GeneralRambler

I love the idea of peeking through doors. Just seeing a slight sliver of vision into a questionable room may save your life.

I love the idea of peeking through doors. Just seeing a slight sliver of vision into a questionable room may save your life.

Well back on track... NPC memory...
 
NPCs with some form of memory would prevent wasted efforts and repeated looting runs.
 
For example. If an NPC loots a house or an area of a houses, then it will remember to not try to loot there again. If the player then tried to order the NPC to loot an already explored area, the NPC would respond in saying "I have already looted this area." and then it could give you a brief summary of what it found. "I found food and ammo."
 
Maybe NPCs could also remember when they last run into a horde. So when the NPC and the player travel near that location, the NPC will say something like, "Be extra careful around here. A horde may be nearby". Or if the NPC remembers seeing other NPC establishments, "There may be other survivors close by. Be on the lookout."

I love the idea of the military being against you. It would show how sometimes, zombies are not the biggest threat, but other humans are. That is what really makes a TRUE apocalyptic survival game for me. If the military was on your side, it would make the game too easy. They would provide you with protection, weapons and supplies, or at least they would take out zombies for you. That would make the zombies no longer a threat or even a worry. I want to be afraid and unnerved when playing this game.

By the time 3 or 4 years passes. I honestly will probably have put this game down after playing it so much.  I understand what you are trying to say -snip-. To get such a complex feature completed and polished to their liking will definitely take large amounts time and effort, especially since they are a relatively small team.
 
But keep in mind, the devs realize this and are not willing to keep us waiting that long. Realistically, it is not practical since a large portion of the current generation of PZ players will be replaced by newer and younger fans that are not aware of the hard work and time put into the game for so many years. 
 
I remember that the devs said something in a Mondoid about delivering the NPCs piece by piece, rather than all at once. I think the new Kate and Baldspot tutorial will be the first "wave" of NPC delivery. I think we can expect this very soon (less than a year). When Kate and Baldspot are in, then I suppose they would start adding in the in-game NPC survivors feature by feature in a way they see necessary.
 
So -snip-, you may be right in a way. It could take several years for the NPCs to be "perfect" and exactly to the devs' desires. But what we should remember is that we will get to see the NPCs grow and advance as the devs add more layers to their design. I am sure NPCs will be developed and polished enough to be interesting far before their final completion! That is the purpose of Early Access; we will get to play with new features as they evolve and progress to completion.

Well back on track... NPC memory...
 
NPCs with some form of memory would prevent wasted efforts and repeated looting runs.
 
For example. If an NPC loots a house or an area of a houses, then it will remember to not try to loot there again. If the player then tried to order the NPC to loot an already explored area, the NPC would respond in saying "I have already looted this area." and then it could give you a brief summary of what it found. "I found food and ammo."
 
Maybe NPCs could also remember when they last run into a horde. So when the NPC and the player travel near that location, the NPC will say something like, "Be extra careful around here. A horde may be nearby". Or if the NPC remembers seeing other NPC establishments, "There may be other survivors close by. Be on the lookout."

The beauty is you'll never know. That's the way it should always be.

For example, if a NPC as the trait ''loner'' or ''survivalist'' (I don't know if some of these traits are in the NPC code, Im just assuming), they might preffer some place away from the city, like the cabin, or the north farm, and an NPC with the ''Brave'' trait would hae a higher chance to stay at a safehouse not completely barricaded, so that it would take less time to barricade it, but only if zombies don't go through the window and eat him, so their preferences arent always good, but in NPC groups, this might influence whetever a NPC wants to leave a group, thinking that going over to a certain location is suicide, while others will follow willingly.
 
There are so many more things that can be done with this personality system, ranging from simple things like which food they preffer (raises or lowers happiness), to something as huge as attempting (and failing) to clear out the zombie apocalypse with a shotgun and a buttload of shells, to learning to live amongst them, to even commit suicide to join them.

Me too.
 
 
It's like being the Chosen One in an MMO... full of other Chosen Ones. 

