So far me and my friends have:

• accidentally blown up a gas station XP
• raided a bar (which we then accidentally burned down with a microwave)
• flipped cars into eachother at freeway speed
• developed a scratch ticket gambling addiction

Only took 19 months from unstable to stable!

Pretty excited about the new map overhaul and the possibility for new mods.

I went back a few days ago and I have to say, it's so nice.

So I got too confident in my ability and while having browsers open, walking on my way to the Riverside Sanitarium for the first time.

I saw a car and a few zomboids, thinking nothing of it, proceed to engage and in the middle of a swing with a two-handed weapon, out from behind a tree, a fast shambler emerges.

Me being an idiot didn't give enough space when I engaged the zomboid to my front and had my back to a tree which ended with me taking too long to respond and got bit twice once by the one behind me and the one in front.

Was able to escape, but consigned myself to get back to base, drop everything and go out on my terms -before changing.

A very long diary entry to allow myself to grieve his loss:

::: spoiler spoiler ~~ Doug Walker was a freeloader and when he heard how the problems where getting worse decided to make a run out of town.

Having a passing interest in herbs, he thought it best to make it out on his own living off the land - maybe hole up in that shop he remembered out on the outskirts of town, he was not afraid of fighting, but tried to avoid if he could.

He never saw the need to keep things tidy and in containers and thought it best to keep things all within easy reach.

The quiet life saw Doug start to take an interest in fishing and animal husbandry, and saw him take care of pigs, sheep, rabbits, mice and, developed a special fondness for chickens.

His luck was great, avoiding zomboids from the trees time and again and even found many valuable items from the old world which he planned to collect at a more advantageous time.

His luck ran short however when he wanted to see how the sanitarium was holding up, he was a "visitor" of the facility in his younger years and to his mind thought it a palace in the wastes.

Little did he know that his journey would come to an end, when he stumbled too greedily into unknown dangers, as he was moving in to dispatch yet another of the shambling dead. He caught but a glimpse of something from the trees, that glimpse turned to panic as that something lunged out and before he could react, he felt a sharp pain at his side, he tried to break free but was bit again on the arm. The pain now starting to fade as adrenaline began to kick in as he tried desperately to break free from dead's grip.

He succeeded, his body now burning, knowing and remembering from those early days of the Knox event that he was running on borrowed time.

Knowing this, he decided that in his last moments he will take destiny into his own hands and will enjoy the world from a view that he could appreciate.

That he would rather go out on his own terms and not slowly succumb to the cruelty this world.

He raced back to his home, that was only a month since he moved in, and on his way back thought about how he would go about this task without suffering. His idea, expose himself to the elements and have nature's grip embrace him in its icy embrace and allows him to drift peacefully into that darkness, surrounded by what he loved.

He got home and reluctantly threw everything that he owned on the ground one last time, he thought - at length - of his life, and with the last piece of clothing removed, prepared himself for the end.

So this is it, I always thought I would go out more violently in the end, but it was a good life, even if I was alone in the end, I can at least be able to have the view of my chickens as a last pleasant thought before it all goes dark.

P.S.

To my brother, sorry I couldn't prepare the place better. If you are still alive and read the note I left in the family home, then you should be able figure out where I have been - heh, I've always been a slob, sorry I couldn't make it more homely as a parting gift. And if you ain't my brother, sod off! But you're welcome to anything you find, ain't going to be needing it no more soon.

P.P.S. As I final wish of a dying man, would you name that plump red hen : "Gertrude", always fancied the gal - always made the best eggs. ~~ ::: End journey entry

So I drank a bottle of bleach and waited for the end in the chicken coop, the character surrounded by what brought him peace. I closed the game, but log back in to at least bury the guy, but he is either despawned or roaming around Kentucky.

Continued on that world as Doug Walker's brother and dug a grave - and filled it to at least have closure with the character - there is a side bonus with the slim chance I will be able find Doug and burying properly.

Playing on vanilla apocalypse and chose to live off the land and away from most of the Kentucky Apocalypse on the outskirts of Riverside for a chill run with the excitement of danger.

Have been surviving so far off of fishing and foraging, winter is around the corner (might need to work on trapping as well).

Spent a lot of time trying to stabilise my weight (started to worry when I hit the 60s) until my fishing skill got to a point where I could figure out a routine for it.

Still undecided about where to develop a more central base to create an animal farm as I have found sheep, chickens and pigs. The building I am squatting in, is little more than a dumping ground as I work slowly towards self-sufficiency.

Life is more a struggle to survive normally with the added danger of zomboids, but its overall its pretty quiet life with the daily patrols broken up with the occasional background gunshots or blood-curdling screams of anguish.

Character is only level 3 in cooking, 2 in fishing and 8 in foraging and with a nice cut of fish and some mushroom harvesting, one can eat well.

The pot's condition is like that as it was something I picked up through foraging.

I don't know if that's the correct version since I'm away from the computer, yadda yadda

I fired up Zomboid after watching this movie but I thought I'd play around with the guns first instead of going straight into a new playthrough.

