My (disappointing) Experience and Suggestions

[Venrez]

Hi folks.

Dont get me wrong. I've been with Project Zomboid since its initial Alpha way before Steam, when Baldspot Bob and Kate and the entire game was limited to 2-dimensional sprites within a pre-set, very small map.

However, it endlessly pains me that even after ALL this time, they've done so very little with the game and so many HUGE problems remain. The game runs, sure, but there are simply so many issues regarding gameplay that its utterly ridiculous.

- Combat is virtually pointless. The entire "medical" health system is pointless. When a zombie can "kill" you via Infection if he so much as pokes you, that simply isnt fun. Especially when teleporting zombies appear out of nowhere behind you even after you've entered a room, checked every corner, closed all the doors and there is zero possibility he entered unnoticed.

Also, why bother with bandages, healing and a health-system when virtually everything kills in one hit? Most of the time. A Fireaxe for example cleaves through entire hordes of zombies with absolutely no effort. Versus Players, it'd be similar, whoever got the first swing simply wins. Especially with guns.

On the flipside, some weapons are completely and utterly useless. The Sledgehammer used to reign supreme when it was added, but it appears to have been nerfed into oblivion. You can swing ONCE before becoming "exerted" and thus cannot swing any more, even with the "Strong" character trait and carrying absolutely nothing besides the Sledgehammer.

Even then, it takes 4-5 hits to kill a single Zombie, with 2 Blunt Skill. When you consider you must wait 5-10 seconds between swings, this is ridiculous.

A Fireaxe can be swung continuously for roughly 30 seconds, with 2 Blade Skill, killing 1 or even multiple Zombies with each and every swing.

This seems like the perfect sort of RPG-esque game where "Special Infected", similar to L4D or other Zombie games, would be suitable. It becomes utterly mundane and boring when every single Zombie is the same, whether you set them to fast-sprinters or slow-shamblers, infection or no-infection.

Why not have a hulking zombie that is slow and strong, but takes quite a bit of punishment? Why not have the occasional super-fast rare Sprinter, similar to a Hunter from L4D (without the pounce mechanic). Why not have the original L4D beta concept for the Boomer, which was instead the "Screamer", a Zombie that would be harmless by itself, but scream loudly if alerted - bringing lots of Zombies to help?

When you consider how utterly easy it is to annihilate zombies by the thousands, even if they can kill you in one hit via infection, its still even more ridiculous when you consider they drop an endless supply of bandages (via clothes), ammunition and other little goodies.

- Are all the Survivors high-class fancy-pants food conoisseurs who expect nothing less than the finest Caviar and raspberry croupe?

Eating Green Peas makes you +Bored and +Unhappy.
Eating Burger Patties (Red Meat) uncooked makes you +Bored and +Unhappy.
Eating a Corndog makes you +Bored and +Unhappy.
Eating Mustard (delicious) makes you +Bored and +Unhappy.
Eating Bread (Simple, hearty food) makes you +Bored and +Unhappy.
Eating Mayonnaise (delicious) makes you +Bored and +Unhappy.
Eating Cabbage (Simple, easily available) makes you +Bored and +Unhappy.
Eating Butter (a rare treat in an apocalypse) makes you +Unhappy.
Eating a Radish (Simple, good vegetable) makes you +Bored and +Unhappy.
Eating Ketchup (delicious) makes you +Bored and +Unhappy.
Eating fresh eggs is apparently dangerous, despite the fact sports-oriented people drink fresh eggs blended together all the time.
Eating a TV Dinner (Simple, varied ingredients, filling) makes you +Bored and +Unhappy.
Eating Raw Steak (Which is delicious and perfectly safe, since its Red Meat) makes you +Bored and +Unhappy AND is apparently Dangerous.
Eating Baked Beans (An amazing survival food, delicious, very filling) makes you +Bored and +Unhappy. Cold or Hot its still delicious and good for you. But not in this game.
Apparently we cannot, at all, eat raw Sugar. Seriously?
Eating a Banana makes you +Bored.
Eating a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ BURGER makes you +Bored.

But eating a whole raw Onion, which is doable but disgusting, is perfectly fine and simply feeds you?

Seriously?

- The crafting system is incredibly poorly designed.

We are supposed to guess the vast majority of what goes with what in order to make something or how to use it. Why not have a crafting menu similar to Terraria, where if you currently have the ingredients to make something available in your backpack, when you open up the crafting menu, you can browse everything you can thus make or do?

