Eric M

I am here today as an everyday real life bicycle commuter and a new fan of Project Zomboid to advocate for Bicycles. In short, my claim is that bicycles would be a great addition to the game because they are 1) realistic, 2) fill a good spot in the game's difficulty curve, 3) have a good risk/reward gameplay mechanic, and 4) have their own depth. I'll detail each below. 1) realistic I understand a primary goal of PZ is to be a realistic simulation. In a real zombie apocolypse, I believe a bicycle would absolutely, certainly, without doubt be my #1 form of transportation. A human in reasonable fitness level can travel about 40-80 miles in a day depending on slope and average speed. 1. Efficient mode of human transportation (see Steve Jobs quote on locomotion per km, humans as tool makers) 2. Few moving parts, serviceable with common tools 3. Tolerant of parts failure (eg: brakes fail? can still slow down in other ways. Chain fails? can still scoot/coast. Tire fails? can still roll, slowly, damages wheel hub.) 4. Few external world dependencies (plenty of inner tubes and chains in the world to last my natural lifespan) 2) Fits well into the game's difficulty progression My first couple play throughs, I thought cars were impossible. Keys, skills, gas, noise, broken parts. Bikes fill a gap in between walking and driving (+1 from axiomatic) -- they aren't as safe or high capacity, but it's easier to get one going. I would guess that fewer than 5% of players have seen more than 5% of the map's buildings. (not sure if you have stats like that) -- it's really hard for a new player like me to get out and see some of the amazing and detailed locations that have been modeled out. 3) Good risk/reward gameplay mechanics. Bikes are fast, long range, and easy -- but the tradeoff is they're incredibly exposed. Similar to a "glass cannon" build in an RPG. Crashing on a bike is more dangerous (exposure, injury) than crashing on car Good to get around, but carrying cargo is a real pain (drop stuff, slower, no free hands, turn slower) Inverse relationship between cargo weight and safety/stability -- could even model high center of mass penalty (backpacks) if wanted. mountain bike tires are loud on a road at speed. road bike tires are terrible on bumpy/grassy terrain long legged pants protect from scratches but get caught in chain 😂 4) They have their own depth Depending on how deep you'd like each skill tree, bikes have this option. Bikes can have trailers and other bolt on parts (lights, baskets, etc) Big range of bike types Skill with riding could be distinct from fitness/finesse/lightfootedness Other support on the forum: mrtrololo thiago marco7 etsamaru roach extrema Implementation details: Lots of new animations needed here. Mount, dismount, go, turn, crash, wobble, bump, attack. This is tough. Maybe there's a way to test the gameplay mechanic without going all-in on animations. Eg, in a beta build; just represent the bicycle and a shadow of the person, but not your specific character. If it takes off in beta and seems fun, then you know the animations are worth funding. Physics. Hard to say without seeing how it feels, but it could be that vehicle physics are good enough with added visual feedback for falling down, bumpy terrain, and wobbling/about to fall down. I wouldn't want to build a whole two wheel balance thing, instead just assume if the player slows they are walking over the bike. Summary Really amazing (and long term!) project, you've done incredible work here. I am advocating for bikes. I know it has been asked before. I know it's been asked for years before. But still. It's such a realistic apocalypse option and fits the game so freakin' well. And think of the FUN! Zombie-slaying knights on bikes 🚴‍♂️ 🐉. Bikes at night 🚴‍♀️ 🌙. Bike with friends 🚵‍♂️ 🚴‍♀️ 🚴‍♂️. It's not my right to have bikes, but I sure would like bikes. Thanks!

I started on steam deck and found the controller support actually better than mouse keyboard in some aspects (eg: inventory side-by-side). Great work, all! One thing I really miss is the ability to "look ahead" while aiming (I think this is called "pan while aiming" in settings). This doesn't appear to work in controller mode, but would be great if it did, especially with the smaller screen of the steam deck meaning you're usually playing at 150% zoom or so.