Survival Guide: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:56, 5 May 2012

Welcome to Project Zomboid's Survival Guide article. This small guide will make a general wrap-up of the several topics covered in Project Zomboid which could aid the survival of newer player.

Note : This guide was written with version 2.0q in mind.

Controls

First things first. New players should take a look at the Controls. The better you operate your controls, the more chances you have of making it through the day.

Knox County

Project Zomboid's event takes place in Knox County. Currently, the main map is divided in 4 quadrants.

The Suburbs are located in the Northwestern quadrant. This is where the game's tutorial 'Til Death Us Do Part takes place. With a huge park in the middle, it has residential and commercial buildings surrounding it. The most important buildings new player should explore early on is the General Store for food, the Hardware Store for important tools and the Storage Warehouse for additional supplies.

The Villas are located in the Northeastern quadrant. A mostly peaceful sector containing 6 luxurious villas with a big kitchen, 2 toilets and 3 bedrooms each. It's also a good choice for setting up a safe-house fortress, especially the northeastern-most villa as very few zombies will follow you there.

The Woods are located in the Southwestern quadrant. At the southwest part of this quadrant is a small house with a barn next to it. Setting up a safe-house here is unadvised as you are far away from food and water supplies. At the northwest of this quadrant is a small woodcutter shack which happens to be close to the suburbs. It's perfect for wannabe-carpenters and woodcutters as a safe-house. Players will often find Sledgehammers and Saws in its storage crates.

The Downtown District is located in the Southeastern quadrant. Contains 2 restaurant, a warehouse, lots of shops, a gas station, a school and a big office building in the middle. It's also one of the zone with the most zombies in it. Players are advised to be careful around the northwestern part of this quadrant near the city center, as the Horde likes to dwell there.

If the players walks out of the map's bound, the game will load a different map. In this map will be a randomly generated Forest where you can find a small house with a Well near it for an infinite water supply. Once in this different map, it is not possible to go back into the city. Walking back the way you came will just load up a new randomly generated map. Players are advised to be careful around the map's edges not to accidentally walk beyond the bounds.

The First day

In the first day, the first thing you should look for is a weapon. Anything better than a butter knife will do for now. Don't battle any group of enemies larger than 3 zombies. When facing a larger group, run past 2 corners and they'll lose you. After finding your weapon, find a 2-day ration of food, and 1-4 bottles of water. Once you have your basic supplies, you should find somewhere to stay the night, sheet up the windows in the entrance and in the bedroom, and you should be safe in the first day.

Encounters

When heading out for a supply run, always be prepared. Only go outside during daylight, as zombies tend to grow in number at night. Start your day by eating something, refilling your Water Bottle at your nearest faucet and making sure you're not carrying too much before going out. Grab any weapon you can find in your starting building. If you're lucky enough, you just might find a Kitchen Knife or a Baseball Bat.

When outside, try to walk as often as possible. If you ever stumble upon a horde, you'll be able to Run far enough from them all without a scratch. This will also save up some energy for fighting without getting exhausted too fast. Try to keep your eyes over your shoulder, as you never know which zombies will follow you. Holding CTRL and circling the mouse around the character will make the player look in the mouse cursor's direction, giving you the ability to spot your enemy before they even see you.

NPC Survivors can be encountered too, you can chat with them or recruit them in your group. Players can stop a running NPC by pressing the Q key, which will make your character shout. However be advised that some NPCs are hostile and will shoot you on sight. Some NPCs will join up with you and some won't, if they don't, they will anger you. If you keep asking them (and they rejected), they will get/make you more and more angry until they want to duel you. If they join, they can be given 3 commands: "follow me", "stay here", "and guard this area". However, having them in your group will cause them to use up resources.

You are free to go anywhere you want, however, always try to plan where you're headed, what you'll be taking as loot and where you'll be settling in to make a safe-house.

Moodles

Throughout your adventure, not only does your character gets hungry and thirsty but can also suffer from anxiety or depression. These status effects, called Moodles, can be treated with consumables depending on the character's need. In example, a Bored character can be healed by reading a Book or a Magazine. The Moodles will also display signs of injuries, which requires first aid.

For a complete list of each Moodles, their effects and how they can be treated, please see the main Moodle article.

Injuries & First Aid

It's inevitable. One of these days, you'll fall down a window by accident or a zombie will bite you. Depending on which Injury you have, a certain treatment comes with it. Having Bandages and Painkillers on hand can be useful if something ever happens to you. Leaving an Injury untreated can lead to health loss and even death.

To treat a Scratch, a Bite or a Bleeding injury, click on the Heart icon on the top-left of the screen. This will open the character status window. The injured part will be flashing in red. While the character status screen is opened, open up the Inventory screen, then drag and drop a Bandage on the injured part of the body. Now, when pointed on with the cursor, the treated body part should read "Bandaged". Sleeping, as well as being well fed will speed up the healing process.

For a complete list of all know injuries and how to treat them, please see the Injuries article.

