Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven General Discussion (Part 3 beta coming in December)

I just tried waiting on hacking, gathering food and supplies instead, eating a Normal sized meal with dependent and stress only went down 4% instead of the 12 it should be. stress %-(round(wil/5)) wil= 60. Having the same issue with snacks/alcoholic drink mentioned above.

I’m not sure if this is a bug or if there are additional code checks that reduce or increase benefits based on timing?

The stress additions also don’t seem to be adding correctly from what I’m reading and seeing.

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@Okami-Nora Ok well, I don’t think being murdered is “fine” but I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.

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Oh I meant that Jillian personally is fine with taking risks due to her con-artist background. She seems used to playing that sort of ‘game’ (for how long she’s been doing it is another question), and is clearly confidant in her skills. Big risks for big rewards kind of deal. She’s fine doing her conning (regardless of someone’s kindness to her) and has very little qualms about doing her thing. :sweat_smile:

She would very likely not be fine being at the end of anyone’s weapon. But the fact she doesn’t seem to consider the idea of failing at a con like the one she and Lyle try to pull on the MC does speak about how much confidence (and likely experience) she has in her skills to get people to fall for her acts.

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Jillian is fine in her own way,yeah she would probably die without a protector like the MC,but who could survive a zombie apocalypse without a little luck.Jillian found her protector like a hunter found a deer,that’s what they do,that’s their profession.Of course someone’s profession is more useful than others’.Considering she’s almost useless in combat,and most certainly can’t survive on her own,she’s done a pretty good job(Remembering her persuasion scene).
In almost half of my playthroughs I romanced Jillian,so of course my MC played the protector role,but I don’t think my MCs fit the white knight trope.First I never played a chivalry,always-go-out-of-my-way-to-help type MC,they just show a particular preference to Jillian :smirk:.
Second,my MCs are perfectly awared that Jillian is not a damsel in distress,more like a femme fatale in fact.There’s a scene between the MC and their nephew(if you chose to have one) that I really like,about whether trusting Jillian or not.And I usully chose no,then the kid would say"but you still like her",and the MC said yes.
This gave MC and Jillian’s relationship a Leon/Ada kind of unhealthy but interesting tension.
Third,my MCs are all female :sweat_smile:
About Jillian’s possible transition,I really hope she doesn’t grow too much like Heather in some endings.I like her being passive and pragmatic,maybe warming up a little to people around her,but plz stay the con artist you are

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I didn’t say fine as in not being in harms way because of her personality. I said a less detailed version of what @Okami-Nora said. She knows she’s vulnerable hence the reason for wanting the MC to be her guardian. Also no one said anything about being ok with her being killed, just that she’s fine with her behavior/personality because that’s who she is or who she wants to be

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The math/coding is correct! It uses Fairmath.

Let’s say, for example, that your stress is currently at 58. Your MC runs into a stressful scenario which causes it to raise using the following code: *set stress %+(round(wil/6)). Let’s assume your Willpower is 60 in this scenario. One’s gut instinct might be to say that your stress should go up by 10%.

Since this is Fairmath, it will be going up 10% of the difference between the variable’s value and 100. In this case, it is 10% of 42, not 10% of 100. The final stress value would 62, not 68.

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@Okami-Nora @CreoleGuy519 Well ok, see I know she thinks she’s fine. I’m saying that she’s wrong, and kinda stupid. That’s my whole point. She thinks she can get by the way she used to even though the structure she relied on for that to work has disintegrated around her. If you choose to kill her you’ll see just how unfine she is. The only way she can survive is by having the MC as her “white knight” who’s aware of her bullshit but puts up with it. If she were to leave she’d inevitably run into someone who saw through her bullshit and didn’t put up with it, and then she’d most likely be murdered, because she can’t defend herself. Because she relies entirely on the good will of others for her survival, which is in short supply these days, and her go to plan of action is to turn that good will bad for a short term gain.

