State of Decay

[Archinerd]

FYI I'm playing with slow zombies, weak cars and black fever enabled. Seems pretty good so far. I had tried the updated no specials and it seemed to mess up a mission so I dumped it for now. I love the weak car setting as now plowing over zombies isn't a good option. Even using the door move only works a few times before it rips the door off. It just seems more realistic and doesn't allow you to cheese as much.

I'm using the Classic Romero setting (slow zombies, weak cars, larger number of zombies, flashlight attracts attention, tougher zombies) with the addition of higher free melee weapon durability and free radio calls for scavenger help. I'm playing story mode for now and am not very far along at all, maybe 1.5 hours total? No problems so far though, other than driving my pickup off a bridge in the middle of the night while swerving to avoid a horde.

[Lassr]

I would recommend playing without the mods for now. It's very possible some of these mods will break something in the game and it would be better to learn how to play the game as intended first.

You can switch people once you get to the safe house. You might want to go through the story mode first until you get to the safe house at least as I believe it will explain how the game works more than Breakdown will.

I have played several hours in story mode but I must have missed the part about, or wasn't paying attention, switching players. I tried different things in the TAB menu but never could switch.

Highlight one of the characters in the list, and press Q. You can only switch to characters that you've befriended.

ah, that is probably why I couldn't switch then.

[Lassr]

Your survivor must be REALLY tired if you never swapped him out. When they first start at low level they get tired pretty darn quick. That makes their stamina not fill totally anymore. I think I'm at like 15 hours played and I'm still just scratching the surface. Heck of a deal for what I paid for it.

Yes, he was but I couldn't switch with anyone. A better manual would have been nice. Been reading a lot of strategy online but a lot of it deals with the xbox version so the controls they mention mean nothing to me.

Been trying out how to build stuff like a workbench and finally figured out I had to have certain materials that I do not have yet. Once I get those materials will an option be easily recognizable that I can do something with those materials?

Do I have to have the materials in my backpack or can they be stored in the safe house safe?

[Fretmute]

Do I have to have the materials in my backpack or can they be stored in the safe house safe?

Those materials are "strategic" materials, for lack of a better term. There's a section in the tab menu that shows your current stores of them (food, medicine, materials, gas). All of the strategic materials that you find when out and about get loaded into a rucksack rather than your backpack, which is for tactical supplies, as it were. When you get to the supply locker with the rucksack the strategic materials will be added to the base stores.

[Lassr]

Do I have to have the materials in my backpack or can they be stored in the safe house safe?

Those materials are "strategic" materials, for lack of a better term. There's a section in the tab menu that shows your current stores of them (food, medicine, materials, gas). All of the strategic materials that you find when out and about get loaded into a rucksack rather than your backpack, which is for tactical supplies, as it were. When you get to the supply locker with the rucksack the strategic materials will be added to the base stores.

Ah, ok. So how will I know that I can build something or upgrade? Will the option appear in my journal?

[Fretmute]

Ah, ok. So how will I know that I can build something or upgrade? Will the option appear in my journal?

Not that I'm aware of. There's a base management page in the tab menu. You have to click on each of the areas, and each will have a list of available activities/upgrades at the bottom, along with the associated cost.

[Lassr]

Ah, ok. So how will I know that I can build something or upgrade? Will the option appear in my journal?

Not that I'm aware of. There's a base management page in the tab menu. You have to click on each of the areas, and each will have a list of available activities/upgrades at the bottom, along with the associated cost.

Ok. Thanks. I haven't been in that section much because I hadn't played long enough to do anything.

[Lassr]

Can you control the distance when you are tossing the fuel bombs? I waste a lot because they either land too short or over throw the horde. Don't have enough on me to constantly be moving around trying to "walk" them to the horde like artillery.

[AjD]

Strange behavior, maybe a programming glitch... or something is broken. Here's what happened, while looking for the Doc (still early in the game, I think):

Spoiler:

I trekked Marcus out solo to get Doc from the old farmhouse to help Ed (still injured, back at the church). It was a grueling trek, at night, largely on foot. Lots of close calls and a couple of near disaster encounters, complete with neck bites, the worst near the shack in the old graveyard.

