Talk:Useful Items

Misc.

For some reason, somebody had linked to "class", but didn't pipe it over to the existing article Character Classes. I fixed it! --PatrickDark 02:11, 24 Sep 2005 (BST)

It would be nice to know if an item was a one-use item (like First Aid Kits), multiple user (like Book), or infinite use (like a Fire Axe)

I'd like to know what happens if you use a revivication syringe on another survivor... or yourself. Anyone know?

I've checked this out on my own character, and have put up a report on it. Bug_Reports#Syringe_strangeness No clue as to the effects when using it on a living character besides yourself, though. Not in the mood to waste another syringe, sorry. --LtR 22:34, 29 Nov 2005 (GMT)

It would be nice if you signed your posts, too. It looks like the syringe-on-survivor info was added. --LouisB3 19:42, 24 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Binoculars

Somebody added that the view *includes* the current location. That's not true. Updated the entry. -ZaqWer 18:54, 28 August 2006 (BST)

Any word on their capabilities yet? Also, I searched over 40 AP spread between two characters with Bargain Hunting in powered mall gun stores, with no luck on the binoculars. They must have a low probability. Any one found a pair? --OmegaPaladin 15:44, 28 August 2006 (BST)

Hmmm, we definately need someone to tell us for definate where they are found. I've heard rumours of them being found in at least three different Malls Stores, for a start. -- Andrew McM ^W! 16:06, 28 August 2006 (BST)

Got a pair.--Thari ^{TжFedCom is BFI!} 16:14, 28 August 2006 (BST)

No luck with 90 AP! 50AP in a Mall Gun store, and 40 AP in a PD. Damnit! Karloth vois ^RR 16:36, 28 August 2006 (BST)

They were accidentally available in tech stores instead of gun shops, briefly. Just to be confusing, I've now moved them to sports stores, which, as people have said, weren't being used for anything interesting. --Kevan 16:41, 28 August 2006 (BST)

Thanks for the clarification, Kevan. By the way, am I correct in assuming that tall buildings are those that have an option to jump out of the window? (Hotels, Towers, and Office/NT Buildings) --OmegaPaladin 21:55, 28 August 2006 (BST)

Is there something wrong with the binoculars. I looked out of a building and saw there were three zombies outside of a church in my sight, so I go to check it out and what do I find? No zombies, just 1 survivor. Does this count dead bodies too, thats the one thing I didn't check for.--StealthPenguin 23:09, 29 August 2006 (BST)

I'm not sure about your problem Penguin, but I've been having one of my own- Whenever I use the Binoculars, it always gives me the same grid coordinates no matter what direction I look in. The zombie/survivor counts are correct and the buildings are correct, but the coordinates are always the same thing (that being 73-23 through 81-23 in spite of it being a 3x3 area). If this doesn't make sense, you can see my screenshot compilation on photobucket at http://tinyurl.com/ybftnp--Casval Daikun 20:54, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Added clarification essentially stating that you can't tell if any buildings shown through binoculars are powered. --Running scared 05:13, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Found some binocs today, looked north of Buckley Mall and the buildings were yellow. Are you sure about not being able to see whether buildings are powered? --Mozai 18:34, 28 September 2007 (BST)

Oh, it was a leftover. fixed --~~~~ [talk] 19:29, 28 September 2007 (BST)

As of October 31st, 2007, there is a fog, rendering binoculars useless.--Alexwelch 10:33, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

The same as fog rendered them useless last year --~~~~ [talk] 12:07, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Any Luck?

Searched over 40 AP spread between two characters with Bargain Hunting in powered sections of malls, with no luck on the binoculars. They must have a low probability. Honestly, they should have been in sporting goods stores - make them actually useful. --OmegaPaladin 15:22, 28 August 2006 (BST)

I found mine in a Gun store this morning, but as you can see above, this has been changed to Sports Store. Sounds like you hit the window where they were moved. (And sounds like I got lucky.) ZaqWer 18:51, 28 August 2006 (BST)

DEM

Binoculars are a good addition to anyone, but they really help if you are a member of DEM using their DEAMON tool. It gives you the same 7X7 grid--Dr Mycroft Chris 03:21, 20 July 2008 (BST)

Even though this comment is nearly a year old I thought I should correct it. Put simply, no. No they don't. Binoculars aren't taken into account with the DEMON tool, people should stop guessing at how DEMON works and what it does.--DI Sweeny 12:19, 3 May 2009 (BST)

2009 change

On July 3rd, 2009, You are now able to use binacs from ground level, doing so results in a a scan for a landmark building (hospitals, churches, add more if known) within a 3 block radious from your position. It will give you directions to it, and if it is lit, and if it is imposing (under attack) apperently, hospitals that are lightly caded dont show up.--Bonghit420 22:31, 3 July 2009 (BST)

If no landmarks near you get the message You scan the skyline, but can't see any landmarks from here.

If hospitals are near you receive these Scanning the skyline, you can see:

a imposing, lit hospital 3 blocks to the west and 3 blocks to the north a large hospital 1 block to the west and 3 blocks to the south --Bonghit420 22:36, 3 July 2009 (BST) a lit four-storey hospital 1 block to the east and 3 blocks to the south --Bonghit420 22:40, 3 July 2009 (BST)

Monments are also seen, when used from teh ground floor. --Rahrah^{Come join the #party!}22:45, 3 July 2009 (BST)

please post a description, because i have yet to have it say "you see a monument bla bla bla" I dont think you are correct.--Bonghit420 23:13, 3 July 2009 (BST)

I think you can't look past buildings, like say you do a search, and there is a building in obstructing your view, you cant see a hospital, or church.--Bonghit420 06:11, 4 July 2009 (BST)

DNA Extractors

If curious to see the DNA extractor results check Journal:Will R0bins0n. I created a character to check this out. --Fuzzytek 20:55, 9 Sep 2005 (BST)

Can someone take a screen capture of the results from DNA extraction? Those of us without the skill would find it interesting to see. Thanks! --Fuzzytek 18:08, 9 Sep 2005 (BST)

Is there any information yet on the probability that a DNA scan will fail when the zombie has brain rot? The item has been in the game for a long time now, surely someone is monitoring their success / failure rate? Elliothatman 04:18, 23 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Any word yet on how the new mechanic for "time-unspecific" extraction works? I've been guessing that each zombie has a timestamp that allows them to be tagged every 24 hours, but that "NecroTech memo" sure was confusing. --LouisB3 04:39, 3 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Does anyone know how long it takes DNA extractors to run out? I swear I've had some vanish after one use, but right now my extractors seem to work forever and ever. Emmett 22:15, 9 Dec 2005 (GMT)

They should last forever. --LouisB3 00:26, 10 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Do multiple uses move down the stack? --Adam1 21:45, 15 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Yes, I believe so. --LouisB3 22:06, 15 Dec 2005 (GMT)

That's strange, because I tried to use the DNA extractor on a stack of 3, and I'm pretty sure I hadn't scanned anyone in the last 24 hours, and I got a successful scan, followed by 2 "recently scanned" messages. --Adam1 23:03, 15 Dec 2005 (GMT)

That means those two zombies were scanned by someone (not you) in the last 24 hours. --LouisB3 00:15, 16 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Can someone submit the messages when you succes/fail/get brain rotted? --Steve 10:01, 25 Dec 2005 (GMT) What is the chance to get a successful use if the zombie doesn't have brainrot or hasn't been tagged?

