ladyterukiToday after my doctor appointment I tried to start a new run... which ended up being me starting 8 successive runs. Well, successive but not successful, that's for sure. 7 of them ended on day one to day three with a bite, and the 8th one crashed while loading.
I guess surviving is not on the schedule for today.
Also I'm having a weird issue with my mouse/keyboard. Suddenly they sort of freeze, and I can't move or click for a solid 30 seconds. During which of course I can't pause the game either, so Zeds are having a feast with my entrails while I vigorously shake my mouse like that's gonna solve anything.
That's a new one. An annoying one, at that.
That's a new one. An annoying one, at that.
Alright, let's try again today. Yesterday was a great day for me, and a lousy day for my latest character, Toni... she even triggered my first ever car alarm ! Almost 200hrs in this game and she found the only car that alerts the entire neighborhood of undead XD
I think just to be safe I'll create a new character for this morning, Toni might be jinxed.
Pretty good day today, actually ! I started a new run (and it didn't crash...) with a new character, Pamela (the most 90s name I could think of).
That's Pamela.
This hairstyle is called "cheerleader", so I decided to RP this a bit and pretend Pamela is a teenager who was on her way to celebrate July 4th with her snobby friends when times decided to end.
On July 9th, she woke up in western Riverside, not knowing why she was in that part of town, (the "not-so-posh" side), where her friends were, what was going on.
It was a pretty mid start, honestly. It didn't go bad, it didn't go well, it just went. It took almost all of day 1 to find a car.
So since I lost quite a bit of time finding a vehicle, I decided to stay in Riverside, as opposed to just driving to another town like I often do. I have played a bit in Riverside, but really most of the time I treat it as the place where I get my Lectrolux van, and then get the hell out of Dodge XD
Riverside has two gas stations, and for now I don't want to set up base anywhere but at a gas station, so I decided to pick the one next to the police station.
ACAB (All Cops Are Boids), by the way.
Riverside has two gas stations, and for now I don't want to set up base anywhere but at a gas station, so I decided to pick the one next to the police station.
ACAB (All Cops Are Boids), by the way.
It's pretty satisfying to clear that base spot, I must say XD Plus you have a perfect excuse : they're zomboids now ! It's totally fair game !
And I got some decent loot, not great, but look at Pam, the girl is running around in a cotton dress... getting some more sturdy gear was welcome.
The other problem with barely playing in Riverside is that the only times I've been there was... when I was looking for a car. I never looked for other stuff there. The first few times, when I had like 10hrs of game experience, I spent more time, but back then (she said, being 2 months older :P ) I didn't know what to look for. So all in all, it felt very blind.
I love that despite having sunk in a few hundreds (yes, plural) of hours into this game already, I still get to experience that.
I love that despite having sunk in a few hundreds (yes, plural) of hours into this game already, I still get to experience that.
(and I'll experience it again when I try something similar in Brandenburg, although there is no spawn there so I'll still need to... spawn in Riverside and get a car there XD )
For instance : I had no idea where to look in Riverside for a generator. I drove along the main street and found tons of stores and restaurants (my God, how many restaurants does one town need ?!), but nothing that would fit the bill for a generator.
On day 6 (six !) I finally remembered that there's a U-Store-It next to the second gas station, so I went there, and tried to break in without a sledgehammer.
Except of course, there's a super secure door I can't dismantle with my tiny screwdriver, so I destroy a tire iron on the door... I open the first storage unit, there's a crowbar XD Well.
Except of course, there's a super secure door I can't dismantle with my tiny screwdriver, so I destroy a tire iron on the door... I open the first storage unit, there's a crowbar XD Well.
Meanwhile it was the middle of the night, a super creepy time to be in a deserted storage facility.
