Jatta Pake

If the surface area covered by your buckets was the same as the surface area covered by roof or tarp, then yes you would collect same amount. However, I suspect a roof/tarp funnel to container would reduce collected water surface area and temperature, thus reducing loss due to evaporation. Buckets would be more labor intensive for collecting the water as tarps and roofs would use gravitational energy to put the water were you want it, rather than lugging buckets around after a rain. Leaving the water standing and open to the elements would also be more problematic with a bunch of buckets covering your yard. Dirt, insects, bird shit would all collect quickly. Not sure that I understand the nature of the disagreement. Could you use a ton of buckets? Yes. Would you want to if better alternatives were available? No.

I guess "edge of map" is incorrect. I meant the edge of the streamed cell or whatever the current mechanism is for spawning shit. I don't think water quality should be irrelevant. Death form dehydration is a danger. And drinking bad water is a bad idea. Ideas behind the three kinds of water: Fresh - Good stuff. Stagnant - Poor quality but won't kill you. Small chance of making you sick. Probably need to resort to it from time to time. Foul - Poison. Will kill you. Don't drink. Degrading water quality over time will make the game harder as time goes on.

Enigma is spot on. A water barrel, bucket, or other container wouldn't collect much water. You need a water collection method. Personally, I'm a fan of making a Plumber skill the pre-eminent domain for water survival. My idea detailed here. Rain collection devices like roofs, tarps, etc. don't collect potable water. You can tilt your head up in rain and drink safely, but not enough to stave off dehydration. Same with clean containers like buckets and barrels. But you can't drink water that has flowed over a roof unless you like getting diseases from bird shit. True water sustainability requires purification of non-potable water. Or a clean source like a spring or well. But it's a moot point unless we get different kinds of water. Plumbers understand water pressure, piping, and mechanical pumps. Carpenters make shit out of wood. There is some overlap, but long term water sustainability requires plumbing knowledge, not Carpentry.

I've never played Co-op so I don't know what this would do to an existing save. The idea is awesome. Let's do it!!!!

I agree with you in part Ohbal. I think you are saying some core abilities need to be generally available and not strictly limited to a single specialized skill path. For example, getting water is such a critical survival aspect, Carpentry Level 2 Rain Barrels shouldn't be the only way to get water for your character. Someone should be able to have a chance at surviving without being a Carpenter or knowing a MP or NPC Carpenter. I think the solution isn't a split between general and special skills, but the ability to create "makeshift" items at the lowest skill level. These "jury rigged" solutions might buy a character time, but long term survival should require an exploitation of specialized skill sets. If you want to make it to the late game, you either befriend a Carpenter or take his stuff. Grinding should be so resource intensive or dangerous that it just isn't worth it starting at the lowest level. Having said that, I think skill sets should have overlap. Each necessity - food, water, health, shelter - should have more than one skill that can address that need. Some obviously better than others.

I agree with Rass, but I think a tradebox might end up aiding NPC interactions. I think it would be easier on the AI. It would also be a "cleaner" and more user friendly interface if you could move things in and out while negotiating. Idea: Make a table be required to use the "Tradebox" interface. Players would right-click on a table to open the tradebox. Players would drag and drop items being traded on the other's side of the table. If both players agree to finalize a trade, the stuff auto moves from their table to their inventory. If either player cancels a "Tradebox" during a trade, any items in the "Tradebox" would drop to the table. This would allow theft. Canceling could also broadcast an overhead comment/emote like "Rass Canceled the Trade" so witnesses would be able to know who was the dirty dealer. It would also make tables a useful and convenient item to craft. Without a table, players would need to use the "drop on ground" method.