I had a paint can and a paint brush. Couldnt do anything with it. Equipped or non-equipped. A variety of surfaces. Right clicking on stuff or on the items in my backpack directly. I tried having a screwdriver or can opener (to maybe open the paint can?).

Nothing.

I had a roller-brush, a paintbrush, and a Bucket of Plaster. Same scenario. Couldnt do a damn thing with it to anything.

We constantly encounter things like Frying Pans, Cooking Trays, Pots, Kettles, Teabags, Sugar, Coffee, ingredients that should be cooked (like Chicken, etc) but are given no visual input on how or what to do with it. I tried putting Chicken in the Microwave. Nope, cannot cook it there, no matter how long you leave it. HAS to be an Oven. Why?

I tried to Microwave a Cake Slice, to make it warm, and thus I assumed would increase its happiness value or something. Nope. Nothing. Just 10 minutes wasted staring at a Microwave with the Cake in there, on, doing nothing.

I've tried holding a kettle. A kettle with water. A teabag. Sugar. Coffee. A mug. A mug with water. Tried using the stovetop. Clicked a hundred different things. In-inventory or on the appliance itself. Nothing. God forbid I want a cup of tea. No no, cant have that.

- The in-game lighting engine is borked. Completely.

Numerous times in-game, it is broad daylight AND the lights are on indoors. However, if I run from one room into another without letting go of the WASD movement and shift keys to run, the room I subsequently run into will remain pitch-black as if I cannot see anything until I let go of the movement keys.

Screenshot Examples - Broad Daylight, all Interior Lights on :

Its Broad Daylight. All I did was run inside, and the interior lights are on too.

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/41975171620275590/6DEB0A887285BD7A0CF1C0C8F6785C72DF488C61/

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/41975171620272178/E739D0691C9FB85C0CDDC221B970A653F9EF4C5E/

This even happens when running around outside. If I sprint long enough in a given direction, outside of the area the game was rendering when I first started running, eventually I will just run into blackness, even in broad daylight - which will only appear again when I stop moving and let go of all keys.

Objects are too transparent. Objects should be trasnparent enough to see-through but also be seen. However, in Zomboid, objects you are close to are made to be SO transparent you often have no idea they're even there are you're running into a wall you have no idea even exists until after you've moved away.

Notice the Fence, bottom-left.
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/41975171620305858/216D96A0E02C8D3660CEED1F9689FAA740BD1F08/

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/41975171620267105/517F5B61601AF3BCBBB792AA38C0EBEF42A909D3/

Or these Fences.
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/41975171620315947/02A4A64EFCDB2AA6C0AE3DC1B07473C87AA92DF4/

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/41975171620310459/CA916821650531504B46E1A44062711CA0F3C959/

Also, when a character runs behind intervening objects or obstacles, like a Fence, the game makes the object transparent or cuts-away solid walls. This is normal and good. Not in Zomboid.

The game makes intervening objects SO transparent you often have absolutely no idea they're even there are you're running into a solid wall you had no idea even exists until after you move away and they reappear.

Objects should be transparent so that they can be seen, but seen-through - not so transparent that they are almost completely invisible. If you're running from Zombies, this could very easily result in an otherwise avoidable death.

- Farming takes forever. I know its a videogame, but seriously. It takes for-freaking-EVER. For a Radish. That apparently your character hates eating and makes you +Bored and +Unhappy.

- Why bother crafting doors, walls and other structures at all when the entire map is absolutely full of buildings you can hold up in, and if the Zombies come, you just move elsewhere? There is no point in holding down a particular fort.

- The "random" events designed to draw Zombies to you, if the game is too quiet (similar to the Director in L4D) are just insanely, and I mean ~insanely~ annoying.

The helicopters that apparently fly overhead? Its impossible to tell in what direction the sound is, because for us as the player, it sounds like it is all around us. Yet we then see Zombies clearly being lured in a particular direction, which is not obvious via the sound.

The stupid ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ helicopter sound was also blaring for 15 real-time minutes, even following me if I left the area by sprinting several screens worth of distance away (several city blocks).

- When NPC Survivors are actually added, there is still absolutely no reason to be friendly with them at all. Shoot on sight. Kill everyone you meet. Take their stuff.

