hrot

Height should increase the distance you can see.  This would make watchtowers practical to build, and to allow you to check out an area with more efficiency.  
There could also be a trait where you get dizzy or nauseous from being outside up high.

I think it would be only good if there was 2 option:
 
1. Young 20+
 
2. Old    60+
 
If you pick old you get more knowledge ( more points to spend to when creating character) at cost of fitness, stamina, slower healing etc.
So you get cheaper traits like first aid, farming, foraging, fishing, carpentry but traits like fitness, stout, athletic cost you more.
If you pick young option then it would be without changes.

I still have a strong feeling that in the end some scripting may be necessary. 
 
But ideally, it whould be an organic system. What you do should affect the visibility of your camp. If I've spent three hours chopping trees, I would expect to draw some attention to my area. If I'm shooting near my safe-house, or making a campfire, or barricading, or... you get the point. Also, something that has been mentioned a gazillion times, is the "follow the leader" effect that is mentioned in WWZ and TWD for example: it would be great if zombies would keep on going and following other moving zombies, creating a chain effect that could "lead them" to your base.

NPCs and vehicles. I hope NPCs will not be just "survival robot 2000" but it will be more like in reality.

I agree. It's not so realistic now and it's very easy to make your own base from zero.
I even make a thread about log walls http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/13427-log-walls-realism/ that they should require some digging first.
In real zombie apocalypse scenario people would just barricade houses / buildings not build their own wooden castle from 0 so easily.

One of the most common early adhesives developed by human society is "animal glue"--essentially, a glue formed by repeatedly boiling animal connective tissue (joint tissue, skin, teeth, bones, cartilage, etc) until it forms into a sticky morass usable as a glue. Animal glue was typically a little unstable, requiring heat to remain liquid, and susceptible to spoilage. However, it works effectively as a wood bonding agent, and a coating of wood glue effectively water-seals wooden objects treated with it.
 
As a result, animal glue is a great solution for any would-be survivalist who needs to be able to put things (such as axes) back together. It can also be used to water-seal boats (potentially), to seal liquid containers made from wood, to post signs or crayon drawings onto walls, or as a very short-term glue trap for unsuspecting zombies.
 
Animal glue would be a very much "late tier" craftable item, and depends on three components: lime (produced by burning or grinding animal bones), water, and animal hide. These three components would have to be mixed, so that the animal hide in question soaks for at least 24 hours in a lime-water mixture. The result could then be placed on a heat source and boiled for a long period of time (3-5 times as long as cooking normally takes, at least). It should be possible to use a standard pot on this, but a special piece of equipment could also be used.
 A more complicated version could use vinegar as an additional component, used to wash the lime-water off of the hide before boiling the hide in fresh water. This might also involve shaving and cleaning the hide beforehand, perhaps using scissors or a kitchen knife. Once the glue is made, it has to be used before it cools completely, and within a month of making it. Continuous heating prevents the glue from solidifying, but may not prevent spoilage (which can be a percentage chance or a guarantee). This could mean a "hot plate" requiring electricity, or a fire with a continuous supply of fuel. Both of these are potentially very expensive and/or hard to acquire. The glue itself best functions as a "wood glue substitute"; it is less efficient and produces a weaker bond than modern polymer glues. As such, it could serve as a wood glue that repairs less than wood glue in game, and maybe isn't as efficient in other carpentry uses. This would mean more room for glue within other carpentry mechanics--carpentry could even be changed to require wood or animal glue for all attempts at repairing wooden walls. This is a late-tier production primarily because of the heat requirements and the lime; the trapping and hunting requirements can be met fairly early on, depending on your success with trapping. With dedicated effort (or luck), a group of survivors could produce a batch of glue before they have the means to preserve it; this is beneficial, as it lets a group "catch up" if they suffer from Sudden Axe Breakage or Insufficient Logs Syndrome. The lime and animal hide components are useful in several other areas (tanning, farming [as a fertilizer addition], etc), so adding these could also add options for other craftable creations.