By the time I arrive at the farmhouse, the sun's rising and I'm hurt and exhausted, stamina running low. Once inside the house, the zombie horde attacks (scripted, I assume) and I try to join the fight, but I'm really wiped out and just then my 2x4 snaps. No melee weapons in the house either. So I high-tail it out a window and scuttle down, limping across the backyard and over to the other side of the river to hide in the brush.

I wait it out there, watching two other huge hordes enter the house. Then Job calls out for help - I don't budge, too dangerous - and eventually the game tells me the Farmhouse mission has failed. I circle wide around the house (slowly, taking my time), and finally make my way back inside. Zombies are gone. Upstairs I see what looks like the Doc, alive, kneeling over an injured man (teenager?) in a white t-shirt. No matter how I try, I can't talk to either of them and no cut scene is triggered.

Did I break the game? Is this not supposed to happen? Next, I leave. Half-way back to the church, Lily radios to tell me the Doc is over at the Old Barrett place now and I should rescue him.

I'm wondering if I've caused some sort of loop, and now the whole thing is about to repeat if I head back to the farmhouse.

Great game. Hard too. Makes me wonder, though, with such an open-world game design... if maybe they didn't have the time or resources to playtest all the possible player actions & re-actions.

[Octavious]

If you fail the mission it just replays the mission again until you beat it. I have no interest in this story stuff which is why I was so excited about Breakdown.

[AjD]

If you fail the mission it just replays the mission again until you beat it. I have no interest in this story stuff which is why I was so excited about Breakdown.

Interesting... well, I do enjoy the larger story (such as it is - it's not great). It gives me a sense of the game world progressing towards some real endpoint. Keeps me from getting bored, which I fear might happen with Breakdown. As long as the story's decent enough and doesn't interfere with my attempts to play the game as I see fit, I'm glad it's there.

I do wish they slowed the story progression down a bunch though.... the "non-story" stuff is totally fun (and really creates it's own emergent stories within the gameplay). I'd be fine if the game felt like Breakdown for hours on end... and then they throw in a story mission to mix things up and progress the plot, deepen the characters, etc. Would make the game much longer, but I don't think it would feel padded. Just more fun & real.

Right now, there are conflicting objectives in plain SoD's game mechanic (build your group/homebase vs. follow the story missions.) I think SoD is the first time I've played a game where I felt the always encroaching "STORY!" was actually getting in the way (at times) with what I'm trying to accomplish as a player in the game. Methinks the story should connect better to your survival efforts. In fact, it should encourage those efforts and make them even more meaningful. The designers will definitely need to think about how to better balance this if they want future versions of this franchise to be anything more than just a storyless MMO with a parallel (and often disconnected) story.

But back to my game glitch: my recent problem with the farmhouse still seems like a glitch to me because...

Spoiler:

Doc should have at least said something logical to me, such as "Come back later; I have to attend to this patient." Instead, he just sat there and I couldn't interact at all with him. After that horrendous horde attack, he should either be dead or have a great zed survival story to tell!

Also, curious to see if the whole cut-scene with the gun-toting hillbillies (on the porch) happens again when I arrive back at the Farmhouse for Take 2. That would be immersion breaking - as I've already seen it (and that would be the first time a repeated cut-scene happened to me in this game). Repeating whole story cut-scenes on failed missions feels very early GTA. Not a good thing. This is State of Decay, not State of Groundhog Day.

Anyway. As games become more open and sandbox-y, these games really need to be reactive enough to keep their stories on-track, regardless of what the player does (even the original Deus Ex did this well). And if I hadn't made this clear before, I love this game - warts and all. Love it. Can't wait to see what they come up with next.

[Doomboy]

So, yeah, after getting the expansion and installing the Romero mod, this game went from awesome to frickin' awesome.

I like not having the stupid boss zombies. That makes the game so much better. I'm still on level one of the expansion, just found the RV and am trying to get the stuff needed to fix it up.

