Lab Challenge

pingpong · 2014-08-26T20:36:16.000Z

Here’s a question for discussion, what sort of “challenge” should we be going for?

The first one (I don’t like) is the metagame until you can find a teleporter and leave, basically having a character with eight extra points after a few tries.

The second I prefer the most, is staying at a depth of 1 or more, for the entire game. Maybe you can find an unlimited source of water, and with cannibal, use alarms and stuff to keep summoning zombies, or just have to keep rampaging through walls and depths if you want to survive. Ant farms, sewer, triffid stuff, etc is permitted, basically.

The third, hardest, would be only lab, all the time. Like even if we had to “enforce” the method by making the map generator only make labs across the entire world, possibly including the “sky” z-level, if we can’t make it a no-access zone.

Telkoth · 2014-08-26T23:03:15.000Z

I’ve been playing this challenge quite a bit actually. My character is a little bit geared towards it. 3 Computer skill, Nightvision, Ninjitsu, and Light step. But to pay for those I use fragile. The only way I can get out of the lab entrance and into the depths is by talking to the NPC With me and convincing him to join me. If he does, you can nudge him out to to the turret and he destroys it, allowing you to actually play the game.

As pertaining to the scenarios of survival. I play, The goal is to escape, so if I find a teleporter then I can use it, If I find a hacksaw I can cut into the sewers, if there are any. But I can only escape after I’ve made it to the vault and seen whats there. If mininukes, thats what I use to escape… Though Ive made it to the vault 5 times, those characters have never found what was needed to get out Otherwise I love this challenge

Whitelight · 2014-08-27T04:45:55.000Z

How do you cut into the sewers exactly? I have found several hacksaws yet I did not know of this method of escape so it interests me.

KA101 · 2014-08-27T04:50:19.000Z

Whitelight:

How do you cut into the sewers exactly? I have found several hacksaws yet I did not know of this method of escape so it interests me.

Some labs intersect sewer lines. If so, there are bars preventing access into/out of the lab, which you can hacksaw through.

jimboblordofeskimos · 2014-08-27T05:36:03.000Z

Your chances of finding a lab that joins to a sewer arent something id count on though.

KA101 · 2014-08-27T06:23:54.000Z

jimboblordofeskimos:

Your chances of finding a lab that joins to a sewer arent something id count on though.

Yeah, ever since AtomicDryad left our mapgen code has been going to pieces. She was extremely competent.

kngsnghun · 2014-10-31T02:48:03.000Z

shame. thats how i always end up dying in lab challenge.

by the way, that’s a fancy looking tile/font you are using! what’s the name of it?

baldamundo · 2014-10-31T03:18:03.000Z

Has anyone found a way out other than getting lucky and hitting a sewer line/ant colony, teleporting, and just burning the whole place down?

Caprice · 2014-10-31T03:32:38.000Z

Labs have everything you need to manufacture dynamite, for one.

Assuming you don’t find any in storage.

You might be able to pickaxe your way through the ground floor walls, as well? I haven’t tried that yet.

Oh, and for the people having trouble getting past that first turret: Wait until nightfall.

EkarusRyndren · 2014-10-31T03:41:17.000Z

When I’ve finished with my start in a lab I tend to start a fire on the surface and hope I can control it long enough to burn an exit out.

Robik · 2014-10-31T07:32:52.000Z

Caprice:

Oh, and for the people having trouble getting past that first turret: Wait until nightfall.

This.

I find this challenge so luck based that I stopped after few tries. I cleared 1 and half floors and did not find means to escape. Non trapped teleporters are extremely rare and explosives are locked in armories - and you need lucky stairs leading into them. In other words, it is reward for luck, not so much for skill. Biggest problem I see is, that you are not guaranteed escape even if you somehow clear the entire place (except armories and prisons that are locked), so you can play for hours, not screw up and game screw you up instead.

Some tips.

start as Survivor, you need that pocket knife
if you don’t start with bedroom in your wing, commit suicide and start again.
smash beds and stuff (you might need lucky drop of bashing item for that)
level fabrication to 1(nails to hooks)
level survival to 1 (bindle + deconstruct)
level tailoring and craft + reinforce gear
you should have trench coat, backpack, club and more before midnight, when it is safe to sneak around the turret
use pen and paper to map underground in more detail than map does

Traits:
Night vision - obvious, never took it though
Cannibal - never took it, but food inside is rare, dead humans are not, penalties for eating them without trait are extremely severe
Light step - silent movement
Ninjutsu - silent attacks, works with melee weapons

You could probably make a character tuned for this challenge but after you get out, you would have worse mix of stats and traits that if you start as Evacuee. So it is not for long term character IMO.

