After asking here, I went into debug mode and tested it.
Handheld radio, when on and away from any radio towers (I teleported into new region and revealed map via debug console), picks only static.
As soon as I (teleported) closer to a radio tower, it started broadcasting emergency message.
Didn’t really test those in-between distances too well, but the signal seems to be actually coming from the tower just fine.
I’ll now try doing the same without debug mode shenanigans, just by exploring naturally.
I have an NPC on map (Mr. Lapin, warrener) that breeds rabbits and needs logs for fences. So he gave me a mission to bring 5 logs to him, which I did (adjecent tile). However, the missions screen still shows this mission and I’ve been over all the chat menus and couldn’t find any way to complete the delivery.
What now? Is there a way to reset the NPC? He also gave me a mission to check up on the Isherwoods, which is now duplicated in my missions screen.
EDIT: even the mission text is bugged, lol
EDIT2: “you gives you”? The NPC gave me a fur pelt for a log. The 5*log mission is still there.
EDIT3: After rejecting the Isherwood mission, I was able to complete the delivery of those 5 logs.
EDIT4: I think I got this NPC to glitch. The chat tells something about this place being a refugee center, some hobos around and armed guards in basement. But this is just a cabin in the middle of a very large field, there’s no basement here, or any hobos.
EDIT5: the NPC told me where hub01 is.
I need a QRD on NPCs. I started playing back in 2013 or so when NPCs still had the big bug flag and it was generally considered better to turn them off if you don’t want to lose your save.
For some reason this situation burned itself into my mind to the point that I haven’t played with NPCs in 8 years and just recently enabled them again and didn’t even notice we are dorf fortress now 
So toying around with my evac shelter guy and setting up camp near a forest, I brought in a SUV-load full of loot and then I designated a zone as camp storage and camp food and told my dude to sort out the loot while I’m gone. Instead of taking the stuff from the turnk though he just picked up a few rocks outside the camp and said he was done.
So do I have to designate a zone for EVERY type of loot down there in the list or can I just make a general loot pile and I’m just too dumb to find it?
After not getting that done I sent him on a mission to gather loot for the next camp upgrade and he just teleported away. Is that intended? Will he be back in a few hours and respawn? Is he in danger while in the quest dimension?
Thanks in advance
QRD?
Anyway, the NPCs are great for crafting assistance, vehicle deconstruction, repairs, mining and for general construction. You can also have them read on their own. Butchering is bugged. If you tell any to butcher, the NPC in question must not leave your reality bubble, or you will get a harmless(?) “lost target item” error and the butchery will not be completed. The rest of the tasks I have either not tried yet or do not remember.
They can die on those missions, but I have no camp and so cannot order them to do that.
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Camp companion “missions”: Yes. As soon as you order a companion (I use that word rather than NPC, as you’ve also got NPCs in e.g. the refugee center, as bandits, etc., although I don’t think that’s an “official” distinction) they’re teleported away, do their stuff, and won’t return until you return to the billboard and tell them it’s OK to return (there’s also a command to order them to abandon the mission and return prematurely, not accomplishing anything).
I generally send them off in the morning and keep checking in the evening to see how long they have left on their mission (some construction missions can take weeks).
Sorting stuff using zones works the same for you and for your companions, i.e. you can order your PC to sort stuff as well. You need zones that take all the things you want to sort from the “unsorted” zone for them to be moved. You can either used multiple zones (that can overlap) or custom zones (that can include combinations of other types, specializations, etc.). Also, some zones are kind of specializations of other zones (clothes zones are less specialized than dirty clothes zones, causing dirty clothes to end up in the clothes zone if you don’t have any zone specifically for dirty stuff). The logic there is somewhat murky (i.e. I don’t quite follow what is a specialization and what isn’t: corpses ends up in the general zone, while a lot of other zones’ stuff don’t…). Finally sorting only happens within the reality bubble, so companions will only sort stuff when both they and the destination zones are within your current reality bubble.
Vehicle deconstruction zones works differently (not to be confused with chop shop: I’ve never tried that one) in that you can order companions to pick vehicles apart and leave them, causing them to “catch up” when the come within the reality bubble again.
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Thank you very much, this helps a lot.
How exactly do I designate a custom zone, though? When I selected it, it only let me enter a String. Do I just type in loot types, separated by comma?
I usually only nees 6 piles: food, tools+misc, weapons+ammo, meds, clothes, materials (rags, patches, scrap metal, nails, etc.)
@ThinkSome
QRD= quick run down, also thanks for your reply
The string you enter for custom zones has to follow a specific syntax. It allows you to specify loot types, loot types minus certain types, loot names (including regular expressions). Thus, it’s possible to make a single zone that combines several categories, and I believe you can save that string so you can reuse it for another zone later on. I don’t know the syntax off the top of my head, but there is a description for it when you use it, although it may be too cryptic if you don’t have any experience with things like regular expressions. However, I think you’ll have to explore the custom zone and try to figure out how it works to be able to use it in a useful manner.
