Rule of Cool: Vehicle Expansions

[Cheese Tyrant]

I love this game, and I would love to offer my thoughts on how some aspects of it could hopefully be advanced and expanded upon   with an intention to improve enjoyability, replay-ability, and to create other meaningful  options and decision for players to engage with.

Vehicles are awesome, but they are somewhat limited at this time, and lack some variance of purpose. All of them improve transportation, and carry more items as their “tier” improves, but I think we can make vehicles somewhat more specialized.

I propose that after tier 3 vehicles become available to craft (which at this time is just the motorcycle), from there on each tier can have at least two different types of vehicles that serve different purposes.

For example:

Instead of only unlocking the ability to craft motorcycles at tier 3, you gain the ability to craft motorcycles AND four wheelers.

Each vehicle will be more proficient at its role, and those roles could be divided between a combat/offensive role, or a support/utility role. 

The motorcycle can be faster than the four wheeler, and perhaps have a damaging ram capability to give it an offensive edge. This can allow it to be the scout vehicle, or quick exploration option of the two vehicles available at tier 3. Giving it a mod or built in capability to ram zombies could also make it the more offensive option between the two.

The four wheeler can be the support/utility option at this tier. It could/should be faster than the minbike, but slower than the motorcycle. Instead of serving as a scout vehicle, it could be used as a mobile storage vehicle. It could have naturally more storage slots than a motorcycle , and also have space on the back portion of the vehicle to place down single storage crate on it. This way you can use it to lug around hauls of loot on a day out questing or gathering resources. And unlike the motorcycle, it should probably lack an offensive ramming ability to further differentiate them both.

At tier 4 you can unlock the 4x4 Truck AND a Jeep or Hummer vehicle. Both of these vehicles can have the capability to have a ramming plow built on the front, as the 4x4 already does.

The 4x4 truck can keep its identity as a storage vehicle, and perhaps it can be modified to allow for 2 storage crates to be placed on the trunk of the vehicle in addition. 
 

The Jeep/Hummer could then perform as the offensive counterpart at tier 4. They could have the ability to have mounted turrets that could be manned or perhaps unmanned depending on how the developers would like that to play out. And they’d have less storage space, and no option to build crates on them, because that space is instead used for turrets or perhaps a mounted man-able mini-gun, which would be pretty badass.

At tier 5 you could unlock the gyrocopter and a heavier duty helicopter. 
 

The gyrocopter could be refitted to be the offensive option between the 2, with the addition of turrets that could be mounted on the underside and rear of the craft. I think these turrets should be unmanned and shoot automatically, as flying the aircraft is already a little tricky. 
 

The heavier duty aircraft could have space in it for 2-4 storage crates to be placed inside, and still have room for passengers as well. It could/should be slower than the gyrocopter, and have no turret options. This would allow it to serve as the utility option, and allow people to move loads of resources in bulk across long distances.

Lastly, this is just a fun idea on top of the other fun ideas, but I’d also like to propose that at tier 5 that players could gain the ability to craft 2 additional vehicles. A short bus, and an RV.

These vehicles could be used as mobile bases and players could install other buildable items inside of them, such as forges and workbenches.

The bus could be the more offensive option between them both, and have the ability to have a manned turret built on top of it. A ram at the front of it, and it could be heavily armored.

The RV could have farm plots on the top of it, and solar panels that allow electronics and workstations inside of it to be fueled without needed alternative sources of fuel. The RV could be longer than the short bus, allowing for more base space, and it could be less heavily armored.

I know that’s a lot, but I think these additions would make this great game even crazier and more awesome! 
 

Thanks for reading through all of this, I hope you all have a kick ass day!

 

[Suxar]

heavier duty helicopter. 

I'd like to see you make a swashplate using all the equipment you have around you. And then I'd ask you to do it again in an apocalypse.

These vehicles could be used as mobile bases and players could install other buildable items inside of them, such as forges and workbenches.

There are already mods with this. But doing it in the official game is crazy.

 

[Riamus]

They have said no more vehicles and they don't seem to want to do weapons from vehicles.  There was a possibility of a raft for a while, but at this point, even that is extremely unlikely.  *Maybe* after gold, they'll do a vehicle DLC.  But you can also just use the Vehicle Madness mod to get a ton of vehicles.  And there are other vehicle mods as well.

