Just a very simple thought...

[Evrain]

Project Zomboid is, all in all, a simulation. Not Left 4 Dead for sure. So my question is: why is death "inevitable"?

As suggestive as the idea is gameplay-wise, a "real" zombie population would not respawn (grow up, true, but then again it would follow a sigmoid curve, up until becoming a finite size) and, then again, the body would decay to the point of not being able to maintain movement (think 28 days later).

So, if I (character) can last approximately a year in game, it would be natural for the zombies to literally die of starvation. Hence, why is death "inevitable"?

[Nyagger]

I do believe if you manage to kill around 4000 zombies (the population it shows on the the map select screen) then zombies will disappear forever, and you'll be able to live forever.

also do note that zombies are superhumans: they do not feel pain, do not die of starvation and need no water or any sustenance to exist, meaning that they are beings that trascended existence and their only purpose is to kill the player.

those beings not only revive and come back forever, they also have the strength of 10 men and are able to kill a person with their own hands.

Their endurance is also admirable, it requires 2 full swings of a baseball bat on their head to incapacitate them.

they are perfect soldiers, engineered by the top notch technology with the only intent to annihilate human race, their bodies and minds are so advanced that no human knows the technology used to create a zombie.

[Edible Eyebrows]

The game is heavily inspired by the Romero films, the inevitablity of death is always a strong theme. Also remember they are not '28 days later zombies', they are much more like supernatural monsters, applying the medical logic that later zombie films bring doesnt really work.

In my personal opinion I would have preferd the type of zombies where anybody that dies rises from the dead, not just those that were bitten, it further enforces the idea that this tragedy is not going to go away, its part of the world now.

[HighPlains Drifter]

The "infected" in 28 days later are not zombies. They're just as the name implies, people infected with a disease.

Zombies, don't starve to death, as they are already dead. Reanimated, embodiments of death it'self. As such bacterial breakdown does not occur in them as it does with a typical corpse, as the bacteria it'self is also effected by "taint of death." For example, a bite does not transmit a 'disease' per say, but a necrotic-rot instead. Ever play D&D ? Think of it as more 'mummy-rot' than say typhoid.

A typical zombie could shamble about for years before it's tissue has disolved into a state of dis-corporeal breakdown. Real zombies anyways... Hate this new "infected" genre of zombies, totally ruins the real scare of an undead plague, the inevitable fact you WILL become one...


Anyways, Devs love the demo. Love the concept, can't wait for payday so I can pick this up !







To the OP : You're gonna die... And your gonna join them.... Accept it... BWAHAHAHAHA !

[Evrain]

My point is, if PZ tries to be a sim, then it has to take into account that zombies are not supernatural creatures (and if they were, the Ghostbusters would likely save us all) :) Okay, fine for gameplay purposes, but unless it's some kind of magic (pun intended), then zombies WILL rot (or at least be eaten by some feisty strep).

[Larry]

Well, think about it - Project Zomboid is a simulation, it 'simulates' life in a zombie apocalypse. In real life there is also the theme of "This is how you died..", death in real life is also inevitable. In Zomboid, your death may come of old age (don't think it's implemented yet but you understand), your inevitable death comes as part of the simulation, you will get older and eventually die just as we do in reality.

[HighPlains Drifter]

Originally posted by Evrain:

My point is, if PZ tries to be a sim, then it has to take into account that zombies are not supernatural creatures

Uhm... But they are... That's why you don't seem them in real life... A reanimated corpse of a dead creature.... Sounds pretty supernatural to me...

[Larry]

Originally posted by HighPlains Drifter:

Originally posted by Evrain:

My point is, if PZ tries to be a sim, then it has to take into account that zombies are not supernatural creatures

Uhm... But they are... That's why you don't seem them in real life... A reanimated corpse of a dead creature.... Sounds pretty supernatural to me...

Consider them as 'fictional' rather than supernatural, in the game at least. I believe that as it's caused by an infection, we can say that they are infected individuals (albeit dead), however I wouldn't call them supernatural in the way vampires or werewolves are.