There is nothing as cool in gaming for me so far, as seeing twenty zombies shuffling slowly towards me in a field as the sun comes up behind them and birds twitter away. Really reminds me of a Romero zombie movie.

[Lassr]

my Romero mod is not working.

I followed the directions and when I started the game I still had fast zombies and a special. I chose no specials and slow zombies.

I did notice that it said to uninstall you delete libs/class3.1 and a file called scripts. I do not have that file in my game folder.

SO I extracted the breakdown zip into the game folder, then I extracted the slow zombie and other files into the game folder. Is there something else I need to do?

Game folder is Program Files(x86)>Steam>Steamapps>common>stateofdecay>game

I'm thinking the script file missing is the problem butI have tried twice and can't get the file to show up anywhere.

[Lassr]

I'm baffled. I removed the mods and downloaded version 17 today just in case the one I had had problems. I extracted everything like it said and extract the mods I wanted like slow zombies and I start a game. I get near the two zombies that are always there when you start a new game and when I get close they start running toward me. I assume they should not do that if the mod is working.

I have no clue what I am doing wrong.

and there still is no "scripts" folder anywhere.

I first tried using the zip program that came with WIndows, then I downloaded winzip and tried using it. same result.

[Doomboy]

The zombies get a bit quick when you are close. The real test is to see how slowly they move if you are a few feet away. I darted away from them at first, and they slowly shambled towards me. If you are within grabbing distance, I think it is a matter of it being required that they can run at you to grab you, I think that is part of the animation of them grabbing.

The real test is if you eliminated boss zombies and you still see them, then it is obviously not working for some reason. Or you could use the pack that adds tons of zombies, and if you see tons of zombies, then you know it is working.

[Lassr]

The zombies get a bit quick when you are close. The real test is to see how slowly they move if you are a few feet away. I darted away from them at first, and they slowly shambled towards me. If you are within grabbing distance, I think it is a matter of it being required that they can run at you to grab you, I think that is part of the animation of them grabbing.

The real test is if you eliminated boss zombies and you still see them, then it is obviously not working for some reason. Or you could use the pack that adds tons of zombies, and if you see tons of zombies, then you know it is working.

OK thanks. I'll play for a while and see if any specials pop up in this game after I have reinstalled the mods. Just noticed on the first attempt because I had an exploder appear right at the start of the game.

So it may be working now if they do run right when they get withing 15-20 feet of you.

[Lassr]

The mods are working now. Must have been a bad unpacking the first time.

[tgb]

Here's a little utility that allows you to determine how quickly time passes when you aren't playing. Or, better yet, stop time from passing altogether: http://www.zombiestandardtime.com/" target="_blank

[Madmarcus]

I shouldn't even ask but can this be played without a keyboard (mouse only). How well does it run with really weak graphics?

Yes, I'm thinking if it would run on my planned purchase of a new tablet pc. Haswell i5 but its going to be the U variety not the full voltage chip and only the integrated 4400 graphics.

[also copied in the Starbound thread]

[Fretmute]

I shouldn't even ask but can this be played without a keyboard (mouse only). How well does it run with really weak graphics?

Yes, I'm thinking if it would run on my planned purchase of a new tablet pc. Haswell i5 but its going to be the U variety not the full voltage chip and only the integrated 4400 graphics.

[also copied in the Starbound thread]

That would be nigh impossible, since the keyboard is used to move.

[tgb]

I shouldn't even ask but can this be played without a keyboard (mouse only). How well does it run with really weak graphics?

Yes, I'm thinking if it would run on my planned purchase of a new tablet pc. Haswell i5 but its going to be the U variety not the full voltage chip and only the integrated 4400 graphics.

[also copied in the Starbound thread]

That would be nigh impossible, since the keyboard is used to move.

And everything else with the exception of combat.

[AjD]

How well does it run with really weak graphics?

I'm thinking if it would run on my planned purchase of a new tablet pc. Haswell i5 but its going to be the U variety not the full voltage chip and only the integrated 4400 graphics.

