Experiences playing without horde night

[A Nice Cup of Tea]

I play 7DTD exclusively with my wife and a friend of ours in peer-to-peer games, rather than single player or multiplayer on a public server.

 

I've mentioned before how we're pretty casual gamers and not exactly FPS experts. In that thread I talked about how we initially struggled with horde nights, but better horde base design made them easy.

 

However, horde nights being easy doesn't necessarily equate to horde nights being fun. So after having to re-start (my wife hosts the game and a hardware issue made her have to rebuild her PC and we lost the save game) I was able to persuade the others that we should play with horde nights switched off this time to see what it was like.

 

And I can't speak for the others, but I'm enjoying the game far more without horde nights. I'd recommend it to anyone who finds horde nights a chore rather than a pleasure.

 

The biggest change is that we're no longer having to "waste" half of our time gathering the resources to build and repair the horde night base. The base that we live in is a converted POI, but it's only a wooden house. With the right anti-zombie measures you can happily defend a wooden base from wandering hordes and screamers - especially in the early days - without needing to upgrade it to concrete.

 

We are slowly turning it to concrete just to be on the safe side, of course, spending nights swapping wood blocks for their flagstone equivalents then upgrading them, but only from the cobblestone and concrete we scavenge in our looting. We've not needed to go mining or make our own. I know that for some people mining is a fun part of the game, but we've never enjoyed it, so again the lack of a horde night means that there's a time consuming chore we don't have to do.

 

So what do we do?

 

Well, the time we save means that we can be doing quests almost every day and doing lots of scavenging. From an immersion point of view I was against the quest system when it was introduced, but from a gameplay point of view doing them is more interesting than just plain looting. And of course our gamestage progresses even though we're not doing horde nights, so we still need to be improving our skills and equipment as the quests and the zombies we face in them get harder. So we still have a sense of progression and we still have multiple short term goals to keep us interested.

 

In fact, having mentioned immersion, going without horde night definitely improves it. You're living from day to day in the same environment with zombies behaving in a consistent manner. You don't have this artificial change of game mode every few game days where you change from the exploring/looting/scavenging game to a tower-defense game where the zombies suddenly stop behaving as normal and instead have this super sense that always knows where you are.

 

So to sum up, playing without horde night is a tremendously freeing experience and I'd recommend it to anyone who is a bit more of a casual player rather than a hardcore player who struggles with horde nights or someone who finds horde nights easy but doesn't get excited by them. It radically changes the feel of the game.

 

It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's certainly something I prefer.

[OzHawkeye]

It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's certainly something I prefer.

 

I can definitely see it being an option that some people would take, and it's an asset to the game, that this is now an in-game option, easily activated by even the most casual of gamer, and not required some fairly detailed XML editing as it previously did.

 

I certainly hope that once the game goes Gold, there's an option for easily disabling digging, and for the same reason to, that while I might prefer digging zombies and horde nights too, not everyone will, and the more play styles the game can cater for, the more successful it'll be.

 

So, enjoy your non-Horde nights, the only truly right way to play this game, is however you enjoy it.

[Reth]

To OP: I can definitely see where you are coming from. I used to enjoy horde nights immensely, but with the recent changes it frankly became a chore rather than a welcome challenge. For me the final straw was Zs intelligence. I simply couldn't get over it, it was too immersion-breaking. I'm glad you found the solution

[Jedo]

Agreed. My only difference is that I eventually will play with a monthly BM. I like the sense of building toward something big, but having the time and leisure to do other things along the way.

[Roland]

Anyone who started playing near the beginning of the early access release played for 100's of hours without a bloodmoon horde. Of course for a lot of that time the zombies gps'ed to you every night....but still.

[SnowDog1942]

Blood Moon every night or go back to kindergarden.

 

Im kidding, enjoy, seriously, im glad its an option.

 

I probably wouldnt play at all if it wasnt for blood moons. I need a purpose for what im doing... and that purpose is to survive bloodmoons in my base ive been working on.

 

The game without bloodmoons would become a modern day setting of Empyrion, a build for no reason survival game.

 

Once in a while i go purely creative mode to build stuff but at that point blood moons are irrelevant

[Krougal]

I was never a fan of how the game turned into just getting ready for the next horde feeling like a fulltime job. Cleaning up piles of corpses, getting resources to repair (let alone improve) defenses. If I was lucky I might get a day or two of adventuring in between, but really life became about "I makea de cement"

 

So naturally I tried it out. Much as I hate to say it the game feels lacking without the BM horde. Wandering hordes don't seem as large or frequent as they used to be so it felt a little pointless building base defenses.

 

With the new option for nerfing zed block damage without nerfing your own (something I been asking for forever, thanks TFP!) coupled with cutting speed down to run (jog didn't seem to do anything but this is a nice step down from sprinting) it's very manageable. Can have a reasonable base and as long as I actively defend it repairs don't consume all my time. Horde night is actually something fun I look forward to now instead of a relentless chore.

