providence1111

There is a lot I like about the book system. It makes books a valuable resource you have to search for, the drawback though is book reading is critical to skill building and it is about the most boring part of the game. I don't dislike it takes time, since time is a resource attached to zombie migration, hunger, boredom, etc. How I would change how books work would be to simply make it work similar to sleeping, just with a built in mechanic that would pull you out of the timelapse if a moodle became severe (i.e. you won't read if staving to death, very sick, having a panic attack, etc.) or a zombie was spotted or banging on your house somewhere. You could choose how long to read in hour increments and it would timelapse for you. Another angle that could add more variety to skill progression would be to have static locations contain an XP bonus. For instance, a hardware store or a rural warehouse contain a special workbench and that is the only way to get a high carpentry XP bonus, Maybe an electronics store had a maintenance bench in the back for electronics. An automotive shop for leveling mechanics, shooting range for guns, etc. etc. The idea of having these XP bonuses would be that they would be worth the time to frequently visit, but given they are static locations scattered through out each town, it would require you to traverse the town to revisit them. Also to add more complexity, you are required to supply specific materials for each skill building task, electronics parts, wood, ammo, etc. this way you are driven to gather supplies to level these skills up, another reason to explore the map and loot more.

the new build is adding agility at a key mechanic in the game, which means firing a gun or placing a radio may be difficult because you arent good at running or are clumsy when running. as a result new ways to attract zombies from a distance in a manner you can safely get away is a good thing, BUT, I think these bells would need to be in more valuable locations such as in the middle of town, having a bell town on edge of town that could attract zombies from downtown is overpowered.

I have always liked the idea of skill trees, but I don't exactly know how this directly adapts within the game in it's current state. A tree system could force players to make decisions during character progression which would end up with more specialized builds and combinations of skills and traits that would make gameplay very different between playthrus. But skill trees in regards to say, crafting, it a lot less interesting. For instance, choosing between woodworking and metalworking, or what kinds of autos you can repair doesn't necessarily make the game "more fun". In this regard the only thing that makes sense in a skill tree would be to gain specific traits\attributes at certain increments. For Instance, maybe at level 4 carpentry you can choose to either get a speed boost or a strength boost. Maybe at level 4 Aiming, you can choose to have higher accuracy at short range vs long range (sniper build vs cqc). With melee maybe you choose between knockback, strength or speed, and with blades you choose between stealth, speed or slower blade deterioration. This at the very least has the makings of producing more specialized builds over time, as long as it's well balanced and each attribute chosen makes and impact and none of them feel too overpowered.

would be pretty cool if mannequins could be used to bait zombies. maybe clothes on them is a scent that attracts them? Ways to influence the zombies other than radios and guns would be pretty cool as long as not too OP. especially with the characters agility seeming to play a much bigger role in this next build. things like pepper spray, traps, concussion grenades, tactical flashlights, bombs, tripwire, etc. etc. would be cool. I know y'all buried in animations right now, but those elements could add a lot of strategy and complexity.

I agree that the sounds are a bit over the top. the video seemed really loud (maybe intentionally so). I don't mind the variety and it is def way scarier, but I could see the atmospheric sounds getting annoying after a while. I play this game with my 13 year-old nephew and the sounds frightened him (not in a good way). Maybe some settings around this to scale the sounds back a bit?