It should be 100%

I have reason to believe that the DNA extractors don't move down the stack, but to the fortune of NT employees, put unscanned zombies at the top, brain rot zombies next (there is a chance to scan them), and scanned zombies last. I don't remember ever having scanned a group of zombies and having a succesful scan after seeing a "SPECIMEN SCANNED RECENTLY," although I do remember one instance where I scanned a brain rot zombie and had a succesful scan following that one. Does anyone have evidence to the contrary? --Bioweapon 03:19, 30 Jan 2006 (GMT)

That may be. I tried multiple scans on a stack of 4 and kept getting the same zombie. It did not move through the stack at all. I think the wiki is wrong, but I don't know how to describe what the extractor is actually doing. I'm going to e-mail the creator and see if he'll clear it up.

My understanding is that if a zombie has been scanned in the last 24 hours, by ANYBODY, not just you, it will show up as specimen already filed. If you're scanning a stack of 4 and keep getting the same zombie, that means the entire stack has already been scanned, so it just shows you the top zombie on the stack. Again, it doesn't matter if you have scanned these zombies, it just matters that they have been scanned.

What is the effect of killing a zombie after you extract from them? If I tag one and then kill him, will he still show up on necronet when he rises, or does he need to get sampled again? Stubblyhead 02:41, 27 February 2006 (GMT)

Can anyone log the XP gain from a successful extraction now that the update's gone through? I was only able to see the effects of brain rot and fully scanned groups.BuncyTheFrog 00:43, 1 April 2006 (BST)

• I extracted on my way down to Garniss, and yes, the XP gain is 4 (I went from from 12xp to 16xp). -- Angela 15:36, 2 April 2006 (BST)

I was just wondering how we are supposed to tell if a zombie is brainrotted when using the DNA extractor now, it used to fail most of the time, so you were pretty sure it would be safe, but wasting 30AP on a rotter can get quite annoying. As if the zed is already scanned you have no idea if they are a rotter. 19:31, 1 April 2006 (BST) Benpage26

• I wasn't able to save the text, but there's a note when you've extracted the DNA from a brainrotted zombie that the zombie has brain rot, and a warning to NOT attempt to revive said zombie. :) If I can, I might go around again and check for the text. -- Angela 15:36, 2 April 2006 (BST)
  • Just went back and checked: After the usual info about the zombie (even if it's been scanned before), there is this note: Warning: Cortex damaged. Do not attempt to revive. Hope that helps! -- Angela 15:40, 2 April 2006 (BST)

Does anyone know of anywhere of this wiki that explains the numbers you get when you sucessfully extract from a zombie? I'm curious if the numbers that usually look like this: 123456/12 mean anything, perhaps {profile number}/{level}. Please respond to my user discussion too please, so i get the response. --DogSoldier ^JI 03:06, 30 April 2006 (BST)

I have been experiencing very strange DNA extractor behaviour following the latest update. At first, I noticed that extraction did not move down the stack -- I repeatedly scanned the same brain rotted zombie, even though there were two others on the square and I had selected no specific name, just "a zombie". So, I thought this could be solved by adding the profile of the scanned specimen and then choosing to scan more anonymous "a zombie"s, but even then -- not so. Even though I recognised the rotter and chose NOT to extract him/her, continued extractions still targeted him/her. Anyone else notice this? --Kenny Matthews ^W! 05:49, 5 August 2006 (BST)

I have noticed this as well. A run through Bug Reports might tell us the intended behavior. It seems to be a change from the previous behavior not noted in the News. --Max Grivas ^JG,T,P! 06:14, 5 August 2006 (BST)

Theres no mention of "how long the tag lasts". Is it permanent, so that they are always seen in a NT scan? Does it go away after a certain amount time? Does it go away when they are revived? This information is lacking.--Memoman 00:17, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Still lacking.--Memoman 01:44, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

It goes away at 1 BST I believe, it's not permanent, it resets once a day, every day.--Karek^maps?! 01:51, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

I think it used to be that way, but the unfortunate effect was that people who played the game at the wrong times couldn't find any unscanned zombies left, so UD was changed so that the tag was removed when the zombie was active. I don't know whether just hitting the server is enough to reset the tag or whether the zombie has to spend an AP. --Toejam 22:39, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Huh? But actives can't be scanned multiple times. Are you sure of that, because I know there was a game update to specifically standardize when Extractors reset. Last I checked mine reset when IP hits did(although It's been a long time since I checked)--Karek^maps?! 02:10, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

I forget the source, but I'd be surprised if I remembered that level of detail and was mis-remembering. A few in-game tests are probably the way to go here, that way we'll have more facts to work on. --Toejam 13:03, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Thought the description of extractors including the "option to revive" was somewhat misleading (confused me when I was a new member; I thought extractor's had the ability to function as a limitless syringe) so I reworded it slightly to make it more clear. Finn the Fox 22:37, 1 October 2008 (BST)

FAKs

Should we mention the fact that FAKs no longer seem to be 100% cures? I've been getting reports from several people who were healing non-alts. No idea if they might have been on the same IP due to dial up, but... --Shadowstar 23:30, 22 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Hadn't heard this. You'd think it be in the news. --LouisB3 23:02, 22 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Ahhh... well, here's some people complaining about it on the boards http://zombies.desensitised.net/board/index.php?topic=3244.0

The other one I've got, which is a "personal" (though not mine) experience, is on a private board, but I'll post his words:

just tryed to heal a guy and got this

"Your patient's recent wounds have already been treated as you would treat them - you can do no more for them."

Really wish he'd gotten a screenshot, but I think he was at work...

Just read the boards now - quite a lot of speculation, and not much in the way of screenshots. Let's at least wait off for more info, but I'd guess (at the moment) that people may simply be trying to heal full-HP survivors. (Not that I'm that familiar with healing flavor text.) --LouisB3 00:44, 23 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I got this same message just now- I was trying to heal a survivor with 48 HP???? It happened twice in a row, both times my FAK was used up even though I didn't do any healing or gain any experience points --Eliseh 04:26, 15 March 2006 (GMT)

Well...here's a screenshot. Never seen this survivor in my life, and the flavour text seems all the more bizarre seeing as this fella was at 1 HP. FAK --Kenny Matthews 18:55, 12 July 2006 (BST)

Minor note- If a Hospital is ruined you can still search it and find FAKs! (Just low odds)--Airborne88^T|ZC|MI|E! 00:47, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

I get the same message. Can't heal anyone anymore. --Tex Tripppen ^BHS 00:45, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Er, maybe we should change the text about people requesting First Aid?? It sounds a bit.. Rude. Tec7890 ^{T RCDC NW} 08:44, 3 May 2009 (BST)

Flak jacket

I found a Flak Jacket in a hospital! Seems like a very low probability event.

Are you serious? That's uber-major WTF over here. Do you have the entire record of your search pattern? If so, I highly recommend posting this over to the Search Odds/Hospital Data Page... -- Odd Starter 04:37, 2 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Can't say I do. I very new to this game and now you've made me doubt my memory. I'll record it if it happens again, though with all the medics searching hospitals I guess it would have happened before if it was possible. --Doomuch 07:07, 4 Nov 2005 (GMT)

It says that flak jackets protect against attacks of 5 damage or more... is that accurate? I always assumed flak jackets defended against ranged weapons, but not close quarters weapons... is there any way to distinguish "weapons doing damage over 5" from "ranged weapons"? Elliothatman 03:55, 23 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Well, at present, there's no crossover, and that probably won't change. The "weapons doing 5+ damage" phrase is just an easy way to say "guns" without creating an unnecessary "class" of items called "ranged weapons". --Biscuit 18:54, 29 Nov 2005 (GMT)

something I am thinking is happening, is that if people drop there items they can be found... I remember finding a gun and three clips of ammo on the street in a row once... btw where did you find it, I dropped my flak jacket recently but im not quite sure where...