There were a couple of Zeds in the storage units, and technically there's still at least one in there, because when I found a yellow generator (...I *really* need to start studying what the colors mean, I keep forgetting), I loaded it in the truck of my car and drove away faster than the speed of light XD
There were a couple of Zeds in the storage units, and technically there's still at least one in there, because when I found a yellow generator (...I *really* need to start studying what the colors mean, I keep forgetting), I loaded it in the truck of my car and drove away faster than the speed of light XD
I also looted all the groceries I could from various convenience stores, restaurants, delis, etc. that I found, and frankly I'm not convinced there isn't more. I have emptied the local bookshop. I have made a quick run to the Lectromax warehouse in search for a pipe wrench (I'll go back later for more non-urgent tools) and stole every sink I ran into, plus a couple of bathtubs, in prevision of the water shutoff.
Honestly, for a run that started meh, it's going pretty well.
Honestly, for a run that started meh, it's going pretty well.
I also have a Spiffo truck with a high-capacity trailer, a car, and a bike outside...
And check this on my screenshot above : IT'S ONLY JULY 23rd !
I have more water than I know what to use it for, I have one generator (though a second one wouldn't hurt, if only to place it across the street with the gas pumps), I have stockpiled food like it's my day job...
...and now I kinda feel, well, now what ?
Normally getting all of this up and running would take MUCH LONGER. And by the way, at the moment I don't even NEED the generator : there's still electricity on the grid (and the water hasn't been cutoff yet, either). So, it's like...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I guess I'm gonna start doing some of the long term stuff then. Which... I have never done.
Plant some crops before August starts ? Look into the building mechanics ?
Actually I'm a bit terrified now, because my setup is so sweet, I don't want to risk everything by going too far too fast.
In a handful of previous runs, it's not the Zomboids that killed me, but the greed. The feeling that "oh I'll just drive from Fallas Lake to Muldraugh and loot the warehouses there" or "I'm just going to empty Ovo Farms so I have more fridges, more eggs, more more more !" and then dying there when I would have been perfectly alive with what I had at home.
But when I think like that ("I'm going to stay home and not move from here anymore"), I'm also afraid that it's my mental illness talking. Agoraphobia saying that staying put is where there isn't any risk, and so it's safe (which... is not necessarily true).
It's really hard to get an idea of whether I am applying the right logic sometimes.
It's really hard to get an idea of whether I am applying the right logic sometimes.
Youtubers for Project Zomboid not being a white male Brit challenge.
Well, Pamela is dead. And as I predicted it happened when I tried to leave town (I went looking for skill books).
Greed. It's always greed.
Greed. It's always greed.
The mod about introducing menstrual cycles to a game that aims to be highly realistic is going well.
This notice needed to be posted within THREE days of the mod dev uploading the mod to the Steam Workshop...
That said this has to be my favorite comment, not just on the mod's page or on the Steam Workshop, but in the entire internet this week XD
These manbabies have been crushing zombie skulls for thousands of hours but are disgusted by the existence of periods.
Gamers gonna be gamers.
Gamers gonna be gamers.
Anyway, now that my previous run is over, I'm starting a run with that mod. I expect pain.
And also a lot of difficulties ;)
And also a lot of difficulties ;)
Oh f*ck it is exactly as punishing as I thought XD
I started the save in the middle of having my period... with zero hygiene products around me. So I had to rip a shirt into pieces and use the rags. Fantastic mod.
I started the save in the middle of having my period... with zero hygiene products around me. So I had to rip a shirt into pieces and use the rags. Fantastic mod.
It has always bothered me in survival games but also shows/movies. Next up we'll have to bring up shaving, but you boys aren't ready for that conversation either.
I was surrounded by zombies, stuck inside a house. As they were breaking in through the windows, I could think of nothing else but to run to the second floor and put another door behind us while I'd think about my options. In the bedroom, while they banged on the door, I turned curtains into a sheet rope to use as an escape route...
...and then absolutely didn't find how you use it XD
So I jumped and limped to my car as fast as I could before they'd find I'm no longer up there.
