Fortifications: Pillboxes, Moats, Electrified Fences, Etc

[nameless_survivor]

In a post-cataclysm world, only the most heavily fortified of settlements will be viable in the long term. It would be nice to have the addition of the ability to construct additional fortifications than what is presently available.

Pillboxes:
Currently you can make SOMETHING like this with walls on the sides and sandbag half-walls in the front, but I was thinking it might be nice to have a concrete or metal wall section that obstructs movement but not firing, like a firing slit. This would make pillboxes more viable than having only a wimpy sandbag wall between you and that skeletal juggernaut.

Pillbox (military)

Arrowslit

Electric Fences:
This is probably something that would have to come after power grids and appliances are working, but the ability to electrify a chain-link or barbed wire fence would be cool. Have a solar array or generator and hook it up with jumper cables to a transformer built adjacent to the fence section, and all contiguous fence sections get electrified.

Electric fence

Moats:
Of course, everyone knows about the humble moat. Being able to dig a trench around your base and fill it with a liquid to slow down attackers would be nice. Or even better, fill it with something that will outright kill them. Why fill it with just water when you could throw in some man-eating SEWERANHA? Or better yet, forget water, fill it with concentrated acid to dissolve enemies, or gasoline/diesel/napalm to create a wall of fire in a dire emergency.

Moat

Security Gate/Portcullis
The regular wooden gate is a bit limited. Why bother building concrete walls if the gate is made out of WOOD? The ability to construct a large opaque plate steel security gate or portcullis would be an excellent addition to fill this gap. Might need an engine, electric motor, or gearing & pulley system to lift.

Portcullis

Foxholes/Defensive Positions/Trenches
The humble shallow pit would be nice if it added some additional bonuses to defense or reduction of a chance for an enemy outside it to hit with a ranged attack. Combined with sandbag half-walls, it would make a nice defensive position. Or if you wanted to make a series of connected foxholes, it would become a trench network.

Defensive fighting position

Trench warfare

These are just a few examples of some of the many various defensive constructions which could potentially be made available.

[Darkfirephoenix]

One would think that simple bars on a windowframe (without the glass ofc) would allow ya to shoot through it and block enemies from passing through it. Arrowslits would also be a good idea tho you would only really be able to look through if you are directly next to it/if you are further away you can only look 1 tile in at max.

[nameless_survivor]

One would think that simple bars on a windowframe (without the glass ofc) would allow ya to shoot through it and block enemies from passing through it.

I had not considered that. Wouldn’t be as robust as a concrete firing slit, but it would do for now. And yes, the limited visibility any player, NPC, or monster not adjacent to the slit would be nice as well, so zombies can’t just see into your base from a mile away, but you could still shoot out of it if you are adjacent.

[kevin.granade]

There’s an interesting change here, in that all of these fortifications are intended to defend against humans using human weapons, the kind of defences you need for zombies are different and mostly smaller in scale.

The barred window instead of an arrow slit is a great example, you don’t have to worry as much about zombies firing back at you, as you don’t have massed arrow or gun fire. You do have spitters and shockers, but that’s quite different than the long-ranged projectile fire you would get from humans.

To a first approximation, I expect all you really want is a medium-sized wall or berm that you can use to stop zombie rushes while leaving them vulnerable to counterattack. Spitters and shockers would probably need to be dealt with using targeted ranged attacks.

[nameless_survivor]

There’s an interesting change here, in that all of these fortifications are intended to defend against humans using human weapons, the kind of defences you need for zombies are different and mostly smaller in scale.

I actually thought about this before initially posting, and I do agree. You don’t need a trench network, foxholes, or firing slits for fighting zombies. However if roving bands of marauders or assaults by enemy factions, etc are ever implemented, being able to build defenses that will work efficiently vs humans or other intelligent enemies that have ranged attacks (bandit with an assault rifle, mi-go with an alien death ray, etc) would be prudent.

Also, a number of these would work just as well against zombies as humans. A moat still acts as a barrier to slow a zombie while it gets picked off by ranged weapons, and would function especially well when it is filled with angry mutant fish. An electric fence would fry zombies (except maybe the shockers) just as well, and would also work against mutant creatures. A portcullis or steel security gate will still keep things out while being more durable than a flimsy wooden gate, and would hold up better against a skeletal juggernaut or zombie hulk.

