Hello, Why are people playing this game?

[Kyutaru]

I purchased this game as a gift for my friend because he begged me for it. Now he wants me to play too and I did briefly using Remote Play. I wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was and the game seems designed for you to fail with no real rogue-like mechanics that I could see. So then what is the point? As a novelty? I can see that running dry after a few hours. Perhaps the repetition without enough variance is the issue or perhaps I'm just not seeing something others do. I don't think he's survived longer than a few hours in the game, a horde always manages to get him, yet I've read of people managing to survive to the point of starvation. And the game is immensely popular on Steam even a decade later??

Please, for the sake of my sanity, what is appealing about the game and how do you have fun?

[Larus]

You gotta get past the inital learning curve to appriciate the game. But I suppose the challange by itself is fun for some.

It's a highly customizable experience that allows the player to solve the problems they face with creative solutions. Plus you can do whatever you want and make your own fun, which is suprisingly rare in video games.

[Jethro]

I really enjoy it. But I can see how others can totally not get it. A friend of mine got it, talked big talk about how he’s gonna “show me how to play”, “never gonna die”. Dude literally died in his first actual fight, then basically just gave up on the game.

[Retro]

"Perhaps the repetition without enough variance is the issue or perhaps I'm just not seeing something others do."

This might be the most untrue statement I've read about this game to date. When you consider the VAST amount of things to do (cooking, crafting, looting, farming, fixing cars, fishing..etc.), "without enough variance" does not apply.

Even getting killed in the game has variance. If you don't get killed by a zombie, you can kill yourself doing dumb things like falling off a roof because you forgot the wall wasn't installed...or simply eating some bad food.

[That Drunk Fellow]

I play this cause I find the day to day survival elements and decision making to be really important and how each season presents its own advantages and disadvantages.
Balancing your long term survival with your short term.
A good attitude to have in this game is "Each second I am alive, is another second I am still winning". Cause in Zomboid the truth win state is survival.

[Brother Frederick]

1) It's a zambambo game - not some tarded mutants/rabbies but zambambos.
2) It tries to be as realistic as possible (though it's still a game)
3) It encourages gitting gud.
4) It's PZ not some trash.
5) I like good, old Romero trylogy + Shaun of the dead :)

[Venaen]

Looks more like trying to prove your superiority in aspects unknown to anyone besides yourself rather than seeking an answer.

[Synizer]

Originally posted by Kyutaru:

I purchased this game as a gift for my friend because he begged me for it. Now he wants me to play too and I did briefly using Remote Play. I wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was and the game seems designed for you to fail with no real rogue-like mechanics that I could see. So then what is the point? As a novelty? I can see that running dry after a few hours. Perhaps the repetition without enough variance is the issue or perhaps I'm just not seeing something others do. I don't think he's survived longer than a few hours in the game, a horde always manages to get him, yet I've read of people managing to survive to the point of starvation. And the game is immensely popular on Steam even a decade later??

Please, for the sake of my sanity, what is appealing about the game and how do you have fun?

if you go into the game more you notice how different it is from the other games even with quite some similarities. most post apocalyptic zombie games are easy af and eventually boil down to PvP really quickly. you are basicly a madman with no drawbacks whatsoever. PZ is far from that.

1st: of all you acually need to take drawbacks for advantages like superior strength from the start otherwise you occationally sit an eternity to level your skills up. it has RPG mechanichs like the said skills and basicly every single one is useful. Every little status you have can make or break it

2nd: zombies are enough to kill you. (most prominent with the desease they spread by scraching and biting you) when i think of DayZ you basicly cant die from zombies.

3rd: you cant win the game. i know that sounds bad but it literally says when you start a game. "This is how you died." That is supposed to encurage you to "write" your own story in your own head. youre supposed to get attatched to your character, helping him survive against all odds. let it be harsh conditions like winter or waves over waves of zombies because even the slightest thing can ♥♥♥♥ it up.

