ladyterukiWe all knew that would happen, there it is : I'm using my first Project Zomboid mod ever.
For now it's just a very simple mod that allows me to have additional icons for when I write something on my map. But we all know this is the beginning of a modlist that's going to grow exponentially over time :P
Me : "Ow my back 😣 I'm in so much pain on top of everything else... I think I'll go lie down in the bedroom for a bit. As long as I make sure I don't fall asleep at 8pm !!"
Youtube : "Ok how about a great guide to optimize your odds of eventually building a base in Project Zomboid ?"
Me : "Noooo ! Now I want to go back to the computer and play, it involves sitting ! 😠"
I don't think there's a way for me to come out on the other side of today without frustration.
And pain. So much f*cking pain.
And yeah, I said "odds". Because it is far from being a given, even for experienced players. In other games I have to worry about design and maybe resources, but PZ's crafting system adds a lot of complexity...
Ultimate Project Zomboid Base Building Guide
New character.
I choose to start in Riverside, and luck out by spawning in the trailer park.
I cross the road to get to the Lectrolux parking lot.
I try the first parked truck I see. It's unlocked.
I check the trunk & glove box. I find the key.
I put the key in the ignition. Half a tank of fuel.
I check the trunk's capacity. 115 units, one of the best I could hope for.
I drive the truck across the road to the gas station, and finish filling the tank.
I grab some food at the gas station's store -
I choose to start in Riverside, and luck out by spawning in the trailer park.
I cross the road to get to the Lectrolux parking lot.
I try the first parked truck I see. It's unlocked.
I check the trunk & glove box. I find the key.
I put the key in the ignition. Half a tank of fuel.
I check the trunk's capacity. 115 units, one of the best I could hope for.
I drive the truck across the road to the gas station, and finish filling the tank.
I grab some food at the gas station's store -
- and find, not one, but two gas cans.
I fill the gas cans too.
I dismantle the two-compartment freezer in the front of the store and load the truck.
At that point all Zeds have stayed out of my way, so I look for one on purpose to kill them, turn their shirt into rags... and find a watch on them. I wear the watch.
It's not even noon.
I get behind the wheel and start driving south.
So far, everything that could go well has gone fantastic. It's my best start in days !
..A feeling of dread starts crawling in my guts.
And yet, not one issue on the road.
I avoid a group of Zomboids that was in the middle of the road like it's nothing.
The truck doesn't kiss a single tree even in sharp turns.
I make excellent time and arrive in Echo Creek in the middle of the afternoon.
I pass Ovo Farms and notice a pickup truck in the parking lot, make a mental note to go check for keys tomorrow.
I snack on some of the Riverside's store food before crossing the bridge.
I pull into the Echo Creek gas station...
...and there it is. The base spot I have so meticulously planned for, the one I have decided to live in because it has access to two gas pumps, a diner's full kitchen, a garage and direct access to a river...
...has two signs in the front that says "out of gas", as well as a horde of 15-ish Zeds waiting for me.
I KNEW IT WAS GOING TOO WELL !
Obviously the underground dynamics in Project Zomboid are recent (they introduced it in December with the Build 42), plus I haven't explored Louisville yet, but I wonder if there'd be a way to have a sewer system.
Sure all the water down there would be tainted by default, but I think it'd be very fun to try and establish a base there !
Sure all the water down there would be tainted by default, but I think it'd be very fun to try and establish a base there !
Aw man, I think I just had my saddest #ProjectZomboid story so far...
Rainie had rolled a bad seed. She started (as I almost always do) in Riverside, but in the suburbs, not the trailer park. She walked aaaaaall the way to Lectrolux, because that factory has a huge parking lot where there's bound to be a utility truck I can get... except this time, there wasn't. Well the parking had tons of them, just, zero keys anywhere, and Rainie didn't know how to lockpick, sooo...
It took so long to test each truck, and to clear the nearby factory just in case one of the desks or lockers had a key, that Day 1 was coming to an end and she had already ran out of food and gotten stranded.
But she perservered (aka I decided not to do a little quit-a-rooney and start over with another character XD ). As the night was getting really dark, she walked to the diner, made sure no Zed was hidden in the toilets (you laugh now...), and slept on its kitchen floor, poor thing.
But she perservered (aka I decided not to do a little quit-a-rooney and start over with another character XD ). As the night was getting really dark, she walked to the diner, made sure no Zed was hidden in the toilets (you laugh now...), and slept on its kitchen floor, poor thing.