Late Game I've said this before, but increasing the difficulty across the board can disproportionately make the Early Game harder but have no affect on the Late Game.* I think the Water and Power cut off provides the best model for Operation Killing You. As the game progresses, new difficulties should be introduced. Winter - No crops grow. Foraging food severally reduced. Risk of exposure/hypothermia when outside.Violent Weather - Storms could damage player made structures requiring repairs. Storms could destroy crops.Disease - The pollution from zombie corpses littering the area could increase the chances of getting sick. Sick characters could pass along illnesses.Feral Dogs - Wild dog packs should spawn from the edges of the maps.Other Animals - As nature started reclaiming man's cities, wild animal populations would explode. Bears, boars, cougars would present dangers to survivors.Mental Health - Extended periods of mental health moodles (Anxiety, Boredom, Depression, Starving, Dehydration) should build up over time. Characters should start acquiring permanent stress related mental health disorders.Water - Re-work water so there are different types: Fresh, Stagnant, and Foul. Water should go bad over time.NPC Enemies - Less friendly NPCs should spawn as time goes on. Groups of NPC enemies should spawn at the edges of the map.NPC Allies - Conflicts within player survivor groups should arise over time. Safety should breed complacency and social drama. Love triangles. Personality conflicts. Fights over leadership.Accidents - Using any skill should have a small chance of critical failure if the character is doing the skill in dangerous situations (panicked, depressed, angry, starving, dehydrated, intoxicated, drenched, freezing, too hot, sick). Anything from small cuts to sprained ankles to head injuries.Fires - Natural spontaneous combustion happens when exothermic internal reactions cause thermal runaway leading to ignition. Bacterial fermentation (rot) would be happening in all abandoned human structures especially those open to the elements from broken doors and windows. And as lightening rods fell apart, lightening would cause more structure fires.Pests - Infestations would destroy crops and food stores.Introduce these new dangers as time goes on and the Late Game will get progressively more difficult. * Your character is weaker in the Early Game than the Late Game. In the Late Game, you have more survival items and skills to cope with the challenges of the game. You also probably have less zombies. Making everything more difficult in the Early Game may result in characters not getting to the Late Game but it still leaves a "Survival Filter" that a character can pass through to reach a safer Late Game existence. Consequently, the game environment needs to become more difficult as time goes on. Survival should be a race between the character and the environment.

I thought of a few things about water. Water Changes: Add potable water to the game. Similar to food, water can be "Fresh", "Stagnant", and "Foul".Wells and houses provide "Fresh" water (until the faucets run out).Found water bottles provide "Fresh" water.Barrels, buckets, other makeshift collection devices could collect rain water. But they wouldn't collect much!Rain water would start "Fresh" but become "Stagnant" after a day or two."Stagnant" water will not kill you but has a small chance of making you sick."Stagnant" water can be made "Fresh" by:Adding BleachAdding IodineAdding Water Purification TabletsBoilingPutting water in Makeshift Filtration System (limited uses before breaking) or Advanced Filtration System (no breakage)"Stagnant" water slowly turns to "Foul" water over an extended time."Foul" water is diseased and unsafe for drinking. Drinking "Foul" water will make you extremely sick. Drinking too much will kill you."Foul" and "Stagnant" water can be used to water crops."Foul" water can be made "Fresh" by:Putting water in Advanced Filtration System (does not break down)Plumbing Skill Level 2 allows the construction of Makeshift Filtration SystemPlumbing Skill Level 3 allows the construction of Advanced Filtration SystemI'd allow the collection of water from rivers, streams, and ponds but the water should be "Stagnant". Killing You In The Late Game After about eight months into the game, all well water and faucet water collected would be "Stagnant".After about eight months into the game, all water collected from rivers, streams, and ponds would be "Foul". (You've got zombies floating around in there).Plumbing Skill Crafting Makeshift Water Filtration SystemAdvanced Water Filtration SystemCrop Irrigation SystemLarge Rain BarrelsRain Collection System (needed to maximize rain collection in Large Rain Barrels)Couplers (Needed to link Rain Barrels to other Rain Barrels, a Rain Collection System and an Advanced Filtration System)Dig Well (Level 5 Plumbing)Well Pump (Level 5 Plumbing)Latrine (reduces the effects of Miasma)Plumbing would definitely be a valued skill. Hobbyists could grind up the skill by purifying water until they can make a Makeshift Filtration System. But for a sustainable settlement, a group of survivors would want a professional plumber on the team to build the Advanced Filtration System. PvP: Wells could be poisoned (ancient military tactic) that turns all the water collected from them to "Foul".A sustainable settlement that can make "Fresh" water would be a powerful group in the late game. It would also be a big target for raiders and attackers. Sources: http://www.ehow.com/how_7516745_purify-non-potable-water.html http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Rainwater-Collection-System

It's all you Daman453. You simply install the save then go to Survival mode and select the save to play. If you are using a PC, simply copy/move the download into the following directory: C:\Users\<your name here>\Zomboid\Survival That's it! Go to Survival mode and find the save. You will be prompted to create a new character in the existing world. Don't forget to update the included text file when you are done.

