Playing with goals – what are my options? (About to try this game)

Game Talk The Bunker
1

I’m just about to dive into this game for the first time, and I’m really excited about it, but from what I can tell, there’s no way to beat the game or “win”. I’m not into sandbox type games, so when I play them, I always try to set a difficult goal for myself. If I achieve it, I win.

I don’t believe there is a score given to you when you die (if there is, please correct me). So my next thought was to “score” myself on how many days I could survive. This works well in games like Don’t Starve, because surviving is so difficult, and there’s really no end to the difficulties. You survived to day 50? You’ll most likely die tomorrow. You survived to day 500? You’ll most likely die tomorrow. You survived to day 2000? You’ll most likely die tomorrow. The amount of days survived in Don’t Starve is a pretty good way of keeping score because it’s always a challenge to survive, no matter how long you’ve already done so.

I’ve read a few things about CDDA that indicate that it’s not the same with this game. Surviving the first few weeks (or maybe even months) is hard, of course, but if you manage to get to a certain point (and I don’t know if that’s day 60 or 600) and your base is stocked, and your skills are up, you can pretty much survive indefinitely, spending your days holed up in your base and going out hunting every once in a while. Is this true?

If it is true, I have two main questions: (1) About how many days does it take to get to that point? Is it about 60? Or 600? Somewhere in between? If it’s something like day 600, and even skilled players can struggle to make it that long, then I think I’m all set. My goal will just be to try to survive as long as possible. :smiley: But if it’s around day 30, and most skilled players can do that without too much of a problem, I’ll need something further…

(2) What are some goals that I could set for myself that would push me forward? Something that is do-able, but would be difficult even for a skilled player. Maybe there is a large military base that always spawns somewhere, and there is a fortified vault 3 levels beneath it, and I could say I’ve won if I get inside it? Or maybe there is a boss that spawns on day 200 that’s very difficult to kill, and I could say I’ve won if I defeat him? Once I get skilled at the game, if it’s pretty easy to get to the point where I’m self-sufficient and only in danger if I take risks, what are some good end-game goals that I could try to achieve that would serve as good “I win” milestones?

I’m looking for a very difficult but defiantly achievable goal to work towards with each character. Whether that is “survive to day 200” or “kill ZombieMaster9000” or “infiltrate the base and acquire the blueprints for the golden sniper rifle”, I don’t really care, I just need something.

Is there anything?

Thank you all in advance for any ideas or info you can provide! :smiley:

2

Starting out as a new player it will obviously take longer. You won’t know the mechanics of the game as well, things like enemies or weapons would look daunting, finding resources, etc. will inhibit you, but once you get a good feel of the game you’ll definitely be more efficient in getting characters to the end game.

For me, as a veteran it’ll take me about 2 months in game to get to the point where i’m well established and nothing can really kill me if i’m careful. It’ll be shorter if i’m lucky, my shortest is about 2 weeks.

About a year in (91 day seasons) i’ll basically be unstoppable.

My general “I basically won the game at this point” is where i’m fully optimized (mutations, bionics, weapons, armor) and basically nothing can kill me except my by own error.

But by this point I make a death mobile and travel around the map and explore, and try out new things in the game I haven’t touched on, i.e. mastering martial arts, braving a temple, exploring underground mines, getting to the end of labs and finding their high-tech weaponry, etc.

In all honesty the end game is where you get bored of the character and restart to the beginning. This game is more about short term goals than long term ones. There is no “Defeat mcguffin villian”, it’s more of “Find water, find food, find shelter, find a good weapon, find books, build a car, train skills, explore, get better equipment, etc.”

I like to think of progress as tiers, the longer you survive and better equipped you become your tier increases.

But if you truly, and absolutely need a goal, like, without it you will literally die? Try this.
http://smf.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?topic=7891.0

I have a guide below for new players, just click it and it’ll help you out with the basics.

3

Excellent!!! That’s just the type of info I was looking for, and that challenge thread looks interesting. If nothing else, it sounds like there are plenty of material for me to work with when setting my own personal goals. Also, your guide looks nice - I haven’t read it all yet, but I’ve got it bookmarked :smiley:

Thank you so much for the reply - I’ll let you know how my first few deaths go!

