Animal

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Revision as of 01:58, 3 April 2022 by Vaileasys (talk | contribs) (→‎Future features: Updated to latest dev blog info.)
Finally you’ll be able to wander around the countryside trying to shoot rabbits with a shotgun.
— Will Porter[1]

Animals play a minor role in Project Zomboid, currently only appearing as items rather than roaming throughout the landscape. There are various types of animals - including game, fish and insects - and each has their own methods of obtaining them.

Items

Game

Most game animals can only be obtained through trapping, however dead rats and dead mice can be found in various containers, kitchen counters in particular.

Animal Meat Trap Bait
Mouse.png
Dead Mouse
Rodent Meat
Rabbit.png
Dead Rabbit
Rabbit Meat
Rat.png
Dead Rat
Rodent Meat
Bird.png
Dead Bird
Small Bird Meat
Squirrel.png
Dead Squirrel
Rodent Meat

Fish

Most fish can be obtained through fishing, however certain fish require specific types of bait.

Animal Meat Trap Bait
FishMinnow.png
Little Bait Fish
Fishing Net Trap
FishBass.png
Bass
Fish Fillet
FishCatfish.png
Catfish
Fish Fillet
FishCrappie.png
Crappie
Fish Fillet
FishPerch.png
Perch
Fish Fillet
FishPike.png
Pike
Fish Fillet
FishPanfish.png
Sunfish
Fish Fillet
FishTrout.png
Trout
Fish Fillet

Insect

Insects are obtained by foraging (and rarely by looting refrigerators or vehicles); worms can also often be dug from grass tiles using a trowel.

Animal Edible Foraging Skill Bait
Worm.png
Worm
Raw 2 Fishing and Trapping
Cricket.png
Cricket
Raw or Cooked 4 Fishing
Grasshopper.png
Grasshopper
Raw or Cooked 6 Fishing
Cockroach.png
Cockroach
Raw or Cooked 6 Fishing

Future features

PictureKate.png
This is a future feature.
This article is about an item or mechanic that is currently unimplemented and planned for a future version.
It has either been previewed or found in the game files and does not exist yet.

Animals with their own AI that wander the landscape are planned to be included in build 42. The first iteration of animals won't be utilising Lemmy's AI code, and will instead have very basic functionality. These animals are intended to suppоrt the new crafting features coming in build 42, therefore will likely only include animals utlised in animal husbandry, such as cows, sheep, pigs and chickens, providing a renewable source of milk, hide, wool, etc.

Angus Cow debug info panel showing some statistics.

Functionality

In Project Zomboid lore, the noise caused by animals will attract zombies, however they won't be driven to attack them.

Each animal type will have various definitions:

  • Livestock: determines the type of animal, e.g. cow.
  • Breed: there will be various breeds of animals, each breed with its unique properties, e.g. "Anugus" (meat breed) or "Holstein" (milk breed).
  • Gender: male or female, determines its set of functionlity, e.g. breeding, milking, etc.
  • Age: determines various functions, e.g. ability to breed (too young or too old) and amount of milk produced. Will eventually die when too old.
  • Size: the minimum and maximum size an animal can be. Larger animals will provide more resources.
  • Can be milked: some animals can be milked, e.g. cow. Will generate milk for a certain period after delivering a calf.
  • Flee humans: determines if the animal runs away from humans, e.g. mouse.
  • Can be attached: a rope can be used to attach certain animals so they can be led or stop from wandering away.
  • Hunger: animals will need to eat, with the amount dependant on the breed. An animal left hungry or thirsty will gradually lose health until it dies. Will eat from a trough.
  • Food types: determines the types of food it can eat from a trough. Some animals can graze on grass if trough is empty, however won't grow as big.
  • Enclosure size: enclosure must be a minimum size, otherwise the animal won't grow as big, providing fewer resources.

Animal breeding

All animals will have a genetics system, encouraging breeding of animals. Each animal type will have a set of abstracted genes that each contain two alleles inherited from parents, including: “milk quantity”, “life expectancy”, “strength”, “appearance” genes, and more. Characters with appropriate skills will be able to inspect an animal to get an idea of its health-related attributes (aka genes).

Each animal will carry two sets of alleles in their genome, one being contributed randomly from each parent. There are dominant and recessive alleles, meaning the player must be careful when in-breeding, as animals may have recessive genes for genetic illnesses of varying types.

Planned animals

Gallery

See also

References