Gobsmacked

[Loendal]

Heya folks, first post here.

I’m no stranger to Roguelikes and their nefarious Permadeath-rage-inducing-death-spirals but this game has me stumped! I can’t even manage to live past the first day most of the time. I think I made it to the morning / early afternoon of Day 2 one time, the rest have been horrific experiences.

I’m really loving this game, the setup and gameplay is perfect for the zombie apocalypse genre but for some reason I can’t seem to get anything done. I see awesome looking vehicles of doom and people talking about crafting up power armor and such. I can barely manage to get food I’ve tried multiple character designs from biker gang members to cops with extra fighting skills and the only thing that even gets me close to nighttime on the first day alive is when I have a gun or get lucky and find a mansion with a gun collection and some spare ammo.

I can’t seem to get any book reading done without going hungry, thirsty or freezing to death to advance my skills. I never find vehicles that are driveable or the complete set of tools I need to fix up / build my own, let alone the ever present danger of dead things coming to eat my face.

What exactly am I doing wrong? My first priority is usually finding warm clothing that fits and a backpack. I’ve taken over a farm before and managed to hold out for a little while with food and water, but then I have to go and get something some far distance away and get killed enroute to or from. I’ve tried using every sneaky trick I know to keep my scrawy little self alive, but Cataclysm is out to get me

Suggestions? I’d really like to get a base of operations built and a relatively safe vehicle to explore with; for now those are my main motivations.

[Valpo]

Not sure what your doing wrong can you explain better how you die?

[baldamundo]

IMO the most useful and important tip for beginners is pick the ‘night vision’ trait and only go out at night. Light step and weak scent are useful too. Or leg tentacles.

[Valpo]

IMO the most useful and important tip for beginners is pick the ‘night vision’ trait and only go out at night. Light step and weak scent are useful too. Or leg tentacles.

nuuu take none of that and just die till you stop dieing (y)

best days in cata for me where when i died horribly and frequently. best tip from me is keep at it. Unless for some uncomprehensible reqason you do not agree with me that dieing = fun.

[StopSignal]

I am like you too, and let me tell you, it makes little victories way more awesome than they are. The hardness is the spice here!

[Rhodri]

Keep on trying and dying until you find a good strategy. Mine is to find a sewing kit as fast as possible, and bring up my tailoring up enough to craft armor (usually I get to level 3 on tailoring before end of first day). The armor keeps me from getting damaged too much from zeds, no matter how much I suck at fighting. The downside of my strategy? RNG seems to hate me when it comes to sewing kits. (And tankbots) But remember this when you get pissed from dying over and over: Dying is fun, and a way to learn how to do better next time. Take death as advice!

[baldamundo]

^If you start off with a point in fabrication you can craft a sewing kit from wood or bone

[Loendal]

It’s not so much that dying gets me angry, that’s not really the case. It’s a Roguelike, dying is a foregone conclusion! (I’ve played alot of Dwarf Fortress in my time )

Usually I get chased down by zombies that I’ve woke up going into towns trying to find food. Often running smack into more zombies coming from the other direction. I’ve tried skirting the edges of town and similar tricks, but they seem to find me anyway. I love to see houses that are far away from the town center, and I usually look into those first. I’ve also taken a particular liking to Mansions for raiding, as they have so MUCH stuff in there for the taking. I use terrain to my advantage as much as I can. Tricking zombies into being on the other side of tables and benches to slow them down and getting a few stabs in while they fumble across, kiting them or trying to use single-width windows and doorways. Even played ring-around-the-rosy with a fat zombie and a tree out in the yard one time to get some diagonal stabs in. Usually I wind up bleeding to death or taking just enough damage to my torso that I die even though I’m as geared up as I can manage. If I’m not bleeding to death, I’m so cold that I can’t do anything effective. And I learned the hard way that you don’t smash up a table and light a fire to cook your bear meat inside a mansion… It does not end well

I do tend to take Parkour as a trait to help with the terrain gimmicks. I don’t do so well travelling at night, even though I’ve read this is the way to get into towns safer. I keep having to flip my flashlight on for a second or two to get an idea of what’s around me, and this of course brings in the baddies. I also seem to get overburdened really quickly, even though I actively search for backpacks, cargo pants and coats of various varieties. I wasn’t aware there was a way to make a sewing kit (I have a new goal, yay!); I’m sure that would help because once those cargo pants get ripped up by a deadhead I’m suddenly overburdened and can’t fight my way out of a wet paper bag.

I try to seal myself away from the baddies when I go into town, moving bookcases and such in front of doors and windows but they usually still seem to find a way in.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not angry at my repeated deaths, I’m just trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong

[blazing_glory]

You can’t make sewing kit’s, you make sewing needles, but I’m pretty sure they are the same.