SoD's been running fine on my laptop with Core i7 processor and Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics (a generation older than that tablet you're considering). Detail is set to Medium; resolution at 1200x800.

No problems, even when hordes attack. Looks decent enough - obviously, it's not as nice as Ultra graphics on my desktop, but that doesn't seem necessary on a 12.5" laptop screen. I'd say this game is nicely optimized. So far it seems to run great on modest hardware. I was pleasantly surprised.

[Madmarcus]

Thanks guys. It looks like it would work if I get the convertible instead of the pure slate. Clearly not a reason to chose one over the other but a nice data point.

[AjD]

Or you could just get one of those mini-bluetooth keyboard cases (I use one with my tablet; works great).

[Doomboy]

Here's a little utility that allows you to determine how quickly time passes when you aren't playing. Or, better yet, stop time from passing altogether: http://www.zombiestandardtime.com/" target="_blank

I would not recommend doing this, as a lot of things happen in game while you are away. Cars get repaired if you have the facilities, and the other people in your community go out and do things, like bringing in supplies and whatnot. Plus the really long projects actually progress while you are away. I think one of them takes 7 days. That is a long time to wait if you are playing the whole time...

Since they eliminated the characters dying while you weren't playing, and the amount of time that passes diminishes the longer you don't play, it shouldn't be necessary to eliminate the weird time mechanic that they implemented.

[Zarathud]

Ugh. I keep getting distracted by real life stuff while on a good run. When I come back, I have lost the magic touch and inevitably screw the pooch badly. Tonight, I ended up pulling up the menu after alerting a horde...and becoming lunch.

[Paingod]

Alright - the forum made me buy this, and I opted to go full price and support the developer.

It was worth every penny. I'm loving it.

I have a question, though. How on earth do I use special abilities? The game menu doesn't tell me and most of what I see online is for console controllers and this is a PC title for me (I have zero interest in using a controller for this). Example: Marcus, my Powerhouse Leader, has a kick that staggers foes. I think I'm supposed to press RShift+Enter (what would be LShift+E in default) to activate, but it does nothing in combat.

Same for my Double-Kill special dodge. I have no idea how to activate it.

*Edit: I may need to adjust my control scheme. Perhaps make Activate Mouse4 and use that with Shift?

[Doomboy]

I think, if you look in the character sheet, it will tell you what keys to press and what conditions you can use them under. You do have to buy them, which involves holding down the key on the character screen after it says "are you sure?"

I made the mistake of thinking I had them before I bought them. It isn't all that clear.

[Suitably Ironic Moniker]

I would also suggest that you reconsider on getting a controller. I'm a PC guy all of the way, but the Xbox 360 controller is great for this game; I can't imagine trying to drive the vehicles, much less fighting zombies, using the keyboard.

[Paingod]

I think, if you look in the character sheet, it will tell you what keys to press and what conditions you can use them under.

I don't think I saw something like that, but will check again. I know I read and re-read the text and it didn't tell me how to use it, just what it does.

I've been at it for a few nights now and I'm having zero issues with keyboard and mouse, except for these special moves. I've finally figured out how to dodge, but can't do the lethal counter-attack. I've yet to see my character execute a hard kick that staggers a foe despite trying a number of times on single enemies - I just get bitten for farting around. I simply go on the offensive or run, there's very little defense or finesse in my game. The sniper time-slowdown is awesome, though. That I figured out easily enough.

Driving is easy with a keyboard - I haven't 'lost' a car yet and I get around just fine. I even got that first pickup truck over the broken bridge by doing a Dukes of Hazzard on it - but ditched it shortly thereafter (you've really got to get a long running head start and hit the bridge dead-center). I have to admit to having honed a keyboard driving skill with the GTA series. It did take some practice to get it there, but I can get around as well or better than people I've seen using controllers. The secret is in the timing and duration of tapping the directionals, not just holding down a button. I love cruising around in my sports car, and love backing over Hordes in my Modern Pickups.

I'm about to complete the Wilkerson storyline, and have the Savini House. I don't have more than 2 rifles, but a smattering of handguns and a couple shotguns have done the trick. I also have a ton of melee weapons - never having let one break (I stop using them when they turn yellow and swap them out ASAP).