I don't mind options for vehicles, but I don't think we need to go crazy with differences beyond visual.  Maybe somewhat different durability or speed or torque, but that's about all.

 

[GuardianReaper0]

They have said no more vehicles and they don't seem to want to do weapons from vehicles.  There was a possibility of a raft for a while, but at this point, even that is extremely unlikely.  *Maybe* after gold, they'll do a vehicle DLC.  But you can also just use the Vehicle Madness mod to get a ton of vehicles.  And there are other vehicle mods as well.

I don't mind options for vehicles, but I don't think we need to go crazy with differences beyond visual.  Maybe somewhat different durability or speed or torque, but that's about all.

1. I think now that they have console caught up and there is a LOT of players coming back on Xbox and PS, many of the things they said the “won’t do” is subject to change, vehicles being one of them.

2. Telling players “go get a mod” isn’t an option for console players. It’s base game only, which is why suggestions are being made.

5 hours ago, Cheese Tyrant said:

 

[Cheese Tyrant]

They have said no more vehicles and they don't seem to want to do weapons from vehicles.  There was a possibility of a raft for a while, but at this point, even that is extremely unlikely.  *Maybe* after gold, they'll do a vehicle DLC.  But you can also just use the Vehicle Madness mod to get a ton of vehicles.  And there are other vehicle mods as well.

I’m aware of the vehicle madness mod, though I wasn’t aware TFP weren’t interested in adding more vehicles or interested in vehicles with weapons mounted on them. Though that makes sense from a balance point of view, if they don’t plan on making the game significantly more difficult beyond where it currently is, vehicles with mounted weaponry could trivialize the game in many ways.

On the point about the mod, I’m not really interested in the vehicle madness mod as it goes well beyond what I think the game really needs, but I do think it’s a cool mod. The idea I’m trying to propose wouldn’t go nearly as far as vehicle madness, and would rather offer a “vanilla +” sort of expansion to vehicle variety, adding 5 new craft-able vehicles at most.

Given TFP aren’t interested in vehicles with weapons, perhaps they could still adjust vehicle mods or offer alternative crafting recipes, to allow players to place storage crates on some of the vehicles. Such as the truck. I do think I’d still be cool to introduce a four wheeler as well, as I described in my post earlier.

1. I think now that they have console caught up and there is a LOT of players coming back on Xbox and PS, many of the things they said the “won’t do” is subject to change, vehicles being one of them.

2. Telling players “go get a mod” isn’t an option for console players. It’s base game only, which is why suggestions are being made.

These are good points that I hadn’t considered when I made this post, thanks for the perspective! Perhaps there is a chance they may change their minds on the matter.

 

[GuardianReaper0]

I love this game, and I would love to offer my thoughts on how some aspects of it could hopefully be advanced and expanded upon   with an intention to improve enjoyability, replay-ability, and to create other meaningful  options and decision for players to engage with.

Vehicles are awesome, but they are somewhat limited at this time, and lack some variance of purpose. All of them improve transportation, and carry more items as their “tier” improves, but I think we can make vehicles somewhat more specialized.

I propose that after tier 3 vehicles become available to craft (which at this time is just the motorcycle), from there on each tier can have at least two different types of vehicles that serve different purposes.

For example:

Instead of only unlocking the ability to craft motorcycles at tier 3, you gain the ability to craft motorcycles AND four wheelers.

Each vehicle will be more proficient at its role, and those roles could be divided between a combat/offensive role, or a support/utility role. 

The motorcycle can be faster than the four wheeler, and perhaps have a damaging ram capability to give it an offensive edge. This can allow it to be the scout vehicle, or quick exploration option of the two vehicles available at tier 3. Giving it a mod or built in capability to ram zombies could also make it the more offensive option between the two.

The four wheeler can be the support/utility option at this tier. It could/should be faster than the minbike, but slower than the motorcycle. Instead of serving as a scout vehicle, it could be used as a mobile storage vehicle. It could have naturally more storage slots than a motorcycle , and also have space on the back portion of the vehicle to place down single storage crate on it. This way you can use it to lug around hauls of loot on a day out questing or gathering resources. And unlike the motorcycle, it should probably lack an offensive ramming ability to further differentiate them both.