Important question, you using experimental or stable?

[Valpo]

If you get caught while sleeping try finding a bed underground (like in houses with cellar or a katherdral) or build an emergency bed underground OR just pile up a lot of clothes underground and sleep on them.

You are bleeding to death? you don t stop the bleeding or you do not find the time to do so?

[blazing_glory]

Also, about the vehicles, the only time vehicles will spawn fully working and more or less fueled is in garages, and they don’t spawn in there most of the time.

But, those vehicles that are on the road away from cities? Chances are they work, they just have no fuel and power, so get a outrageous amount of batteries (2500 will probably fill it to 2-5%, the alternator on the vehicle will do the rest.) , a gallon jug, (tip out the ammonia that’s probably in it.) a rubber pipe, (you can get one from any fridge in a house.) and the siphon a lot of gas from all the trashed vehicles in town, or go to a gas station, then find a vehicle away from town, refill it, and boom, you have a banged up but working car.

As for tools, visit garages and hardware stores, you won’t find welders in hardware stores though.

[Loendal]

I play with the Experimental builds (I love MShock’s Tilesets).

As for bleeding, it’s a combination of the two. Usually I have trouble finding bandages (I don’t think I’ve seen any way to make bandages yet, but that could just be because I’ve overlooked it). When I do have them, I use them up pretty quickly. Same with First Aid kits.

I’ve been wondering where to find a hose for siphoning, now I know. Another goal to aim for! That was always my plan, was to get a battered vehicle and repair it but never could find the hose that’s needed for the clunker to awesome transition. Going to have to pull myself away from the forums and go try some of these tips out!

[Valpo]

Although they do not heal you they stop your bleeding : rags.

Cut up clothes with a sharp tool like a knife for rags and carry a few with you if you do not have any bandages so you can at least stop thebleeding.
Alternatively cauterize the bleeding wound with a knife and a fire source like uh a lighter? (it will hurt a lot so in a pinch it will most likely make things worse)

edit:

I forgot to add that you can craft both bandages and first aid kits.

you ll find recepies for them in first aid themed books.

[baldamundo]

If you’re having trouble with combat early game, starting with a couple of points invested in ‘dodge’ or a martial art style can make a big difference. Also, as others have said, try and get a sewing kit asap and reinforce all your clothes. Adds a lot of protection if you’ve got enough layers.

EDIT: It could even be worth playing with the ‘Classic Zombies only’ mod or with spawn rates turned down in the world-gen options.

[ryvn]

The key to early-game combat is to realize that 1) You’re faster than most zombies, 2) You can throw rocks and zombies can’t. Lead them to a big open field, run in circles and throw rocks at them until they die.

If going into towns is getting you killed, try foraging for food in the forest while you’re training up Throwing and Melee. Butcher animals for meat, search underbrush for eggs. Flee on sight from Bears, Moose, and more than one Wolf. You’ll need to start with some Survival to make all the stone tools. (Stone Pot, which will let you boil water and make scrambled eggs, is Survival 2.) You can practice tailoring with animal pelts or by cutting up the window curtains in the evac shelter for rags - reinforcing your clothing only adds a few points of armor, but it makes a surprising difference in survivability, and you can make additional useful items like arm warmers to combat the early Spring chill.

[Alasnuyo]

And don’t forge to butcher/smash all the zombie corpses you killed. They revive after a few hours if you don’t, albeit at severely reduced hp.

And you can also get threads by disassembling rags, but that tends to be a lengthy task, so only do it somewhere sheltered. Constantly loot the zombies for better equipments and tools.

And I personally find that it is a lot safer for an early character to find food by foraging the underbrushes for wild veggies and bird/reptile eggs or harvesting fruit bearing trees (if they are ripe). So much safer than going deeper into town for food runs and easier than hunting wildlife for meat. It also grinds your survival skill.

A decent early ranged weapon is the sling; easy to craft and easy to reload. You can get more ammos simply smashing up rocks for pebbles. Very useful for kiting slower enemies and for hunting small games. Grind your throwing skills by slinging pebbles at walls/random patch of dirt. You can get it up to 2 or 3 levels in a few hours.

And don’t sleep in rooms with windows. Your scent will leak out and the zombies can smell you. To mitigate that, close all the windows and draw the curtains in your homebase. Or better yet, board all the windows.

Once you are skilled enough to take on small crowds safely, always take out the spitters and shockers first. Preferably at a distance. Those are a serious pain in the ass. Especially the spitters.

