mieksta

After building a fortress, burning half of the map, making a plantation of carrots on every roof of the town the player may want something strange for entertainment and some purpose to go on surviving.
Since we have no goal other than to survive - no dragon to kill - lets add some ingame challenges, to improve gameplay (mostly singleplayer) and to add some more "soul" to PZ. 
 
1) Collecting - as Scyoni mentioned in dannyisdude's literature suggestion - collecting books; or toys - like 10 different Spiffo figurines; food - some rare sort of soda, like nuka-cola in FO; some furniture or decorative stuff like garden gnomes. This could inspire travelling in singleplayer, exchange and some friendly competition in multiplayer. For now we have light bulbs and skillbooks, but this is not that much of interesting collection.

 
 
 
2) Making some complicated structure or mechanism. No cars - thats a pity, gathering details (and even smithing some of them) and fixing an old car could become a goal for a surviver.  Maybe starting a lumbermill in McCoy's Logging plant or fixing and starting some huge generator.

 
 
 
 
 
3) Achievements - hated by many - to inspire some feats like entering the westpoint mall, clearing the mall; surviving for a month, surviving for a year,; killing 100 Zs, killing 1000 Z's and others. Each "achievement" can rise stats or grant some trait (like the one, that nullifies panic), but the main purpose is to sign player's progress (on the way to this is how you died, kek). This also can be a measuring instrument for game balance and overall difficulty.
 

I wouldn't even bother, zombies are already lvl 100 diers. You'll never catch up.

Hey all, let’s get down to Mondoidin’
IWBUMS 35
The public IWBUMS beta test for the first Build 35 features remains going, with RJ pushingversions 35.4 to 35.6 over the past week. We’ve forced the nutrition system to ‘on’ and also upped the rate of sleep disturbances for extra feedback, in amongst the fixes and smoothening. There are also new skill books, metalwork recipes, sounds and an experimental link-up between carrying a watch and the UI digital clock.
RJ will still be adding to the build and balancing away (the various different wall strengths need some attention) but will also be turning his attention, alongside Writer Will, to add a Rimworld-style ‘Show info’ option (as suggested in this forum thread) for useful in-game objects so that new and existing players can be sure they’re aware of all relevant actions open to them, and the dangers associated.
ANIMS UPDATE
Progress has been good on the animation system front, but super-irritatingly the lady survivors and lady zed meshes and clothing that were exported and deposited in the central development strongbox have snagged an issue – and will likely need a re-export to ensure they don’t look like nightmare fuel.
This isn’t a blocker to getting it all sorted, we’ll still be working on other necessary parts of the anims system, but it’ll likely be a massive ballache for poor old Martin the Animator to go through it all manually re-exporting it all. Sorry Martin, but your pain is for a greater good. :’(
MAP UPDATE
Mash continues with her work on the new residential area that’ll be found to the South of Muldraugh. When pressured for something visual to entice survivors she proffered this image of a local community centre, where you can see the upper floor of a library with study rooms, a gym, kiddie area and whatnot.

TURBO STUFF
Turbo is ticking stuff off his entertainment/boredom system ‘to do’ list, and has decided to use the opportunity to bring in a long-term computer-y side project into the game alongside the video-tapes, books and CDs you’ll use to entertain yourself in long-term lonesome situations. He’s also got community translations running through the radio/TV system, which will be available as selectable toggles in the options UI alongside credits to the relevant translation teams.

Thanks all, we should have a more exciting blog for y’all next week. Have a good one.
This week’s featured image by Akhil of House Gabe. The Centralized Block of Italicised Text would like to direct your attention to the PZ Wiki should you feel like editing or amending something, and the PZ Mailing List that can send blogs like this and patch notes direct to your mailbox. We also live on Twitter right here! Thx all.

The title of this really caught my attention. Phrasing bro. Phrasing.

Genesis
Some of you may have seen my Perma Base design "artwork" on steam, video is pending on me moving my rain barrels because I've chosen to downsize my crop size (way too much before).  Problem is I can't pick them up before I empty them of water. There were 16 "large collector".
 
How it work now
Right now you can only fill containers and pour them on the ground.  Turns out I need 13 bucket to empty a single barrel (the 13th one is not full).  Added time of filling them up add up quickly even if I speed time on each "fill bucket".  As stated before, it can't be picked up while there are water in it because it's treated as inventory.  You also need to wait for a moment where it's not raining (and on very rainy setting... that may take some time).
 
Suggestion
The simplest and best way to deal with this issue would be to have a "pour on the ground" option for rain barrels, like any other water container.  It's not that far fetched that you can tip the barrel over (but then it's not logical to need hammer + carpentry to move them in the first place...).
 