Your wish may just granted! For the next map expansion, the devs "hinted" at adding on a hospital. They said that it would be an "inhospitable" place filled with the zombified people that flocked there when the infection broke out. This would be the place to find the high end med supplies and equipment. However, the only weapons I can imagine being in a hospital are axes and maybe pistols and batons from the security gaurds
 
I'm hoping the building is super tall. Maybe the good supplies would be in the upper floors, so you would have to fight your way through several zombie infested floors to get what you need.

If you are going to go out... might as well finish up the chores. What a serene and yet eerie way to finish life as a human. Thanks for sharing man! 

I just saw the word "NPC" in the title, which forced me to open this thread, read every comment and leave a response. What the devs said lol... Its like showing the trailer for the new star wars movie and say "NO HYPE! Its still ages away!" or saying "DONT PANIC!" when raging zombies surround your safehouse.. right its gonna happen haha.
 
So - NPC'S with personalities ++
NPCS trading you stuff you need and they don't + (I would make it so they have multiple of that item they trade you maybe), you could trade bullets for food or visa versa depending on the kind of NPC (if he is a farmer in the group, he probably doesn't go out to loot a lot, might need seeds, water or just finished food products (cooked soup) instead of bullets).
Group hierarchy inside NPC groups +++ just the thought of me being able to work my way up in a group while surviving and doing heroic deeds (Spiffo disapproves of Heroic deeds) so I can command a small tactical group and encourage them to develop their own skills.
Infected NPCS ++ your lovely group went out on a looting mission, but one of them was scratched and might be infected... do you take the risk? Would this cause a debate that you guys kill him/her or make NPCS pissed at you if you did? Who knows, would be a nice addition. Especially if he turns inside your safehouse and bites another NPC going to the toilet.
Organized looters/bandits (NPCS ofcourse) ++++ imagine this: you have been holding out in your little fortress for weeks, farm is growing, you got the rain collectors going. Suddenly some asshole breaks down your fence and 3 armed survivors come in looking to take everything you got, including your life... A WHOLE new level of defense right there. They might force you to drop your stuff too (Devs suggested there will be a force inventory open thing when the player will put hands behind their head and the other can take anything from them).
Treating NPCS wounds + lets say you got some painkillers and bandages, which are required by one of the NPCS as he/she was shot or scratched, you give it to them or use it on them? to get some plus gratitude from them. "You saved my life, I will help you with anything you need" kinda thing.
Vehicles with NPCS ++ You want to do a major loot run? Take out that Van you just found (once they are implemented) with your NPC friends and fill up the trunk with stuff.
Radios, Walkie talkies ?? ++ The ability to be able to communicate with your group from a far would be highly awesome of course require batteries and stuff. Just imagine if you could ask for help, give out a distress signal that somebody may find and then come to kill you and take your stuff? AWESOME.
 
No hype.. just ... casual discussion here :D

If you are going to go out... might as well finish up the chores. What a serene and yet eerie way to finish life as a human. Thanks for sharing man! 

With Build 28 coming out soon with the implementation of  Journal Writing as well as the ability to write on walls i believe a must needed construction item is the Bulletin Board.
 
It would be mainly a feature for multiplayer but could also help long term survivors in Single Player, it would work pretty much like this.
 
 
 
The Bulletin board would allow the player to make notes to other players or to himself, the board would allow closer cooperation between players that are already working together by listing goals that they wish to accomplish as well as give players an immediate update on what has and is happening.
 
 

Dis man

Remember, zombification isn't totally the end for survivors! They still have a few days to a week to keep doing things.

Spoiler One of my favorite scenes in a game of mine was tying up all of my loose in-game ends shortly before gracefully puking myself to death in my bed. I watered my entire garden, organized the house, completed a shed, moved all the corpses in the compound to the curb, and set both of my little spiffo plushes neatly by the doorstep in embrace, waiting for the next person to come live in what was my home. <3

I watched a video by Mathas I think on youtube.

The Concept
A Last Stand tribute to George Romero's zombie film classic Dawn of the Dead (1978), and not the 2004 remake shiz...
 
