State of Decay

[Disturbed316]

Has anyone else been following the progress of this game?

Taken from their website:

State of Decay is an open sandbox world that develops in real-time, dynamically generating content based on your actions, the choices you make, and the ever-increasing zombie threat. Decide where you’d like to set up a fortified safe haven for you and other survivors you’ve rescued, then form raiding parties to gather resources and create supply chains. Use the materials you’ve gathered to develop your community as you see fit, but be careful — resources will deplete as you pillage areas, and zombies are attracted to noise and activity. Take up the offensive by assaulting hordes before they reach your settlement, or focus on improving your defenses against the massed zombie attacks. Every choice and every action matter in this fully simulated, evolving world.

Move through the world like a zombie-slaying badass. Dive through windows, jump on cars, and take it to the living dead with baseball bats. Hop in a truck and mow down some undead pedestrians. Break into the local police station and clear out their arsenal or walk into the local grocery store to stock up on your favorite junk food. The world is your oyster…a shiny oyster that happens to be filled with zombies.


So yeah, it's an open world game set in the beginning of the Zombie apocalypse, you've got to build bases and defences, grab resources and basically try to survive. One of the big features though is permadeath, once the characters die, that's it for them.

IGN have got a couple of videos up of their play through, they're doing it for five days up until the review on Wednesday. It looks great despite them saying there is a few technical problems, but even they say it doesn't ruin the experience. It's rumoured to be out on Wednesday 5th June for XBL Arcade and PC.

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[Fignuts]

Been waiting for a game that takes this approach ever since the zombie genre was rejuvenated a decade ago. Hopefully the gameplay delivers. Wish it was a full game. The premise deserves a game massive in scope, but I can't see that from a LIVE game.

[VSG]

Dunno if permadeath will be taken well by the gaming community.

[Fignuts]

Pussies.

[Fignuts]

From the wiki article:

Unlike games such as Left 4 Dead and Dead Island, State of Decay will focus more on survival, stealth, evasion, distractions, base building, survivor community, securing resources, and moving through the world than actual zombie combat.[3][4] The game will be in an open world, where the player's choices are an important factor.[1] Players will be able to choose a location to build a base in. Structures such as watch towers, gardens, sleeping quarters, kitchens, workshops, medical bays and barricades can be constructed to defend against the infected population, help survivors recover faster and build explosives and other tools.[1]

Food, water, shelter, ammo, and construction materials will be necessary for survival.[1][3] To obtain these supplies, the player will need to go on raids to abandoned supermarkets and many other shops, or the player can grow food themselves. The player can also find other groups of survivors that are willing to trade their resources with the player, in exchange for ammunition.[1] The player will be able to rescue other AI survivors to help with defense, build facilities and repair cars/guns (with the appropriate facilities). They can also be sent out to loot, find a new base location or to come pick up supplies found by the player. Once a high enough relationship is developed with these new characters will be playable.[3][4] The player's choices will affect how the gameplay evolves.[3] The game world is 16 kilometers square.

The non-player characters (NPCs) in State of Decay will vary in skin color and gender, they sometimes show signs of aging in the game. They can set up bases to survive which the player character can find while exploring. Saving NPCs will add them to the community of survivors. Each NPC can be assigned tasks like doing runs to collect items, or scouting. Player characters can trade with other survivor bases for items which they excel in such as weaponry. They can be harmed if they are doing runs in which the player is alerted, and they then have the option to rescue the characters. If they are not rescued they may die or become lost. There are 30 NPCs in State of Decay which will spawn in a semi-random arrangement, while 20 Story NPCs will always spawn in a designated location.[5]

The game features 99 different guns and 30-40 melee weapons to be found around the world.[6][7][8] The higher a character's skill with guns, the lower the chance of them jamming. Jammed guns will need to be repaired at any home base. High skills with guns will also result in lower recoil. Gunshots will attract zombies, to combat this weapons can be equipped with suppressors.[5] Each gun has a decibel rating seen in the game's inventory; higher decibel ratings result in louder gunshot.[9] There are three classes of melee weapons featured in the game; light blunt, light edged, and heavy weapons. Each class will have advantages and disadvantages. As characters use weapons their skill will grow with use.[7][8]

During the game player characters can enter buildings. While loot will often be found, so will zombies. Fenced buildings can be turned into a base. Only one base can be occupied at a time, they can be overrun, and relocated. A large number of customization options exist for the base, including, but not limited to, gardens, kitchens, tents for sleeping, storage areas, radio station for communication, workshop for upgrading and repairing weapons, training centers, generators for power, guard towers, and walls for defense.[10] Any building that is not destroyed can be turned into an outpost. An outpost is a place for players sleep or store items. Zombies cannot spawn around an outpost. The number of outposts available to players is dependent on the size of the player character's base.

