Speaking of air drops

[Rotor]

I have this perception that the drop point keeps getting further and further out.

 

Am I crazy?

[Syphon583]

I haven't dug into the code, but there seems to be a belief by some that air drops will only be dropped at a maximum of 700m away from the player's current position. Not sure what the minimum is, maybe 100/200m?

[NekoPawtato]

I've always wondered if farther drops mean better rewards in them? (assuming it lands in the same biome and that the air drop picked your location and not another player's location)

Edited August 12, 2022 by NekoPawtato (see edit history)

[Orclover]

Yea bout 700m-1000m things only exist up until that boundry in a square around "a" player.  If players are spread out then of course more area can be covered (and probably drives the server nuts).  If you fly up in a gyrocopter and out at a high rate of speed you will actually see that boundry around you at times.  You will see the wall around you that the game is making "exist" as you move through the map, its pretty obvious.  If you are pushing the servers llmits...hilariously....you can even HIT that wall and it will stop you in your tracks as the server loads up what is in existence gamewise and what is just a image.  I think I slammed into it like a wall a few times in the old days, pretty funny when it happened.

 

So when the drop happens I doubt it can "manifest" beyond that border wall and still have us watch it fall.  Thats probably the limit.  If 3 players are spread out over a few KM's then one of them would have to tell the others where they see it if they are far enough away, it may not even render for them.

[Rotor]

Interesting, thanks.  I had to get a couple about 700k out from where I was, and it took me into snow biome at level 17 :/.  The RnG likes to mind fornicate me like that.

[Melange]

And I get the feeling that when I don't go after an airdrop (in SP), others will accumulate close to the first one. Like, it keeps baiting me to go to that area.

[Crater Creator]

On 8/12/2022 at 2:40 PM, NekoPawtato said:

I've always wondered if farther drops mean better rewards in them? (assuming it lands in the same biome and that the air drop picked your location and not another player's location)

At risk of breaking suspension of disbelief… the crate is empty until you open it, and then the game decides what’s inside based on your loot stage. So if you stumble on a three month old crate, it won’t still have e.g. a stone axe and a jar of water.

[JamesKirk]

My friend and I are always wondering why, when the pilot obviously knows where you are, the plane won't simply land and pick you up 🤣

[Rotor]

They are skeered you have the hibby jibbys!

Current airdrop my position  :), buti I didn't see a parachute marker so my server is about to crash :).

 

[Melange]

6 hours ago, JamesKirk said:

the plane won't simply land and pick you up

That could well be something the devs consider as an end game scenario. But where would they be taking you? Some top secret poke and prod lab? And you won't be the one who's doing the poking and prodding that's for sure...District 9 comes to mind.  The devil you know may be better than the devil you don't know. Don't get on the plane

Edited August 15, 2022 by Melange (see edit history)

[zztong]

14 hours ago, JamesKirk said:

My friend and I are always wondering why, when the pilot obviously knows where you are, the plane won't simply land and pick you up 🤣

 

The good news for survivors is that I'm pretty sure there's some semblance of civilization left somewhere within a few hundred miles. The bad news is I think they gave up on "the lawless lands" years ago to focus on their own issues. That is, everyone except a few folks who stage missions to drop 35 shotgun shells, 5 yucca juice, hops seeds, a can of peas, and the accessories to an old Jeep CJ.

Why? I think it is somehow related to the plot of "Lost."

Edited August 16, 2022 by zztong (see edit history)

[Crater Creator]

13 hours ago, Melange said:

That could well be something the devs consider as an end game scenario. But where would they be taking you?

 

Well, since you ask...

 

It should be a helicopter, not a plane, so that it can land in a small area without needing a runway. During the Blood Moon, zombies may drop notes on the location of this rescue helicopter, like treasure maps. The helicopter waits until noon the day after horde night, and then any player characters within a radius of the helicopter at that time are picked up (if necessary, all others perish). The helicopter takes off, only to crash 'one county over', which is a new randomly generated map.

 

So you start over, with no base and a new world to explore. Only your skills and your toolbelt items carry over, so you have to think carefully about what's most valuable to bring. The new world can be radically different: maybe this one is all snow biome, or a tiny island in the ocean. Can you adapt to survive a Blood Moon there, until the next helicopter comes?

 

That's my vision for how one could reach an endgame in a repeating, episodic style. It would be particularly fun for those that enjoy building and exploration of random worlds, without requiring much actual story. In PvP environments, it would press opponents into a final showdown with a time limit.

[RipClaw]

21 hours ago, JamesKirk said:

My friend and I are always wondering why, when the pilot obviously knows where you are, the plane won't simply land and pick you up 🤣

Because the pilot is not crazy enough to land in a zombie infested area. 😁

[meganoth]

3 hours ago, RipClaw said:

Because the pilot is not crazy enough to land in a zombie infested area. 😁

 

And we can assume that the plane has a higher max altitude than vultures.