 

Granted, I set skillpoints to 2/level, something I probably wouldn't do for MP but wholeheartedly recommend for SP. Really hate the raised attribute costs. Probably moot since it sounds like A18 they are throwing the baby out with the bathwater once again. It also has a big impact on the gameplay since I can take skills that would be split among the group and still have combat skills. I may even have to turn difficulty up some.

 

TLDR: It's good to have options to tune playstyle to your liking.

[RipClaw]

The horde nights aren't what they used to be in A15 and A16. I loved to clean up the corpses after the horde and collect the loot. To see these fields of corpses was a different feeling than to see only a few yellow bags on the ground. And even if the loot consisted of 99% trash, there were treasures from time to time.

 

I have also already played with the thought to switch off the horde. However, I like to test different base designs and currently it seems to confuse the game if you deactivate the horde and then reactivate it.

[Jedo]

The game without bloodmoons would become a modern day setting of Empyrion, a build for no reason survival game.

 

This is why I still want them. Plus, with a month in-between, I think there is the danger of not being sufficiently prepared. Sure, you have leveled plenty and have access to greater defenses, but you don't necessarily have a good gauge to know how much is enough. You could over-prepare to compensate, but if you've been more focused on other things, you might run out of time.

 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to it.

[AtomicUs5000]

I enjoy several components of the game, but the concept of preparing for a horde that increases in difficulty each time is what stood out to me in a sea of zombie games, and ultimately resulted in my purchase.

 

Turning off BM is not for me. Probably this is because of playing Minecraft for over a decade... I’m pretty much done with playing with blocks just for the sake of it.

 

BM still needs work. I agree that it is a chore. Too much work and resources for little gain. However, this doesn’t mean I wish to turn it off. Feels too creative mode for my taste. I would just go back to playing MC

[KingSlayerGM]

snip

 

Interesting, I agree with you that horde nights may seem like a chore and not be fun at all. I am glad that they introduced the option to remove them.

 

However I would like 2 more things to be added:

 

the option to have horde nights every X days

 

the option to have horde nights randomly

[RipClaw]

Interesting, I agree with you that horde nights may seem like a chore and not be fun at all. I am glad that they introduced the option to remove them.

 

However I would like 2 more things to be added:

 

the option to have horde nights every X days

 

the option to have horde nights randomly

 

Both options are available in the game since A17.2.

 

You can set the time interval between the hordes. It is even possible to have a Horde every day.

 

Random hordes are also possible.

 

We’ve just released Alpha 17.2 B27 with many fixes, changes and some great new game options.

 

Blood Moon Frequency

 

This option allows the player to set a minimum amount of days for when the blood moon hordes appear. In the menu the player can disable them, have them daily, every 3 days, default weekly, once every two weeks and once every 30 days.

 

Blood Moon Range

 

Here the player can change how many days can the actual blood moon day randomly deviate from the frequency setting. Setting this to 0 makes blood moons happen exactly each Nth day as specified in BloodMoonFrequency

 

On a server you can set this freely. In the single player mode you can only select predefined values but with a modlet you can change these values at any time or just edit the XML files.

[Krougal]

Both options are available in the game since A17.2.

 

You can set the time interval between the hordes. It is even possible to have a Horde every day.

 

Random hordes are also possible.

 

 

 

On a server you can set this freely. In the single player mode you can only select predefined values but with a modlet you can change these values at any time or just edit the XML files.

 

Modlet? The options are there in SP as well. Are you patched up to stable?

[RipClaw]

Modlet? The options are there in SP as well. Are you patched up to stable?

 

I mean that you can change the predefined values in the selection field with a modlet. There is no input field for the number of days between the hordes. There are only predefined values between which you can choose in a drop down menu.

 

Currently you can choose for example that the horde comes every day, every 3 days, every 7 days, every 2 weeks or every 30 days.

Now let's say you want the horde every 5 days or every other day, then you have to change the value in the selection field. Otherwise you can't select it in the single player game.

[Damocles]

There could be more small roaming hordes in general to keep the player on his toes. Like they spawn shortly before horde-night.

[KingSlayerGM]

Thanks, I didn't notice. I'm glad they are in

[pApA^LeGBa]

I gotta say i enjoy the horde nights more now that i don´t have to clean up after every horde, only to get a wandering horde right when i finished cleaning up the last corpse. That really started to feel like work already.

 

I tried no hordes for a building save where i wanted to go really big with my base. But tbh once i reached a certain level i turned them back on because leveling got really slow.

[Darthjake]

I don't mind horde night, but I'd like it better with them not being feral, the gps to you is just annoying.

 

I can handle horde night and will probably continue to do so while I have a buddy on, but I'd just as soon ignore it.

[Euzio]

I'm actually kinda glad they made it an option and that we can even adjust how many days before we get hit by one. Currently, as a casual single player who focuses more on building, I've set it to 14 days and I do feel its just nice. I contemplated turning it off but that would make my base build rather easy and I did wanted to test some stuff out.

