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Found 7 results

  1. My first suggestion so please be kind lol Knowing that wildlife will be added to the game in build 42 is super exciting, and its got me thinking a lot. I typically stick to the city life and hunker down somewhere, but never do I stay long or venture at all in the forest/farm areas (even though they have the best atmosphere imo) Sometimes I'm pretty sure you can hear a distant roar of a bear (unless its the survivors guilt praying on my sanity) which has given me so many ideas. Bears If bears were added to the game, or any aggressive wildlife I seriously feel like more people would consider a playthrough living off the land in the woods. I've never tried it myself as it seems it would grow tiring after a while, foraging and scavenging just to keep yourself alive almost uncontended. If animals like bears or wolves were added then things could get spicy. Walking through the woods, on your way back to your quaint cabin when all of a sudden a bear appears, finishing its meal perhaps, only to notice you. The feeling of being faced with a black bear (which are abundant in Kentucky) would truly strike fear in me and certainly pose a challenge apart from the lone zombie or two staggering past. They could be strong and take multiple direct hits from a shotgun, certainly not going down without a fight. This would seriously bring some challenge to the forestry life and give a valid reason to fortify your home. They could steal your crops like a racoon would, prompting you to bear proof your garden and keep you on your toes when checking those traps/hunting the new animals. Better yet, just when you thought you were safe a pack of wolves waits eagerly outside your door (maybe a sadistic director type event if you stay inside too long) waiting to feed (i.e. on you). Having a real challenge to face in the woods other than food and water would honestly bring so many opportunities. You could setup an extermination business in a mp server, helping other camps with their bear/wolf problems, building expansive log walls to keep the animals out, maybe the pelts could be used as protection against the cold, or maybe just a cool rug. The challenge alone would be entertaining to say the least. Dogs/Hunting All this talk of animals brings me to my second and final suggestion, using dogs to assist in hunting. Having a companion to help in putting food on the table would be super immersive and fun.(While also giving you a sense of responsibility as you now have another mouth to feed) You could teach your furry friend how to take down animals, or zeds. You could learn how to train your dog by reading a dog book/magazines/vhs tapes. Each level would learn a new skill (or trick) to teach your dog, such as stealthful animal take downs, item retrieval, recall, sit, stay, you name it. I think the same mechanics could be used on zombies aswell, you could sneak up on one or two zeds and allow your pup to takedown the one on the right while you take the left (xp could be earned with each successful attack/kill). All of that would seriously I think change the way I play and encourage others to play in ways they haven't before. I've always liked the idea of living off the land but the monotony of nothing but fishing and foraging weighs down my motivation. I'm excited for all the new animals and ways to change up the standard way we play. Having these new additions would truly enhance not only my gameplay but lots of others. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.
  2. Since wildlife is a planned feature for future builds, I'd like to make two remarks about it. What triggered me for writing this post are various ideas/suggestions related to PZ and animals posted here on the TIS forum and elsewhere in the web. 1. WOLVES: I've seen various posts which among other things suggest that the devs should add wolves to the game. Problem: There are no wolves in present day (including early 90s) Kentucky. Historically they were present in Kentucky but have long been extinct there by now. As a compromise, wolves could be introduced after a certain amount of in-game time like after several months or even years. This might be in accordance with the idea that after civilization collapse and the lack of humans, nature slowly becomes more diverse and animals "claim back" their old habitat. Speaking of large predators which could potentially be a threat to humans, there is only one type which is present in current day Kentucky: bears (more precisely: black bears). I am not sure about their population in the early 90s and I am not sure whether they can also be found in the Muldraugh/Louisville area where the game takes place but I think adding them would not be completely against reality as it is the case for wolves. Thinking about "dangerous" animals which could potentially be a threat to humans brings me to my second remark: 2. DANGER OF WILDLIFE TO HUMANS: A lot of posts suggest that predators could serve as a new type of enemy to the player besides the zeds. It is a common trope in video games that predators like wolves or bears attack any human player on sight and it is understandable from a game design perspective that they do so (for variety of enemies). However, even for larger predators like bears this is a rather unrealistic behavior. Besides a few exceptions, most predators are quite shy and try to avoid humans. This also applies to bears (and even more to wolves). To get an idea of how rare such an attack is, you might check the Wikipedia article "List of fatal bear attacks in North America" and a similar one for wolves. The black bear for example has roughly between 0 and 2 fatal attacks per year in North America (US and Canada). Since a strong point of Zomboid is realism (except for zombies ofc) and since I think this realism should also apply to the depiction of wildlife, my suggestion here is that the rarity of animal attacks should be taken care of when introducing animals. Instead of making it so that the woods are full of bears (and maybe wolves) which constantly attack the player on sight, it might be closer to reality if those animals are rather seldom and when a player encounters them, the probability of an attack should be very, very low. In most cases, they should simply run away.
