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Author Topic: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead  (Read 7607 times)

Xvareon

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Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« on: June 17, 2021, 04:19:20 pm »


What the flip is going on here? The power's completely out, zombies are everywhere, radios silent, and the only other dude seemingly for miles is this one standing beside me. Oh, that's right; we're in a FEMA evacuation shelter, meant to be temporary, but doesn't look like anyone's gonna come for a while. Or at all. They probably all got eaten by you-know-what. So what exactly is this? It's Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead, a 2-D sandbox roguelike RPG! And the best thing since sliced bread. But no, seriously, I feel I owe it to folks to at least give a glimpse at this thing:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I started off a new world and a completely new dude, basic Evacuee > Survivor background, which has average stats (but I put a couple of my free points into Intelligence) and begins in this shelter with basic tools. First order of business, survive. How? Well, obviously this building has food and clean water rations, meant for more people than I, so they'll last several days. But eating the protein rations they give us here is not just unappetizing, it's actually unhealthy, and a negative health value on your character will make your wounds heal slower and make me less resistant to poisons, et cetera. But before I do anything else, I need to make some tools.

Luckily enough, I found a pipe sitting on the driveway outside the shelter. I smashed up a metal locker with it, and got another pipe and some scrap metal. One of the first (of HUNDREDS) of crafting recipes in this game is the Makeshift Crowbar, basically a pipe you smash with another pipe like it owed you money until pipe #2 is bent and flattened to make a prying edge. This will help me deconstruct furniture, pry open locks, and so on.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Unfortunately, the crowbar doesn't have a high enough Prying rating to force open doors, so the locked door to the ladder leading up to the roof... well, it had to go the way of the dodo. In this game, 'smashing' things with your equipped weapon is vital for destroying obstacles and pulping zombie bodies so they don't revive. The higher an item's Bashing damage, the better it is at demolition. This crowbar's no sledgehammer, but it'll do.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Annnnd boom! Now we're on the roof. That little pile of scrap below my boi used to be a solar panel I smashed up for metal and parts. It's because the "chunks of steel" it gives are the only thing thick enough to use to make a hammer. Having a hammer & crowbar, or just a regular hammer (with a prying end) are necessities for taking furniture apart (without smashing it).
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Looking better already. I moved a bench to this ring of cupboards by the computer terminal (which has a never-ending power supply and always provides light), then took down the curtains from the windows to get sheets (for rags & thread), string, and dowel rods (the game just calls them 'stout branches').

-----

I could go on and on, but I think I'll move ahead a bit and come back when I've set up my base some more. I've covered the fundamentals with smashing stuff up and getting scrap, so now that I have basic tools, I'm gonna be getting some containers to store liquids, a food preparation unit, and other important stuff. Also I need to craft some rudimentary weapons and armor to deal with zombies, and there's always plenty of those around. Gonna go foraging and hunting soon! If you like the look of this game so far, it's free, you can literally download it online right now. I'm sorta just derping about as I typically do, but just to say, I plan to make most of my own stuff and not rely on a crazy amount of loot from towns -- towns are REALLY dangerous, anyway. Join me next time~!

EuchreJack

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2021, 05:36:34 pm »

Yay Cataclysm DAA LP!

Do you have NPCs on?

Xvareon

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2021, 06:27:39 pm »

Do you have NPCs on?
I'm not sure what you mean? Of course NPCs are on and active. Do you mean "wandering" NPCs? I honestly don't know, I didn't see a specific option to activate those, but last game I found an NPC had wandered right up to my shelter and I was able to recruit them. So probably.

EuchreJack

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2021, 06:50:02 pm »

Do you have NPCs on?
I'm not sure what you mean? Of course NPCs are on and active. Do you mean "wandering" NPCs? I honestly don't know, I didn't see a specific option to activate those, but last game I found an NPC had wandered right up to my shelter and I was able to recruit them. So probably.

Hm, is this the same world?

Xvareon

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2021, 06:55:53 pm »

Do you have NPCs on?
I'm not sure what you mean? Of course NPCs are on and active. Do you mean "wandering" NPCs? I honestly don't know, I didn't see a specific option to activate those, but last game I found an NPC had wandered right up to my shelter and I was able to recruit them. So probably.

