PC 300th level attempt, No Guns, No Deaths, no Cheats.

Have you ever played without Guns?

  • Yes, the difficulty of the game increases when you don't have guns.

    Votes: 11 37.9%

  • Nope, I need Guns to keep the Hordes at bay.

    Votes: 18 62.1%
  • Total voters
    29
WarMongerian

WarMongerian

Active member
So, I recently completed my first level 300 character, he died once, at level 277, so I failed to get to max level without any deaths.

So I made this current game, which is just past first Horde Night.  (I did Horde Night before I thought about making this thread), so no pics/videos of the event were taken.  That being said, I want to try my hand at once again getting all the way to 300th level, without any deaths.  Some goals I want to set, and see if I can achieve this game...

1)  Dead is Dead.  If my little digital dude bites the farm, I quit and restart.

2)  No Guns.  I won't be using any types of firearms.  I also won't use any kind of traps, explosives, or other weapons, except for:

3)  Gathering Tools are ok to use as weapons.

4)  Bows and Crossbows are fair game.  I prefer to craft my own, over getting them as loot, and will never buy them.

5)  Knives & Machetes are fair game.  I can craft them, might find/use them, but cannot buy them.

Settings I use:

All of the setting are set to the easiest levels, as I find the Walking Dead hard enough.  Dead is dead, so death ends the game, so that is not an issues.  I love my loot, and fast leveling keeps my interest, plus I love being able to build big bases.

Settings I cannot use:

Creative mode.  Nuff said about that.

Enemy Spawn must always be on, so I don't start running around with them turned off do to screamers.

No Cheats/Mods/Exploits but these:  I edited the world spawnpoints file, and got rid of all but two start locations.

I will use quests and quit/rejoin playstyle, so I can clear any given quest PoI as often as I want, but at the cost of no quest progression while doing so.

I just discovered "Force Fields" last game, and will be using them in this game as well.

So, hopefully the first time is going to be the charm, but if the worst happens, I'll post each new game as they happen.

Wish me luck, and I hope I entertain along the way...

 
Ok, so a funny thing happened, My friend, who had been very determined to keep playing his guy/game, even though he had reached level 300 some time ago, went and restarted, and finally let me join him in his game yesterday, so My game is going to be drastically slowed down , at least as far as playing the game, but I'll have more time to post things about the game.  I'm still  playing both my game and his game, but he plays daily, and has upped the ante by moving from survivalist to adventurer difficulty settings.  He doesn't play dead is dead, but wants more of a challenge.  

Here is a short video of my games setup, to get the ball rolling...




 
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I need to figure out how to publish my short videos and hide them with (I think) spoiler commands?

Anyway, here is a quick look at the current Games character, and where they are currently at progression wise.


 

 
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WarMongerian said:
No Cheats/Mods/Exploits but these: 

I just discovered "Force Fields" last game, and will be using them in this game as well...
Click to expand...
I think that is a really silly thing to say right after No cheats or exploits except the one thing that is the biggest cheese in base design

Good luck on your mission, but force field blocks completely ruin the entire challenge for me.

 
warmer said:
I think that is a really silly thing to say right after No cheats or exploits except the one thing that is the biggest cheese in base design

Good luck on your mission, but force field blocks completely ruin the entire challenge for me.
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That has not been my experience with them so far, but what did you do with them, that they completely ruined things for you?  My initial experiments did indeed break my hoard nights, but that has been identified as making them to big, and now the smaller ones work well.

I did just decide to test out a maxed out screamer outbreak, and those numbers of zombies kinda sorta followed the 'rules' f force fields, but they also broke them, as well.  Likely, more testing is needed, and the ignoring of the FF by some of the zombies is because my computer cannot handle such numbers.  Time will tell.

 
Saying cheats and mods are basically the same renders this poll useless tbh.

And you are not not having "I play perma death but not with the in game setting because coming back to a well developed base on the same map is more like cheating than any mod could ever be" as an option for the perma death poll. 

