PC A17 Pointless base building

The hordes aren't infinite. There is a set limit to each stage. They only seem infinite if you are not able to kill them fast enough. At the highest gamestage, the max number of zeds that will spawn over the course of the horde is 300 for each stage. There are three stages. In earlier gamestage, the first stage is one in-game hour, the second stage is one in-game hours, and the third stage carries for the rest of the horde night. In the highest gamestage it's 3 hours per stage.

 
lol you just need to get better at base designs @OP. I have zero issues defending bases during horde night. The fact is I used to log out during horde night A16, now I love them because its so easy to level up during horde night while defending the base.

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Guys, the problem isn't in zombies block damage. Even if it is unnatural. The problem is in the bloodmoon hordes spawns infinitely, that doesn't looks realistic at all. Interesting thing is in it's doesn't matter what level of difficulty u had chosen. At moment you got 200+ level, you will be attacked by infinite hordes of radiated zombies, that will be everywhere. A more interesting thing is that u can run all the night with the shotgun and can have a base with 10-50++ turrets - you will have same result, but with turrets u will spend arround of 1200 ammo per turret (it's really doesn't matters how many turrets you have - as fast you kill zeds, faster they will spawn) will give you the same result as if you will run to the jungle with about 700 shells in your shotgun, but also, you will have EXP from dyings zeds.So +1 for base is being useless at late game. The buildings / builders are being useless.

I can hope adjusting horde cap (i mean maximum amount of zombies spawned per player level for BM night / total cap) settings can save the game, but really i am waiting for some random behaviour - I am waiting for a really nightmare horde, that will knock destroy all i have and just a bunch of trash, that will run and die on my very basic traps.

At my opinion, BM hordes spawning needs serious rebalance. It's not challenging at all right now - it's just a infinite radiated horde with alternative to run all the night on your bike, then by morning, kill them all with just 100-200 bullets instead of 1k per turret on your base.

p.s. Sorry for my broken english, i hope you got what i mean by reading all this mess :(
This is simply just not true.

 
Greetings

I have been playing off and on since game launch and seen the game come a long way and had soooo much fun! There has been things added that I have liked and also disliked. Recently though I have lamented the trend to weaker defences (walls) as I can no longer build nice looking bases with the variety of the blocks that have been supplied that are both functional and a nice place to live. Now it's more of building being dictated by the current zombie mechanics.

The one thing in all this time Funpimps added that I have truly hated with a vengeance is the laser guided zombie land torpedos. In so many ways this has dampened my enjoyment of 7 Days. Primarily it has killed my enjoyment of mining for materials and using tunnels to pop up and fight on horde nights (I was never an underground dweller/base builder). :crushed:

 
I know this thread is old but I have found in A17 that the main key to surviving bloodmoon is keep them in sight and have boatloads of ammo, especially frag rockets and AK 7.62, also molitov's help.

I have a massive base still in progress that I can make a video of to show you how to keep an eye on them with catwalks and perches.

 
I know this thread is old but I have found in A17 that the main key to surviving bloodmoon is keep them in sight and have boatloads of ammo, especially frag rockets and AK 7.62, also molitov's help.
I have a massive base still in progress that I can make a video of to show you how to keep an eye on them with catwalks and perches.
I keep my horde bases small and dense. Loaded with spikes and blade traps. Easier to keep track of zombies if they are slowed. I’m still interested in your base tho.

 
I know this thread is old but I have found in A17 that the main key to surviving bloodmoon is keep them in sight and have boatloads of ammo, especially frag rockets and AK 7.62, also molitov's help.
I have a massive base still in progress that I can make a video of to show you how to keep an eye on them with catwalks and perches.
For me the key to survival in A17 is to understand how the AI works.

Equipped with this knowledge you can make your base more efficient. I don't mean exploits like an endless loop. Already when setting up the spikes it is important to understand how the AI works.

If you simply place the spikes on the ground, the first zombie wave will clear a path through the spikes and the other zombies will follow this path. 90% of the spikes will remain unused. if you dig a trench 1 block deep and 3-4 blocks wide around the base and place the spikes in that trench, the zombies will always try to run over the spikes because they see them as normal blocks. You can also do this with a deeper trench but the zombies must also be able to get out of the trench so they don't start tunneling under your base.