Hm, is this the same world?
No, but it is the same world settings.
-----
I went and did a good bit of foraging out in the woods, using my survivor's starting Messenger Bag to carry a bunch of wild vegetables, some bird & reptile eggs, herbs, and also things like birchbark, hickory roots (good for salt) and other stuff back. Organizing it in the cupboards by my crafting station took a little time, but was worth it; I like a clean workspace. I also took down some lockers for sheet metal, which I hammered into a brazier and a pot, respectively; the brazier makes a safe receptacle for firewood, and the pot will let me cook basic food and boil water.

Which is good, because a wild raccoon wandered into my shelter recently, and I'm hungry!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I'd whittled down a suitable cudgel from wood with my pocket knife, which is a great starter weapon; it can block as well as hit fast. I also made some arm & leg guards out of 2-by-4's tied with string to act as improvised shields. Still, raccoons are evasive little buggers, and it took me a while of swinging to smack it up. But once I did, I dragged it back to my cupboards, and butchered it right there, which gets me:  meat; bones; fat; a pelt; and some refuse. I dump the last outside (it attracts vermin), then turn the fat into cooking oil, which I store in some of the plastic tupperware containers FEMA so nicely set here for me. Fat is incredibly calorie-dense, and oil made from it can be used to add a lot of energy to all kinds of foods, including fried eggs, sauteed fiddleheads and the like.

Now, if I had a better butchering tool on hand than my pocket knife, I could get more animal products; but this'll do for now. I turn the meat and some foraged eggs into a delicious combo meal in my new pot (burning some branches in the brazier for the fire to do that), and eat that instead of protein rations. Interestingly enough, eating a hot meal alone gives me more Morale (mood) than the meal itself; Morale is important because having it high means higher Focus, and that means I can learn skills faster and craft things quicker too. I'll probably end up making a Hobo Stove out of scrap metal with some tinder so I can reheat food on the go.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
After checking the computer terminal, I was able to mark a road leading to the FEMA refugee center, aka. the permanent location they were supposed to take us to. My map is now updated, but I could always see at least my surrounding area, and just stepping up to the high ground on the roof gave me a better look. If I had binoculars with me, I could see a lot more.

Do you see those gray 0's and the blue M's about 7 tiles down from my location? That's a Megastore, aka. a Wal-Mart. The zeroes are its giant *** parking lot and the rest are the store itself. That is NOT the first kind of place you want to try and loot, because while it has pretty much everything, including tons of vehicles, it is ABSOLUTELY. CRAWLING. WITH ZOMBIES. Instead, if I find myself in an early looting mood I might hit those green > signs, which are just houses. Those probably have food and some tools and books.

I won't be going looting quite that soon, though, I think. First, I want to build up my base some more, forage, and also build a bed I can use to sleep in. There's also a Pond a decent walk off to the northeast, which may have fish I can catch. Foraging tends to be easier, but fish tend to be quite nutritious! There's plenty of forest in between there and here, too, so I expect a good haul of food.

Xvareon

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #5 on: June 17, 2021, 10:30:11 pm »

~O, a-gatherin' we'll go, a-gatherin' we'll go...~
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Went out looking for veggies & cattails, especially cattails, with a wood spear for protection. Didn't need it, came back with a whole haul. Cattails are nutritious AF and can be ground into flour once I get a quern or a mill going. But I don't know how to make either of those, so I just have to roast what I can. Killed another raccoon and got more oil and some meat, so that's good!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Bit of prep work for defense. Safety glasses are basically clear plastic bottles cut down and tied with straps over your eyes. You want these, too, because if something hits your eyes you can be momentarily blinded, and that can be a death sentence. I can't make much of anything else that's actually good for armor yet, so I stick with this plus my fire-hardened spear. Good enough. Because to really make this work, I need to raid houses to get some good tools.

What am I looking for? An actual cooking pot, for one thing; because I can't make soup broth in a makeshift one, and broth is a necessity for stretching my meals out. I can make it out of either vegetables or bones, and store it in some of the tupperware. The ideal situation would be broth+eggs+meat for a really calorie-dense one that I can store in bottles. Anything else I find would be a great bonus! I head out at night to explore, and—
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
...I got jumped by a ~180 lb gigantic mutant annelid. Luckily, worms are weak. It tried to bite my arm and got a mouthful of my protective 2-by-4 arm guards, and I stabbed it to death with my spear. Gave it a quick cut; only took the fat, which I can turn into cooking oil. The meat is a lost cause, as mutant flesh is GROSS, and your character knows it. Don't eat it unless it's a last resort.