Let's assume for a moment that a few features have already been added: NPC's (of all types, good and bad)NPC relationshipsNPC companionsNPC infectionNPC managementMore Baldspot and KateAbility to lock doorsMore map (suburbs of Louisville)Sneaking animationsOverhauled UIRadio/TVWhat is your top ten list of features you would like to see added next? (For a reminder, features listed as a tentative yes are listed in the Spoiler tags). You aren't limited to this list, just a reminder. These would be my top ten in descending order of preference: 10. Fire Improvement (putting out fire, random fires starting, burns, return of Molotov cocktails) 9. More dangers (accidents with tools, option for zombies to get more difficult as game progresses, miasma, dirty water, mental health issues) 8. More Mod Tools (everything we have is amazing - give us more!) 7. More crafting (more recipes, uses for concrete, makeshift zombie traps) 6. Wheelbarrows, dollies and shopping carts 5. New Skills 4. Variant Zombies 3. Barricading with and moving furniture 2. Hunting 1. Animals I didn't include "Vehicles". While I'd like to see broken down cars, trucks, and vans littering the landscape, I'm concerned working vehicles would "shrink the map" too much. I'm also worried they would look too cheesy. How would they even get down the roads without crashing into a zombie. Hitting one would total a car. I'm not sold on Vehicles at the moment.

I find this fascinating as I don't play PvP multiplayer. I imagine poisoned food comes into play too. Locked doors and crates will also obviously further transform PvP multiplayer. This might seem counter-intuitive, but I think enhanced communication might also further strengthen base security. If you can post a sign saying "Beware! This safehouse belongs to the Night Raiders. It is filled with traps, and if you attempt to break in we will hunt you down. Also, we leave nothing of value inside. Otherwise, leave us a message in the front door crate for all communications." I think your safe house faces three types of potential intruders. One is the random opportunist who wants to steal some easy loot. The second is a known enemy. The third is the random grief player who wants to just be a dick and ruin someone's safe house for lulz. You can ward off number 1 if you can communicate that you are a dangerous target. The reward just isn't worth the risk to the random opportunist. But the nature of PvP is that number 2 is part of the fun. You want to match wits against an enemy. So you don't want safe houses to be impenetrable. A clever and determined enemy should be able to succeed and vice versa. Otherwise, why play PvP? Number 3 is the biggest problem. How do you allow 2 but prevent 3? Aside from white list servers, I think the only answer is to continue to develop traps and counter measures which require an ever increasing commitment from the players to develop. Jack's defenses above utilize unpolished aspects of the game, but the theory behind it is good. You will have less grief players if they have to "grind up" skills just to be a threat. This suggests that overpowered game play tactics, like starting a safe house fire, should require more commitment (skills, items) than the counter measure (fire retardant wall coating). Insta-death is a good balance mechanism in PZ. Give an advantage to defense over offense, and grief play should decrease. But determined enemies will engage in the arms race.

I've updated the Original Post with the following: Updated Post (Jan 23, 2015): Welcome! This thread hosts previously saved games from a single game I started called a "Legacy Game". All players are welcome to join in the fun! How this works: A player (anyone) downloads the latest save game (usually found towards the end of the most recent string of posts in this thread). The game is played until the character dies. Then the save is made available for the next player in this thread. (You can sign up for a free Dropbox account and put your save there, then post a link to download it in this thread). Installing save games is detailed at the bottom of this post. FAQ: Does the previous world and items carry over when the save is played by the next player? YES! For this reason, most players are keeping a journal in game to record their character's experiences. Later players will be able to find these journals. How long can I play my character in game? You can survive in game as long as you want. Live one day or eleven months. How long can I play my character in real life? Try to be aware that other players may be waiting for you to finish before playing your save. Most people play for a few days maximum but there is no rule. Keep in mind that if you are "bogarting" the save with a long play, someone may come along and start a new timeline. What happens if two people start playing the same save? Won't this get confusing? Yes it can be done, and yes it will get confusing. What will happen is that additional timelines will start to appear from the rip in the fabric of PZ space-time. Nothing wrong with that! We will call it the multiverse and probably start giving names to all the different timelines, like Legacy-616 and Legacy-911. The more the merrier. Can I use mods? Yes. But be courteous and let players know when you offer your save. Keep in mind some (most?) people may not want to play with mods activated so your timeline might die off. But I'm ok with timelines appearing that use mods. Legacy-Raincoat? Legacy-420? What if some jerk plays a save, goes around burning down the entire town, and uses up all the loot? Won't that ruin the game for the next guy? I think it will be survival of the fittest for timelines. Personally, I wouldn't want to play a save after someone did that. I would just play an earlier save and then post that save when I'm done. So if you want your save to become part of a continuing timeline, I'd suggest being lovely to your successors. Otherwise natural selection will cull your character from the lengthening multiverse. Final thoughts: Most people are role playing their characters rather than power gaming a long survival time. Focus tends to be on leaving journals over massive bases. Just a general guideline, not a rule.