And tbh the only challenge to get to 300 like that is having the time to do so in a game that has no end game content. If you are able to build a base that is good against demos it´s a walk in the park from there. It´s basically just killing time from that point on.

 
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WarMongerian said:
Likely, more testing is needed, and the ignoring of the FF by some of the zombies is because my computer cannot handle such numbers. 
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Yeh, when there's a lot of zeds, the AI doesn't get enough time to update all of them "often enough"; some will stand still for ages, like they're entirely ignored, some will keep running in a direction for a good while - dunno if some actually vanish into the horizon, never seen it, but, I wouldn't :) The ones that "keep running" will just run across a force field like it isn't there (because it isn't, it's just an AI issue in the first place).

 
Couldn't do the poll, because I agree with pApA^LeGBa.

Cheat is to gain advantage. Rarely would someone cheat themselves
out of an accomplishment.

I mod to give a disadvantage and to balance and use mechanics that are not enabled
or have been disabled. The one that i would call an advantage for me is being able to

throw the stone spear. Because it is/was a default part of the game, and is fun and viable

for my play style. Nomadic

Basic adjustments

My modifications are: Using fog and particle storms for lower visibility.

Adjusted and or added to the spawns
<biome name="Do for each Biome including water biomes">
        <spawn id="dz01" maxcount="5" respawndelay="0.0835" time="Day" entitygroup="ZombiesAll" />
        <spawn id="aa01" maxcount="1" respawndelay="1.5" time="Day" entitygroup="WildGameForest" />
        <property name="TotalAlive" value="12" />
</biome>
For a constant but non fps tanking presence and mortal threat.

Grass in the forest scaled to Eye level for lower visibility, snakes one dependent on sound tracking.
Reduction of feathers and meat,  levels of instant attack vultures, Smaller biome segmants I can build
a base in the forest but it is close enough to get harassed by higher spawns. Building on a border is
not advised to try to up the stages. Snake too slow edited class snake so it reads as ckass snake but
uses the controller and body of the dog.  Twice the fun. Player spawn is in atypical locations, example:

church steeple 1.5 km and all biomes from the trader gotta find safest path, top of a sky scraper that

often wakes the zombies on spawn. An apartment in apartment building. Trees toppling attract attention.
Why I do this instead

I changed to Nomad Player level, because i always referred to my self as that, I do play both simultaneously DeaD is DeaD and
respawn  in two separate identical maps. To take notes and adjust for continuity. If I get close to 100, I

know I need to up the anti but still keep the game feeling Like a Nomad in a movie. I don't and this is a totally personal
Feeling, I don't think that I should be able to survive to 300. If I can then something is missing, and I
readjust. I am trying to find a balance between impossible and possible if I play smartly, and not depending
on high level blocks or High tier weapons. But at most I have an odd duck approach, it's a holdover from the earlier
feeling of dread I got from earlier alphas. I actually use to get shivers playing the game, recreating that
feeling is my challenge. For me it's like classical music, I want to crescendo to build, not just be in my
face Metal. Chaotic disorder, but with a flow, in the game is fun for me. More than leveling to a high number.
If I have 6000 plus pois on a 10k 3d elevation map with altitude vs temperature to match, then I want to visit
as many of the pois as possible, before I get ganked. It's more a I keep what I kill, no LCB, only build
armaments from what I find, then continue the sweep and clear of the pois to survive.
My Nomadic rules so far

Nomadic for me: Means building only from what RNG gives me, No work benches unless they are found, no weapons armor
or tools unless it is found, using a campfire a found pot and grill and if really lucky a beaker, a bow, spears,
a torch and plenty of rocks for decoys. Taking over a POI, but Not using the same poi more than once per horde,
Prepping for the horde from 7pm to 10m on day of horde if it's static, like every seven days. Else and I like
this much better Disable all the queues for when horde will start, including varying the time and not having
the blood red sky all biomes and bloodmoon share the same spectrum now. Then your only queue is suddenly the spawn

is gone, and thunder cracks. That creates dreadful moments because it's a scramble to get to safety . But still allows me to play

a basic playthrough.

