Oh fire station, I wish I could quit you.

[jdifran]

I told myself with A18 I'd find some new POI to take over for my crafting and storage base, but the modern looking fire station with steel walls that have 10,000 hp and huge bullet-proof glass windows is just too good to pass up. Besides being nigh indestructible, it has two vending machines and great views of the surroundings.

 

I add a new floor above the second level, flush with the huge glass window area, seal off the front door and weak garage area with cobblestone (upgraded to concrete when available), and hack doorways through the bulletproof glass for ingress/egress.

 

Then I build my standard 4x4 tower nearby, ringed with spike traps for horde night, and I'm good to go.

 

What's your favorite POI to take over for a base? Or do you build your own from scratch?

[Hek Harris]

What's your favorite POI to take over for a base?

Let me think... I guess that now it's the new fire station

[vedrit]

My group found a post office (I think it's new, haven't seen it before) and while it's not as sturdy as a firehall, it's still better than any ol house. We just had a horde night and it weathered it quite well, especially with the difficulty and zombie count increased.

[Psychodabble]

I dunno if it's the best or even my favorite all time, but for this playthough I set up day 1 in the cabinet shop and I'm having a hard time finding a reason to leave.

 

I chopped out the staircase (made of wood so it went fast) and made my proper base in the 2nd floor storeroom. The angled roof made it ideal for a jump ramp entrance. The building is very sturdy (mostly cobblestone and concrete) and the front room makes a perfect shooting gallery when you chop out the skylights.

 

I've now made some reinforcements and modifications and it seems like this might be my forever house.

[Ramethzer0]

My current server group uses the small city post office for its tradeskill and living base. It's great! If you demo the room and clean it up you have a decent sized base, and you can add a second floor to it, and use the roof as a garden bed. All the things you need!

 

There are also enough windows and its high enough off the ground if you get a screamer attack you can jump out and lay waste.

 

Our horde base is a modified killing corridor and pill box with two levels, with blade traps laid around spots that the zombies fall into.

We got to this place while we were nearly 150 game stage. (were all roughly level 175 now day 47 ish, game stage 200+) And both of these work the best out of every configuration we've attempted. Most of the time, we end up converting and fortifying the 3 tiered barn structure (opposite the farm house in Nav for visualization) in whatever map we end up on.

 

Also, the top floor of the Ostrich Hotel is prime real estate. Has a gigantic roof for gyros, garden plots, etc etc. The lower floors are solid for foundations.

 

That cringey survival camp/small square junkyard POI I've used as quick bases more than once. I love it because it can establish a decent perimeter and you can line parts of it with traps like a real desktop tower defense game. Kill the trailer on the top of it and create a house on a platform for maximum dope.

 

The best and most secure base I ever built was either on the second or third floor of Higashi Tower. That place is the absolute shizzy for a single player. Keep the next two floors up cleared and you will never have a problem. An entire armada of zeds cant do enough damage to bring the entire building down in the time it takes for you to wipe them all out.

 

I definitely gotta give a big shout out to the person who built those 3 tiered ruin structures that are basically two rooms on top of each other. In a pinch, those make great solo horde bases. Just clear out the bottom floor from all the rubble, put in a fourth column and lace the ground with spikes. Line the second floor with bars so you can shoot down and avoid being in breathing range of the horde. That place has saved my @%$ countless times.

 

The best attributes I look for in a building are: full cement foundations, in multi tiered/celled structures. The more support pillars it has, the more it will stay up during a horde attack with minimal effort required to reinforce. I also don't care for basements. Getting trapped down there with the devil is just a bad idea for a good time. I tend to wall them off with metal blocks and then faggeddabout it.

[Khulkhuum]

I started to like the collapsed buildings to some extent (the multi-storied ones, with a couple rooms).