[Kane Knight]

Any game that focuses on "community" makes me nervous, as per the Greater Internet Fuckwad theory.

[Disturbed316]

Day 3:

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[Fignuts]

Amazing. So when a character dies, you just take control of another survivor. Nothing wrong with that.

[Fignuts]

Any game that focuses on "community" makes me nervous, as per the Greater Internet Fuckwad theory.

Unless I misread something, it's a singleplayer game. The community is your group of A.I. survivors.

Though as the article says, they are planning a much bigger mmo version in the future.

[Fignuts]

So yeah, officially confirmed to be dropping on Wednesday for 1600 points.

Odd day to release a game but, hey I got Thurs and Fri off, so it works for me.

[Disturbed316]

Whoa, that death was brutal. 1600 is quite a lot for a XBL game but this seems worth it, given the potential to keep going for ever.

[Disturbed316]

IGN Day 4:

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[VSG]

Man now I am seriously interested. I hope they announce this for PC sooner than later.

[Disturbed316]

It's coming to PC, but at a later date.

[Fignuts]

Can't fucking wait til tomorrow.

[Disturbed316]

IGN review is out, they gave it 8.9

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/05/state-of-decay-review

[Ultra Mantis]

Might pick this up on PC, the zombies seem a little fast but I think I can live with it. If they were slower but had a "one bite and you're fucked" kind of deal that would be the best.

[Fignuts]

Well the whole stealth element is based upon the fact that they are slow until they see you.

I don't think the tension would be as high if they were slow all the time.

[Disturbed316]

Part 5 from IGN, will most likely get this later today.

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[Ultra Mantis]

Well the whole stealth element is based upon the fact that they are slow until they see you.

I don't think the tension would be as high if they were slow all the time.

Yeah I can see why they made them fast and there's a health bar for gameplay reasons, but I'd personally still be pretty tense if one mistake meant slow zombie death.

[Fignuts]

Been playing for a couple hours. Absolutely love it so far.

Ultra Mantis, getting detected doesn't mean game over. It's not that strict. You can fight off a few zombies at once, and even more if you have a companion. I haven't alerted a horde while on foot though.

[Ultra Mantis]

I was just talking hypothetical about slow zombies and the lore of one bite being fatal. Like a "hardcore" mode type of thing. I've watched the IGN vids and it does look pretty great the way it is.

[alvarado52]

I have no clue how this flew under my radar until it's release, but kinda glad it did...pleasantly surprised to have such a game drop out of the sky.

[Fignuts]

Probably around 8 hours in. I'm not going to be touching any other game for a while.

Love how all the side missions disappear after a while, and how they continuously throw so many at you. Really makes you think about what your next actions are. Cause there is no way to do every mission and keep your survivors and home base in good shape.

I have to say, if you are at all a fan of the zombie genre, even if you're jaded with it like I was, get this fucking game.

Being an arcade game, yet so huge in scope, there are flaws, but they aren't a big deal. And dead labs has already put forth a patch and are working on more to iron it out.

A.I. is pretty good for the most part. Defend themselves well, depending on their combat rating, and always follow closely.

I did have one rough spot with the A.I. I had to meet a contact of another group of survivors for a supplies trade. I get near the building I'm supposed to get to, but there is a horde of zombies stalking past. So I crouch in a bunch of bushes behind the building. Since I'm impatient and don't feel like waiting for the horde to slowly shamble past, I start moving through the bushes toward the building, thinking there maybe a back door. When all of a sudden my follower jumps out and starts running toward the front door, because apparently if you get close enough to an objective the A.I. just sprints toward it.

So obviously this alerted the horde, and the contact and my follower had to fight about 15 zombies by themselves, while I hid in the bushes like a coward praying they wouldn't see me.