Especially when you consider my earlier point that virtually everything in this game kills in one-hit. Better to shoot first and ask questions later when you consider perma-death and all your hard work going out the window because a random NPC shot you, which you had no idea was even hostile.

Depression or other mood-related issues can be fixed by food. Or cigarettes. Or booze. Or the endless supply of Anti-Depressants the Zombies you're slaughtering keep dropping.

- The Levelling Up menu and character skills are completely unexplained. No matter how obvious, every skill should have a SPECIFIC description of what it does and what it improves by spending points in it.

Why do I have to sprint 800 miles just for 10 experience points in Sprinting? Then you consider you even need 100 experience to go up a level in Sprinting. Ridiculous.

What the hell is the difference between Lightfooted, Nimble and Sneaking? They're all technically the same thing and the game doesnt tell you a damn thing about what they do or how to even gain experience in them.

Why am I able to get up to level 3 in Aiming, firing off HUNDREDS of Shotgun Shells and Bullets, before even getting enough experience for 1 level in Reloading?

Why is it that sometimes I reload at a snails-pace, with 1-bullet-per-30-seconds, and other times I reload 5 Shotgun shells in about 2 seconds flat?

Despite having grown and harvested multiple yields of crops (20-30 individual plant plots, watered, grown to fruition, harvested), that I still have 0 farming experience? I've even read Beginner Farming for the skill experience bonus. Nothing.

- Visual fidelity and overall graphics.
There is still no animation for watering plants.
Backpacks and anything carried is still invisible.
A crowbar looks like a baseball bat with the exact same model.
Most (99%) of items when held are invisible.
There are a pathetic 5 different types of worn clothes.
There is no visual muzzleflash when firing a gun or even projectiles shown.
If you so much as even touch open flame, you're doomed to death, regardless of when in reality it'd be nothing more than a tiny burnt spot on your shirt. No, you cant drop and roll or pat it out or anything. No, you cant douse yourself with the 5 pots of water you're carrying.
There is still no animation for cooking, barricading, or pretty much doing anything.
The Zombies and Player himself are still severely lacking in animations for pretty much everything.
The audio is extremely limited with a VERY small total bank of sounds to be used ingame.
There are no Player sounds whatsoever beyond death.
Water is still and flat, no animation whatsoever.
The environment is still and flat, no animation whatsoever. No swaying trees. No flickering lights. No dust or visible wind. Nothing. All of which is still easily done in a pixellated sprite game.

I'd love to see PZ grow. I'd love to mod it myself to be more suitable as an actual game, but seriously, even after ALL this time, it seems like the Developers are taking 3-4 months to add a single item and a whole host of bugs with each new version. Its ridiculous.

The game has barely changed since its inception beyond the visual change of hand-drawn pixel sprites to 3d-composed-then-sprited. Well over a year now. Bugs are everywhere. The gameplay itself is completely flat and hasnt changed whatsoever. NPCs are STILL absent.

I know its a work-in-progress, but by comparison, I've seen full games made in less than half the time by smaller studios and indie groups which are actually games, in the sense that there is something to do and a reason to do it, and the gameplay itself ~works~.

Long post I know.

I've put this on the official forums too. Over a year ago. When the issues were the same.
Nothing has changed.

[Ketsa]

Thanks for replying Engima, I couldnt really be bothered to read a short novel.

[Skydriver]

You my friend haven't been following pz at all as I see. Special zombies is a big NO from the devs about the food eating raw eggs can give you disease its not the eggs that give you disease but the bacteria that may live in them and in a zombie apocalypse the bacteria will flourish I had a family member which went to hospital because he was eating raw eggs everyday if you eat only sugar prepare to have your bottom clogged for a long time :D. painting on walls will be added in build 28. Who cooks a chicken in a microwave and who the hell warms a slice of cake? About the too transparent walls I never seemed to have this problem as i play on low graphics. you hold a fort for loot you put in it a lot of damn loot. the 3d sounds are going to be implemented in build 28. about the shoot on sight of npc i don't even know what to say so I will use an example in fallout or skyrim you can kos a lot of people too and take their stuff but is it fun to play that way? Me for examples loves to have npcs on his side to boos them around. everything in the game is being overhauled a bit by bit the new guns system wont allow you to insta kill ppl. And lastly the game is taking long time to develop because its vast its big not some damn minigame which others finish in 4 months the devs are making it damn near perfect and perfection takes time.