Personally I separate stuff into (mostly) standard zones to make it easier to go to an appropriate tile to look for the item I’m after, although the “search for things within view” functionality is very handy as well. I guess it also depends on whether you’re a hoarder (like me) or not, as the more stuff you have, the more stuff you have to wade through to find what you’re after unless you keep it somewhat organized.
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Ooh so I probably didn’t see the instructions on how to assign the loot types. I will have to take another look later.
Few questions… since either I’m just stupid on not being able to figure it out, or am just that confused.
A: Where do I find a ‘Corporate Account’ for the NPC Mission I have. Not getting a destination or a marker for it.
B: Does a ‘burnt survivor duffel bag’ have ANY difference (other than name and visual) than a non-burnt one? If so, what?
C: Where do I/How do I find the ‘Spy’ in the refugee center to bring them to ‘justice’. Talked to EVERYBODY and EXHAUSTED EVERY option. No clue who it is or where. Have really good social and stat spread. No luck so far.
D: Good backpack between both ENCUMBERANCE (when carrying stuff) AND VOLUME AMOUNT (to store/carry) between that of both a Survivor Rucksack and Survivor Backpack. Can’t find one, despite trying.
E: Does killing a Triffid Heart slowly kill off the surrounding Triffids in the area? Or do I have to torch the surrounding area instead? (Also how far do they wander away on the Overmap in terms of X and Y, from the heart itself? Case I have to burn the place…)
Also, two fun tips for those who are not aware, or who cannot find a locksmith repair kit, or also want something less volume and weight wise, yet still have the same benefits as a pair of binos.
Hairpins and Fancy hairpins (not the copper, silver, gold, etc ones.) can be used as lockpicks. Just make sure to keep a few on hand. They weigh next to nothing, and hardly take any volume at all. Just be aware that they CAN fail, break/be damaged on a fail attempt, and can however, trigger alarms on places that are set with alarms.
The thing that takes less weight (and volume) as a pair of binoculars (yet is not wearable) but also provides the same benefits (outside of starting a fire) is a Survivor Telescope. Not by much, but every little bit of weight and volume saved counts, right?
This one is more of one I thought of as I was finishing up, so make this three tips, but if you are in a hurry, and don’t want to just sit there and pulp corpses (and don’t care to dissect or get anything from them.) you can just use ‘dismember’. Pulping can be a bit troublesome at times in certain situations. Just don’t dismember child zombies, unless you want a morale penalty (atop the penalty for killing them to begin with.) pulp them instead.
I try to do quick butchery on all zeds, to get tainted fat for making biodiesel/lamp oil. I have a psycho NPC follower that I use to butcher humans. (NPC butchery is still seriously bugged). I mostly use messenger bags. 15L / 15kg capacity with 250 moves for taking an item out. But otherwise I drag a shopping cart around whenever possible.
C: I’ve only played one character, so it might not be the same for you if it’s randomized.
In my case it was one of the guards in the “store” in the SE corner of the refugee camp, i.e. the area with a lot of shelves with stuff you can buy. This character had a different dialogue tree from the others. When I did the quest the description seemed to be very misleading, indicating you could perform in non violently, but despite my character getting the spy to confess, it wasn’t possible to report back (the quest giver had no new available dialogue options), so I eventually had to resort to provoking the spy to attack and then respond to the attack (the other guards did not help either party).
It’s potentially possible that the spy could die in the zombie fight another quest line in the center can lead to, although the spy ought to be too far away to be able to get itself killed that way.
D: I go for the largest one that my character can reasonably use (my character turned out to have lower STR than what’s convenient, leaving inconveniently little weight budget left when armored and armed up), and drop it before any fight. I later tended to leave the backpack in the vehicle (together with the foldable shopping trolley vehicle built) until a house had been cleaned out and then return with the trolley and backpack (the latter needed to get stuff out of basements).
I’ve been having good use of the hiking backpack - lots of storage, and a quick holster for my katana.
I also keep a travel pack handy if the hiking backpack gets too damaged. Also I keep two duffel bags in vehicle store in case I need extra hauling.
Between 12-18 in encumbrance (when stuffed with things.) and between 16-22? 16-25? L for volume. Idk the KG values for volume, will edit post asa I figure that out. Just need one that fits that criteria… I’ve been using a Survivor Duff Bag for a while, and that thing is STILL bulky when carrying around, even non-full. I do drop it during combat, but regardless. Right now I have like… (I think 34-38ish is the bag itself. Lotta movement penalty.) 58 or so in encumbrance for torso. Definitely trying to tone that down even if by 10-20 when just moving around. I don’t need to carry much beyond a total of 50-60 volume, and I’m able to carry 77 right now. I use a Survivor Utility Vest, a Sleeveless Survivor coat… (whichever DOESN’T cover the legs.), Survivor Cargo Pants, drop leg pouches, a standard wetsuit (which provides 1 volume. Am working on replacing it with a thermal Head2Toe suit) and I think that’s it… for volume gear. I do have the trait allowing for a % boost to volume limit. But I still need a backpack (mostly for carrying stuff like my usual ‘on hand’ items, and spare room for any ‘Items of Interest’ or Quest stuff I come across.
