Tips, Tricks and Newb Questions: Reborn!

Game Talk The Bunker
2770

Is there a way OTHER than going to a hospital to ‘identify’ a blood sample? The only nearest hospital is literally 122 OVERMAP tiles away. Not to mention I have to take an insanely convoluted path to get there due to forests, roads not finished (being map genned) or rivers… being in the way. The closest (by about half as far.) things I have that I think would have the ability to, is a Regional Research Facility and a Lab (science.)

I’d PREFER not to have to take a several day long drive (minimum just to get there), and dodge mass hordes of zombies in towns for a whopping 122 overmap chunks. And then have to drive BACK. Like… if there is another place/building/etc that I can go to analyze it, that’d be great.

2771

re: “Spoilers”
You can click on the cogwheel and choose “blur spoiler” when you reply to a message, or alternatively:
[.spoiler]text here[/spoiler.] (without the “.”)

re: “Lab”

They are huge, huge underground facilities, more often than not a 1-level-only but spreading several tiles. And by several I mean they can be as big as a city. They aren’t easy to reach by digging into because they’re not in level -1, and I believe -2 isn’t a thing either for them. The “best” way I found to try and get into them, other than following underground traintracks is to try and narrow down the “sound” radius. It’s tedious work, though. You will either find a strange building in forests or just a manhole cover which can be easy to miss if you don’t know what you are looking for exactly (knowing it’s a manhole cover doesn’t really help seeing there are other things you need to keep an eye out for). MY advice is: if you do find one and plan on returning later, marking it with a (N)ote on your map with concrete directions is a good idea, but leaving some “in-world” pointers (a pile of trash, a car facing a particular direction, marker notes on the floor, “started vehicles” (as frames only) forming a trail are a few of the things I used to do.
I won’t mention what’s inside those labs in terms of mobs and items, I will only say that they are substantially more dangerous than any other building you may have seen so far, aside a couple exceptions. Make sure you are well equipped.

re:Stealing
If there’s no NPC nearby to see you pick up those items, they belong to you (same applies to the vehicles near the refugee center for example, once you start driving them, if no one sees you starting the engine, the vehicle becomes yours). If you steal an item in the refugee center but no one can actually see you (ie line of sight) no one will notice or give you trouble (at least as far as I know).

re: Blood Sample

Some Doctor’s Offices, some other hospitals near you and even some Labs have working Centrifuges with working computers next to them for the same effect. The game points you to that specific place, but you can do it anywhere else provided the terminal works.

re: Bags
Personally, I always keep a messenger bag with my tools (Until I have Integrated Tool Set CBM) and a few essential bits. Otherwise, I always drag around a “Cargo Carrier” mounted to a Light-Frame and Casters containing 2 Military Rucksacks (In case I am going to look a building with multiple stories). If my character is particularly strong and I have a good supply of ammo, I just carry a Golf Bag with him and a Combat Knife or a PR-24 Baton alongside my gun - golf bag is quick to drop and the Combat Knife is a really handy weapon, as is the PR-24 Baton: bash damage, low action cost, great attributes, Rapid Strike, High Blocking Ability iirc.

2772

Spoilers: Yes, it was my first usage of it. Since I’ve seen others use them I assumed they’d be somewhere among the icons above and looked around until I found it (the details have been covered by AcidAntOnAMinefield).

Labs

There are three kinds of labs (as far as I know): Lab, Science Lab, and the special science lab a quest directs you to. The (newer) Lab is a place with mostly junk and full of danger. The science lab has some rather neat stuff and much less danger in general since the density of enemies isn’t silly, but some can be really bad (and some things require special handling to deal with, to keep it obscure). There are also special “finales” that can have very special stuff, so they’re generally worth the while to go through once you’re able to deal with the dangers. The special science lab is a science lab with a hard coded layout (I think), at least for the top level, and it’s very large.