How will it work?
The player would have to survive alongside three other NPC survivors in the shopping mall during a zombie attack.
 
Further Applications
When NPCs are fully developed and implemented into the game, new Last Stand locations should be added as well as the ability to have a small team of NPC survivors with you. This would work great in future areas of the map such as Fort Knox or the city.

The Concept
A Last Stand tribute to George Romero's zombie film classic Dawn of the Dead (1978), and not the 2004 remake shiz...
 
How will it work?
The player would have to survive alongside three other NPC survivors in the shopping mall during a zombie attack.
 
Further Applications
When NPCs are fully developed and implemented into the game, new Last Stand locations should be added as well as the ability to have a small team of NPC survivors with you. This would work great in future areas of the map such as Fort Knox or the city.

Heya guys,
 
I'm making this thread to discuss the future of mental health in PZ. Lemmy mentioned at one point that he wanted this in the game in some form or another, and so I wanted to take this space to post my thoughts on it and hear everyone elses'.
 
So without further ado:
 
Sanity
 
Introduces a sanity moodle to the game. There is no positive version of the sanity moodle, just a negative:
 
Imbalanced: You are shaken by the current events and have been physically affected by them.
You get a slight negative modifier to your interactions with NPC's You may occasionally hear small sounds that don't exist Unstable: You have been severely affected by the apocalypse, and it shows.
You have a negative modifier to interactions with NPC's You often hear sounds that don't exist You have trouble sleeping Insane: Your mental health is fully compromised.
You have a large negative modifier to interactions with NPC's You often hear sounds that don't exist You have trouble sleeping You occasionally see things that aren't there, including NPC's, loot, and zombies. These images are exactly like their real counterparts, but can have no effect on the player and disappear after a time. You talk to yourself sometimes, causing a small amount of sound You have a chance to be much more or much less susceptible to the panic moodle For short periods of time you won't see moodles that are affecting you With the introduction of insanity comes two new traits in the beginning of the game:
 
Strong Willed: Much more likely to stay sane, and stops at "Unstable," not able to become completely insane.
Unstable: Much more susceptible to insanity
 
And finally, things that effect your sanity:
 
Antidepressants: Help stave off insanity, but become addicting
Alcohol: Can temporarily stave off insanity, but long term increases it if addicted
Corpses: Nearby corpses negatively influence sanity (implemented after cleaning up corpses)
Home: Staying in the same house more than once increases sanity
Cigarettes: Temporarily helps increase sanity
Losing a Companion: Losing a companion severely effects sanity
Becoming Injured: Being injured or sick decreases sanity
 
Nota Bene, the insanity effects are quite strong and should take a large amount of time to build up, particularly to the final stage. It should only become a problem if you neglect it or if you take the unstable trait.

Just read the lengthy speculation about justifying vehicles as map is SO small and how it is not "planned to be bigger" etc etc. And the answer has been on the front page for weeks if people would bother to read. I apologize, was a bit too frustrated when I wrote that.I wouldnt consider it entirely off topic since these issues matter. I see cars as mid-end game content, so map size and constant threat of zombies are important. Vehicle types obviously define what can be done, then. Trailers, trucks, pickups, customizing those and so on.
When it comes to horses etc, if devs ever introduce farm animals and such, horse would be logical add there.

The Concept
A Last Stand tribute to George Romero's zombie film classic Dawn of the Dead (1978), and not the 2004 remake shiz...
 
How will it work?
The player would have to survive alongside three other NPC survivors in the shopping mall during a zombie attack.
 
Further Applications
When NPCs are fully developed and implemented into the game, new Last Stand locations should be added as well as the ability to have a small team of NPC survivors with you. This would work great in future areas of the map such as Fort Knox or the city.

YES PLEASE!!

Saw a couple of Youtubers try it out. It immediately caught my glance. But then I found MathasGames and watched his MANY series on Project Zomboid. Anyone else find PZ or at least decided to buy it because of Mathas?

Does a Horse count as a vehicle?  If so a horse!