Current Vehicle Projects

[evilexecutive]

So, I know that most of your survivors will likely be building some kind of advanced vehicles, Tanks, bigass Survivor Rigs, and crafting stations. But I want to know exactly what you’re working on!

Here’s a deployable turret I’ve just recently created, I call it the Bulldog APT (Automatic Anti-personel Turret). The idea being that I will cart this turret around to any area I need to defend, and then activate it. The engine provides enough power to maintain its systems, and it’s armored enough to take a moderate beating, but also light enough to carry without strength augmentation.

I’ll be building a few more of these to help defend my Mansion-Superfortress. Just in case ANOTHER goddamn horde of Feral Predators comes by with the intention of causing bleeding injuries on all of the survivors in my care. And for those of you getting in on the whole revamping the military tiles project, I’ll be putting a few of these in the AFB once I start work on it.

I’m also working on building a BANEBLADE, just like the tank from Warhammer 40k. It’s nothing short of a godlike monster that literally will not fit on the game’s roads. If I want to drive this thing through a road tile, I actually need to burn down the forests on either side to clear a path for it to reach its destination.

[deoxy]

That turret is a nifty idea, but if you’re defending a fixed place, I’d build a vehicle “wall” around it and put emplacements every so often, that way, the power source could be a large solar array in the center of “town” (augmented by an engine or two with alternators, if power needs get desperate). Also, there would only be one central fuel depot to worry about.

In the short term, or for semi-mobile operations, that’s a good idea, though.

[Shopkeeper]

Your building an actual Baneblade? Now that’s fucking glorious. How many and what kinds of engines do you eventually intend to put in it?

All of my current survivors are still mulling around the scavenge for essentials while dodging hordes stage so any new vehicles beyond just what they can find and commandeer will take a while to get started on.

[evilexecutive]

[quote=“Shopkeeper, post:3, topic:10718”]Your building an actual Baneblade? Now that’s fucking glorious. How many and what kinds of engines do you eventually intend to put in it?

All of my current survivors are still mulling around the scavenge for essentials while dodging hordes stage so any new vehicles beyond just what they can find and commandeer will take a while to get started on.[/quote]

Right now it’s got 3 Vortex Engines, but I have very quickly discovered that that’s woefully inadequate for combat operation. It’s not even freakin’ done, and I can’t go above 33 MPH without destroying all three engines. I might replace them with a single Vortex Generator, and the largest Diesel Engine I can possibly find, with an electric motor. Daily operation would ideally consist of using the power from the vortex generator and some solar panels, then when combat starts I will switch power over to the Diesel Engines.

Eventually when my mechanics skill increases, I’ll put multiple different types of engines in actually. V12 Gasoline, Diesel Engines, Plasma Reactors, and the like. That way the Baneblade could feasibly operate off of any available fuel source.

[quote=“deoxy, post:2, topic:10718”]That turret is a nifty idea, but if you’re defending a fixed place, I’d build a vehicle “wall” around it and put emplacements every so often, that way, the power source could be a large solar array in the center of “town” (augmented by an engine or two with alternators, if power needs get desperate). Also, there would only be one central fuel depot to worry about.

In the short term, or for semi-mobile operations, that’s a good idea, though.[/quote]

My current base is a heavily fortified Mansion, with lots of pit traps, blade traps, and bear traps in a kill zone around it. Getting turrets for the Mansion isn’t my current priority. But it is on the backburner

I should probably mention that I play with Spawn Rate x10, so Hordes can get into the several hundreds if I fuck up anything. The bulldog has already saved my life once, by providing that incredibly vital fire support to split hordes open.

[Thwap]

Right now it’s got 3 Vortex Engines, but I have very quickly discovered that that’s woefully inadequate for combat operation. It’s not even freakin’ done, and I can’t go above 33 MPH without destroying all three engines. I might replace them with a single Vortex Generator, and the largest Diesel Engine I can possibly find, with an electric motor. Daily operation would ideally consist of using the power from the vortex generator and some solar panels, then when combat starts I will switch power over to the Diesel Engines.