-- RULES OF LOOTING --
  • Go at night. Zombies' vision is screwed as much as yours, and at daytime they will see you more than a full screen away.
  • Crouch. You're slow, but make half as much noise moving.
  • Be careful closing doors or using windows. Curtains rasping on dowels or doors clicking shut will draw zombies' attention.
  • Grab what you need and go. It's not worth it to die; you can come back for that juicy gun safe in the bedroom.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
.....Annnnd... TOUGH. Luck. For me. Uh, so, that didn't go so well. I found some good loot, including a steel claw hammer and X-acto knife, but then 3 zombies (including a riot cop) jumped me and I barely made it out, had to drop all my loot along with my bags to lighten my load so I could escape. Got pretty hurt, too, 'cause can't make torso armor yet.

I came back the next day with a quarterstaff, and wouldn't you know it? Found a zed wandering my way, killed it, and it had a Backpack and Leather Duster on! Took those back to base and washed them (items from dead zeds are dirty and will ruin your mood to wear), and put them on. Leather items are tough and the duster will help a lot, but it's a poor fit which has an encumbrance penalty, so I cut the sleeves off to minimize its impact on my arms. The pack, though, is amazing, with a 25 liter capacity that'll hold a good bit of loot.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
This was a Feral Human that jumped me coming back to loot the houses; those are nasty, they are not undead but zombies won't attack them, and they like to throw rocks which deal quite a bit of damage. Was able to kill her and loot a hipflask, which is VERY useful, those things strap to your leg and can hold alcohol or something else (like antiseptic to disinfect wounds).

I got my items back and healed my torso; even if you're not bleeding or infected, bandaging & disinfecting speeds up health recovery. Looted the rest of the house, then went to the next over and found someone was growing cannabis in the backyard! Picked some, but then got chased off by a zombie dog, which I lost by jumping privacy fences and then killed it in a lawnmower shed with a shovel I found. Shovels are way better than improvised digging sticks, so I'm taking that with me. Also disassembled the lawnmower and took the blades, I can make machetes or spears out of those.

So all in all, pretty good run. Came back with a full load and got some nice tools, including a cooking pot I found in the first place's kitchen! Can make broth now. I don't have a tool for wood sawing, though, so I can't make smoking or butchering racks for mass processing of meat; that means trying to bring down a deer or moose would be a bad idea. If I have to, I'll make an adze to do the job, but that'll take several hours.

King Zultan

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2021, 02:37:57 am »

The game has changed quite a bit since the version I play. Also it's always interesting to see a different play style to what you do so PTW.
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The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
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Xvareon

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2021, 11:05:57 am »

Things have already progressed quite a bit. I went back to loot the houses again, and I found a perfectly good duffel bag to replace my backpack (10 liters extra storage), plus a wrench, circular saw, metal fileset, BB gun, and some other nice stuff. The wrench especially is a huge help because that's an absolute necessity for modifying vehicles; you can't change wheels or bolt in seats or anything without it. I'm not at the stage where I'd need that quite yet, but if I run into any vehicles on the road I'll be able to strip them down for parts.

After I got back, I went out in the field near the megastore to scout, and I actually wound up stabbing a SWAT zombie to death—yes, that's a zombie wearing a full bulletproof tactical gear suit with pockets. I got beat up quite a bit for my trouble (armored zombies are not that easy to kill), but when I was done I also wound up looting a leather duster that actually fits me! Brought all that back to base and washed up using some detergent and scrubbers, and a barrel of water I'd placed under the downspout to catch rainfall one night. Oh, I should mention, I also crafted a rain hood out of plastic bags and other junk, which combined with the old duster helped keep me dry when I was out looting the wrench & saw.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
SWAT armor is incredibly good, so this is quite a find. When combined with the leather duster it also gives me a fairly badass look. (The spear is still made of a lawnmower blade btw.)