At least!
Some logical suggestion to safehouses&hordes of zombies.
I like it, sound should draw more attention.
You didn't mention chopping trees but it's very loud sound so it could draw some attention.

If this gains enough steam, I may end up making a mod for this myself.
 
Seeing how hair is easily implemented under the 3D model "HeadNub" structure using the "Head" bone, It wouldn't take much to implement a hat system. 
 

 
It would really diversify the zombies AND the players, and role-playing would be interesting. 
 

(From D1rtbag's topic) http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/13758-3d-models-for-futur-mods/

They're Crawling Out! PZ Mod v 0.1
 
Killed all zombies in the area? 
Happy with your impenetrable fortress? 
Bored with living in a backwater all your life, cultivating carrots and daisies?
(grim laughter)
The forces of darkness have risen coprses lying for many years below ground.
The dead and buried come to life.
They are emerging from under the ground, crawling out, searching for the only survivor, smelling fresh meat!
The deeper their grave is, the longer their way out from down below, and the stronger they are.
 
-------------------------
 
Well, enough pathetics
 
The purpose of this mod is to vary the late game a bit. After some days of gameplay (their number can be modified in settings) new zombies start to appear not far from the player. Because they can't appear out of nowhere, I've decided that they should appear from under the ground, cause it's the only place (in theory) where corpses can be found after you cleared the area (yeah, I know, it's dragged in by the head and shoulders, but .. why not?). So be careful, they can appear inside your fortress. Anyway, they can't break through house floor or asphalt road. If there's much asphalt/floor/water in the area, it would be unlikely for a zombie to find the way out. The plants also stay intact (because the soil was digged up already and no corpses were found).
The time between zombie appearances can be modified in mod settings. New zombies walk towards player position. 
As time goes by, new zombies become more tough (this can also be turned on/off in settings).
 
A little bonus: as the groung becomes digged up while zombie is crawling out, sometimes a worm or two can be found near..
 
 
Installation:
Unpack into \Users\<Username>\Zomboid\mods\
 
Settings:
Mod settings are kept in file "settings.ini" in mod folder. 
 
Notes:
As it's my first mod and I spent only a couple of days making it, it's a bit ugly and must have some bugs. So be careful with your long-played-games. Anyway, it works for me.
As i play only single player, I have no idea how it'll work in MP.
As I'm using VirtualZombieManager, the zeds are not permanent. If someone could help me making them permanent on the map and/or modifying their stats (except health), that would be very much appreciated
 
Download:
Latest version v0.3 is here.
 
Thanks:
To all modders & devs, I learned a lot from their source code

Wow such "free points" bashing 
I disagrea a bit with what have been said so here is my point.
 
Let me remind you that all of those "free points" skills always add a counter balance :
 
1 - "Slow" traits : 
More time spent reading skills books = character faster bored = unhapiness Waiting =/= Playing ... So slow reader is a real "IRL bored" skill in MP Same thing, less time spent reading = less newspapers consumed / less time spent waiting instead of playing Have you fell of a construction with that skill ? Let me tell you that even in SP it's painfully long to recover from it x) Bleeding wound takes more time and a lot more disinfectant to get cured, so possible "death by infection trait" in late game Same thing for fast healing, less disinfectant used is a huge deal, considering that it's an item you can't create I don't think it's pointless It takes FOOD to recover from inguries, the longer you have them, the more you drain your stock  
 
2 - "Needs" traits : 
About the thirst, not everybody is playing in westpoint, in murglauh 8+ month run, High Thirst is a death trait Even in West point it's a painfull trait, you spend twice more time going to fill your cooking pots, cuttings logs, starting a fire... Urgh... Oh god Hearthy Appetite is so NOT a free points skills, once again guys, when you get to late game, even after your first winter, these kinds of skills are the one that kills you... And foraging is not always the solution : waiiiiting... in MP / not everybody plays a foraging character + now that it has been nerfed it takes a day to find 20 berries to a character with foraging at level 6, considering you need to eat at least 10 of these berries per day... It's not that OP, but I agree with you, berries should'nt show up before the level 2 of foraging.  
 