[kevin.granade]

Thise will work, that’s not the issue, the problem is the resource cost.
You can put up a wood pallisaide for a tiny fraction of the cost of putting up a stone or concrete wall.

[nameless_survivor]

You can put up a wood pallisaide for a tiny fraction of the cost of putting up a stone or concrete wall.

You are absolutely right of course, and initially that is EXACTLY what you would want to do, because it would be easy to build, cheap, and the resources to do it would be plentiful. It would work great for quite a while too. But as time passes a base/settlement will become larger and more developed, more people move in, noise levels increase, etc. Its going to start drawing a lot more attention from both the undead and the living.

Eventually, that wood palisade just won’t cut it anymore and upgrading will become more of a necessity, by which time the inhabitants should be well established enough that procuring materials and labor to build a stone or concrete wall won’t be nearly as much as an obstruction as it would be for a lone survivor or a small group of 2-8 people.

I personally have 11 followers at my base already, and 45 or more sitting at an apartment complex waiting for me to transport them back (there were enough scattered around the place it was difficult to get a head count, I suspect there may be as many as 100 there). Manpower and resource procurement would not be an issue for players like myself getting into the late game.

[Malkeus]

I look at that picture and all I see is a massive friendly fire incident waiting to happen. What kind of settings are you using to avoid that?

On topic, I propose a new type of vehicle part, essentially a gasoline sprayer oriented upwards with a steel grate over top that acts as an AISLE. When activated it creates a contained fire that will ignite and cause burn damage to anything walking through it’s tile(note, not items on the ground, presumably below the flames). I suppose these could be used as portable cook fires too. Breaking it would spread gasoline and/or flames. I envision a square of these surrounding quarterpanels with me and a crew of NPC’s plinking away.

Also, is there any chance of filling moats with things other than water? An acid moat would be awesome!

[nameless_survivor]

Not much except guarding or bringing one or two with me right now. I’d never bring them all with me at once. I plan to stuff all these guys into my bunker once I dig out some rooms for them, and leave them there until such time as NPC AI gets fixed, and they are no longer a danger to themselves and others.

Also, is there any chance of filling moats with things other than water? An acid moat would be awesome!

Well, kevin doesn’t seem to like the moat idea or the other stuff, so I’m not seeing it happening. And I don’t have the expertise in coding/modding yet to make a mod for it, otherwise there would be an acid moat mod already.

[Malkeus]

I looked at the picture again…a scenario popped into my head about a single crawler zombie coming around the corner in front of the group. The guys in the front of the group would be annihilated by the gunfire from behind and the survivors would be like, “Hold on, I want to pulp that crawler zombie corpse!” x 11

[nameless_survivor]

Yep, thats exactly why my super evacuation transport to move everyone directly from the apartment complex is completely opaque, and these guys are going straight into the bunker from there. This crowd is a disaster waiting to happen.

[Malkeus]

Shake dat ass!

In my imagination the pivot point is right there at the middle door, so when you turn corners the tail end destroys things.

https://media1.tenor.com/images/3c64aa512178210ca8399973648d078b/tenor.gif?itemid=7358569(image larger than 3072KB)

[Ricky_Van]

i was thinking about one possible bug/feature about bandits using these fort to attack player.

[Mantar]

You do have spitters and shockers

I would think iron bars should ground and dissipate a shocker’s attack, actually.

[Ricky_Van]

but iron can conduct electricity.

[nameless_survivor]

Thats why it would ground it. Its conducting the charge to ground.

I agree. It would act like a lightning rod and ground the electric arc.

[Ricky_Van]

ooh yes, the “Grounding” conduction.

that sounds good, but spitters’s acid?

[nameless_survivor]

https://www.amazon.com/Gateway-Safety-6980-Cover2-Glasses/dp/B012APFLNS/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1544657749&sr=8-10&keywords=safety+glasses

[Ricky_Van]

“you can melt my fort but not my eyes”

can’t spit this.

[kevin.granade]

If they’re grounded yes, if not they’ll just act as a transmission medium.