P.S: I am sorry I had to post this I was writing it in the forums and while I finished the thread was locked I just cant let it go away :D

[Venrez]

I know there is a difference between Bite and Scratch infection % chance. I know clothing is a factor.

But what people seem to miss every time I raise this point is that ALL of your hard-work goes out the window if a Zombie so much as scratches you, hiding behind the door you opened or magically teleports into the room you've checked, cleared and closed all acces points.

Perma-death is fine in my opinion. But dying to a random % guaranteed-kill from infection through unfair circumstances is not.

I know the version history. I've played through it from beginning until now. So very little has changed. Very few alarmingly obvious problems have been fixed. More bugs. Less content.

I know its a work-in-progress, but I am just dumbfounded at how unbelievably-incredibly SLOW they are working. Entire games with full animations, graphics, a huge bank of soundfiles, weapons, ingame mechanics and all that have been made in less time.

I've even made my own mod for Starcraft 2 in a quarter of the time PZ has been in development, which includes numerous maps, 20-30 new units, new animations, new abilities, new functionality and the way certain units operate and more. Yet this is supposedly a paid working game studio, indie or not.

You would not be bored when a horde of zombies is barreling down on you. I take Beta-Blockers to reduce panic. Even with 0 panic, no boredom and no depression, reloading still wildly varies between taking 1-bullet-per-30-seconds and 5-in-2-seconds. No, I have them on my person, not in a bag either.

Yes, Sprinting is obvious and Blade and Blunt are "mostly' discernable - however - Lightfooted, Nimbe and Sneaking are still given no explanation. Weapons are not clearly labelled as Blunt or Blade. Hell, hardly anything is actually labelled or given informational tidbit tooltips.

Like crafting. Sheezus. The entire system is awful.

Dont pull out the Random-Number-Generator excuse for what Zombies drop. Every single zombie is clothed and thus provides bandages. 1 out of 3 tends to have pills of some variety. Maybe 1 out of 10 has ammunition. The only rare Zombie drop are weapons like a Fire Axe or Baseball Bat, which you can find duplicates of everywhere in buildings.

Especially when you can kill THOUSANDS of Zombies with minimal effort. At least if they're not super-strong-super-fast-sprinters, but thats "deliberate-difficulty". We're talking base-game here.

I know farming takes several days. However, its been 23 days for a single Potato, Tomato and Broccoli plot to grow. 23 days. Checked every day for water and watered if need be. No disease. Never trampled by Zombies.

I know Guns are deadly, but it doesnt help when EVERYTHING in the game is virtually a one-hit kill device. It renders the entire medical system pointless. It renders all your hard work and effort pointless if you die in a split second, shot by an NPC you didnt even know was hostile.

Consider there is currently no ability to block and no armor available to be worn either. There is very little likelihood of either being added. Which means NPC combat is simply decided by who swings first, and considering that you go from 'standing casually' to 'weapon-drawn-and-swing' in a split second, that seems kind of stupid.

Ontop of the fact there is no muzzleflash when shooting. No projectiles shown. No animations for barricading, sneaking, reloading, cooking, watering, opening doors, hell, most anything.

The 15-minute Helicopter sound was not a bug. It happens regularly. Different games, different settings, different location in-game. As soon as I hear the Helicopter I just mute the game in its entirety. 5-10 minutes apart I check and its often still going.

Then it goes away and you get some peace and quiet for maybe 2-5 minutes. Then it happens again.

No, we are talking teleporting zombies here. Im talking ALL access points closed. I've entered a room with 1 door, no windows, solid walls. Checked every corner. Lights on. No sounds. No bangin-on-the-walls. I go to look a box and turn my back to the majority of the room. Boom, suddenly, Zombie. The door didnt open. No windows were broken, nothing like that.

Happens consistently too. For a game that is seemingly striving for "hardcore semi-realism survival" its totally lame and stupid, especially with perma-death and guaranteed-kill infection for Zombies to spawn ontop of you.

I know there will be no "Special Infected" in the game, at least officially - but my point remains. The game is entirely bland. You fight the same enemies for the entire duration of the game, who have a % chance to instantly kill you via infection if they so much as scratch you. Or NPCs who'll randomly shoot you without warning or smash your head with an axe the split second you open a door, considering the lack of animations and no 'draw-weapon' time.