At my little shelter-slash-base, I'm finally getting things set up for the mid-term. Also I'm checking out the other dude hanging around. NPCs are fairly dumb, but thankfully he won't eat my food 'cause I turned 'Disable NPC Needs' on (it's on by default, tho). He gave me a mission to go find some patient records from a doc's office or regional hospital, so he can see who else might have made it out alive. He will also guard my base 'cause he is basically just camping here, and he has a pistol to do it, so cool. If I do the mission I should be able to recruit him and have him more actively help me out, with basebuilding as well as fighting zombies.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Overview of my base. Outside the north window I used the circsaw to help build a butchering rack (needed for hanging big game like deer), a smoking rack (for preserving food), and a charcoal kiln. The last is a necessity because charcoal cooks food, and if your smokerack is loaded with it it serves as a charcoal cooker in crafting, so you don't need a fire. Also, charcoal can be used to make water purifiers to save time on boiling water, and you can make filter masks so you don't choke and die in thick smoke or poisonous gas.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Now here, I have a bit of the prepared food that's really gonna last me. Soup! For the broth, I extracted salt from hickory roots in the woods, then made seasoned salt out of that by mixing in wild herbs. Then just use water and vegetables (or eggs). Storing broth can be an issue, but thankfully I still have some tupperware, and a sealed-up stomach from a cougar I killed that tried to jump me. (Stomachs are really useful fluid containers btw, you just need pine sap from needles to seal them.) A thermos looted from a zombie makes the perfect container for a whole liter of the nutritious soup, this one made using some eggs and beans (looted from a house). Once I start hunting some real game, I can add meat to really buff up the calorie count.

So, what's next? Well, I really, really want to find some clay. With clay I could make pottery objects, most specifically a Quern, which is needed to reliably produce flour. Well, what am I gonna use for flour? Cattails. Or acorns. Flour is great for long journeys because I can use it to really stretch any food I find in the field. To really settle up, I may also want a sleeping bag or shelter kit so I can comfortably camp in the wilderness.
Misc notes:
  • Vitamins. You may notice the vitamin count of food items. Take too much of one type of vitamin and it can poison you, so you've gotta be careful. It's hard to get hypervitaminosis from B12, but A will mess you up.
  • Rocks. I needed these to make my racks and the kiln, the kiln alone taking 40 of them. I made an improvised sledgehammer called the "Homewrecker" out of a thick stick and several chunks of thick steel scrap, with a bash damage of 35, perfect for smashing up boulders in the field into rocks.
  • Shovel. The shovel I looted from the cannabis house is gonna be really, REALLY useful for digging up tubers (like Dahlias) or making base fortifications. Deep pits filled with pungi sticks are zombie threshers. Oh, I also used the shovel to plant some rows of seeds to start a little farm outside. It'll take forever to produce anything without fertilizer, but this place feels more like home with it there.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2021, 01:08:11 pm by Xvareon »
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King Zultan

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #8 on: June 19, 2021, 02:46:30 am »

SWAT armor is incredibly good, so this is quite a find. When combined with the leather duster it also gives me a fairly badass look.
So we now look like one of those ranger guys from New Vegas.


Do vitamin deficiencies do anything, because awhile back I read that they got rid of of some of them because they did noting.
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The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
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Can I have the sword when you’re done?

Xvareon

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #9 on: June 19, 2021, 12:38:42 pm »

Vitamin deficiencies are supposed to give you hypocalcemia, anemia, night blindness, "B12 deficiency" or scurvy. I wouldn't know, though, 'cause I've never had to eat so poorly I'd get a vitamin deficiency (or overdose).

While on the subject of debilitating status effects, though, my character... well, see for yourself.
-----
I caught a cold. X_X
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Unsure how that happened, if it's totally random or it's because I was hanging around zombies, but... ack. This is bad. Never had one before, so seeing this list of maladies is nasty. The -3 to Strength is especially bad, because that makes me physically weaker and have less HP; I couldn't even reliably drag a bench across a floor this way. 8 strength is considered average, so anything much lower ruins you, especially when it comes to carrying loot while also trying to wear armor. What's worse is that a cold makes me cough very loudly, which makes a lot of sound and ruins my stealth. It's a really bad disease to have when you're trying to loot.

Fortunately, I foraged some "Bee Balm" from the wilderness earlier! Also known as bergamot. It's a flower I can infuse into water to make a special tea, one that alleviates headache, fever—and in this game, cough. Drinking bergamot tea stops my character from coughing for several hours, and also greatly reduces the stat penalties (down to 7 strength instead of 5, also my other stats are more up).

On a happier note, I managed to survive a full 7 days in the Cataclysm! Most perishable food has probably rotted in houses by now. As the days progress, enemies will evolve and grow stronger; I actually killed a "pupating zombie" that wandered into my shelter recently, which I'm glad I had my NPC to help fight. Unless I'm thinking of a different kind, because I thought the pupating ones burst to spawn other nasty enemies. Ah, well.

