, take out hostile locations because the bad guys hoard all the best stuff, like meds/bandages.

I feel like heating still plays a role in helping to prevent sickness and with recovery (stops 'slightly' progressing) if anything the coding change is that sleep/rest no longer heals sickness, proper meds are needed (herbals won't cut it).

[Ēarendel]

sleeping doesn't heal injuries however. Spent 10+ days a character sleeping on slightly injured, no progress until bandages.

[JeffMakesGames]

I plan to wait for an update to this.

Because something is broken if characters are not improving with meds/fed well/heating at max...

Slightly sick? Give meds.
Next day... SICK.
THEY SHOULDN'T GET WORSE.

[Sacrilege™]

Originally posted by JeffMakesGames:

I plan to wait for an update to this.

Because something is broken if characters are not improving with meds/fed well/heating at max...

Slightly sick? Give meds.
Next day... SICK.
THEY SHOULDN'T GET WORSE.

Agreed. Something is broken here. I had Zlanta at slightly sick and gave her pills, just because I wanted to make sure she was good to go. I sent her out for the night, and the description said she was looking better, only for her to be terminally ill ... something does not compute.

[MazyRun]

Originally posted by ♥♥♥♥ Tucker:

Something is broken here. I had Zlanta at slightly sick and gave her pills, just because I wanted to make sure she was good to go. I sent her out for the night, and the description said she was looking better, only for her to be terminally ill ... something does not compute.

Yeh things like that do kinda confirm it's probably a glitch of some kind. I've not had any big swings yet, I've had a survivor go from 'slightly sick' to ok, then straight to 'sick', which is still quite odd (especially when you consider it's created a situation where herbal meds don't seem to be working as intended).

I reckon there will be some kind of hotfix for it eventually, in the meantime though I gotta say I'm actually quite liking the challenge that it creates, it's making some scenarios play like a hardmode/game re-balance mod..

..Bringing back survivors from the brink of death against all odds is always rewarding. When it reverts back it might feel too easy. I guess really the idea of some kind of health crisis event does spice up a run.

I'm assuming most of us are experiencing this change in the radiostation shelter? ..I'm just wondering if some coding related to that shelter (which used to be part of a linear story DLC) is altering the way a normal survival scenario plays out on it.

[dogbreath]

Just throwing it out there that I'm also having this problem. Two playthroughs now. Both 80 day custom scenarios. First time around day 48 (lasted until day 60 and I quit), second time around day 34 it started up again.

They go straight to sick. One person every day. Warm house, letting them sleep all day and night in beds. Never more than regular hungry (fed every other day at least). Neutral or content on happiness.

I'm gonna power through this playthrough and see if it stops or changes. It's an 80 day and I'm on day 40.