At tier 4 you can unlock the 4x4 Truck AND a Jeep or Hummer vehicle. Both of these vehicles can have the capability to have a ramming plow built on the front, as the 4x4 already does.

The 4x4 truck can keep its identity as a storage vehicle, and perhaps it can be modified to allow for 2 storage crates to be placed on the trunk of the vehicle in addition. 
 

The Jeep/Hummer could then perform as the offensive counterpart at tier 4. They could have the ability to have mounted turrets that could be manned or perhaps unmanned depending on how the developers would like that to play out. And they’d have less storage space, and no option to build crates on them, because that space is instead used for turrets or perhaps a mounted man-able mini-gun, which would be pretty badass.

At tier 5 you could unlock the gyrocopter and a heavier duty helicopter. 
 

The gyrocopter could be refitted to be the offensive option between the 2, with the addition of turrets that could be mounted on the underside and rear of the craft. I think these turrets should be unmanned and shoot automatically, as flying the aircraft is already a little tricky. 
 

The heavier duty aircraft could have space in it for 2-4 storage crates to be placed inside, and still have room for passengers as well. It could/should be slower than the gyrocopter, and have no turret options. This would allow it to serve as the utility option, and allow people to move loads of resources in bulk across long distances.

Lastly, this is just a fun idea on top of the other fun ideas, but I’d also like to propose that at tier 5 that players could gain the ability to craft 2 additional vehicles. A short bus, and an RV.

These vehicles could be used as mobile bases and players could install other buildable items inside of them, such as forges and workbenches.

The bus could be the more offensive option between them both, and have the ability to have a manned turret built on top of it. A ram at the front of it, and it could be heavily armored.

The RV could have farm plots on the top of it, and solar panels that allow electronics and workstations inside of it to be fueled without needed alternative sources of fuel. The RV could be longer than the short bus, allowing for more base space, and it could be less heavily armored.

I know that’s a lot, but I think these additions would make this great game even crazier and more awesome! 
 

Thanks for reading through all of this, I hope you all have a kick ass day!

So here is my 2 cents:

I am all for new vehicles, I think you made some good points, but I’d like to make some suggestions on refining the list, and functions.

To start off with, the 4- wheeler/ ATV. I think it should be about the same speed as a mini bike, but as you said have more storage space. Additionally, it should be more capable of off-road than other vehicles.

On the next tier, I think a Humvee is what a decent alternative is. Less capacity for cargo than the truck, and the ability to attach an m60 to it with up to 5 slots of ammo. The ammo needs to be locked into place like you do with auto turrets before you are allowed to fire it. Still would require a manual gunner. Can access the seat with the gun separate from the driver position, so you can also park, jump in that seat, and make use of the gun if you like. 
 

The T5 vehicle however, I will disagree with the helicopter idea. Personally, I think while aircraft was an INTERESTING addition, I do not think it was a GOOD addition. It makes a lot of the gameplay go out the window because you fly straight to a spot and back. 
That said, I would first suggest a small change to the existing gyrocopter: allow the person in the passenger seat to use their weapon.

As far as an alternative t5 vehicle, I propose the army truck! Allow it to equip steel crates as additional mods (total mod slot amount would be like 6 and you can mix and match as you like). Each crate giving that amount of storage space added to the truck. Making it THE best vehicle for cargo, while the gyrocopter keeps its function as the best scout vehicle.

 

[Cheese Tyrant]

I'd like to see you make a swashplate using all the equipment you have around you. And then I'd ask you to do it again in an apocalypse.

There are already mods with this. But doing it in the official game is crazy.

Parts of the game are already quite unrealistic in my opinion lol. The idea that anybody will be able to learn how to craft a helicopter of any sort, such as the gyrocopter, without prior extensive education on doing precisely that BEFORE the literal apocalypse broke out, is utterly ridiculous.

Yet it’s already an aspect of the game, players can already craft a gyrocopter, and a 4x4 truck, a motorcycle, turrets of various varieties, and other things that normal people would have tremendous difficulty learning and comprehending, without prior knowledge.

