Dead State Design Update
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Category: News ArchiveHits: 1434
So, a lot of people have asked about vehicles and travel in the game. As we have already discussed, the player travels on the area map and Survival skill can increase the speed at which they travel. Today we're going to be covering the pros and cons of automobile travel.
Getting a car is not as easy as you'd think. Sure, there are cars everywhere, but from a story standpoint, there's a good reason you can't jump in the first car you see. Many cars will have been involved in accidents while trying to escape the cities and are completely unusable. Other cars will have been abandoned with doors opened or headlights on, rendering the battery useless. Some cars will just be too small or fragile to be practical for scavenging purposes. In effect, this means there only a few cars that you're going to find in the game that will be suitable to drive back to the shelter.
Now, you might think that just finding a car is enough, but there's more to it. Before the car can be used on the area map, it's going to need to be transformed into a machine that can withstand the driving conditions of the zombie apocalypse. This is going to require a garage upgrade at your shelter and someone with the Mechanical skill to make these modifications. Once the car is ready for off-road action, the garage can be used to further modify the car (like better fuel efficiency), provided you have the parts and skill to make new additions. Sometimes the car may need routine maintenance to keep it functional, so having someone with the know-how is pretty important.
Cars are obviously much faster than traveling on foot, but at the expense of fuel. Fuel is also used to power the school's generator and in the construction of multiple items (like explosives). Without proper rationing, a fuel shortage could leave the shelter powerless, which could impact Morale. Fuel is also heavy and requires special canisters, so bringing back a lot at once is difficult. The shelter has fuel storage, so you can hold as much fuel in reserve as you can bring back.
Fortunately, the car will allow the player to go farther, meaning access to remote areas where fuel and other supplies might be easier to find. The car will also have its own inventory space, allowing the player to transport more back at once. The car won't automatically make you safe from random encounters, but since you're traveling faster, you can cover more ground in less time, meaning fewer encounters per mile than other forms of transportation.
Cars are a luxury, for sure, just like in the real world. If you want to invest parts, time, and fuel on them, they're a fantastic way to explore the map. But they can also drain your resources pretty quick if you're already low on fuel or parts. To get to some areas, they are an absolute necessity and a boon when you've got a lot to haul. It's up to you decide how much you want to sacrifice in order to utilize their advantages, and in a future update, we'll discuss one of your other options besides driving or walking.
