Project Zomboid Screenshot Let's Play

[Keldoclock]

Would you guys be interested in reading something like that? If there's enough interest I'll start it up today.

Would you like me to play as a custom character (I figured a fat, alchoholic Irish cop could be fun), or as the "story mode" character?

With Dominic I'd have some perks and things that could be handy (cops are better with firearms, which is nice because I've modded in some more firearms), and with StoryModeMan I'd have a wife who I could either kill, let burn to death, let be shot to death, carry out of a burning home(most likely what I would do), or save her from everything and then be confined to one house forever because her leg got IVHorseman'd and she can't move.

[Ross_Varn]

SIEGE MODE. Mainly because I can't save the girl for the life of me and I'm imminently frustrated by it.

But really, play as the cop.

[IVhorseman]

Play from a wheelchair.


On a submarine.

with ATLANTIS ZOMBIES

[Keldoclock]

The Apocalypse touched us all, in different ways. Most collapsed under the weight of doomsday, some found ways to cope, and some only grew stronger as the world around them crumbled.



Dominic O'Brien was not one of those men. He was a crooked cop, a fat bastard, and a drunk.
This is how he died.

Alright, so I'll be starting up a new character, either of my own volition or chosen by you, and doing things, chosen by you or by me if nobody wants anything in particular. Sorry for the toolbars n'shit here, I'll fix that up by the next entry. Can't do partial screenshots while being shot at.

Actually, I'm redoing this whole bit. Replaying and photoshopping, should be much less shitty when I upload again.

[Keldoclock]

Dominic O'Brien was a strange man. Under any normal circumstances, you would find Dominic to be a weak, cowardly man, with a large appetite, a man that lived only for the very basest of pleasures.

You will find him to be an entirely different man when he is armed and full of liquid courage.



Dominic awoke in a bathroom, as he often did, and staggered out, his head throbbing. Everything was too damn bright, too damn loud.


It seems he was in somebody's house, in the late afternoon. The rain thundered unto the rooftop. Dominic heard naught but the downpour, and promptly decided he should take everything in the house.


And oh, what a wise decision it was!

Here we can see the first of the weapons I modded in, a pistol. This is an incredibly rare item to just find in a cupboard. The chances of us finding the appropriate ammunition are minute.


He carried away from the empty house a veritable fortune, a plastic bag of goods on the end of a shotgun he perched on his shoulder. Dominic helped himself to the whiskey, and decided, on a lark, to fire off a pair of shots. What joy was had, shattering the fine china of the deserted home, what joy there was in destruction!

Not only did we find a magazine (17 rounds) of ammo for the pistol, we found a shotgun and ammo, food, booze, nails,batteries, tissues, a pen, tools for opening and cooking canned food, and of course the whiskey. It's the best haul I've gotten ever, and I figured Dom never found anything this good either. Guns+booze*joy = nothing good


The dead lurched towards the gunshots, their decrepit limbs a poor match for Dominic's aim. Many an hour and a beer on the range had sharpened Dom's skills to a lethal point. Brain by brain, the pistol ran dry.

But there were always more zombies.


Blaze of glory, indeed.

I wanted to keep this one short and sweet- Zomboid has no save function, you are expected to die, though perhaps not as quickly as Dominic here. I only had twelve shells, and I'd like to think they were used well- look at those corpses!

I'll take suggestions for our next character now, I was thinking a black construction worker who would set about building a fortress. I won't barrage you folks with game mechanics now, but suffice it to say that our character will need to eat and sleep to survive, the zombies can and will find you if precautions are not taken, and the game is real-time isometric.

[Ross_Varn]

Woof, that was short, and he had a good chance of it too. Um... I know! You should give us a list of the professions and traits, and we can give you several characters.

[Keldoclock]

Sure!

The game uses traits to determine your character, and once the leveling system is built, you will be able to pick up new traits on level up, but as it is now, you get one free trait from your profession, and the rest you have to buy off with points (i.e. you must take negative traits in order to get positive ones. The reverse does not apply.)

Professions:

Policeman: Gives Marksmanship- that is to say, improved gun accuracy and reload time.
Fireman: Gives Axe Man- swing your axe faster and carve through doors like they were butter.
Security Guard: Gives Night Owl- Sleep less, sleep lightly.
Park Ranger: Gives Outdoorsman- Slowed less by rain, less likely to get sick(from common disease. Zombie virus is as deadly as ever)
Construction Worker: Gives Handy and Thick Skinned- shortening construction time and protecting slightly against zombie infection, respectively.

Traits:

Agoraphobic: +4, induces panic when outdoors.
Claustrophobic: +4, induces panic when indoors.
Weak: +4, your melee knock back is reduced and you can carry less weight.
Prone to Illness: +4, you are more susceptible to normal disease, and zombify faster.
Hypochondriac: +4, can become infected without being bitten or scratched by a zombie.
Cowardly: +2, becomes more panicked from anything that normally causes it.
Overweight: +3, you run slower and get tired faster.
Hard of Hearing: +2, smaller perception range- you must be closer to a sound for the game to play it.
Hearty Appetite: +2, you have to eat more often.
Light Drinker: +2, gets you drunk easily.
Short Sighted: +2, visual range is decreased.
Clumsy: +1, slightly easier for zombies to hear you.


