Tutorial

The tutorial is the first part of the game, where you are taught some basic concepts of Project Zomboid.

Template:Spoilers The pre-alpha version of the game starts at the beginning of the fifth day after the zombie outbreak in the town of Muldraugh, with the player standing beside a crippled and badly bleeding Kate Smith.

Kate's leg is revealed to be broken from an attack by looters the previous day. Should the player decide to skip the tutorial, they may take a pillow from the wardrobe and smother Kate Smith. Continuing through tutorial, the player bandages Kate's broken leg and gives her painkillers.

Soon afterwards, the player heads outside to a small shed in the backyard to fetch barricading equipment including wood planks, a hammer and nails. After barricading some of the safehouse the player heads upstairs to speak with Kate about going out to forage for food, but Kate warns of the danger and insists that they both sleep hungry instead. Next morning the player heads outside of the safehouse to a neighboring home, where a single zombie and plenty of fruit and canned soup can be found.

Once the player has arrived back at the safehouse they begin preparing soup using the oven in the kitchen. As the soup is being cooked, a message is broadcast over the radio concerning the outbreak:

At this point, if the player had rushed upstairs and forgotten to turn off the oven, a vicious fire will break out, meaning almost certain death. If the player had turned off the oven before continuing upstairs, a raider will find his way into the safehouse (tearing off any barricades in the process) and confront the player. Depending on the player's actions, this may lead to Kate's death, the player's death, or the raider's death, or any combination of these.