Graboids

So I just died on my first full DDA play through, I had been playing classic zombies before. Was running through the woods carrying all the stuff I’ve ever wanted and more, and saw the snake like dirt form and come at me. It moved faster than I could, and their didn’t appear to be anything I could do about it. It popped up, I shot it with my M4A1 loaded with incendiary rounds, and it killed me in two hits before I could get another shot off :confused:

So, I have some questions about how they work. Will they break through pavement? Can I stay on roads and be relatively safe? If I stand behind a bush, will it pop up through the bush and get slowed down? What about trees? Can they see while they’re underground or do they use scent/sound until the surface? I noticed it has the Destroyer tag, so will it break through floors in houses or is that only after it surfaces? Can I shoot it while it’s underground, or is their anything at all I can do while it’s submerged? Is their anyway to see them coming in time to get away without using x to look all around with each step? Anything else I should know about these monstrosities?

They have no eyes and can’t smell. Those are both incredibly useful bits of information when dealing with them.

So basically when you see them you should stay put and silent?

That is amazing, I’m now really happy they exist. Damnit that is cool. Thanks for the info.

I’m not exactly sure what that translates to in terms of practical application, but that is very cool.

Throw rocks away from yourself can also help to buy you some time. Throwing active radios works even better. And while staying still works somewhat, keep in mind that the last sound that they heard was at your current location, so if they are too close then they will still be able to find you even if you stand still.

Now I want to see one come out of nowhere and tear up a moose and then disappear underground again.

Along with throwing stuff, you can also spot them with heat vision. Not sure how to hurt them when they are underground though, maybe try a flamethrower?

We need RC car bombs now.

Graboid hunting ftw.

[quote=“DerpMcgee, post:8, topic:1359”]We need RC car bombs now.

Graboid hunting ftw.[/quote]
Awesome. Completely forgot about these, we gotta stick em in.

Remote controlled stuff in general would be great. Maybe with the ability to add a camera, so you can see what it sees. (Only the camera’s range, nothing else, like it was a headlight.)

Yeah, only transferring player control/POV to something else seems like it would be a bitch codewise.

Maybe put a fake player in place of the original while you’re driving the remote controlled car while you are technically in it?

We already have modest support for out of body experiences with the look around corners thing.

Looking around corners isn’t so much an OOB experience, rather it’s more similar to the ability to move to a location and then immediately move back without said moves actually costing any action points.

[quote=“Iosyn, post:9, topic:1359”][quote=“DerpMcgee, post:8, topic:1359”]We need RC car bombs now.

Graboid hunting ftw.[/quote]
Awesome. Completely forgot about these, we gotta stick em in.[/quote]

Indeed, and it would be affected by your mechanics skill.

Well, we could actually do this, methinks.

Create a “player” monster where you activate the rover with the health of its weakest limb, unable to defend itself until you turn off the rover.

The rover basically acts as a vehicle. You ride around and can’t get out, only turn it off with the remote controller.

Exploring a dangerous mine as you hide behind a wall? Fun. Maybe it’s feasible, but I know nothing of the code.

Also since it doesn’t look like someone actually answered this part about your first question… I’m pretty sure Graboids can’t go through pavement, so if you cross a street they won’t burrow under it after you.(at least not yet)

Walk without rhythm, and you won’t attract the worm.

Actually, the best way I’ve found to deal with worms is to make as much loud noise as possible, generate a ridiculous overspawn, and then run away from them all or go down some stairs. Return and they’ll all have vanished. I don’t think they go back into the spawn pool, either; my attempts to generate further spawn with additional noise yielded nothing.

Interesting, thanks for answering that. I was still wondering. I really want to know if they can pass underneath or knock over trees, and if there is any way to damage or affect them while they are underground.

[quote=“halberdsturgeon, post:18, topic:1359”]Walk without rhythm, and you won’t attract the worm.

Actually, the best way I’ve found to deal with worms is to make as much loud noise as possible, generate a ridiculous overspawn, and then run away from them all or go down some stairs. Return and they’ll all have vanished. I don’t think they go back into the spawn pool, either; my attempts to generate further spawn with additional noise yielded nothing.[/quote]
My guess would be that because you generated a large overspawn it therefore increased the amount of time until the next spawn (since with each additional guy it spawns the time till the next one increases slightly) and then when you wiped them out it meant you had a nice long window of time to enjoy before any more returned.

Personally my advice for dealing with things that tunnel is this:
Don’t live there.