Ditches!

TonicEngine · 2013-06-05T17:35:38.000Z

This game needs ditches. That’s what nerfs OP vehicles in real life. That and Jersey barriers.

Ditches! They’re simple, and no one is going to claim that a ditch is unrealistic.

100Rads · 2013-06-05T17:39:13.000Z

In what way would they be useful? Like barriers on the sides of highways/roads?

iceball3 · 2013-06-05T17:47:35.000Z

[quote=“100Rads, post:2, topic:1614”]In what way would they be useful? Like barriers on the sides of highways/roads?[/quote]I think the idea is that they are an obstacle, rather than a use.
Also we should implement delicious “Sleeping Face Down In a Ditch” effects.

DeadWeight · 2013-06-05T18:20:21.000Z

Put them on the sides of highways at an overpass/near water? That’d be realistic.

And ditches for sure, where I live there are ditches along almost every road for farming, many a car was ended up in one (something I still cannot figure out how people do).

KA101 · 2013-06-06T01:17:16.000Z

[quote=“DeadWeight, post:4, topic:1614”]Put them on the sides of highways at an overpass/near water? That’d be realistic.

And ditches for sure, where I live there are ditches along almost every road for farming, many a car was ended up in one (something I still cannot figure out how people do).[/quote]

Hi, I’m KA101, and I put a van in a ditch once whilst learning to drive, several years ago. Young kid has a large vehicle at excess speed, and doesn’t quite make the turn. …That’s pretty much all there is to it.

system · 2013-06-06T03:18:32.000Z

Nope.

Just nope.

Road barriers maybe, but not ditches.

Pthalocy · 2013-06-06T04:26:01.000Z

And ditches for sure, where I live there are ditches along almost every road for farming, many a car was ended up in one (something I still cannot figure out how people do).

Welcome to Canada, where springtime means potholes in the roads and roadside ditches were invented to catch people who swerved to miss the deer. And probably deer who swerved too. bowling lane gutter for the acutely evasive.

iceball3 · 2013-06-06T12:11:46.000Z

[quote=“gtaguy, post:6, topic:1614”]Nope.

Just nope.

Road barriers maybe, but not ditches.[/quote]Why?

Justice · 2013-06-06T12:22:46.000Z

[quote=“iceball3, post:3, topic:1614”][quote=“100Rads, post:2, topic:1614”]In what way would they be useful? Like barriers on the sides of highways/roads?[/quote]I think the idea is that they are an obstacle, rather than a use.
Also we should implement delicious “Sleeping Face Down In a Ditch” effects.[/quote]

Actually, they would be immensely useful to us. I think it’s reasonable to believe the movement cost would be nearly twice that of a window frame.

iceball3 · 2013-06-06T13:59:32.000Z

[quote=“Justice, post:9, topic:1614”][quote=“iceball3, post:3, topic:1614”][quote=“100Rads, post:2, topic:1614”]In what way would they be useful? Like barriers on the sides of highways/roads?[/quote]I think the idea is that they are an obstacle, rather than a use.
Also we should implement delicious “Sleeping Face Down In a Ditch” effects.[/quote]

Actually, they would be immensely useful to us. I think it’s reasonable to believe the movement cost would be nearly twice that of a window frame.[/quote]Well… considering I personally could jump over/through a ditch in much less time than getting throw shattered glass (do I have parkour expert irl or something?) it would seem a bit less time I think…
Even stumbling into the pit and climbing out of it would be faster than trying to squeeze through a shattered window I THINK.

Nighthawk · 2013-06-06T15:06:37.000Z

Screws vehicles over pretty badly unless you’re a good driver, effectively balancing seriously overpowered cars. Add the ability to make them yourself, creating an obstacle that works a lot like shrubs and counters, and you can establish weak defensive measures from zombies.

I see no reason why this should not be implemented.

kevin.granade · 2013-06-06T16:46:22.000Z

The plan for nerfing vehicles includes heuristically determining if a vehicle is “offroad capable”, and penalizing speed and giving a stuck chance based on that. Ditches would also be nice, I seperately want to connect together adjacent “pits” into “trenches”. Somehow hadn’t thought of lining non-city roads with ditches though, which is odd as I grew up “in the country” where ditches are completely ubiquitous.

The_Darkling_Wolf · 2013-06-06T18:27:52.000Z

Ditches and trenches could go together nicely. A trench is a line of deep pits, a ditch is a line of shallow ones.

TonicEngine · 2013-06-06T19:41:10.000Z

One thing I love about this game is the early part when you’re so miserable, stumbling around wearing a dead zombie’s shredded cargo pants, purse full of apples slung over your shoulder, cold and thirsty, covered in bites and scratches. Sleeping in a ditch would round this out perfectly.

Otaku · 2013-06-06T21:59:13.000Z

Pthalocy:

Welcome to Canada, where springtime means potholes in the roads and roadside ditches were invented to catch people who swerved to miss the deer. And probably deer who swerved too. bowling lane gutter for the acutely evasive.

Welcome to Nepal, where it is the season for road widening, hence also the season for ever piping company to dig a few more ditchs to lay pipes, within the city before the roads are remade. This is a reason why there might be ditches in the cities in the cataclysmic future.

Pthalocy · 2013-06-07T01:37:21.000Z

That is a good reason. Here in the countryside I think a large part of it is to capture runoff from the spring thaw/meltwater? Both good reasons.

Wayfarer · 2013-06-07T01:56:54.000Z

Yeah, water runoff is pretty much the reason for ditches, barriers of course to try to prevent people ending up in said ditch…or bank…or river…or cliff-face-of-death… But in terms of gameplay both would, like you guys have said, balance the OP vehicles and in certain situations provide a bit of following-horde slowing. Though until the player can jump things like ditches, it’s slow us too…

So a +1 from me!

Another thing, if it’s not already in or on the list so to speak, would be “potholes”. Simply shallow (or deep hehe) holes at random points in road pavements. World’s gone to shit, right? No one out there repairing them… Long-term the frequency (and scale) of holes could ramp up, after maybe a season or two (or year) in-game…progressively making the road system very difficult to use.

TaintedHolyWater · 2013-06-07T02:01:29.000Z

Thats (runoff) what we use them for around here… but we get seasonal flooding that demands some way to direct it away.

For ditches slowing people down I’d say not much. You can cross an in town ditch at no loss of speed or difficulty (on foot, cars may see some damage); the twelve foot wide and six foot deep ones that flank our highway and the in town ditches flow into to take it out of town? Ya, those will slow you down a bit and wreck a car.

Pthalocy · 2013-06-07T03:16:39.000Z

Runoff ditches would ideally have stagnant water, mmm, skeezy drink sources.

A tiny concern of mine would be applying more difficult roads specifically to balance overpowered vehicles. I’d rather fix the vehicle than the world it’s in, if the vehicle is the problem. Otherwise you’re liable to wind up with a different issue, à la “cats everywhere because we tried to fix a mouse problem”.

I still think ditches potholes etc should be added for what they add to the game otherwise, all the same.

KA101 · 2013-06-07T03:47:09.000Z

Potholes seem like something that would crop up in year 2 or so, after a year’s worth of no road maintenance.