PC Screamer spawn rates a bit high.

S

Slingblade2040

Active member
I go mining with an auger and screamers spawn like crazy even with a steel pick they still spawn alot while mining.

the army they can call in can get a bit out of hand and almost turns into a horde night in itself and honestly it's a great way to farm experience but really frustrating when you are trying to gather resources using high tier tools. 

What exactly is the reason to even have them in the game  besides to be annoying or to use as an experience farm? I'm fine with the random roaming horde dropping in while I try to mine but having to deal with screamers over and over and over gets really annoying and honestly it just isn't fun.

 
Usually we get "why aren't there more zombies" opinions instead of "why are there so many zombies" opinions, so it's good to see someone mix it up.

Slingblade2040 said:
What exactly is the reason to even have them in the game  besides to be annoying or to use as an experience farm?
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My guess is that, since the CPU & GPU requirements of the game don't allow for hundreds of zombies milling around everywhere all the time, the Scout/Screamer is a way for the game to simulate "you have attracted the notice of some of the hundreds of zombies that - trust us - are out there". You make a lot of noise/generate a lot of "heat" and a bunch of zombies show up to investigate. At least you get a warning with the Scout zombie so you can take her out before she brings her friends to the party.

It wouldn't be a bad toggle to have in the UI eventually: Scout Zombies On/Off. Maybe same for Random Hordes. In the mean time I bet there's a modlet out there that removes screamers. Or reduces their spawn frequency. It used to be that when a Scout spawned, the "heat" in the area would drop by 100 (if I remember correctly) and so it would take a while to build back up. Of course if you have a bunch of torches down in your mine or, heaven forbid actually run a forge in the area, then they might spawn almost right away. There is a way to see chunk heat values from the debug system.

 
Its really weird, it must be a zombie AI thing that triggers off of xp gained, or materials gained...

I can be in my base, running 2-3 forges and not see a zombie for days.

But as soon as I start mining, chopping lots of wood or digging clay, holy zonks, screamers are coming out like gang busters.

 
pahbi said:
Its really weird, it must be a zombie AI thing that triggers off of xp gained, or materials gained...

I can be in my base, running 2-3 forges and not see a zombie for days.

But as soon as I start mining, chopping lots of wood or digging clay, holy zonks, screamers are coming out like gang busters.
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it's called a heatmap. Activity generates "heat", and when you build up enough of it, it attracts a scout. If the scout finds something it calls a horde. 

 
If you want to learn about heat "intuitively", you can see it on screen in debug mode:

F1 => dm

Tap F8 twice (1. for FPS, 2. for heat info)

Watch what that does while mining, but try to resist the temptation of going into god mode :)

 
Agree with OP, the heat map generation from auger is too high. Posted on this topic a few days ago. 

Thought about the already mentioned options above, but IMHO the best option would be a new mod for the auger/chainsaw: "The muffler" : 50% reduction in noise/heat generation.

What I have done to mitigate the auger heat map generation:

Mineshaft straight down with cobble stone blocks + iron hatch.  Place a robot turret at top guarding the hatch top side.  Also, have dug a second mine entrance about 20 blocks away that allows for leaving through a different hatch then where the zombies are trying to break into.

Key thing here with this strat:

 
Better to mine deeper away from surface because screamer will only scream if she actually detects you. Sometimes (30-50% ish)  if deep enough, your turret might kill her at hatch before she screams. Too far down and your turret will not agro. Get at least level 2-3 of robotic turret thingy skill.

If you mine near the surface really close to hatch she will always scream before turret kills her.   Could also build regular base turrets, but that would require a lot of time investment.

 
I can't really speak about the auger, because, well power tool.

But as far as the steel pick goes, crouched, with skills, I generate no screamers.

Of course I also have a screamer trap set up as a concrete pyramid close to my main mine, with spikes and 4 forges running, so that might be drawing the screamers and killing them without me even realizing that they are there..

 
SylenThunder said:
it's called a heatmap. Activity generates "heat", and when you build up enough of it, it attracts a scout. If the scout finds something it calls a horde. 
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Yes but the heat that is generated by the sound of breaking metal blocks is pretty high compared to the heat generated by breaking for example stone blocks. Try it out on a creative world.  You will be surprised how big the difference is. 

 
Slingblade2040 said:
I go mining with an auger and screamers spawn like crazy even with a steel pick they still spawn alot while mining.

the army they can call in can get a bit out of hand and almost turns into a horde night in itself and honestly it's a great way to farm experience but really frustrating when you are trying to gather resources using high tier tools. 

What exactly is the reason to even have them in the game  besides to be annoying or to use as an experience farm? I'm fine with the random roaming horde dropping in while I try to mine but having to deal with screamers over and over and over gets really annoying and honestly it just isn't fun.
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Screamer loops can be annoying but to partially address the situation examine how you use the tools and how/where you are mining.

The Auger and Chainsaw generate more "heat" starting and re-starting.  Counterintuitively, holding down the trigger and moving the tool around the vein generates less "heat" and works better.

It will depend on the fuel capacity mod (if any) but a player should be able to top off the fuel and know the fuel capacity when a screamer should appear (experiment).  (IIRC with the large tank mod, a screamer should be triggered with about 100 fuel left.

I don't mine near home with an auger.  I just find a node and drill straight down to the larger deposit and get what resources I can before the screamer appears.  Or if I miss calculate and don't want to bother, I just slant drill to the surface hop in/on my vehicle of choice and move to a new deposit some chunks away.

