KickStarter Project Zomboid - any good?

[Dadd]

Also, you won't be able to become a jack of all trades – your profession will come with specialization that'll make it easy to level up some skills, but provide a mallus for others, the goal being to encourage trading and interaction between players in MP

Unequivocally bad decision

 

[thesecret1]

Also, you won't be able to become a jack of all trades – your profession will come with specialization that'll make it easy to level up some skills, but provide a mallus for others, the goal being to encourage trading and interaction between players in MP

Unequivocally bad decision

Why?

 

[.Pixote.]

Zomboid just released a big patch - build 42...much change in the game, expanded updated maps, etc.

https://projectzomboid.com/blog/news/2024/12/build-42-unstable/

 

[Ironmonk]

ages ago there was plans to add human NPCs... was this implemented or still is just a plan?

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

I've waited a long time for this. For an update 3 years in the making it doesn't sound that impressive; the improved sneak seems like it has the most potential to transform gameplay. I'll play it in the next few days.

 

[thesecret1]

ages ago there was plans to add human NPCs... was this implemented or still is just a plan?

It's next in the pipeline and coming either in the next release, or the one after it. It'll be added iteratively over several builds with increasing complexity – the addition of animals basically lays down the groundwork for it.

I've waited a long time for this. For an update 3 years in the making it doesn't sound that impressive; the improved sneak seems like it has the most potential to transform gameplay. I'll play it in the next few days.

2 years, not 3. The main features were animals and new crafting.

 

[Hace El Oso]

The lack of multiplayer is extremely annoying. I can’t remember how long it took them to re-enable that for B41, but I hope it’s quick here.

 

[Fargus]

How long this shite is in development at this point? No way an isometric zombie survival slop is taking this long to make.

 

[Hace El Oso]

How long this shite is in development at this point? No way an isometric zombie survival slop is taking this long to make.

Many years. I can’t say that I mind, though, because the game seems to have gone from standard issue ‘early access’ abandonment to a species of actual development. Some portion of the original owners must have been bought out by someone who could see the potential shekels, which has already paid off.

It’s unique, an isometric zombie game firmly set in its period and the Romero style using that perfect compromise of form and function that the original The Sims used to such great effect.

 

[Beastro]

How long this shite is in development at this point? No way an isometric zombie survival slop is taking this long to make.

14 years almost. The first release was May of 2011.

It coulda been something good, it might still become something great, but the impact that it would have is lost.

That it's taken this long and it's still in development makes me wonder how bad that stolen laptop really was for them. We'd probably be in the same place as we are now had it not occurred.

 

[Avonaeon]

I think it's a very good game. You can tailor the gameplay pretty much however you want. In singleplayer I like to make it fairly relaxed and just enjoy a survival power fantasy, and in multiplayer difficulty doesn't matter so much with friends and I've had some fantastic experiences.
I look forward to trying the new update, though it's a shame if it'll take a long time before multiplayer again.

 

[thesecret1]

It's good fun with friends. For SP I'm eagerly waiting for NPCs, so as to have some proper goal in mind for my playthrough. Survival alone is rather easy given the amount of loot around the world, and so my playthroughs on earlier versions tended to be rather short.

Very glad for the new crafting, the old system was cancer

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

I've waited a long time for this. For an update 3 years in the making it doesn't sound that impressive; the improved sneak seems like it has the most potential to transform gameplay. I'll play it in the next few days.

2 years, not 3. The main features were animals and new crafting.

Wasn't 41 released in late 2021? That'd make it exactly 3 years.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

If GOG doesn't release the update soon I'm gonna chimp.

 

[thesecret1]

I've waited a long time for this. For an update 3 years in the making it doesn't sound that impressive; the improved sneak seems like it has the most potential to transform gameplay. I'll play it in the next few days.

2 years, not 3. The main features were animals and new crafting.

Wasn't 41 released in late 2021? That'd make it exactly 3 years.

Yeah, but they spent a year fixing it. You can see massive changelists even in late 2022, and since they're running with a small team, I doubt they'd really worked on build 42 much during that time.

 

[Fargus]

How long this shite is in development at this point? No way an isometric zombie survival slop is taking this long to make.

14 years almost. The first release was May of 2011.

It coulda been something good, it might still become something great, but the impact that it would have is lost.

That it's taken this long and it's still in development makes me wonder how bad that stolen laptop really was for them. We'd probably be in the same place as we are now had it not occurred.