I won't let this die. I want to see how far we can go with this experiment. As we are still experimenting with this concept, we don't have any set rules in place. If you announce that you are playing the next save, I'd recommend giving periodic updates about when you plan to be done if it starts stretching into several days. I think a week playing time in real life might be the longest you'd want to go. It doesn't matter how long you live in game. Just try to be considerate that other players may want to jump in and add to the timeline. At any time, though, anyone is free to play one of these existing saves and submit it back here when done. If two people do that with the same save, we will just start tracking these as separate multiverses. Right now we've been successful with a single universe but I'm cool with a multiverse of worlds appearing. I kinda like the ideas behind these words ! I would love to pick up, but i've been playing 18 hours straight today.... i'll go to sleep and check tomorrow morning how to install the save and such, which city should i spawn in ? First come, first serve! The next time we do this I'll have a more organized succession list for players. But feel free to jump in whenever! YES! The world stays the same when you start a new character on an existing save. All the discovered items remain. This means all the journals left behind by previous players are still there waiting to be discovered. That is the point behind this Legacy style game! Play the save, explore a world previously inhabited by other players, die, then pass the game on to the next player. Repeat until the game has lasted decades (in game). All the while, the world gets harder and harder as loot is used up. Lastly, these saves start you in West Point.

Thanks Freedom. Right now it is headless chicken, and we don't have a next player. Care to pick up where Bumble left off?

Cool, two votes for a Hider. I knew Climber would be the most controversial due to its weirdness factor, but I think the concept is solid. Currently in game zombies can crawl and do limited climbing over fences and through windows. So while zombies lack fine motor skills they have some coordination to fast walk and climb. They also exhibit a singleminded purposeness against prey. While zombies can climb low fences and in windows, they can't climb taller structures. Why? I think it has to do with overall mass and inability to coordinate leg movement. A Crawler can pull its body along with arms alone. Remove the dead weight of the lower torso and a zombie should have less resistance. Using sheet ropes might be taking the concept too far. But a half zombie might have more mobility, like a monkey. I could see one slowly crawling up a wall as it pulled itself along with singleminded determination.

I know the idea of "special" zombies is verboten, but I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more variation among the glorious hordes we face. And I like touching third rails of forum topics so here goes. I offer for your consideration several additional zombie variants. These zombies are not "special" in that they conform to standard lore, but like the Crawler have some specific differences that add to the challenge. No tool using or exploding zombies, just regular old walking dead with some clever twists... Climber - A zombie like the Crawler but missing its entire lower torso. The lower mass allows the zombie to climb things like sheet ropes and rough surfaces like player built walls. Slow like a turtle but determined as fuck.Game-play issue addressed: Safety players feel from hiding up on a second story. "Jim, did you remember to pull up the sheet rope and barricade the window when you came in? You didn't? Ahhh! Kill me now!" Howler - A regular zombie that hasn't lost its full vocal functions yet and howls more loudly when prey is spotted, attracting additional zombies to an area. An upgrade from the current aggro sound that rarely pulls the entire horde along when a player is spotted. The loudest recorded human voice is around 117-119 decibels. A zombie who doesn't give two shits about blowing out its vocal cords should be able to match this volume at least once.Game-play issue addressed: Counters player tactic of approaching a horde just enough to peel off a couple of zombies at a time to dispatch (Rope-a-dope). These could be rare. But the psychological torture inflicted upon the player encountering a lone zombie would be delicious. "Not only do some houses have alarms, but now some zombies do to? Ahhh! Kill me now!" Floater - A regular zombie that spawns out of lakes and rivers.Game-play issue addressed: The safety players feel around bodies of water. Adds suspense to fishing. Island safety? I don't think so. Imagine a graphic that plays of the water rippling and a zombie slowly emerging from the water when a player gets close. "What do you mean it's not safe to fish at night anymore? They can come crawling up out of the water? Ahhh! Kill me now!" Hider - A regular zombie that lays down like a corpse in tall grass or under beds, but stands up when a player is detected close by.Game-play issue addressed: Lack of urine in player's shorts after gameplay and looting becomes routine. "They can hide under beds now! Ahhh! My pants!" Dragon - A dragon.Game-play issue addressed: Lack of dragons. "Ahhh! Huh?!?!" Thoughts? Disagree?