You didnt read my post about the Sledge. 2 Blunt. 2 Blade skill. Sledge exhausts you in ONE swing, with absolutely nothing carried except the Sledge AND the "Strong" character trait. It also takes 3-5 swings to kill a single Zombie and barely stumbles them, whether you hit them point blank or hit them at the "tip" of your maximum reach.

Waiting with your weapon drawn (holding control) supposedly charges you for a slight damage boost. Whether you wait 2 seconds, 5 seconds or 20 seconds, it still takes multiple hits with a Sledge to even kill a singular lone Zombie, whether you wait till the last second to hit them with the very tip of your reach.

I know a Sledge is a heavy tool, but hell, Warhammers were used in Medieval times. A singular decent hit with a Sledge will break bones and crush skulls, even if we're talking rabid Zombies here with no sense of self preservation.

Hell, even if you drop a Sledge, it'll break human bones. Much less swinging it with a deliberate directive to kill someone.

Whereas a Fireaxe weighs less, swings faster, doesnt exhaust you and kills 1 or more zombies with every. single. swing.

I am a very lightweight 63kg, 6'1ft tall human. Even I can swing a Sledge 5-6 times with enough force to do considerable damage before becoming too worn out to do it.

Via options, I've set the refresh rate of Lighting to be its highest possible setting. Hell, all of Zomboids settings are on maximum. I've also tried variations of High / Low and whatever. The same issues with running-into-the-abyss persists.

If you run into a room which you dont have exterior vision, like running from the Street into a building, the entire inside of the building will be absolutely pitch-black until you stop moving and let go all ALL buttons, even if it is broad daylight, windows, no obstructions AND the interior lights are on.

I couldnt even plaster a wall, whether I built it myself or whether it was there beforehand, with a Plasterbucket, Paint Brush, Rollerbrush, Screwdriver, other tools, either equipped or simply on my person. Nothing.

[Venrez]

Originally posted by EnigmaGrey:

And now, into the looking glass: http://www.theindiestone.com/community/viewtopic.php%3Ff=20&t=9913.html (It was a simpler time then).

If only I had found this sooner . . . so many characters sacrificed to the typist gods.

Because the game literally hasnt changed much at all since then. You see my frustration at such bullheaded developers who are overshooting their mark, such as wanting "Games that will last years with Survivors having established their own Outposts, the cities and towns looted to nothingness, great hordes of Zombies wandering over from other cities" and so on.

[Venrez]

Originally posted by EnigmaGrey:

. . . How is any of that easy in a pixelated 2D sprite game?

Terraria.
Realm of the Mad God.
Dont Starve.
Meat Boy.
Binding of Isaac.
Lakeview Cabin.
Braid.
Freaking Mario.

[Venrez]

Originally posted by Skydriver:

You my friend haven't been following pz at all as I see. Special zombies is a big NO from the devs about the food eating raw eggs can give you disease its not the eggs that give you disease but the bacteria that may live in them and in a zombie apocalypse the bacteria will flourish I had a family member which went to hospital because he was eating raw eggs everyday if you eat only sugar prepare to have your bottom clogged for a long time :D. painting on walls will be added in build 28. Who cooks a chicken in a microwave and who the hell warms a slice of cake? About the too transparent walls I never seemed to have this problem as i play on low graphics. you hold a fort for loot you put in it a lot of damn loot. the 3d sounds are going to be implemented in build 28. about the shoot on sight of npc i don't even know what to say so I will use an example in fallout or skyrim you can kos a lot of people too and take their stuff but is it fun to play that way? Me for examples loves to have npcs on his side to boos them around. everything in the game is being overhauled a bit by bit the new guns system wont allow you to insta kill ppl. And lastly the game is taking long time to develop because its vast its big not some damn minigame which others finish in 4 months the devs are making it damn near perfect and perfection takes time.

P.S: I am sorry I had to post this I was writing it in the forums and while I finished the thread was locked I just cant let it go away :D

Who warms a slice of cake?
Cafes. Everywhere. Everyday. Dont be stupid.

Who cooks a Chicken in a Microwave?
People do. Commonly. Everywhere. If they dont have a Stove or Fireplace.

Who eats Raw Eggs commonly? Sports-oriented people. Some people do it just because they like the taste too. Yes, food storage may be 'rougher' in apocalypse times, but eating a Raw Egg is not guaranteed sickness unless its actually rotten. And then... you know... it says its Rotten. You can tell.