Luckily my follower survived, but she ended up badly injured. Contact died, but hey, we got the supplies without having to trade, and I got all her equipment. So....hooray?

[Disturbed316]

Sounds amazing. Despite me making this topic and hyping the game I still haven't bought it yet due to lack of funds, hopefully will be able to get this in a couple of weeks.

[Kane Knight]

I think I'm getting this.

[Fignuts]

So when you're not playing, the game world advances. This sucks. Came back on the other day, to find one of my best survivors dead. Two more were missing.

This is a bullshit feature, that cripples what could be the best zombie game ever. Hopefully there's a patch coming.

Can't believe none of the reviews touched on this. Even the gamefaq forums didn't say anything at first.

[Skippord]

hmmm that makes me wonder if I should buy it or not

[Disturbed316]

I knew about this feature but wasn't sure how it would play out, seems a bit harsh that people die, although wouldn't have an issue with them going missing. I guess there is no pause button in the zombie apocalypse though :-/

*edit*

A patch is currently going through certification, apparently the following things will be fixed, including people dying when you're away:

- NEW: Playable characters can no longer be killed by the simulation
- Workshop now repairs weapons and vehicles at game dawn rather than the next real-world day.
- Reduced cooldown times of commands in the Radio Menu, notably Words of Encouragement, Words of Inspiration, and Medical Advice.
- NPCs no longer get stuck behind the counter or on the stairs at the gun shop in Spencer's Mill.
- The "Too many infestations!" event will now only occur when there are too many infestations within 500m of your Home, rather than anywhere in the world.
- UPDATED: The "Too many infestations" to-do item is now cleared when there is only one remaining infestation within 500m of your Home, rather than anywhere in the world.
- You must now be close to the ranger station for the Memento mission scene to play. Previously you would be teleported to the station if you left before the end of the mission.
- Community members will properly interact with Facilities in your home. Previously they would stop after a period of time.
- Feral zombie now properly dodges vehicles approaching at an angle.
- NPCs will now reliably reach warehouse between Mt. Tanner and Spencer's Mill when called to gather supplies.
- You can now punch out through the windshield of a vehicle if both doors are blocked.
- Zombies and NPCs no longer get stuck behind the grocery store in Marshall.
- NPCs now properly move to the proper location during cinematic scenes.
- Zombies no longer fall through floor in the Marshall courthouse.
- Zombies can no longer get under porch or floor at the Wilkerson's farmhouse.
- Fixed a few rare crash bugs.
- Fixed various translations bugs.

[Disturbed316]

Update is now live, going to buy the points for this in the next few days and finally get this game.

[Disturbed316]

Finally got round to getting this, but due to starting a new job I haven't actually played this yet, hoping to get some time soon and really get into it. Anyway, patch three is currently in pre-certification and has the following updates. Taken from Undead Labs forum:

Title Update 3 Patch Notes
Hola fellow survivors,

Here are the draft patch notes for the upcoming TU3:

-You can now ask a community NPC to follow you and watch your back.
Outposts are now numbered on the map.
-NPCs who have been told to leave your community no longer remain in your Journal and take up bed space.
-Added Journal log entries for "Memento" mission.
-Added Journal log entry for establishing an Outpost.
-You can now train members of another Enclave in your Dojo immediately upon construction of the Dojo.
-Outpost bonuses to Stockpiles are now retained when the game is restarted.
-Changed AI to ensure zombies are present when you get a training mission or a morale mission.
-You can no longer move to a Home site that supports fewer Outposts than you currently control.
-Fixed an issue where Influence attrition wasn't scaling properly, which led to some Influence exploits.
-Fixed Snyder Warehouse not repairing vehicles.
-Fixed community NPCs sometimes blocking the door to Snyder Warehouse.
-You are now reminded every 15 minutes, starting at 30 minutes, that your progress is not being saved while in a mission.
-Fixed bug that allowed save spinner to sometimes display during missions.
-Removed references to generators in Fuel description.
-Jacob can no longer be selected for a "Mercy Shot" mission before he gives you the “Home Away from Home” mission.
-Fixed terrain issue that caused parked vehicles to catch on fire when restarting the game.
-Fixed getting “Stockpile maximum exceeded” Journal log entry immediately after leaving Mount Tanner.
-Vehicles are no longer teleported to Home parking spaces at 6:00 AM.
-Fixed issues that allowed community to exceed the population cap.
-Additional polish to "The Law" mission.
-Minor improvements to shadows.
-Fixed missing subtitles.
-Fixed floating bushes and grass.
-Fixed typos.
-Fixed issues in non-English translations.

