Vehicles

Vehicles

Vehicles, as their name suggests, provide a mean for the survivor to move around much faster than on foot and if equipped with a trunk or box; allow the survivor to store his or her belongings in them.

Unfortunately due to the loud noises their engines make, they can quickly turn into a death-trap should you cruise through a town because of the huge amount of zombies their loudness attracts. Because of acid rains and perhaps the neglect of their previous owners, most of the vehicles found in the streets are either damaged or broken, and this fact can quickly lead to the demise to the unlucky-enough driver of the car should his or her car break down in the middle of a horde.

Common Locations

Automobiles and other kinds of vehicles can be found in many places, such as car lots, garages, and some other places. It will be much more likely for a vehicle to spawn in a car lot than a garage, though, and it is necessary to note that the chances of finding a broken vehicle are higher than a working one.

The first thing you want to check when finding a new vehicle is the amount of gasoline or batteries left (unless it's a bicycle) and if it has enough wheels to move around. That information is displayed when examining the vehicle. With enough fuel and wheels you can start driving that vehicle as soon as you find it, so you can move it to a safer place to be able to enhance it, repair it, refill it, etc without the threat of zombies and other beasts.

Default Vehicles

This is a list of vehicles that you can find in the aforementioned locations:

• Car
• Beetle
• Motorcycle
• Scooter
• Bicycle
• Quad Bike
• Semi Truck
• Truck Trailer
• Flatbed Truck
• School bus
• Wagon
• Bubble Car
• Golf Cart
• Military Cargo Truck

You can also find incomplete versions of some of those vehicles inside garages. In that case they'll be displayed as "<name of vehicle> Chassis".

Driving vehicles

Any character can drive a vehicle independently of his/her driving skill, although the lower the skill is the higher the chance of losing control of the vehicle while driving it.

To control a vehicle you can use either the cursor keys or the numeric pad. Using the numeric pad has the advantage of allowing your vehicle to move forward without any other interaction than pressing 5 once your vehicle is in motion. Otherwise you'll need to either turn or increase/decrease your speed to update the current vehicle position.

All vehicles have a built-in cruise control device (accessed via $) which allows you to set the desired speed. That will make your vehicle to automatically adjust its speed to match the one you set. When this device is deactivated the vehicle will progressively lose speed unless you increase it manually.

The $ menu also allows you to turn on and off your vehicle's head lights, if they are installed and still functional, and activate and deactivate any installed turret.

Getting out of a moving vehicle (with a speed other than 0) will damage you. The damage is proportional to the current speed of the vehicle.

Light and, particularly, two wheeled vehicles are better suited to road types of terrain. In other types you have a chance of crashing against bushes and other natural obstacles if your speed is too low, which will stop your vehicle dead and in some cases throw you into the air (and take damage once you collide). When that happens you can also get your vehicle stuck between bushes, making its recovery extremely tricky.

Vehicle Construction

While it is certainly possible to build your own vehicle, a great amount of materials are needed as well as the following tools:

• A powered welder
• A wrench
• A hacksaw (if removing parts)

In order to create a vehicle, in addition to the above tools, a steel frame is required for starting the process. (Access the construction menu * and select 'Start Vehicle Construction'.)

A functioning vehicle requires a minimum of:

• Two wheels
• One seat
• Controls
• Any Engine

Many different vehicle designs can be created and optional accessories such as turrets and headlights can also be added.

Modifying a vehicle

You can modify your vehicle as long as you have the required components, mechanics skill and tools (loaded welder, wrench and, sometimes, a hack saw).

Removing parts

Select the part you want to remove (by using the cursor keys) and remove it. You'll need a hack saw in your inventory or nearby to do this. The removed components will be dropped on the ground, in a tile close to the area the part was removed from.

Installing parts

Select the area where you want to install something by using the cursor keys and then install it. A list of possible accessories will be displayed in the lower right area. Navigate the list until you find the one you want and press RETURN. Those greyed out are possible installations where you lack the required components.

