How hard is this game?

[LeadedHydra78]

I've tried to get into this game a couple days but it seemed super overwhelming so i refunded it. How hard is this game really? And can you guys offer any tips that might make it easier for me to get into :) it would be much appreciated! I really wanna give this game a change, but it just seems super overwhelming for me.

UPDATE: Reading all of your messages made me want to retry this game! Defiantly gonna take my time with it and enjoy it! I hate you guys for making me want to try this game again :D

[Animalman]

Takes a few years experience. You gotta be of the mindset or a mega zombie apocalypse fan to appreciate it i guess. IF you aint all that on zombies you probably won't play. I gifited to my mate and he never plays. He Just aint all that on zombies.

[Ranty]

I would try lowering your expectations of survival in the beginning. You could just look at the wiki to try to find the meta strat, but honestly it's one of those games where the wiki kind of ruins everything.

I will give you a tip though, when you're starting out, you don't have any weapons so you want to keep combat at a minimum. It is a survival game first and foremost, not a combat game. Turn off the lights and make sure tvs and radios are set to low volume. Close the curtains of your windows and just scout around the house when you feel comfortable enough.

Just slowly expose yourself to the mechanics of the game so you get comfortable with it. Also, playing with friends is extremely fun.

[GeoG85]

Watch Youtubers, play the game. This game is a complicated classic. AKA No Flashy Buttons, Loot Crates - It is rewarding if you love the feeling of challenging yourself at a game and winning at it.

What Youtubers I recommend? I'll say my disclaimer - everyone is different. Find a person you like. If he or she resonates you, awesome - you found your winner. If not, onto the next one.

Some people act like one streamer is one side fits all. Hell to the no. :P

Also websites and graphs to study - Map dot project zomboid dot com and that reddit zombie heat radar map. Though do be careful, the radar map is a bit dark for some place like Rosewood Prison. :P Place was way brighter when I was there!

[Seelander]

Originally posted by LeadedHydra78:

I've tried to get into this game a couple days but it seemed super overwhelming so i refunded it. How hard is this game really? And can you guys offer any tips that might make it easier for me to get into :) it would be much appreciated! I really wanna give this game a change, but it just seems super overwhelming for me. [/quote
You will learn, i am in no ways an expert, but gradually improving, at first i wouldnt survive 2 days, to now where i usually only die if i do stupid decisions... Its part of the fun really playing a unforgiving game like this, makes you respect the game at all times. Recommend watching some YT for good tips and see some gameplay.

[HunterSilver]

The game is highly customizable, so tweak difficulty up and down to your personal taste. It can be as brutal and unforgiving, or as easy and carefree, as is fun for you.

By default it's not easy. I would highly recommend playing on a lower difficulty setting to start with just to familiarize yourself with the controls. Using the inventory takes a little bit of getting used to, even if you do the tutorial, and even just figuring out how to use equipped containers such as backpacks takes a little bit. None of it is extreme, but you just never get the opportunity when you're being chased by 5+ zombies at all times.

One of my friends started the game on apocalypse mode, which is crammed full of zombie hordes at every corner, because that's what he enjoys. I like builder mode more because it has smaller zombie groups and lets me enjoy the base building. I had another friend that hated resource scarcity so they enabled container respawns for their private server. Whatever floats your boat.

[Nikki6]

i love the fact that your some regular person just trying to make it lol... nothing special about you, nothing op. you have to learn to think a little while playing it. not being mean. you just have to do somethings different if you want to leave with all limbs and no bites.. i use the car horn to check areas before going in

[Razorfish]

Just relax... this is how you die.......,
it's not about winning, it's about how long you can make it.
start by running it is "sandbox" mode, you can even turn off the zombies to explore.

if you really ... really .really.. must there are mods:
"Tread's Character Edit tools"
that will allow you to cheat death.. and generally get used to the char navigation.
Most other games it's about

"look the cool base i built", "
look at my farming"


This game it's ... "look i survived for a day without doing anything stupid..."

[The early worm deserves the bird]

Run. Run for your life child. This is a game that will suck hundreds if not thousands of hours of your life away. Seriously.

The average Ph.D requires around 120 college credit hours. That's 120 hours spent in classrooms and about four times that for homework. All told it takes about 600 real life hours to earn a Ph.D in ONE single subject.

Some people have MULTIPLE Ph.D's in Zomboid.

Run.

[Razorfish]

Originally posted by The early worm deserves the bird:

Run. Run for your life child. This is a game that will suck hundreds if not thousands of hours of your life away. Seriously.

The average Ph.D requires around 120 college credit hours. That's 120 hours spent in classrooms and about four times that for homework. All told it takes about 600 real life hours to earn a Ph.D in ONE single subject.

Some people have MULTIPLE Ph.D's in Zomboid.

Run.

you also forgot .... "publish new or die" ,if you do not publish new work... it matters not on your other work.

That is Be creative of get lost.... life can be hard...

[dumbtruck]

One of my guilty pleasure games that i always keep installed; there's a lot to this game right out of the box that makes it difficult but you're able to tailor it to your own playstyle preference which can alter your experience drastically from others. I had thought about refunding it originally when i first got it a few years ago but now i'm around 400 hours deep with no regret.

[AutoHippo]

get used to it now build 42 isn't forever away, animals are coming, maps getting even bigger. NPC humans "eventually"

[Smoking Crow]

This is probably gonna be against the popular opinion.

But I struggled for years to figure out how to do anything in this game. I'd die before I could gain any experience and never new what I was doing right or wrong in order to get myself killed. So I cheated. I turned off infection and gave myself 100 points for my build. I juiced up my characters and was able to survive long enough to understand the multiple ways to accomplish the same tasks.

I was able to survive long enough to build something, farm something and clear a block or two. I treated a few wounds because they weren't game ending and became familiar with first aid. I played with tailoring and learned just how valuable protective clothing is. I became familiar with weapons, their ranges and different damage types.

Then I stopped once it felt cheap and started earning my victories. Now I can do more than I ever did before with cheating, on my own.

[BiSc0]

The biggest thing for myself to not pull my hair out and refund when I first got it was to take the loading screen serious. You'll die it's just a matter of when and how. Glad you're taking another go at the game it's honestly one of if not the best zombie survival games right now.

[Soul]

This game will grab you by the throat and choke slam you into a wall and with your dying breath you will whisper "harder".

[~ Diviad ~]

I haven't played in a year but I think Im about to get back into it, lol. From what I remember, Many skills are easy to increase, though you may have to learn some ways to speed up the process. Some skills take FOREVER no matter what you do, so fill those in at your character creation.
There is a mod that allows you to make a save book from ingredients in the world. Once you craft this book, you can write in the progress for your character's skill progression. When you die, find this book and read it to relearn your skills from your past character. I highly recommend this mod.
DM me if you think you might want to get back into it with co-op.