Note these are draft notes, and may change before release. All changes will be noted here.

Jeff

Also, an article from OXM.co.uk regarding sandbox mode:

The folks over at Undead Labs have given some initial insight as to how the upcoming Sandbox mode for XBLA hit State of Decay will work in a blog post on their website.

The team explain that their goal with the Sandbox DLC is to ask players if they can survive a zombie apocalypse: "We want to create a setting where players can answer that question, not just until the story is exhausted, but indefinitely."

To elaborate, it seems that rather than resources eventually respawning as they do in the normal mode, in Sandbox they'll eventually completely expire, forcing players to move their communities on from their relatively "comfortable" fortresses: "As the world decays, and as supplies are gobbled up, you have to keep moving deeper into the most infected areas, facing bigger crowds of deadlier zombies, for as long as you can handle the challenge."

Once the situation calls for it, you'll have to find and fix up a broken RV somewhere on the map - this will take time and precious resources as well as people who - as ever - can all still die while the project continues. Eventually you'll be ready to move on - although not with everyone, you'll have to leave some folk behind - then you'll set off and a loading screen will kick in.

When you're back in control, you'll find yourself in a new instance of the same map but with everything renewed and randomised as if you'd started anew - only this time with more hordes of undead lurking around: "That is what we want to simulate with our Sandbox DLC - moving towards the danger, and stepping up your game, because in the long run, that is the only way to stay alive."

There'll be rewards for all of this, which Undead Labs promise to reveal at a later time along with more details.

[Tom Guycott]

I like this, especially the "team up" option. I've been exploiting the hell out of morale and rescue missions for an extra hand, especially while grinding Cardio, as not to get stuck exposed somewhere trying to rest.

Hopefully they've addressed a couple of other issues, as well... such as car tires that sometimes clip into the ground and cause vehicle damage just by driving around normally, explosives hurting your allies if they're ANYWHERE near the explosion (read: nowhere near the fucking flames, they just combust, run away flailing on fire, and you get dinged on trust). Showing ammunition on map markers when you ask Lilly for caches (Fuel, food, and meds sets a waypoint, but ammo never shows up after she says she found a location for me, for some reason.) And hopefully they slow down exactly how much of your resource gets used up on sim. I had copious ammounts of meds yesterday, and when I played today, I'm single diget "low". Hate to think if I decided not to play what would have happened.

Also, didn't know people could randomly die while I'm not playing. That disturbs me a bit to think that one of my 7 star built survivors can be cheaply taken out while I'm not even playing.

[Disturbed316]

The issue of people dying in sim should have been sorted out in the last update, but seeing as I've yet to play this I'm just going by what's been posted on their website.

With the degrading stockpiles, there is a certain limit as to what they'll lose within a time frame, and once it hits that, it doesn't lose anymore, regardless of if you play a week later or a year.

[Skippord]

this is probably the only game I've ever had to quit due to fear of panic attacks

[Disturbed316]

Finally got round to starting this up, absolutely loving it so far. So far the only annoying thing I've found is how quickly a character tires out when using the same one. I really like the scavenging aspect and rooting around for supplies. Am so far holed up at the church where I have kitted out every available spaces. But I agree, I could quite easily see myself getting panic attacks over this.

[Disturbed316]

I've had numerous days to play this and have gotten pretty far into it. Really loving the game so far, it does feel like you are trying to survive and things can get pretty stressful when you run low on things like food and ammo. I've been playing the whole game so far with Marcus, levelled him up to a high level and pretty much owned everything until I got ambushed by a horde on a mission, and a feral zombie came out of nowhere and tore me in half :'(

Everyone else is pretty low level, so will have to take some time and build up my next guy, I feel pretty vulnerable with my low level guy at the moment, just because his cardio is shit and tires easily.

Love this game though, can see myself playing this for a long long time.

[Tom Guycott]

Hope you find Ismaiel.