I love the giant tank.

Last time I checked the vortex items were horribly nerfed and almost useless. I play with my own modded stats, where the vortex engine is roughly equal to a V8 and the vortex generator is equal to a truck alternator. It still feels pretty balanced, since a single normal engine with an alternator installed can do the work of both without taking up two engine slots.

What I would suggest is that you go with as many diesel engines equipped with truck alternators as you can fit, plus a lot of fuel tanks so you can really stock up when it’s available. A single truck alternator is equal to about 10 upgraded solar panels. Back that up with some actual panels on the roof and a LOT of battery space, again so you can stock up, and bam you’re all set.

Once you’re swimming in electrical power, those vehicle-mounted laser turrets are death rays with basically unlimited ammo. You can set them to auto and leave them on forever to just mow down anything that comes near you. You won’t even need to slow down for anything short of a tank drone or a chicken walker.

[evilexecutive]

[quote=“Thwap, post:5, topic:10718”]I love the giant tank.

Last time I checked the vortex items were horribly nerfed and almost useless. I play with my own modded stats, where the vortex engine is roughly equal to a V8 and the vortex generator is equal to a truck alternator. It still feels pretty balanced, since a single normal engine with an alternator installed can do the work of both without taking up two engine slots.

What I would suggest is that you go with as many diesel engines equipped with truck alternators as you can fit, plus a lot of fuel tanks so you can really stock up when it’s available. A single truck alternator is equal to about 10 upgraded solar panels. Back that up with some actual panels on the roof and a LOT of battery space, again so you can stock up, and bam you’re all set.

Once you’re swimming in electrical power, those vehicle-mounted laser turrets are death rays with basically unlimited ammo. You can set them to auto and leave them on forever to just mow down anything that comes near you. You won’t even need to slow down for anything short of a tank drone or a chicken walker.[/quote]

Yep, that’s pretty much the plan. Since NPC’s can occupy Crew Positions, I’ll set up the baneblade in such a way that I can incorporate the NPCs from my base into non-automated positions. There’s four slots for Sponsons that will have one Turbolaser Turret Each, as well as some kind of stand-in for Twin Linked Heavy Bolters. When this thing is all said and done, it’ll be an ungodly monster that’s capable of taking on the hordes in the city just south of my current location. There will also be some miscelaneous positions, such as Stubbers, other Heavy Bolters, and such.

Anyway, here’s the progress for today. I have nearly finished the outer-frame for the Baneblade, and all 4 sponsons are ready to accept turrets now. So far there’s room for 5 crew, but that’ll grow over time.

[Iosyn]

Always wanted a Baneblade, but shelling out £200 for a resin model is crazy.
Unless it’s a cute anime model, then all bets = off.
Fools in the bike shop near me tried to sell me an electric mountain bike for £2000.
It’s like, what? I could buy a brand new scooter for a quarter of that.

Anyway.
[move]Well done, evil.
[/move]

[Rot]

Your fortified mansion (and portable turret) are some awesome ideas. The most I’ve built vehicle wise is a swat truck fixed up with things like forge rigs, kitchen buddy, water tanks, etc. for a compact but reliable semi long distance nomadic base. I’ve also built a stereo system hooked to a solar array outside so I can blast music around in my base.

Also built a one tile vehicle that runs off of a gasoline v8 engine and carts around with a unicycle wheel. Called it the mosquito.

[Thwap]

Since NPC’s can occupy Crew Positions, I’ll set up the baneblade in such a way that I can incorporate the NPCs from my base into non-automated positions.

Wait what? We can do that now? Man I need to read the forums and update more.

[evilexecutive]

[quote=“evilexecutive, post:6, topic:10718”]Since NPC’s can occupy Crew Positions, I’ll set up the baneblade in such a way that I can incorporate the NPCs from my base into non-automated positions.

Wait what? We can do that now? Man I need to read the forums and update more.[/quote]

Yea, in the Latest Experimental if you get in a vehicle, all NPCs in your Entourage automatically enter available seats. I’m not sure if they can fire mounted guns in their seats though.