I found a pistol in a street once, where there was a statue. It's possible that streets have low probabilities of finding absolutely anything, but considering the low probabilities, I bet hardly anyone would bother to look, so we'll probably never know the stats. --Difference Engine 09:33, 8 May 2007 (AEST)

So if I understand correctly, flak jackets don't help against zombie attack. Kinda limits their usefulness to survivors then, dunnit? -- Hendrik Casimir 09:37, 15 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Yes, only useful to survivors in case of PK or death. --LouisB3 21:17, 15 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Another Q: Does a flak jacket wear off eventually? Like if it's been shot multiple times, does it dissapear? Or does it stay forever, so one can discard multiple jackets as useless? Reginald Schelter 10:30, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

stays forever --~~~~ [talk] 10:51, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Has anyone else found flak jackets harder to find recently? I've been searching a powered police department for the last two and a half days, and have yet to find one. I've found multiple radios and flare guns, which are supposed to be even rarer, but no flak-jackets. --AusIV 14:48, 21 May 2008 (BST)

They were always hard to find. even more - hardest to find. i don't know why you think radios and flare guns are rarer - they're not. --~~~~ [talk] 15:16, 21 May 2008 (BST)

I've found three this past weekend from junkyard in Monroeville (not sure if the RNG there is different) which means they are NOT a PD exclusive. I will say this though: these flak jackets are lined with asbestos. I have never heard of a "real world" flak jacket protecting its wearer from being set on fire. Pakopako 03:51, 24 July 2008 (BST)

Mobile Phone

Mobile Phone Test

Here's a screenshot I took of a mobile phone in use. --LtR 00:36, 23 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Sweet. This sort of thing should go into the mobile phone section, but I'm personally waiting for a bit more info on the interface and AP cost for sending messages, and reading them. --LouisB3 00:50, 23 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Checking your phone seems to use 1 AP, seems like you'd use a second AP to send a message. Elliothatman 04:11, 23 Nov 2005 (GMT)

The practical implementation of the phones is lovely, but it displays in a nasty little fixed-width font. Is that necessary? Other than that it is absolutely lovely, really it is! --Jim Bubba 15:53, 24 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Seeing as how the anti-spam measures render the mobile phone nearly useless for communication (either you need to metagame to set up contacts, in which case why not just metagame for communication, or you'd have to have some amazing coincidence with mutual contacts), simply accessing the interface shouldn't cost an AP. Seems like a lot better implementation, from an AP point of view, is to set up the mobile phone in-inventory a bit like the DNA extractor, with a drop-down menu: "mobile phone to check messages, send message to person1, send message to person2, etc". --LouisB3 16:21, 24 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Err, actually, Meta-gaming's not needed. Maybe if you have a diverse group, but if you have anything resembling a base of operations, having reciprocal contacts is as easy as anything else in this game. And I believe that the anti-spam measures probably won't get, you know, different people if they're not using the same computer... -- Odd Starter 09:34, 30 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Eh, I wasn't thinking of groups with bases. I suppose the level of metagaming needed in getting mutual contacts all depends on who you want to use the mobile phone to communicate with. --LouisB3 21:24, 1 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Phone Charging

Must the phone be charged, or is that erroneous information? --LouisB3 04:41, 23 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Not that I've noticed. --Lucero Capell 04:58, 23 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I've not seen any mention of charging anywhere else, and the phone I picked up months ago still works. Presumably this is us over-respecting one person's random wording, again. --Spiro 13:30, 23 Nov 2005 (GMT)

If they do run out, I expect that you would just get a new one from the store (kinda like spray cans). --Uborkapete 14:58, 23 Nov 2005 (GMT)

No charging necessity implemented as of yet. --V2Blast 20:50, 4 June 2006 (BST)

Phone Mast

• Is the Mast an item you can find from searching? From what I've heard, it's part of a building. If it's not an inventory item, it shouldn't be listed here. --Dickie Fux 18:08, 22 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I was thinking the same thing - it should be moved to somewhere else, I'm just not sure where. --LouisB3 20:37, 22 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Edit: Moved to its own page. --LouisB3 21:13, 22 Nov 2005 (GMT)

It's not as though the map has been changed to include phone tower buildings, has it? I'm not asking rhetorically, I honestly don't know. I haven't seen any such buildings, but I haven't been able to explore much since the game update. I'm puzzled about this whole business. EDIT: My bad, I see that this is in fact the case.-CWD 22:14, 22 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Multiple Mobile Phones

Just did a search run to find a much needed GPS and I managed to pick up three mobile phones (and my GPS) almost one right after the other. Does having multiple phones have any sort of advantage or should I just drop two of them? SavannahLion 16:08, 31 March 2006 (BST)

I'm pretty sure the other two are useless. --V2Blast 20:51, 4 June 2006 (BST)

Mobile phones in parks?

While looking for a fir tree, I found a mobile phone in Griffiths Park in Buttonville. Did anyone else manage to find a phone in a park? http://iwrecords.urbandead.info/12-11-07_0100hrs_PRIVATE/OUT_46-94_mobile_phones_i_a96-581-70f.html

--Me Myself And I 02:34, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

You can find a lot of things outside. take a look here: Search Odds/Outside --~~~~ [talk] 07:38, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

NecroTech Revivification Syringe

Are syringes going to become a lot less popular?

Well, now that it takes about 30 ap (plus travel time) to get 5 xp, what do you think will happen? will there be a massive uprising in zombie activity from people just not caring about spending that much effort any more? Personally I think that revive points are going to be more crowded with zombies waiting revives and the number of scientists performing that duty is going to go down drastically. Major unbalance for the sciensts I'd say. BuncyTheFrog 20:19, 28 March 2006 (BST)

1. Yeah, it looks pretty grim. Maybe the XP should be increased a tad, after all, survivors pay a lot for death (10AP to stand as zombie, many AP to get to rev point and a further 10AP to stand up, not counting the time this process takes). What I think we will see happening is a lot less public reviving and a lot more closely knit groups for private revives resulting in more survivor organisation. The impacts of this, however, I cannot foresee. (Sorry, forgot to add sig yesterday - GrimReaperCAC 16:23, 29 March 2006 (BST))
2. 30AP? Thats the second time someone said that, one ingame. But I just revived someone and it cost me 10. Please dont tell me Kevans put in a skill that stops everyone who hasnt got the full range of NT skills from reviving... I'm running a character with maxed survivor skills, including all the science ones. Can anyone with less or none confirm a difference in AP cost? --Preasure 21:51, 28 March 2006 (BST)
   • 30AP including 20 for syringe manufacture/search costs. Revives only cost the 10 AP. Sorry if that was misleading BuncyTheFrog 21:54, 28 March 2006 (BST)
   • Thanks, that can be rather confusing. The game stats tracker's going to show this really well, revives will drop hugely because of this. A protest group along the lines of On Strike wouldnt suprise me either. --Preasure 22:10, 28 March 2006 (BST)
   • On strike for scientists eh? That may end up happening (probably not, 'cause only zombies are usually the whiny ones), because it renders NecroTech starting Scientists fairly useless. You spend so long scanning so you can finally revive, only to find you get much less XP from doing it. I would have hated it when I started (I'm a scientist you see) BuncyTheFrog 22:14, 28 March 2006 (BST)
   • Consider me On Strike. This is just another nail in the coffin in the NecroTech class - they were very underused anyway, as they had no combat skill, had to pay a premium just to wield a weapon and needed to successfully DNA extract from 38 zombies just to buy Free Running - a skill which is pretty much essential for every survivor. The Manufacture Syringe skill was useful, but in a heated siege situation it could be difficult to find the spare AP - plus of course it needed a high level tech.
   • I log back into UD after a long hiatus and this happens. I'm quite disappointed with the update, and yes, I feel like this is a bad idea. I'm having a bloody hard time leveling up as a scientist. -- Angela 01:37, 31 March 2006 (BST)

And now this - is Kevan trying to ensure that nobody chooses the NecroTech character? As it stands, a starting character as a cop can gain levels at a level only dreamt of by a scientist, even getting access to the NecroNet before the NT character has managed to revive anyone. I don't know what prompted it, possibly a swathe of zombie complainants saying that they couldn't win Caiger because of a constant revive chain, but 21+AP per revive takes a lot more work than 6AP at most to stand up with full health, or 2AP if suiciding. 30AP+ to revive a single character? At a return of 0.16XP per AP spent, not to mention the risk to self? And when PKers can off a survivor in as little as 5AP?