Next day, bright and early and with neck pain to wake up the dead (maybe even the half dead), Rainie got back up and I decided she'd go take a look in the damn trailer park. On the way there, there was a truck in the parking lot of the auto shop ! WITH KEYS ! Not as good as the Lectrolux ones, but hey, better than walking all the way to the other side of the map.
She packed up what little she had gathered, made a pit stop at the gas station, and started to drive.
She packed up what little she had gathered, made a pit stop at the gas station, and started to drive.
So far, the "spawn in Riverside, get a Lectrolux truck, fill the tank and drive south" has been, I don't want to say a dummy-proof plan, but pretty good overall. When things go well, I can cross Kentucky before the end of Day 1 and have a functional truck for my adventures in Echo Creek, where the car situation tends to suuuuuuuck imho.
This is probably one of the worst instances of this plan backfiring, aside from, you know, the deaths for sleeping in the factory's break room.
Don't judge.
This is probably one of the worst instances of this plan backfiring, aside from, you know, the deaths for sleeping in the factory's break room.
Don't judge.
Look, I HAD TO LEARN. If you're exhausted, you don't take a nap, you sit down and you wait it out. Growing pains (very painful).
So anyway, Rainie didn't roll very lucky, but things were looking up. The truck was in bad shape, on top of having less storage than the Lectrolux ones (when I tell you they're my go-to XD ), but the engine was functional and the wheels had tires. All three of them, ahem.
So of course that's the run where I hit every single lamppost on the way, for some reason.
So anyway, Rainie didn't roll very lucky, but things were looking up. The truck was in bad shape, on top of having less storage than the Lectrolux ones (when I tell you they're my go-to XD ), but the engine was functional and the wheels had tires. All three of them, ahem.
So of course that's the run where I hit every single lamppost on the way, for some reason.
...God I hate driving in this game...
Things were so bad, we had to stop on the way and sleep at the camping store on the highway, because there was no way we could reach Echo Creek by the end of Day 2.
TWO ! That hasn't happened to me in at least 15 runs ! I had this down to a science last time !!!
But hey, Rainie soldiers through, she lives on tortilla chips and hope, and ends up finally reaching Echo Creek in the middle of Day 3, in a ride that I swear I could hear scream in agony by the time we reached the gas station.
So, at that point, I question my plan a bit. Normally I'd go for Echo Creek with a sturdy vehicle because this town is so small and so isolated, YOU NEED a ride to get going. This is Kentucky in the 90s, these people don't have a concept of public transportation or even bikes (...I've heard of the mod, I'll look soon into the bike mod). But with the POS that is the current truck, I mean, I don't want to end up stranded on a country road somewhere.
Not AGAIN.
Not AGAIN.
But of course Rainie was born on a Friday 13th so there's no f*cking car anywhere, except for stuff that she can't stea- I mean lockpick. Nonetheless, we clear the gas station (FIVE Zomboids in it, SEVEN others in the back, they almost got me by surprise), quickly drop whatever loot we have on the store's shelves, to sort later, and try to get things going.
See, it's already Day 3. And the clock is ticking.
See, it's already Day 3. And the clock is ticking.
First of all, there's a small farmer's market on the other side of Echo Creek (a whole block away ! XD ), and I need to get my hands on the veggies there. Not so much because veggies are important early game, but because they're going to rot very fast and I need to put them in the freezer. Bonus points if the random generation of veggies gives us stuff we can extract seeds from, you know, I still have illusions of agriculture.
Second, even bigger pressing matter : Ovo Farms. It's a farm outside the Eastern part of Echo Creek with, like, thousands of chickens, that I intend to stea- adopt at some point but of course never do because agriculture is a pipe dream. BUT ! Ovo Farms has not one but two warehouses FULL of eggs. And that's normally my food for the first few weeks. My characters live on eggs, particularly because I tend to pick the Slow Metabolism trait and they're hungry all the damn time, and eggs are light -
- to carry around in a stack. But here's the thing : aside for a handful of cartons, the eggs at Ovo Farms are NOT refrigerated ! So I have to hurry up and get them into a freezer or fridge before they do, and I've lost a lot of precious time.
Also, did you think Ovo Farms had only chickens ? No, it also has Zeds, of course. So you need to clear the place before you can loot it, and it's HUGE.
Also, did you think Ovo Farms had only chickens ? No, it also has Zeds, of course. So you need to clear the place before you can loot it, and it's HUGE.
But guess what, Rainie is a warrior. She gets the sh*t done. We sleep at the Ovo Farm house to make sure we don't waste time driving that night, and finish packing the eggs that need to be during Day 4. If you're following. I decide we'll come back for the fridges later (the lousy truck doesn't have room for any of them), go back to the gas station, unpack the eggs, cook some, it's all good, I feel like we've corrected course, awesome.