3 - "Stomach" traits : 
 
Not a 100% sure of what I say but here is what I have understand about food poisoning
About Iron gut, not everybody "turn the food respawn on" I mean, it's kinda like cheating for me, we have to consider that the game is more about surviving and that most of the players plays without respawn, this trait definetly allows you to survive longer (but it's not a very usefull trait in early game). About food poisoning, I heard that every rotten / poisonous (bleach / berries) have a poison value (the poison value of the white berries is 2) having a better resistance to food poisoning might save you if you drink a bowl of poisoned soup or may allow you to survive after eating rotten/uncooked food on the other hand weak stomach FORCE you to eat perfectly healthy food and its fine in early game when you have full fridges and canned food everywhere but could starve you later...  
 
4 - Definetly agree : 
 
Voilà ! I just wanted to show that not everybody think that a lot of skills are free points when they are more late game skills, sure taking them won't impact at all your first month surviving, but when you get you survive serveral month, these free points sometimes became the reason you die : exausted because of the lack of water, unable to knockback a zomby because you are hungry, dead because you had to eat a little bit of rotten food to survive or because your wound got infected and you had no disinfectant left. 

I agree. It's not so realistic now and it's very easy to make your own base from zero.
I even make a thread about log walls http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/13427-log-walls-realism/ that they should require some digging first.
In real zombie apocalypse scenario people would just barricade houses / buildings not build their own wooden castle from 0 so easily.

NPCs and vehicles. I hope NPCs will not be just "survival robot 2000" but it will be more like in reality.

I agree. It's not so realistic now and it's very easy to make your own base from zero.
I even make a thread about log walls http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/13427-log-walls-realism/ that they should require some digging first.
In real zombie apocalypse scenario people would just barricade houses / buildings not build their own wooden castle from 0 so easily.

I have been doing a little testing as an invisible admin on how sound ques currently work. Here's a run through of what I would suggest would work better to make the gameplay more interesting, realistic etc. This is of course all stuff that isn't a priority over bigger stuff, but some things are an issue and changing them would improve current gameplay. I would maybe put these changes to effect after the stealth overhaul to create balance for that and emphasize it's meaning.
 
[note] When I'm talking about something making a sound, I mean in game as in zombies reacting to it.
 
1. First the most obvious to me. Windows breaking. They don't make nearly enough noise to attract zombies. Not when broken by player and not when broken by another zombie. Here are a few pictures to demonstrate.
 
In these first two pictures a zombie is banging the window and breaks it. Behind me is a horde of roughly 30 zombies that I spawned. The main issue here is, even with the tightest zoom, where zombies naturally hear foot steps and some zombies would even react to sneaking, only 7 zombies hear the window breaking. If I'd ran past that window or inside that building, the whole pack would have definitely noticed me. Mainly I think that windows should make even more noise than running. It only makes sense to me. In the second 2 pictures I've broken the window at the end of the building. Only the zombies that were already next to the window noticed it breaking.
2. Issue number two (admittedly smaller) is that none of the zombies hear the window being banged on. Compared to them being able to hear sneaking, i'd say it's off balance.
 
I also tested hitting thin air and it made more sound than the window breaking or the zombie banging on the window.
 
3. Third is the fact that they don't react to each other. when a crowd of 7 zombies move to a window they don't raise the suspision of any other of the zombies. this is the same case as when a small pack notices the players, they don't draw any others. However imo this point is up to debate wether it should or shouldn't be that way. I think that as they are making an actual noise when they attack the player, that should at least draw some zombies. Even a small domino effect when they notice you would be nice.
 
4. Shouting is too quiet in my opinion. It is comparable to the sound made by hitting a zombie (see picture above).
 
Here are the comparison pics from shouting. You can notice that the whole group moves with the exeption of the two zombies in the top. That's roughly the same amount as hitting a zombie. Imo, it should be louder. You could even add a "psst..." whispering shout when you're sneaking to balance it out.
 