This sucks. I trust it will be revised to a sane level. But in the meantime it's not worth playing.

Slavedriver 23:14, 28 March 2006 (BST)

1. • Agreed that this is a bad move. Science / Reviving are skills that should be recieving boosts right now. There are enough killers out there, so why give a penalty to a class which few are playing?--Theblackgecko 23:41, 28 March 2006 (BST)
     • I am assured that the XP may bonus will increase, and if it isn't, I feel for those Scientists. However, this is more a game-balance issue- the 10AP cost is to balance the use of Revives across the board, not to penalize Scientist Characters --Karlsbad 00:12, 29 March 2006 (BST)

I can understand why it was implemented, higher level characters span the classes and abuse the reviving skill, but us scientists are basically forced into military to even get any useful gain of XP. Come on now, FAKs giving only 5 xp, syringes only 10? What kind of class is that? I think the stat page is going to show an even bigger tip in the ratio of scientists to anything else, it's a shame. BuncyTheFrog 21:43, 29 March 2006 (BST)

• On the new update* Hmm... Seems like the Scientists are being pushed more towards a survivor support position. I don't know what kind of boost the DNA extractors are getting XP wise, but this is a kind of strange upgrade, as it's hard enough to scan zombies in the first place. BuncyTheFrog 00:46, 1 April 2006 (BST)
  • What was the previous XP gain? I don't exactly remember. Was it always 4? And... does the line "and the increased difficulty of field revives is being rewarded appropriately" in the news post mean that revives will be getting higher XP now? Or... both reviving AND tagging? I noticed that in the wiki news post, the line reads "the increased difficulty of field operations is being rewarded appropriately" instead. I just ended up getting the NecroNet_Access skills and made a syringe, though obviously I ended up with NO AP left to test it out. Phooey. -- Angela 15:51, 2 April 2006 (BST)
    • Syringes now give 10 xp, so it's gone from 5xp/revive AP->1/2xp/revive AP->1XP/ revive AP. Still works out to a lot less then that though BuncyTheFrog 13:34, 6 April 2006 (BST)

I think the "popularity" of syringes -- or lack thereof -- is becoming quite obvious for me in Santlerville. There are 15 zombies waiting in line in the cemetery, and when I went to visit one an NT building whose revive point is right next to it... there were THIRTY-THREE zombies there. I don't know how the third revive point in Santlerville is doing. Are people On Strike or something? Is this an active movement? -- Angela 01:55, 13 April 2006 (BST)

Syringes becoming scarcer?

• • Well, it has been one week with the new NecroTech ability to manufacture syringes, and the zombie population dropped from 45% to 40%. This is amazing, considering it took ~four weeks to rise from 38% to 45%. I see this as a dramatic shift in skills, I suspect a badass zombie skill is coming, otherwise every zed will need brainrot, and it takes forever to level as a zed compared to military. Balance issue perhaps? -dB, Jan 25, 2006

I don't understand what this phrase is trying to say (regarding the Mk II Syringes): though even their numbers appear to be becoming more and more scarce as the quarantine continues. Is it saying that the search% of syringes has gone down recently? Or is someone just trying to write depressing post-apocalyptic zombie world flavour text? I'm all for flavour text, but not when it seems to be making a misleading statement about game mechanics. If the search% for syringes has gone down, I'd love to know when it did, and by how much. --MoonLayHidden 18:07, 29 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I've read complaints and confusion about this line at least a half-dozen times; I've finally rewritten the section so that the anomalous attempt at mixing flavor with facts no longer exists. Also, the information about Mark 2 syringes is now displayed first; Mark 1 is just a historical footnote (as it should be.) --LouisB3 03:20, 30 Nov 2005 (GMT)

• what do they mean by "the mark 1 was withdrawn or this reason"??? --Gerald Terrant 17:32, 4 Dec 2005 (GMT)

• • obviously a typo or simply forgot to hit the 'F' key "the mark 1 was withdrawn for this reason" makes a lot more sense in context, doesn't it?--Matthew-Stewart 17:25, 5 Dec 2005 (GMT)

• I don't like the fact that the News post on the syringes fails to clearly indicate that you must have brain rotted zombie INSIDE the NT building in order to revive it. 20ap wasted to make a syringe is a steep price if you can't actually use it except for brain rots that voluntarily enter a NT. Why not just take away syringes completely and finish off the game.

Syringes and the stack

So I come to two zombies standing in a park. I use my DNA Extractor and extract the DNA from one, then the DNA from the other. The first one reads as a standard zombie, the second has Brain Rot. So I use a syringe, presuming it would target the one on top of the stack. The syringe instead fails, indicating the Zombie has Brain Rot. So I use my second syringe, assuming it would go to the next zombie in the stack. The same thing happens! It tried to revive the Rotted zombie! What gives? How does the stack work with Syringes? Cigarette 22:13, 19 June 2006 (BST)

Portable Generator

Are we certain that the "It falters for a moment" message has nothing to do with the damage taken? I've set up and destroyed a number and it seems like I have seen that message exactly once each time. Like *hit* "it falters" *hit* "destroyed beyond repair" (with other hits in between). Be interested to know if anyone has destroyed one that they set up without seeing it falter first. Elliothatman 19:30, 1 Dec 2005 (GMT)

can zombies attack generators? where do you find portable generators? How long will a fuel can last?

how do you use them, where do you find them?

(Sign your posts.) The portable generators were only added today - when someone gets some more info on them, they'll put it int the wiki. --LouisB3 21:13, 18 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I put this page on my watch list just I could see it the information as soon as it is posted. I agree, it is impolite to post without signing --Matthew-Stewart 21:35, 18 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I'm now positive that on your first try sence the new generator's came into being, that you WILL have a 100% chance of getting one, as all 4 of my characters have gotten one on their first try in fire departments. of course this might be a bug. And to also note, you can carry more then one, and at least right now the % in firehouses i'm guessing is around 5-10%--Spellbinder 00:36, 24 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Zombies can attack generators from the outside. They die fairly fast, possibly in only one successful hit. (this might be false and my Z character might have just gotten lucky) Slicer 22:06, 18 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Really? from the outside? Sounds like a bug to me. --LouisB3 22:32, 18 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Yeah, that was a bug. It's fixed now, you can only attack them from the inside. --Kevan 22:34, 18 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Sweet! I was the first to file a bug report! (Even if I wasn't the one who noted the bug.) --LouisB3 22:39, 18 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Uh-oh - apparently not fixed. See Bug Reports. --LouisB3 20:22, 20 Nov 2005 (GMT)

Okay, now it's fixed (as of a while back.) --LouisB3 19:42, 24 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I reckon that groups who hold entire quadrants should place generators in every building they own for the following reasons: 1# A sort of tagging- i.e. 'we own these buildings'. 2# To show a friendly light to other survivors:- they know at a glance which are safe buildings. 3# A macho challange to the Zeds- a sort of 'come on if you think you are hard enough' thing. The only drawback is a dependance on fuel cans, (but even if you do run out for whatever reason, only the Hospitals will be truly affected). --Andrew McM

I assume you mean suburbs? I think we'll probably start seeing plenty of non-hospitals with portable generators. People will predict that Kevan will add more uses to portable generators (hopefully they'll be right). Not to mention, all those people using the Uniform Barricading Policy will figure that lights-on in every building will be useful decoys, or something. The only question is how long fuel cans last - anyone have any data? (I'm in one quadrant of a heavily inhabitated mall, and it's had a portable generator running nonstop since they've become available.) One last thing: can a generator hold more fuel than one can's worth?--LouisB3 01:46, 20 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I'm not sure about how long they last, but I'm pretty certain that each generator only holds one fuel can. --LtR 10:33, 20 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I just tested on an empty generator. One fuel can only. I DONT know if you have to wait until the fuel runs out before refueling, but I suspect you do. I�m running an experiment right now to test for run duration. --DarthZeth 01:55, 5 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Fuel Can Duration

I'm doing an experiment with fuel cans to see how long they last (Project Tesla). ONLY one can fits in a generator at a time. This generator has been set up in a factory for 4 days and hasn't run out yet. I don�t know if they run out at the 0000h GMT, or a certain number of hours after you refuel them. The 100 hour mark (which seems likely) is in a little while.