What's next on the list ? Ah, the auto repair factory.
What's next on the list ? Ah, the auto repair factory.
We're going to need that because damn, we need to level up mechanics at some point.
We cross the bridge late in the afternoon of Day 4, scoop up everything we see, even the water cooler of course (another lesson I learned the hard way...), end up finding some lug wrenches and tires and head home for the night. We might just save this run.
Day 5, we head to the July 4th picnic area to get our hands on the generator, and I feel like we're fully back on track now.
We cross the bridge late in the afternoon of Day 4, scoop up everything we see, even the water cooler of course (another lesson I learned the hard way...), end up finding some lug wrenches and tires and head home for the night. We might just save this run.
Day 5, we head to the July 4th picnic area to get our hands on the generator, and I feel like we're fully back on track now.
Lots of Zeds though. More than usual, I feel. Like, I get that the spawns have changed with the latest update, but that's suspicious.
Not helpful is the fact that the f*cking truck could wake the dead, and does. It's a Zed magnet. Even worse, there was a car with three 1312 on board, in full gear, and they were hard to kill. Got a bulletproof vest out of the fight though. And the generator.
Every time things looked like they were going sideways, we fall back on our feet.
Not helpful is the fact that the f*cking truck could wake the dead, and does. It's a Zed magnet. Even worse, there was a car with three 1312 on board, in full gear, and they were hard to kill. Got a bulletproof vest out of the fight though. And the generator.
Every time things looked like they were going sideways, we fall back on our feet.
AND THEN. I have the glorious idea of looking for a trailer. Because the looting capacity of the truck is laughable and we just can't afford to do a lot of trips with that engine that could die on us at any point. Not. Gonna. Happen. So I pack up some food, give Rainie some additional weapons, and we head for the Animal Rescue or whatever that's called, because the three times I went there previously, there ALWAYS was at least one trailer. Except... I got lost. And don't ask me how but we -
- ended up in Ekron. For those who don't know, allow me to clarify that Ekron is West of Echo Creek, while the Animal Rescue is South-East of Echo Creek. Don't ask me how that happened. I could tell you that in my defense I've been there less than a handful of times, two of which by accident, but that would barely explain it. I thought worst case scenario I'd land in Irvington (alllll the way to the South West of the map), but we weren't even that lucky.
To this day I swear there was a vortex.
To this day I swear there was a vortex.
(I try not to play with the interactive map open, come on, how else am I gonna learn ?)
And so, we're in Ekron, right ? Right next to the damn community college, which of course is packed with The Learning Dead, and by the way, I didn't pack for that kind of trip. We were getting a trailer, not raiding a campus town, in my mind.
I think "hm, last time I was here on a previous run, there was a big supermarket on the other side of the railroad, let's find it again, get some food if anything's not rotten yet, then decide".
I think "hm, last time I was here on a previous run, there was a big supermarket on the other side of the railroad, let's find it again, get some food if anything's not rotten yet, then decide".
Rainie's dying of hunger at this point. Girl's been through a lot, and it's not over.
We drive the zombie magnet across town, I find the supermarket (aka it happened to be where we went), loot the place as much as possible, and spot a small medical office in the same building. Good, because so far I have NO medical supplies other than a bandage I found at the camping store (and I had to clean it up >_< ).
On top of that I was so focused on Rainie's health that I didn't notice the truck is -
We drive the zombie magnet across town, I find the supermarket (aka it happened to be where we went), loot the place as much as possible, and spot a small medical office in the same building. Good, because so far I have NO medical supplies other than a bandage I found at the camping store (and I had to clean it up >_< ).
On top of that I was so focused on Rainie's health that I didn't notice the truck is -
- almost out of gas what with all that touring of half of Kentucky. And the gas station is now BEHIND US, on the other side of the train tracks, next to the campus. Damn it.
I decide that it's fine, Rainie has suffered enough for today, we'll use the last of our sunlight to clear a small house* somewhere and get some Zs (the good kind), then in the morning we'll make a decision.
I decide that it's fine, Rainie has suffered enough for today, we'll use the last of our sunlight to clear a small house* somewhere and get some Zs (the good kind), then in the morning we'll make a decision.
*Small note : daaaaaaamn the houses in Ekron are fancy. FAN. CY. These people know how to live. This place is no Echo Creek, I'll tell you that much. Mansions, mansions everywhere.
...
The f*ck am I doing, moving to Echo Creek, when this paradise exists ?!
...