 
So, I’m coming from the perspective that since these aspects of the game are already there, we might as well expand on them somewhat, because it’d be fun! And that’s what I wanna have in my zombie apocalypse game, more fun, coupled with many more life threatening zombies and situations that could beat my ass, but that’s for another post.

 

[GuardianReaper0]

Parts of the game are already quite unrealistic in my opinion lol. The idea that anybody will be able to learn how to craft a helicopter of any sort, such as the gyrocopter, without prior extensive education on doing precisely that BEFORE the literal apocalypse broke out, is utterly ridiculous.

Yet it’s already an aspect of the game, players can already craft a gyrocopter, and a 4x4 truck, a motorcycle, turrets of various varieties, and other things that normal people would have tremendous difficulty learning and comprehending, without prior knowledge.

 
So, I’m coming from the perspective that since these aspects of the game are already there, we might as well expand on them somewhat, because it’d be fun! And that’s what I wanna have in my zombie apocalypse game, more fun, couple with many more life threatening zombies and situations that could beat my ass, but that’s for another post.

They have said they are working on bandits for the game from what I’ve seen, so contrary to what others may say, I think there is still a lot of changes and improvements they are going to make. The bandits I’m sure will add a whole new layer to the game making new items, weapons, vehicles, structures, etc all very real possibilities.

 

[Cheese Tyrant]

That said, I would first suggest a small change to the existing gyrocopter: allow the person in the passenger seat to use their weapon.

As far as an alternative t5 vehicle, I propose the army truck! Allow it to equip steel crates as additional mods (total mod slot amount would be like 6 and you can mix and match as you like). Each crate giving that amount of storage space added to the truck. Making it THE best vehicle for cargo, while the gyrocopter keeps its function as the best scout vehicle.

I love your take! Army vehicles would be mega cool as you described! 
 

I also agree that the gyrocopter is interesting, but perhaps too jank to expand upon, I could see it remaining as the only aircraft option, especially if they were to add these larger craftable vehicles such as the army truck and RV.

 

[GuardianReaper0]

I love your take! Army vehicles would be mega cool as you described! 
 

I also agree that the gyrocopter is interesting, but perhaps too jank to expand upon, I could see it remaining as the only aircraft option, especially if they were to add these larger craftable vehicles such as the army truck and RV.

RV could be interesting if it had “mod slots” for various workbenches. Upon parking you could activate a “parked mode” that would let you open the door and access the interior. 
 

Workbenches would only be accessible and work when in a parked mode. 
 

It would definitely add to “nomad” type of gameplay.

 

[Suxar]

2. Telling players “go get a mod” isn’t an option for console players. It’s base game only, which is why suggestions are being made.

Fallout 4 for console didn't support mods initially either. Now it does. They'll make bandits, make cross-platform multiplayer, and then they'll make mod support.

 

[GuardianReaper0]

Fallout 4 for console didn't support mods initially either. Now it does. They'll make bandits, make cross-platform multiplayer, and then they'll make mod support.

Fallout 4 was made by Bethesda. A company that simply has far more resources and funding than FP.

Not to mention, many of mods had to be reworked in order to work on console. In addition to the mods needing to be thoroughly checked through to make sure it’s allowed content or not malicious.

I’m not saying it’s impossible, but rather highly likely that mod support will not be coming to console.

 

[Cheese Tyrant]

RV could be interesting if it had “mod slots” for various workbenches. Upon parking you could activate a “parked mode” that would let you open the door and access the interior. 
 

Workbenches would only be accessible and work when in a parked mode. 
 

It would definitely add to “nomad” type of gameplay.

My thoughts exactly, I think map exploration could become much more attractive if you could take your work and resources with you in a more convenient manner. 
 

If they added the RV, which I sincerely hope they do, the heat these vehicles produce should be huge in my opinion. They could be zombie magnets, which could provide some complications and hazardousness to traveling around the country in such a not-exactly-stealthy large vehicle.

And whenever they add these bandits, in whatever form they take, it follows that bandits would want to rob you of your precious mobile bases, if they could.