He's about a big a beast as Marcus built up, and has pretty much the same "extra" stats to build (leadership/powerhouse), and what looks to be slightly MORE carry weight than Marcus... though I never bothered to actually comparitively measure it. Only difference being Marcus seems to be the only character who can carry 4 of a usable item (everyone else seems to cap on 3... doesn't seem like much, but that one extra snack or med could have been the difference on surviving that feral)

Also, revolvers are useless, as is the .50 cal rifle (sounds good on paper, and is ok for people you're leaving at home to sit on watchtower duty, but for mission usage, it's way too heavy and the rounds are excessively rare) and modern pickups rule everything. And to build cardio, have your people jog some laps around the outdoor area of the church (or wherever you're holed up). As long as they aren't indoors in any safe area, the stamina drain feeds the xp. Just takes longer with any alcoholics or smokers, as does building fighting takes a hit for anyone described as a "coward".

If you feel too much like that is "cheating", then you could also send someone out scaving, pick up a rucksack, and when they get tired, drop it on the spot, then have a new person foot it there to grab it when you get back home. You drain far less stamina without it, and you can always see where it's located on the map to go back for it with someone else and give them a workout to boot.

[Shisen Kopf]

I like this game but it pisses me off too. Some dipshit is always getting in trouble and needs rescuing. Then when you bring them home and about to do a mission; some other retard needs rescuing. Why don't they go out in a big mob and purge the town of zombies? Like an Einsatzgruppen for zeds.

[Tom Guycott]

It usually makes more sense later on when you have a higher rotation of usable folk. Near the beginning, though, when you just gt 2-3 people... yeah, some pants-on-head retardery happens. I had the same person be a problem (Maya) and had to repeately go on morale missions. Sucked ass because she was one of the 2 people I could switch to, and doing that crap makes THEM tired too, so I kept getting 2 people tired at the same time, and my 3rd barely had time to rest up.

Couple more more tips:

I try to give each person a particular gun/brand of ammo as opposed to everyone running around with, say, 9mm. Except .50 cal and grenade launcher shells, I have rarely had a problem finding more of anything except maybe shotgun shells, and since I whittled shotty usage down to just Sam (with an amazing 14 round riot gun I looted) that wasn't much of a problem.

Also, assault rifles *seem* like a waste of ammo... unless you unlock that "bullet time" perk. A side effect of the time slowdown is single shot capability instead of realtime full auto. So, instead of tooling around with a max 17 round pistol, you can clip 20-30 rounds per gun (+1 if chamberable) and not have to think about trigger dicipline to conserve rounds.

Hell, you find the SAW, and it's 100 rounds of fun before you even have to think about a reload... so it works out better than the slow bolt action of a rifle and "wastes" less stamina between firing much like a pistol. Also, they're silencable like a pistol/rifle.

Just keep in mind that guns degrade much like melee weapons. Just not nearly as quickly.

[Skippord]

When I was playing I used Maya more than everyone and Marcus was a real cunt

[Shisen Kopf]

I let Marcus get killed. No room for him in the New Society I'm building.

[Disturbed316]

Ah, Marcus was the man in my community until said tearing apart.

[Fignuts]

Marcus has a drop kick move that immediately immobilizes zombies and makes them vulnerable to a finishing attack.

[Disturbed316]

I miss Marcus, my other guys are not a patch on him :(

[Disturbed316]

Just finished the final mission today, got pretty crazy by the amount of zombies you have to kill, you definitely want to stock up on supplies. The end obviously leaves it open for a sequel, it will be interesting to see whether they make it or not.

I'm now trying to mop up the rest of the achievements I haven't gotten yet. What's the best way to gain fame? I seem to be stuck on 472 for ages.

[Tom Guycott]

I let Marcus get killed. No room for him in the New Society I'm building.

Did you at least let him become an hero so you could pop the achievement? I did that with one lazy slob in my community who didn't really seem to have any incentive for me to keep him around... he sucked, and kept getting trapped somewhere, and didn't have any upside to building him up.

Just finished the final mission today, got pretty crazy by the amount of zombies you have to kill, you definitely want to stock up on supplies. The end obviously leaves it open for a sequel, it will be interesting to see whether they make it or not.

