Community Zombie Double Feature

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Project Zomboid; Survivalist: Invisible Strain; The Indie Stone

Since we had a brief, brief discussion on those crazy zombie games today, I noticed that both SplatterCatGaming and Nookrium both have videos about zombie survival CRPGs, Project Zomboid and Survivalist: Invisible Strain. Both of which have a different approach to how they handle the zombie plague end of the world scenario. One of which is the lone survivor, how long can you last type, the other is kind of a how would you start to rebuild society. So, if you have never heard of these two, or have been wanting a run down of either of them, here you go. Here's the videos:

SplatterCat/Project Zomboid


Nookrium/Survivalist: Invisible Strain
​

It's been a while since I've played Project Zomboid because I'm not a fan of the new control scheme for the game, but that's fairly interesting scenario that is shown off in that video. When I was playing it, they certainly didn't have things like that. I do like the social stuff and faction system that Survivalist: Invisible Strain added, it's a big improvement over the first game. There's a demo of it on Steam. It's also on sale currently through April 26th for 20% off.

 

[Tavernking]

Project Zomboid will teach you how stupid a zombie apocaypse is. The game has to nerf the default game world to the point of being unrealistic in order to produce a challenge. You might only let you find a single lettuce or can of beans in each house, ammo and guns are ridiculously rare for a game set in the USA, and fuel is practically non-existent. This seems at odds with a game that praises itself for its realistic mechanics. Realistic mechanics in a very dumb unrealistic world.

The game comes with a sandbox mode which is much appreciated, you can tinker around with various settings until you get a truly realistic game world - and you see stupid a zombie apocalypse is. Even a 28 days later type scenario with sprinting zombies isn't too hard once you get a working car.

 

[Van-d-all]

Project Zomboid is a name I didn't hear in a while, but yeah, idea seemed great until I realized loot is indeed ridiculous eg. crafting system practically requires a hammer and there are usually 2-3 on the entire map or the fact you can plunder a whole housing block and not find a single plastic bag, because they are needed for water collectors... And then there's the abysmal foraging system based not on actually finding items on plants, but on a skill test in radius around player spawning shit at random.

Should check Survivalist I guess. Both their games have been gathering dust in my steam library for a while now.

 

[karnak]

Project Zomboid will teach you how stupid a zombie apocaypse is. The game has to nerf the default game world to the point of being unrealistic in order to produce a challenge. You might only let you find a single lettuce or can of beans in each house, ammo and guns are ridiculously rare for a game set in the USA, and fuel is practically non-existent. This seems at odds with a game that praises itself for its realistic mechanics. Realistic mechanics in a very dumb unrealistic world.

Gotta agree with you in most points. But in the devs defense (assuming the game is set some time after the "Zed Spread" started) it wouldn't be too unrealistic to find few ammo and few good canned goods. In case of such a catastrophe I'd imagine every citizen with a gun going out and wasting ammo on the zombies - thus reducing the ammo quantity post-apoc event (and helping increase zombie numbers through innocents getting shot).
As for the low food... most people I know have plenty of cans at home; Yet they don't even bother to check the expire date. A friend of mine once wanted to open a can of beans and suddenly discovered that 80% of his preserved food had expired its date for more than 2 years. Some of the cans even had grown some sort of rust.

My only true gripe with P:Z - they've wasted all these years adding stupid cosmetic effects to their game instead of just implementing some sort of campaign/endgame and getting it out of EA.
The devs could just have done like the Terraria guys: launching a finished game and then releasing updates and improvements through the years.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I'd rather see Project: Zomboid start out on Day 1 of the zombie apocalypse. It starts out with mostly humans just doing normal things, and few zombies until the entire town is overrun.

One thing that I thought was cool about the SplatterCat video was the house he went to with the zombie cops and zombie escapees. I thought that was interesting and definitely something that wasn't in there the last time I played. Setting up little "real world" scenarios that eventually get wiped in to zombie-dom is pretty interesting. I also thought it was neat that you could learn skills from the TV as long as the TV signal lasts. That goes nicely with the power time limit, water time limit and so on.

I remember watching a Let's Play of Project: Zomboid ages ago with this guy that was doing everything right. He had a warehouse and a bridge from a shop to that warehouse. He was on the second floor and he stocked it with tons of canned food that he scavenged from a nearby store. He basically had everything he needed in his little area, then a horde came. They overran the warehouse and broke in to the lower floor so it cut off the ways in to his upper floor with all the food. Then the guy realized he forgot the can opener. I think that was how he died.