4th: Mods. Mods. Mods. I know there are enough mods for DayZ and other games but i find the mods for PZ consistantly better

5th: Customization. Ohhhhh boy i never saw such a mass detail in customizationoptions besides tarkov even by vanilla

[Synizer]

the "point of playing it" can be described like trying to describe why people play darksouls and "finish it". when you finish it it doesnt feel satisfying. it leaves you kind of standing in the air since when you play it the first time it leaves you flying in the air since you dont have any kind of direct explained story on why you do that. you have to figure it out.


The fun part is for me the same like i have fun with EfT. Pain. For me its literally the pain of loosing something. i want a game to "hurt" me with brutal mechanix and a ruthless atmosphere and that is one of the biggest reasons on why i play it. i want to fight for "rewards" i need the thrill barely making it out of a dangerous situation

[Makkenhoff]

It's entirely plausible to survive indefinitely on foraged, fished, and farmed food. It can be done, but it requires a different mindset than what you appear to be using. The problem is likely one of your player character's initial skill levels. When you first start out learning any 'game' you've got a learning curve, on top of this you have your character you are controlling dealing with the same thing. Your friend possibly is playing way too aggressively and trying to loot all the best locations before having the skills to survive doing so. Going outside of the major towns and looting tiny homes on the outskirts gives you time to build up your character's skill levels which raise your character's ability to handle more zombies. Initially, one or two might be doable with whatever weapon you can find - but beyond that it's risky.

You personally could be extremely good at this game with your 6 month old character but going back to start a fresh character will result in a different style of game-play almost immediately because you will lack the skill level of the one that survived for months. In that sense this game is very punishing and difficult. However, the longer you do survive it's likely that you will accumulate a base and a supply of equipment that eventually even if you do die, your 'new' survivor character can 'discover' the old character's stash - some people find it makes the game too easy.

One of my favorite things to do is to build different play-styles. For example, I have one type of character that aims for firearms and uses them near exclusively - some people don't like ringing the dinner bell, but I find it very useful for clearing areas I want to loot. Another play-style is building a shack and farm in the wilderness away from the mass-zombies and dealing with the struggles of what amounts to an early 1800's lifestyle. Yet another playstyle that I've used extensively is nearly a mad-max sort of playstyle using mechanics and metalworking to maintain a post-apoc vehicle that I use as a mobile base - unfortunately I'm a terrible driver in Project Zomboid so I tend to need replacement vehicles because It's not a question of if I crash it's a matter of when. This is only a tiny handful of potential play-styles. And short of a play-style that annoys your friend or your friend annoys you with, you can invent a large number of alternatives yourself because this game is genuinely flexible without mods. Adding mods only gives you more options to choose from.

[Synizer]

although i would recommend playing with Brita's Weapon and Armor mods. you have with it a much bigger variety of things you can find otherwise you kinda end up finding the same 4 weapons over and over before you get your hand on surplus weapons. thats something i find very boring and repetetive. the lack of firearm in the basegame

[BloodyRain2k]

For me, the perma-death-ness of the game is actually a turn-off.
But there's mods that let you keep your levels past dying for example, and without those I'd have stopped playing very quickly. It's just not my thing.

However, what I DO love about the game is the interactability of the world.
That you can take things apart to fix or make new things, all the small (even if often tedious) details that go into crafting and the options with that, that's what appeals to me.

[Kyutaru]

Originally posted by Larus:

You gotta get past the inital learning curve to appriciate the game. But I suppose the challange by itself is fun for some.

It's a highly customizable experience that allows the player to solve the problems they face with creative solutions. Plus you can do whatever you want and make your own fun, which is suprisingly rare in video games.

The learning curve is especially daunting because it doesn't exactly explain what you're doing wrong... or right. So figuring that part out was definitely an interesting adventure but it also feels like RNG and hopelessness make there seem to be no actual curve to learn. Whether life or death waits for you seems entirely up to chance and circumstance.

