The multiplayer is severely broken. Like, really, really broken. With that being said, I understand that I purchased this game with Early Access via Steam and willingly took on the responsibility. However, I don't think the focus should be on adding cars and the such when the MP side of things are so broken that it might ruin the potential of it ever being what it could be down the road. I might have to stop playing all together because it's that bad. With that being said - it has a lot of potential, but some things I thought of, in my opinion, my plant some seeds - who knows. If you are already working on some of these things, great! If not, then I worry a bit.
I understand that this was a SP game first and foremost, therefore if the focus isn't going to be on multiplayer in fixing these huge problems within the next few months, then I'd say remove the MP until it can be better focused on altogether because the single player is great!
This is from two weeks and almost 100 hours of playing Project Zomboid Multiplayer. (I played the single player like it was going out of style from 2013 and up and love the idea of the multiplayer)
1. Server Side Saving
This would fix so many problems it's not even funny. People can easily manipulate the saves therefore, everyday on the server I'm on we're hit by more hackers than actually DDOSing now because people just load their save right back in once they die, or they edit the save file since it's saved on the computer in an easy-to-find location. It doesn't quite make much sense. This would prevent the easy editing and at least make it much, much harder to change things in-game. The server I'm on even checks files for its size to see if its been modified and still to no anvil.
2. Server optimization
The netcode could be optimized a lot better than it is, but I'm sure this is already being worked on.
3. Zombie spawn behavior
The spawn system for the zombies are a little weird, I think from experience the game checks to see if there isn't anyone in the area and if it isn't then it'll spawn zombies, so the end result is that you have zombies in places nobody will ever visit/or visit often and most of the zombies in the city killed off. Shouldn't it be something along the lines of % based + the activity in the area? I.E. if there's more activity in the city than the highway, then focus on spawning zombies around that area instead of the house by the lake which no one goes to and it ends up lagging the server because of all these zombies. (One time it was so many zombies, they all would lag off my screen when shot, then reappear out of no where and some wouldn't die, but they couldn't do damage to you when I had 67-92 ping)
4. Balance the weapons
The weapons are extremely unbalanced in the multiplayer side of things. I'm not exactly sure how the weapons act besides from experience, reading the wiki, and hearing from others but it seems its just single player weapons for multiplayer.
5. Respawn times
I had food from the night before, I logged back on the server and one second later it's rotten.. What? I just made it. It shouldn't go by the timer of the server if it's in your bag, each item should just have it's own timer, global protocols don't work for everything.
6. Multiplayer should only allow one file save.
I've noticed that people are modifying saves so they can get resources way faster by just making multiple accounts all hacked to max level in different areas gathering different things. Not sure if that's an issue, but - it's happening. I think one save is good enough since it's a hardcore game first off and secondly, it'll probably be a lot more manageable for the server, the dev and the end user.
7. Fires can start but can't be put out without an admin?
Fires should be able to be put out with dropping water on the ground at least. Or a fire extinguisher that's located in most stores. What happens is if an admin isn't on, people start fires online and it lags the entire server badly. It's like if one person is lagging, everyone is gonna lag - regardless if they aren't even by the fire itself, they will feel the lag as if they were nearby it for whatever reason.
Misc. things
Logged in but I'm not logged in.. How does that happen? It should be a checker to see if they haven't moved/said anything/no interaction with anything then they should be kicked after a certain time for inactivity instead of being denied service. Even after kicking the "ghost" of my friend dark nano, he was still unable to come on because it said he was still on the server.
I think if you have a backpack on you, you shouldn't need to drag items to your main inventory, the game should just know what items you have and either just do it automatically or just treat it like an extension of the player, which it is, and cut out the dragging of items so much.
These are a few of my ideas, regardless of them all I hope that Project Zomboid thrives to become something amazing as it's one of the best Early Access games I've gotten to read about, see videos of, and play myself for me to see that this is a game with a great community and even amazing devs with passion. I just really want the multiplayer to thrive because I believe people come for the single player, and stay for the multiplayer.
I'll make another one of these if more ideas come into my head.
If you don't enjoy Multiplayer at the Moment. Dont play it and stick to SP.
The Multiplayer has added a great deal of income for the PZ team, and they have been able to hire some extra people to speed things up.
Not only that, with Multiplayer being there, it helps the PZ team work out what needs balancing and what needs fixing due to the amount of players posting suggestions and bugs.
The game is still being developed. So you should expect the Multiplayer to not be working perfectly.
Removing Multiplayer will only damage the Dev's profits, and ability to create a working Multiplayer.
Alternatively, limit yourself to private servers with your friends. You should find the experience more consistent than public servers.
No point in asking for a drastic measure, such as removing multiplayer, though. That's just shooting this thread in the . . . do threads have feet?
Me and my mate are going to recreate the last two episodes with the big zombie war on the base, then I'll just continue Terrys story on another Server.
Bean bros if you're watching this, IM me and ill tell you my server so i can film some of your stuff.
Dr Webb please do the same as you... well you remember what goes down in Volume 5 lol
No I just need someone to take Rob Wallaces role as he was still around.
They should just add a fire extinguisher, or let you equip a item with water in it and press "E" to throw it one tile or and AoE effect in the direction your facing, or click like they do with the sledgehammer.
It's certainly the most polished ones I've seen, and I've been watching it since 2013 and decided to wait and got it two weeks ago. And boy, was it worth the wait. Beautiful, engaging, immersive, and deadly game in the works here.
Hey all I've been recording my online play, the characters I meet. The stories that unfold within the RP. Sorry about the rough editing and voice overs. hopefully you enjoy.
Volume 1. 12 hours after the outbreak the ever-growing epidemic spreads throughout Westpoint and beyond. The situation is getting worse as the recently deceased are returning to life. A few weeks into the outbreak The Mayor of WestPoint and he's bodyguard Terry find refuge in Bedford with a small group and begin trying to survive.
Volume 2. The Mayor is gone but the group continues to go on. Bryce and Rob Wallace have taken over leading the group and are using the Mayors idea with being walls around their homes. They built a safe paradise around a small empty neighborhood in Westpoint. The only danger they meet now is on food runs, but that's about to change as one of the new survivors is not what he seems. This Volume also shows the conclusion to Dr Webb continued experiments on his family.
Volume 3 Still safe in the Paradise things take a turn for the worst. A group member is murdered and then the assailant declares an all out war on Bryce and Terrys home bringing with him a army of the Walking Dead. This volume was a game changer featuring many lost characters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_407of---Lk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1EO_nBVc3c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQfZgoB4LfA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e26onO6AlRI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KczC8ZZjo8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ziXpzFE-0M
Volume 4 With Paradise lost, Terry and River find refuge near Westpoint. The zombie have now taken over most of the entire world. Terry and River look back on their past, on the future and wonder if there are any other humans still alive...
RichCoconut got a reaction from eaglescout666 in Multiplayer is critically broken.
RichCoconut reacted to SuperJack in Multiplayer is critically broken.
RichCoconut got a reaction from CaptKaspar in Project Zomboid is a shining example of early access done right
RichCoconut got a reaction from VnHoangAnh in Vietnamese Translation
RichCoconut got a reaction from Rathlord in Super Easy OS X Server Hosting