  3. Howdy folks! Today's nomination for the map is... Louisville's Second Chances Wildlife Rehabilitation Center! Why, you ask? 1) This small building's earned itself a TV series on National Geographic & gone viral numerous times online. See http://secondchanceswildlife.org/about-us/video/ and https://www.natgeotv.com/asia/bandit-patrol/about 2) It's a small, cute building. 3) It also would make a decent base It has a pond in the back, ever since an aquascaper came in with 20 people and built a pond for Justin Beaver, a beaver at the wildlife education/rescue center. 4) The indoors of the building's well-documented. See the below video and watch for 2-3 minutes. 5) It's really cute! 6) It's actually in Kentucky! Although it didn't exist in the 80s/90s... perhaps y'all could make an exception for it? I think the building itself existed in the 90s, but not for the purposes of wildlife rehab.
  4. Hello community. I just got off Project Zomboid playing the Endless Winter Challenge map, and I was thinking about some stuff. The game is great as it is, but I see a few flaws in it... Safty in the woods: Lets say you take a walk through the woods and find a nice opening where you can construct a base. Fast forward a few days, and you manage to self sustain youself. Zombies cant get to you, and the game ultimately ends up being boring after 2 in-game months of tending to plants and existing. So here's the idea: what if their was wildlife. (Yes, i know that their basically already is wildlife, but keep reading...) For example, wildlife like Bears can knock down your walls and caus a commotion. The bear could then consume your plants, and then go for you. This would be a pain in the neck, but such events would be rare. Perhaps a pack of wolves, wandering through the forest would stumble across your compound in the middle of the night. They would be scripted to howl - which would attract hordes of zombies toward you location. No End: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've all heard it. "Whats the point in playing the game if you cant win it.". I propose a new gamemode: "Story Mode". In this mode, you get two characters to choose from (one female, one male) with two differant starting points. One in West point, the other in the second city. The story is that the two characters are ingaged, and are for some reason seperated. Blah blah blah, the infection hits, and the military come to help. As one of the characters, your goal is to try to reach your loved one. Since the two locations are very far away, it would take a few in-game weeks to reach the targeted city. First few days, your town is occupied by the military. After two days, zombies are scripted to overun the military in your city. Thats when all the civilian, and military NPC's slowly start turning into zombies one by one, until your the only one left by day 7. Erosion would be very fast. After two weeks, most roads would be cracked and covered in grass, shrubs, etc. The game would end with you finding out your loved one has been looking for you too, and is back where you started. Idk, along the way, you would encounter military forts and bases setup. Some hostile, others abandoned. The game would start out as something easy, and then drastically escalate into the "6 months later" difficulty. Its a pretty cool idea. No Seasons: Well, yeah. Theirs not much to emphasize on this. Perhaps a looping system of seasons that go from summer, to fall to winter. Trees and shrubs would alternate from one texture to another according to the seasons. Boats: We know that cars are soon coming, but what about sea-based vehicles? The concept is that their would be boats floating around near the shore. You can wade into the water about waist deep and board the boats, not as a vehicle, but almost as a movable structure. Its only when you activate the boat and pilot it, does it act like a vehicle and move. Driving a boat slowly consumes gas (Which cannot be replenished), and if you run out of fuel in the middle of the lake, you better hope the boat drifts close enough to land. Also, if you were to walk off the edge of the boat, your character would drown. You can only be in water at a certian distance from the shore. Differant types of Zombies: Gameplay would