Available parts

Basic

• Frame
• Board
• Seat
• Roof

Controls

• Controls
• Handle

Doors

• Door
• Opaque door
• Internal door

Wheels

• Wheel
• Wide wheel
• Bicycle wheel
• Motorbike wheel
• Small wheel

Engines

• 1-cylinder engine
• V-twin engine
• Inline-4 engine
• V6 engine
• V8 engine
• Electric motor
• Large electric motor
• Plasma engine
• Foot pedals

Fuel storage

• Gasoline tank
• Storage battery
• Mini-reactor
• Hydrogen tank

Items Storage

• Trunk
• Box

Weapons

• Blade
• Spike
• Mounted M249
• Mounted flamethrower
• Mounted plasma gun

Armor

• Steel plating
• Super-alloy plating
• Spiked plating
• Hard plating

Misc

• Bed
• Windshield
• Muffler
• Seat belt
• Solar panel
• Head light

Vehicle Damage

Vehicles are damaged by colliding against obstacles, by environmental damage (such as acid rain and fire), by the type of terrain you're driving over or just by simple use.

As in real life, the damage suffered by your vehicle is locational. For example, by crashing the front right part of your vehicle against a building you would damage only the front right wheel, front right frame, and any accessories located in that area.

Engines can also be damaged by going faster than the recommended maximum speed. You can check that speed by examining your vehicle.

Note that you can still drive a vehicle with more than two wheels (such as a car) even if some of them are broken or missing. You can check its mobility status by examining it.

The damage of each part is displayed using a color code, from undamaged to broken:

• Dark green
• Green
• Light green
• Yellow
• Pink
• Red
• Grey

A part will keep being functional until it's grey, which indicates that it's broken and needs a replacement.

Vehicle Repairs

To repair a vehicle you need a loaded welder and a wrench (either in your inventory or nearby), then examine the vehicle and select the part you want to repair by pressing the cursor keys. Once the part is selected you'll be able to repair it if your mechanics skill is equal or higher than the one required.

If a part is colored grey it means that it's broken and you'll need the specified spare part (in your inventory or nearby) in order to repair it.

Refilling a vehicle

All vehicles except bicycles need some sort of combustible or power source in order to move. You can check how filled its gasoline tank or batteries are by looking at the fuel indicator. It's displayed as "E../F", where the slash indicates how Empty or Full the gas tank or batteries are (close to E, empty, close to F, full). While mounted you can check it on the lower right corner of the screen. While dismounted you have to examine the vehicle to check it.

Gasoline engines

Gasoline can be found in gas stations, and can be used to fill the gas tank of your vehicle in two ways:

A) examine a gas pump. When prompted say Yes to start pumping and then No when asked if you want to pour it on the ground, then choose any empty container in your possession that is able to hold liquids. You can use anything for this purpose, from a plastic bottle (that only holds 400 units) to a plastic jerrycan (which can hold up to 8000 units of gasoline).

Once you have a recipient filled with gasoline examine your vehicle and search for its gasoline tank. You can find the tank by moving around the vehicle parts by using the cursor keys. Finally Refill it.

B) Move your vehicle next to the gas pump and examine it. When asked if you want to fill your vehicle say Yes, and then press the direction where your vehicle is. Now you can either say Yes to automatically refill the vehicle until its gas tank is full or say No and only fill it a bit. Whatever you decide depends on the situation, as filling a tank from empty to full can take a long time.

Electric engines

Require batteries and/or solar panels installed. Much more silent. Sound not affected by muffler.

Using Vehicle Storage

Stand next to the tile with Vehicle Storage and Drop items into it. This has to be done before you can examine the tile to see or use what's there.

You can store items in any seat, bed, box or trunk present in the vehicle. From all those, trunks are the ones with higher storage capacity. While you can use the driver's seat for storage you won't be able to sit properly to drive your vehicle if it's too packed.

Once the part used for storage has reached its maximum capacity any further items you place there will be dropped on the ground (you'll be warned about it). To recover those objects you have to examine the storage area and say No when prompted. Remember that you don't pick those objects up again they'll be left lying there once you drive away.

Note: This page is still in need of expansion, read proofing and fact checking. Feel free to contribute by editing or adding sections here.