 

[Tyranicon]

Project Zomboid will teach you how stupid a zombie apocaypse is. The game has to nerf the default game world to the point of being unrealistic in order to produce a challenge. You might only let you find a single lettuce or can of beans in each house, ammo and guns are ridiculously rare for a game set in the USA, and fuel is practically non-existent. This seems at odds with a game that praises itself for its realistic mechanics. Realistic mechanics in a very dumb unrealistic world.

The game comes with a sandbox mode which is much appreciated, you can tinker around with various settings until you get a truly realistic game world - and you see stupid a zombie apocalypse is. Even a 28 days later type scenario with sprinting zombies isn't too hard once you get a working car.

Realistically, zombies as a viral vector wouldn't make it out of the state, much less become an apocalypse-level event.

But who knows? People are dumb.

 

[Eirinjas]

When the zombie apocalypse eventually does come, it won't be witless shambling undead, or zomg! sprinters! The zombies will instead be people suffering mass insanity. Getting in your car or barricading in a building won't offer as much protection then from a horde with human intelligence.

 

[Tyranicon]

When the zombie apocalypse eventually does come, it won't be witless shambling undead, or zomg! sprinters! The zombies will instead be people suffering mass insanity. Getting in your car or barricading in a building won't offer as much protection then from a horde with human intelligence.

*insert joke about 2022 here*

 

[Tavernking]

Something like the zombies from Crossed that are really just murderous psychopaths retaining their human intelligence would be terrifying and more realistic.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Meh, I think a zombie apocalypse could happen. Massive country-wide riots, a foreign country with a grudge against that country, or even just one rogue agent working before people realize what he stole. Before people realize what happen, you'd have them thinking the cops or the rioters have gone completely off their rockers. People would just start shooting each other. I mean, in Dawn of the Dead, which admittedly treated it like an act of god, people were rioting AFTER hearing that the dead were returning to live, because they didn't want to desecrate their loved ones.
That said, Project Zomboid struck me as boring the only time I ever played it. Perhaps its because I was going in expecting a 3D Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead, but it just felt so limited in what you could do that I quickly lost interest.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

It already has. Haven't you seen thr hordes of angry homeless everywhere in the world. They shamble, stink, attack, are everywhere.... its horrible.

 

[karnak]

Something like the zombies from Crossed that are really just murderous psychopaths retaining their human intelligence would be terrifying and more realistic.

In all honesty I think we are already experiencing something of the kind. The current "cancel-culture" movement where you have thousands of retards complaining and trying to exterminate philosophies and cultural patterns without even grapsing what those concepts really are; the BLM and other SJW movements where the hordes destroy statues and structures without really knowing that they're being manipulated, etc etc...
Too many mentally and emotionally sick people on the Western World right now. Really too many.

Is it too much of a Sci-Fi concept to imagine that - all of a sudden - millions of mentally damaged individuals, with their minds destroyed by COVID lockdowns, years of decadent MM propaganda, corrupt politicians, social networks, drug/alcohol/anti-dep abuse - could suddenly lose all restraints and wreak havoc?
Unfortunately I suspect we're much closer than ever to the risk of returning to the state of nature.

 

[Moaning_Clock]

Isn't the Zombie hype over yet - still seeing a lot of games with it but seldom people talking about it

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I have my zombie survival handbook around.... somewhere. My bro bought it for me. Some pretty solid survival shit in it.

 

[Galdred]

Project Zomboid will teach you how stupid a zombie apocaypse is. The game has to nerf the default game world to the point of being unrealistic in order to produce a challenge. You might only let you find a single lettuce or can of beans in each house, ammo and guns are ridiculously rare for a game set in the USA, and fuel is practically non-existent. This seems at odds with a game that praises itself for its realistic mechanics. Realistic mechanics in a very dumb unrealistic world.

The game comes with a sandbox mode which is much appreciated, you can tinker around with various settings until you get a truly realistic game world - and you see stupid a zombie apocalypse is. Even a 28 days later type scenario with sprinting zombies isn't too hard once you get a working car.

Realistically, zombies as a viral vector wouldn't make it out of the state, much less become an apocalypse-level event.

But who knows? People are dumb.

I used to think so too, but after witnessing the sheer level of incompetence of our Western societies in handling covid, I cannot rule out zombies working after all, especially if they start being "infectious" before becoming trivially recognizable...

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

When the zombie apocalypse eventually does come, it won't be witless shambling undead, or zomg! sprinters! The zombies will instead be people suffering mass insanity. Getting in your car or barricading in a building won't offer as much protection then from a horde with human intelligence.

I really, really hate fast zombies. I also don't like games that have super zombies, especially when they go the virus route. That's kind of why I liked Project: Zomboid so much. Zombies are a minor threat in small numbers, but they can be attracted by noise which can bring in the numbers. And if you're really good, you can still screw up which leads you to dying.