[Wardenn]

I'm also working on building a BANEBLADE, just like the tank from Warhammer 40k. It's nothing short of a godlike monster that literally will not fit on the game's roads. If I want to drive this thing through a road tile, I actually need to burn down the forests on either side to clear a path for it to reach its destination.

Pfft. Real men drive through forests!

Also make sure you turn off the turret before cartng it around. I forgot too once and that was a bad move.

[Thwap]

This started life as an armored personnel carrier and I’ve been tinkering with it continuously for like a year in-game. The blue turrets along the edges are laser cannons, the good kind that take a fusion blaster CBM to make. The other six are a 120mm RWS, a 40mm grenade turret, a Browning .50 cal turret, and 3x turbolaser turrets. It can handily destroy any potential threat even with the spawn setting turned way up, while still being compact enough to move through cities easily.

[Shopkeeper]

Day 59: I’ve looted my way through two entire labs looking for the Alpha Mutagen book, but so far no luck. Found all the other lab books along with Chimera, Elf-a, Medical and enough cleaning supplies to make most of the prerequisite mutagen I’ll need to make it though, so that’s nice. The problem is my current Long Range Patrol Vehicle, a heavily modified six-wheel drive equipped Humvee that has been my home on wheels since the second week of the cataclysm has become a rather disorganized mess of a thing. It’s got a kangaroo guard composed of military composite rams on the front, an on board chemistry lab in the back, a minifridge in place of one of the rear passenger seats, a recharging station in the center console, and all the trunk spaces have been replaced with cargo carriers and roof mounted solar panels.

But I’ll soon max out it’s carrying capacity and I need something more akin to a base on wheels with all the amenities until I finally decide to settle down. So I pulled out a mostly intact military cargo truck from a hazardous waste sarcophagus and (once I’ve stopped puking my brains out from radiation poisoning) plan to salvage a nearby infantry fighting vehicle for treads and armour plating in order to build my own half-track. Might even take the ATGM launcher and 30mm cannon along with the 155mm off a self propelled howitzer to make my own gun motor carriage.

[Eric]

The most I’ve ever done is cover a fire engine with military armor and heavy-duty boards, roofing, windshields, etc. And then covering it with solar panels and putting a bunch of cargo space in the back end. I called it the A.L.V. (Armored Looting Vehicle). It ran off electric sportscar engines.

[Theundyingcode]

My first vehicle is always a LootCycle something like this: XHHH#HHHX powered by an electric engine and runs off swappable storage batteries (1 last over 3 days of consent driving, charge w/ home generator) Even after I switch to using a truck (currently a heavily modified Humvee w/ cameras instead of windows) I keep an upgraded one around to use for targeted runs like to a gas station or quest location.

It gave me the idea for my current project: remote controlled sliding base door.

Right now it’s a 12 unit long line of heavy duty frames and boards w/ military plating and a remote controller that I move back and forth across my base’s entrance. I’m trying to mass produce rippers and mount them down its entire length to prevent things from banging on it(I don’t really like any of my neighbors). I want to mount turrets as well but that would evolve removing solar panels and I don’t really want to put an engine in it.

[scorpion451]

I’ve got two I’m working on:

First is a nimble little runabout that I’ve been tinkering with for a while. It started off life as a humble little experiment with the blob components added by the more vehicle parts mod: a 3x3 cart of blob frames powered by a blob grinder and a solar panel. Since then, its been “absorbing” bits and pieces snagged from vehicles and road debris, or crafted from stuff I loot with it, as is fitting for a blob. It now features a pair of water cannons and a massive six tank reservoir snagged from a fire truck, a 120mm tank gun (which I’m a little scared to actually fire…anyone know if the recoil is calculated on those things?), two blob lancers (which are freaking awesome- short range and weak damage, but high accuracy and armor penetration with relatively low noise output), and a scoop system. Great for scouting and thinning out the herd in fresh areas- silent with an extremely tight turning radius running just the roller, but I can kick on the v-twin for efficient cruising from place to place, and the V-8 is there as an emergency nitrous system: doubles acceleration and almost triples max safe speed but takes the fuel usage from 1 to 6. Comes in handy in a pinch, though.