Originally posted by Jethro:

I really enjoy it. But I can see how others can totally not get it. A friend of mine got it, talked big talk about how he’s gonna “show me how to play”, “never gonna die”. Dude literally died in his first actual fight, then basically just gave up on the game.

Ya, it can be pretty brutal especially if you go in thinking it's a zombie shooter. The horde gets attracted by the noise of your gunshots and you're looking at reloading the game again. How do you even lose them?? Hiding in houses didn't seem to work and they just broke in anyway.

Originally posted by Retro:

"Perhaps the repetition without enough variance is the issue or perhaps I'm just not seeing something others do."

This might be the most untrue statement I've read about this game to date. When you consider the VAST amount of things to do (cooking, crafting, looting, farming, fixing cars, fishing..etc.), "without enough variance" does not apply.

Even getting killed in the game has variance. If you don't get killed by a zombie, you can kill yourself doing dumb things like falling off a roof because you forgot the wall wasn't installed...or simply eating some bad food.

I get how that might be the view but to me I was noticing how there didn't seem to be progression, if that makes sense? You just get plopped down in a world and the object is to survive as long as possible, though without really any kind of objectives or score to worry about beyond the ones you create. It's this aimless playstyle that I'm unfamiliar with as most game I enjoy have some clear goal to move towards beyond "don't die", which to me felt the same each new round for that reason of not having measurable progress goals beyond time. The looting itself feels RNG which is common in Roguelites but it doesn't seem to have any Roguelite features for replay progression.

Originally posted by Drunk N' Deadly:

I play this cause I find the day to day survival elements and decision making to be really important and how each season presents its own advantages and disadvantages.
Balancing your long term survival with your short term.
A good attitude to have in this game is "Each second I am alive, is another second I am still winning". Cause in Zomboid the truth win state is survival.

So in that regard I guess it's more like Don't Starve?

Originally posted by Varagyr Frederick:

1) It's a zambambo game - not some tarded mutants/rabbies but zambambos.
2) It tries to be as realistic as possible (though it's still a game)
3) It encourages gitting gud.
4) It's PZ not some trash.
5) I like good, old Romero trylogy + Shaun of the dead :)

What?

Originally posted by Venaen:

Looks more like trying to prove your superiority in aspects unknown to anyone besides yourself rather than seeking an answer.

No. Blocked.

Originally posted by Synizer:

Originally posted by Kyutaru:

I purchased this game as a gift for my friend because he begged me for it. Now he wants me to play too and I did briefly using Remote Play. I wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was and the game seems designed for you to fail with no real rogue-like mechanics that I could see. So then what is the point? As a novelty? I can see that running dry after a few hours. Perhaps the repetition without enough variance is the issue or perhaps I'm just not seeing something others do. I don't think he's survived longer than a few hours in the game, a horde always manages to get him, yet I've read of people managing to survive to the point of starvation. And the game is immensely popular on Steam even a decade later??

Please, for the sake of my sanity, what is appealing about the game and how do you have fun?

if you go into the game more you notice how different it is from the other games even with quite some similarities. most post apocalyptic zombie games are easy af and eventually boil down to PvP really quickly. you are basicly a madman with no drawbacks whatsoever. PZ is far from that.

1st: of all you acually need to take drawbacks for advantages like superior strength from the start otherwise you occationally sit an eternity to level your skills up. it has RPG mechanichs like the said skills and basicly every single one is useful. Every little status you have can make or break it

2nd: zombies are enough to kill you. (most prominent with the desease they spread by scraching and biting you) when i think of DayZ you basicly cant die from zombies.

3rd: you cant win the game. i know that sounds bad but it literally says when you start a game. "This is how you died." That is supposed to encurage you to "write" your own story in your own head. youre supposed to get attatched to your character, helping him survive against all odds. let it be harsh conditions like winter or waves over waves of zombies because even the slightest thing can ♥♥♥♥ it up.