Another alternative is that when you try to move the barrel it automatically drop it's water content.  This would not be my best way to go about it, because some may complain they lost valuable water by not knowing the risk beforehand. Thus forcing to drain it first remain a good idea in my book, but it should be quick so that you can easily redo a base layout without spending tens of minutes filling buckets and pouring them on the ground.
 
Pretty please
I know this may not be a priority compared to other features (yes, including THAT feature).  But I think it's an easy enough function to add that won't clutter the UI too much and allow a much better use of the "movable furniture" feature for rain barrels.  Compared to them, any other container have not this issue as you could just transfer the inventory to the ground below you (or bags, wichever) rather quickly.

It's not so much just the act of smelting metal into other items we had concens about, but the recipes themselves that were in the system. For example making spoons, baking trays and the like. The idea being someone would be sat smelting 100s of spoons to level up their metalworking would lead to some odd rather non Walking Dead style moments.
 
Smelting will go back in in some form I'm sure, but only once it's behind the correct amount of skill / recipe locking and progression, that all the recipes are those that will be the sort of metal objects that would have a purpose to be built in a zombie apocalypse, and to make sure that the system felt realistic enough for PZ and not like a 'craft-em-up' kind of game like Minecraft where every item is craftable since its impossible to scavenge a lot of the items in the world. Regardless of whether the stuff is possible and realistic, which RJ says it is since he's put a lot of research into it, it's the 'if there was a scene on the Walking Dead where a character was.... would it seem weird' factor that guides us a lot. Fact is though a lot of the metal objects you would expect to be able to smelt easily in a post apocalypse would also be items you'd expect to find plenty of in most houses.
 
As EG says though making your own bullets, or say bolts should we add in crossbows in future, or nails, or other consumables are a dead cert. Just at least for the short term we feel there's extra work required on the smelting to make it fit within our game, we've been going around in circles with it and dragging poor RJ hither and dither and figured the best thing for now would be to get the welding aspects out there, maybe have a break to let us think on stuff and have another bash in a while.

Melting tin, copper, aluminium, making bronze (tin+copper) - I'm ok with that because it's relatively easy, but I doubt we will go so deep into details of metallurgy (which is fine).
 
Building a stone furnace - there is no logical explanation why would anybody want to drag tonnes of stones (and look for them!) and plaster them together. And I'm completely omitting the fact that not every kind of stone will work for that. Some kinds of stones explode and crack when heated. And the heat required to melt steel is very high and rather hard to achieve in a backyard. BUT if we are going that alley (please, no), why not build a furnace out of bricks? Houses are made of bricks, there are pallets full of bricks on construction sites. Bricks are uniform in shape and heat resistant. Making items out of scrap (knives, nails, arrowheads) is fine, but iron/steel ingots? There is no explanation why would anyone want to melt steel into ingot (the amount of energy needed to do just that!) and then make an item out of it (melting the ingot again?).
 
And bellows? Please...  There are leaf blowers for that, there are hair dryers, there are industrial fans with metal blades... There will be cars and vehicles and each of them has a fan next to radiator... Connect any of that via metal pipe to the furnace and that's it, you've got your forced airflow going. There are many possibilities that fit the world of PZ better than medieval furnace and bellows.
 
Making charcoal is wrong as well. Nothing has changed since the first reveal of metalworking. What it's shown is burning wood in a barrel. You'd get ash and wooden remains that didn't burn entirely. Barrel should be closed and put on a campfire to get charcoal. It's really just a change in art that is needed.
 
 

So I have seen much talk about metalworking and stone furnaces and this idea that a furnace made from stone would be "minecrafty". I completely fail to understand this position, could someone please explain how stone furnaces that humans have utilized for at least a few thousand years for heating and reshaping or forge welding metals is inspired by minecraft?? A quick google search for medieval forge will give thousands of images and diagrams of real working stone furnaces and forges. A stone furnace burning coal, with a bellows for increasing air, and a big enough fuel supply and you can heat steel well enough to hammer it however you like. Its also a great way to fuse metal, say for pre-fabricating wall pieces, or using small scrap to create a larger item. It just takes lots of heat, time, and hammering. This is called fuse welding and was used for many centuries. Not the most modern technique, but perfectly realistic in a post-apocalypse given enough time, manpower, and resources.
 
Also, a little clarification, I've seen folks say you can't smelt metal with a furnace. You're absolutely correct, you smelt with a smelter. Smelting is the process of refining an ore (what you dig out of the ground) into a base metal. Unless at some point TIS said they will be adding mining and i missed it, you will not be smelting ANYTHING. 
 