My best civilians are...
Marcus - the beginning guy - with 7 stars in everything he can do, except Wits, which is almost 7.
Maya - with 7 stars in Shooting, 4 in Rifles, and 7 in Melee. She's also a 4-star Wits/Cardio.
I only just recruited an ex-cop that came with an assault rifle and will be a good backup soldier with no flaws.
Backup Leader - No flaws, Leadership skill, 4 in Counseling (Mortician), Powerhouse. A better version of Marcus once fully trained.
Mechanic - Sadly, a drunkard, but he can put doors back on my favorite cars.

... everyone else is utterly disposable and untrained. I have a few people I've been meaning to get rid of (like a Jerk with a Bum Knee who's also a Lush and has absolutely NO redeeming qualities except being a pro at Beer Pong), but it's mildly disturbing to me to have to either walk them out to a horde and lie down as a snack or jump off a radio tower. The two I did get rid of, I had them fight to the last against Hordes and set of a Petrol Bomb to go out in a Blaze of Glory at the very end.

Does a character's stats determine how much they suck while they're out exploring and scavenging without you? I've had a huge string of "Save the Scavenger" missions since moving into the new house and have been really unimpressed by this. As in, I finish one and 5 minutes later I've got another, and then 5 minutes after that I have another... Half of these seemed to originate with one person - he gets trapped over and over.

Apparently they're making a new DLC - Lifeline - and planning a second version as an MMO.

[IceBear]

Oh, I'm sure you can play fine with keyboard and mouse (that's why it was in pre-release for so long on Steam - to make sure the PC port was better). That said, it's still worth getting an X-box controller as my gaming experiences with stuff like this, Batman, AC, and pretty much any console game that came to PC (like the newest Tomb Raider) were just better not having to reconfigure (if it was even possible) the layout and controls to fit my comfort (and even then I often had to do finger gymnastics). Those games were pretty much all designed from the ground up to be using those controllers and therefore it's the most natural. I got one three or four years ago and it's by far one of my best gaming purchases (and I'm a PC gamer first and foremost).

[Paingod]

I did break down and buy one not too long ago, I just don't jump to it when I play a console port as I've found a lot of them work as well or better with a keyboard/mouse. The only ones that don't are the ones that require those "finger gymnastics" - which mostly means side-scrolling action - Deadlight, Mark of the Ninja, Rogue Legacy, etc.

I tend to feel like the analog sticks are sluggish and inaccurate, and so many games call for them.

[IceBear]

I do find "shooter" type games like that. I think some I actually would use the controller for driving and mouse and keyboard for fighting. I didn't find the combat too bad with the controller in this one, but it could be I'm just getting more used to it.

[Paingod]

I can see Batman being better with a controller, mostly because the game does most of the 'aiming' for you and you really just control the action buttons. Anytime a game doesn't aim for me (or if I can turn auto-aim off), I prefer the mouse. I think I get good clean head shots with more regularity than I might with an analog stick - it feels more rewarding to do it myself than to have the computer aim for me.

My only real 'issue' with combat in State of Decay is the lack of pinpoint aiming. A zombie's head needs to fill the reticle in order to get that head shot. If it doesn't, you're just wasting ammo. I've burned an entire 15-round clip as a test to see if I could hit a zombie at range - it flinched with each 'hit' to the head, but never popped and never ran at me. The melee is fine, and my control of the camera angle does control where I swing, if not what I hit.

*Edit: In addition to Sepiche's list of tips on page 2, I have a couple to add.