With a thermos full of hot cold-curing tea, I set out to loot some storage units near that megastore. Good place to loot because they're surrounded by sturdy chain link fences and the storage units block line of sight of zombies, plus you can quickly hide in the reinforced steel shutter doors if you're being chased (but you better have a plan for getting back out).

While heading there, I ran into a pack of zombie dogs in the field. Nasty buggers, they are faster than regular zombies and dangerous in packs, but their health and armor aren't worth a damn so they're normally easy to kill. But then I spot an enemy I've never encountered before:  the Barghest. A mutated zombie dog with muscles thick enough to make a bear envious.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The first hit it gave me knocked me back several tiles, and left me prone on the ground for two turns before I got back up. The barghest hit me SIX more times, but all of these were blocked by my SWAT armor (I had lost my duster trying to repair it with a sewing kit thanks to my terrible tailoring skill X_X), which left me thinking that knockback was a special skill it needs time to recharge. I then stabbed it to death with my spear, and dealt with the other zombie dogs following behind it.

Loooooooooot!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Oddly enough, I seem to be finding more good stuff on the zombies themselves than in the buildings. The storage units had zilch. This one zed, though? A MULTI-TOOL! That is an INCREDIBLE find, not least because it lets me ditch my pliers & screwdriver, 'cause the multi-tool can do everything at once. Including rudimentary sawing of metal and wood, but 'rudimentary' is still enough to prepare smoking & butchering racks, which means I don't need the circular saw anymore! Also I found the "DIY Compendium" in a nearby house, an incredible book with so many crafting recipes inside they won't all fit on the screen.

Oh yeah, I never quite explained that. Books don't just help train your skills when you read them, like reading compsci textbooks trains you in hacking. They can also help with the proficiencies you need to efficiently craft some stuff, like carpentry for woodworking. If you don't have a proficiency, you'll take more time and have higher failure chance on crafting alot of stuff, and this is a real hassle with clothing especially. Having a book to "help" mitigates that penalty substantially. And books like the DIY Compendium often have crafting recipes, which can give you access to things you could not otherwise learn on your own, and all it takes to get them is the relevant skill level to craft them + crafting that item once to memorize the recipe forever.

My looting trip ended when I got into the house's garage, to find a car in full working order (if a bit banged up) just sitting there, with gas and battery still going. But before I could think to nick it, zombies heard me, and busted down the front door, which triggered a VERY loud house alarm system, and I ran the hell out of there before the pack could lock onto me. In any case, trying to drive down zombie-filled streets with a 0 vehicles skill and not die is not just a good way to plow into a brick wall, it would also draw an entire horde of dozens of enemies down on my poor base. Now that I have a wrench, anyway, all I need is a welder, some gasoline, an engine and a car or motorcycle battery, and I could craft my own vehicle.

King Zultan

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #10 on: June 20, 2021, 02:18:00 am »

Since when did zombies drop stuff like that, I mean a laptop, MP3 player, multi tool, and a holster, that's some good stuff to come from zombies.
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The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
Quote from: Leodanny
Can I have the sword when you’re done?

Xvareon

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #11 on: June 20, 2021, 10:51:29 am »

Since when did zombies drop stuff like that, I mean a laptop, MP3 player, multi tool, and a holster, that's some good stuff to come from zombies.
Since always? I didn't set any unique options or higher loot count, this is pretty much standard. Only real difference is me setting the size of cities from 8 to 9 (out of a possible 16). But yeah, you're right. Zombies seem to drop everything, including guns and bullets, if you're lucky. Feral Humans can now drop fire axes and crowbars, too. It's not a stretch to say you could live off of zombie drops for quite a long time, if you don't mind horking a lot of junk food.

Xvareon

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #12 on: June 20, 2021, 02:10:53 pm »

In this segment, we learn why reach attacks kick ass, level our strength up to 9, raid a megastore for welding equipment, and steal a military Humvee.
-----
Thanks to a Large Tactical Backpack I found as a random drop off a zombie—I know, I couldn't believe it either, freaking 66 liter capacity—I'm able to go looting in earnest. Trying not to nick too much stuff as I want to be self-sufficient on my own terms, though. Remember that Wal-Mart Megastore south of my shelter? Those places tend to have everything. Especially shopping carts. Carts are 1-tile vehicles that can store almost 3 times as much loot by volume as you could ever hold on your own, and can easily be pulled or pushed with you, though it slows you down a bit. Foremost on my shopping list is welding equipment. If I have that, I can do some truly advanced crafting, and also reinforce my shelter with spot-welded sheet metal.

