# How do I turn an evac shelter into a horde-proof safehouse?

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147>\
**Category:** The Bunker\
**Created:** [March 16, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147 "2015-03-16T01:33:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![King\_of\_Baboons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/919ad9/32.png) [@King\_of\_Baboons](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/King_of_Baboons)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/1 "2015-03-16T01:33:15Z")

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I spawned as a sorcerer(roguelike classes mod) and headed down to the basement to see if there was anything useful down there

And this is what I found…

 ![](http://i.imgur.com/jRt6Jvl.jpg)

I dont even know what to do with all this gear and there is a horde lurking in the city.

Any tips for a bionic sorcerer that wants to build a fortress of doom?

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**Author:** ![Kryxx](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/kryxx/32/438_2.png) [@Kryxx](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Kryxx)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/2 "2015-03-16T03:12:37Z")

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make a stone axe if you haven’t got one. Chop down tree’s, and grind construction up. You can then make a pallisade and gates starting around 7+ I think.

Remember you can actually dig/mine underground too with a pickaxe. Better with a jackhammer.

I tried to live out in the wilderness, but I got bored after a while.

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**Author:** ![Eliijahh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/eliijahh/32/437_2.png) [@Eliijahh](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Eliijahh)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/3 "2015-03-16T03:47:20Z")

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From my experience log walls are pretty sturdy, just be careful with the placement because they are also very difficult to bring down if you don’t have a big fat hammer (can’t remember the name of the huge one).

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…”

Good luck on living in the woods.

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**Author:** ![Coolthulhu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/coolthulhu/32/2446_2.png) [@Coolthulhu](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Coolthulhu)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 3:51am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/4 "2015-03-16T03:51:59Z")

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Zombies won’t move underground unless they see you while you’re above the ground.

Regular shelter walls are too weak to hold off the horde. Log walls are tough enough to stop vast majority of zombies, unless they pile up.

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**Author:** ![Schilcote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Schilcote](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Schilcote)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/5 "2015-03-16T14:38:43Z")

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> [@Coolthulhu](#):
>
> Zombies won’t move underground unless they see you while you’re above the ground.

To expand on that slightly confusing statement, whenever you go up or down stairs, the game looks around the level you came from and if there were bad guys near the stairs it brings them to you. It might check to see if they’ve actually spotted you or not, but I’m not sure it does.

Other z-levels are completely outside the “reality bubble” and are therefore completely “frozen”; time doesn’t run when you’re not around to see it, and therefore enemies that are on another z-level can’t come down to visit you unless the game explicitly catches them in the “pull zombies down the stairs after the player” routine.

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**Author:** ![King\_of\_Baboons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/919ad9/32.png) [@King\_of\_Baboons](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/King_of_Baboons)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/6 "2015-03-16T17:22:15Z")

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I dont know exactly how many items are down there…but I can list a few

200 batteries  
Countless amounts of clothing including a full winter suit  
Jackhammer  
Countless amounts of water and canned food(hopefully the canned food will not rot away)  
An oil and gasoline lamp  
First aids and 2 Big Books of First Aid  
One large tent  
2 fire axes(both 60)  
Large amount of vitamins and syrup

Also here is my bionics list(tank you,roguelike classes mod):

 ![](http://i.imgur.com/0nnSRZI.jpg)

The rest of the stuff is either more clothing or food.

I think im going to make a underground base,pray that all this time playng DF will actaully help me and expand my basement into a full survivor fortress.

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**Author:** ![Vorchar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vorchar](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Vorchar)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/7 "2015-03-16T18:21:46Z")

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[quote=“Eliijahh, post:3, topic:9147”]From my experience log walls are pretty sturdy, just be careful with the placement because they are also very difficult to bring down if you don’t have a big fat hammer (can’t remember the name of the huge one).

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…”

Good luck on living in the woods.[/quote]

Just out of curiosity: can’t jackhammer smash log walls?

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**Author:** ![Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a88e57/32.png) [@Zero](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Zero)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/8 "2015-03-16T18:27:28Z")

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> [@Eliijahh](#):
>
> log walls are … very difficult to bring down

After watching some videos on log cabin construction I’m not surprised they’re hard to take down.

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**Author:** ![Coolthulhu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/coolthulhu/32/2446_2.png) [@Coolthulhu](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Coolthulhu)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/9 "2015-03-16T19:05:31Z")

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> [@Zero](#):
>
> After watching some videos on log cabin construction I’m not surprised they’re hard to take down.

Yeah, but IRL you could chip them with a piece of metal if you got desperate. Here it’s all or nothing and it kinda has to be, or zombies that spawn underground would “dig” through solid rock. Not exactly all or nothing - log walls have chipped states - but it’s essentially the same since chipped states are much weaker than the original log wall.

> [@Vorchar](#):
>
> Just out of curiosity: can’t jackhammer smash log walls?

I think both pickaxe and jackhammer can smash them, but neither is a particularly common item, nor a particularly easy to craft one.

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**Author:** ![Kryxx](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/kryxx/32/438_2.png) [@Kryxx](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Kryxx)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/10 "2015-03-16T19:31:56Z")

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> [@Zero](#):
>
> [quote=“Eliijahh, post:3, topic:9147”]log walls are … very difficult to bring down

After watching some videos on log cabin construction I’m not surprised they’re hard to take down.[/quote]

It’s very solid. My parents built a 11" yellow pine house 15 years ago. Someone framed it and they did all the other work.

Wood hardens as is drys out. If sealed from getting wet, will last for a very long time. To make wood rot, it’s done by fungi. (Which would make an interesting way for the game to ‘weaken’ walls with some of the creatures here).

Wood fungi need a source of infection, right temp, moisture, oxygen.

This is why for log houses and decks, you use a sealant. That stops moisture.

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**Author:** ![nomzynomnom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nomzynomnom](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/nomzynomnom)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/11 "2015-03-16T23:20:45Z")

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If you want an inspiration for an underground base, I’ll leave my old 0.B base here.  
 ![](http://puu.sh/gsl9E/23908323d6.png)  
 ![](http://puu.sh/gslcY/8c701108bb.png)  
I used vehicles for chem labs, kitchens, and I also made three super big capacity barrels for water.  
Rock gathering for stone walls will be a pain in the arse, though.

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**Author:** ![King\_of\_Baboons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/919ad9/32.png) [@King\_of\_Baboons](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/King_of_Baboons)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/12 "2015-03-16T23:39:26Z")

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[quote=“nomzynomnom, post:11, topic:9147”]If you want an inspiration for an underground base, I’ll leave my old 0.B base here.  
 ![](http://puu.sh/gsl9E/23908323d6.png)  
 ![](http://puu.sh/gslcY/8c701108bb.png)  
I used vehicles for chem labs, kitchens, and I also made three super big capacity barrels for water.  
Rock gathering for stone walls will be a pain in the arse, though.[/quote]

Hmmm

What tileset are you using?

And speaking of tiles:I cant play on the sdl versions past 0.A version.The game opens for a second and then closes.Any solution?

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**Author:** ![nomzynomnom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nomzynomnom](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/nomzynomnom)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-do-i-turn-an-evac-shelter-into-a-horde-proof-safehouse/9147/13 "2015-03-16T23:46:42Z")

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> [@King\_of\_Baboons](#):
>
> [quote=“nomzynomnom, post:11, topic:9147”]-snip-

Hmmm

What tileset are you using?

And speaking of tiles:I cant play on the sdl versions past 0.A version.The game opens for a second and then closes.Any solution?[/quote]  
Im using retrodaysx20.