4th: Mods. Mods. Mods. I know there are enough mods for DayZ and other games but i find the mods for PZ consistantly better

5th: Customization. Ohhhhh boy i never saw such a mass detail in customizationoptions besides tarkov even by vanilla

So there are RPG mechanics? I guess the gameplay then is figuring out optimal builds with each new death? Ya, I noticed the "This is how you died" message and had a sense of dread about that. I can't exactly relate to that and it's kind of dragging the experience down because I'm the type to defy the odds and try to overcome giant threats, as I did recently with Elden Ring. Any good mods that can give the game more of a "game" feeling to it rather than this horror movie played out in real time?

Originally posted by Synizer:

the "point of playing it" can be described like trying to describe why people play darksouls and "finish it". when you finish it it doesnt feel satisfying. it leaves you kind of standing in the air since when you play it the first time it leaves you flying in the air since you dont have any kind of direct explained story on why you do that. you have to figure it out.


The fun part is for me the same like i have fun with EfT. Pain. For me its literally the pain of loosing something. i want a game to "hurt" me with brutal mechanix and a ruthless atmosphere and that is one of the biggest reasons on why i play it. i want to fight for "rewards" i need the thrill barely making it out of a dangerous situation

I definitely can see the tie to Escape From Tarkov, but that's my friend's favorite game rather than my own. I disliked it and ended up giving away my Edge of Darkness account to his friend so they could play together. Though at least in Tarkov I understood the progression and goals and the PVP game some purpose to it all. Here I'm at a loss and feel doomed just at character creation.

Originally posted by Makkenhoff:

It's entirely plausible to survive indefinitely on foraged, fished, and farmed food. It can be done, but it requires a different mindset than what you appear to be using. The problem is likely one of your player character's initial skill levels. When you first start out learning any 'game' you've got a learning curve, on top of this you have your character you are controlling dealing with the same thing. Your friend possibly is playing way too aggressively and trying to loot all the best locations before having the skills to survive doing so. Going outside of the major towns and looting tiny homes on the outskirts gives you time to build up your character's skill levels which raise your character's ability to handle more zombies. Initially, one or two might be doable with whatever weapon you can find - but beyond that it's risky.

You personally could be extremely good at this game with your 6 month old character but going back to start a fresh character will result in a different style of game-play almost immediately because you will lack the skill level of the one that survived for months. In that sense this game is very punishing and difficult. However, the longer you do survive it's likely that you will accumulate a base and a supply of equipment that eventually even if you do die, your 'new' survivor character can 'discover' the old character's stash - some people find it makes the game too easy.

One of my favorite things to do is to build different play-styles. For example, I have one type of character that aims for firearms and uses them near exclusively - some people don't like ringing the dinner bell, but I find it very useful for clearing areas I want to loot. Another play-style is building a shack and farm in the wilderness away from the mass-zombies and dealing with the struggles of what amounts to an early 1800's lifestyle. Yet another playstyle that I've used extensively is nearly a mad-max sort of playstyle using mechanics and metalworking to maintain a post-apoc vehicle that I use as a mobile base - unfortunately I'm a terrible driver in Project Zomboid so I tend to need replacement vehicles because It's not a question of if I crash it's a matter of when. This is only a tiny handful of potential play-styles. And short of a play-style that annoys your friend or your friend annoys you with, you can invent a large number of alternatives yourself because this game is genuinely flexible without mods. Adding mods only gives you more options to choose from.

This is probably the best take I've seen on it and I can kind of get the appeal now. But given how steep that learning curve is, what you're suggesting and how effective it is seems pretty tough to reach and test. Scratches being deadly, melee weapons being not that effective, noisy weapons being bread and butter everywhere, I might just be doing it wrong but it's rough. I haven't even reached a point, and neither has he, where we can functionally use a vehicle so perhaps that's the next goal to aim for.