Ah yeah, the college zombies, it's coming back to me now.
...
The f*ck am I doing, moving to Echo Creek, when this paradise exists ?!
...
Ah yeah, the college zombies, it's coming back to me now.
Anyway, basically all of the houses around us have at least two floors, so Rainie, who's exhausted by, you know, everything else ever, has a hard time fighting her way to a safe bedroom.
I was like, man, she's having a bad first week for sure. I gotta make better decisions for that character. She's probably one of the most unlucky ones.
Next day, Rainie wakes up, goes downstairs to refill her water bottles for the day, and finds... a couple of naked Zombies in the kitchen. THE HELL ?!
I have no idea how they got in here. I close everything I can when I camp in a house just for one night : the doors are closed (locked if I find keys), the windows are closed, all the possible curtains are drawn... and I swear we had cleared every room the night before. Again : vortex. No other explanation.
Except Rainie hasn't eaten yet, what with the Zomboids being between her and the fridge. And she's also getting thirsty. That's a bad combo even for a well-rested character.
We try our best, try to separate the two zombies to not be overwhelmed, kill one... and the second scratched us us.
We end up killing the second one too, and I take care of Rainie's wound as fast as possible. Thank God for the detour through the medical office yesterday, by the way.
We try our best, try to separate the two zombies to not be overwhelmed, kill one... and the second scratched us us.
We end up killing the second one too, and I take care of Rainie's wound as fast as possible. Thank God for the detour through the medical office yesterday, by the way.
Ok, so at least it's not a bite, right ? Those have a 100% chance of dooming Rainie. But no, I tell myself, tis but a scratch.
We've lost almost two hours getting the day started properly, so now we need to make a decision for how we handle the rest. Back to the truck and we hope to make it to the gas station ? Or do we... look for another vehicle to drive home with faster ? That one could go either way, but given the luck Rainie's had so far, I don't like our odds.
We've lost almost two hours getting the day started properly, so now we need to make a decision for how we handle the rest. Back to the truck and we hope to make it to the gas station ? Or do we... look for another vehicle to drive home with faster ? That one could go either way, but given the luck Rainie's had so far, I don't like our odds.
Now would be the time to say that today, for the first time ever, I'm testing a new PZ mod.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3495906499
All of my mods so far are UI related (or framework related when needed), should I note. But this one I'm particularly interested in testing, because it has THIS :
And so far it has served me well, helping me get an idea of the difference between stamina and tiredness (which I was sort of understanding, or so I thought, but now I really see the difference better). Rainie's playthrough has also helped me understand that when the icon for food is orange, she's, like, 75% fed still, so you know, I'm learning.
But one thing I do notice, is that there's a weird icon I hadn't seen before.
And then I get it. The icon only appears if you have the Knox Virus.
Rainie's doomed. It's over. She's going to turn slowly, but surely.
Someday, when I play in sandbox instead of Builder Mode, I'll make it so that the infection kills me right away, because I feel like in singleplayer, it's really not a fun time not to know immediately whether you've been contaminated. You keep playing and sinking more time into a character who will never survive more than a couple more days, and since it's not multiplayer, there's not much to do in the meantime, I feel.
Like, if I was playing with someone, me being infected would present a gameplay opportunity. Even a RP opportunity if we wanted.
But solo ? It's like, ok, I lost, why would I stick around ?
And I've just discovered that the new mod helps me save my time if I want to. The mod immediately says that my character is 1% infected, even though none of the symptoms show yet.
So I do the only logical thing.
I keep playing.
Because I'm not consistent and now that I have the proper tool to quit a losing game, I don't wanna, for some reason XD
So Rainie crosses the street, back to the medical office... which is ALSO next to a bar. A fancy one, obviously, because Ekron only does fancy.
We loot all the food in the kitchen (including some shellfish, because hey, we're not going to eat fries on our last day), go to the main room, loot all the alcohol, and wait for death.
I had never had any character drink before. And certainly not two bottles of gin, three of wine and one of vodka.
The moodle for "Utterly sh*t faced" absolutely broke me.
After drinking for a few hours (death is slow to come for our appointment), I feel really bad for Rainie. She's been dealt the worst possible cards every time. She deserves better than to die in a f*cking bar, that's depressing.
I decide to take her upstairs, see if there's something more comfortable, like maybe a couch in some sort of break room or whatever.
Surprise : upstairs, it's actually not part of the stores. It's actually at least two apartments. I open one at random and...
It turns out to be a very fancy PURPLE apartment ! Where we find some more vodka to ease the wait...
