Two suggestions - iron bars and electric fences

[bsimser]

Hi guys, Two suggestions (apologies if I'm not posting in the right forum, just trying to get used to things here) First could you make it so we can shoot through iron bars with crossbows. It doesn't make sense to me that you can shoot through them with guns but not a crossbow. Maybe an oversight or TODO being worked on? Next we have barbed wire as well as batteries from cars, why not combine them to make an electric fence? Thanks

[tbird11299]

+1 we need these electric fences bad

[Zvex]

Batteries from cars arent enough, it is totally unrealistic ... but making a craftable generator for electricity would be really nice. It may use gas cans or coal+water (steam based generator).

[Pockets]

Agreed on the iron bars. I admit ignorance on the subject, but wouldn't a car battery lack enough voltage to power a very big electrical fence (or the wire along it), with enough power to kill anything further down the conductor? The duration and effective distance would be abysmal, wouldn't it? I guess it could be balanced if you have to place batteries every x number of blocks to maintain the voltage level, otherwise simple stone walls (or even a trench) could become the ultimate defense. Sorry to any electricians, who are likely facepalming now. ;)

[Zvex]

And also if we want it to be realistic then after charging the fence it consumes the energy only when a zombie toches it, but it does not need a constant power source.

[Pockets]

Is that seriously how electrical fences work? I assumed it constantly ate up a percentage of power due to energy loss, and ergo needed a relatively steady source of power....to Google!

[elle_dejavu]

[QUOTE=bsimser;125340]Hi guys, Next we have barbed wire as well as batteries from cars, why not combine them to make an electric fence? Thanks[/QUOTE] Love this.

[alexthemantid]

I would like to electrocute zombies. XD It would be pretty funny to see what kind of animation the developers would come up with for this. XD I would like to see this added. We should also be able shoot through iron bars with the crossbow and maybe stab through with a knife or bone shiv (making both of these useful) as well. Weapons like the sledgehammer and clubs would be too large to get through, though.

[flux.faraday]

A car battery would work fine for this. Problem is, it will discharge eventually, then you still need a generator of some form. Could be gas powered, or maybe a converted exercise bike. See this link for voltage stepper: [url]http://www.electronixandmore.com/projects/smallhvgen/index.html[/url] The nice thing about that approach is we can easily imagine our character constructing that kind of thing from materials at hand.

[CongoBongo]

[QUOTE=flux.faraday;126724]A car battery would work fine for this. Problem is, it will discharge eventually, then you still need a generator of some form. Could be gas powered, or maybe a converted exercise bike. See this link for voltage stepper: [url]http://www.electronixandmore.com/projects/smallhvgen/index.html[/url] The nice thing about that approach is we can easily imagine our character constructing that kind of thing from materials at hand.[/QUOTE] maybe we can make it like a hand-crank to recharge it. something you would have to spend time doing

[legolas141]

would electrifying zombies even work though? They are already dead, so they don't feel pain, which is the main deterrent in an electric fence. Unless you are talking about enough voltage to fry the remaining parts of their organic bodies, which would take a huge power source to accomplish, (and would also insta kill you if you accidentally touched it). I would devote any electricity I had to exterior lights and food preservation, then if I had any extra power I would look at automated defenses such as turrets. Also, all it would take would be a zombie tearing the wire in one section spot to render the whole thing useless.