Thanks to a brilliant mod, you have the option to go hunting before version 42 is even out!
... granted, it's a lot more simplified and you don't actually get to physically stalk your prey, but it's as close as we're gonna get until NPCs become a true component of PZ.
In order to hunt you will need to first improve your foraging skill. To find small animals, you'll need at least foraging 2. Then, simply go explore with search mode on, your best bet is any area that counts as deep woods. You'll also need an appropriate weapon - Most rifles do the trick for large game, as do bows for rabbits and such, shotguns for birds and even spears. If you find some tracks, make sure to have your weapon of choice equipped and "craft" the hunt (the recipe should tell you what guns can be used). If successful (your stats such as stealth and aim play a big role) you will get a respectable amount of fresh meat - Don't forget to freeze it or even cure it with Food Preservation Expanded!


Ever broke into a shop that's got all the good bits behind the counter? But that area is only reachable by going through the back? And the back door is locked? All that seperates you from those life-giving cigarettes is a measly, waist-high countertop?? Well no more, you can vault most counters now as you would a fence, stand near it and hold E and you'll climb right over it (so will zombies!).

Caught a Z sneaking into your safe house and now it's stinking up the upper floor? Can't be asked to slowly lug its rotting corpse down the stairs and outside? Just throw it out the window! While carrying a corpse, bring up the interaction window for any opened window and you'll be able to just drop the bugger outside. Oh and if you ever need to go through a window FAST, just sprint right into it. Your character will leap through the glass, breaking it and vaulting outside. Obviously, this has a large risk of injury.

Safer rope climbing - You can now control your character whilst scaling ropes. If you're climbing out of your skybase and notice a crowd of zombies waiting for you at the bottom, just get back up! W to climb up, S to climb down.

Tired of having to walk through broken glass and then bandaging yourself to level your first aid? For Science! lets you practise with bandages to get up to level 4, after which you'll be able to dissect zombies for [s]fun[/s] skill points. Not to be confused with the Take Sample option which is related to researching and crafting vaccines! Similarly, you can tinker with various electronic devices or practise maintenance with your weapons to get XP without having to cheese crafting.


Yes, you could just brute-force a window or smash a fence down with a sledgehammer, but where's the finesse in that? Lockpicking is now a skill you can learn, either by using a crowbar to jimmy open doors and windows or by crafting lockpicks out of bobby pins. Lockpicking features a skill check minigame that depends on your lockpicking level and the difficulty of the door. Using crowbars is physically exerting, especially if you miss your skill checks. You may also find a magazine that'll teach you how to check for alarms - Very useful when looting in the city! And yes, you can lockpick cars as well (and even hotwire them with a new minigame!). There's a new Burglar profession to get you started with all the necessary skills.

Noone liked sitting around for hours on end just to read a book. While it's still the most effective way to get through your mighty tomes of learning, this collection lets you read and walk at the same time! This can save you some time if you're just doing your safehouse chores or if you're walking down a hopefully safe road to get to your next destination. Note, however, that reading will now impose a tunnel vision effect similar to the foraging one. This makes it easier for sneaky zombies to catch you by surprise while you're totally engrossed in the new 50 Shades of Gray.


Remember having to collect a harem of cars outside your house and uninstalling and reinstalling all their headlights every single day just to train your mechanics skill? While this still works, there is an easier way. You can simply select any of the car parts in the mechanics window and select practise mechanics - This will slowly increase your skill but also have a chance to damage the components you're working on.
Also, many car parts can be repaired now that couldn't before! Trunks/boots do not lose tons of capacity simply for being damaged anymore, either.


Once you find a backpack you really like, check the possible recipes that use it (right click it in your inventory and open Craft Helper). Many of them can now be upgraded, which will allow you to attach various items to it to further increase your carrying capacity, but also to allow you to organise your inventory a little better. Plus, a fully decked out backpack just looks rad.
Similarly, you can also upgrade your belts! Attach a flashlight or a handy-dandy hooked waterbottle to it - You've never been more hands-free!