[CaptainBinky]

It's a simulation, but one where you have to have already accepted the premise of "there are zombies". Fact is, a zombie apocalypse is not possible, not with traditional Romero zombies anyway - perhaps something more along the lines of 28 Days Later, sure, maybe. But shambling undead rotting corpses?

So, it's supernatural by definition. If you can accept that premise, then the rest is a simulation. But if the *whole* were a simulation, then there couldn't be any zombies in it at all ;)

[Larry]

Originally posted by Captain Binky:

It's a simulation, but one where you have to have already accepted the premise of "there are zombies". Fact is, a zombie apocalypse is not possible, not with traditional Romero zombies anyway - perhaps something more along the lines of 28 Days Later, sure, maybe. But shambling undead corpses?

So, it's supernatural by definition. If you can accept that premise, then the rest is a simulation. But if the *whole* were a simulation, then there couldn't be any zombies in it at all ;)

As a 'fictional' simulation, however, I think you guys have done it very well, and like I've said death is inevitable in reality, just as it is in this game, if you manage to survive 60 years in-game and die of old age, then sure, you still die however.

[Thanatos]

Originally posted by Captain Binky:

Fact is, a zombie apocalypse is not possible, not with traditional Romero zombies anyway - perhaps something more along the lines of 28 Days Later, sure, maybe. But shambling undead rotting corpses?

Nothing is ever possible....until it is. What about a few hundred years down the line, nanorobotics advanced to a sci-fi level and 'nanites' invade the tissues of the dead, reanimating them? Before shrugging that off...think of this....the advances of todays technology would not have seemed possible a few hundred years ago...right? So who is to say what can happen!

This is one of the few games I can think of that inspires such creative atmoshphere to aid in filling in the details of the surrounding horror.

[Evrain]

Originally posted by Captain Binky:

It's a simulation, but one where you have to have already accepted the premise of "there are zombies". Fact is, a zombie apocalypse is not possible, not with traditional Romero zombies anyway - perhaps something more along the lines of 28 Days Later, sure, maybe. But shambling undead rotting corpses?

So, it's supernatural by definition. If you can accept that premise, then the rest is a simulation. But if the *whole* were a simulation, then there couldn't be any zombies in it at all ;)

Roger there :) Was just a question running through my mind ever since I first heard of PZ :)

[cyberspy]

Originally posted by Thanos:

Originally posted by Captain Binky:

Fact is, a zombie apocalypse is not possible, not with traditional Romero zombies anyway - perhaps something more along the lines of 28 Days Later, sure, maybe. But shambling undead rotting corpses?

Nothing is ever possible....until it is. What about a few hundred years down the line, nanorobotics advanced to a sci-fi level and 'nanites' invade the tissues of the dead, reanimating them? Before shrugging that off...think of this....the advances of todays technology would not have seemed possible a few hundred years ago...right? So who is to say what can happen!

This is one of the few games I can think of that inspires such creative atmoshphere to aid in filling in the details of the surrounding horror.

Decomposition would be a problem still.

[Thanatos]

Never said the nanites would repair the decaying tissue/organs. Reanimation without repair....and there is the combination for shambling, rotting zombies!

[Gonzo Max]

Originally posted by cyberspyXD:

Originally posted by Thanos:

Nothing is ever possible....until it is. What about a few hundred years down the line, nanorobotics advanced to a sci-fi level and 'nanites' invade the tissues of the dead, reanimating them? Before shrugging that off...think of this....the advances of todays technology would not have seemed possible a few hundred years ago...right? So who is to say what can happen!

This is one of the few games I can think of that inspires such creative atmoshphere to aid in filling in the details of the surrounding horror.

Decomposition would be a problem still.

This is represented in game. If you live long enough, zombies become a little slower and weaker.

[LuckerLuke]

i just read the first few comments and like to state some things

1. theoretically u can live forever in this game, but practically u will make a mistake.
2. im pretty sure its not possible to kill all zombies(they [re]spawn / come from "outside the map")
3. it isnt given the zombies decompose, the virus/mechanism/whatever is not explained