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Ah, I see. 100-58 = 42. 10% of 42 is 4 rounded. So the stress goes up 4 points from 58 to 62.
So, the best use of stress relief activities such as drinking alcohol %-(round(wil/3)) at 60 will would be the earlier the better since the fairmath would have a larger amount to take the percentage of? Like stress 38, 100-38=62, 20% of 62 = 12.

If that is correct, then we must still be missing something because its more like almost half that stress lost at the time of the zombie attack.

If you follow my guide for day 1 where the zombie attack happens, then stress level is 38% at 6:45 pm. We have 1 action to use before the attack triggers. I drink alcohol and only lose 6% stress to be 32%. Then the attack occurs, and it jumps to 52% instead of the 56% when I did not drink the alcohol prior. I get the fairmath increases the stress gained from the zombie attack, but the fairmath for the alcohol loss was not correct. Even if you assume the fairmath determines to use the 38%, thats .2*38=8 rounded.

Unless fairmath has a threshold where the % changes from 100-the variable to the % of the variable itself? Not drinking the alcohol, after the zombie attack and specimen collect ect, when the options to do things pop back up, I have 56% stress. I drink the alcohol and it goes down 11 points which is 20% of 56. So the determination is based on if it is a positive or negative effect above or below 50% maybe? Still seems inaccurate to me. Can you clarify?

Subtraction in Fairmath functions differently! It takes the percentage directly from the value itself, not the difference. If Willpower is 60 and Stress is at 38, reducing stress using *set stress %-(round(wil/3)) is a reduction of 20% directly from 38. The final stress value should be 30, rounded down.

The attack on the house itself has a lot of bits that can raise stress, especially for a pacifist MC or someone who didn’t setup defenses. Right off the bat, there’s a *set stress %+(round((100-wil)/2)). That will raise the 30 up to 44. If you choose to wait it out and your house wasn’t fortified, there’s an additional *set stress %+(round((100-wil)/5)). That pushes the stress up to 49. You’d then have to fight the zombie itself, which is very stressful for non-combatant MCs and could result in another *set stress %+(round((100-wil)/3)). That would push the stress up to 56.

That zombie attack is definitely a big stressor, especially for MCs that aren’t combat oriented. A lot of routes can end up pushing the stress value pretty dang high despite trying to take measures to keep stress low.

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That just happens to be the tactic she used at that time. Was it a good one ? that depends on the kindness/ morality of the player if I wasn’t trying something different, I wouldn’t have let them inside the house let alone talk to her and Lyle. Also we’ve only seen her do this once it’s not smart and or reasonable to assume she’ll pull the same Con on other people because you’ve seen her use this or try to use this on you the MC. If she is or were a one trick Pony then you’d be right she’d be killed right on the spot. But there are multiple ways to con/ manipulate people that a Con Artist MC can pull so unless she’s really bad at her job it doesn’t make sense why she couldn’t use them as well.

Stats at 6:45 before the last action before the zombie attack on the house.

Drink alcohol 20% of 51 = 10 rounded. Stress should be 41. 100-41 = 59.

The house defense in this scenario is 5 with perimeter secured. The effects of this are *set stress %+(round((100-wil)/2)) only and -fatigue. So 100-60=40/2=20%.

20% of 59 = 11.8 or 12 rounded. Stress should be back up to 53. At this point the game shows 52.

The MC successfully sneaks out to deal with the zombie outside. The MC is using a crossbow, and has Ranged skill of 70%. The results are the zombie dead with only additional fatigue.

I think I understand now, but I am trying to figure out what the lowest stress possible is by this point without ruining my timeline and just moving things around. My goal would be 34% stress after killing the zombie and still being able to get everything listed for that day done. This would allow be to get a Cerebrospinal Fluid sample. Take a look at my guide above, and let me know what you think?

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Her tactics are developed for a world where civilization exists, and there aren’t large hordes of ravenous violent bipedal animals that neither sleep nor tire and can not be reasoned with or tamed roaming everywhere. And her tactics don’t matter anyway. The fact that she even gets the chance to try to pull off a con is down entirely to the good will of those she encounters. Society isn’t going to punish them for anything they choose to do, because it no longer exists. It’s a total crapshoot, and the odds get worse by the day.