 

Firstly, because they have a lot of rubble at the bottom, allowing you to gather stones and sand efficiently for some time. Secondly, they have a stairwell, which works pretty good if you want to have one point of entry to your base. Thirdly, it's just a blank canvas and you can repurpose it however you want after clearing the mess and adding more supports, floors and walls to upper levels. Sure it will require some work, but considering it's mostly bricks or concrete, you could make a nice little base there. Especially if you rework the tunnels so that it's more of a labyrinth inside or something.

 

I stayed in them a couple times and Zs definitely had a hard time finding me even without much cleaning on ground floor.

[Kittkin]

I also like the ruined building with the stairwell. I remove the stair access to the roof. Break out windows on the 3rd floor and add a ladder to access the 4th floor room. Remove the door and fill in the lower block with concrete. Then expand the leftover opening to be 3 wide. Add some concrete plates to the outside of that window wall for added protection and you have our version of a duck blind. Drop some land mines on the stairwell landings, some barbed wire at the top and you get a pretty secure fighting base. Escape up to the roof or down to the ground on ladders our the windows.

[Scyris]

I told myself with A18 I'd find some new POI to take over for my crafting and storage base, but the modern looking fire station with steel walls that have 10,000 hp and huge bullet-proof glass windows is just too good to pass up. Besides being nigh indestructible, it has two vending machines and great views of the surroundings.

 

I add a new floor above the second level, flush with the huge glass window area, seal off the front door and weak garage area with cobblestone (upgraded to concrete when available), and hack doorways through the bulletproof glass for ingress/egress.

 

Then I build my standard 4x4 tower nearby, ringed with spike traps for horde night, and I'm good to go.

 

What's your favorite POI to take over for a base? Or do you build your own from scratch?

 

lol in A16 I used to do that exact same thing in the same poi. Build a base level with the glass on the 2nd floor, you can even knock the stairs out and you have a shooting gallery if you build some iron bars and make a floor out of it above them.

[merlinfire]

can you clarify a bit on the killing corridor with pillboxes

 

do you just leave the corridor empty to encourage them to walk down it?

[Kahrkura]

What's your favorite POI to take over for a base? Or do you build your own from scratch?

 

My group and I always build a base from scratch right in front of a trader. After many iterations we finally figured out a design that balances size, utility, and zombie resilience. Usually I do most of the construction while the rest of the team loots and hunts for materials.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29510[/ATTACH]

[DatDamnDutchie]

I just sit on top of a skyscraper/highrise and do not worry about hordenights for a few weeks. I always plan to make my own base but never do lol.

[Necrodemus]

As a returning player and vet of this old diamond, I have some serious questions for you folks. *get that violin out* I have being ill for most of the year so i have been out of the loop with regards to any major changes in game mechanics. And I can't wade through a Biblical amount of noise here on the forums, just to perhaps, have a chance, at finding the info I need.

 

So if there is any good folk among you, who could give me a clarification, as in a fact, that would be helpful beyond measure.

 

Judging from some of the posts above, would it be fair to assume that Zeds no longer "re-spawn" in buildings after they have been cleared and occupied?

 

i.e. the player places a bedroll, and that action, makes the POI safe within the spawn-shield radius of the bedroll.

 

Or are we all living in parallel universes or something? Because if they have stopped respawning under those simple conditions, I would like to come back and give this game more of my time.

[Darthjake]

We build on top of the junk yard building, and I use the trash bins as my farming plots.

[Khulkhuum]

Sorry, but don't know if they dabbled in that problem yet. Haven't seen anything of the sorts and noone mentioned this anywhere, so i'll doubt that it was addressed.

 

I presume having an active bedroll in a POI should disable spawning of sleepers in. Clearing a POI and leaving it be would at some point respawn the sleepers, as far as i remember.