In an apocalypse survive-or-die scenario, Im pretty sure you'd eat raw Sugar too. Lollipops restore 5 hunger. Soda restores Hunger. Why not actual Sugar? Stupid.

Hoarding loot is pointless because you can find it everywhere and endlessly replenish it, such as via killing THOUSANDS of the useless Zombies.

Been following PZ since its Alpha-inception with Baldspot'n'Kate. Read the post before you respond.

[Venrez]

Originally posted by EnigmaGrey:

Originally posted by Venrez:

Because the game literally hasnt changed much at all since then. You see my frustration at such bullheaded developers who are overshooting their mark, such as wanting "Games that will last years with Survivors having established their own Outposts, the cities and towns looted to nothingness, great hordes of Zombies wandering over from other cities" and so on.

You're rapidly moving from being (remotely) constructive to outright offensive.

Please don't.

Alright, but what bothers me is that they stick to their agenda without compromising anything for the fact that Gameplay should come before Vision. If something doesnt work in-game, no matter your idea for it, it should be adjusted and changed.

They're shooting for an MMO-type experience with a hundred-zillion variables and events and scripted sequences that'd take decades to make and create, something which is simply infeasible for a small game studio that requires income, especially in such a competitive marketplace.

Their "grand ideology" of the game simply wont work. They may implement bits and pieces of it, but as I said, their overall-arching-example, as I stated, is so long in the making that this game will be comparable to the first wooden wheel by the time its actually "done" in that regard.

By which time, we'll have other games, have seen other companies do similar things and come and gone.

[Venrez]

I've tried running the game on all settings. Its not about forcing the game to work harder. Its about the game experiencing bugs or otherwise being improperly coded and thus designed, in terms of the lighting issue.

Yes its an issue. Yes its a game work-in-progress. But it seems like such a prevalent issue that ought to have been fixed by now, yet has persisted for multiple versions and releases. Its as serious as a CTD bug or error.

You also didnt read that I am fine with permadeath, but not okay of it occuring as the result of a bug, such as teleporting zombies or the RNG-related guaranteed-kill of infection if a Zombie so much as scratches you. It may not happen all the time, but if it does, you're boned, whether its 5 hours or 500 hours into a game. That isnt fun in my opinion.

I accept the latter point is simply my opinion, but all your hard work being lost as the result of something you didnt do (via bug or misdesigned gameplay or error) is not acceptable.

I know some points are subjective to personal opinion, like the endless hordes of copy-paste-exactly-the-same Zombies, but other issues are persistant through opinion, like certain foods making you unhappy or bored for some insane reason. Or how eating Red Meat is dangerous and can make you deathly ill, which is false. Or how SO much of the game is simply unfinished, even after over a year of work, completely lacking in animations, tooltips or information related to gameplay like skill explanations, or how despite their attempt for semi-realism, some things are so far-fetched from reality that it almost seems to be deliberate controversy, like ripping a piece of clothing into bandages causing the resulting bandages to weigh twice what the original article of clothing did.

Its just frustrating to see so many prevalent issues have not been attended to over such a ~long~ development cycle.

Its my opinion and my experience of a game that had high hopes and high expectations but fell short in every way. Thats all. Some people agree, some people disagree. Im just sharing my opinion of such on a public forum as it was intended for.

So, I'll just move onto other Survival type games, inclusive of Zombies or not, that better fit my tastes and cut my losses.

[Steelwoolsheep]

Some of the "pains" you are pointing out, like the infection in one single bite, are fundamental parts of what makes this game fun and challenging. The mechanic have been in the game since the beginning. If you don't like it, then perhaps this game isn't for you. This isn't a zombie shooter with no infection.

[Ketsa]

Why do you keep creating great walls of text when its more annoying than constructive.

Tear down that wall.

[Gonzo Max]

Space Cat, either you read them, join in the debate and be constructive, or decide the thread isn't for you and move on to another one. Remember the cardinal rule.

[Pl3kP0t]

The Dead Linger (3D) has done a lot less in two years, there's still only one zombie model after years of work. That game has had a lot less improvement over two years. Project Zomboid has completely new 3D models, a 20x larger map, two new cities... (I love to critizise Dead Linger, though I'll probably buy it in the future but not now).

The one hit death is to keep the pressure up and in virtually every zombie movie/game that's the whole idea. (You can turn off zombie infection if you want to). I've never had any bugs with teleporting zombies. Some things are a bit illogical yes like using clothes on zombies for bandages etc. Crafting could be better, like in many MMO's where you can see everything you can make. Animations could use some work. Overall I'm very pleased with the game alrerady having played it for 50 hours on Steam and some 30 hours before Steam.