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I forgot con artistry was a career choice for the MC. Are there any unique interactions between MC and Jillian/Lyle if you decide to go that route? :thinking:

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I need to go back and try that that because my Con Artist MC knew they were trying to con her but she wanted their stuff so she let them in. I told them that “I was a simple Entrepreneur trying to keep her business alive”. They believed me and I tricked Jillian into giving up her stuff. Rachel and Jaime are the only ones who know my actual career. I let Rosie join because she’s an overzealous follower and will make a good minion oh and Tommy’s dead because helping him would only put my Con Artist at risk and she didn’t see a way to benefit from him. Also Keith thinks I’m part of the military because I stole combat fatigues off of Cowboy. So really I’m playing everyone and telling them what they want to hear so they do what I want. I even gave a sob story about my dying daughter who’s at home by herself so I could get inside Thelma’s store without waiting.

@Shoelip Yes I agree Civilization is the ideal place to run a con. But goodwill doesn’t always have to do with the ability to manipulate a person. Half the stuff I do as a Con Artist MC is down to persuasion, empathy/charisma and profiting from the fear and desperation of those around me. Have you played a Con Artist ?

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Interesting. I’ve never played a con artist and most of your actions and motivations are similar to mine. My character is an evil high school genius that is similarly manipulating his group to do what he wants. His only “weakness” (hardly) is the high school girl (I haven’t played in a while so I think her name is Stephanie or something). He’s nice to her somewhat genuinely while everyone else he makes a point of using for his own needs

High charisma and empathy as well as intelligence

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Could it be Maddison ? Also sounds like you have a morality pet.

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Money: “Get off of me”

*And yes, you’re exactly correct. It was Maddison. Its funny because my nephew is probably the only one that knows the “real” MC as he’s pretty assholish to him. Kind of one of those “nice to the neighbor while your kid in the basement” kind of scenarios.

Its really kind of funny sad

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@CreoleGuy519 I’ve played Con Artist, but I didn’t keep playing them as a scumbag after things hit the fan because well, doing so would be stupid. For example, from your description it sounds like your con artist MC is basically just hoping none of their allies talk to each other about them in any detail and are never put in a situation where one of the lies they’ve told about themselves ends up getting exposed.

Everything you described involves manipulating people to gain or maintain their good will. Sure you can try bluffing people, but that only works on people, not zombies. Even then that only works on people if they believe you, which they might have a compelling reason not to. If they don’t trust you it doesn’t matter what you say.

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Does anyone else have a guide that they would be willing to share ? Like the one bracks posted, was really in depth and a real fun playthrough. I think the author Jim said he had some and was going to share them but I don’t recall ever seeing them. This is my fav COG game played and I’m looking forward to this update.

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So what ? I can kill a zombie like any other MC that doesn’t rely on manipulation.

Technically I only lied to Jillian (who tried to/ threatened to rob me) and Keith (Who’s trying to become a post apocalyptic warlord) . I “saved” Rosie (someone who tried to kill me, not to mention the fact that she shot Maddison, a teenage girl) so she can continue to be a follower. So I’d say it makes sense that I wouldn’t be honest with 2 people that have been hostile towards me and I’d have ulterior motives for the 3rd. Everyone else just doesn’t know my occupation and I have no real reason to tell a random group of people thrown together by circumstance that I just met my real occupation. You think everyone in the group knows Reilly is a bank robber ? or the fact that Rachel’s actually a spy ? Yes it was revealed later on. But at the time they didn’t (in Rachel’s case that is).So until I feel the need for my MC to reveal the fact that she’s a Con Artist, I’ll continue the façade.

What’s stupid about manipulating enemies ? or people that have done or threatened to do the MC harm ? or not being honest to strangers ? Especially in a world where everyone and anyone is a potential adversary until proven otherwise.

Again I disagree, at this point I’m trying to placate them into dropping their guard so I can take what I need from them. Not encourage them to be compassionate towards me and want to work with me. In Thelma’s case, (and Rosie in terms of cooperation.)I think you’re 100% right because, I was trying to gain her compassion in order to get into her store.

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