• Personal Opinion: The Modern Pickup Truck may be the single best vehicle in the game. The Police Car, while fast and wonderful as a distraction item, has very twitchy handling (in reverse) and is easy to wreck. The sports car is the choice for going from A to B quickly, but is incredibly flimsy. The best all-around is the 4-door pickup. It holds up to 6 survivors and can take a beating - but more importantly, it handles well in reverse. Driving backwards over zombies does minimal (if any) real damage to vehicles. This truck handles very well in reverse, meaning it's easy to stay on target and mash a pile of zombies quickly. I keep 3 or more of these around my base and cycle them in/out for repairs as needed to keep them tip-top. I use them for vanquishing hordes and clearing infestations - all in reverse.
• If you click the Radio Room in your base, you can call for different surveys - Survivors and Resources. It costs Influence, but can spawn a pair of random survivors looking to join your group or any resource. It takes 20 minutes to look for survivors and 10 minutes to look for resources and the cost in influence is fairly low. Using this, you could probably last forever, even if your town was cleared out. This isn't helpful for "absent" survival, where the game ticks by when you're offline, but it does allow you to build stockpiles without having to expend existing resources.
• If you find a building with two kinds of resources, the one that's alphabetically "first" is the one selected as the Outpost resource - unless the other "outnumbers" that. You can control what's there as well by removing the 'undesirable' resource. If you need Medicine and find Food/Food/Medicine - you can scavenge the food crates and the building, having just Medicine left, becomes a Medicine Outpost opportunity.

I think, when this first vanilla play through is done, I'll try out that Romero Mod and move into Breakdown. I find most of the boss zombies annoying for different reasons. The Juggernaut isn't hard, just time consuming and hard on allies. The Bloater isn't a threat at all to me - unless I don't see it in a horde and tap it with my car, and then I have to evacuate it ASAP to air it out safely - typically with a pile of zombies coming my way. The Feral would fit in well in Doom3 or Farcry, but isn't a zombie as far as I'm concerned.

So, turn off those three and try out the game. A lot of folks seem to like the slow-only zombies, so I may try that out too. The SWAT and Armored zombies don't bother me a bit; they fit well.

[Unagi]

OK, so I am brand new here to SoD. I'm currently running the main story, with the Romero mod installed... (slow zombies, weaker vehicles, more zombies, flashlight attracts, and also Loud Firearms)

A couple noob questions for anyone that has any info...

OK, so I am getting that no area is ever really 'cleared'. Zombies can and regularly re-spawn in an area... Expcept you can sorta 'clear' an area.... you base is cleared, and when I run a mission - I can seemingly 'clear a cabin' or a tent or something... For those lesser structures, they seem to become open again, after a while - is that what I'm seeing? That being said - is the main base really 'secure'? I guess I'm asking for someone to describe that part of SoD to me... the spawning rules.

I'm early in the Story, where I've pretty much first arrived at the first 'church' base (after the Ranger station). I come running in from a quick scavenger mission, at night with a few zombies in tow... Marcus is up on the wall shooting his gun Freely at night and I'm starting to think, WAIT, - wait - you are going to get every single zombie over here!!! stop!!! So, like - does the AI consider the fact that these gunshots are making noise? Not sure I should really add that part of Romero to my game, but I liked the idea of it. Anyone here have any experience with the Loud Firearms part of the mod, and how the NPCs act with it, and how that effects the game?

I'm very tempted to ditch the Story and just go to Breakout... hmmm. Any real reason not to? I feel like I'd like the openness of Breakout that I hear it described as, but I fear that I'd be missing some 'hand holding' that the Story will provide and help me play better...

[Doomboy]

The story mode is okay, but I never cared about it much. It isn't an especially great story. It just tells the tale of some folks trapped in a valley at the start of the zombie apocalypse.

The one thing to remember about zombies in SOD is that they spawn as you make noise. They also populate an area as you move into it, but it is really the threat when you make noise. Even if you have cleared the area out, and all the noise you make is a rattling as you fast search a cabinet, zombies will spawn if the game says you made noise.

That is really it as far as spawns go. They won't spawn in areas that you have fortified. So make sure you set up some of those around your base. There is one base that has a barn on it that zombies spawn into whenever you enter the area. It is a little annoying to have to waste an outpost spot on that, but that location is not very secure anyway.

[Paingod]

I only recently "got" how Zombies spawned myself. For the longest time I thought I was attracting them, but a gunshot in Breakdown caused about 5 to suddenly appear on an otherwise clear horizon and begin shuffling towards me. I had thought noise caused them to spawn, but had no proof until then. I did, however, always assume the zombies alerted by scavenging were right there to begin with.