 

[Rotor]

5 hours ago, Crater Creator said:

 

Well, since you ask...

 

It should be a helicopter, not a plane, so that it can land in a small area without needing a runway. During the Blood Moon, zombies may drop notes on the location of this rescue helicopter, like treasure maps. The helicopter waits until noon the day after horde night, and then any player characters within a radius of the helicopter at that time are picked up (if necessary, all others perish). The helicopter takes off, only to crash 'one county over', which is a new randomly generated map.

 

So you start over, with no base and a new world to explore. Only your skills and your toolbelt items carry over, so you have to think carefully about what's most valuable to bring. The new world can be radically different: maybe this one is all snow biome, or a tiny island in the ocean. Can you adapt to survive a Blood Moon there, until the next helicopter comes?

 

That's my vision for how one could reach an endgame in a repeating, episodic style. It would be particularly fun for those that enjoy building and exploration of random worlds, without requiring much actual story. In PvP environments, it would press opponents into a final showdown with a time limit.

 

And the helicopter can only land during a blood moon, because well the mission planers had bad Intel :).  So you have to fight your way into the LZ, hold them off while the hello gets there, then load up before taking too much damage, but you still get damaged ergo you crash-land new map, sole survivor.

[Ramethzer0]

My theory is that similar to the treasure maps, these things pop at a random location within a certain radius of your actual physical location, or in some cases a member of your group if you're playing MP.

[warmer]

On 8/12/2022 at 12:40 PM, NekoPawtato said:

I've always wondered if farther drops mean better rewards in them? (assuming it lands in the same biome and that the air drop picked your location and not another player's location)

This makes me think of a question that popped up recently while playing. I was in the Forest biome, and the air drop landed a hundred yards into the wasteland. Will the biome it lands in influence the loot table?

 

I died trying to get it. Soldiers and Zombie Bears were all over it. just want to know how worth it it truly is given the added danger.

[BFT2020]

6 minutes ago, warmer said:

This makes me think of a question that popped up recently while playing. I was in the Forest biome, and the air drop landed a hundred yards into the wasteland. Will the biome it lands in influence the loot table?

 

I died trying to get it. Soldiers and Zombie Bears were all over it. just want to know how worth it it truly is given the added danger.

 

Yes, your loot stage is updated first to reflect being in the wasteland before you open the crate

[Orclover]

1 hour ago, BFT2020 said:

 

Yes, your loot stage is updated first to reflect being in the wasteland before you open the crate

 

So when day three rolls around you try to get everyone to the wasteland at 12 o'clock and get the highest level and highest game stage person with the highest lucky looter skill to open it when it lands. 

 

It would be hilarious if they doubled that loot stage number again during an active blood moon and encourage people to take insane risk to finish quest or have the airdrop opened during a blood moon.  Hide out in a kill tower during a bloodmoon?  Nah thats a waste, go do a Tier 5 POI during a bloodmoon for the extra loot bonus when you open the loot boxes.

[Rotor]

I am glad one of them dropped in the snow biome.  The 10 fish tacos would have been smelly in the forest near by after a 1k run to get them.

[Maharin]

4 hours ago, Rotor said:

I am glad one of them dropped in the snow biome.  The 10 fish tacos would have been smelly in the forest near by after a 1k run to get them.

 

They would have been Wasteland Tacos then.

[ElCabong]

Lately they've always been in the the mountains or under water. The last one was too deep for me to get to

[Maharin]

56 minutes ago, ElCabong said:

Lately they've always been in the the mountains or under water. The last one was too deep for me to get to

 

Carry jars of air to breath.

[Ray Garraty]

On 8/16/2022 at 6:35 PM, Orclover said:

It would be hilarious if they doubled that loot stage number again during an active blood moon

I'm 100% sure in that case I'll just destroy a horde in my safe fortress before the blood night ends, and after that while I still have a few hours left, I'll go and clear those loot containers

[Orclover]

5 hours ago, Ray Garraty said:

I'm 100% sure in that case I'll just destroy a horde in my safe fortress before the blood night ends, and after that while I still have a few hours left, I'll go and clear those loot containers

 

Won't do any good.  The loot only becomes active at the moment you open a container.  At that moment the game checks your game stage/location of the player opening the container and then tallies the items accordingly.  If a different player opens the container first, then it checks HIS gamestage to spawn the items.  So if they ever set up bloodmoons as a lootstage multiplier.  You would need to open those containers during an active bloodmoon.  Hence the challenge of waltzing out to an airdrop and opening it during a bloodmoon while you are being chased by all the zeds.  Honestly that sounds like fun.