 
I keep my horde bases small and dense. Loaded with spikes and blade traps. Easier to keep track of zombies if they are slowed. I’m still interested in your base tho.
OK I will make a video and upload it to youtube today, it will give me a chance to use my HDML Cloner Pro gadget.

If you simply place the spikes on the ground, the first zombie wave will clear a path through the spikes and the other zombies will follow this path. 90% of the spikes will remain unused. if you dig a trench 1 block deep and 3-4 blocks wide around the base and place the spikes in that trench, the zombies will always try to run over the spikes because they see them as normal blocks. You can also do this with a deeper trench but the zombies must also be able to get out of the trench so they don't start tunneling under your base.
I used to use a trench in my first play-through in A16 but the idea like you said is that they will dig under your base. So I have a platform of concrete level with the rest of the ground in the area.

 
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I place 2 rows of spikes 2 high around my base at ground level and then place a wood wall border around them. Then I place a 1 block wood border around that. The zombies jump up over the outer wall and then try to run across the spikes just as if the spikes were in a trench but....I didn't have to dig a trench.

b


b


b x x w

b x x w w

 
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I always build a home base at the top of a tall building and a horde base nearby. The horde base is just a 4x4 base tower about 6 blocks high surrounded by spikes with an iron bar catwalk to shoot from. I add a "roof" of plates on poles to help reduce the vulture attacks. I start with cobblestone and scavenge some concrete early in week 1 to reinforce it a bit. By day 14 or 21 it's usually solid reinforced concrete surrounded by iron spikes.

This way I don't have to worry about a horde getting in and wrecking my home base. Even if I die during horde night, I have time to grab some backup gear and get back out there before they trash my home base.

 
Meh, I just turn down the zombies strength when I start a new game. The problem with zombies being superman is that they tend to destroy valuable loot containers when you enter a house with sleepers. Between that and higher levels chewing through concrete like it was nothing, making the zombies only do 25%-50 damage to walls, etc. makes it much more realistic in my point of view. A zombie should be no stronger than a human, and I don't know of a single human alive that can destroy a thick concrete block without tools.

I was also finding that blade traps got destroyed easily in Alpha 16. Not sure if that is still the case in Alpha 17 or not since I haven't used them: never got all that far in Alpha 17 because I was unhappy with the way my character builds were turning out. They really need a reset skill points button. They can limit abuse of it by giving you an opportunity to change your skill points the day after a blood moon horde and then close that opportunity once Day 8 (or whatever your blood moon horde amount is set to) ends.

I just now started playing again since I found the nitrogen random world generator. The (current, it's changing for alpha 18) built-in RWG is crap currently and has wasteland everywhere and far too many biome changes. With nitrogen you can customize your RWG map however you want, and best of all, it works very well with 7 Days to Die. You just place the Generated World in the GeneratedWorlds folder, create a new game, choose the new world, and play.

It's a bit of a struggle for the developers though. I'm sure they still have a ton of old code in the game that needs updating. For example, the current server/networking code definitely needs work since it places too much trust in the client. However they have stated they aren't going to do much with that in 7DTD. I'd also like to see more zombies, but with the way the current networking code is structured, it becomes a lag fest if you have too many zombies. This is another area that would be improved.

That being said, overall, the game is fun, however, I do wonder when things are going to draw to a close. Madmole has stated in the past that eventually the game will reach it's end and after that no further updates would be done. When that happens is another question entirely. It will be a sad day to see it end. I have more hours in this game than any other game I own. The next closest would be CS:GO, but it doesn't hold a candle. I would even be willing to pay in some way for continued development. IMO they should start thinking about funding future development (after 1.0) with 'Evolution Packs' or something that include everything from Gameplay changes to code optimization. If not that, maybe consider releasing a sequel.