Re: Spawning around bases: Your Outposts act as anti-Horde measures and will 'secure' roads for you that they overlap. You can build a safety net of Outposts around your home base that will crush almost any Horde attempt, and even use a "Lay Mines" ability that costs 1 Fuel to expand the area they protect for a day or so. The Warehouse is an excellent place to set up camp in part because you can create a layer 2 or 3 deep of outposts that completely removes the threats Hordes pose.

I played through the storyline once in vanilla and it gave me a good feeling for what the game could do. I'm currently playing Breakdown and find myself mulling which mods I want to use more than actually playing the game. I'd recommend the main story at least as a way to play a sort of extended tutorial. You can plow through it quick if you want, or dawdle - but you won't 'waste' your time as you'll learn how to play most angles. The story teaches base moves, outposts, relations between camps, and a few other things... stuff you can probably get just by asking.

Something to bear in mind is survivor attitude. I never got this through my Story playthrough, but your survivor moods apparently don't improve naturally and you need to switch over to them and actually accomplish a bunch of tasks with them in order to improve their moods. When someone dies or something goes wrong (like a fight at home) moods are worsened. I killed off a lot of useless NPC's and never made up for it... By the time I finished, half my team had run away from home at some point and the other half were simply miserable except for the two guys I used constantly.

I don't know what the limitations are (range, algorithm) but there's a limit to how many cars you can have within a certain distance of your home. I had the Warehouse (4 parking spaces) and was trying to accumulate cars there and every time I brought home a 9th car, I'd get a "Community Joyride" message and a random car would be moved 6 blocks away. I was confused initially, until I found a row of abandoned vehicles just outside my last row of Outposts.

I'm currently using the Romero Mod for slower zombies, no Specials, and Fulci Vision. I find the slower zombies less challenging, and should add More Zombies to balance it. I want to get the SWAT and Army zombies back since they fit the Slow zombies theme, but they go away with the others when I turn on the No Specials. I don't think the vehicles need to be weakened; they burn up pretty quick if you use them going forward over zombies and weaker ones would be a handicap I wouldn't enjoy much.

I find myself also trying to start with the "right" Breakdown NPC - Random, since the Heroes are all pretty bland except The Taskmaster. Last night I started with a Cook/Mechanic with no flaws, but started over to adjust mods. I don't know if I needed to, but I had destroyed a Modern Pickup within 5 minutes by accidentally bailing out of it and it bumped a rock and flipped while it continued rolling. I try and avoid such wasteful activity.

As a side note - F*** the Hatchbacks. I've been trying to use them more and they're just rollover machines. I've never had such vehicular issues as I do with those.

I have to admit to a glitch too, while playing the storyline - I went back to the original camp and arrive just before night. I was poking around and a massive Horde spawned within eyesight - just dozens of zombies appeared out of thin air in a couple different places. I fled to the Ranger Cabin, but they surrounded it. My only option was to bust down a door, push through a handful of them, and run for my life. Possibly one of the best, most tense moments in the game.

[Unagi]

Thanks for the info!

So, if sound is spawning them - and I turned on the 'loud firearms' - which I assume turns that into a fiarly large 'spawning event'... well - that just seems like it would never end... (just an hole to through ammo into) and the zombies will continue to spawn forever, as Marcus sits up there and takes pop-shot after pop-shot at random zeds.

I think I should maybe turn that one off... but I loved the idea of it. ..

[Paingod]

There may be some kind of timer on it - in my experience they don't just perpetually respawn. I've used guns to clear infestations before and after the initial 'wave' of extra spawns/aggro I didn't have to keep fighting continual spawns. A rifle shot might draw another 5-7 zombies to your location by default, though. Nothing to sneer at when you've got a bunch of them coming out of a building at you.

I don't know what that mod does, but if it makes the shots louder, it may just draw more to you initially from a larger radius.

[Suitably Ironic Moniker]

I always start with Marcus in Breakdown; he's the man!