I'm now trying to mop up the rest of the achievements I haven't gotten yet. What's the best way to gain fame? I seem to be stuck on 472 for ages.

The final mission was a bit easier than I thought it would be, but that's partially because I had a SAW. And more importantly, game scripted help. I think the "Memento" mission was waaaay harder, and I went up there with two artillery strikes prepped, copious ammo, and what was left of that truck.

I only need one more achivement, and I apparently screwed that up by being leery of the Wilkersons' intentions. I have to start a whole new game just to get it... but I don't want to nuke my game to do it. :(

[Disturbed316]

I've just realised that Big Un's genuinely scare me, I always run away from them when I hear them roar and never try to kill them. I'll even ignore the zombie hunt missions for them.

I've tried killing them with a car for the achievement but just cant do it, the car/truck always ends up losing.

[Tom Guycott]

I usually ingore them too, when I can. I hear that roar, or see one pop up on the horizon, and I go "fuck that noise!" and alter my course drastically. Especially on foot.

To get the achievement though, you gotta soften them up first. The stronger the weapon the better. Plugged it a couple times with a grenade launcher, then backed into it with the "tank" (modern pickup truck). The first hit will ALWAYS pop both back tires, but just ram them again when it's down. If it ain't dead after a third hit... ABORT! A full "health" modern pickup blows up after backing into that bastard 4 times, less if you drive straight into it, use a damaged truck, or use a smaller vehicle.

It's one of the reasons I love that truck so much. It's one of the easiest vehicles to handle in reverse except maybe the modern sedan so you can run over zeds with less engine damage over longer time, can take a ton of punishment, and can get you out of an escort pinch by providing 5 places to hop in for passengers. It's also one of the less noisy vehichles, and it seems they actually took vehicle engine noise into account in attracting zombies much like gun report.

[Skippord]

when I had to kill one of the big ones I through a bunch of molotov cocktails at it and then beat it to death with a bat or something

[Fryza]

Haven't touched this game in... Two patches, I think?

I really liked what I had, though I couldn't seem to swap people out whenever I wanted and I didn't know how to cure fatigue. Might hop on and get that handled.

[Tom Guycott]

when I had to kill one of the big ones I through a bunch of molotov cocktails at it and then beat it to death with a bat or something

But killing it with a bat isn't killing it with a car. Neither is blowing one up that is standing next to a propane tank.

I hate the molotovs in this game. Yeah, they do hella damage, but rarely seem to go where I'm trying to throw them and always seems to damage my allies more often than my intended targets. Funny because I can shoot straight through a friend's head (unless its one of the army missions, then I get trust hit for "friendly fire"), but a firebomb seems to hurt them without fail even when they're not in the area I threw the thing.

[Tom Guycott]

I'm starting to wonder if actual time progression plays a part in the difficulty, or if it is completely random chance.

I restarted so I could 100% with that Wilkersons' achievement I missed. This time, the "Memento" mission was infinitely easier... as in, I didn't get mobbed while in the Ranger Station after I cleared the infestation, which was all of about 20 zeds total and a single Screamer, and found the macguffin.

On my previous playthrough, it took forever to clear out the infestation even AFTER 2 artilery strikes, then mowing down most of what was left in the pickup truck. When that was done, I was rewarded by being beseiged on all sides and completely surrounded by zeds perpetually spawning out of the woodwork and entering from nearly every side with multiple specials approaching. However, I only took a few hours to get to that point in the story this time as opposed to days.

In fact, much of the game has been easier... Wilkerson's farm only had 1 Big Un attack it, as opposed to the 3 I had to kill the first time- and without the second one, the battle didn't include the banter between Mickey and Job about "Goddamn! How many of them Harris boys are there?/I buried 'em once, I'll bury 'em again!"

I know the dynamic feature has changed up what I find where, to the point that on this go-round, I managed to stockpile a metric ton of shotguns and barely found anything else besides them and 9mm pistols until the last time I played. Also, the spawning neighbors are kinda dynamic as well. Aside from the usual suspects (Marcus, Ed, Maya, Jacob, Sam) who spawns in where is kind of random. I didn't get Ismiael this time, but I got some chick named Nicole Spivey who, quite frankly, worked out better (cardio bonus, high carry weight, powerhouse, no detrimental character flaws, and Sam's NPC voice actress). Found a couple of the people I had before on previous games but some of them, no. Makes me wonder how many NPCs are actually programmed in the rotation besides the hard scripted ones?

