new player: goal?

[Korpah the Dutch Gamer]

so whats the goal besides surviving a long time?

[ardelle]

Avoid dying

[Mister of Battle]

Its what you make of it really. Don't die, build your base, attempt to survive in the wilderness, have fun times with friends in multiplayer, build a car workshop. Theres so much to do in this game.

[Shurenai]

If you're the kind of person who needs a game to set goals for you, then you're going to have a hard time. Project Zomboid doesn't give you goals beyond 'try to survive as long as you can'.

Everything else has to come from you. Maybe your goal is to make a base in every city. Maybe your goal is to clear every zombie on the map. Maybe your goal is to build a fort out of nothing but cardboard boxes. Maybe your goal is to fill one metal crate worth of every single item in the game. Maybe you try to live in just one house, Or treat the outside ground as 'lava' forcing you to move house to house by building a series of floor tiles from the 2nd floor of your starter house branching out to others so you can gather materials to continue surviving.

It's all up to you to make your own goals. Or get mods from the workshop that give goals to you.

[Armagenesis]

Well, what do you do when you play Tetris? You just survive as long as you can and rack up as many points as possible, right? This game is just like that.

[Kirino]

It basically tells you in the Beginning already: "THIS IS HOW YOU DIED"
Not "THIS IS HOW YOU THRIVED AGAINST ALL THE ODDS, AND REBUILD SOCIETY"

The Point is, there is no long term end goal in the Game as of now (maybe with Mods or in the Future tho).
For now, just make what you want with it, either try to go for realism, and see how long you could survive, or play one of the Scenarios for quick fun.

[MagikarpMagi]

I like finding interesting amended maps and going on adventures.
I also really enjoy building in survival games like this or Valheim, so it's fun to set up bases and try different scenarios.

[Chris!!]

The goal is to kill all the zombies, then keep killing until either you or the entire horde of zombies is gone.

[Decrepit Old Man]

Originally posted by Korpah the Dutch Gamer:

so whats the goal besides surviving a long time?

Don't listen to people who only say "DON'T DIE" instead make goals for your long term and check this video out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgLw0llEZoE&t

[Korpah the Dutch Gamer]

Thanks for your time and effort by replying.

I as an new player ask this question so i know what i work towards.
I know the whole not dying, and this is how you died etc things. and for that you need suplies an safe house etc etc etc.

But "rebuild society" means there npcs to interact with? or is it me my self and i that is not an zombie? + friends i play with ones i went over all the possible server settings or is there some easier way to setup an game to just play with friends.
Last night i just left all on default, and we started playing ( 0 experience) but the experience was very poor (cause we didn't knew jack) and didn't spawn near eachother, which kinda was the point (learn by failing) but ones we found each other we where like "oke what now?"

will look at some video's before i attempt another game again =)

[DivineEvil]

Originally posted by Korpah the Dutch Gamer:

Thanks for your time and effort by replying.

I as an new player ask this question so i know what i work towards.
I know the whole not dying, and this is how you died etc things. and for that you need suplies an safe house etc etc etc.

But "rebuild society" means there npcs to interact with? or is it me my self and i that is not an zombie? + friends i play with ones i went over all the possible server settings or is there some easier way to setup an game to just play with friends.
Last night i just left all on default, and we started playing ( 0 experience) but the experience was very poor (cause we didn't knew jack) and didn't spawn near eachother, which kinda was the point (learn by failing) but ones we found each other we where like "oke what now?"

will look at some video's before i attempt another game again =)

Project Zomboid is a survival sandbox, meaning that it doesn't have explicit goals set for you, and the implicit goal is to survive - to affirm the basic needs of your character for food, water, warmth and safety. How you decide to tackle these needs is up to you.

You can settle in a starting town, or in some wilderness, or migrate to a different town at some point, or you can live on a move while exploring the world. You can set goals for yourself and your friends like competing who can kill a number of zeds without dying, or to survive to a certain date, or to secure a certain place.

Typically in a multiplayer game like that, there should be a Game Master that can define rules and a goal for everyone. There's no NPCs yet and won't be for a while (unless you're willing to risk using mods with unrefined semblance of those), so its you against the zombies and your emerging needs and situations.

[Mister of Battle]

Originally posted by Korpah the Dutch Gamer:

Thanks for your time and effort by replying.