Thankfully I made it to the car without bleeding to death. I quickly stitched the wound (good, because I hadn't included a splint in my packing ! but I did have a suture needle), bandaged it and got the hell out of Dodge.
I had a bit of a fright XD And I left my favorite purple cap behind, because it fell when I kissed the cement, and I really had to make an important choice between getting to safety and keeping my purple apparel XD
...I think I'm going to look up how sheet ropes work, though XD Because I had it in my main inventory, the window was open, and yet no amount of clicking or right clicking seemed to bring an option for it.
That character is almost one month old, too. A very dangerous time for my characters in Project Zomboid these days XD
I log into my current Project Zomboid run, see that my character is having her period again, decide to keep things simple for the next few days. I start looting a house near my base, it goes perfectly well. I loot the house next to it... two cops and two prisoners (zombies, obviously) break through the windows as soon as I approach (they must have seen me when I looted the other house and I didn't hear them).
Oh, great.
Oh, great.
Since I'm in so much pain and exhaustion from my period, I'm slowed down ; I decide that instead of trying to fight them, I'm going to walk all the way around the house to get out of their line of sight.
...Did I mention there's a fifth Zed on the other side of the house ? No ? Probably because I see it only now. I have no choice but to try and kill it before the others hear his calls for reinforcement. I push him a few times, he falls, I stomp his dumb green face. All good.
All good ?
Noooo, because what I haven't noticed in that moment, it's that my rubber boots have imploded when I stomped the Zed ! So now, get this : I'm in socks, walking around in the grass around a house with most of its windows broken !
"Strange", I think to myself as the UI informs me that my left foot is hurting, "did I sprain something when I stomped that fifth guy ?". Not exactly, I am quickly informed : I cut my foot ! So I quickly put some bandages on it, not fully realizing that the broken -
"Strange", I think to myself as the UI informs me that my left foot is hurting, "did I sprain something when I stomped that fifth guy ?". Not exactly, I am quickly informed : I cut my foot ! So I quickly put some bandages on it, not fully realizing that the broken -
- windows are the obvious culprit here (as well as my lack of attention for my gear). I get up just as the four other zero in on me, and decide to, oh yes, you guessed it, walk through the glass again ! The UI informs me that this time my right foot is hurting, and oh, now I'm computing that it's the glass, that's right, now that both of my feet are repainting the lawn in an unnatural color ! Because I do what anyone would do, naturally : I walk with my second feet abundantly bleeding, as I -
- no time to bandage it because of the other Zeds closing in. I end up losing three of them in the nearby trees, but one of the cops (ACAB) still chases me all the way to my car. I am, thankfully, slowed down but still a tiiiiny bit faster that him.
As I approach the car ("just one more step... ok you're taking small steps, let's say three more steps. Just three more steps !"), I realize two things almost simultaneously. One is that I'm not even sure I won't bleed to death before I'm in the car.
As I approach the car ("just one more step... ok you're taking small steps, let's say three more steps. Just three more steps !"), I realize two things almost simultaneously. One is that I'm not even sure I won't bleed to death before I'm in the car.
But almost as worrisome is the second one : I am such a terrible driver that I have broken just about every window in that car. It's my "low stakes trips" car. That's why I took it on that trip today, a day I had initially decided would be (and in hindsight it's starting to be painfully ironic at this moment) "kept simple". Death is simple, afterall. The only reason why I took a car out is that I want to use the trunk to haul things back to base. I will not be protected even once in the car !
So, in the split second that it takes for me to think of this as I approach the car, I prepare myself mentally to start the engine as soon as I'm in, hoping, of course, that POS car doesn't take several tries to get going.
While I'm training my brain ahead of the seconds ahead of me, the cop zombie has no such concerns, of course, and is, instead, fully focused on eating my flesh as soon as inhumanly possible. Which he attempts to do by aiming for my stomach, which is fun, because cramps.
While I'm training my brain ahead of the seconds ahead of me, the cop zombie has no such concerns, of course, and is, instead, fully focused on eating my flesh as soon as inhumanly possible. Which he attempts to do by aiming for my stomach, which is fun, because cramps.