[Destructo_Brat]

I took over a raodside house. Cleared it cleaned it. Placed a bedroll and an LCB and nothing ever spawns inside.. Though i do get regular screamers due to tunneling to build a hidden crafting space below ground.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

As a returning player and vet of this old diamond, I have some serious questions for you folks. *get that violin out* I have being ill for most of the year so i have been out of the loop with regards to any major changes in game mechanics. And I can't wade through a Biblical amount of noise here on the forums, just to perhaps, have a chance, at finding the info I need.

 

So if there is any good folk among you, who could give me a clarification, as in a fact, that would be helpful beyond measure.

 

Judging from some of the posts above, would it be fair to assume that Zeds no longer "re-spawn" in buildings after they have been cleared and occupied?

 

i.e. the player places a bedroll, and that action, makes the POI safe within the spawn-shield radius of the bedroll.

 

Or are we all living in parallel universes or something? Because if they have stopped respawning under those simple conditions, I would like to come back and give this game more of my time.

 

I took over a raodside house. Cleared it cleaned it. Placed a bedroll and an LCB and nothing ever spawns inside.. Though i do get regular screamers due to tunneling to build a hidden crafting space below ground.

[Necrodemus]

Thank you all kindly for replying. I'll blow the dust off this thing and give it a look.

[Ramethzer0]

If you place a LCB anywhere, it will automatically stop spawning in that block range. My default LCB settings are set to 51, and on the block itself you can pick to actually show the box area I mentioned. Inside of a high rise you get the same expected results, but you still have this massive space of sleepers that can still spawn above that line at the top.

 

To summarize, while the block is active you're pretty safe.

 

During a16 and a17, I paid attention and noted that hordes spawn primarily on the ground. What I suppose what happens is that anything above you will still spawn after its normal refresh time. However, during horde nights what I suspect happens is that there is a cap on mobs that can be in any given chunk, and any active blood moon mobs are subtracted from the sleepers above your block claim range.

 

I have not tested a high rise in a18.

[Necrodemus]

If you place a LCB anywhere, it will automatically stop spawning in that block range. My default LCB settings are set to 51, and on the block itself you can pick to actually show the box area I mentioned. Inside of a high rise you get the same expected results, but you still have this massive space of sleepers that can still spawn above that line at the top.

 

To summarize, while the block is active you're pretty safe.

 

During a16 and a17, I paid attention and noted that hordes spawn primarily on the ground. What I suppose what happens is that anything above you will still spawn after its normal refresh time. However, during horde nights what I suspect happens is that there is a cap on mobs that can be in any given chunk, and any active blood moon mobs are subtracted from the sleepers above your block claim range.

 

I have not tested a high rise in a18.

 

I apologize for my late reply; life can be a wasp sometimes, and the years have whittled down my attention span, to something that would probably pale in comparison, to that of a decorated Goldfish. No offence to Goldfish people out there.

 

...besides, I'm a South American tropicals guy myself. And no, I do not feed my fish Goldfish...

 

Moving on...

 

Thank you so much for your very interesting post. I think you may be right about the Blood moon nights. In previous Alpha releases, there were problems with horde capacity on Blood moon nights. They were... tepid. I agree that the devs resolved this by basically doing what you said. Suppressing spawns, to create flow for directed spawns.

 

I've tried several test games now in A18, across all experimental releases thus far and haven't seen a re-spawn within the claim block shield. I also have a bed roll down at all times and it is never 5 blocks from the claim block.

 

Even though we know this is a game, even though we know we are tethered to the reality we drift from while playing it, on a psychological level, there is nothing that will drive a player further from it, in my opinion, than the very mechanics, cheated them out of their sense of accomplishment. An accomplishment that was achieved within the logical rule set, as presented to the player within the game.

 

I'm actually enjoying the game. I think who ever took hold of the wheel, after the ♥♥♥♥fest that was Alpha 17, (my opinion) understood that the best way forward was to head into the storm. I don't think it is a perfect release. However, for the first time in years, I see the fingerprints of wisdom.

 

Peace to you yours.

