Aye, tis frustrating, that - I had exactly the same thing near the start of the game. I've taken to backing up my data to memory stick on a night, just in case. Apparently it works out how long since you played last and throws a number of events into the mix next time you start the game up (presumably using an algorithm that includes time, population, defences, etc.) If I turn the game on tonight to find someone died through the day I'll restore last night's backup to the HDD and boot into that - and today's events will effectively be recalculated. Some might call it cheating, but I see it as a sensible precaution. I don't particularly mind if I lose one or two people (I think I have 17) when I'm AFK, but there's always the possibility my entire camp might be wiped out.
That's one of the things being addressed in the patch.
A few tips and possibly a few minor spoilers follow...
I scrapped all of my outposts last night. Decided I've been using them in the wrong way so far.
They serve a number of different purposes. They have defences around them, so they're a safe place for your people and they kill hoards that get too close. They're a place to access your locker when you're out and about. And they generate resources.
I think my new set-up makes the most of them - though I'm still learning...
I have 8 outposts. Four of them surround my base and are very close (their radius overlaps with the home radius while traps etc. are activated). Those four mean hoards can't really get near my base, and my people are safe within a hundred metres or so of camp. Another two are pretty close to home, and touch those first four, going off in the direction of the most houses. They offer some protection to my people as they wander the main roads near home. The final two are quite a long way from home and serve a different (dual) purpose. They're a place to access my locker when I'm far from home, and they generate resources that aren't available in my neighbourhood.
Where possible try to put outposts in buildings where there's either a large (or medium) stash of resources, or where there's two (or three) different resources up for grabs. Great for keeping your supplies topped up, and they'll last a lot longer before then run out.
Don't manually take resources from a place you'll be using as an outpost. If you leave them in place I think they'll supply your base for a lot longer than if you grab the gear and take it home.
Don't spend too much time/resource building up the church. You'll be abandoning it before long. (When you do leave, make sure you go to the biggest place you can find.)
Don't request runners to pick up resources from a building unless you're pretty certain they'll get there and back safely (so only do it if you're quite close to home and the running will mainly be through territory you "own"). If you don't you'll find they keep going missing or dying. I swear they wait until you're not looking then actively seek out and run into the middle of as many hoards as they can find.
Stash badly damaged cars in a carpark within a couple of blocks of your home, rather than abandoning them in random useless places. You'll be able to repair some or all of them later. It's time consuming, but worth it as cars soon become a scarce resource.
Try to keep a car nearby when exploring new places. You probably won't need it, but if the shit hits the fan you'll be bloody grateful for it.
Keep an eye on your peoples' skills page (the tab with a star on it). If you've levelled someone up a bit you can scroll down that page and tweak their abilities somewhat. As you progress you get more options in there.
Always keep a "distraction" on you when you leave home - firecrackers, alarm clock, doll, etc. If you're getting swarmed and need a breather drop one of these and get the hell outta there. (Then jump in your nearby car and mow the buggers down, natch.)
I like to keep meds on all of my people, but I don't bother with snacks (so I'm prioritising vitality but not stamina) - but that's just a personal preference.
I've stripped a lot of properties near me completely bare of resources, and I'm wondering if that was a bad idea, now. Possibly would've been better to use them as outposts, and then move the outpost elsewhere when the building has been bled dry. (Destroying outposts is a dangerous business, mind. I don't think there's a way to be certain which one you're destroying when you click the button. Destroy erm ... shit, I know the one I want to destroy is a food producer and I can see outposts 3 and 4 are my only two food producers - but which is which? Destroy outpost 3 please xbox. Damnit, that's the wrong one.)