[Kyutaru]

Originally posted by Synizer:

although i would recommend playing with Brita's Weapon and Armor mods. you have with it a much bigger variety of things you can find otherwise you kinda end up finding the same 4 weapons over and over before you get your hand on surplus weapons. thats something i find very boring and repetetive. the lack of firearm in the basegame

Noted, and I'll check them out.

Originally posted by BloodyRain2k:

For me, the perma-death-ness of the game is actually a turn-off.
But there's mods that let you keep your levels past dying for example, and without those I'd have stopped playing very quickly. It's just not my thing.

However, what I DO love about the game is the interactability of the world.
That you can take things apart to fix or make new things, all the small (even if often tedious) details that go into crafting and the options with that, that's what appeals to me.

That'd be super useful, do you know their names?

[Drizzt]

Originally posted by Kyutaru:

Please, for the sake of my sanity, what is appealing about the game and how do you have fun?

Hi - just gonna make a small suggestion - try the Custom Sandbox mode

i suspect many people avoid it at first and play on Apocalypse or Survivor because they feel those are the "proper" modes to play in - like not selecting Easy on games etc - plus also, "Custom Sandbox" sounds like a Creative mode or something like that

it's not - Custom Sandbox is where all of the configuration settings are

yes - if you play on Apocalypse of Survivor you will get the Hardcore mode - and that is where you can move towards once you get used to the game - and i will touch on the main rogue like aspect at the end

but if you open Custom Sandbox you will see that Apocalypse and Survivor are there as presets - but there is also "Initial Infection" - where there are fewer, weaker zombies, and locations are stocked with loot, and cars have more gas and are in better condition, and the water and electricity won't shut off for quite some time etc - also your character starts with a baseball bat. hammer and backpack, and gains XP quicker

or there is "One Week Later" - where there are more zombies and less loot - still not as hardcore as Apocalypse or Survivor - but your character no longer has the buffs

there is also "Six Months Later" which has the zombie count set to "Insane" - so that one's not an easier mode lol :-)

you can see if you look through the customisation menus all of the settings that are different from Apocalypse - they will be highlighted in yellow

so yes - the 2 main "default" modes are very hard - and you will die a lot - but they are not the only options

also - when you die - you have options - you can start a whole new world (non rogue like) - or you can start a new character in the same world - and you will be able to find where your previous character stashed stuff - or even find their body (or zombie) to get their stuff

plus the world will have moved on - so there will be more zombies - and the utilities will be closer to being cut off - plus if you have played many characters in that world, you may have looted much of the food and weapons etc - or built some barricades or started a farm etc

plus there are mods which allow you to save your map markings to paper - so then your new character can delete their map (for realism) - and then find your other characters' maps as they explore

plus a gazillion more mods that do all sorts of great things - the mod library is truly astounding

i could go on and on - since there really is a lot to the game once you give yourself a chance to learn the game and see what there is, by starting on less hardcore settings

i would particularly look at settings on the Character tab - such as multi hit and rear vulnerability, which govern whether you can hit multiple zombies at a time with 2 handed weapons, and how likely you are to get bitten from behind

also settings on the Zombie Lore tab such as how the zombie virus is spread - blood and saliva is the default and means you can get it from any zombie injury, not just a bite - but the Resilient trait can help with that (i think) - but you can set it to saliva only so only bites infect you with the zombie virus - and also zombie strength and speed can be modified - as well as their vision and hearing range - whether they will attack structures if they haven't seen the player etc etc

so many options - not just hardcore :-)

[Drizzt]

Originally posted by Kyutaru:

Originally posted by BloodyRain2k:

But there's mods that let you keep your levels past dying for example

That'd be super useful, do you know their names?

i haven't used it - but i think this is the main one for skill recovery:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2503622437
is kind of a fitting addition to the map mod i mentioned:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2744101803
so if you find an old character's stash you can get their map and their skills (which can be like they made a note of all they had learned so you can read it)

although obviously you have the option to never delete your map - so you will accumulate all of your character's explored map data and markings over time