[Ibanez]

Honestly this guy this guy has some very good points. I also think TIS did some bad decisions in the past. Instead of making one good gameplay system they implement a crap system only to redesign it later (weapon, food, health, moodles).

I am also a bit frustrated cause i really tried to be active in the official forum. I posted some bugs i found and made some suggestions. Most of the time no one answered.

There is a suggestion thread for "Sleeping in MP" every week

The common answers are:

- Minigames
- Minecraft like sleeping MP
- Naps

I think i have seen one Dev Answer in that threads and that said the system is good: you can read books at night and wait till morning on your mp server.

There is no SYSTEM for sleeping in MP.

Because in its current state, PZ is just boring and follows this steps:

1. Grab some stuff from your Spawnhouse (Backpack, Food, Knife/Baseball bat)
2. Run to warehouse (Axe, Nails, Hammer, Saw)
3. Fortify a house and plant some food.
4. Find Skill books and level up.
5. Fortify more, plant more.
6. Get bored in your undestroyable safehouse and live forever!

I rly hope TIS will be finished soon with the new patch, cause there are real problems that needs to worked on.

- Zombie Migration: I know its coming but its an experimental system again.

- Sleeping in MP: Still a big problem for me, because the time is running so slow on most servers. If you try to farm on a server you have to play PZ like a farmville for facebook. Water every 1-2h Realtime hours.

- Proper Resets or better no resets: Soft Resets still empty every container in your world - ALSO your safehouse. This kinda sucks for replayability. You have to start over and over again.

- UI: PZ is not user friendly. I already suggested it in the official forum. Why not highlight the stuff you can use, when you hoover your mouse over it.

- Late Game

- NPC

- More Content

[Skydriver]

Originally posted by Venrez:

Originally posted by Skydriver:

You my friend haven't been following pz at all as I see. Special zombies is a big NO from the devs about the food eating raw eggs can give you disease its not the eggs that give you disease but the bacteria that may live in them and in a zombie apocalypse the bacteria will flourish I had a family member which went to hospital because he was eating raw eggs everyday if you eat only sugar prepare to have your bottom clogged for a long time :D. painting on walls will be added in build 28. Who cooks a chicken in a microwave and who the hell warms a slice of cake? About the too transparent walls I never seemed to have this problem as i play on low graphics. you hold a fort for loot you put in it a lot of damn loot. the 3d sounds are going to be implemented in build 28. about the shoot on sight of npc i don't even know what to say so I will use an example in fallout or skyrim you can kos a lot of people too and take their stuff but is it fun to play that way? Me for examples loves to have npcs on his side to boos them around. everything in the game is being overhauled a bit by bit the new guns system wont allow you to insta kill ppl. And lastly the game is taking long time to develop because its vast its big not some damn minigame which others finish in 4 months the devs are making it damn near perfect and perfection takes time.

P.S: I am sorry I had to post this I was writing it in the forums and while I finished the thread was locked I just cant let it go away :D

Who warms a slice of cake?
Cafes. Everywhere. Everyday. Dont be stupid.

Who cooks a Chicken in a Microwave?
People do. Commonly. Everywhere. If they dont have a Stove or Fireplace.

Who eats Raw Eggs commonly? Sports-oriented people. Some people do it just because they like the taste too. Yes, food storage may be 'rougher' in apocalypse times, but eating a Raw Egg is not guaranteed sickness unless its actually rotten. And then... you know... it says its Rotten. You can tell.

In an apocalypse survive-or-die scenario, Im pretty sure you'd eat raw Sugar too. Lollipops restore 5 hunger. Soda restores Hunger. Why not actual Sugar? Stupid.

Hoarding loot is pointless because you can find it everywhere and endlessly replenish it, such as via killing THOUSANDS of the useless Zombies.

Been following PZ since its Alpha-inception with Baldspot'n'Kate. Read the post before you respond.

Maybe my country has a different culture you wont see any cakes warmed here

Well I have never seen a single person Cook a raw chicken in microwave I have seen chickens in pans, ovens, bbq everywhere I just dont think it would come out good enough to eat. again maybe its not done only in my country.