 
I always build a home base at the top of a tall building and a horde base nearby. The horde base is just a 4x4 base tower about 6 blocks high surrounded by spikes with an iron bar catwalk to shoot from. I add a "roof" of plates on poles to help reduce the vulture attacks. I start with cobblestone and scavenge some concrete early in week 1 to reinforce it a bit. By day 14 or 21 it's usually solid reinforced concrete surrounded by iron spikes.
This way I don't have to worry about a horde getting in and wrecking my home base. Even if I die during horde night, I have time to grab some backup gear and get back out there before they trash my home base.
I build a stilt base. 2x2 3x3 and 2x2 stilts alternating. Then I put spikes at ground level, so zombies run across them get injured or killed. Any one, or even more than one of the stilts can be taken out and there is a good chance the base will not collapse. However upgrading the stilts all the way has always been priority. In alpha 16, Once they got too powerful for stilts, I would build a separate 'horde night' base to keep them off the main base. This type of base typically has walls as a support structure, but holes for the zombies to get into. It's lined to the teeth with spike and has SOME of our ammo stash there, enough to get through horde night. Day 8 is usually 'repair/rebuild the base' day. If they start destroying that, we just make more walls, or make them thicker, before the next horde night. The top usually has iron bars as well as places to hide from spitters.

We've also just taken the horde head on, but that only works early game. Once you start getting all the crazy special zombies, you have no chance to survive, especially if you allow for higher zombie counts.

 
I Disagree, im sorry! i think the game has never been so exciting as right now, in my mind i think that the zombies do in-fact much more damage to blocks , but thats cool right?? makes you think more in order to survive.i dont wanna be inside the base drinking cofee near the fire wile my traps waste the horde on the bloodmoon! thats just boring. i hope it gets even more dificult! Right now i always plays in the hardest settings: B.Moon every night , Insane/Nightmare day & Night , 30 minutes per day.Perm-Death. Trying to built a base its ridiculous but a great challenge also. I think Great builts will come out of this. Cheers

 
Well my base just took a beating from day 84 but its still standing and I will make a video of the base when the sun comes out (in game). The towers will house 4 turrets on all 4 sides when I get that far and I will only use them on bloodmoon.

Here is my A16 base:

If base building is pointless then I have no point.

Is it that bad?

Starting out is the problem with the Bloodmoon, you have a limited amount of time to build a little fort around you but if you just keep it simple and add a few concrete blocks and some bars with a top area able to shoot without them right on you should be OK. I made the mistake of thinking Bloodmoon would be the same as A16 and the second one I was just on a roof of a house and they almost slaughtered me. The third bloodmoon the zombies smashed through a steel reinforced block which was a shock but like I said guns and ammo especially frag rockets and exploding crossbow bolts as well as molitovs this will also make the game more based on your FPS skills, which I have had since Doom so I do alright in that aspect. The zombies barely make it through my outer catwalk and close the row of spike around my main base, this is where putting points into your perception and gun skill will help. Also as someone mentioned the AI is good to know as well and a simple exploit would be to add pillars of flagstone al lest 2 high placed at random outside your base because they seem to get irritated with these things in their way and start to smash them and at this point they do no damage to anything you are trying to defend while you take them out with the AK or Rifle. The baddest of them seem to be the cops and bikers, these guys need a frag grenade shot at them before they get close the rest are easy prey with the AK or Rifle.

Has anyone just try to run them down with the 4X4 as this crossed my mind at one point?

 
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I realise it's kind of a cheat but there is a spot in A17 that you can safely build or hangout on a bloodmoon. The zombies dont seem to be able to route to you if you go to the top of the water tower at a water works. Unless thats the point and there are now little safe spots about??

7DaysToDie_M4TmSvPium.jpg

 
I realise it's kind of a cheat but there is a spot in A17 that you can safely build or hangout on a bloodmoon. The zombies dont seem to be able to route to you if you go to the top of the water tower at a water works. Unless thats the point and there are now little safe spots about??
View attachment 29029
When zombies can't path to the player, they usually go into the area destruction mode.

They attack the weakest blocks first and destroy the environment bit by bit. I don't know from what type of blocks the tower is made of, but if it has more HP than the blocks around it, the zombies might attack it last.