[ricp]

I don't have a specific favourite. With the AI changing with each alpha then the pros and cons of each change too. Just now I am using the Oil building, which has two large hanger style doors which I opened up and then placed fence posts and spikes across. Interesting the AI decided to attack from the other direction despite there being a clear path to me in the way I wanted them to go.

 

However my day 7 horde is almost always the same building. I don't know the name but it's one of the really tall partly destroyed concrete buildings which at the top of the staircase there is a metal ladder to the roof. There are two similar ones, one with a short ladder one with a long one (madam!) and it's the long one I'm referring to. Pickaxe the bottom 3 from that and the way the stairs are you can easily jump onto the ladder (even on very low stamina) while the zombies can't. The durability of the concrete means a 7 day horde wouldn't get anywhere near to doing even the merest of damage to the structure, and as the building is already partly collapsed you can fire down arrows to the floor(s) below. Stuff the stairwell with a bunch of wooden spikes and I challenge anyone to find an easier to set up and more durable early horde base.

[Necrodemus]

I don't have a specific favourite. With the AI changing with each alpha then the pros and cons of each change too. Just now I am using the Oil building, which has two large hanger style doors which I opened up and then placed fence posts and spikes across. Interesting the AI decided to attack from the other direction despite there being a clear path to me in the way I wanted them to go.

 

However my day 7 horde is almost always the same building. I don't know the name but it's one of the really tall partly destroyed concrete buildings which at the top of the staircase there is a metal ladder to the roof. There are two similar ones, one with a short ladder one with a long one (madam!) and it's the long one I'm referring to. Pickaxe the bottom 3 from that and the way the stairs are you can easily jump onto the ladder (even on very low stamina) while the zombies can't. The durability of the concrete means a 7 day horde wouldn't get anywhere near to doing even the merest of damage to the structure, and as the building is already partly collapsed you can fire down arrows to the floor(s) below. Stuff the stairwell with a bunch of wooden spikes and I challenge anyone to find an easier to set up and more durable early horde base.

 

That sounds awesome.

[Feycat]

Judging from some of the posts above, would it be fair to assume that Zeds no longer "re-spawn" in buildings after they have been cleared and occupied?

 

i.e. the player places a bedroll, and that action, makes the POI safe within the spawn-shield radius of the bedroll.

 

Or are we all living in parallel universes or something? Because if they have stopped respawning under those simple conditions, I would like to come back and give this game more of my time.

 

So far yes, the area covered by a bedroll has stayed cleared. In bigger buildings, you'll need more people.

 

Empty buildings without bedrolls respawn.

[Necrodemus]

So far yes, the area covered by a bedroll has stayed cleared. In bigger buildings, you'll need more people.

 

Empty buildings without bedrolls respawn.

 

This is what I've been finding in A18 also. On the advice of the kind folks above, I've got the LCB down as well. Looking good so far.

[Laz Man]

Cool to hear about the many different POI rehabs in here. One thing I love about this game. Really gets the imagination churning.

 

I don't have a current favorite but currently using one of the newer house POIs (attached garage) as my base with a horde base created from scratch nearby. If the save lasts longer, I may retro fit it into an "I am legend" type home, with automated gates/doors for me when I drive in/out of.

[Huggy]

City Fire Station 7, I think it's called, is the new base building for me. It has a small tower on one side of the building, which i used to build a large platform which almost covers the whole roof. I filled the tower and sealed the walls with concrete blocks. It's pretty solid. I have a hay bale drop zone for easy access to screamers.

[SenpaiThatIngnoresYou]

My horde base is a radio tower poi, where i used the tower as a core and put reinforced concrete around it. I then built a cage that i shoot down from, with a ceiling to keep the vultures out. The zombies go crazy and attack the building next to it, not the base of the tower, so that works out well.

 

My home base is broken house that i have fixed up. I am making a privacy wall to keep the screamers out. I am really enjoying this alpha, so far this is the longest i have stayed with a world before getting bored and moving on.