[TheFlame52]

Once you are skilled enough to take on small crowds safely, always take out the spitters and shockers first. Preferably at a distance. Those are a serious pain in the ass. Especially the spitters.

I’m a near-god and I still take out the spitters first. Fuck 'em.

[Natures_Witness]

reads thread title

jumps to conclusion without thinking

Ooh that sounds messy, not to mention the loss of a tasty snack. The icing probably goes everywhere, and you probably get crumbs of the chocolate cake bits on everything. Unless it was still in the Saran Wrap, in that case it might not be so bad.

Still, what a waste of a perfectly good Gob.

[Loendal]

Well, I don’t know if it was just dumb luck, good fortune, or the added precautions I took this time around but I’ve managed to set up a comfy base right on the edge of a town near my starting evac location. I went into the first house, closed all the curtains and blocked the smashed in door with a bookcase and looted up some nice treats and a few basic tools.

I then went out and got a stick and a rock for a hammer and tore down some curtains back in the evac center for rags and such. Then I went into the second house on the block. It has a lovely fireplace and plenty of room to stretch out, and has become my base of operations. I’ve been collecting things (In retrospect, probably too many things) and gathering up most of the basic tools. Found a fully stocked bar in the basement of the house across the street from that one Been reading about barrels and funnels for rainwater, but I think I herniated myself trying to get the barrel back to base. Plus, it’s full of Whiskey… I’d hate to just waste that!

After a little further along, I went a little deeper into town and snuck into yet another basement. This one happened to be owned by a gun nut! Woot! Lots of ammo for my trusty .45 and a nice ergonomic grip for it as well. I’ve been doing well with keeping alive, I think I’m up into day 6 or 7 now… Maybe further (It’s on my work laptop, I’m at home now). My poor cop has had to deal with a major bout of depression, focus was at 5 at one point. Probably brought on by having had to kill an NPC after she tried to steal my stuff, and another that came after me with a knife spear. The Addictive Personality trait probably isn’t helping here either I do think I owe a good portion of my relatively zombie-free journey so far on the other 3 NPC’s who are living in this town. They’ve been killing the buggers off I think.

I’ve found an Electric car in pretty good shape, just needs an Engine. I also found another house that has a garage attached to it, so I’ll likely be moving my base up to there at some point, though I hate to leave my fireplace behind… I’ve grown rather accustomed to starting a fire and curling up on a pile of blankets and rags in front of it to sleep. Siphoned a few cars dry as well in case I stumble on a gas burner that’s in good shape.

[Oragepoilu]

stuff to know :

You need to grind skill, you should stop wasting you time to close doors and push stuff, it’s useless.

At first …
Use, if you have some, stuff that could cheer you up. you will grind faster with hight morale.

1. grind survival lvl3 with the bush outside (you will find stuff to hold water).
2. grind cooking lvl 1
3. make basic tools. Now you can boil water and have save meat.
   Here, you got your survival part into the wood. Should be near night.
4. break windows, pick all the stuff around, disassemble string and whatever you want to rag.
5. grind tailoring near the computer. At level two, you can start to repair your stuff UNLESS they are near-destroyed. At lvl 3, you can alway repair them, very rarely destroy them but only loose some rag/string/etc instead. Stop when you don’t have rags around.
   ~If you need more rags, your best bet if to broke some windows. It’s quick and yield a lot of them. Also pick the string.
6. make basic clothe for all your part. Some are better than other, but aim for clothe that can hold stuff because 90% of the time you will be hauling stuff anyway. Keep leg/feet at 0, torso a 0 if you go melee or arm/hand at 0 if you go ranged/trowing.
   Here, you can survive morning greating from local people without having a sweat !
7. Grind dodge. Untill you can’t grind anymore. Start with weak mob tought, or you will be hurt. Check your points : if it go to 35 or less with a morale of 0, stop grind and haul stuff instead, because you won’t earn xp anyway.
   Should be day6-7. Maybe more if you’r done bad and is slowed by pain/frost.

Now you just have to either grind tailoring to max ( = survival equipment imba), fabrication (= imba weapons, but book needed), mecha ( = make a small car just for the light/ kitchen unit to save time), or just scavenge stuff around.
Just don’t forget to always retrait when you are a 10-15 pain, because it mean you take too much damage anyway and you will be slower so it will be worse.

early game is just be enought fast to rush important survivals skills.
Mid game is more about survive special encounter when you scavenge (brute, shocker … spitter aren’t that much a problem if stick at 6-8 square of them untill they spit into the ground and most the time miss you)
end game is just about getting killed by a turret or a flamming eye. Everything else is fine with survival armor + great dodge skill + sometime a bit of medkit/painkiller.