Building blocking free access

[Alive]

I can't figure it out. Every time I think I get it, it screws me over again.

Can someone please explain the exact mechanics?

[Klingenmeister]

I played for nearly 80h and still dont know an answer to that -.- It is an annoying mechanic that has to go

[Zerodyne]

Generally a building can't be surrounded by buildings because then it has no access. Ignore the fact that you can then wall in the people and "trap" them inside and generally build near mountains. It's just a way to keep you from having a super tight spaced settlement because then the zombies have nowhere to spawn.

Think of the supply depot walling in Starcraft. They don't want you to do that at all. Using houses as walls for example (if you could build 3x3 and such) would mean only the first layer would get infected and the remaining 6 would not because the zombies have nowhere to spawn but behind them.

So to answer your question, most non-house buildings want a 1 cell room around them with the exception of tesla towers and walls. Houses then can only be 2 buildings wide and then it can be as long as you want it so long as the width is 2 and they're in a perfect grid ie: not staggered. Tesla towers can only be built 4 apart but can still block a building in very specific circumstances.

Walls have their special rules, similar to the houses, can only have the width at 2. You can build it next to anything and it won't "block" access for some reason despite logically not making sense. Garrison towers need to be 1 cell apart but otherwise counts as part of a wall so it will interfere with the wall width rules. You should place towers last for the purposes of building walls at choke points for this reason.

Automated towers generally want one room apart just like other buildings except for the shocking tower which needs a lot of room, basically 4 tiles apart, just like tesla towers.

Fun tip: For the marketplace and bank's range, it's 5 houses deep with one gap in between so 3 + 2 deep in all directions.

[Alive]

It's only the houses that confuse me.

There are 12 tiles around a house. I initially thought it needed 2 free tiles, because I figured it didn't count diagonally.

Then I thought it was 3 tiles, since you can build a two-thick row of houses out from a mountain or cliff. Now it's turns out that there are circumstances where even that isn't a thing, since you can't build your houses in rows of 2 if they're slanted (like your keyboard keys).

[Klingenmeister]

Originally posted by Z3R0Dyne:

It's just a way to keep you from having a super tight spaced settlement because then the zombies have nowhere to spawn.

Think of the supply depot walling in Starcraft. They don't want you to do that at all. Using houses as walls for example (if you could build 3x3 and such) would mean only the first layer would get infected and the remaining 6 would not because the zombies have nowhere to spawn but behind them.

Infected buildings dont have collision so zombies start walking through them after infecting them.

[Alive]

Explain this to me please.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1229938549

[Klingenmeister]

Originally posted by Hentaicho:

Explain this to me please.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1229938549

I would like to know, too o0
This has been annoying from day 1 of the beta.

[Morphic]

Originally posted by Hentaicho:

Explain this to me please.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1229938549

Yup I hate that too. IMO, I think it is a bug in their pathing logic.

Now I think it's partially because of that 1 house off the side between the Hunter Hut and Soldier Center. IMO, the game thinks you are making 3 rows of Houses.

But yeah, it can get really wonky at times. Which ends up making things frustrating when trying to plan out your base.

[Alive]

Originally posted by Setzway:

Now I think it's partially because of that 1 house off the side between the Hunter Hut and Soldier Center. IMO, the game thinks you are making 3 rows of Houses.

Very likely.
From what I can deduce, it's almost certainly the 'center' house that's considered blocked off if I place there, but it makes no sense what so ever, since it would end up with the exact same number of free tiles as any of the mountain-side houses.

[thenayancat]

I -think- the houses need to have the front open, and they automatically rotate depending on what's around them. Can be finicky at times though. Don't place houses offset (touching sides but offset by one tile), as that screws it up too

[Antiga]

It's the same with walls. Needs a rework eventually.

[Alive]

Originally posted by thenayancat:

I -think- the houses need to have the front open, and they automatically rotate depending on what's around them. Can be finicky at times though. Don't place houses offset (touching sides but offset by one tile), as that screws it up too

The graphics are purely aesthetical. If I delete the left-most house, it'll allow me to place it just fine. If the facing had any impact at all, they would (presumably) have allowed us to change their orientation during placement

[MercytheMad]

Maybe they need 4 spaces open including diagonals, so its fine as it is but if you place that house both the middle and the top house would be blocked (have less than 4 squares including diagonals free)

Edit: oh wait sorry, if you can place it with the left most house deleted then that kills my theory

[Sampsy]

Did anybody figure this out in the end? Is it just bugged?

[byc]

Did a quick test and it looks like you can only have a maximum of 3 tents connected adjacent along with a maximum of 2 tents connected diagonally. Hopefully these screenshots make sense.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1259984336

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1259984381

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1259990117

[Smug Kot]

The whole point of the mechaninc its to avoid cutting walk patchs for you own units but sometimes bugs out.