More evac shelter varieties

Game Talk The Lab
1

I am thinking about adding new evac shelter varities and want to get your feedback.

The ones which I think are good ideas and relatively uncontroversial:

  • The unfinished evac shelter
    • According to the lore (Newspaper snippet: READY FOR THE WORST. In response to growing public concern about a potential attack from China, President Oswald announced a major funding initiative for the construction of FEMA-supported evacuation shelters near major population sites.), all those evac shelters were built suddenly, so there is a decent chance that some of them did not get finished in time.
    • Will probably have some materials nearby, as in stuff you find on a construction site but not as much as a whole evac shelter will take to build of course.
  • The already used one
    • A stream of refugees made it to the shelter, along with some military/police personnel, but they had to flee soon. Probably because of a horde approaching the shelter or other dangers.
    • Includes a small grave. The inside will be a bit chaotic because they arrived and left in a hurry. Might also have some minor fortifications.
  • The homeless camp
    • Because all these evac shelters were basically uninhabited before the Cataclysm struck, some homeless made it their camp.
    • Not as bad as the vandalized evac shelter, but it will be messy. Could include homeless NPCs.

The more potentially controversial ones, mostly because they might be unfair:

  • The infested one
    • Since all the evac shelters were vacant until now, some critters moved in.
    • Maybe a wasp nest on the roof or spiders in the basement?
    • Is probably too unfair.
  • The wrongly built variant
    • The apocalypse approaches fast, and more evac shelters need to be built. Even normal citizens start helping out, but unfortunately their lack of building knowledge shows and this shelter collapsed.
    • Might have a shovel nearby so you can at least dig out the remaining supplies.
2 Likes
2

Assuming it wouldn’t lead to a problem with “too many EVAC shelters for the Mapgen to choose from so it will just spawn a billion of them” (like it does/used to do? with parks), I’m all for this, especially seeing they seem to be very bare as they currently stand. (only jackets and blankets, no pants, no nothing else to dress really).

A few variants:

  1. A Crowded Shelter:
  • This could be a new Challenge Start, where instead of one solitary NPC, there are several. Instead of being an “above ground” structure, it could have just the entrance as above ground, and then a small set of living quarters that accommodates 5-6 people (think like those “living quarters” segments in the Old labs). There could be a random number of NPCs starting with the player (from 1 to 5) and their “mission” would be to use the console within the premises to find where the nearest Refugee Center is. This would be an “old” building, built before everyone went “mad”, which could justify it being a sturdy and well thought-out location. It could (rarely) have tools, (occasionally) backpacks and clothes and (some) food to last about 3 or 4 days and a water well.
  1. The Infected Shelter.
  • This could also be a Challenge Start. Similar to your suggestion of an “infested one” (no Wasps though). This could be essentially the same as the above suggested (same layout, maybe a 2x2 building underground or something) but instead of survivors, it has Infected Civilians (not a “big” threat to the properly kitted survivor, but dangerous to an unprepared person). The objective would be to try and escape that area before succumbing to the same madness (or dying, in other words). Outside there would be a few Infected Guards with low-calibre weapons or just Batons and Flashlights that would immediately pursue the player upon sight. Perhaps have the “Infected Guards” be a different “faction” so that there is a possibility they go nuts on the Infected Civilians. Perhaps there was already a brawl going on outside between them.
1 Like
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I really like the idea of a crowded start. Feels like the refugee start, but a bit more personal and homely.

4

Agree, i think will be a great add

5

I am currently working on this idea, and should be ready in a while. If you have any more suggestions, please inform me.

6

Did you file any draft PR yet or is there a repo containing your in-progress work I could check out?

7

Here is the in-progress code.

MNG-cataclysm/NPC-TEST-DATA: Test data for NPC locations (github.com)

8

A shelter turned into a military forward operating base with doors and windows reinforced with sandbags, sandwalls, with crates inside, and some general military stuff and signs of combat.

9

some other ideas

  • showcase shelter (shelters that were open for the public to see and thus were built to a higher standard)
  • crime shelter (shelters that were used as a drug lab)
  • burnt down shelter (shelter were it burnt down leaving only the basement intact)
  • repurposed shelter (shelter made by renovating some disused warehouse or barn)
  • ancient shelter (shelter made a lot earlier on, structural damage due to a lack of maintenance but a better standard of supplies)
  • army tent shelter (shelter made with an army tent, has some random crates of non-weapon military equipment
  • fake shelter (shelter that only looks like a shelter from the outside inside is nothing)
  • successful shelter (shelter that a group of people made a base out of)
1 Like
10

survivor shelter. Some people or someone made the shelter their base during the initial chaos before, during and after the cataclysm. Fortified windows and doors with possible simple traps. It´s abandoned now though. Much of the furniture should be smashed/dismanteled. Much of the normal loot would be missing/eaten but be replaced with random bits of low value easy to get to scavenged loot and/or simple to make items such as can stoves or improvised weapons.