No, you cant completely metal steel and form steel bricks from it in a furnace, that takes modern foundry equipment, which you wont have unless you have a power plant. Why would you need to when you have a furnace/forge to work or shape the metal you scavenge however you like. 
 
Not only would a stone furnace or forge work, but I have seen DIY forges that worked great built from salvaged stainless steel sinks, furnace duct, and some random parts from the hardware store (published in popular mechanics actually). This would make a much less resource intensive alternative to the more versatile stone option. It would be great for a bullet forging station, or for repairs, not so much for fabrication (wall pieces, new tools from scrap).
 
Now to be clear, building a forge, keeping a fire fueled, getting it stoked to a high enough temperature and keeping it there, and actually heating and hammering and heating and hammering and heating and hammering... It takes a LOT of time, but so do so many other things in zomboid. Furnaces and forges a great idea and a great fit for the game, its just unfortunate that a lot of peoples idea of what a furnace is comes from their experience of minecraft, not any idea of how they actually work or are used, or how that could be implemented to improve the game.

hype
 

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Young zombie Christian Assocation?

10 months after the end of civilisation and sandwiches are back on the menu at my safehouse. Thanks! 

It's the military and they are very interested in observing any survivors for some reason

I always figured it was a news copter from outside the quarantine zone, they wouldn't care about you getting swarmed and eaten as long as they get good footage.

My English is bad, so I imagine this:

It's full of logic because it can fly in a circle.
 

I looked at the list and saw that armor was in the maybe category, but here's my idea for it:
   I think that all clothes should provide some sort of protection against scratches and bites. I also think coats should be added for the winter months. I think adding sports gear(Football, hockey, or lacrosse pads) that functioned as armor would be realistic and make the game more fun. I also think there should be some improvised armor options as well such as some sort of layered cloth or leather armor. Bullet proof vests should be added in places like the police station and bank once NPCs are added.
   
     Another thing that I think would make sense in the game is clothing decay. Currently all you need is one pair of clothes and you're fine. Clothes don't have much value. It would be cool if zombies damaged your clothing when they grabbed you. It would also be cool if you had to wash all the blood and gore off of your clothes(it'd give bleach some value). There could be a penalty such as NPCs being uncomfortable around you and increased chance of infection when wearing blood-soaked clothing.
 
Windows:
   There should be an option to clear the glass from a busted window. Maybe it takes about 10 minutes so you can't do it while you're running from a group of zombies.
It'd also be nice if at a certain you could take windows out of a wall and use them for your base.
Skills:
     Once NPCs come out, it'd make sense to add some social skills such as bartering, intimidation, and persuasion. A higher bartering level would make you get better deals, while a high intimidation level would allow you to shake down a survivor or tough talk group of raiders out of robbing you. Higher Persuasion would allow you to talk NPCs into joining you more easily.
 
Hygiene:
   There's soap, toothepaste, and bleach in the game. Currently they just take up space. It would be realistic if you had to clean yourself and your clothes and your base. There could be a negative moodle for living in filth that mad you more prone to sickness and lowered your mood. The positive moodle for cleaning yourself off could make your mood higher. There could also be a trait that makes the character not give a fuck how dirty anything is and a clean freak trait that makes the character panic when dirty or in a messy area for a long period of time.
Uses for bleach: Cleaning clothes, Cleaning up blood spatter, tastes like rootbeer
Uses for soap: Clean your body, Clean up blood spatter
 
Unarmed skill:
   This one's a long shot. It's be pretty badass a more indepth unarmed combat system was added. The ability to punch, kick, and grapple, would be awesome.
   
More Ranged options:
    Currently all the ranged weapons are loud guns. The list said that bows would be added which is great, but I also think the ability to throw rocks and other items would be cool. Also adding things like a sling or slingshot and throwing spears would be pretty awesome.
 
That's all I can think of at the moment. Sorry if any of this stuff has been said before.

I looked at the list and saw that armor was in the maybe category, but here's my idea for it:
   I think that all clothes should provide some sort of protection against scratches and bites. I also think coats should be added for the winter months. I think adding sports gear(Football, hockey, or lacrosse pads) that functioned as armor would be realistic and make the game more fun. I also think there should be some improvised armor options as well such as some sort of layered cloth or leather armor. Bullet proof vests should be added in places like the police station and bank once NPCs are added.
   
     Another thing that I think would make sense in the game is clothing decay. Currently all you need is one pair of clothes and you're fine. Clothes don't have much value. It would be cool if zombies damaged your clothing when they grabbed you. It would also be cool if you had to wash all the blood and gore off of your clothes(it'd give bleach some value). There could be a penalty such as NPCs being uncomfortable around you and increased chance of infection when wearing blood-soaked clothing.
 