Athletic: -6, you run faster and tire less.
Eagle-eyed: -6, visual range is increased.
Keen Hearing: -6, you can hear from further away.
Strong: -6, you knock enemies further back and can carry more things.
Graceful: -4, you move quieter.
Brave: -3, less prone to panic.
Hardened Drinker: -3, doesn't get drunk easily.
Light Eater: -3, needs to eat less.
Resilient: -3, stronger against mundane disease, zombifies slower.

The game takes place in Knox County, of which only the suburbs are currently available. There are no vehicles, you can barricade doors, windows, and erect free-standing barricades using wood, either found in loot or gained by breaking down doors. You can craft doors, various food items, bandages, molotov's, doors, and spiked baseball bats. I have modded in a number of guns(only gun in default Zomboid is the Shotgun), and a few melee weapons, none of which I have yet found in loot.


Reasons for death, in order of probability:
1. Zombies.
2. Blood loss.
3. Other survivors.
4. Starvation.
5. Zombification.
6. Disease.
7. Overencumbrance.

[Keldoclock]

The next update is coming soon, in a week or two we should be able to die of thirst, build our own free-standing structures, and do a lot of other really, really cool things.

For now, I'll feed you some concept art to give your imagination something to chew on, then get cracking on the next update with Terrell Jackson, construction worker and zombie-puncher extraordinare!



This is Bob Smith, the player's character in Story Mode. He doesn't have any perks or anything, but he's got a lovely wife, his interactions with whom form the games's tutorial.


The lovely Kate. She's confined to her bed, at least for now, although if you burn down the house you can carry her away, perhaps even to safety. In the tutorial, she can die in the fire, die from a raider, or be saved by you, at which point the NPC script will end and she'll just sit in her bed forever, eventually healing her wounds (but not her broken legs). The only "good" ways to complete the tutorial is to use the starting house as your sole safehouse, or burn down the house, thus breaking the game and allowing you to (if you are lucky) stagger out of the burning house with Kate and hopefully not get eaten by zombies long enough to drag her to safety.

[IVhorseman]

Ringo the Hobo

Park Ranger
Claustrophobic & light drinker
Brave & Light Eater

Hobo Chargen is go!

[Keldoclock]

The Apocalypse touched us all, in different ways. Most collapsed under the weight of doomsday, some found ways to cope, and some only grew stronger as the world around them crumbled.


Terrel Jackson was a strong man, a hard man, an honest man.
This is how he died.


Jackson lived, as many others did, in a two-story brownstone home, which his father had purchased nearly eighty years ago. Terrel was smart enough to stay in his home in the early days of the outbreak, but he was running very low on food, and would soon have to sojourn out and into Knox County's undead-riddled streets. He had prepared for this day.


A quick look outside revealed no danger. As if anything can be called safe, now.

This house had curtains for nearly every window. Curtains are very nice for a safehouse, because while zombies cannot yet climb through windows, they can see you through them. Using existing curtains or bedsheets to block line of sight preserves your precious wooden planks for things like barricades.


Knowing he would likely never see his home again, Terrel made use of his stove to cook up what was left in his fridge. There wasn't much.

Some food in the game is perishable, and it just happens to be the best food. Steak, Chicken and Salmon will rot in two days outside of a fridge, but can fill 80% of your hunger bar if cooked. If you have ADD, just eat them raw- burnt food is almost worthless. Apples can last three days, and Bread can last four days outside of a fridge, while Carrots can last a whole week, longer than most players live. Refrigerators slow down the process of spoilage, ensuring that even the wisest player's food stocks will dwindle. Anything in a can, along with chips and chocolate, will last forever.


He donned his last clean shirt. Not too bad.

Terrel made the rounds, grabbing everything of conceivable use in his home. He took the bedsheets, a battery, a handful of rifle rounds that his father left behind when he left on his last supply run (They had drawn straws. The rifle was still out there, out in the rotting hell,) and a fire axe that Terrel had swiped from the station three days ago.

With the coast seemingly clear, Terrel went about chopping down his upstairs doors- after all, he wouldn't need them soon.

He didn't know just how prophetic that would be.
Apparently I was too loud when condemning the place, so much so that the zombies decided they wanted to see just what sort of delicious noise-maker there was up in our house.




There's only so much a fire axe could do. If we had a gun, or a weapon like a baseball bat, that pushed enemies away, we just might have lasted longer.

Up next: Ringo the Fourth and his noble attempt at colonizing the park.

[Silverdream]

Li Kim, Professional SCII player.

Security Guard, Agoraphobic, Light Eater.

[IVhorseman]

HOBO LOVES WHISKEY

CANNED FOOD TOO

[mgb519]

Make a hobo with a shotgun.

[Keldoclock]

Okay, just for all that, I'm going to keep redoing Ringo till he survives for at least 3 days. And gets a shotgun.

EDIT: I'm on the fourth Ringo now, this last one was totally badass.



Ringo VI's armory:
Revolver, 12 bullets.
9mm pistol, 34 bullets.
Shotgun, 24 bullets.
M1 Garand, 16 bullets.
AK-47, 60 bullets.
M-16, 60 bullets.
Fire Axe
Flashlight (1 battery)
Molotov Cocktail
3 Jack Daniels.
like, two pounds of drugs.

He will be missed. (survivor got him in his sleep on the second day)

[mgb519]

What mods are you using, anyway?