As time goes on I take notes and continue to add changes to make it more Basic survival, this way It places me in a good spot

to enjoy all of the aspects of the game and still get dread moments.

 
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Personal opinion on the last question: Gun based game is harder than melee & bows based game.
It is forcing you to grind for ammo and sacrefice inventory slots for enough ammo, no crafting on the go. That goes for arrows too but these are easy to craft on the go with mats everywhere.

 
Dead Smarty said:
Personal opinion on the last question: Gun based game is harder than melee & bows based game.
It is forcing you to grind for ammo and sacrifice inventory slots for enough ammo, no crafting on the go. That goes for arrows too but these are easy to craft on the go with mats everywhere.
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I have a friend that I have played with since I got the game, and some other folks that started playing right after I started playing, back in Feb, 2024.  Without ego, I can say I'm better at the game than all of them, despite my recently worsening eyesight.  But I like to try to help people get better, and to not struggle playing this great game.  The friend that inspired me to play all the way through to level 300, despite that being very boring and unrewarding, is the same friend that introduced me to the Force Fields, the $$$ exploit, and many other things he got from youTube videos, some of which were good, and some of which were bad.  When going over some training videos I did with one friend, and successfully being able to teach him how to improve his play, so that, finally, he may be able to play without cheat mode turned on, I then took the time to look at my other friend, and I was shocked at how badly he was playing.  My friend that tries to play (mostly) legit, dies (over and over again), until he has guns, while the guy that mostly plays in cheat mode, was bad, but is now improving, and thanks me for doing the videos with him, and wants to do more.

Long story short, guns make the game way to easy, and even someone who dies often early on, can make it to level 300.  The same guy will not play without guns or dead-is-dead (while the cheater guy will), but instead was willing to up the number of zombies as a way to make the game 'more of a challenge'.

Even if my eyesight wasn't an issue, my fingers don't work like they used to before the first stroke, so guns will not be possible for me.  The (mostly) legit player and I are now playing head to head, in his private game.  He set all the settings, has died multiple times, and despite my not joining his game until day 3, when we broke this morning, we were on day 7, and I had not only caught up to his characters level, but surpassed him, despite me not using a gun at all.  Guns are a crutch, and allow weaker players to make it to level 300.  If folks decided to take the time to really challenge themselves, the best way I have so far figured out, is to play without guns, because watching and seeing how much worse the legit guy is than the cheater guy, was a real eye opener.

So, to answer your question/observation, all that you say is true, but it also make a player that is sloppy and not paying attention to why he gets beat up/wounded/killed, become addicted to the use of guns, rather than to learn when to:

"You have to learn when to walk away, and learn when to run..."

My (mostly) legit friend would be happier, if he could play better, but that would mean that he first must realize that what I'm doing, is better than what he is doing.  I'm not in better health, nor younger, than he is (I'm actually a tiny bit older), so it isn't that he couldn't end up better than me, but he first needs to make that light bulb moment, and want to learn how to play better.

 
pApA^LeGBa said:
Saying cheats and mods are basically the same renders this poll useless tbh.
Click to expand...
That is surely a matter of opinion.  Your and mine opinions are not the same.  My intent, is not to claim mods = cheats, but to make it clear, my game doesn't need any third party add on, it can be done straight out of the box so to speak, and anyone who has the box (the current version of this great game being the notional box in this case), can read this thread, see the progress I am making, and say to themselves, "I can do this", and maybe inspired to try it.

 
WarMongerian said:
That is surely a matter of opinion.  Your and mine opinions are not the same.  My intent, is not to claim mods = cheats, but to make it clear, my game doesn't need any third party add on, it can be done straight out of the box so to speak, and anyone who has the box (the current version of this great game being the notional box in this case), can read this thread, see the progress I am making, and say to themselves, "I can do this", and maybe inspired to try it.
Click to expand...


