Making your first vehicle (The humble bicycle)

0.D (Danny)

Introduction

Hey you! if you've survived for a few days, you're probably using someone's car which was left on the road. You may have some complaints about this vehicle;

• Too loud! Gasoline engines are very loud!
• Too big. Sure, it's nice to have a car with a seatbelt, but you won't get far with it when you're surrounded by forests.
• Not enough fuel. Gasoline is very rare, so it is easily a non renewable resource.
• Too damaged for now. You probably will need to repair it to go for the big journey through the New England Wasteland, and you may need to find replacement parts for any damaged components which may be hard to find... And you may need to brush up on your mechanics and driving skills first.

I have something to solve all 3 of the complaints; the humble bicycle. Not very stylish, and VERY dangerous if you do not use a seatbelt, but bicycles weren't made to crash into things in the first place! It may not be as deadly as your dream death mobile, but it does the job well. It allows you to escape from enemies quicker than running. It goes up to around 20 mph/36 km/h and if you attach containers to it like wooden boxes, it can become a mobile chest. It doesn't use an engine nor gasoline, instead it uses your legs. It can even be dragged through rough terrain like forests. And it can be used to get to your major scavenging spots faster without wasting too much of your precious time for the day.

Getting started

First, amass a large stockpile of nails, a hammer, and maybe an acytelyne torch/welder for steel bicycles. Also get at least 4 mechanics skill, so you will be able to repair your bicycle if a zombie rudely slaps it. Get nails by randomly finding cabins with fallen roofs, with MASSIVE amounts of nails you can dig up! You can acquire as many as 5000 nails total if you're lucky, and as many as 1000 nails per tile of rubble if you're THAT lucky. You could disassemble/smash furniture for nails. Or you can go up to a wall and smash it down with a sledgehammer, and dig up the rubble if you collapse the building. Take precautions against deafness though, collapsing buildings are very loud, about 250 sound, so that also ought to attract MANY zombies. By the way, rocks won't work. It has to be a hammer, even though rocks have 1 hammering quality, they aren't very good at precise hammering.

You can use steel parts and rubber wheels. But if you live innawoods, wooden frames and cart wheels work too. If you have the luxury of a sledgehammer you may be able to literally smash controls out of an existing vehicle and repair them later with a soldering iron. Otherwise, surgically remove the controls with the remove button. Otherwise, find a sledgehammer. Next, try crafting a foot pedal out of pipe, scrap metal, and steel chain. Try finding steel chain on farmhouses. If you find a foot pedal on an existing bicycle don't smash it out because why not use that existing bicycle instead? Finally, craft wooden frames for the frames and the box you'll ride in. Anyways, you'll want to have it look like this:

| wooden frame | steerable wheel
O wooden frame | seat or saddle | controls | foot pedals
| wooden frame | wooden cart wheel

Pretty cool, right? Take it out for a ride, show off to your (undead) friends, and have fun!

Downsides

Unfortunately, bicycles do have a limit until you have to use a motor. Around 250 kg, you won't be able to ride anymore (your bicycle is too heavy!) this includes your weight too! Also NPCs can weigh it down, 1 NPC is the maximum you can bring with you, and only with very little in the way of things stored in the bicycle. Furthermore if you run into something, your bike will break into pieces. Their small size also limits what kind of utilities you can place on it. For example, having an oven on a bicycle is impossible.

In 0.D (Danny) the footcrank uses stamina, so overusing the bike will make you very tired. You will still get where you want to go. But fighting after getting off your bike will be hard.

Ideas to improve your bicycle

Wire basket rider: Lighter but less storage space.
| wooden frame | steerable wheel
O wooden frame | bicycle wire basket | controls | foot pedals
| wooden frame | wooden cart wheel

Ride with an NPC: Room for a friend!
| wooden frame | steerable wheel
O wooden frame | saddle or seat | controls | foot pedals
O wooden frame | any boardable part (like wooden box or seat) | wooden cart wheel

Death bike: Not defenseless anymore!
^ wooden spike
| wooden frame | steerable wheel
O wooden frame | saddle or seat | controls | foot pedals
| wooden frame | wooden cart wheel

Safety first: Be careful!
| wooden frame | steerable wheel
O wooden frame | seat | controls | foot pedals | seatbelt
| wooden frame | wooden cart wheel

By Rolleol (talk) 23:27, 21 April 2017 (MDT)