Towns feel less worthwhile past the early game?

[int_ua]

Looks like realistic to me. But respawning seems to work (didn’t read the code) only before town is completely cleared. After clearing a town approximately 10x10 nearby my base in one playthrough I don’t remember seeing any respawns for many weeks with wander spawns enabled.

[Mantar]

Yeah, wander spawns is not supposed to generate new zombies out of thin air, they have to be picked up off the map and moved from somewhere else. I’m not sure what’s happening that people are having hordes pop up behind them.

[Wondabarappa]

Isn’t that how the old dynamic/static spawn system worked with zombies being made out of nothing?

[Vastin]

Yeah, static re-spawns are totally fine in concept. The issue is more one of frequency and density.

I can clear a series of intersections in a city center of all (un)life, go to work on a vehicle nearby for a day or two and re-scout the same area and find multiple packs of 20-50 zombies re-inhabiting the same area already. It’s kind of obnoxious.

It’d be fine if it was just a handful of new zeds popping up, or if I was coming back a week or two later to find major spawns - but no, give it a couple days and there will often be full heavy spawns with high level crap in it like hulks, incandescents, and predators, so having to re-clear every couple days is a major PITA.

They don’t appear to be wandering hordes, as they don’t get horde markers on the map, and they don’t move much other than to chase stuff around.

Wandering hordes sweeping through I’m totally fine with, as you can see them approaching on the overmap and either decide to confront them or skirt around and let them pass by - because they are a mobile phenomena that you can see at distance, they’re much more dynamic and interesting to interact with.

[Wojtek94]

I don’t know much about zombies’ spawn in terms of cities but I’m sure that tiny hordes sometimes aren’t ‘marked’ on the map and they’re really wander around. I live in my log cabin and sometimes I have to deal with unwanted visitors (2-3 zombies). In most cases, I go to my hidden improvised shelter that is located in the thick forest and wait there 2-3 days. After that, those 2-3 zombies are gone. I know that it is strange to run away from 2-3 zombies but I don’t want to die due to an infection

[Mantar]

Yeah, back in the old days, you’d make a noise and a gang of zombies would be beamed in behind you from an endless supply aboard the orbiting starship Zombie Enterprise.

[Creeperus]

How do you create anvil or crucible in wilderness if you dont have hacksaw?

[Invalid_Username]

Crucibles can be made from clay, and an anvil can be carved from a medium or large boulder.

[Creeperus]

Thanks, anvil carving is in pickaxe menu?( i dont see in craft or buildings)

[Invalid_Username]

Huh. It was a construction project. Just checked for it now and it’s gone. Must have been removed since my last wilderness start. That’s lame. I liked having an anvil that actually took up floor space and wasn’t just another tool to throw in a locker.

[Vastin]

Yeah. I have to re-iterate that towns are really unpleasantly not worth it past the point where you have survivor gear and a basic vehicle. They’re pretty much devoid of any worthwhile loot, and become packed with fast re-spawning high level zombies before the first 90 days are out.

I’d be safer at the bottom of any lab or military base.

[monny]

For me the only real issue is the frequency isn’t quite right. There are also a couple of buildings which, while they technically add “variety”, don’t serve enough of a purpose.

• Houses and apartments are essentially very similar, and together they feel far too frequent.
• Skate parks don’t really add anything. Other types of parks feel far too frequent for me.
• Is a diner distinct enough from a fast food shop or restaurant to bother having?
• Does a thrift store really add anything?

[Gunpowder17]

I personally can’t make myself stop raiding towns. Like even if I know it’s worthless, I just feel bad about leaving the noodles and macaroni to rot.

[jokermatt]

I like the new districts. Towns definitely feel better than previously, but new shops do cut down on some useful spawns.
I don’t know the mapgen code, but it’d be interesting to tinker with some numbers. Are overmap specials grouped in any way other than the standard multiple variants for individual entities? (grocery stores, etc)
Basements can now lead to labs, which is a huge step. I’ve considered more difficult rare spawning house variants (like the survivors or boobytrapped gunsmith’s) with challenge to justify the loot.

[tilia]

Is a diner distinct enough from a fast food shop or restaurant to bother having?

You should probably stop looking at them as distinct places with unique purposes and just consider them as something generic like an “eating hole”. At that point, they’re just variations on the same location, no different to how there is variation in residential houses but they are still all “houses” the same.

[monny]

You’re right, I guess my only real issue is that the weight for various buildings doesn’t feel quite right.

[crazykiddeath]

If anything there aren’t enough houses (not that I’m complaining), I don’t live in America so maybe it’s different over there but here the number of shops/services are greatly out numbered by houses even in big towns and cities. It might not seem that way if you only visit the city centers but the surrounding area will usually be packed with residental areas that cover a much larger area.

[monny]

In terms of realism, sure. But in terms of fun and varied gameplay I feel there are too many houses/apartments.

[TheMurderUnicorn]

Apples and oranges. Can’t compare Cataclysm’s mapgen to the real world. Simple as that.

I also have been encountering a crap ton of houses lately. And yeah, it’s less fun to loot a house than a shop or larger building. But it is what it is.

Would I prefer cities that are randomly generated from various, partially pregenerated ‘blocks’ rather than a tile by tile randomness? Yes. Is it going to happen? Seems real unlikely.

[crazykiddeath]

Rather then make houses less common I’d rather they spice up the potential loot you can find in houses, just going by my own house as an example I’ve got a few replica weapons and an absolute boat load of books. My neighbour is the very definition of a hoarder and my parents have a shed literally full of tools (you actually can’t step inside and need to partly empty it to get at stuff at the back) and cupboards stuffed full of tinned, jarrred and dried foods.

Edit: Last I counted I personally owned over 200 books, that was some years back, the number has only grown since then.