Another theory is that the fuel is used up when you use surgery and stuff in hospitals. Have no idea if this is true.

Another theory is that someone ha been refueling my genny when I wasn�t looking! --DarthZeth 04:44, 9 Dec 2005 (GMT)

You might want to spray a messageon the walls telling people an experiment is in progress and to not refuel the generator. --LouisB3 16:22, 9 Dec 2005 (GMT)

I did that. If someone is refilling the genny, they either can't read or at messing with me. Frankly, I have no idea why anyone would WANT to waste a fuel can on a factory genny. As of right now, it's been running for 115 hours. --DarthZeth 20:06, 9 Dec 2005 (GMT)

we are on our 8th day of operation with out a reported refueling. --DarthZeth 03:40, 12 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Any word on this? Do they ever need refueling?--'STER-Talk-Mod 19:41, 30 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Yes! I found this message:

You are inside a NecroTech Building. The NecroTech logo glows gently above the front desk, and doors open onto a number of brightly-lit laboratories and computer rooms. The building has been very strongly barricaded. Also here are

A portable generator has been set up here. It is running low on fuel.

I think this is definate proof that generators need refueling. Probably as a way to balance them out. Unfortunately we already have something like that. It's called 'Zombie Spies who smash generators continiuosly'. Heh. -- Andrew McM 11:30, 2 Feb 2006 (GMT)

I think the "low on fuel" message is new. And I think it might be buggy. I had a generator show that message just a few hours after setting it up and fueling it. And it seems that a ton of generators around town are now showing that message. -Erik 01:21, 3 Feb 2006 (GMT)

Oddly enough, there is a new message I just found:

You are inside A Hospital. It was one of the last to be evacuated, and seems to have been cleared out in a hurry. The building has been very strongly barricaded. Also here are

A portable generator has been set up here. It only has a little fuel left.

Heh.I think this means that you are more or less informed of fuel levels. -- Andrew McM 16:59, 3 Feb 2006 (GMT)

I took up continued research for Project Tesla some time ago, and I think that the definitive number of hours a single fuel can can keep a generator running is 120 - AKA five days exactly. However, I'm not going to update the page with this info until I've run one final trial... Check my User page for an experiment log. Mordred^MalTel 02:33, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Yup. It's confirmed; 120 hours exactly. Just for the record, I totally rock. Mordred^MalTel 03:31, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

A new update -- my observations recently have been that different building types used fuel at different rates. This has been observed in comparing several different phone mast locations; the one in Dartside lasts only about half as long as the ones in other suburbs under similar conditions. Asheets 21:10, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

I found a new message for generators!!! Ok so you attack a generator with a bottle of beer, or wine,and it says "You pour a bottle of beer into the generator, damaging it" it's so cool, I am sure that attacking a generator with a beer or wine bottle has a 100% hit rate, although it does not guarantee damage. Try it its true!(I am not a gker i was just wandering around a no one was in Club Izzard so I found some beer and attacked the generator with it, and I found those messages.)--Dingus3 20:42, 17 September 2008 (BST)

Destroying a generator

I set one up in a mall yesterday, filled it with one fuel can, and then whacked it four times with my fire axe. The flavor text said it exploded, but it didn't do any damage to me or apparently anyone else around. As soon as I find another fuel can, I'll try this again and see if the same thing happens. --dayfat 13:52, 20 Nov 2005 (GMT)

-A zed character of my attacked a generator repeatedly and the flavor text changed to indicate increasing amounts of damage. Crisco Inferno 23:19, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

This is true. My Zed attacked a generator. When the "you smash at the generator, damaging it; it falters for a moment" message came up, the flavor text was changed to something along the lines of "a dented portable generator has been set up here."--RKM 18:11, 9 March 2007 (EST)

exactly. A dented portable generator has been set up here. after first succefull blow, A battered portable generator has been set up here. after second, A damaged portable generator has been set up here. after 3rd... (no AP to continue) --Duke Garland 15:33, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your input on this Duke. After the 4th blow the text is changed to A badly damaged portable generator has been set up here.... and after that, the next "successful" smash breaks it beyond repair.--RKM 11:15, 10 March 2007 (EST)

The wiki page has been updated to reflect the dented/battered/damaged/badly damaged progression. The same thing happens with radio transmitters. I neglected to check the XP benefits, though - does anyone know if you get points for each stage of damage, or only for destroying the object? How many points? Crisco Inferno 03:02, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Other buildings it effects

Just hooked one up in a Cinema, and the text changed from the room is shrouded in darkness to a subtitled comedy film playing on its main screen. -Spellbinder In clubs the text changes from the dancefloor is shrouded in darkness to Coloured spotlights highlight an empty stage, and distorted music echoes over the speakers.--Spellbinder 17:15, 26 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I haven't tested this yet, but i think that Churches, and railroad stations will also be affected. NOT CONFIRMED!--Spellbinder 00:38, 24 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I just tried a railroad station. didn't change anyhting :( --RocketYam 00:42, 10 Dec 2005 (GMT)

I just tried a Church too. also no change. --RocketYam 01:14, 12 Dec 2005 (GMT)

It also changes the interior description of NT buildings, to 'The NecroTech logo glows gently above the front desk, but all monitors, equipment and laboratory access remain locked out during the quarantine.' Andrew McM 13:05, 25 Nov 2005 (GMT)\

Has anyone attempted to see what happens if you set up running generators in all the blocks of a power plant? (It is just a hypothesis that something might happen and I would like to know if it is true.) --Matthew-Stewart 21:16, 1 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Question

Does a single generator power an entire 4-block building ? It make absolutely sense if a single generator could power an entire mall, since its electricity cables are one for the whole building. If they dont work this way, what about a suggestion for it ? --hagnat 18:42, 25 Jan 2006 (GMT)

Generator Find Rate

Are we sure that the generator find rate in factories is correct? At three percent I should be finding one, maybe two per day - instead I'm finding more like 3 and this is accross several characters and several days. Anyone keeping proper track of this or should I try and get some real statistics? Louise 19:03 1 Feb 2006

The "rates" listed on item pages are taken from various search odds pages, but some are based on small sample spaces, and none of them are updated regularily. The best way to improve them is to report your search results on the search odds pages and add a note about updating item pages as well when updating search odds summaries. - Dashiva 11:23, 2 Feb 2006 (GMT)

I was wondering the same thing because I've been getting a genny about 40% of the time lately in the Santlerville factory.--→LzyGenius 01:02, 16 July 2007 (BST)

On the Generator Find Rates I saw this posted as its search rate today: "(2.4%/3.6%)" What does that mean? Under what circumstance is the search rate 2.4%? Under what circumstance is it 3.6%?