Thankfully I finally get in the car, and the minuscule moment during which I open and close the door seems to afford me the tiniest of gains on my assaulter. Enough for me to turn the contact and breathe a sigh of relief as the car immediately starts.
At this point it dawns on me that not only my health bar is about as low as my intelligence, but on top of that, if I go straight to base, I'm obviously leading a mini-horde to my safe haven.
At this point it dawns on me that not only my health bar is about as low as my intelligence, but on top of that, if I go straight to base, I'm obviously leading a mini-horde to my safe haven.
So instead of taking a left, I decide to take a right and drive into a part of the neighborhood I have NEVER been to, which means the FoW hasn't fully lifted yet and I discover the layout of the street as the car hurls itself between the trees.
Because, you see, it's not exactly a street on this side of the neighborhood. It's more of a dirt road. The bushes have started growing there, at random, and soon so will the trees. The bushes don't present a danger for my car, but they do slow it down -
Because, you see, it's not exactly a street on this side of the neighborhood. It's more of a dirt road. The bushes have started growing there, at random, and soon so will the trees. The bushes don't present a danger for my car, but they do slow it down -
- as well as present a visual obstacle to me as I try to decide where to drive a few tons of metal next. And slowing down is not ideal, considering I still have zomboids behind me. I'm assuming. I'm not turning around to look.
Meanwhile my heart is pounding in my chest, encouraged by the game which adds a stressful pounding sound as my character's life deteriorates at the speed of light. The UI also informs me that my left foot's bandage is dirty, a great sign that infection nears.
Meanwhile my heart is pounding in my chest, encouraged by the game which adds a stressful pounding sound as my character's life deteriorates at the speed of light. The UI also informs me that my left foot's bandage is dirty, a great sign that infection nears.
Furiously trying to determine what's going to kill me first so that I can prioritize crises, I decide to veer brutally right again to stop on a nearby parking lot, hoping that maybe the trees and bushes will hide me long enough for what I have to do. I have only two clean bandages left, and I use them on my stomach and my second foot ; the first foot will have to risk an infection. I can see that I have glass shards in the second foot (and can only guess that it's true of the first one too) -
- but at this point I can't afford to unpack any bandages to take them out if I want to make sure the zombies leave me alone. Meanwhile, the UI informs me that my menstrual protection is also requiring a change. With my various wounds and other sources of bleed demanding attention that I can't give them in the car, I start the engine again and drive all around the block as fast as I can, drawing a large loop so I can, hopefully, be forgotten by the Zeds, and finally go home.
...
I come home.
I put away the food I just looted in the first house (hey, we're not gonna waste steaks just because we're about to die).
I go upstairs to the first aid storage (GRAND idea to put it up the stairs, by the way).
I sit in front of the storage, on the floor.
In a pool of my own blood, I unwrap my bandages.
I pick up tweezers to extract the glass shards in both of my feet.
I apply alcohol wipes to disinfect wounds that had already started to fester.
I change my tampon.
I swallow a couple of pills for pain management, before dragging my exhausted carcass to the bedroom.
I open the storage by the door and put on new boots.
I put myself to sleep on the bed, on the side where the pillow is.
I gently press ESC.
I log off.
That's enough Project Zomboid for today.
AUGUST 8TH.
Tomorrow that character turns exactly a month old.
Tomorrow that character turns exactly a month old.
Took a sleeping pill IRL then out of habit launched the game.
Well I don't like to waste, so I'm just gonna start a doomed run with a character that I fully expect to kill tonight XD
Happened what was always going to happen XD
I'm glad I had the clarity to not pick my character who just turned a month old XD
I'm glad I had the clarity to not pick my character who just turned a month old XD
I wanted to shake things up a bit, and decided that my latest run would NOT be as an electrician. You know, in a "you've been playing this game for a few hundred hours now, you're a big girl, you can take the kiddie wheels off" kind of way ?