The second is my mothership vehicle, the Dreadnought. AKA a whole lot of metal on on 60" tank treads. I’m aiming to ultimately expand it into something resembling the Enclave Mobile Platform in Fallout 3 (the sort of thing where you start using architectural terms like “wings” and “hallways”), but for now I’m working on setting up “turret turrets” on either side of the cockpit. These can be accessed via the doors on either side, and have a cargo bay in the center of the balcony for ammo storage. I’m particularly proud of the bed setup, which lets me do all of my crafting and reading from a comfy pile of blankets, with my minifridges, hotplate, faucet, and rechargable gear storage all only a tap of ‘e’ away. (Important when your character is a mutant that gets the munchies every few hours)

[Thwap]

120mm tank gun (which I’m a little scared to actually fire…anyone know if the recoil is calculated on those things?)

Nah, you should be fine.

[Taraq]

[quote=“scorpion451, post:16, topic:10718”]120mm tank gun (which I’m a little scared to actually fire…anyone know if the recoil is calculated on those things?)

Nah, you should be fine.[/quote]

What’s the deal with blob components anyway? I’ve seen them there but I’m not really sure what to make of em. The scoop, too–is that autopickup for a truck or what?

[scorpion451]

Basically, blob parts are squishy but tough parts with some cool tricks. (also, since I forgot there’s multiple vehicle parts mods now, they’re from blaze’s vehicle additions pack)

You need some levels in first aid and cooking and very large batches of easy-to-get components like bones, meat, pebbles, glue, blob globs, mutagen, and a little blob feed(made out of the same), but they don’t take long to actually craft- just some time to grow after you’ve assembled them. (anywhere from 2 to 12 hours for the ones I’ve done so far). Structural parts and plating have moderate durability, but at only 10% impact damage, they’re a lot tougher than they seem at first glance. Even better, if any blob parts do ever completely break, you can remove them and they’ll regenerate.

The blob roller is a really example of what blob stuff is like in general: really tedious to make (1000 pebbles being the worst bit), but the result is a cross between a smaller, non-obstructing roller drum and a small but efficient engine, which also sprouts four blob wheels to go with it. I think they might change size to match any other wheels you put on the vehicle and might be able to refill your blob feed by running over certain things like blob globs and spilled fuel, but again, still trying to figure out details.

The various blob turrets are really cool too. The basic shooter can be fed certain random components (copper wire works, not sure what else) and acts sort of like a nail gun turret- lots of shots quickly, but very weak and not much exploding zombie for your buck. You can “evolve” that base, however, into several different, far more awesome turrets. The slinger can throw heavy projectile ammo at long ranges, the spitter gives corrosive zombies a taste of their own medicine, the darter dispenses long ranged stun… really cool set of parts.

The scoop (I’m fairly certain) is a main-branch thing- you get them off of robotic street sweepers. Make a bit of noise while they’re turned on, but they scoop up items you run over into a 400 capacity storage bay. Love those things. Great for cleanup after clearing out a horde, collecting rocks for building projects, sweeping up the aftermath of a building fires (after digging out the rubble, of course). I put one in front of the grinder for picking up things in small batches before they get pummeled, and one under the seat for large sweeps where I’m willing to trade a little wear and tear for being able to empty the bin without leaving the driver’s seat. (It also adds storage to the tile, countering the one issue with the otherwise great blob seat.) Planning to add more to the front bumper as I run across them, as they aren’t craftable as of yet.

[Taraq]

[quote=“scorpion451, post:19, topic:10718”]Basically, blob parts are squishy but tough parts with some cool tricks. (also, since I forgot there’s multiple vehicle parts mods now, they’re from blaze’s vehicle additions pack)
-snip-[/quote]

Cool, thanks. Additional question time: so are shock absorbers intended to be mid-vehicle sorts of things, ie, do they only really help against damage carried through from other parts of the vehicle? And why spiked plating + panels instead of say shredders, rams, or something similar in the front of your rig?