4

There are no and will probably never be any “win” conditions. There was a discussion at some point about adding non-death game end conditions but I stopped playing for a period and don’t know if it gained any traction. Disclaimer: I play the experimental and have long forgotten what the stable is like.

The start is defiantly the hardest part. If your character is not significantly restricted by something or you have added extra conditions such as the Nudist challenge. I basically consider a character “viable” if they have no infections, broken limbs or pain/freezing causing ridiculous penalties. Generally, a character becomes “stable” after 4-5 days after finding a relatively safe place to stay, the cloths to manage warmth, basic tools and the beginnings of a resource stockpile. (again can’t be grievously injured)

If the map gen’s RNG (random number generator) is being nice to you (it never ever is) you can reach mid game 1-2 weeks after becoming stable if you hurry. At this point you will have a vehicle, decent armor and a good weapon. If your careful, don’t go anywhere particularly dangerous and, do anything stupid, you won’t die anymore unless the RNG hates you. (playing super safe is no fun though) My personal play style takes longer to actually reach mid-game but I am much more well equipped, effectively combining the first chunk of mid-game into the early game but, I generally reach this point mid summer to early autumn. (I play 28 day seasons)

The boundary between mid and end game is much less clear but concurring your first lab or installing CBMs is usually a good indicator. At this point your power increases exponentially as you clear labs and other special areas. It doesn’t take long after that to reach the point where you stop caring and start doing things like raiding a bank in the middle of a new city during the day because you can just drive your deathmobile through the hoards. I generally reach this point at the end of my second year so like 30+ weeks.

dynamic spawns is a requirement for keeping the later game interesting. Hoard spawns likewise keep the later game eventful but make starting annoyingly hard as they are implemented by effectively adding a hoard on-top of the normal spawns. I would advise turning them on and reducing the spawn scale rate to start and jacking it back up as you play.

Most people use role-playing to give meaning to the open world but some potential challenges are:

[ul][li]Nudist Challenge- no wearing anything; no cloths; no armor; no backpacks; no blankets.[/li]
[li]Explorer- The map is big but it’s also definite; explore the entire thing[/li]
[li]Concur the National Guard Outpost (I haven’t actually been in it yet)[/li]
[li]Increase the spawn scale by one every week. Survive until it reaches 99[/li]
[li]complete all the refugee center quests[/li][/ul]

5

You could make an achievement list for yourself. Some examples:

  • Deal 100 Damage in a single attack or Deal enough overkill damage to spatter zombie flesh everywhere
  • Obtained an artifact, obtain an artifact from an Amigora Horror.
  • Built a death mobile
  • Reached the finale room in a lab
  • Destroy the heart of a Triffid grove
  • Craft: a katana (or other high tier metal working item), Full suit of survivor armor, Control laptop
  • Drink enough mutagen to become post-threshold
  • Install 10k bionic power.
  • Craft a diamond coated weapon.
  • Obtain a vorpal weapon.

The list can go on and on :slight_smile:

6

The basic issue is that you can’t reverse the cataclysm, only survive it.
OK - You might found a village and make it pretty stable and call it a day.
NOT OK - Find a magic McGuffin that destroys all the monsters.
OK - Find a suspended animation pod and try waiting the aftermath of the cataclysm out.
NOT OK - Time traveling to before the cataclysm and preventing it from occurring.
OK - Dimensional shift to a universe where the Cataclysm didn’t happen.
NOT OK - Dimensional shift to the blob homeworld and blow it up.

It’s technically finite, but exploring the whole thing isn’t really feasible.

7

The basic issue is that you can’t reverse the cataclysm, only survive it.
OK - You might found a village and make it pretty stable and call it a day.
NOT OK - Find a magic McGuffin that destroys all the monsters.
OK - Find a suspended animation pod and try waiting the aftermath of the cataclysm out.
NOT OK - Time traveling to before the cataclysm and preventing it from occurring.
OK - Dimensional shift to a universe where the Cataclysm didn’t happen.
NOT OK - Dimensional shift to the blob homeworld and blow it up.

It’s technically finite, but exploring the whole thing isn’t really feasible.[/quote]
What about just stopping the invasion or rather the influx of monsters (i.e. finding a way to close the portals)?