Before that, though, we have a parking lot of zombies to kill. To whittle them down, I get my spear out, take cover behind some bushes, and use the "Yell" command to make a lot of noise to attract them from roughly two dozen tiles off.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
As you can see, they had no chance! Bushes take 4x the time to move through as flat terrain, and some are even bristling with thorns that can damage and bleed zombies. I always fight my enemies over them if I can, especially with a reach weapon like my Knife Spear, which lets me poke and stick them several times before they ever get close.

Similar principle applies to vehicles. Car interiors, like the inside of this Road Roller (an improvised vehicle with 200L steel drums for wheels) also take 4x the time moving through, so if I set up right, I can easily force enemies into a terrible position.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ding! I've killed my 100th zombie. With a certain mod active, I can use the XP gained from kills to improve my core stats like Strength, which I need to do ASAP because my character is really physically weak. Leaving dozens of dead zombies behind me, I move into the megastore.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
In no time flat, I find an acetylene welding torch kit and several canisters of oxyacetylene gas. Perfect. The only thing I'm missing is welding goggles, but I can improvise those by taking tinted glass from sunglasses and layering those into more glare-protective lenses. I take the cart around for a bit, and find a few decent crafting books.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
This one seems to show how to reload bullet casings. I could do that, if only I had a hand press and some gunpowder. I could improvise a press out of a can lid or hockey puck, but that's really a low-end concern right now. I also managed to loot a fireman's axe from a Feral Human, a nasty enemy that throws rocks at range and then closes with pipes, crowbars, axes or whatever else they have in hand. Luckily I killed it before it had a chance to do real damage. Fire axes are devastatingly powerful, and can be used very effectively as crowbars for prying open doors and crates. I had to repair the axe (using a Misc Repair Kit I found on the shelves) so it had its full damage capability, but when I did...
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Oh, yeah, baby.  8)

I went up two floors to the roof, next, to take a look around the area.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Farms & silos far to the west. Campgrounds southeast, and a... Triffid Grove, hoooo boy. Triffids are nasty plant monsters I'd need specialist gear to kill reliably. There's a Slime Pit (~) southwest of this town which could be worth hitting, if I ever need materials for superglue.

Done here for the day, I head out to the parking lot to find a Humvee in working condition, still with its mounted M240 machine gun. And it's loaded. The only problem is the vehicle has no working drive belt, which means the engine can't turn the alternator to charge the battery. I can replace the drive belt if I had one, which I can find in garages or make one myself.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Still, it's good enough to drive it back the short distance to my shelter and park it in the lot. I could repair it, but I need a supply of rare JP8 fuel to make it viable; I might just strip the military composite armor frame down for parts and make my own thing out of it. I could make a solar-powered electric motorcycle with a lithium-ion battery, even. Now that I have welding equipment, and a Humvee to strip down, I'm pretty much set for days! I just need to really secure my food supply, which is why the next couple weeks are likely gonna be all about hunting big game, starting a proper farm, and getting a windmill to process flour (if I can manage it).

King Zultan

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #13 on: June 21, 2021, 03:44:52 am »

Since always? I didn't set any unique options or higher loot count, this is pretty much standard.
Sorry I meant since when did you get all that stuff at once, because I'm used to killing several zombies and maybe getting only one useful thing, not killing one and getting a bunch of stuff.


Also you can get drive belts from dissembling most engines, and any engine that can use JP8 can also use diesel.
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The Lawyer opens a briefcase. It's full of lemons, the justice fruit only lawyers may touch.
Make sure not to step on any errant blood stains before we find our LIFE EXTINGUSHER.
but anyway, if you'll excuse me, I need to commit sebbaku.
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Xvareon

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Re: Xvareon plays: Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead
« Reply #14 on: June 21, 2021, 10:46:06 am »

Since always? I didn't set any unique options or higher loot count, this is pretty much standard.
Sorry I meant since when did you get all that stuff at once, because I'm used to killing several zombies and maybe getting only one useful thing, not killing one and getting a bunch of stuff.

Also you can get drive belts from dissembling most engines, and any engine that can use JP8 can also use diesel.
Well, yeah, it is kind of rare for a zombie to drop so much useful stuff at once, but that's just how RNG works sometimes. Most zombies I kill will only have a bag of potato chips or an empty spray paint can.

Also, thanks for the tip! I was wondering why the humvee had a jerrycan of diesel in the back. I'll check for engines to take apart soon.