User:Ms.Panes/carpark

This is in reference to this suggestion by Heretic144

I thought of something that could combine your suggestion with another suggestion (can't remember where I saw it), plus my own touches. Basically, the other one was where people could drive their buddies around Malton. Here's an alternative:

Instead of driving the car, you'd only be able to push the car. There could be two-seaters and four-seaters. Two-seaters would cost 4 AP to push, and four-seaters would cost 6 AP. Naturally, two-seaters seat two people, and four-seaters seat four. Both zombies and humans could push the car, and both humans and zombies could get in the car (zombies get in only if unbarricaded). The AP cost would be the same, with or without ankle grab, because you're not going very fast anyway. To start out with, all cars would have flat tires and be unbarricaded, and you couldn't push the car until the tires had been repaired with a toolbox OR a set of functional spare tires (found in junkyards, fort vehicle depots, auto repair shops, and car parking lots). Normally it would take 4 successful weapon hits to damage the tires to the point that you'd need to repair them again, but if you use a knife (or claws, or bite- anything sharp) it would take 2 hits, and a gun would only take one. Punching would be ineffective ("You get some exercise punching the bouncy tires"). No XP gain for slashing the tires (zombies should be able to push the meals on wheels towards a horde, afterall, so we don't want to encourage tire slashing unnecessarily).

Only so many cars could be in any one square at the same time -> five. If you try to move a car where it can't go, it'll say, "You look (direction), but see that there isn't any room for you to push the car there. Maybe a different direction would have more room." and would NOT cost any AP. Moving a car would leave tire tracks in the snow. There'd be certain places you couldn't push cars (cemetaries for one), due to low walls (easy to climb over, but not push a car through) or other obstacles. Some places with large parking lots (like stadiums) could allow 1-2 extra vehicles.

Now, the car itself. Like you said, you could barricade it to lightly, and you'd need a toolbox, mostly because there's just not enough room to fit a piano to block the entrance, so you're rigging up some kind of improvised barrier. It could be made of loose planks or metal or whatever is lying in the street or even the hood of the car and some screws for all I know. And you're *not* repairing windows like some people keep saying. It wouldn't matter if you're in or out of the car when you barricade it- it's assumed you'd get in and out as needed to perform the task and just end up on whatever side of the car you started on when you were done. Being in an unbarricaded car wouldn't make you any safer than being in the street. Whenever the barrier is down and someone attacks you in the car they get the normal to hit ratio, but it causes you to get out of the car. Either, "You see (someone/a zombie) approach, obviously about to attack, and roll out of the car to avoid their blow," or, "(Someone/a zombie) attacks you, (knocking you out of/causing you to roll out of) the car." So the only reason to stay in an unbarricaded car is in the hope that someone will push you along.

If you don't have a toolbox but do have some cloth (not sure where you should get it), you could put up a curtain to keep people from seeing in the car - no skills required. There'd be a "tear away cloth" button (for both zeds and humans) for 1 AP and 100% success. No XP, even for zeds - it's a cheap way to see if anyone's inside, anyway. They DO get XP from smashing the 'cades, as per normal. The cloth stays in place when you exit/enter the vehichle. So, with cloth up, that's slightly better than being in the street out in the open.

Now, if you're in a unbarricaded, uncurtained car everyone could see you like normal. But in a barricaded (or curtained) car they couldn't see in, but you could see out (it's assumed you'd put in a few eyeholes or something). It would be a general count instead of specifics (roughly 20-30 figures,you're not sure if anyone is (there/still there) for 0-2 etc.), and you couldn't tell survivors from zombies. You could also hear normally, so if someone said something you could hear and recognize their voice. The thing is that people outside could also hear you. If you speak, they can hear you, if you kill someone in the car, they can hear you. If you're dumb enough to find out if the horn still works, and it does (not all of them do, though, and some only work sporadically... some every few AP, some every few days...), they can hear you from a block away. Zombies could honk with MOL. Otherwise, it just doesn't occur to them to try it.

Normally, exiting the car assumes you open it, step out, and close it. But you also have the option if you're inside of just opening it. It means that leaving won't close the barricade. This would allow people to see you, you to see out, and for zombies to get in without destroying the barricade. (Note: opening/closing is the exact same amount of AP as getting out/in.) A zombie leaving the car would not close the open barricade. If the door was closed, a zombie would have to smash it open to escape. You could say a non-death cultisit reason to open the barricaded car is so that people won't waste APs to smash it to see if you're inside since they already know you're not there, while you're out searching for FAKs, thereby saving the AP of fixing it up when you get back. Survivors can open or close the car from the inside or outside, unless... the car is locked...

You can lock the car (it unlocks when you leave). I don't mean those regular door locks, but like wedging in a crowbar or something so the "hatch" can't be opened. This prevents survivors from getting in without smashing the car open - "You try to get in, but it's locked. You'll have to break it open if you want to get inside." (Now you're (somewhat) protected from PKers! ...But are at a greater risk from zombies than if you were in a building.) If it's not locked, but it's full, you still can't enter ("There's no room inside."), although you can open it and attack anyone inside to clear space for yourself.

The drop down menu would list things like: red 2-seater #19, grey 4-seater #78, grey 4-seater #34, dingy blue 2-seater #83, yellow 4-seater #22. There'd be numbers so that you know which one you want to keep pushing if you happen across a square with a car that's the same color. You could attack the car ('cades) or the tires. If it's already a wreck it wouldn't be in the attack menu. The car's curtains wouldn't be listed in the attack menu, 'cause it'd have it's own button (drop down menu if more than one car with curtains). There'd be a "Push Car" button with a drop down menu for which car and one for which direction.

Now, one of the voters said that if every square had one or more cars it would be a pain in the butt for zombies to have to clear out another 1000 spaces in a neighborhood or something. I think I understand their point. But my main contention is that if they were everywhere they would become common and boring instead of fun and interesting. So, instead of everywhere, cars would start in certain locations. I think the carparks would be a good place to have some, with a higher maximum limit (say, 8) than other places. Wrecked (to the point of being unbarricadeable) cars/debris would prevent more than that in the square. There could be some found in various streets and other places that I don't want to figure out right now. But anyway, the point is, how many should there be? I think to make it interesting, 1 car per 20 spaces, on average (5 cars per neighborhood). So, if they were spread out evenly, every 20 spaces would have one, and if they're maximally clumped, you'd see a group of cars about every 100 spaces (one group per neighborhood).

I think the ratio should be about 70/30 in favor of four-seaters, with a fairly even distribution throughout the city (IE, no sports-car only suburbs starting out, although players could make that happen later with enough effort). This averages to 17 survivors max per 5 cars, aka averages to 17 survivors (max) sleeping in cars per neighborhood. I don't think that's too many.

In conclusion, I hope you like my alternative suggestion. --Ms.Panes 15:39, 28 December 2007 (UTC)