That´s not a matter of opinion. There is mods that make the game harder. Your whole challenge would be a LOT harder playing the Darkness Falls overhaul mod for example. Not sure if doable tbh. 

 
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pApA^LeGBa said:
That´s not a matter of opinion. There is mods that make the game harder. Your whole challenge would be a LOT harder playing the Darkness Falls overhaul mod for example. Not sure if doable tbh. 
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My reply was to your statement that the poll was useless, and that is an opinion. 

Your point about mods potentially making the game harder, rather than easier, is acknowledged and true, but again, I'm not saying all mods make things easier, just that I am not using any for this particular thread/game, so if I do make it all the way to level 300, and provide a good story along the way, using the rules laid out already, other folks will not have to have any mods to recreate their own game/threads.

I plan to offer up the world I made, if I can figure out how to share it with any interested folks.  I already shared it with one guy, but I needed help to figure that out, and my damaged brain doesn't want to let me remember how I did that at the moment.

With this thread, I hope to tell the story of my little digital dude, running around trying not to turn, and showcase my base designs, agonize over choices, bragg over his many feats of daring do, as well as share fond moments along the way.  In short, I want to try my hand at writing a story to go along with the gameplay, but not having much experience with storytelling, I hope to at least get folks interested.  

Whether or not I succeed in that endeavor or not, remains to be seen...

 
WarMongerian said:
That has not been my experience with them so far, but what did you do with them, that they completely ruined things for you?  My initial experiments did indeed break my hoard nights, but that has been identified as making them to big, and now the smaller ones work well.

I did just decide to test out a maxed out screamer outbreak, and those numbers of zombies kinda sorta followed the 'rules' f force fields, but they also broke them, as well.  Likely, more testing is needed, and the ignoring of the FF by some of the zombies is because my computer cannot handle such numbers.  Time will tell.
Click to expand...
force field blocks that restricts movement pathing is an exploit which is the same as a cheat in my opinion. You are taking the game as designed and using a very specific exploit to guide them or restrict them that is not intended to do so. How is this not considered cheating? You can easily take 95% of your base and making it inaccessible. How is that NOT cheating?

This alone cuts the legs right off of horde night difficulty.

This is the essence of WHY you can't earn achievements using cheats in most games.

 
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warmer said:
force field blocks that restricts movement pathing is an exploit which is the same as a cheat in my opinion. You are taking the game as designed and using a very specific exploit to guide them or restrict them that is not intended to do so. How is this not considered cheating? You can easily take 95% of your base and making it inaccessible. How is that NOT cheating?

This alone cuts the legs right off of horde night difficulty.

This is the essence of WHY you can't earn achievements using cheats in most games.
Click to expand...
I have to say, you seem quite passionate and persistent on this minor issue.  I can just as easily build walls, even of "Invisible" blocks, and achieve exactly the same effect as what my FF are doing in my current game, so where is there a problem?

 I don't know all that much about the FF, this is only the second game I have experimented with them, but limiting the zombies to 4 entry points into the inner base, surely that cannot b seen as an exploit/cheat, right?

I can keep the zombies just as restricted by building walls, putting zombie blocking/player accessible ladders on those walls, and do exactly what I am describing/showing in my videos. 

On a side note, are the videos showing up for everybody?

What achievements are you talking about?

 
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Generating poll questions is a science.  I understand the poll choices were just for entertainment value; but biased passive aggressive poll choices ensure survey responses are less than useful and damage the posters credibility.  Underlying assumptions kill the poll (e.g. Have you stopped beating your spouse/kids yet?) 

At the end of the day we play how we want to play. Intentionally or unintentionally throwing shade on anyone who does not play the way players "think" other players should play, is generally a non starter for community engagement.

Although it may be a good challenge for your friends, reaching Level 300, on easy mode, with melee only, and using the chosen exploits would not really be a challenge for most players its just a matter of a time investment. 

Good luck and have fun growing your audience.

 
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