You rephrased my statement I myself have ate raw eggs and I know that people do that I just stated that it is indeed not a 100% safe uncooked thats why it states that it is dangerous dangerous.

how much of damn sugar would you need to eat to feel something besides anxiety you would more likely want to crap then fell full after a pack of sugar

ever tried playing multiplayer? :D

You had pz since alpha you haven't been following it if you had you would know why are there no special infected and what is upcoming or never being implemented.

[⚜ Top Cat ⚜]

Originally posted by Venrez:

Combat = pointless. Health system = pointless. Zombies infect people. Zombies teleport. Bandages = pointless. Everything one-shots you. Fire-axe OP, Sledgehammer UP. Sledgehammer needs 4-5 hits. WHY U NO LEFT 4 DEAD?

The health system is not pointless and if you've played any longer than a few hours (heck, you should discover this within the first hour), you should know this. There are plenty of ways to get hurt without it being from a zombie, and if a zombie damages you and don't infect you (you know, since scratches and bites only have chances to do that), you'll need bandages and the health system in order to recover.

The combat isn't worthless either since, you know, you kinda need to kill zombies and occasionally other survivors in order to not die. The fire-axe is strong, just like it's meant to be. The sledgehammer is meant for more uses than just killing (like destroying walls), and while you do have a point about the exhaustion, they do certainly not require 4-5 hits to kill a zombie. This alone makes me believe that you don't know much about charging your weapons. Are you sure you've played as much as you claim? Unless you are really bad at combat, you shouldn't have this problem.

Things should be a real danger if you are careless, and the "one-hit can be fatal" part of PZ reflects this. If you slip up and let a zombie hit you, you must be ready to pay for the consequences. This is an essential part in building up the atmosphere that PZ is striving for. Besides, the game would be way too easy if you could stand 20 or so hits without any problems, right? And what's this about L4D zombies? You'd be much more mad if a Hunter suddenly jumped from a building out of nowhere and took you out..... This game is not L4D, accept that. This is an entirely different game that doesn't focus so much on the raw action, but more on strategic decisions.

Oh, and zombies aren't meant to teleport. You were probably careless and forgot something, but if not and they really did, it was a bug.

Originally posted by Venrez:

No need for looting, zombies has it all. Farming is slow. This unfinished game I bought unfinished is unfinished. Safe-houses = pointless. NPC interaction = pointless. My Starcraft mods are better than this. I can't microwave cakes.

I doubt you'll find much food in zombies, but hey, whatever works. Zombies carry some small stuff, occasionally something bigger but certainly not all that's necessary to survive.

Farming takes time, just like it does in this thing we call "Real Life". Try growing a potato in a day and see how that works for you. Also, it's a renewable food source which you can create almost everywhere, so of course it won't be as easy as just raiding a fridge.

The game isn't finished yet, so glitches and missing stuff are to be expected. Your lightning problems are probably from you having too high settings or simply a borked out graphic card which can't handle the game. It could be the game itself of course, and they are actively working on such. The helicopter stalker is a bug (yes, a bug) which I haven't heard about before. It certainly has never happened to me. Try submitting a ticket in the bug tracker to the developers. Your Starcraft mod is a mod you made for an already finished game with mod support. Why the heck do you compare that to an entirely other unfinished game? Making a mod is not the same as making a game (especially a mod made for a game as big as Starcraft), simple as that. They do plenty of progress (try reading the Mondoids, they provide weekly info on what's been done), and many of us don't mind waiting since we are constantly getting new things and we trust the developers.

Safe-houses are for players who, you know, might not want to live in the middle of the zombie infested places. You can also craft together houses in the city and make a large fort. Heck, let your imagination go while, crafting certainly has its uses. The NPCs will be what you make of them as well. Sure, go ahead and shoot everything that moves, but why not try to see if you can use them in a way which benefits you? Or just do it for fun since this is a game meant for entertainment. They all won't shoot you on sight.

And who microwaves cake slices...? I mean, sure, there are microwaved cake-in-cups, but I've never heard of any living being who takes full cake-slices and shoves them into microwaves. This would just make a melted mess... Anyway, it just seems like this game isn't for you. PZ is not a 2D L4D, sorry to say

PS: The sarcasm in the quotes are not meant to offend you. I needed to save space by not quoting you but still also needed to show what I was talking about, so I added some of my own flavour to it. Good luck finding that game you are looking for, but it sadly sounds to me like PZ is not for you.