[mr.devolver]

I used to hate horde nights, but they were never really an issue for me, I just avoided them, then I felt like it's stupid to just hide like a little chick so I started fighting them, then I got used to them and I even started to enjoy them. Now I'm playing horde nights with the highest zombie count that is available in the options AND with a mod to prolong the horde nights until morning lol

[Khulkhuum]

I think it all depends on what you gain from engaging in Horde Nights. Currently, the only bonus from indulging them is some XP, a small chance for a couple loot bags and nothing more. Sure it can be fun or entertaining, but you as the player have to accept it in such a manner. If i was in the middle of building something or very deeply in some very fun activity, straying from it (even for something that is a regular mechanic like HN) would feel as if you're being robbed and can't have fun.

 

I had similar feelings about various events in Terraria. After you enter Hardmode (the world shifts into a higher difficulty, more enemis/bosses, more ores, a lot of new things to do) there is a chance for a few events to start (they have prerequisites and some get harder after defeating specific bosses). During the night you could have a Blood Moon, which spawns special enemies, but after the sun sets there is a chance that a night boss you didn't kill can spawn. When the sun rises, you can have either an eclipse (which ends on dawn) or a goblin/pirate invasion. Additionally, you can invoke an alien invasion. Invasions must be defeated to disappear, so you have to engage them. BM or Eclipse ends on its own, but the latter is pretty tough.

 

So you want to explore, build or seek resources - tough luck, RNGeesus says you'll have a Blood Moon, then an Eclipse, after which another Blood Moon, a Goblin Invasion, to finally dish out a Pirate Invasion after a peaceful night. These events have low probability, give good rewards, yet if they happen too often you're sick of them.

[OzHawkeye]

I think it all depends on what you gain from engaging in Horde Nights.

 

Only to a very limited extent - BM Hordes weren't just, to pun on the OP's name, everyone's cup of tea. We used to love them, I still (mostly) enjoy them, but I can see how some people would thoroughly enjoy being able to turn them off, and moreover, will do so pretty much no matter what rewards they might get from engaging them.

 

Hell, there was one guy on these forums, whose name escapes me now, who used to play with all zombies turned off. He (or she) just wanted a calm, "I am last person left" sort of survival simulator, and more power to them, if that's what they want.

 

I don't think everybody turning off the Horde, is doing so for any lack of percieved reward for engaging it.

[Reth]

[...]

The game without bloodmoons would become a modern day setting of Empyrion, a build for no reason survival game.

FYI - they just added regular base attacks, quite fun

[Cadamier]

I think it all depends on what you gain from engaging in Horde Nights. Currently, the only bonus from indulging them is some XP, a small chance for a couple loot bags and nothing more. <SNIP>

 

As for the group I play with we did get into this for a little while. It went from first playing the game and being terrified to "Oh its another horde night." At first there was the terror of horde night and then the long toiling drudgery of cleaning up, grabbing all the loot, and sorting it all. BUT NOW - we miss all that; especially the loot. As of now you only get a few loot bags if your lucky.

 

The way we experienced 'no zeds' was that the girls got tired of having to rush things to get a base started; then have to either do massive repairs or start over. So we tried a session without zeds in the beginning. We all found it interesting and fun. But what we didn't realize was that the animals where tied to the zeds. A few of us died of starvation even after we turned them back on lol We have yet to have someone propose no hordes yet. An interesting spin might be to turn up the wandering hordes with that... I'm gonna have to look into that!

 

I generated our current map in Alpha 17.2 I think... Its day 44 and almost everyone else is like level 140 or so and I've only just reached 80. I was absent for a while because of the loss of my beloved Logitech G13 lol But now I have a Orbweaver but I do still look over to look at the non-existent display lol As you can see from here they've explored the map and then I filled in all the gaps. But it looks like a snowflake... We spawned at 12, and have our base just north of the center of the map, or multiple bases actually. 1 guy looted/explored and pillaged 1, the rest of 12, and 11... That's him just starting at 9. The guy at 6 took out 4 and is now just making his way slowly down 6. I took 3 and went all the way and am starting to loot backwards. I wanted to see what's around before I started looting - grabbing important POI's first. So all that's left is the rest of 6 and 9 and then 7. This map is 12288. As far as resources go there's still tonnes of it except for cars at 12 & 1. During horde nights I'd say about 20% or more are radiated zeds. We... Kind of failed our last horde night cause the zeds WALKED in because I left some frames on the walls of the missile silo. They killed 2 of us while 3 others abandoned base while me and my wife where running around like chickens with our heads cut off, but we managed to finally kill them all sometime after dawn. Everyone forgot to drop bedrolls inside the base lol It was funny, sad and a bit terrifying!

[OnlyMeiya]

I've always thought that horde night spawns should be based on your heat generation instead of the silly setup they currently have with the scouts, you make heat, you get a screamer, it sees you, screams and then a horde just appears out of thin air to attack the location it was present when it used the summon horde command.

 

So if you generate too much noise(heat) throughout the day, the more likely you would have a zombie wave throughout the night (Or day) meaning every night could be a horde night (or day) if you carelessly create too much similar to how most zed apoc programs simulated it.