KA101 · 2014-10-31T08:21:37.000Z

We didn’t actually balance it with the intent of characters being viable after getting out. If you get out of the locked lab alive, that’s its own reward.

Caprice · 2014-10-31T09:00:44.000Z

Robik:

Non trapped teleporters are extremely rare and explosives are locked in armories - and you need lucky stairs leading into them. In other words, it is reward for luck, not so much for skill. Biggest problem I see is, that you are not guaranteed escape even if you somehow clear the entire place (except armories and prisons that are locked), so you can play for hours, not screw up and game screw you up instead.

Dynamite can show up outside of armories just fine - the lab room with all the crates gets mining spawns.

And, as I’ve mentioned, you can find pretty much everything needed to manufacture dynamite in labs with only a little luck.

Robik · 2014-10-31T09:10:40.000Z

Caprice:

Dynamite can show up outside of armories just fine - the lab room with all the crates gets mining spawns.

Could be, I was not so lucky.

Caprice:

And, as I’ve mentioned, you can find pretty much everything needed to manufacture dynamite in labs with only a little luck.

Its cooking difficulty 7. You need 6 to see the recipe from chemistry book. Components looks available enough, but you probably burn lot of points on cooking skill if you want to take this route.

EkarusRyndren · 2014-10-31T09:15:57.000Z

Caprice:

[quote=“Robik, post:16, topic:7189”]Non trapped teleporters are extremely rare and explosives are locked in armories - and you need lucky stairs leading into them. In other words, it is reward for luck, not so much for skill. Biggest problem I see is, that you are not guaranteed escape even if you somehow clear the entire place (except armories and prisons that are locked), so you can play for hours, not screw up and game screw you up instead.

Dynamite can show up outside of armories just fine - the lab room with all the crates gets mining spawns.

And, as I’ve mentioned, you can find pretty much everything needed to manufacture dynamite in labs with only a little luck.[/quote]

Yes you can get really unlucky and not find a lighter but I’ve yet to have a lab start where I didn’t get a lighter eventually. Or some other kind of fire.

Robik · 2014-10-31T09:43:21.000Z

Hardest component to find is probably a soap… or cooking oil, but that is even more unlikely.

Caprice · 2014-10-31T19:47:45.000Z

You’re right - soap’s the hardest bit to find. Check the janitor’s closets.

As to getting the required cooking - If you take Willing Mutant, you can start at 5 cooking for an additional 2 points - which means that any of the books with the recipe gets you everything you need. (You need 3 cooking for the chemistry textbook, 5 for Advanced Physical Chemistry. Both can bring you to the 6 needed for dynamite.) Or you could start with 2 cooking - one point, or the Willing Mutant start - and get the rest of the way by manufacturing aspirin.

But yeah, this is one trick that a high intelligence stat really helps with - better odds of successful crafting with low skills.

And yes, if all you wanted was free build points, you’re probably better off just going with the winter start and the basic survivor profession - that one’s not exactly hard to survive in.

Robik · 2014-10-31T22:46:01.000Z

Haha, I wanted to do it for Fey Eyes starting trait, Experiment alternative sucks point wise.

Arek_PL · 2014-11-01T11:32:56.000Z

started this challenge for first time
radiogenetic + minor radioactivy to make things easier and night vision as allways and this time psyhopath
for skills mele and survival (to get cbms)
spawned in goo pit room check fridge and got canister with bloob and few lighters
used blob to kill turret he beaten it but splited few times so i pick up few dead bloobs for food
walk downstairs and find zombie sciencist what relased manhack beaten up sciencist to death with unarmed and start throwing empty canister at it got combat knife
do not noticed teleport pad now i have fungal parasite i have little time to get royal jelly
after some time got alpha mutagen recipe leaved it because its uselles for this character
killed by zombie operator

Bainin · 2014-11-18T23:01:42.000Z

Lol i made this challange quick question i found 3 Dynamite in the lab i basically blow the turret on the exit and then exploded the Door does that count as Survive? xD
But i stayed there 4 Days so far no problem cuz i am Cannibalist and found a sandwich =) finding lots of cbms but kinda wanted a mutate lab not mutch just found 1 mutagen so far but 2 machete and enough cloth and Leather stuf to keep me nice Protected and not to mutch Encumbered i dident leave the lab so far i probably go back in and look how long i can survive before i have to get out =) i can get some screens but i making them over steam so cuz my regular screenshot does somehow not work iv i play in fullscreen =(