I'm guessing it was a glitch on my last game, but anyone with "Powerhouse" traits seems as though should be able to carry 4 consumable items. Last time, only Marcus could carry 4s. EVERYONE ELSE could only max at 3, even with the trait.

I decided to hole up in the farmhouse this time instead of the trucking company. Granted, it isn't as big as the warehouse or the fairgrounds, but it's pretty square in the center of the map, and once you get a hang of navagating the farmlands, it's a pretty decent place to be able to have a decent amount of time to reach missions before they expire and still hit everywhere the story takes you... though I personally had to park a few shitty cars in strategic places as landmarks for getting around at night. Running to find said cars helped build up cardio, though, so win/win.

[Disturbed316]

Been continuing my save and noticed a lot of hordes forming and attacking my home base which I never had during my 'first' play through. It's nice that everyone comes out and starts smashing heads.

Working my way through some remaining achievements, still got to kill a Big Un with a car and clear five infestations in one day. May have to restart to get that one as they aren't showing up much now. How do you get the double handed kill one?

TU3 dropped the other day, I really like being able to get someone to watch your back on missions or running around now.

[Tom Guycott]

The "double handed" thing is a skill you can get from fighting, but I don't remember what trait builds to it (I think powerhouse people give you the option between this and "pro wrestling"). Once you pick that perk, just get in a sitch where you get to use it; fighting a small group of 2-3 zeds and use the skill. Just don't try it with a horde without support (or at least the "combat endurance" trait. They're too fast and too many and your biggest enemy will be the massive stamina drain from all the dodging.

Like I said before on the Big Un, soften it up with a gun/explosives of your choice, then back into it 2-3 times with a modern pickup. Don't use an airstrike (instakill) and don't do it near home (the watchtower guard seems to plug it in a few shots no matter what gun they have; you might not even be able to start the car before its dead).

The 5 infestations I got with help from that Law mission. 2 in the mission before the search and rescue inturrupts going to 3, went back to clear the 3rd one that appeared, then I helped a friend clear one on the map and had one brewing that I had passed on the way to the mission in the first place. I guess an easier way would be just not to clear them when you pass them until Lily complains about having too many, THEN clearing them, THEN doing the first Law mission. That should net you the 5 in one day.

[Disturbed316]

Nice, will give it a try and see. Thinking I'll still have to restart for it though once I've got everything else.

[LoDownM]

Wish the PC version of this would come out already.

[VSG]

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/09/20/state-of-decay-shambles-on-to-steam-early-access-later-today/?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=emp

Finally coming to steam!

[Kane Knight]

NO keyboard/mouse support so far.

:lol:

[Tom Guycott]

So, bumping this because Lifeline. And I guess Breakdown as well.

I like State of Decay as a whole. Even with sup-par graphics in this day and age and glitchfests, it still manages to be a pretty fun romp into the zompocalypse. The one thing that manages to piss me off about this game, however, is getting people killed not from lack of skill or planning or "whoops, I fucked up" mistakes, but cheap bullcrap. And the expansions don't seem to correct this issue. In fact, it seems to be worse in Lifeline.

I had a whole diatribe detailing my issues with the expansions, but they were too numerious and lengthy. To try to make a summary, I would have to simply say that:

1) the core mechanics of stat building and influence points doesn't work as well in Lifeline as it does in campaign or Breakdown. Military weaponry is too expensive and heavy, and influence is harder to come by, so you can end up with a ton of weapons or ammo you can't use because you don't have the points to take them out the box.

2) the cheap spawning has gotten worse, and it no longer applies just to ferals spawning directly behind you from a spot you JUST had the camera and there was nothing there. Now, normal zeds will magically pop in 10 feet away, and not just in Lifeline's "Danger Zones" where they intentionally perpetually spawn. I got trapped in a building once because they kept appearing at the window and climbing in to rush me. The more I killed, the more would spawn.

3) the NPC AI sucks in Lifeline. I guess they tried to make it "more challenging", but just standing there getting gangbanged by zeds, being downed easier, and not getting back up without 100% player intervention is more of a chore than a challenge, especially when someone will just let themselves die because you ran out of stamina fighting off 6 or 7 zeds, and the last one still gets to chow down because you are unable to act and they don't get back up unless you kill all the threats to them while downed.