...
So far my entire two weeks of existence have been dedicated to looking for the damn generator manual. I have found FOUR generators, not one manual. And I've already visited three towns.
Honestly next run I go back to electrician.
What's that ? "How many hours", you say ?
This many hours (plus about 100 more before I bought the game).
This many hours (plus about 100 more before I bought the game).
I knew PZ was going to spit in my face with this generator manual thing, but the game actually spit in my mouth...
...I just started playing with my new character Noreen, and the convenience store where I spawned (I have a mod that spawns me in random places, as you can tell by the FoW on the minimap) HAS THE GENERATOR MANUAL. Like, first thing.
Is Noreen an electrician ? Why yes, yes she is. As a consequence, does she need the generator manual ? No, she does not.
That damn game XD
*logs off PZ*
*goes to bed*
*launches PZ playthrough videos to fall asleep to*
*gets urge to get back up to play PZ*
*stops PZ videos*
*stares at ceiling thinking about PZ*
I both love and hate that phase XD
...And it shows.
I finally found a huge semi truck with the keys on the dashboard, perfect for my loot goblin ways...
...this is a screenshot of me doing a second trip to finish emptying the Brandenburg supermarket 😅
...this is a screenshot of me doing a second trip to finish emptying the Brandenburg supermarket 😅
It carries just under 1000 "units" of weight ( https://mastodon.social/deck/@ladyteruki/114644263723431932 ). And yet, it's not enough.
It's never enough.
It's never enough.
Also I'm in love with my latest character. I'm rooting for her not to die too painfully.
I found a katana !
How rare is the katana in Project Zomboid ? Well, it's the first one I find since I started playing this game (~100hrs with the arrr🏴☠️ version and now ~500hrs on Steam).
OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD ! For the first time EVER, I made it to September 1st !!! That's 1 month and 24 days !
New personal record, and it's even more miraculous when you know that I had not been able to beat my previous record of 1 month and 6 days... SINCE EARLY JUNE.
https://mastodon.social/deck/@ladyteruki/114632847366184598
Since then, all my characters (...ok, most of my characters) have died around the 1 month mark. In one case, 1 month and 5 days >_< And now look at me, almost 2 months this time !
Also a personal record : killing 360 zombies in one run !
I play in Sandbox mode based on Builder settings, so the population is fairly low, to be fair ; in Apocalypse mode I'm sure this would be a Monday. But still.
I play in Sandbox mode based on Builder settings, so the population is fairly low, to be fair ; in Apocalypse mode I'm sure this would be a Monday. But still.
This is also the first time ever I've maxed out a skill (Carpentry, in this case, though ironically enough Emilià is not a carpenter by trade, but an electrician).
The list of skills is very long so you don't see it, but I'm also almost maxed out in a couple of other skills. I have read all the books I could, but I'm missing quite a few ; also, I haven't really started to plant any crops because I was having issues with some of the equipment (though now it's almost ready to be done).
The list of skills is very long so you don't see it, but I'm also almost maxed out in a couple of other skills. I have read all the books I could, but I'm missing quite a few ; also, I haven't really started to plant any crops because I was having issues with some of the equipment (though now it's almost ready to be done).
Nonono but you still don't know the best part.
Before I started this run, I DLed a new mod that spawns me in any GigaMart on the map at random. I was like "well, this will be a nice change to die in a supermarket for once". It has locations I've never visited in the list of spawns, including Irvington where I rarely spend enough time to look for the GigaMart there, I usually only come to town to get some farm animals XD There are still locations I haven't seen in this giant map !
Julianoë@ladyteruki I must have 500 hours in PZ build41 and I think I have found 1 katana ever.
@Julianoe : to be fair I didn't even use the katana much that time, I like to stomp my zombies XD
@ladyteruki note that the only time I found a Katana I felt it would be a waste to use it while only being lvl1 Maintenance, so I stashed it in my loot troll cave... and ended up dying before really making much use of it.