Note: even small material collapses generate "heat" as well.

 
Dig down straight 6 blocks or more. Start mining down there but make sure that the vertical entrance stays intact all the time. When screamers appear they will enter your mine through that vertical entrance, fall down, and while they are laying on the ground sorting themselves you can easily ons-shot kill them without triggering a horde spawn. Even with auger noise you can hear screamers approach you and surely their impact when falling down your entrance.

This way I still get a good amount of screamers but they hardly make it to actually spawn a horde.

 
Darthjake said:
I can't really speak about the auger, because, well power tool.

But as far as the steel pick goes, crouched, with skills, I generate no screamers.

Of course I also have a screamer trap set up as a concrete pyramid close to my main mine, with spikes and 4 forges running, so that might be drawing the screamers and killing them without me even realizing that they are there..
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Once you get all 7 mining books and have a chance to one shot ore blocks, the steel pick can generate screamers. More so if you are collapsing blocks.

 
I don't mind more zombies or even massive roaming hordes but mining iron or lead for example and having screamers spawn over and over sucks or sometimes they spawn in other screamers which spawn in other screamers which makes a ridiculous loop only to then go mine and 5 minutes later it repeats itself with another loop.

Go into creative give yourself any level auger or steel pick then go mine iron and watch them pop up like crazy.

To me I would love to have screamers taken out of the game. I rather have a horde of soldiers and cops show up as a roaming horde than having to deal with screamers. 

Hell even the idea someone else had for a tool mod to reduce heat generated with the motor tools or normal tools.

 
Slingblade2040 said:
I don't mind more zombies or even massive roaming hordes but mining iron or lead for example and having screamers spawn over and over sucks or sometimes they spawn in other screamers which spawn in other screamers which makes a ridiculous loop only to then go mine and 5 minutes later it repeats itself with another loop.

Go into creative give yourself any level auger or steel pick then go mine iron and watch them pop up like crazy.

To me I would love to have screamers taken out of the game. I rather have a horde of soldiers and cops show up as a roaming horde than having to deal with screamers. 

Hell even the idea someone else had for a tool mod to reduce heat generated with the motor tools or normal tools.
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That is why I always setup turrets when I am mining (either the junk or placing a generator down with shotgun turrets).  At that point, I don't care how many screamers the game generates as I don't have to deal with them.

 
Slingblade2040 said:
I go mining with an auger and screamers spawn like crazy even with a steel pick they still spawn alot while mining.

the army they can call in can get a bit out of hand and almost turns into a horde night in itself and honestly it's a great way to farm experience but really frustrating when you are trying to gather resources using high tier tools. 

What exactly is the reason to even have them in the game  besides to be annoying or to use as an experience farm? I'm fine with the random roaming horde dropping in while I try to mine but having to deal with screamers over and over and over gets really annoying and honestly it just isn't fun.
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We must be living in an entirely different universe because I am the go-to miner in my MP server and even after 30 minutes with an Auger I have yet to have anything more dangerous than a zombie bear in my mine while in the Wasteland.   Details:  Gamestage 150 ish, level 77, and on warrior difficulty.

Our base of 6 people in the green biome the screamers are so rare even with 3 chemi stations and 4 forges going.

Re: Reason to have them in game:  You're not meant to feel safe, ever.   If they have become and annoyance, then.. how good it must feel to shoot them in face, right?

 
Ramethzer0 said:
We must be living in an entirely different universe because I am the go-to miner in my MP server and even after 30 minutes with an Auger I have yet to have anything more dangerous than a zombie bear in my mine while in the Wasteland.   Details:  Gamestage 150 ish, level 77, and on warrior difficulty.

Our base of 6 people in the green biome the screamers are so rare even with 3 chemi stations and 4 forges going.

Re: Reason to have them in game:  You're not meant to feel safe, ever.   If they have become and annoyance, then.. how good it must feel to shoot them in face, right?
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Is there anything more dangerous than a zombie bear?

I mean I do feel like I have to go out of my way to get screamers but 3 chem and 4 forges? That's crazy. Lately I run 1 chem, 2 forge, 1 cement mixer and a couple campfires and I feel like I have to run most of them at once to get a screamer but 3 chem alone used to be enough heat for constant screamers. Even in A19 I felt like chem plus anything else threw a ton of heat.

Downtown a lot of firing the auto-shotgun outside seems to earn me a screamer, but I mean a lot, like dumping a few drum mags followed by unloading the AR a few times. Doing it inside the t5 skyscrapers seems to draw @%$#-all though.

The heat used to be much worse, torches drew screamers (well spiders, but the spiders were screamers back then...they also looked like Tom Clark), firing a gun drew screamers, hell farting (not kidding, chili used to make you fart) drew screamers.

You were afraid to make noise back in the day. Those were the days.

 
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Kosmic Kerman said:
Once you get all 7 mining books and have a chance to one shot ore blocks, the steel pick can generate screamers. More so if you are collapsing blocks.
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Well there you go, I don't collapse blocks because the mixers and forges are HUNGRY, but keep in mind that I can use a steel pick on a door with a sleeper on the other side and make 0 noise according to the noise meter.  Repairing the door, that's another story, TFP must hate people who repair stuff, my noise level spikes whenever I repair or upgrade a block.

 
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