The Labs tend to have a building on the surface labelled Lab which you can enter via a card reader (if it isn’t broken), and they often have a subway entrance as well (I think some can only be reached via subway entrances through a science subway network or digging). The Science Labs I’ve visited are similarly labelled at the surface and have a card reader entrance, although I’ve found science subway stations with nothing on the surface, or, in one cases, a different kind of facility on top of it (that I keep away from, so I haven’t visited that lab).
The special science lab (I think it’s called the Central science lab) had a science subway entrance and the manhole.

To get into the special science lab I dug horizontally for 5-10 or so tiles and then a stair down at a place where I had heard location pinpointed sound, so it should be Z-2, if I remember correctly.

Blood sample:


The hospitals seem to be useless for purpose of the quest, as the 2-3 I’ve visited have had all their equipment smashed up during the time it took to clear them, with the second one at least having a centrifuge terminal so I could see what it was supposed to look like, while the centrifuge and autodocs were smashed in all of them. The place isn’t completely useless otherwise, though, as there are some useful medical related stuff there, and you can also find books there.
The only place I’ve found a working centrifuge with a terminal was in a science lab, but I probably had to visit 5-10 of them to finally find the only one I’ve seen.

2773

Another possibility is that it connects via the Science Lab Transit System…

2774

The one I’ve seen did connect into A science lab transit system (deeper than the standard ones). However, one of the destinations was under a building I decided not to want to be near after finding out what’s inside, and the other track went off far away to destinations unknown (i.e. I didn’t want to spend the time following that track, at least not yet).

2775

I’ve known what is in Science labs, as I’ve done a few before, but I could not recall if they had centrifuges. (Especially some of the more NASTY mobs to deal with, amongst other dangers that are quite painful to combat.). Never ran across a manhole cover or the like to get into them, though. I tend to either go through the wall, hack the terminal, or use a card if I am lucky enough to get one.

For centrifuges, knowing that they can be in doc offices is… extremely helpful. Thanks for that juicy bit of info. I tend to avoid those most of the time, as many of the towns I have seen with them, have them fairly deep in the town itself, which means battling tons of zombies just to get to one. Currently, I have a town that has like 4-5 of those, along with some animal clinics and the like that are near the outskirts of the town, yet there is unfortunately a crashed heli there, with a LOT of Bio Operators in the town… which is nothing short of ‘tedious’ to deal with. The death nades are annoying to deal with when in places with tight spaces, since it becomes difficult to dodge the explosion when also dealing with other dangers.

As for stealing? That’s a huge relief. Was worried that I would take an automatic hit to standing just by doing so, whether I was seen or not. Massive breath of fresh air. Just have to remember that I do have auto loot on for things like SD cards, ID cards (cuz Mili and Science ID cards.) along with cash cards (cuz… why not. Never hurts to have $. And I learned that you can also have DEBT when you interact with an ATM. That was nice to know, lol.). and of course, the useful hairpins (I turn that one off once I either get fingerpick, or a locksmith kit. Having hairpins is so very useful early game. Free lockpick that CAN BE REPAIRED. Also takes like no weight or volume.). I cleared a place out not that long ago for a quest, and there was a fairly nice impromptu ‘basic’ deathmobile, that I wanted, but didn’t grab since it was counted as stealing. But if nobody sees me take it, well, all the better.

On a side note, I ran into not ONE, But TWO Acid Ant Hills only three tiles apart. Just two measly ‘field’ tiles between them, and surrounded with 7 or so minefields. (Map gen, never change. You terrify, yet also manage to please me in such obscure ways that I cannot fathom to understand the SLIGHTEST logic that would be behind your reasoning.). So… very much found what your username is based upon. ….Tbh, I might just leave that place be. I want to nuke it, but at the same time… I don’t. I just want to build a chair and some turrets, grab some popcorn, and watch the carnage ensue.

2776

……Wait… what? Why have I never run into one of these things…? They sound neat… but probably less so when actually encountered. Still, the curious Kitten part of me wants to come across one. ….Curiosity… why do you always get the better of me? ….Wait,. nevermind. Dumb question. Looks at first half of own username.