I also noted that we used to be able to find generators in fire stations according to the discussion here, but the generator page in the wiki doesn't list those as a possible source. Are they no longer able to be found in a fire station? --Ewan Devlin 16:09, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

2.4/3.6 should be chance of finding unpowered/powered factory. Be aware however that these stats are compiled by users like yourself and may be based on insufficient evidence. Fire stations may be a possible find location, if you have any proof (screenie/iwitness) of finding a genny in a firestation feel free to add it here and put it on the list. Kevan often changes search rates slightly from time to time however he doesn't usually remove/add an item to a new location. Hope that helps.--xoxo 23:38, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

My char has wasted like 125 APs at the Heytown Factory and no luck at all.--Guimas 19:23, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

Ruins now different appearance when powered?

Today I saw a strangely coloured building - a kind of off yellow behind the text rather than the normal yellow meaning powered or the grey/dark grey of unpowered/ruined. It was definitely a different colour as I could see a powered building at the same time on my mini-map. Jumping over I found the building ruined, DWO. The new colour remained as I entered the building. It would appear that powered ruins now show up on the mini-map as an off-yellow, rather than simply not appearing powered in ruined buildings. Can someone confirm this? --ORakoon 17:39, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

It's an update. -- . . <== DDR Approved Editor 18:06, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Revive Syringe Search Probability

Are the changes for finding a revive syringe in a NT building still 12.4%? I've looked over 10 times in the same building, didn't find any syringes, but have found a number of GPS devices.:Mstcrow5429 06:11, 22 May 2006 (BST)

I think you need to have Necrotech employment skill to be successful at searching an NT building. I recently did a fair amount of searching in a powered NT before getting the skill and came up with nothing repeatedly. Later, I searched with the skill and came up with a GPS, 2 syringes and a DNA scanner in only 5 searches. Just good luck or did having the skill change the search odds? Medic 812 05:34, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Nobody researched this question at this time, assumption was made that skill doesn't effect. To make the research there should be dedicated player with accourding character (not having skill) reporting to search odds - i doubt that will happen. Anyway, what's wrong in not finding syringes in 10 searches? it's just luck, "bad luck" in this case. or maybe "good" if to think about search success rate for GPS ;) --~~~~ [talk] 17:45, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

That used to be considered reasonable, but 2 syringes in 5 searches, that's insane. That being said I think I've noticed the same thing so if I have the time I might make a new character for the sole purpose of checking that out.--Karek^maps?! 20:14, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

There's nothing insane even in 2 syringes in 2 searches. How deep is your knowledge of (not sure of english terms) probability therory and math statistics? --~~~~ [talk] 20:27, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I just meant compared to the games history, finding Syringes at that rate a year ago would have been considered considered too high.--Karek^maps?! 20:57, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, when reviving was 1AP action, sure. However why would we mind that now, eh? Hm, maybe this page needs to archived from too old stuff --~~~~ [talk] 21:02, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I'll go into that somewhere else, but even after the change this wasn't exactly considered too reasonable as a search rate.--Karek^maps?! 21:25, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Radio

I have found a non-portable radio in a police station in roywood. I believe that we should classify radios in a sepperate page of items. As it is none movable but still an item. --ramby T--W! - SGP 14:54, 1 June 2006 (BST)

So is the radio in police station the submitter? --Changchad ^{WTF•W!•SGP} 15:09, 1 June 2006 (BST)

Untill I can get more info over the next few days I will not know if it recieves or not.. Bt I do know it transmits things. On the same range as the hand held radios too. Yes, it transmits and recieves too... --ramby T--W! - SGP 15:11, 1 June 2006 (BST)

So do you hear things on it? 15:18, Bounty_Hunter2000 1 june 2006 (GMT)(I cloned your user page for you.) --ramby T--W! - SGP 15:34, 1 June 2006 (BST)

It comes up as a 26.26MHz (insert random whatever)(time stamp) And could you please sign your name --~~~~ like so. Second button from the right. --ramby T--W! - SGP 15:32, 1 June 2006 (BST)

I recieved 28Mhz, and 27.xx Mhz. This thing is going to create so much spam...in Ciagar, 30 mins and I got page of those spam. --Changchad ^{WTF•W!•SGP} 15:54, 1 June 2006 (BST)

I have a radio and am not even in a police station and I have spam --ramby T--W! - SGP 15:57, 1 June 2006 (BST)

This is gonna be a spammer and a huge buff with survivor's co-ordination :/. --Changchad ^{WTF•W!•SGP} 16:06, 1 June 2006 (BST)

I know.. That was not the smartest thing... but at least he was smart enought to make sure there was more then one channel --ramby T--W! - SGP 16:10, 1 June 2006 (BST)

Meh. I can see two channel at once for some reason. I'd really hate to say anything about the ratio for the survivor and zombie. --Changchad ^{WTF•W!•SGP} 16:11, 1 June 2006 (BST)

Anyway that is all off topic. I think we should create a forth page. "Non-movable items" --ramby T--W! - SGP 16:16, 1 June 2006 (BST)

There are 2 radio items a Transmitter which has to be hooked up in a powered building. And a Portable Radio which is recieve only. The radio I set up in Marven mall can be tuned between believe 26 & 28 Mhz. Also what channel should be the emergency channel? I think an easy to remmeber number like 26.00 Mhz. --Technerd 16:18, 1 June 2006 (BST)

Yes, 26.00 is a good idea. But it would have to be spray painted next to the barricades. ugg *shakes head* I will think of taht later. I just want to put it before everyone befor I bring up a page creation --ramby T--W! - SGP 16:33, 1 June 2006 (BST)

Yeh, there are really TWO different new items; I haven't found either, but if someone could post the actual in-game 'names' of these items and any confirmed aspects about them the 'radio' entry would be better.(as it is now it's sorely lacking, or just plain wrong, like the weight apparently...) In fact it should be two different entries; one for each item. Also, let's try not to confuse the issues of the actual properties of these items, and their use/frequencies/ect. --Raystanwick 22:46, 3 June 2006 (BST)

Something else to consider testing for... Does powering a radio transmitter cost generator fuel? I.e., does the generator run out of fuel more quickly with a radio transmitter attached? Could this be a reason to avoid installing transmitters? --SearchDerelict 00:58, 4 June 2006 (BST)

OK, here's something. I heard something on a Radio Transmitter. I responded to something on said Transmitter. There were replies on the Transmitter. Then, I retuned the Transmitter to the External Military channel. So far so good, right?

However, other people in the building are now very confused by what ent on, as they've logged in afterwards, and they have seen none of the exchange, only military reports.

So, it looks like the radio store the fact that there was a broadcast, and then fills in the broadcast with something from whatever channel the radio is tuned too, rather then what was actually said. --Turner Calton 21:31, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

On the wiki entry for Radio Transmitters, it says they can be found in Fire Stations and Storehouses (Warehouses?). Has anyone actually found any at those locations? --The Masked Lurker 05:37, 10 April 2008 (BST)

Fixed, thanks for the notice. They never were available in FSes and Storehouses is for Fort Storehouses --~~~~ [talk] 08:32, 10 April 2008 (BST)

Thanks for fixing this. I wasted waayy too much AP searching in those other locations when I was far from a mall--Dr Mycroft Chris 03:13, 20 July 2008 (BST)

Range Clarification (Diagonals)

I just wanted to know as a clarification for whenever something is listed as having a range in any direction. Does this include diagonals, or would a square diagonally to the upper left be considered 2 squares away when calculating the range? The question is generally aimed at flare guns, listed as being seen from 14 blocks away, but I guess could apply to anything else. Coldfrog 09:21, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes. Because map square are, well, square, diagonal distances make equilateral triangles and distances traveled are the same as if you were on the flat - if you walk 14 blocks east you'll be in the same y position as if you walked 14 blocks NE. More simply, if you draw a line 14 bocks from you north, south, east and west, flares can be seen anywhere inside the square it creates. --Preasure 10:19, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Toolboxes