I do however have a 25 in driving… xD. Probably going to see how good firing an LAW at enemies is while on a motorbike… that I turned into a full on Atomic Powered one. (Let me tell you, finding parts for it, was not easy, especially a minireactor that wasn’t damaged to shit and near empty/leaking like a mofo.). Plan to turn it into an Quad bike or something at some point.
Out of curioisity, how would one get to a place that is underground (near a town) that also happens to not have a way to get underground? It has no sewer entrance, no substation/subway… no mine. Reason I ask is because when doing one of my NPC quests (had to get a weather transcript) I was getting a message (was on a motorbike, different character) that was saying ‘From the X (direction) and BELOW, you hear ‘Hostile Detected’.’ or sometimes even ‘CLANG’ or other various messages regarding some form of robots below ground. I looked all around the town, in basements, etc, and found no way to get underground. The noise/message prompt is coming from literally just outside of town, near the road leading into the edge of the town itself.
Well that would explain why I couldn’t bloody find them. The last place I’d literally expect them to be… and didn’t bother to look, as I knew that that room was nothing but guards, and seeing as I never really ‘bothered’ with refugee centers (mainly due to not making NPC camps), outside of maybe trading, I highly (very much so…) doubted that the Spy would ever be a ‘Guard’ of all things.
I was looking for like a refugee, a merc, a beggar, or something. A guard though? Never crossed my mind to check. Plus I already cleared the zombies out of that blocked room. Praise be for molecular blade + Panzer Kunst? Whatever the one is that Battle Angels start with. (I’m a huge fan of molecular blade. Takes no storage, no encumbrance, and doesn’t need a scabbard or the like.) Mainly use it until I get a chainsaw lajatang, or a diamond Nodachi with Niten. I have had two or three times where I’ve run into the Niten book rather early on. (Which for me, a scumbag loot wench who’ll loot entire dungeons, towns, and buildings, and sweep them for any goodies, is a rare occurrence to ever find, period.) So if I run into Niten books before I craft the Lajatang, I’ll go Nodachi… because I already have the book. Otherwise, it’s the Chainsaw Lajatang. (Preferably the electric one if I can UPS it. IDK if you can, tbh, but that isn’t gonna stop me from trying! Then pair it up with the internal UPS CBM. INFINITE (ish) POWER!!!)
Messenger bag has 12 encumbrance when full.
You could dig down, or construct a downstair.
There’s a lot of noise from underground, in particular above a special lab. Getting into that lab wasn’t easy (I did get a bugged quest to get something from it). For whatever reason I wasn’t allowed to dig a staircase down in the locations I tried, so I ended up digging from a basement in town, but did eventually get in (after digging a staircase in the tunnel dug from the basement). There was a subway entrance lower than normal, but I didn’t bother to follow the tracks (they went a very long way). There is also a manhole in a forest (surrounded by trees and behind one, in my case) which is hard to find even after leaving the lab through it and returning.
That’s not the only place I’ve heard stuff from underground, though.
Regarding the refugee camp guards, there is one you can actually interact with a little, which supposedly results in an improved standing with that faction.
Accounting book for NPC quest - Corporate Accounting Ledger is found in Office Towers.
Items with the ‘burnt’ flag will be destroyed if it gets burnt a 2nd time (or 3rd, i forget). that is the only consequence. There is no way to ‘un-burn’ something.
Okay… that helps… good to know. I did replace it, but didn’t know if there was any particular stat/defense/storage loss on it for being burnt. But that does help tremendously. Have never really had stuff be burnt past the initial tag for it, so I was curious.
Well damn… now I REALLY want to get in there… lol. Don’t think I’ve run into something like it before, outside of maybe what was basically a ‘Fallout Vault’ back in Cooper versions. Past that though, either I’ve never noticed, or never run into one before.
When you meant digging stairs from the tunnel… do you mean that you dug down to Z level -2, (since basements drop you to Z -1) in order to dig a staircase UP into the secret lab?
(Also… how does one do the spoiler tag thing. Still trying to figure that one out.)
I think I know which guard you mean. The one you can ask about rules, tell him you’re new, etc, right?
Also refugee camp matter; For the ‘farm’ they setup. Is there a quest that basically ‘halts’ the ‘building’ the place up? Because currently I have been doing quests for the Carpenter, and have not turned in the Prospectus yet. Would prefer NOT to end up ‘locking’ myself out of upgrading it fully, if there is something that does so, quest wise.
And how does stealing stuff work if NOBODY sees you…? For example, I killed 3 Hell Raiders for a quest and one of them had a fairly decent gun, and taking it counted as stealing as it had a RED ! Next to it. I took it anyways, but, does that count against me if nobody was around to see it? Like if I were to steal from the Refugee Center, but nobody could see me, would I take a standing hit for doing so?