5. Forcing windows open makes very very little noise (1 zombie in a pack, literally around a window, reacted) and failing at it doesn't nearly account to the sound that it makes in my headphones. This is similar to no.2 but it does make the game less exciting and it's a feature that I've always thought that should be in. Again, walking/sneaking makes more noise than forcing windows or failing at it.
 
6. The horde forming noises. This, while a great improvement to zombie behaviour, it caused a real issue when testing with sounds. The fact that when a zombie broke a window and those 7 zombies came rushing in, they immediately changed direction after getting in and returned to the horde, without checking the building at all. This is definitely a case of zombie AI and I'd consider adding something more to that so that the zombies would actually try and search the house. I'd rather have the zombies that followed the sound que into the building make the horde forming noises as it would be with suggestion no.3.
 
Guns make enough noise imo and are working great in that regard! They could maybe cause a spawn trigger but that's another topic.
 
TL;DR:
1. Window breaking needs to be a lot louder.
2. Zombies banging on windows should make a sound.
3. Zombies could have a sound que to make them react to each other, when they're reacting to something. In other words, domino effect.
4. Shouting is too quiet. Hitting a zombie makes roughly as much noise.
5. Forcing windows and failing at it makes as much or less noise than sneaking. Should be louder.
6. Zombie AI would need a tweak to somehow fix that zombies are more interested in each other than what's probably food. (and no it shouldn't be a case of making zombies less likely to group, rather more interested in the brains)
 
Again disclaimer, these are all my observations and opinions on how I think the game should work. Agree or disagree, let me know!
 
Long post is long. Thanks for reading.

Mod files need to be in specific directories in order for them to load properly.

ModFolder - Should contain.
- mod.info
- poster.jpg (It can have any name, just include it in mod.info)
- media folder

media - That's where all the assets go, they need to be in their own folders within
- textures - sprites, tiles, item icons etc. go in there
- scripts - item and recipe code go in there
- lua - lua code goes there

lua - Lua code is devided into three categories
- client - loaded when the game is launched
- server - loaded upon loading the game
- shared - used by both client and server code

Profession code would need to be in client, it's effects in the server subfolders of lua. It's icon would need to go to textures subfolder of media.

Professions and Traits are largely hardcoded into the game, default ones cannot be easily modified, you would need to look at available javadocs for the game and figure out how the game creates them. It would likely take some understanding of java and lua.

You should check out Lockpicking mod, if I recall correctly it adds a profession and traits although I'm not sure if it's compatible with modern PZ Builds but it might give you an understanding of how to create a custom profession\traits.

Also, in the future, post questions and help requests pertaining to modding here - http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/forum/60-help/

I blame lemmy for this, he put the idea in my head
 
This is a mod adding a hotbar for quick item access to the bottom of the HUD.
You can get it in three sizes:
- Small:

- Medium:

- And large:

 
You can find the settings and a configurable button to toggle the hotbar in the options menu:

 
And attach items to the slots via the contextmenu:

 
And quick access the context menu from the hotbar with RMB:

 
And finally, download the mod here:
From the workshop: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=503645367
From github: https://github.com/blind-coder/pz-hotbar/releases/
Requires bcUtils: https://github.com/blind-coder/pz-bcUtils/releases
 
Changelog:
 
Enjoy!

I'm the only one that don't like spawning zombies with no real reason? Zombies spawning and movements should be logical.
Not just randomly spawning because i built 2 walls.

Option to toggle on/off some kind of "hot bar" would be nice.
I made a thread about changing panic system but nobody seemed interested.
You can check it out: http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/13531-change-panic-suggestion/

I think spawning in own character's house is best option because as Suomiboi said you could spawn in very very good place.
It could be a sandbox option though but when you spawn in places like hospitals etc there should be zombies all over the place so you would need to get out quickly but it would be very fun and interesting to start in those places.