We should find out where these newly added items can be found. I presume the hardware store? Italus 14:24, 14 August 2007 (BST)

Ooooooouch, 16% encumbrace??!! Gawd I hope that fixing ruined building merely requires the use of a toolbox, and not the use of extra AP... if not... oh I'll just say it: if it not, then ruining buildings is overpowered, even with the genny repair ability. --WanYao 14:25, 14 August 2007 (BST)

16% encumbrance is excessive, considering that now every survivor has to carry one in order to reclaim buildings. This shifts the balance of power too much. What are the odds of talking Kevan into a) making it portable (like 6-10% encumbrance) or b) not requiring a toolbox (but requiring Construction skill) to clean ransacked buildings?
b) would be better in my opinion; what's the explanation behind needing a 40kg pair of calipers to clean up a room?
As it stands, this particular change is equivalent to simply reducing the maximum inventory of most survivors, and making ransacked buildings impossible to clear for a day or so. --MeatHead 14:59, 14 August 2007 (BST)

its not simply clean a room, its actually fixing it! Fixing doors, nailing shelves together, rewiring the power grid, all that stuff. When i need to fix any furniture in here i always carry my toolbox around, even if i only need a tool or two to fix it. But i kind of agree that 16% encumbrance is too much, but if you want to get rid of the toolbox item, you will need another skill to counter it (like, you need the toolbox and the construction skill to fix a building if you dont have this skill). --People's Commissar Hagnat ^{[cloned] [mod]} 15:24, 14 August 2007 (BST)

I don't want to get rid of the toolbox at all: I think most of the changes are good...

-Needing construction to clear a ransacked building, good - zombies need a Ransack skill, so survivors should need a skill too to balance.

-Needing a toolkit to repair a generator/radio, good - this change was a long time coming and effectively counters certain GKer's tactics of stealthily "wounding" generators (Extinction's "generatorkiller", I'm looking in your direction...)

-Having ransacked status visible from outside, lets zombies more visibly "claim" buildings...

-Clearing corpses from forts, great - this change was a very long time coming and makes it possible for survivors to actually hold them.

I just don't think the toolbox should be THAT heavy if you HAVE to carry it. I envisioned it being like a medical device for generators and radios: at 8% encumbrance, you can either carry it to repair generators or you can hold a few more FAKs / ammo magazines / syringes, adding some more distinction between advanced survivor "career paths."

Perhaps it should even slightly improve your odds of successfully barricading buildings past VSB if the above is not enough to encourage people to carry it.

If you need it to reclaim a ransacked building, it over-corrects the previous problem that any survivor could repair a ransacked building, effectively making it easier for zombies to hold territory than survivors... which doesn't make gameplay sense. It also makes it harder for everyone but very organized metagamers to reclaim buildings since it's a good 24-42 pistol bullets you can no longer carry. That is a big deal!

Ideally, once a building has no survivors inside, or no zombies inside, it should be simple to "claim" it for one side or the other using the ransack attribute. This bizarre toolkit makes that too unbalanced in favor of the zombies.

If there's any way to convince Kevan to relent from this particular change while keeping all the rest, it's in every player's interest to do so, with the possible exception of the "win by any means necessary including cheating" zombie groups. I hope there aren't many players like that.

Thanks for reading. I will continue discussion on this topic in Talk:News --MeatHead 17:04, 14 August 2007 (BST)

No way, it shouldn't cost 5 AP to fix a building. Spending one extra AP, okay, maybe... This is already a powerful change for the zombie side. Here's why... survivors are now required to carry a VERY HEAVY item (16% is outrageous, though I believe 10-12% would be quite reasonable for such a useful item) which limits them in other ways. And they have to expend an amount of AP just searching for it in the first place... Ergo, I believe 5 extra AP would be totally nerfing survivors, even given the fact that it's very useful to be able to fix gennies and radios. And 5 AP to fix a ruined building means that the areas which zombies have "occupied" would now be nearly impossible to clear out. Which isn't fair.

And before someone says I'm just a survivor whiner... shut up. I'm not on ANY side, I'm just trying to look at this objectively. Of course, I *am* a newbie and I could be mistaken in my conclusions, that's fair enough...

But other than my thoughts above, a few minor critiques, I think this is an awesome change! And I'll tell you what I especially like: it encourages (or ought to encourage) survivors to start specialising in their tasks. In other words, it forces them to start THINKING more... and ORGANISING better. Which it seems many survivor players don't like, "Like, thinking? OMG, HEADACKE!!!" meh. Anyway... I mean, not everyone can -- or really SHOULD -- carry a toolbox. "Toolboxing" ;P should be a specialised task, not a universal one. My 2 bits worth... --WanYao 19:27, 14 August 2007 (BST)

Toolboxes should NOT weigh less. In all fairness, All it takes is @25 AP for a survivor to undo the ransack and set up 'cades (5 AP fixing it up, 20 AP to get it to EHB, or VSB with a working generator). For a zombie attacking, even a high level one, it takes at least 35-80 AP to knock the 'cades down and then ransack the building. Making it any easier to fix up a ransacked building makes it impossible for zombies to hold ground, because point-for-point survivors win the battle for barricading. If every survivor could easily get a toolbox, then the zombies could never hold a building. As-is, survivors need to decide if they want the support role of fixing up damaged buildings, or if they want the firepower 16% can give you -- Corwin Amberly 19:20, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

I think that there should be a new class called "repairman" that starts out with the toolbox in its inventory and the construction skill. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Worldstone (talk • contribs) at an unknown time.

NO, that would be a bad idea - it's very abusable --~~~~_T^''' 07:32, 15 August 2007 (BST)

There's no way the drop rate could be estimated at 20% at a hardware store. I've found more generators than I've found toolboxes (which, as of today, is 4 to 1.) Casull 18:59, 15 August 2007 (BST)

I guess it's in lit mall with Shopping and Bargain Hunting skills that raises the chance. 20% is definetely wrong, don't know why somebody put it there --~~~~_T^''' 21:37, 15 August 2007 (BST)

Even in a lit mall with Shopping and Bargain Hunting, there's no way it's nowhere near 20% drop rate, or even, dare I say, 1%. You think they'd be in the hardware store, but I have yet to find one in Pole Mall's hardware stores. Seriously. Casull 20:20, 16 August 2007 (BST)

Lets face it, Factories have become more important, Also I believe search probabilities in Factories for everything have increased. The other day I found a toolbox, Genny, fuel, and a couple axe's in just one days search. BenderWaW 04:05, 8 September 2007 (BST)

So is it a fact? Even with Shopping and Bargain Hunting odds for gennies and toolboxes are actually about the same or even better at lit factories than at malls?--Newark Wilder 18:03, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

Gennies yes, Toolboxes probably not.--Karek^maps?! 00:47, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

I'll have a look at facts later, but generally if you want to bring light (i mean survivor light, not barhah) you'ld better search factories that get you both gens and fuel (and also pipes, axes and crowbars for newbies) than separetely hardware stores for gens and auto repairs for fuel. Not sure about toolboxes. --~~~~ [talk] 12:16, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

I recently spent 200-300 AP searching for a tool box in both a lit factory and a lit auto repair shop. Still no toolbox--just a bajillion pipes, newspapers, fuel cans, and the occasional generator. What the hell? NeilTabor (talk) 12:16, 4 October 2016 (UTC)

A week or two ago I found one in a lit factory after about 50AP of searching. They're not the most common, but 200-300 sounds way beyond normal. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 12:20, 4 October 2016 (UTC)

Discrimination

ahem. why are spray cans stuck over in misc items? I would say they are more useful then mobile phones or gpss. Anyway what would constitute a 'useful' item depends on how you play the game. Whose decision was it to categorise items like that? Because i think all items should be 2g4.--xoxo 07:15, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Go ahead and move spray cans to useful items. I'm fine with that. Be sure to change any redirects to that page too. --Pdeq^Talk* 22:31, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Attempting to write profanity causes the spray can to hiss and run out before writing anything - now could anyone give more details about that? :)

