Drifter

I could be wrong, but I think they said this was being addressed in 42.

I can imagine the game handling the back side of cliffs and mountains much like it does when players are behind buildings. Unfortunately, the area south of Louisville KY has lots of hills and valleys going on so if the devs wanted to add mountains and keep the map somewhat true to the real location, they would need to rework most of it.

I'm eagerly awaiting 42. Livestock seems like a a great step in the direction of a rebuilding phase of the game. Ive lived on a small farm most of my life and I can imagine how various animals could fit into the game. Cows are a great source of meat and would keep a grassy area trimmed. The dining habits of goats would prevent vine growth and demolish small trees. Chickens would not only provide a good source of eggs but a an alarm system as well (when they are awake) Also, I saw the cow's movement and wondered if it would be possible to separate the cow into front and back sections in a sense. Cows lead their turns with their heads then the front legs follow. As they walk, their heads bob up and down, when they eat, they sweep back and forth.

So we may one day be able to lead a group of NPCs. Eventually... Someday.... What if, in the case,your character dies, you can replace that character with one of the follower NPC? It occurred to me that this might solve some issues I have with replacing a late game character - which a character leading a group of NPCs would likely be. A balance between completely losing your hard earned skills and mods that allow you to regain them entirely. I respect those of you who start from zero after death but that just isn't for me, and seeing the popularity of the skill book mods, it isn't for many others. I think getting everything back is a bit too generous though. If you pick up with one of your followers you could have a character whose skills have been increasing along with yours but wouldn't be quite as high. Where did your new character come from? They've survived as long as your old character but have no skills? Its a handy answer to what is, admittedly, more of a RP problem. Your band of NPC survivors are not teaming up with some nobody who has been hiding in his basement the entire time. They are choosing one of their own to be the new leader after they lost their old leader.

Pressure cookers would have the same value as vehicles in an apocalypse situation. Aside from deep freezing an enormous quantity of vegetables, there is no other way to have out of season produce without greatly changing the taste.

I love this. While I respect the developers for sticking to their zombie lore, as OP said, it is a terrible game mechanic. I would add that that a faint smell of blood should gradually draw zombies, not sprinting but from a farther distance. The mechanic being like a delayed siren as it takes a minute for the smell to spread. This way, even a scratch from a lone, suprirse zombie or an accident ramps up the tension. You have to move but in doing so you might encounter zombies that would become sprinters. Bloodlust brings so much more excitement to the game than a bad role of the RNG and your game being abruptly over. Medical skill would be valuable to cure wounds and mask the smell. A place to quickly bathe would be needed. Mechanics involving sealed rooms could come into play. Do you try to clean those blood patches or run and surrender the area to the horde? If this never becomes part of the core game, I would love to see it as a mod.