 

[Riamus]

1. I think now that they have console caught up and there is a LOT of players coming back on Xbox and PS, many of the things they said the “won’t do” is subject to change, vehicles being one of them.

2. Telling players “go get a mod” isn’t an option for console players. It’s base game only, which is why suggestions are being made.

1. They have made a roadmap showing the end of the main game development.  Any significant changes beyond what is there is simply not likely.  You want to give a ton of suggestions for changes in all your posts and that's fine, but you're really late to the game for suggestions.  As I said, maybe some things will be added in a later DLC after gold.  You're welcome to hope all you want, but there's nothing wrong with passing on the information that the devs have said - namely, they don't want more vehicles and aren't interested in weapons... at least until after gold.  This lets people know that they can look elsewhere (mods) for such things if they want.

2. We've been through this.  You are on the PC section of the forum.  Mods are and will continue to be used and be recommended to anyone who wants a feature that isn't in the game and isn't likely to be in the game.  Otherwise, people may not know that such a mod exists.  If you are a console player, just ignore those suggestions, but you don't need to complain about the suggestions every time.  Besides, the OP plays PC as indicated by their response.

I’m aware of the vehicle madness mod, though I wasn’t aware TFP weren’t interested in adding more vehicles or interested in vehicles with weapons mounted on them. Though that makes sense from a balance point of view, if they don’t plan on making the game significantly more difficult beyond where it currently is, vehicles with mounted weaponry could trivialize the game in many ways.

On the point about the mod, I’m not really interested in the vehicle madness mod as it goes well beyond what I think the game really needs, but I do think it’s a cool mod. The idea I’m trying to propose wouldn’t go nearly as far as vehicle madness, and would rather offer a “vanilla +” sort of expansion to vehicle variety, adding 5 new craft-able vehicles at most.

Given TFP aren’t interested in vehicles with weapons, perhaps they could still adjust vehicle mods or offer alternative crafting recipes, to allow players to place storage crates on some of the vehicles. Such as the truck. I do think I’d still be cool to introduce a four wheeler as well, as I described in my post earlier.

These are good points that I hadn’t considered when I made this post, thanks for the perspective! Perhaps there is a chance they may change their minds on the matter.

Yes, Vehicle Madness is a pretty significant change for vehicles.  There are other mods that add vehicles without adding all the changes like repairing vehicles and such that Vehicle Madness provides, though I believe their number of vehicles is much smaller.  I think arramus has made one, for example.

They have talked about storage mods for the vehicles to increase the amount of storage.  Hopefully that's something they'll end up getting to.  There is also an RV mod that you could look into.  It uses an interesting teleport option that basically makes the inside of the vehicle somewhere other than your actual vehicle so that it can be nicely designed and have things like workstations.  Then when you leave the inside, you're back at your vehicle.  There are apparently certain limitations to how it's done, but it might be an interesting option if you like the idea of a mobile base.

 

[Cheese Tyrant]

Fallout 4 was made by Bethesda. A company that simply has far more resources and funding than FP.

Not to mention, many of mods had to be reworked in order to work on console. In addition to the mods needing to be thoroughly checked through to make sure it’s allowed content or not malicious.

I’m not saying it’s impossible, but rather highly likely that mod support will not be coming to console.

Fallout 4 for console didn't support mods initially either. Now it does. They'll make bandits, make cross-platform multiplayer, and then they'll make mod support.

There aren’t many console games with mod support that I could list off the top of my head, and I sincerely doubt that 7 days to die will join that already short group of games, which facilitate mods for their console variants.

It could be cool, and it could possibly happen, but logistically speaking I don’t think it’s in the cards at this time. Enabling that takes up lots of time, money, and work to make happen, and TFP are not a huge studio like Bethesda.

Bethesda has made several triple A titles that have made them millions of dollars, so it’s not exactly fair or reasonable to expect TFP to be able to allocate resources to enable mod support the way Bethesda can and does for consoles.

 

[Riamus]

Fallout 4 for console didn't support mods initially either. Now it does. They'll make bandits, make cross-platform multiplayer, and then they'll make mod support.

