Tips, Tricks, and Newb Questions!

[Termy]

Wheee, I wouldn’t be complaining about either of those. How old does my experimental need to be for those? Mine’s from 6th Jan.

I’d say you definitely want the most recent experimental. As Coolthulu said, the issue with turrets has been fixed. My survivor is currently sitting in a house, watching a horde bearing down on two turrets. I even have fresh popcorn to munch on while I watch. So far the turrets are leaving a mess, but the zombies just keep on coming.

It appears that giant wasps aren’t fighting back against zombies, however. Is this a function of their sting attack or another oversight? Other than that, thanks Coolthulu, I have been waiting for proper monster infighting since before DDA.

[system]

I am translating the help menu, and somewhere along the lines there’s written that the power has been out since the cataclysm, but I noticed that my food last longer if I place it inside the fridge of any house.

Does refrigerators still work? And if yes, does the glass-door fridges inside grocery stores etc. as well?

[Coolthulhu]

It appears that giant wasps aren’t fighting back against zombies, however. Is this a function of their sting attack or another oversight? Other than that, thanks Coolthulu, I have been waiting for proper monster infighting since before DDA.

This is a result of them not understanding anger triggers that don’t include the player.
Wasps should get mad when the player or a NPC is near. Since zombies aren’t players or NPCs, they don’t trigger wasp anger.

Fixing it is a bit harder than it sounds because it’s OK to just scan the area once more for player and NPCs, but not for monsters (too many of them = would get slow).
I have an idea on how to do it. While I’m at it, I could even add a special trigger for monsters to get more aggressive in groups.

[AllisonW]

[quote=“Vareruma, post:6182, topic:42”]I am translating the help menu, and somewhere along the lines there’s written that the power has been out since the cataclysm, but I noticed that my food last longer if I place it inside the fridge of any house.

Does refrigerators still work? And if yes, does the glass-door fridges inside grocery stores etc. as well?[/quote]

I don’t think so, given the power is out. You can, however, install minifridges in vehicles or even a home generator system, and those definitely work. I believe foods last five times as long in a minifridge as they do at the “baseline” of 65F. (Temperature, even outside of fridges, absolutely affects how long perishables last; this is why you can find fresh perishables in a lab even a year or two after game start, and why you need to preserve–or refrigerate!–food right away in summertime, but in wintertime you can just build a locker outside and use that as a fridge.)

[Zireael]

How do I add curtains to an existing (not built by me) window? I have everything on hand but can’t select a direction, it tells me can’t build there…

[AvatarJTC]

Can you use foot pedals to charge a battery with an alternator? If so, how practical is it? Which alternator would be the best to use in this situation? Would the battery still charge if the vehicle is too heavy to move using pedals? Could it consistently power headlights, for example?

[AllisonW]

Can you use foot pedals to charge a battery with an alternator? If so, how practical is it? Which alternator would be the best to use in this situation? Would the battery still charge if the vehicle is too heavy to move using pedals? Could it consistently power headlights, for example?

In the stable version, I don’t believe so.

In the experimentals, yes, but I don’t have much experience with hooking different types of alternators up to it. I have, however, been successful at using foot pedals together with a motorbike alternator and motorbike battery to keep headlights and floodlights powered, so knock yourself out. I’m disinclined to think that foot pedals will charge the alternator if the vehicle isn’t moving–I don’t think that they actually have an “idle” function like gas engines do–but I could be wrong. Even if they do, you’re not going to produce a lot of power this way. My own experience has foot crank + alternator being able to cover lights or maybe a stereo system and that’s it.

My only misgiving with regards to putting an alternator, battery, and lights on a bike is that you can end up adding a fair bit of weight this way, and foot pedals can really only handle so much, depending upon your Strength. Use the lightest alternator and battery you can–typically a motorbike alternator and motorbike battery; I don’t know if a small storage battery will be enough, but if it is, it’ll save you quite a bit of weight over a motorbike battery–you might even be able to install more than one small storage battery if it helps. If you have trouble hauling loot in a muscle-powered bike with alternator/battery/lights setup, make sure you’re using the lightest parts you can; if you can’t fix the problem by substituting lighter parts, you may need to switch to using a battery-powered flashlight (or night-amp goggles, which are better if you want to use the bike for night raids in zed country) for night biking.