So with the debug console open, cheats active, and Base.Pistol in hand, I took some shots at some 'boids. And it's incredible.

You know how in Counter-Strike, its a classic joke to say it's the game where your bullets can come out of the gun and make a 90° turn? Zomboid seems to have taken notes.

You can't seriously be saying that I can knock a zomboid to the ground, stand on top of them, aim my gun one foot from their head, fully intent on executing them; pulling the trigger and watch the debug console as it says I hit them somewhere ridiculous like the lower torso or the hands and arms.

Bullets don't feel real in this version. It really is just gambling which body parts you're "calculated" to have hit, instead of calculating your chances of hitting your designated target. The Aiming skill just feels like a modifier for your chance to hit, and your crosshair is just a designator for which entity to run the calculations against. The crosshair doesn't feel like it's guiding a bullet to a target anymore.

And the salt on the wound is that the animation system acknowledges my intent to headshot most of the time. There's a slight disconnect between the physical model and the hitboxes (I suspect its because the hitboxes aren't rotating properly with perspective, center-of-mass is always fine) but otherwise the animation system is a delight.

Man, what I've just written feels off. Either way let's talk about these gun changes. They feel really bad right now.

Even though it wasn't in the best of shape, looks in good enough shape to at least do a stair remodeling.

This is temporary until the main map site updates. It looks really good.

The issue here is threefold, broadly speaking. Firstly, the artist contracted to produce the pertinent loading screens was the same person who drew the iconic Bob loading screen over a decade ago. The Indie Stone enjoyed their new output well enough without spotting that it sat in stark contrast with the dark and gloomy vibe of the game. Secondly, The Indie Stone has also spent a non-insignificant amount of money and time setting up these loading screens with dedicated animated effects and other fancy tidbits. Those, too, are now gone. Finally, the dialogue over the nature of this art was taking over the main subreddit, when the focus should’ve squarely been on the actual content of Build 42’s update.

Seems B42 unstable is out!

Although it is only for single player for now, looking forward to see the new stuff - even if it might have jank

Probably building hype creating this, but best case scenario, build .42 unstable public release looking to drop around Christmas and in the worst case early next year

https://projectzomboid.com/blog/news/2024/11/whatz-next/

https://projectzomboid.com/blog/news/2024/10/hallodoid/

Seems that .42 has started closed external testers so that is good news

The new lighting seems oppressive and looks like night raids are probably going to require flashlights to avoid danger.

Nice seeing some basement gameplay - first thought was looking like 3rd person Rsident Evil( from the sanatorium video) and the distribution getting tweeks and wonder how they are going to tighten up the combat

Besides all the other stuff, I am really liking the reading materials and how its being implemented.

Writing this to see what moments that have happened in game that has one step back and appreciate the systems at play.

I just recalled a moment where I had setup in the farmhouse north east of maldraugh and the helicopter event happened, so I hurried upstairs and waited for it to end.

When it did, decided to take a nap as I heard the downstairs windows being broken as wanted to prepare for the worst case of making an emergency exit.

So character wakes up in the middle of the night and it is a thunderstorm, so think screw it, going to take a chance and clear my "front yard".

I climb out the second story window, onto the veranda decking, and jump down into probably about 20 zomboids mulling about in all directions - which the lightning surpised me when it struck, showing me more than I was expecting.

So in the middle of the night amongst the separated group I went about sneaking and trying to take them out one at a time, with the screen having moments being fully lit up from the lightning threatening my position and the possibility being compromised and they all converge.

So there was my survivor shanking zomboids in the middle of night alongside the thunderstorm, as bodies kept falling and eventually peace of mind as the numbers thinned out enough to not be a problem if the weather worked against me.

Was quite a sight the next morning as the fields in front of the house were spread out with corpses and the resultant blood spray across it where I had to resort to blunt force to solve a problem.

Just found the ambiance of the sound of the thunderstorm, the little "stealth" mini-game of removing the threat with the thought of the lightning giving my position as well as seeing the carnage in the daylight was a great use of the weather system and how the game makes its own narrative.

West Point Best Point IMO. Tons of great resources and loot. Close to Valley Station and Louisville. The American Tire is very useful for fixing up a trailer and a sweet ride. I like basing up in the three mansions or the hardware store apartment thing near the servo in the center of town.

Im curious to see how you all tailor the game to suit you. I like having an action packed campaign with a lot more arcady-ness than what was probably intended. I play with Insane Zombie pop, normal zombie speed, strength, hearing etc, but no transmission, migration and respawn. I usually set electricity and water to off, one month after the apocalypse with x3 skill gain.

I like making a story where like the Knox Event was contained, and now soldiers are entering the zone to clean up. You were part of the clean up crew, but your helo goes down and you have to start clearing the zone on your own.

How do you all play?

Edit: OH i also play with Helicopter event sometimes and use the enhanced helicopter event mod (one of the few mods I use.) Sure it calls all the zombies, but that FEMA aid is worth it. Plus it makes me feel less lonely knowing someone is out there, even if they are an asshole.