2777

There is one thing I believe no one mentioned (or if someone did, I may have skipped it by accident):

Labs != Science Labs.
Again, Spoiler.

“Science Labs” are the “old format” Labs that we so much love iwth the finale room, with the Prisoner Containments, Libraries and Barracks.
“Labs” are the “new style” of Labs - which are designed in a similar fashion to the Central Lab designs.
You can tell them apart from the outside by just seeing how the building is laid out. There is also a way to tell them apart in your Overworld Map too, which I mentioned here but I won’t highlight it just in case it isn’t obvious to anyone reading this :wink:
“Science Labs” do have the centrifuges, the “other” Labs I am not sure, as I often avoid them due to how ridiculously easy it is to get trapped inside them due to (what I consider to be) bad choice for entrance/exit of the buildings. But seeing how neat they often are, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some working centrifuges in some specific rooms.
Alternatively? Research Facilities. Not 100% sure about them but seeing everything there works, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a small chance of a working centrifuge being there.

Acid Ants sure are fun to have as companions :smiley:

2778

Centrifuges:


There is no shortage of centrifuges in Science Labs, which have whole rooms full of them, but without any means to control them. Ones next to working terminals, however, are rare.
I haven’t seen any in Labs, but it might just be that I haven’t explored enough of them.

2779

Sooo… I just had a companion I was reading to, as I had gathered the other 2 that were not currently working on stuff for camp expansion, disappear. They still show on the map as there, but I even checked the building that has two beds in it, and they were not there. I have screenshots to provide, need be… but… still, one moment I was reading to them, the next they’ve disappeared. Checked the entire map tile it says they are on (which is the very same one where the camp survey is, which I was reading right next to the table, with an atomic lamp on, as my books are next to it (so I can then quickly send them to do stuff afterwards.)

Literally just… disappeared. Idk how to recover them or the like, as they aren’t currently working at the camp… (as they were not following me no matter how many times I asked when they were assigned to the camp. Had to dismiss them entirely, then re-recruit them.)

……Wtf do I do…? She has really good stats… :confused: Not to mention came decked out in full on army gear and a damn m249 to boot. Really want to get her back, lol. Had good stats, good gear, good skill spread… and now she ‘is but isn’t’ there. She WAS following me as well. Sure I have a zombie soldier (as a slave. Can’t attack anybody.) but I HIGHLY doubt that it’d have killed her. (Along with no corpse or loot, chances are very unlikely that she died.)

As for centrifuges… do they HAVE to have a working terminal…? :confused: I mean, if they do, that makes Labs basically… useless for me then. (122+ overmap tile hike, here I come…. even though I’d rather not…)

2780

Check the camp board to see if they’re somehow on a mission (and I give books to my companions and then order them to read those, rather than having the PC read to them)?

Working centrifuge with a working terminal, yes. You need the terminal to interact with the setup, and you need a working centrifuge beside it for the terminal to allow you to do anything useful.

Expect to find a smashed up hospital, unless you can somehow wade in and just kill the horde members as you go (I’ve thinned them out with a vehicle outside first, and then mostly retreated to the vehicle, luring the ones remaining inside after me). I’d definitely search for more science labs instead of going for the hospitals (it’s actually what I did)…

2781

What happened to me in the two instances I did that quest is that some “unspawned” labs (from new “map regions” that haven’t been generated before the quest) will spawn with a section that has a working Centrifuge.

Which is always that specific section of the lab that has a room with either a Shocker, a Crawler or a Crawling Zombie in it.

There was, at one point, something weird.

There are a few quests that require you to use a computer for “things™”. Occasionally, after accepting said quests, random computers would either spawn outside the Refugee Centre, or alternative, computers that were otherwise “unusable” became usable for that quest for whatever reason. The Arcade was one of those instances. But this was in early January when I last did a Refugee Centre oriented run.

2782

Me again with the quetions about NPCs and base building. I managed the zone stuff and sending NPCs for quests but now I have a new question:
How do I get my NPC to plow a field and plant seeds? I got plenty of seeds in the basecamp storage zone as well as an entrenching tool for digging. I assigned my NPC the farming priority but he won’t do anything.