I like this idea only if the work is being done in a dangerous manner - in the rain, while exhausted, intoxicated, terrified, or feverish. Penalty shouldn't be any worse than a broken window cut. This would be a great reason to add Safety Equipment to the game. Work gloves, eye protection, hard hat. Safety Equipment could also speed up your work time and let you build faster.

I created a simple mod that allows you to spawn a pen and journal by pressing "P". To install: Download the below zipped file. Unzip the file. I use Zipeg which is free. Save the unzipped file to your Mods folder in Project Zomboid. C:\Users\<your name>\Zomboid\mods Start Project Zomboid. Go to Mods on the Main Menu. Double click the "Pen and Journal Mod". I always restart Project Zomboid at this point. You probably don't need to but I do it anyway. Press "P" to spawn a pen and journal in your inventory. http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/12478-pen-and-journal-mod/

Simple little mod. This mod simply allows you to spawn a pen and journal on your character by pressing "P" on your keyboard. Purpose: I like to give my character a back story when playing, and I often want to write something up. But my starting house doesn't always have a pen and journal. So this mod allows you to spawn this right away when you start a new character. (You can then turn the mod off the next time you play your save.) Credits go to the staff here as the code is just a modified version of the Add Items lua featured in the tutorials. Happy writing! https://www.dropbox.com/s/96qrjqve2xe5wir/PenJournalMod-1.0.zip?dl=0

Anyone brave enough to enter a progressively more difficult world? Go for it!

I think the original answer is still the best answer - play well administered White List servers that don't allow cheaters or grief players. There was just an article on Kotaku about a guy who was using grief tactics in Star Craft 2 on a Zerg player. It really doesn't matter what game you play or how much money developers pour into stopping this type of abuse. It happens in any game open to the Internet public. Best to just avoid the rabble altogether in my opinion, and play with good players. I don't disagree with your rough around the edges items list. But they seem only a minor issue unless playing on an open public server. Public PvP isn't really Zomboid's strength in my opinion. So it makes sense that these issues would be lower on the list of priorities.

Like Marinus said, you can write in your journal with the game paused. That's what I did. Wanted to throw this idea out there: Any interest in a mod that allows you to spawn a pen and journal at start up? Although somewhat common, I've found myself wanting to write in a journal as soon as I start a character but usually don't end up finding anything until several days later. I could very easily make a mod for this. I'm fairly certain based on our experiences so far, the mod wouldn't break anything for later players who did not want to use this mod. Just an idea.

Yes, give it a shot! The more the merrier!

Awesome! This is shaping up to be a fascinating experiment. It's like a new medium for story telling. You have to play the game to read the stories but as you do you can contribute to the story in virtually unlimited ways. I hope more people give this a shot. I can barely resist not jumping in again right away. I'm so curious!

I didn't survive for long. A mere eight days. I was able to write a more extensive journal this time though. One thing about West Point is my largely lack of familiarity with it it. I didn't use pz maps so I did a lot of fumbling around. I was roleplaying a character not from West Point. (My character did not go to my original character's location. I roleplayed that he was looking for the original character but ended up not making it). https://www.dropbox.com/s/8n4rwn6c3ynr221/Legacy%201m-27d-0y.zip?dl=0