Water and power shut-off, screams, gun sounds, and helicopters are meta-game events in Project Zomboid designed to add challenge and increase tension.
Among the above events, the helicopter event might confuse players the most due to its vague description.
In this guide, we’ll show you what a helicopter event is and how to survive the helicopter event in Project Zomboid.
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In Project Zomboid, a helicopter event is a meta-event that creates the helicopter sound to force the surrounding zombies to migrate to your area. There are many possible scenarios to survive the helicopter event, but you must get the radio to be aware of it in advance and prepare for essential items.
The helicopter event often lasts 1-5 in-game hours. It happens once in your world by default, but you can change the frequency when setting up the world.
Table of Contents
- What is The Helicopter Event in Project Zomboid?
- How to Survive The Helicopter Event in Project Zomboid
- How Long Does The Helicopter Event Last?
What is The Helicopter Event in Project Zomboid?
In Project Zomboid, a helicopter event is a game feature where a helicopter appears and makes noise, attracting and gathering zombies to the location where it appears.
The purpose of the helicopter event is to lure millions of zombies to your area, thus adding more challenges and difficulty to the gameplay.
The behavior of zombies in Project Zomboid mainly relies on their hearing. As a result, wherever the helicopter goes, the zombies follow and attack you as soon as they recognize you.
How to Survive The Helicopter Event in Project Zomboid
The helicopter has two pathways:
- First, it will spawn and fly around your current location.
- If you’re inside or in a deep forest and don’t go out, it won’t be able to find you.
However, the helicopter will follow you if you step outside and try to run to another building or the forest.
As a result, the helicopter’s pathway changes depending on your location, but keep in mind that regardless of where you are, packing up essential items and weapons and creating a defense is a must.
How to Survive The Helicopter Event in Your Base
If you’re inside your base to prepare and survive the helicopter event, here’s what you should do.
First, find the Automated Emergency Broadcast System channel on the radio and listen frequently to know when the helicopter is about to come.
The information from the radio is refreshed every 9 AM. When you catch the phrase “Air activity detected”, get ready as the helicopter is coming. You’ll have less than a day to prepare.
Try clearing out the zombies wandering around your base as quickly as possible. While it doesn’t prevent the zombies from coming to you, it reduces the number of them subsequently.
Close all windows and cover them with curtains. To do this, find a Sheet or curtain, right-click on the window, and select “Add Sheet/Add Curtain”.
After that, right-click on the window again and select “Close Curtains”. The curtain will restrict your visibility but also prevent the zombies from noticing you from outside.
Next, move essential items to the second floor and stay on it. In case you’ve got a Sledgehammer, consider breaking the stairs to prevent the zombies from reaching you.
Remember to place sheet ropes later to safely get up and down the second floor.
Once you’ve heard the sound from the helicopter, close all the curtains, sit on the ground, watch TV (with the lowest volume), read books, or maybe do exercises, and wait for the event to end.
When the helicopter is gone, don’t go outside just yet. Instead, wait for at least 1 day so the zombies have enough time to migrate to other locations.
If your base has many valuable items and you don’t want to lose them at any cost, you should prepare a working car. Then, head far away from your base and keep driving around while the helicopter event is happening.
When it stops, just drive straight to your base if the current location is far enough (out of town, for example). Otherwise, use the car’s horn to lure zombies away from your base before heading home.
How to Survive The Helicopter Event When You’re in The Forest
Surviving through the helicopter event is trickier if you’re in the forest, as there’s a higher chance the zombies will spot you.
In that case, ensure you’ve got some high-quality melee weapons and firearms, then craft a defensive cover with sandbag walls and stay inside until the helicopter disappears.
How to Survive The Helicopter Event When You’re Outside
As mentioned above, the helicopter will follow you if you’re outside. In that case, running to the building or forest has no effect.
So, the only way to keep yourself safe is to drive your car around the area until the event ends.
Since the zombies are much slower than the car’s performance, they have no chance to damage you as long as you keep a safe distance from them.
How Long Does The Helicopter Event Last?
The helicopter event will last between 1-5 in-game hours.
By default, it will come to your zone once, around 9 AM to 7 PM, in all scenarios.
However, you can adjust the frequency of the helicopter event while setting up the world by going to the “Sadistic AI Director” tab, then selecting” Never” if you want to turn off the helicopter event or “Sometimes/Often” if you want more challenges.
That’s how to survive the helicopter event in Project Zomboid.
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