I have my zombie survival handbook around.... somewhere. My bro bought it for me. Some pretty solid survival shit in it.

Max Brooks does a great job with his zombie books. Too bad Hollywood fucked up World War Z.

 

[Tacgnol]

I'd rather see Project: Zomboid start out on Day 1 of the zombie apocalypse. It starts out with mostly humans just doing normal things, and few zombies until the entire town is overrun.

One thing that I thought was cool about the SplatterCat video was the house he went to with the zombie cops and zombie escapees. I thought that was interesting and definitely something that wasn't in there the last time I played. Setting up little "real world" scenarios that eventually get wiped in to zombie-dom is pretty interesting. I also thought it was neat that you could learn skills from the TV as long as the TV signal lasts. That goes nicely with the power time limit, water time limit and so on.

I remember watching a Let's Play of Project: Zomboid ages ago with this guy that was doing everything right. He had a warehouse and a bridge from a shop to that warehouse. He was on the second floor and he stocked it with tons of canned food that he scavenged from a nearby store. He basically had everything he needed in his little area, then a horde came. They overran the warehouse and broke in to the lower floor so it cut off the ways in to his upper floor with all the food. Then the guy realized he forgot the can opener. I think that was how he died.

It's really rare to see slow burn zombie media about the lead up to the chaos. I'd love to see some proper "before the end" stories where everything slowly goes to hell.

 

[Tyranicon]

Project Zomboid will teach you how stupid a zombie apocaypse is. The game has to nerf the default game world to the point of being unrealistic in order to produce a challenge. You might only let you find a single lettuce or can of beans in each house, ammo and guns are ridiculously rare for a game set in the USA, and fuel is practically non-existent. This seems at odds with a game that praises itself for its realistic mechanics. Realistic mechanics in a very dumb unrealistic world.

The game comes with a sandbox mode which is much appreciated, you can tinker around with various settings until you get a truly realistic game world - and you see stupid a zombie apocalypse is. Even a 28 days later type scenario with sprinting zombies isn't too hard once you get a working car.

Realistically, zombies as a viral vector wouldn't make it out of the state, much less become an apocalypse-level event.

But who knows? People are dumb.

I used to think so too, but after witnessing the sheer level of incompetence of our Western societies in handling covid, I cannot rule out zombies working after all, especially if they start being "infectious" before becoming trivially recognizable...

Imagine a world where people think diseases are hoaxes. It's practically medieval.

2022 Zombie flu hoax incoming. At least people want to believe in zombies... because, y'know, they can shoot them.

 

[Skdursh]

I own both of these and Project Zomboid just gets boring for me after a few hours. I generally come back to it once a year or so, but inevitably end up shelving it soon after. Survivalist: Invisible Strain I picked up because I really like the original Survivalist game, but haven't actually played Invisible Strain yet, but everything I've seen and heard has been positive.

 

[Malamert]

How many more decades until Project Zomboid is finished and out of early access?

 

[Skdursh]

How many more decades until Project Zomboid is finished and out of early access?

Assuming that it *ever* leaves early access.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Yeah, I think Project Zomboid is like Dwarf Fortress. It'll never be done. There's always something to add.

It's really rare to see slow burn zombie media about the lead up to the chaos. I'd love to see some proper "before the end" stories where everything slowly goes to hell.

See, this is what I really want to see in Project Zomboid. Part of it implies that it's really early on, but if the town is already zombies, why do you freak out about seeing zombies at first? Surely it's a few days later and already made some news. In a small town, I'd expect it would take at least a week for one simple reason, there's not a lot of people there. If Muldraugh has 4000 population, you're not going to have enough initial deaths to sweep the entire town in matter of hours. Give me a slow burn towards it with NPC people going about their lives and starting to figure things out. I know that's more difficult because you need to add an AI for pre-infestation people, but I thought they already had an AI for NPC survivors which the pre-infestation people can switch to later on when they encounter zombies and survive.. or turn.

Another thing I'd like to see is new zombies spawn at the edge of the map and are shambling towards the town rather than them spawn in the town periodically. I know that's more resources as well, but it would make more sense.

 

[Rean]

The game's still unacceptably bare after all these years. I suppose if you're looking for a crafting sandbox, it can do the job nicely, but the zombies pose no threat because they're all essentially the same.

And the zombie apocalypse is already in full effect in the 'real' world. You can tell who's zombified by their face muzzles.

 

[Correct_Carlo]

Project Zomboid has been on my steam wish list for a decade now. Had no idea they went 3D.

 

[Malamert]

It'll be centuries before it's finished.