Air drop question for the developers

[ComradeSch]

This is perhaps a bit of a strange question, but one that's always bothered me since you could copy guns using any metal you had lying around, corn and water, before the AK-47 was introduced, and back before perks or levels were a thing.

 

And that's who or what is behind the air drops, and who's piloting that AC-130 that keeps dropping canned goods, and sometimes even giving high-grade items like sniper rifles, major components of vehicles, and first aid kits.

 

I always found it kind of odd that some outsiders would spend so much effort dropping all this expensive and difficult-to-obtain gear, in presumably a heavily-modified pre-War transport (I mean, flying through the irradiated zone with a Gyrocopter still kills you and come on, a C-130 has got to be an incredibly-expensive in terms of fuel!) in an area where they're probably not even really sure if anyone's actually still alive and making use of the supplies they drop.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely grateful to get a sniper rifle, some bandages and a bunch of canned food every so often, but I've always wondered who would go through the major hassle of bringing in resources like that.

 

If there is no answer, perhaps the developers could drop hints in a later update as to who's doing this?

[FA_Q2]

^ well, to be fair, there is no story anywhere atm. I mean, they did add a note to try and give your character a little backround but that is severely lacking.

 

I don't think the devs have given the background or lore much thought at this point. I assume it will come later (hopefully)

[myrkana]

I always assumed it was an unmanned air craft of some sort. Just picking up boxes full of random food and other goods and dorpping them near where it picks up human activity?

[Jan2607]

A bit offtopic, but has anyone tried to shoot the aircraft down yet?

[FA_Q2]

lol. No.

 

It would be pretty awesome if you could do such a thing though

[jackhimer]

I want to meet the genius who loaded my air drop and thought I would need empty glass jars..

[Darthjake]

I want to shoot the pilot that keeps dropping my loot in the snow biome or on top of Z infested buildings.

[ComradeSch]

I always assumed it was an unmanned air craft of some sort. Just picking up boxes full of random food and other goods and dropping them near where it picks up human activity?

 

It could be unmanned but someone would have to refuel the thing, maintain it, load the crates and keep the airfields maintained. It appears to be based on a C-130 Hercules and a C-130 requires a 5,000-foot airstrip to land and take off, an airfield that would need defending. Though the C-130 has a cruising speed of 540 KM/h, so this airfield could probably be anywhere within probably within a 270km radius of your map.

[Ganeden]

How about this - it's the remnants of the US military/government and you've just stolen a supply drop meant for some nearby squadron. Or you've radioed them pretending you're in the military from one of those many military outposts and they are dropping supplies due to your ruse. Or those military zombies you see all over the place were just recently turned and the supply drop was meant for them. Or maybe the government is using them to see if there are any survivors in the area, after all zombies would not use supply drops. Maybe it's some enemy faction that is trying to lure unsuspecting victims into slavery or some nefarious branch of government looking for uninfected test subjects to find a cure that could be snatched away in remote areas without anyone noticing.

[Maynard69]

Or there is no apocalypse, and it is all a staged, secretly government funded experiment. They live-stream 24-hour a day footage of you trying to survive covertly though several fake shell companies so not to be tracked. The airdrops are to ensure their "actors" for the show do not die and need to be replaced. Illuminati confirmed.

[ComradeSch]

How about this - it's the remnants of the US military/government and you've just stolen a supply drop meant for some nearby squadron. Or you've radioed them pretending you're in the military from one of those many military outposts and they are dropping supplies due to your ruse. Or those military zombies you see all over the place were just recently turned and the supply drop was meant for them. Or maybe the government is using them to see if there are any survivors in the area, after all zombies would not use supply drops. Maybe it's some enemy faction that is trying to lure unsuspecting victims into slavery or some nefarious branch of government looking for uninfected test subjects to find a cure that could be snatched away in remote areas without anyone noticing.

 

I don't find the idea of the successor to the US Military having some airfield a long way away from your map as too absurd, though considering the default "map" is canonically in Arizona, and the plane seems to fly from the East, and Oklahoma has a good amount of oil reserves (and gun-toting Texas is right nearby), I don't think it too absurd to think that the C-130's flying from Oklahoma near where the oil is to pockets of low radiation.

 

Perhaps those traders have access to radioes that we aren't aware of and they confirm that survivors need supplies and they need supplies as well, but since there's no airstrips to properly resupply the survivors, they just drop crates. I mean, on singleplayer, you and maybe three traders are the only surviving humans in existence, and every couple of days the traders get new stock, sometimes of high-level gear. Perhaps they're working with the remnants of the military to get stuff in?

[Jysen]

The speculations could be endless with this question. Unfortunately when/if we will ever know for sure is unknown.

 

But in many ways, without an actual background story, I always imagined it could be like 28 Days Later. While the movie was set in England, the concept could be the same. You're a survivor in an infested region that the rest of the World has declared to be isolated for health and safety regulations. For the game, this means they nuked the area around the map to prevent further infections from spreading.

 

Though, honestly, why then go through the trouble to deliver supplies when the goal was to eliminate the disease? Perhaps the media leaked that not everyone was infected and an outcry for humanity forced the government to bring some form of aid to any who might be alive still.

 

Perhaps it's become an experiment. That this isn't the only region to be infected, but the attempt to eliminate the problem with nukes created the perfect conditions to study and learn.

 

So as we wander around, bashing the undead down with a sledgehammer, looting abandoned buildings as we build elaborate and unique bases, they're sitting behind a wall of monitors watching our every move as the satellite's above us continuously keep a watchful eye on us.

 

Or, it's one of many regions that survived an nuclear holocaust, and in an attempt to prevent the extinction of humanity, they decided to drop supplies as reaching/finding survivors is not only extremely difficult, but simply not possible at the time. To send a plane to drop supplies from the safety of the skies is far easier than to send in random teams after all.

 

But I would go with the every so watchful eye in the sky, as that would explain how they always seem to know exactly where you're at in order to drop off supplies relatively near your current location.

[Cadamier]

For me thats where the factions come in. It seems to be white river, albeit it could be some other faction. Who's to say you're the only one receiving the air drop?!? The plane is actually a Douglas DC-3 from memory, and not a Lockheed AC-130 Which would also fit within the story that's made.

 

There was some type of story made up, I had linked it before but I can't find it since its probably too old. Albeit someone here could find it, maybe... I don't remember specifics but when 'we' spawn its some 50 years after the 'war' - a war in which some country blamed some other country for the plague... And that's why there's radiation all over the place, and blown up stuff... But I previously raised the question about the messages we see when we spawn - from White River Faction...

 

For me - the character story would logically fit in if you where from your family that grew up by a White River settlement/traitor. Traitors would know a lot about everyone in their area... Notice how they all fly the White River flag? Not to mention that one of the new POI's also fly the White River flag. As for the exact conditions - I'm guessing that something happened and that's why you have minimal supplies. But I went into other things too...

[DocKong]

The appearance of the demolisher hints at the work of an evil genius, who creates those muties. So it could be a military experiment, restricted to some part of NA.

[Cadamier]

The appearance of the demolisher hints at the work of an evil genius, who creates those muties. So it could be a military experiment, restricted to some part of NA.

 

I think the news papers on the ground - show patient 0 or the culprit... Dishong Tower has some clues too! lol

[crazywildfire]

Even though they are not in game yet you could be taking from one of the settlements. Imagine when bandits are added and you go to loot it and either loot it and they catch you and if you are not alliance with them they start fighting you and or you catch them and either let them have it or fight for it.