2783

with zones: have some seed in your inventory. Then make a farm zone, it will ask you which seed to use. Then ask an NPC to plant, but put those seeds in their inventory first.

2784

I did everything until there because I thought basecamp storage would be kinda like a shared inventory. GOOD to know, thanks :slight_smile:

2785

The code is a bit so-so, sometimes it checks local player/NPC inventory, sometimes it checks all tiles in PICKUP_RADIUS and sometimes it also adds in the basecamp storages.

If it doesen’t work, just keep adding debug prints to activity code until you figure it out.

2786

How does one get Alien Resin pods…? :o Cuz… I kind of want to make a base of of them, considering how small of an amount you need per upgrade. (Let alone the cost difference overall.)

On a similar note, how does one REMOVE a built building at a camp, such as a northeast shack (along with the beds and the like.) in order to replace it with Resin Pods? Or can I just… spend Resin Pods to ‘replace’ it once I have the Central Tile Square built? Kind of don’t want the wood look anymore.

(But I do want to have freaking Resin Pods… but no clue how to obtain them.)

2787

You get resin pods from Mi-Go towers. If I remember correctly, you get them when you deconstruct some things in the towers. You don’t get many of them from a tower, and dealing with the towers is really messy (although someone said the inside temperature was less lethal during the winter).

Also note that vehicles supposedly can’t move over resin floors, and shopping trolleys are vehicles…

I think you remove floor/roofs by smashing the floor, and once that’s done you smash the walls, but I’ve never done that myself.
As far as I can tell from the base building logic, it doesn’t “notice”/“know” if you remove something that’s been constructed through the board logic, so in principle you should be able to smash it all up and then rebuild in using regular (non board) orders. Note, however, that I’ve never tried it, so there may well be one or more snags there.

I assume you know that you can use different materials for different sections without any issues (assuming you don’t consider eye sore to be one).

I made my base completely out of metal, stripping almost all of it from vehicles (setting the companions to work in vehicle deconstruction zones while my PC fetched more vehicles).

2788

Can you build garage doors with the controls? How are these constructions called? Are these the palisade gates?

With the summer heat and upcoming winter, I had been thinking about abandoning my current base and making a large basement in a field somewhere, with ramps and 6-8 wide gate.

2789

Yeah…… only problem is that… you know… OCD exists, and much like when I played Minecraft (I know… I know…) I was VERY much a ‘I need even number blocks for double doors to be in the center. And odd if I wanted a singular door. If I wanted to use Door | Door, I’d need odd, but at that point, just use pistons to make a 3x3.’ I was… VERY OCD when it came to design, room size, etc. even my storage was literally sorted not just by the item type itself (and usually had signs indicating it, along with multiple chests for them), but would rename MY items (and label things.) I could not stand houses being multiple block types. (The exceptions being for maybe roofing, siding, or certain block types such as smooth chiseled, smooth, etc, sandstone, stone brick, or similar things of that nature.). Now, I don’t mean it ALL has to be the same, but when it’s like… 5 or so different block types (say for example, stone, sandstone, quartz, brick, and dirt.) that I tend to be like ‘I… must… remove this eyesore.’

As for building it piece by piece, I do not know if I can even BUILD a Resin Pod wall, door, etc. Let alone if it is even possible. Would be nice if I could though. Or if there is… somehow a book somewhere that would allow one to learn how, albeit with rather… ‘high’ int and other skill requirements, since it is not an EASY feat to even deal with the towers in the first place. So they SHOULD be hard to learn. Least, to me they should be.

…Seeing as you are rather knowledgeable, (and I cannot remember whether or not this is the case.) but does killing/destroying the Triffid Heart kill (over time. As I know it doesn’t kill them outright, far as I can recall.) the Triffids in the surrounding area of the Heart? Would rather not go and have to burn 70+ forest tiles and wait forever for them to burn end to end, waiting nearby due to reality bubble. But if that DOES have to be the case, I’ll do so.