@Julianoe : classic ! I tend to have a lot of stuff like that. I also collect purple clothing, and every time I'm like "hm, wait, I'm going to do that soon and there's going to be a lot of Zeds, I'll put the Good Clothes™ once there is no risk of holes".
It's Project Zomboid, there's always a risk of holes XD I end up staying in ugly military green half of the time !
It's Project Zomboid, there's always a risk of holes XD I end up staying in ugly military green half of the time !
|~hamu_sandowicz~|@ladyteruki 'spit - slutever' is on my slowly-dying playlist lol, immediately followed by 'girlscout - jack off jill' 😅
Violettivettä@ladyteruki I bet that in your next run as an electrician, you will find multiple copies of the generator book!
@purplewater : guaranteed.
RebekahWSD@ladyteruki This is what happens when I take a weed and try to play. Eventually I fuck something up!
I'm also not allowed to play Stardew Valley with @Challis2070 while high because I go into the skull caverns, tab out of the game, and dieeeee
@RebekahWSD @Challis2070 : haha I totally get that. I've learned my lesson when I first started taking these pills (they either have zero effect or ALL OF THE EFFECTS, no middle ground) while playing ARK. I was at my base and decided to cross the ocean to go to an island. Did I take my raft ? No. I grabbed a BRONTOSAURUS, a creature that is slow on land AND in the water. Naturally it got eaten by Megalodons, and so was I... except I respawn at base and grab a Carno to go get my "stuff" at -
@RebekahWSD @Challis2070 : - the bottom of the ocean (because in ARK when you die you leave everything you were carrying behind, armor and all). You wanna know how well a Carno swims ? Look at its arms.
@ladyteruki @Challis2070 I was going to guess "extremely poorly" even before seeing the poor guy!
@RebekahWSD @Challis2070 : the Carno died to Megalodons even faster than the Bronto, because it didn't have anywhere as much health as a large Sauropod. At this point I'm high as a kite so I respawn at base and am ready to grab a Phiomia that was standing around.
THIS is a Phiomia : https://ark.fandom.com/wiki/Phiomia
THIS is a Phiomia : https://ark.fandom.com/wiki/Phiomia
Phiomia
The Phiomia (Fee-o-me-ah) is one of the Creatures in ARK: Survival Evolved. This section is intended to be an exact copy of what the survivor Helena Walker, the author of the dossiers, has written. There may be some discrepancies between this text and the in-game creature. Phiomia will run away from the player when attacked. Without any increases in the player's movement speed stat, he/she will be easily outpaced until the creature thinks it's safe and stops running. When chasing a Phiomia...
@RebekahWSD @Challis2070 : mind you, I'm playing on a server, and that night, three of my ARK friends are online, and are watching me do this, not understanding that I'm high on sleeping meds, as I comment every decision in the chat. They're like, the hell is wrong with you, take the raft ! You still got your raft, right ? I say yes, but now it's personal (or something along those lines).
@RebekahWSD @Challis2070 : as I launch the Phiomia into the ocean, my friend Yora stages an intervention and comes on a flyer to grab me and put me back at base, like "Stay here, *I* will go grab your stuff". He dove into the ocean, retrieved everything within half a minute, and begged me to log off XD
@RebekahWSD @Challis2070 : I tried ONCE more to play while medicated. It was in singleplayer, I cheated to spawn a high lvl Griffin, and spent the evening killing Wyverns (creatures that normally would be very hard to kill) while flying on my mount. It was AWESOME. But at least I had nothing to lose because the Griffin was cheated in.
@ladyteruki @Challis2070 Sometimes you gotta play god mode! It's a delight!
@RebekahWSD @Challis2070 : I don't do it often, but when I do, I'm high on sleeping meds XD
Challis2070@RebekahWSD This reminds me that A. We need to get more weed. and B. I have weed I can take myself right now.
@Challis2070 I have an singular weed so I'll take it