I as an new player ask this question so i know what i work towards.
I know the whole not dying, and this is how you died etc things. and for that you need suplies an safe house etc etc etc.

But "rebuild society" means there npcs to interact with? or is it me my self and i that is not an zombie? + friends i play with ones i went over all the possible server settings or is there some easier way to setup an game to just play with friends.
Last night i just left all on default, and we started playing ( 0 experience) but the experience was very poor (cause we didn't knew jack) and didn't spawn near eachother, which kinda was the point (learn by failing) but ones we found each other we where like "oke what now?"

will look at some video's before i attempt another game again =)

If it helps, And you can be bothered reading it, I'll write how our current server story is going.

10 of us began the server together, starting in Muldrough. We made the plan to meet by a large diner on the edge of town. After running away from zombies, stealing some cars, and scavenging supplies on the way, we managed to all get together where we turned the building into a makeshift base.

Our goal was to make a large convoy to Louieville to try and reach a 12 house gated community. So we set to work on supply runs, vehicle runs etc around Muldrough building up enough supplies for the journey and to help us out when we got there. Ensuring we had enough generators for everyone. (We are playing with sprinters).

The day came when we were able to make the journey. Though for IRL reasons, 2 couldnt make it. The journey was hilarious.... Out of the 8 that made the journey... there were 5 deaths and 2 vehicles fell victim to bad driving xD. The dead players new characters were admin ported back to the group and acted as newly met survivors.

They continued their journey and came across a barricaded bridge that was manned by a lone military survivor. He fired warning shots as the convoy approached, but due to the swarm biting on their heels, the convoy couldnt wait to ask for permission, and attacked. The military man was killed, but not before he took out the convoy leader and wounding 4 others.

The convoy used the army base to help fend off the horde while they licked their wounds and recovered. After gaining a few new followers (The dead players new characters), they continued into Louisville. Upon arriving at their new destination they were disheartened to find that 2 of the 12 houses had already burned down, but it still mean that there was JUST enough for everyone. So everyone went and picked their houses and began to make it their own.

Fast forward to the present. We have a fully functioning community and we tried our best to all stat into different things to help work towards a single goal of survival.
I am the farmer/cook. We also have a:

Mechanic
Electrician
doctor
fisherman
hunter/gatherer
2 carpenters (though most of us also have points in this for our house)
farmer/cook (me)
metalworker
Tailor

Due to the nature of the game our stats do overlap in some things.

Our current in-game projects are
-building a secure building behind our community by the river to act as a fishing retreat.
-Building a hunting/gathering retreat in the forest
-Creating a public library/VHS house to stockpile every VHS/book we find.
-Raid on the mall in an attempt to find the entire Shrek VHS.

Some of the mods we are using.
-Vaccines - reduced to 20% chance of finding.
-Skill Journals - For those players that can't commit enough IRL time during the day to have death be too punishing.

I'd say this game is 100x better with people, because it creates that unique experience of just the journey.

:)

[Seelander]

learn to fight, take your new player deaths without being invested in your character and set goals later.

[SwampDragon]

Originally posted by tommy_b_schmidt:

learn to fight, take your new player deaths without being invested in your character and set goals later.

Agreed. There is an art to playing Zomboid and getting better at that is the first goal, which ends up being very rewarding. At first you will die a lot, then you will die slightly less, and then before you know it, you will be kiting hordes down the road in a conga line popping heads with a crowbar. Then you will die again.

Leave the long term planning until you have some experience and a thousand yard stare. In the meantime just loot and survive.

[Envixity]

when you first start, your goals are probably:
1. find non-perishable foods and a can-opener
2. find a weapon, preferably a high-damage melee (eg. machete or katana, wood axe works too, it's more common)
3. find a safe building to make a safehouse out of
4. (optional) find a car, preferably a compact car with decent storage space
5. (optional) barricade your safehouse, with planks or metal sheets (3 planks and metal sheets over a door or window works like a sheet, nobody is seeing in or out)
6. find a generator to keep that electricity flowing through your long-term survival
7. NEW OBJECTIVE: Survive

[Albert the Handsome (Not)]

Did you ever make a zombie plan in case the ZA happens in real life but never got to put it to the test? Now's the time to do it :) Pretend that the game is actually reality and be yourself!!