Mod support is not very likely.  It isn't that it's not possible to do.  They could easily add it.  The problem is that Sony and Microsoft would need to agree to allow it.  And they are very selective of who they allow to offer mod support unless those mods come directly from the developer.  They don't want people making mods that could make them look bad (an assumption as to their reason).  Bethesda is a much larger company and has a lot more pull, so had a much greater chance to get mods approved than TFP does.  They seem to be making an attempt to get that approval from comments they have made, but it just isn't very likely that Sony or Microsoft will agree.  But it would be great if they did.  I think the best chance for any mods is just server side mods.  Those work by sending the mods as part of the world/game, so are less likely to end up being prevented.

 

[Cheese Tyrant]

Mod support is not very likely.  It isn't that it's not possible to do.  They could easily add it.  The problem is that Sony and Microsoft would need to agree to allow it.  And they are very selective of who they allow to offer mod support unless those mods come directly from the developer.  They don't want people making mods that could make them look bad (an assumption as to their reason).  Bethesda is a much larger company and has a lot more pull, so had a much greater chance to get mods approved than TFP does.  They seem to be making an attempt to get that approval from comments they have made, but it just isn't very likely that Sony or Microsoft will agree.  But it would be great if they did.  I think the best chance for any mods is just server side mods.  Those work by sending the mods as part of the world/game, so are less likely to end up being prevented.

Well said, it figure corporate nonsense would also be a factor. Granted mods do need to be vetted to ensure there isn’t malware within the files. So I get it, begrudgingly, but it does make decent sense to deny games modding access. Managing all of the mods the players have access to is simply impossible, were they to allow ports to be commonplace. The workload would probably be unmanageable, and something malicious would probably get through.

 

[Riamus]

Here are a couple options for vehicle mods if you're interested in checking them out.  I won't give links because then the post won't show until approved, but I'll say where I found them.

From the mods forum here:

Vehicle Madness by Ragsy  (already discussed)

AH-64 Apache Helicopter Mod by Zilox - adds that one helicopter

Boating Modlet by Ragsy - adds some boats

From Nexus Mods:

Bdub's Vehicles by bdubyah - adds a lot of vehicles

IDC's The Nomad - Crafting Capable Vehicle - Ultimate Mobile Base by idc12 - add an RV that allows crafting and has a weapon (I think this is the one that teleports you that I mentioned)

DK's Modern Vehicle Pack by dk710 - Adds a variety of vehicles, mostly sports cars

Server Side Vehicles by arramus - Adds mods for vanilla vehicles that can make the vehicles look different

I know I saw another one that had a small selection of vehicles, but I can't seem to find it right now and there are probably some more.

 

[meganoth]

Well said, it figure corporate nonsense would also be a factor. Granted mods do need to be vetted to ensure there isn’t malware within the files. So I get it, begrudgingly, but it does make decent sense to deny games modding access. Managing all of the mods the players have access to is simply impossible, were they to allow ports to be commonplace. The workload would probably be unmanageable, and something malicious would probably get through.

7D2D has two ways to mod it, one is lower-level and injects code to the game which Sony or Microsoft probably won't allow. The other is through XML that is imported from the server and while limited in what can be accomplished with it also is much much easier to keep safe. I think there is a chance for the latter to work on console. Don't know if it would help with vehicles though

 

[pharen]

Vehicles is another area of bare minimum in the game. The vehicles available also don't really make sense to me. TFP seem to have an obsession with bikers. Bicycle makes sense, but why would you make a street pushbike in a post apocalypse? It should be a mountain bike. Same as the chopper, why? should be a dirt bike. There's no cars at all, a mad max style car with heavy armor and raised suspension makes more sense. The 4x4 is fine, but a baja style truck would also be a welcome addition. I have a feeling that vehicles are nerfed for balance reasons, so you can't just out run a bloodmoon horde. But that's just a waste, if someone is gonna spend the whole night running and bore themselves to death, let them, there are plenty of other ways to cheese hordes like AI breaking obstacle courses anyway. Also the gyrocopter is the worst flying vehicle I've used in any game, the controls are bad, it flies unnaturally, and it honestly feels like a bad addition to the game. I think a deployable paraglider or parachute item would give the ability to leave the top of tall towers better.