[Fignuts]

Disappointing. Was thinking of getting back into this game too.

[Tom Guycott]

Yes, as a major fan who was looking foward to Lifeline, I was gutted. So much potential, too. I got it with Live Rewards points instead of actually buying it, so it lessen'd the blow, but still.

Breakdown is still ok, though. It's basically the campaign, but the survivors you gain are randomized (except "Heroes"- most, but not all, of which are storyline characters with boosted starting stats that are unlocked by completing challenges). The supplies don't respawn, and after you've pilfered all you can, you have to "move on" in the RV with theoretically 7 of your best (there's an exploit around that, though, and you can pretty much bring everybody, but the more people you have at a home base, the more your resources drain when you stop playing and come back). Zeds get tougher, and vechicles seem to get weaker on each increasing level.

In short, Breakdown is worth going back to. I'm going to suffer through Lifeline because I want to 100% this game. Again.

Besides, I found an exploit that helps out. The first couple of missions are semi-scripted, and you don't suffer a seige at any point. If you have the patience to grind building up the base and going supply fetching with a truck, you can stack up some influence by gathering supplies and weapons you're not going to use, and trading them for things you actually will be using. You can have most of the neccessary facilities up and running, and your first starting character pretty well stacked in stats, if not maxed, by the time you finish the first mission and finally let the game save. It's a shame you have to cheat the system to have any kind of fighting chance, though.

That reminds me, they did add a new mechanic in Lifeline of being able to load cargo into vehicles. This includes rucksacks. My favorite tank, the Modern Pickup, has the awesome capacity of "6" slots. And rucks only take one like everything else. And the cargo stacks like supply boxes, so that 3 item limit you have in your personal inventory can be circumvented with a nearby vehicle that will stack more in the same slot. And vehicles don't deal in influence trading, so you can keep a small arsenal on you in a grabable spot. I haven't gone back to see if this has been added to campaign or Breakdown, but if it is, that's a total game changer. Especially for Breakdown.

Addendum: it *DOES* apply to the main game. Just tested the theory.

[Tom Guycott]

So, I'm bumping this because of the XBONE re release. I reserved it. Cool giving a discount on the preorder for owners of the previous version. Here's hoping the cheap nonsense has been fixed along with the fresh graphical paintjob.

[drave]

Waiting on gameplay vids to make my decision. Wanted to get it on 360, but it was pretty messed up :(

[Tom Guycott]

Meh. I'll take the good with the bad.

There are things that still could have been improved besides how the game looks. However, some tweaks made:

-Everyone now has an emergency unarmed melee attack. If you get caught with a weapon break, you don't just do that dumbass shove all the time. Instead, you have a knife/icepick/screwdriver/shank that you stab zeds in he head area with. There seems to be a mechanic involved with direction pressing along with the attack button to overpower the target, or they bite back, but there is no explanation, so I haven't quite gotten it down. Especially since I don't make it a habit of not having an actuall weapon.

-I've yet to experience the "Feral spawning right behind you on an empty road" thing this time. Major plus.

-Backing into Big Uns don't explode a truck in exactly 4 hits anymore. In fact, the structural integrity of heavier vehicles seems improved. Wheels also don't warp into the ground causing vehicle damage by just driving around normally.

-Lifeline now does away with the Influence system for items in the box. You still need it to improve basecamp and keep the defences up, but you dont get hamstrung trying to get a better/replacement gun or ammo.

-You also get a little more breathing room on how fast the Seige timer elapses. You have a chance to complete more than one task before having to rush home to defend.

-You're able to continue playing previous saves from 360... provided you fire it up one more time to export the save so you can import it on the One. Helpful if you don't feel like starting Breakdown over again.

-CLEO drops are a nice extra challenge, but its best t8 send someone with heavy artillery and already halfway decent to maxed wits, because the beacon is loud as fuck, and attracts loads of zombies, and each one usually has at least two specials hanging around (not counting SWATs as specials, even though they are. Specifically mean the problematic ones.) It doesn't shut up until you search it, and if a zed is too close, it'll inturrupt you from shutting the noise off.