 
When zombies can't path to the player, they usually go into the area destruction mode.
They attack the weakest blocks first and destroy the environment bit by bit. I don't know from what type of blocks the tower is made of, but if it has more HP than the blocks around it, the zombies might attack it last.
I moved my things one night to a navezgane survivor site after I cleared it and all of a sudden within a couple of hours a herd came by and destroyed the building I thought was safe and I lost a lot of items, so this does happen. I tested the strength of another one and all 8 or so supports were fairly solid but it just happened anyway like it was scripted or something so I stick with building my on base. Although it would have been temporary it was a joke to just have a train of say 8 zombies just ramble through and destroy it within seconds.

 
Although it would have been temporary it was a joke to just have a train of say 8 zombies just ramble through and destroy it within seconds.
From what I've heard, it's going to be a lot better in A18. The zombies are supposed to cause less damage and they are supposed to spread further than is the case in A17.

Personally, I have avoided the problem by using the zombie pathfinding against them. I lead the zombies into a corridor with dart traps and blade traps. That's enough to kill 99% of the zombies before they reach me at the end of the corridor. For the rest I have my SMG.

For A18, the demolition zombie is a challenge for base building. I have some ideas how to fight him but I have to test it first.

 
I moved my things one night to a navezgane survivor site after I cleared it and all of a sudden within a couple of hours a herd came by and destroyed the building I thought was safe and I lost a lot of items, so this does happen. I tested the strength of another one and all 8 or so supports were fairly solid but it just happened anyway like it was scripted or something so I stick with building my on base. Although it would have been temporary it was a joke to just have a train of say 8 zombies just ramble through and destroy it within seconds.
Some POIs have relatively weak SI (structural integrity aka rules that glue together blocks on the same height). The danger is that when a small part of a building collapses even blocks with still good SI might collapse too (or am I imagining that?).

Using a POI has its risks and if you depend on it you should probably put up some support-blocks yourself. If in doubt, a lot of support blocks are often safer than very few strong ones. Rule Nr. 1 (if you don't know it already): Only blocks that have a horizontal connection to bedrock without any gap provide support. Many players probably lost a base at least once because they dug out caverns under it.

 
From what I've heard, it's going to be a lot better in A18. The zombies are supposed to cause less damage and they are supposed to spread further than is the case in A17.
Personally, I have avoided the problem by using the zombie pathfinding against them. I lead the zombies into a corridor with dart traps and blade traps. That's enough to kill 99% of the zombies before they reach me at the end of the corridor. For the rest I have my SMG.

For A18, the demolition zombie is a challenge for base building. I have some ideas how to fight him but I have to test it first.
I was hoping for bandits and the behemoth for A17 and I was disappointing when we did not get them. I have heard of the demotion zombie and I think as long as your base is solid and not on piers if you build up you should be OK with steel reinforced concrete. The base in my video as you can see in the middle of the base there is a 8x8x8 solid concrete center, I put that in later thinking about the strength of the zombies in A17. In A18 if I choose the same design I would possibly make the bottom a solid 18x18 this would be much better than just 2 block walls or using columns to support the top section of my base.

What is lacking from the zombie attack is ranged attacks the only ranged combat on the zombie side is the cop has his green puke and this make the whole base defending a bit too easy sometime and Its a bit overkill how I build my bases. I intend to put another wall outside around the base, well 2 walls 2 high with a channel in between filled with mines or something.

Like:

X_X

X_X

Its overkill but it will keep me from doing so many repairs.

 
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I was hoping for bandits and the behemoth for A17 and I was disappointing when we did not get them. I have heard of the demotion zombie and I think as long as your base is solid and not on piers if you build up you should be OK with steel reinforced concrete.
This is where our opinions diverge.

The Behemoth was described as a 3m large zombie that destroyes walls with one blow. That would have been complete overkill. How could you kill a monster like that before it completely destroyed the base?

The demolisher zombie has also been described as being able to do massive damage with his hands. I'm not a fan of this.

What I couldn't get answered so far is how to kill him without him exploding. Everybody always says that you have to shoot him to make him explode. I don't want him to explode. I also don't want to have to shoot him but my traps should be able to kill him like any other zombie.

I'm a friend of building efficient bases that would ideally even allow me to go AFK. My challenge lies in the planning and construction of such bases. I don't see shooting at zombies as a challenge.

 
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