Cataclysm Quick Tips

Can you do a tip video on min-maxing storage without a cart or vehicle?

I ran into an issue where i had to choose between wearing an army coat and army pants (poor fit, poor condition) vs an armored leather jacket and reinforced jeans (both 100% and fitted). I ended up losing a ton of cargo space during a raid and tried to make home with 2 backpacks, 2 makeshift sheet slings, a purse, and a bindle. It was a bit of a nightmare getting home but all the fights were easy with all my armor and halfpike. The vehicles were all dead and i dont have a travois or shopping cart yet. I had to leave behind a lot of loot bc i had no way of transporting it home.

The second problem i ran into was not being able to bring a full compliment of tools with me bc storage space was a premium.

Thoughts?

Cart storage outperforms clothing volume so much that itā€™s always my first priority. Even an office chair holds more loot than you can on your own. If youā€™re really in a position where your best choice is to wear multiple backpacks n whatnot, then remember to drop them before you get into fights.

This is my first character to live more than 2 days. I havent found a working car, no grocery store, and I dont have a wrench. Carts/vehicles arenā€™t happening right now.

I think you can strip multiple houses of their strings to make ropes, and then break furniture for a lot of nails. I think that should be enough for a wooden frame and a travois, which is something you can drag along the ground even without wheels.

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Iā€™ll give that a shot. Thank you!

Man, do I ever understand! One of my ongoing jokes about this game is what I have to do to find a wrench.

Note my specific suggestion about finding office chairs in Offices, which are also vehicles. Took me forever to figure that out.

You can make a stone hammer without much trouble. Making a screwdriver unfortunately requires duct tape. But once you have those, you can (*)Deconstruct Furniture and make some pretty useful things out of just wood and nails. You can build a ā€œvehicleā€ thatā€™s just a wooden frame with a wooden box in it. Thatā€™s like 600 cups of storage right there (I use the Cups based measurements rather than Liters of storage, I find it easier to keep track of) ā€“ thatā€™s basically what Medi_Ding is talking about.

Haha, Iā€™m glad Iā€™m not alone in that. I thought that I got lucky when I found a screw driver right away, but for quite awhileā€¦ nothing. I had to make all the other tools except for a knifeā€“hammer, shovel, adze, axe, etc. Got lucky there in a sense b/c I had a character spawn with a switchblade, found a combat knife, and later found a pocket knife. Havenā€™t seen a wrench yet.

I saw in one of Vormā€™s videos you can use chairs. Againā€¦ I havenā€™t found one. No grocery store, no office building, no working cars.

Ahhh maybe Iā€™m just thick. I was looking at the wooden frame and wondering if I had to build something else on top of itā€¦ no idea. Iā€™ll have to go back and watch the vehicle basics again. I donā€™t have a wrench, but if I can just build a box to drag around that will work I suppose. Itā€™s better than nothing.

Thanks again!

PS Was messing around tonight with the Tailoring skill and managed to hit level 4. If you have a fitted Jumpsuit and a fitted Cargo pants, it gives another 4.5L (no idea in cups) of storage without a lot of encumbrance. I think with the jeans, my legs now have +6 armor with 15 encumbrance. I still canā€™t repair my Army Jacket, but once I do, that will add some more, making my house raids a bit easier. What hurt the most was I tried to raid without any basic tools. I found a toolbelt so I should be able to bring along a few items.

Wait, you can set it to display in cups? Damn, here Iā€™ve been making do with liters like some fancy European feller. Itā€™s about time to increase my freedom units!

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Itā€™s under Options->Interface. You can even set your speed units to tiles/turn, which I am now seriously considering.

Itā€™s not so much my 'Murican tendencies that require me to stick with Cups, so much as it is my hatred of fractions. Wait, maybe that IS my 'Murican education at workā€¦

Ha, oh yeah. Remember thereā€™s no such thing as a ā€œfifthā€ of something anymore, now itā€™s ā€œfive times less!ā€ Because fractions are scary.
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New Cataclysm Quick Tip is up!

Cataclysm Quick Tip #50 - Debug Hammerspace Mutation (Vehicle Testing/Design)

Stay Safe Out There!

Vormithrax

Cataclysm Quick Tip #51 - The Power of Trees

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Vormithrax

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I never once thought about using a tree to break into a lab, and Iā€™ve been on a total wilderness-survival kick in Cata lately. Iā€™ve cut down a lot of trees. How in the shit did I miss that?

Hello Survivors!

Cataclysm Quick Tip #52 - New Peaking Powers! (Blind Throw and Stairs)

Stay Safe Out There!

Vormithrax

Hi Vorm,

Can I just say ā€œThank you!ā€ for this tip. Literally saved my life last night when I needed to peek into a basement. Keep up the great work.

even though im playing this game in easy mode (high item spawn, low monster speed and resistance, all maxed character stat, traits, and skills) the game will always gave you a challenge that if you recklessly face it, your character will be dead in no time. every single move, every single choice you made in this game is very crucial in making your character survive. and even more critical when you forced to face enemies that can shoot back at you.

all the tips provided in this thread is all useful, and yet im knowing all of it by self-learning (just jump into the game and play over and over again) which is amazing. but still, a self-learned tips will be more complete with all the tips video provided here and hell, who knows some of the tips provided here is far more accurate.

but anyway, thanks for the tips hereā€¦ really helps a new players and veterans alike. and if i may add some tips for new players too, it will be :

  1. Fight or Run, it is unnecessary to kill every monster you see, but in scenario where you got trapped by undeads or monster, you can fight them all and clear up the area or run away, prioritize your safety rather than loots.

  2. Not all enemies are easy, the worst enemy you can find is a robot called Chicken Walker, a robot that equipped with high armor, advanced weaponry that will kill you instantly if you recklessly face it, and a self-driving tank known as ā€œBeagle Tankā€., this tank know no mercy as it is equipped with extreme armor and tank weaponry. once the tank/Chicken Walker got you on sight, thereā€™s only one option you can do, Run!

  3. Waste Not, Want Not, when you kill some zombies and examine it, you may came across some zombie carrying ammo or even loaded guns. you may want to take this as you may came across place that contain ammo for the gun or weapons that need certain ammo, this also works with magazine as sometimes you can find weapons with no magazine on it.

  4. Mind the Weight. when you do some looting, keep in mind that more items you pick, the more weight/volume you must carry and thus you have to check the items weight and volume because if the weight and volume of the items surpass the weight and volume limit of your character, you canā€™t pick it up and instead will be wielded by your character.

  5. Learn and Improve, you may get killed, burned, or even blown up. but with every mistake you can learn how to avoid it and improve your gameplay more and more. learn the mistake youā€™ve done and improve your gameplay style. then one day you may be able to make character survive for a year. even 3-4 years. and by this time you may already know how to craft some useful tools or even already constructing a base.

A new Cataclysm Quick Tip is available!

Cataclysm Quick Tip #53 - Martial Art Detail Screen

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Vormithrax

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Voooorm, you rock man. Thank you for creating CDDA content. I learned a lot of the basics and i am still learning new stuff thanks to you. The game has an insane learning curve lol

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@Vormithrax, thanks a lot for your content, man! I learned some new stuff from your videos, even after 5 years of playing CDDA. The power of trees was a surprise, didnā€™t know we can get rebar and rocks from ruined asphalt. Cheers!

Welcome to the Cataclysm Quick Slip series, where Vormithrax demonstrates how NOT to play Cataclysm: DDA!

Cataclysm Quick Slip #2 - Vorm makes a friend and instantly regrets it :

Stay Safe Out There!

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