So Rainie picked a nice room with a view on the Ekron street, sat there, finished all the drinks in her inventory, and went to sleep.
I did NOT expect to cry because of Project Zomboid today.
I've owned this game legally on Steam for ONE WEEK AND A HALF, by the way. Does it show that I'm falling in love with this game ? I can't tell.
I forgot to write some details about how unlucky Rainie was :
- for the entire duration of this run, I haven't seen ONE zombie with a duffel bag. Not one. We were using the kiddie backpack the entire time.
- the 2nd day after we got eggs from Ovo Farms, I cooked a batch but accidentally burned them. It made her sick to eat FOUR burnt eggs. Health was draining and everything. Had to park the truck and sleep with the doors locked to wait it out.
- the water was cut off while we were at the bar.
- for the entire duration of this run, I haven't seen ONE zombie with a duffel bag. Not one. We were using the kiddie backpack the entire time.
- the 2nd day after we got eggs from Ovo Farms, I cooked a batch but accidentally burned them. It made her sick to eat FOUR burnt eggs. Health was draining and everything. Had to park the truck and sleep with the doors locked to wait it out.
- the water was cut off while we were at the bar.
There has never been, and hopefully never again will be, a character as unlucky as Rainie XD
If at first you don't succeed, try plan B : the story of Lena.
To say that Lena got a bad start is no euphemism. She spawned in Riverside, could not find a single car. Sounds familiar ? Yeaaah.
(yes all my characters are redheads dressed in purple, who here is surprised ? XD )
So the thing is, this time there really was no vehicle with keys anywhere in the Lectrolux Factory parking lot, and again, no lockpicking. Since I really don't like Riverside other than for spawning, I decided that this time, we'd move our operations to Fallas Lake instead of Echo Creek.
All we needed to do was, oh you know, walk for two days.
And frankly, the walking part was fine. No need to run, especially in the woods where nothing really happens. In fact Lena leveled up her foraging quite a bit on the way.
Late at night, we reached a lovely little cabin in the woods that just HAS to be a reference to something because that bathroom is weeeird, we spent a very short night there, and then walked to Fallas Lake the next day, arriving in the afternoon. Honestly it was a good time.
Late at night, we reached a lovely little cabin in the woods that just HAS to be a reference to something because that bathroom is weeeird, we spent a very short night there, and then walked to Fallas Lake the next day, arriving in the afternoon. Honestly it was a good time.
Problems started, of course, when we arrived at the Gas Station : too many Zeds. Impossible to set up camp there.
It's fine, Lena's nothing if not flexible : plan C was to move into the diner, at least temporarily.
Except there wasn't a lot of food in the diner (there were stale burgers and fries on the counters, but having picked the "Weak Stomach" trait, I didn't want to risk it), and I quickly ran out.
Very carefully, Lena started to clear the gas station, one zombie at a time.
Every door was locked so she could not even take breaks upstairs or refill her water bottles between fights without walking back to the diner, which didn't make things easy (eventually she had to break a window to get in... only to kill a Zed upstairs who had the keys in their inventory <_< ). But eventually it was done.
Every door was locked so she could not even take breaks upstairs or refill her water bottles between fights without walking back to the diner, which didn't make things easy (eventually she had to break a window to get in... only to kill a Zed upstairs who had the keys in their inventory <_< ). But eventually it was done.
Then she set up camp in the gas station, moved the stuff she had stored at the diner (because it would have been too heavy to fight with), and started fixing up things best as she could. There were some snacks at the gas station, but they were not very filling, so the next day, we decided to explore the town a bit and see what we could find.
For the record I've played Fallas Lake in about 3 runs, though not necessarily long ones, and during a 4th run I stayed overnight at the medical practice.
So obviously I wasn't very clear on the layout of the town just yet. I just knew it had more stores than Echo Creek, which would make for a nice variation to my usual go-to.
Speaking of. The Echo Creek gas station is a luxury gas station, comparatively : it has not only gas pumps and a store, but also a diner and a garage which the Fallas Lake gas station lacks. So there was a lot less stuff to get set up with.
Lena walked in the main street a bit, passed a hardware store and made a mental note of looting it next, and found... not one, not two, but THREE food stores ! One with vegetables & fruits, one with breads, and one with meats and fish. That would definitely fill the fridge for a while.
Sadly, a lot of it was rotting already, since it was July 14th already by then, and food turns really fast (particularly veggies).
But sadly, outside the butcher's store, 10+ Zeds were waiting. Even trying to walk around through the back entrance alarmed them, and they rushed through the windows, putting Lena in a corner.
And that's how plan C became plan Z... u_u