I remember how they promised npcs and never delivered, then i stopped following the damn game because it turned into another coop survival slop with nothing to do and there were better alternatives. Not to mention the whole genre became really tiresome years ago. I don't know how much they've made from this game, but probably enough to act the way they do. If it wasn't anywhere near as popular they would have abandoned it long ago and ran before Valve started to pull these zombie scam games from the store.

 

[Lokhir]

ages ago there was plans to add human NPCs... was this implemented or still is just a plan?

Still nothing. They're some of the laziest fucks of game development, it has been, what, since 2013 (11 years) since the first NPCs have been implemented then removed very soon after, and despite all of those years of development and the community all asking for NPCs they prefer to just work every 4 months on some shitty features that, if they work, should not be fixed.

What's even funnier is that they don't even mention it in the 'whats in build 42' picture anymore even at 'later' part, and besides iirc they implied NPCs would only really be 'playable' in build 44 or so, so another 5 years of waiting if we are optimistic (probably more). There technically was a mod who did actually good NPCs, developed by Aiteron, but this retard accepted to join their dev team to work on a fucking fishing feature for years instead. Ironic also that NEET modders in their basement can code NPCs in the span of a few months to a year max, when it took the devs 11 years and NPCs are still not there.

All of the people who complained about this issue got banned from the steam discussion forums of these cunts, which also explains why it's so inactive since they censor and ban everyone and everything (I was permanently banned for 'Toxicity' from their forums for stating that NPCs should have been the priority and that no one cares for anything other than NPCs, proven right by the thread where they asked what did players looked most forward to, which was NPCs for the vast majority). The Indie Stone are just like most patreon-funded EAs waiting and spending more time to talk about the 'planned changes' rather than actually coding and implementing those changes themselves, lazy and censoring retards who cannot take criticism.

Spoiler

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

If you're a long suffering GOG user, the game has just become available through the beta channels(you need GOG galaxy).

 

[Ascetic]

I'm going to let you guys in on a secret: nearly every realistic-leaning survival game is developed by a bunch of schizos who are never going to finish their projects. I'm not saying that's good, but that's just the way it is.

PZ is still one of the better games of its type, period.

 

[Ascetic]

Stavrophore

UnReal World was released in 1992. CDDA in 2013. The Long Dark in 2013. None of them are finished, even though TLD devs announced a sequel this month. If we include multiplayer/online games, DayZ was also 2013 (but based on a much older mod for Arma) and will never be finished. SCUM was "only" released in 2018 but fits into the schizo development category (and was a janky mess the last time I played it). One of the only notable exceptions is Green Hell.

The "alternatives", like Subnautica and The Forest, feature simplified survival mechanics that often aren't the actual focus of the game, hence they're not really alternatives at all.

The game has long been considered one of the best "true" survival games out there, but with an estimated 5+ million copies sold, 94% positive and 50,000 current active players on Steam, 130+ hours average playtime, it's now also one of the most commercially successful indie games out there.

Yes, the devs are lazy, but people trying to imply that the game isn't good or is some kind of failure are majorly overreacting. If you don't like the gameplay loop, then you're not the target audience.

 

[Zewp]

How long this shite is in development at this point? No way an isometric zombie survival slop is taking this long to make.

I bought it on Desura in 2012 and I think it had been in development for 1-2 years at that point.

I'll play it one day if NPCs ever make it in. But they've been promising NPCs for years and there's always a new excuse for why it's still a few years away. NPCs might give the game a bit of a hook so that it's fun to keep playing once your survival situation is stable.

 

[Yosharian]

I bought it on Desura in 2012 and I think it had been in development for 1-2 years at that point.

I'll play it one day if NPCs ever make it in. But they've been promising NPCs for years and there's always a new excuse for why it's still a few years away. NPCs might give the game a bit of a hook so that it's fun to keep playing once your survival situation is stable.

Project Zomboid is an excellent game and well worth playing in its current state. B42 is rough around the edges but is an interesting development. In no way does it need NPCs to be a good game.

 

[thesecret1]

I bought it on Desura in 2012 and I think it had been in development for 1-2 years at that point.

I'll play it one day if NPCs ever make it in. But they've been promising NPCs for years and there's always a new excuse for why it's still a few years away. NPCs might give the game a bit of a hook so that it's fun to keep playing once your survival situation is stable.

Project Zomboid is an excellent game and well worth playing in its current state. B42 is rough around the edges but is an interesting development. In no way does it need NPCs to be a good game.

Eh, I always burn out due to not really having any goals in the game - survival alone is easily solved early in the game. With NPCs, you can set out to create a community and stuff - something to force you onwards.