Revive Syringe Search Probability (REDUX)

Is the probability STILL 12.5%? I've heard many reports that the find rate for these things have been boosted by a massive amount. It's reported as fact in numerous other locations in the wiki, and people take it for granted in discussions. So what IS the new find rate? Iunnrais 18:30, 10 April 2008 (BST)

Never mind. Found it. And updated page. Iunnrais 20:43, 10 April 2008 (BST)

Pretty sureCertain that is wrong too, or at least somewhat off, Data here seems to trend closer to 15%, which at the time I and other people were also citing near 18-20% find rates and even more recent numbers show it near if not over 20%. Not to mention that there seems to have been an alteration for how searches work with people finding things at better rates in areas where there are less survivors searching. I can with confidence and complete sureness say that 8 syringes in 50 AP was extremely common not even two weeks ago. --Karek^maps?! 10:16, 11 April 2008 (BST)

Iunnrais "found" the percent syringes are found betwean items that are found for "stabilised" data from the past. (i.e. those 44% mean if you found an item 44% is that it will be a syringe). Anyway, as it was seen, search odds indeed depend from z:s ratio and maybe s number itself in town or in searched suburb. Posting any "precise" data in such cases on official wiki information page is creating misinformation. For the unofficial pages i'ld like to refer you to Rupert. He might answer the questions you have --~~~~ [talk] 09:43, 13 April 2008 (BST)

Fuel Can Search Rates and Warehouses

Just a quick question regarding the information that puts powered warehouse fuel can search rates at 10%.

I understand the nature of statistics, so I am fully aware of the possibility that I have just had a string of extreme bad luck over the last few months, but as an engineer for my group I've spent hundreds of AP searching for fuel in a warehouse and for my efforts have only ever found 1 can.

On the flipside, I can go to a powered auto repair centre and find heaps, at a seemingly better rate than ~6%

Also, in terms of just common sense, auto repair centres sound like a more reasonable bet for the best fuel can search rates in the game than warehouses.

I understand some people have search rate trackers, so perhaps I am a statistical anomaly. Can anyone confirm those search rates for auto repair centres and warehouses? Please, I'm happy to be wrong :) -Avenell

Can you find fuel cans in warehouses? I thought it was just power stations, factories and auto repair shops.--Rosslessness^{Want a Location Image?} 22:15, 7 August 2008 (BST)

http://wiki.urbandead.com/index.php/Useful_Items#Fuel_Can

Locations: Auto Repair shops (4.3%/6.3%), Factories (2.2%/3.8%), Warehouses (5%/10%), carparks (2%?), Power Stations (2.1%/4.5%), Junkyards (1%?), Storehouses (?%), Vehicle Depots (?%), Streets (?%) -Avenell 22:49, 7 August 2008.

God this wiki is muddled. I'd ask User:Duke Garland Hes normally good at this kind of thing. --Rosslessness^{Want a Location Image?} 09:19, 8 August 2008 (BST)

I talked to Duke Garland. He said that it is dodge

Duke Garland said:

somebody made a very dodgy claim. Warehouses are far from the best fuel source. i think i never completed my own researches, but i point you to excellent research made by Rupert - it's right on his userpage. According to it: lit auto repairs provide fuel cans at rate ~5.2%, lit factories ~5.4%, lit warehouses ~3.8%. Factories were always my favorites as you have also chance to get generators.

--Avenell 00:06, 11 August 2008 (BST)

FAks search rates

The search rates were quite high in Malls with the 2 civilians skills, now it's much lower.

So there's Hospitals (14% ?) for FAKs, plus a rumor said they were supposed to have a better FAks search rate than before, since Malls are no longer Medic's heaven.

But there's a problem : for about 2 weeks my ratio AP-spend/FAKs-found is ~50/2, and many people around me report the same problem. I understand the search rate x% is for each search, but I have a doubt. It become much more cheaper to manufacture syringe (let people die, stand up and revive + only one FAK for infection).

If Great God wants to make it harder for survivors, ok. But at least tell us about it, there's nothing funny to waste tons of AP while staying in the same building all the weeks, trying to get 10+ FAKs, to heal survivors at attacked buildings on the frontline (nb : there's Borehamwood if you want "nightmare mode" for survivors).

Keep in mind FAK heal only 10hp (5 no-skill, 15 at hospitals), while zombies can feed on corpses (1ap<=>4hp), use digestion (dmg dealed = hp gained) and stand up billions time (if killed => zombie ; if revived => survivors : they just have wait for comrades, window or PK), the healing is not a "super-power" of survivors.

Btw why not letting people manufacture FAKs in powered Hospital (with a new skill) ?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by PyroPyro (talk • contribs) at an unknown time.

Hmmm, the published data as well as my own search returns have been far higher than one in 25. For me both malls and hospitals are running at around 1/5, which seems to be the generally accepted figure. Keep search and hopefully your results will turn around. Also, if it is really hard to find FAKs then letting people die and syringe them then one on infection is a valid tactic, feel free to embrace it! Also remember to sign your posts by cicking after you've typed your post.--xoxo 23:50, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

The useful item page says that you can find FAKs easier in hospitals than in malls. It also says the FAK find rate is 14%, but the skill bargain hunting increases the chance of finding an item in a mall by 25%, so wouldn't the mall find rate for survivors with bargain hunting be much higher than the find rate in a hospital (25% bonus rate + base find rate)? --ScaredPlayer 21:45, 19 April 2009 (BST)

XP gain for DNA scanning

The article says "This item requires NecroTech Employment to use, but gives 4 XP for each successful use"

And also, "there is no XP gain from the extraction"

Which is it?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by ICanHazBrainz (talk • contribs) at an unknown time.

It's saying that if the zombie's already been tagged, then you don't get any XP, but if they haven't been tagged since their last action, you do gain 4XP.--Yonnua Koponen ^{Talk ! Contribs} 07:41, 16 September 2009 (BST)

Broadcast/Graffiti length and Unicode text

The Radio Transmitter and Spray Can sections mention that broadcasts and graffiti are both limited to 50 characters. I've hit a shorter limit when using Unicode characters. Maybe the game is actually enforcing a 50 byte limit (assuming a UTF-8 encoding)? Could someone experiment to verify this? --Thvortex 06:14, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

Drop Rates

Do we want to make a template for the current drop rates of items that can be updated whenever the population changes? --Akule ^{Maker of fine, hand-crafted UDWiki sass since 2006 -- Akule School's back in session™} 19:59, 15 May 2011 (BST)

Fuel message timing

Have been looking into how long a fuel can lasts before you get the "It is running low on fuel" message, and then "It only has a little fuel left", so you can work out how roughly long a generator with those messages will stay powered before needing to be refuelled. So far:

• "It is running low on fuel" - appears some time between 84 and 96 hours (in a NT building)
• "It only has a little fuel left" - appears some time after 110 hours (in an NT building)

Will try to narrow this down more, and confirm it in a couple of different building types before adding to the page. --xensyria^T 08:12, 7 August 2021 (UTC)

I saw somewhere that a fuel can lasts 5 days, so I assumed "It is running low on fuel" is day 4, and "It only has a little fuel left" is day 5. --Yo Ris (talk) 08:32, 7 August 2021 (UTC)

Yeah I'm surprised I couldn't find exactly when those messages turn up - the 5 days (120 hours) thing seems accurate and those messages on day 4 & day 5 make sense but from what I'm seeing so far it might be something like 90 hours in for the first message, then maybe 110 hours for the second one? --xensyria^T 12:37, 7 August 2021 (UTC)