Size does matter - At least for your clothes. Most items of torso and leg clothing will now come in different sizes. Check your character menu or the clothing you start with to know your own size, this depends on your weight. You can check the size of any piece of clothing by right clicking it and taking a look at the label. Putting on a new piece of clothing will also give you an instant hint whether it's a loose or a tight fit. Clothing that is too small will rip if you wear it and if it's too baggy, it won't protect you quite as much, so try to find stuff that actually fits you!
Most accessoires like glasses, hats, gloves or shoes do not have different sizes.


Winter has come and you're spending most of your time indoors, just reading skill books? Fear not, there's many ways to stay entertained now! Go and grab some period-appropriate video game consoles such as the Gameboy, the (S)NES or the Genesis, alongside suitable game cartridges and have a blast!
Computers can now also be used - We heard you like PC games so we put PC games into your PC game so you can... etc etc you know the rest. Find some CDs and play!
Power's out and batteries have become scarce? No worries, spend some unplugged quality time with a harmonica, playing this will actually level up an all-new music skill. Guaranteed to entertain you and your friends!


Surviving the end times has an effect one one's psyche, no doubt. Wether for better or for worse, you'll start picking up new habits and might eventually lose older ones. Many perks are now dynamic, meaning you can earn them or lose them depending on how you play. The classic example for this is Smoker - Go cold turkey for a long time and you'll eventually lose the addiction. But you'll also learn to appreciate the outdoors more if you spend a lot of time there. Killing hundreds, even thousands of zombies is eventually going to dull you to the panic they cause in the rookies - Go overboard and you may even become bloodthirsty.

During character creation, Perks marked with (D) are dynamic and perks marked with (P), such as short-sighted, are permanent.

With the 1.4 update, one newly added mod drastically changed the gunplay of vanilla Zomboid. Advanced Trajectory's Realistic Overhaul is a balanced take on the eponymous mod that aims to make gunplay more rewarding by introducing skill-based aiming and many other factors, whilst also buffing the late game potential of various guns by simulating actual bullet trajectories.

How does this work? For a full guide, be sure to check out the mod page. But as a quick primer, here's what you gotta know:

Aiming your gun now gives you a reticule, you will need to actually aim this where you want your shots to land. As you stand still, the reticule gets smaller and your shots will be more accurate. Your shooting level plays a major part in this, you will have trouble to accurately aim an assault rifle when you're just starting out. You can mitigate this somewhat by making use of the brand new crouching and prone mechanics. Crouching (C) will give you a minor boost in stability, going prone (C, then F) even moreso. Also, your current moodles play a big role. Shooting whilst panicked, exhausted, shivering or even drunk is quite difficult, so take care of your survivor!

At levels 0 to 2, you will not be able to shoot with much finesse at all, and if you do hit a zombie then there's a good chance you'll hit their arms or feet with little effect. Shotguns remain a valid early game choice.
Starting at level 3, you should be able to hit carefully aimed headshots from afar.

Weapon attachments will also play a bigger role now, with adjustments to aiming speed, range or shotgun spread.


Woah, so you can go prone to shoot more accurately? Is that all? Nope!
Thanks to True Crawl, you can now move about even more inconspicuously than ever before! Simply crouch in place and hit F to hit the floor. Zombies will have a harder time spotting you than if you were crouched, but this is of course very slow, more exhausting than walking and potentially dangerous, as you'll need to do a quick standing up animation before breaking into a sprint.

Don't wanna crawl to hide from Zombies? How about killing one, then covering yourself with their entrails instead?

But wait, there's more! Crawl up to a vehicle and, while looking at it, hit Shift - You will crawl underneath it like some zombies do! You can't hide under it, you'll always come out on the other side, but this is a great way to get past a locked car that's blocking your path, or to escape from a sticky situation, or even to get into your base that you blocked off yourself with some cars. This works for motorcycles as well.