Leveling Up

When your character as trained enough, a message will appear at the Top-Left of the screen saying "You should rest and meditate on what you've learned". The next time the player goes to sleep, the Skill point allocation panel will appear, allowing you to distribute one skill point.

For a complete list of each Skill, what they do and how to level them, please see the Skills article.

Crafting

With the right resources, players can mix items together to create new, better equipment. With the crafting menu, players can create food recipes, enhanced weapons and barricades to reinforce their safe-houses.

The crafting window can be opened by clicking the Hammer & Nail icon on the bottom-left of the screen when the Inventory window is opened. Drag and drop items from the Inventory panel into the Crafting panel's upper row with 4 boxes. Crafted result will appear in the bottom row's box. Drag and drop the crafted item in your inventory to complete the crafting sequence.

For a complete list of all crafting recipes, please see the Crafting article.

Safe-house

In a zombie apocalypse, nowhere is safe. However, that can't stop you from fortifying a safe-house of your interest. Some buildings are safer than other... or are they? The selection of a safe-house is up to you.

Players are advised to reinforce a 2 story building with as few possible exits as possible. In case of an home invasion, you can always escape through a window using a Sheet Rope. For maximum protection and stealth, board up every windows with wooden planks and bed sheets. Make sure to not to barricade your front door, as NPCs can hammer through it in a matter of seconds.

Carpenters equipped with a Sledgehammer can destroy walls, door & window frames and can rebuild their home by crafting Wall Pieces, Doors, Stairs and frames. However, be warned that if you "trap" yourself within 4 Wooden Wall without a Sledgehammer in hand, you will be stuck there until you die from hunger.

If you run out of Wooden planks, use an Axe to chop down doors or trees. Chopped down doors will yield 1 or 2 wooden planks, along with door hinges and knobs. Another alternative is to chop down any tree near you. Taking down a tree will yield 5 Logs. Combining 1 Log with 1 Saw in the crafting menu will yield 1 Wooden plank

Please take note that constructing a safe-house will make a lot of noise, which will draw any stragglers nearby. Any carpentry jobs should be done during the day.

Death

A Zombie has bitten you. You've patched yourself up, but as the night sets in, you start feeling feverish, knowing all too well that the end is night... You'll be joining them soon...

Or maybe you've been very careful for months, all holed up in a barricaded coffin with your dwindling food and water supply. And you promised yourself to never ever take off these wooden planks off the front door... A slow death by starvation awaits you...

Whatever the case, no matter how long or how hard you try, death seems inevitable in Project Zomboid. When your character dies, the game will scroll a message from bottom to top stating how long the player survived.

Also, this guide forgot to mention these facts :

After approximately 5 days in game time, the city's Water supply will run out.
After approximately 15 days in game time, the city's Power supply will run out.
After about 1 month in game time, the zombie horde will regroup together and migrate around the city until they find you.

Good luck out there. And remember! Aim for the head!

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 If the players walks out of the map's bound, the game will load a different map. In this map will be a randomly generated '''[[Forest]]''' where you can find a small house with a [[Well]] near it for an infinite water supply. Once in this different map, '''it is not possible to go back into the city'''. Walking back the way you came will just load up a new randomly generated map. Players are advised to be careful around the map's edges not to accidentally walk beyond the bounds.
+==The First day==
+In the first day, the first thing you should look for is a weapon. Anything better than a butter knife will do for now. Don't battle any group of enemies larger than 3 zombies. When facing a larger group, run past 2 corners and they'll lose you. After finding your weapon, find a 2-day ration of food, and 1-4 bottles of water. Once you have your basic supplies, you should find somewhere to stay the night, sheet up the windows in the entrance and in the bedroom, and you should be safe in the first day.
 ==Encounters==
@@ Line 60: / Line 63: @@
 Carpenters equipped with a Sledgehammer can destroy walls, door & window frames and can rebuild their home by crafting Wall Pieces, Doors, Stairs and frames. '''However, be warned that if you "trap" yourself within 4 [[Wall_Piece|Wall Piece]] without a [[Sledgehammer|Sledgehammer]] in hand, you will be stuck there until you die from hunger'''.
-If you run out of [[Wooden_Plank|Wooden planks]], use an [[Axe|Axe]] to chop down doors. Chopped down doors will yield 1 or 2 wooden planks, along with door hinges and knobs. Another alternative is to chop down '''any tree near you'''. Taking down a tree will yield 5 [[Log|Logs]]. Combining 1 [[Log]] with 1 [[Saw]] in the crafting menu will yield 1 [[Wooden_Plank|Wooden plank]]
+If you run out of [[Wooden_Plank|Wooden planks]], use an [[Axe|Axe]] to chop down doors or trees. Chopped down doors will yield 1 or 2 wooden planks, along with door hinges and knobs. Another alternative is to chop down '''any tree near you'''. Taking down a tree will yield 5 [[Log|Logs]]. Combining 1 [[Log]] with 1 [[Saw]] in the crafting menu will yield 1 [[Wooden_Plank|Wooden plank]]
 Please take note that constructing a safe-house will make a lot of noise, which will draw any stragglers nearby. '''Any carpentry jobs should be done during the day.'''