Hey guys, TIC here! This is my first and official post to the forums as I am fairly new to these parts of Project Zomboid. I mainly take part on ideas for DayZ and most of them have been implemented and I feel I shall do the same to increase the fun value of the games I truly enjoy and make it enjoyable for everyone else too!
 
For it being my first post, I made sure it follows up with the criteria.
 
 
Now enough about me, let's continue onto this great project of a game.
 
 

 
This idea is mainly based in Single Player/Co-Op, possibility of expanding to multiplayer is highly recommended at the start of the server that involve NPC's.
 
Spawning in buildings based on occupation(chance based)
 
Whether your character is either at home at the time a zombie apocalypse has started or was doing their daily grind at their jobs, I believe having a chance of randomly spawning to either your workplace or your home would be great. From what I noticed, when you pick Chef, you spawn in a restaurant. 
 
Spawning at your workplace would bring the possibility of adding NPC co-workers in the future, which means either you or someone else would be the group leader and you can choose to stay, slay or leave them behind. A possibility of one of your co-workers eventually becoming insane if things go downhill. Would create some authenticity and a backstory of your character. Spawning at home would also have a chance of your loved one being at your home at the time of the apocalypse occurring as well. Would greatly add into roleplay values, uniforms according to your occupation would be required. (Except unemployed) Here are some examples of occupations would lead you to spawn to these locations.. Typically the name implies of what locations would be desired.
 
 
 
 
NPC ideas
 
 
 
Along with what I've said above about how some NPC's would eventually become insane when things start to go downhill, each NPC should have their own traits that would reflect upon them like how your own character does. All things listed is heavily based on what traits they have.
 
Most survivors at the initial apocalypse will often head to combat to fend themselves off from the zombie threat without the knowledge of how powerful zombies can be as a group so zombies roaming around the map in response to gunfire or shrieks of pain will become more an occurrence through the beginning of the apocalypse, slowly decreasing overtime.
 
Example: 60% decrease around 3 days to 1 week and slowly climbs to a decrease throughout the time as they become more aware of the situation.
 
You should be given choices on how you may converse with other survivors, something relevant to most RPG's. Example: (click here) When panicked during combat, they may retreat to go venture on their own if overwhelmed. An organized group of survivors will eventually gain the confidence to control the zombie threat. Survivors would need to require books to read to gain the knowledge to do things that are new to them that don't surround their occupation. Some survivors will prove their helpfulness or a big threat to the group entirely, depending on how they are treated. Depending on the duration of the occurrence of the zombie apocalypse, survivors will have a higher risk of dying from a zombie or new threats as they aren't accustomed to this new lifestyle of survival-ism which will mean they'll take different approaches such as becoming one of these different attitudes on means of survival: Psychopath, coward(initial apocalypse mainly), team player and such. Some survivors will remain in their homes as they believe that is the safest. Some zombies will become attracted to their presence and you could potentially save them and recruit them on your own to increase survival.  
Feel free to share your thoughts/ideas and more here! This will be modified.

NPCs and vehicles. I hope NPCs will not be just "survival robot 2000" but it will be more like in reality.

Game is still in alpha so it's easy. Many things are not added yet like vehicles, npcs etc etc. So don't complain and just wait. It's alpha not finished game.
Sewers, underground, diggind is planned.

NPCs and vehicles. I hope NPCs will not be just "survival robot 2000" but it will be more like in reality.

On the subject of panic attacks, it's important to note that as far as combat situations go, the body tends to load you up with enough adrenaline to NOT panic until AFTER the encounter. This could make for some interesting, realistic, albeit depressing and downright ugly mental breakdowns back in the safety of your base or holdover.
Addendum: I'd suggest making one of the after-effects of having a panic attack be that your character gets tired. I've always found panic attacks utterly exhausting.
Addendum to the addendum: We sure do seem to have an inordinate number of folks suffering panic attacks around these forums. Quite the jumpy bunch we are.

I like this idea. Panic/fear system should be changed. Now it doesn't do anything practically and it doesn't matter for players if character is panicked or not. So anything that make panic a real factor and something you must take in account is good.