[KA101]

Pretty confident that when I tested foot-pedal generation, you could just be “driving” at 0 MPH and generate power. (Prevented reading books, though.)

[AllisonW]

Pretty confident that when I tested foot-pedal generation, you could just be “driving” at 0 MPH and generate power. (Prevented reading books, though.)

Oh, it does? That’s good to know, then! I’ll let all my friends know, since some have asked about this exact thing.

[Flashlight_Hoarder]

I have some advice for newbies, Hoard all of the Flashlights, Good for Electronics skill Leveling.

[KA101]

I have some advice for newbies, Hoard all of the Flashlights, Good for Electronics skill Leveling.

Pretty confident that we got rid of flashlight-meditation a while ago. ???

[Flashlight_Hoarder]

I still believe! Starts Crying Seriously though they make decent throwing weapons and efficient battery storage, Don’t underestimate flashlights.

[dovla]

Is it possible to craft a folding shopping cart? I know I can make a folding frame and a folding basket but I don’t know if the casters are foldable.

[Sundaysmile]

Is it possible to craft a folding shopping cart? I know I can make a folding frame and a folding basket but I don’t know if the casters are foldable.

At the very least you could try welding the basket to a Dog.

[AllisonW]

efficient battery storage

no they don’t

Some other ideas for efficient battery storage: a tazer (volume 1 and holds 500 batteries, or 1000 with an extra battery mod), or a soldering iron or UPS with an extra battery mod (the former, modded, will give a 50% volume discount and the latter, modded, will give a 60% volume discount).

I’m glad I countered this; while looking up data, I learned that tazers might be one of the best battery-storage items in the game. Mod them for a 90% discount on battery volume? Yes please; I’ll throw a couple in the basket of my bike for long trips.

PS: This is completely foolish, but I’m curious. Is it safe to change the name of your character’s profession on their character sheet in the save file post-creation? Obviously you’d have to know the tag for the profession whose name you want to take on, but I can find that out. I might go back to using RBD starts if I can do this to not have my character sheet forever after refer to me as a Shower Victim.

[Sanarr]

Hello everyone.
I’ve returned to Cata recently, started a new char, and after a week in-game I ve started to receive messages like “your body pains you” “your muscles feel knotted” or something like that. Is this some kind of disease? No information on efects screen.

[AllisonW]

[quote=“Sanarr, post:6196, topic:42”]Hello everyone.
I’ve returned to Cata recently, started a new char, and after a week in-game I ve started to receive messages like “your body pains you” “your muscles feel knotted” or something like that. Is this some kind of disease? No information on efects screen.[/quote]

Did you drink unclean water or eat uncooked meat? Try taking an antiparasitic drug and see if it clears up. (If you don’t have an antiparasitic drug or any pharmacies you can raid, some Survival and chemistry books have the recipe for them; if you don’t have the ingredients/chemistry set required, some Survival books also have the recipe for bark tea. You can get the tanbark for it by examining blackjack oaks–if you’re not using a tileset, their tile is a brown 7.)

[Coolthulhu]

PS: This is completely foolish, but I’m curious. Is it safe to change the name of your character’s profession on their character sheet in the save file post-creation? Obviously you’d have to know the tag for the profession whose name you want to take on, but I can find that out. I might go back to using RBD starts if I can do this to not have my character sheet forever after refer to me as a Shower Victim.

Make a backup and try. If it doesn’t scream at you on load and then on attempted save and another load, it should be all OK.

[Jakers]

[quote=“Sanarr, post:6196, topic:42”]Hello everyone.
I’ve returned to Cata recently, started a new char, and after a week in-game I ve started to receive messages like “your body pains you” “your muscles feel knotted” or something like that. Is this some kind of disease? No information on efects screen.[/quote]

Could be tetanus if it isn’t a parasite. Did you cut yourself on any windows or metal wreckage?

[Rivet]

[quote=“Sanarr, post:6196, topic:42”]Hello everyone.
I’ve returned to Cata recently, started a new char, and after a week in-game I ve started to receive messages like “your body pains you” “your muscles feel knotted” or something like that. Is this some kind of disease? No information on efects screen.[/quote]

‘Your muscles feel like they’re knotted and tired.’ means you have contracted a case of Trichinella spiralis infestation.

Eat some sort of antiparasitic drug. Might take more than one dose. It will give you a message when it manages to kills the parasites.