Windows:
   There should be an option to clear the glass from a busted window. Maybe it takes about 10 minutes so you can't do it while you're running from a group of zombies.
It'd also be nice if at a certain you could take windows out of a wall and use them for your base.
Skills:
     Once NPCs come out, it'd make sense to add some social skills such as bartering, intimidation, and persuasion. A higher bartering level would make you get better deals, while a high intimidation level would allow you to shake down a survivor or tough talk group of raiders out of robbing you. Higher Persuasion would allow you to talk NPCs into joining you more easily.
 
Hygiene:
   There's soap, toothepaste, and bleach in the game. Currently they just take up space. It would be realistic if you had to clean yourself and your clothes and your base. There could be a negative moodle for living in filth that mad you more prone to sickness and lowered your mood. The positive moodle for cleaning yourself off could make your mood higher. There could also be a trait that makes the character not give a fuck how dirty anything is and a clean freak trait that makes the character panic when dirty or in a messy area for a long period of time.
Uses for bleach: Cleaning clothes, Cleaning up blood spatter, tastes like rootbeer
Uses for soap: Clean your body, Clean up blood spatter
 
Unarmed skill:
   This one's a long shot. It's be pretty badass a more indepth unarmed combat system was added. The ability to punch, kick, and grapple, would be awesome.
   
More Ranged options:
    Currently all the ranged weapons are loud guns. The list said that bows would be added which is great, but I also think the ability to throw rocks and other items would be cool. Also adding things like a sling or slingshot and throwing spears would be pretty awesome.
 
That's all I can think of at the moment. Sorry if any of this stuff has been said before.

I would be down for some PZ themed hoodies to support the game more.

Donate to the nasKo Foundation today! For nasKos in need of more golden helicopters

I bought this game for 15-20 euro 2 years back I think, and spent now 255 hours in this game, and after the updates on the new resolution and animation it confirmed my feelings about this game: I am starting to feel like a leecher.
The amount of money I paid is in no way enough to compensate for so many hours of great fun - and now you are telling me that the game is becoming even better?
 
It is weird to hope for - but I hope to someday in the future they will have like a paid supporter pack, where for example you could choose the name of an NPC in the game - I would do it in a heartbeat - I cannot think of a development team more worthy of the support.

And the average joe is quite gone as we have specific profession now, such as the electrician or engineer capable of doing bombs and explosives
 
It's not any character who'll be able to forge, you'll need to have the trait or profession, and if not, find a mighty books about blacksmith and hope it's the one that teach you what you need (there's several new recipes, you could have a book on how to forge metal knives but not how to build a stone furnace to melt metal!)
 
Metal walls are planned yeah, like the one you see in Alexendira in TWD (in less tall version :D), fences too, metal gates are a good ideas along with the others things you suggested
 
If you think about other suggestion go for it, I'll try to read this thread as soon as I can to gather some cool ideas
 
Reinforce doors/windows is already possible with those metal barricade I tweeted, tho metal sheet to barricade require lot of blacksmith skills! Beginner items are more screws, nails, paperclip, spoon, fork, etc...
High-end blacksmith could forge bullets tho... (but be carefull to gather this quite rare gunpowder!).
 
Oh also, putting petrol in the metal drums looks like a really good idea! Gonna do that tomorrow
Metal drum are here to act as a rain collector barrel (but a big one) and you can also do charcoal in them (with logs, it require lot of time/ressources tho), because the stone furnace need to be run on coal and not logs (to provides more heat)

the barrel and forge look kinda out of place if im being honest. But if I can craft a sword I don't care what it looks like.

Haha yep. I'm a gun lover and proud of it. What  led me into it was my interests in history, particularly military history. Started collecting World War rifles. Mosin nagants, Mauser K98K, Vz24, Enfield, Springfield, M1 Garand, Arisaka, SKS, etc. My M44 nagant had kill marks etched into it, 1944 production so it likely saw use at Seelow heights or Berlin. Target shooting and firearm collecting is a great past time that I heartily recommend every American try out responsibly. Go to the range with a gun buddy and learn about firearms, take a course in safety and use. Try out target shooting and work up to skeet and competitive shooting. Enjoy the past time that is a right and responsibility! Oh, and don't buy into media hype on gun violence in the U.S. It's down 40% in 20 years, and rifles of all types (full auto, semi auto, bolt action, pump action, lever action, etc) account for 6% of all gun deaths. 

The US has 50% of the world's guns? Glad I live on the side that has the guns!

Well if you're looking for challenge in the post zombie-apocalypse world, try Singapore. Per square mile, they would have about 20,000 zombies and less than 100 guns. You would be so buff from killing all those zombies with a baseball bat.