PC Underground - Digging zombies solution ( for modders? )

B

Benjiro

Refugee
Some people do not like the current solution of digging zombies because it turns SP/MP maps into Swiss Cheese. And digging Zombies can also be misused to grief players. So as a alternative to digging zombie making the underground unsafe, here is my take / solution for the problem:

- Poison fog.

The game needs to render below the ground layer a permanent poison fog effect. If you cross below 1 block layer, you take damage ( similar like radiation ).

In order to not get damaged by this poison fog, you can use the following equipment:


Player tools:

* Gas mask. This only reduces the damage by 50%, as the poison can still seep in. Easier to find ( see zombie loot )

* Scuba tank + Diving mask. Reduces the damage by 100% but eats up air from your scuba tank. Needs refilling ( See tools )

* Extension that allows for longer air usage: Re-breather. Increases air duration from your tank by X%.

Building mechanisms:

* Workbench allows for construction of the Gas mask/Scuba Tan/Diving Mask/re-breather?

Extension to Electricity to allow permanent mining / working underground:

* Air generator ( can only be placed above ground / in a non-toxic air spot )

* The Air generator can be connected like electricity with wires/pipes.

* At the end of the wires/pipes, you can place a air ventilator.

The air ventilator creates a 360 degree area for X amount of blocks around it, where the the toxic fog effect is nullified ( inc visual ). If the air generator is without power, it disables all the air ventilator, turning the area toxic again. Effect can maybe be be simulated by modders with a 100% damage resistance to toxic air buff when you are in "clean air".

This reuses a lot of the electricity code base so it makes it very easy to implement by the developers.

Zombies:




Your air generator, just as your power generator is a prime target for zombies to target. So the game AI needs to not only focus on you as the player but also your equipment. This makes base defenses much more important!!! I always hatted how you can cheese the blood moon hordes with a alternative base ( maybe replace bloodmoon hordes with more random hordes that not only focus on the player but also sources of noise like the generator but that is a different topic ).

Digging Zombie there digging effect needs to be disabled in toxic areas. The digging code can be left active, so zombies can still break floors/blocks etc in houses/building. But it is disabled for toxic area block so they do not dig under ground.

Lore:




Lore wise this can be added to the game as: A unknown accident trigger the release of this toxic gasses under the ground. This reanimated the corpses of the recently departed and they started to attack the living. This can also become part of your of a quest to find the source of this gas and disabling it.

Options:




* If you disable this toxic gas source, it will reduce the strength of the gas, allowing you to dig deeper.

* The Toxic gas will also make treasure hunting actually dangerous, unlike the pure and easy free loot it is now.

* Wasteland can be made also with toxic gas but in exchange the wasteland needs a way better amount of loot! Risk vs reward...

* Potential reuse of this system for Water code / underwater building?

What do the fellow 7D2D community player think? Is this something you like to see in the game? Do you want this in the base game or as a mod ( as we know the developers are not exactly open to player suggestions, i think we need to look at mods ). Possible solutions for modders is to use the radiation effect as the gas effect. It will be nicer if their was also a visual change but that will be too difficult for modders.

So here is my "constructive" suggestion of the week.

 
i see problem here. if you dig open pit, it has free airflow all the time, so 1 block under surface would not work. if you leave hatchet/door open , even single block shaft should not get poison fog for some depth.

i often dig hill tops flat to get clay and make even surface for crop field. it will be below original surface, but still in open air.

idea itself is good, but how game can determine, where player has open mine or digging down in mine shaft?

if i dig tunnel through mountain, it shoult vent out after free passage is made.

 
Great you are considering alternatives.

As long as they can be turned off.

I do think some don't like digging due to the swiss cheese effect. But many also disagree fundamentally with the idea that you can never be safe. They want to be safe. They build underground to be safe. Removing digging and adding other ways to kill players underground then wouldn't make much sense to them.

I think something like this would be great as a game mod whether official or not, to allow for additional dangers. Some other games have that where certain game modifiers apply, either the whole time, or you could imagine them being random or timed.

Why not a toxic fog which affects the land blowing in overnight and then taking hours to clear, so either get out of the area, get to a high elevation, or bring out the gas mask? :) Etc. Same with a radioactive cloud :)

 
i see problem here. if you dig open pit, it has free airflow all the time, so 1 block under surface would not work. if you leave hatchet/door open , even single block shaft should not get poison fog for some depth. i often dig hill tops flat to get clay and make even surface for crop field. it will be below original surface, but still in open air.

idea itself is good, but how game can determine, where player has open mine or digging down in mine shaft?

if i dig tunnel through mountain, it shoult vent out after free passage is made.
Click to expand...
The solution is not that difficult for a open pit.

Dig a ground block, replace it with a poison block ( that has no hit box ). Poison blocks can have a form of Structural integrity. If X amount are exposed to ground level 1, they get removed. It depends on the size of the area etc.

The issue is simply, for the poison block to work, you need the developers to implement this system. I do not see modders doing that. For modders its probably easier to simply replace the blocks but they can probably not have a Structural integrity on the blocks like its required.

Unless you use the same SI like sand behaves underground... That might actually work depending on the ratio that needs to collapse. But you still need the ground level / air check, or people simply cheat by digging underground and collapsing a zone of poison blocks. Yea, i know how people think ;)

> if i dig tunnel through mountain, it shoult vent out after free passage is made.

That is a complexity that if hard to program. One needs to accept some limitations on a game engine. Like the water blocks :)

Another nice feature that one can do, is different loot:

* Soldier Zombies drops 25% reduction gas masks. The army tends to get "get the job done equipment", not always the most expensive.

* Fema Suit Zombies drop 50% reduction gas masks.

Gas masks lose durability based upon exposure. So finding new masks is a must or getting better equipment ( like the scuba gear or generator / air ventilator ). So each type has a advantage.

* Gas masks are easy to find but get destroyed over time.

* Scuba gear does not lose durability ( no breading in the poison ) but you need air bottles.

* Air Generator / Ventilation is the best but is a heat source / zombie target.

I find this a nice progression system.

R.I.P deep mining?
Click to expand...
No, you can mine as deep as you want. Just use Scuba gear/oxygen bottles or have air supply pushed into your levels. Nothing different compared to mining in real life. When you start your also not going to do deep mining. That is when the most weak protection comes in handy.

 
I like the idea that the whole overworld is poisoned and you are only safe in bunkers !
Click to expand...
Well, its not a bad gameplay idea. It makes the game a bit more Subnautica like this way. Or that other space game ... breathedge, that was the name.

I also like the idea that air has more value in the game. Build a closed base, with air system = your not using air from your gas mask/scuba system etc. Zombie breaches your base = poison gets in.

Again, a interesting twist on the whole Zombie lore. Most people turned Zombie because of this poison gas...

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top