be much better if their were more types of zombies. Think of military personnel that would have been converted. They would wear armor and helmets, making them really hard to take down with pistols and shotguns. For these types of zombies, you would have to get up close and personnel to stick an axe into that helmet. Fat zombies, that can take a few more shots and bashes then the regular old zombies. Could be found in diners and malls, where their was lots of meat to eat... Fire that spreads: Ever have a zombie chase you through a burning building, and then you had thst zombie catch on fire? If that zombie stops chasing you, and then walks over a few corpses, or through a bush, those corpses and bushes dont catch fire. I believe fire should spread. If the forest catches fire, then the fire would spread a few dozen cells, and then stop. Fire shouldnt be OP, but it should be taken into consideration as a larger threat. Cannibalism: Yeah... Having the option to eat other healthy people may sound wrong, but it can help you survive in multiplayer and the proposed "Story Mode" gamemodes. Well, those are my thoughts. Tell me what you think should be in the game. Do you agree with me? Should their be a mod with all of this in it?
  5. For most, when asked about a Zombie Apocalypse, many are quick to answer that they would find somewhere remote to hunker down and survive. Whether this be on a deserted island, in the mountains, under the sea - don't ask how, or in the forest, the answer usually involves seclusion from the general newly-zombified populace. Fortunately for us, Project Zomboid has us covered for that! ... But as any experienced outdoors-man (or woman) would undoubtedly know that, despite the absence of any 'human element', the forest would not be any safer than the city. Especially not now with hundreds, if not thousands, of people who - much like you - seek the remoteness of a farm or cabin, one that you might have already claimed... But we'll leave the role of 'bandits' up to the players themselves, for now. What am I talking about? Well, it's simple, I already know that animals and wild life are being prepared for a future build - and quite frankly, that alone is enough to get me hyped for some hunting/trapping... But it also worries me. Why? Because, having grown up in the Northern parts of Canada where forests and wild life are abundant, I know that the forest - while lovely and peaceful in comparison to the city - is not in any way shape or form 'safer' than a zombie infested town may be. Bears, wolves, Coyotes, Mountain Lions, these are just a few of the many things that can make a camping trip go from delightful or horrifying in a heartbeat if you aren't careful and constantly aware of your surroundings. it would be a shame if this wasn't reflected in the game. Now, I know for a fact that the Zevelopment Team wouldn't just cut us a break - surely they have something up their sleeves, I know better than to trust the creators of a Zombie outbreak! But here's my own suggestions on how to make our hike in the woods just a little more interesting; So, what am I suggesting? Animals Aggressive Wild life - BearsOne of the most obvious suggestions I have - and one I'm sure is already in the works, or on the to-do list, is animals that won't hesitate to attack if given the opportunity. Bears, in my opinion, are the best for such a role; they're highly unpredictable, and unbelievably dangerous even to someone carrying a gun. They will not hesitate to charge you down and kill you, either because they are hungry or simply because they have cubs - they will tear the ever-living-hell out and there's very little you can say about it. Imagine yourself tending to your crops, or possibly scavenging an overgrown city - as cities can already become deteriorated and overgrown - only to see a Bear in the distance, likely moving from trash can to trash can and eating the spoiled food you, or others, have left behind. Now imagine if, unlike a single zombie, said animal cannot be dispatched very easily... In fact, imagine if the mere sight or sounds of a Bear sends you running indoors. This is the kind of 'threat' the forest needs; something big, and more importantly, something scary. Persistent Wild life - WolvesAnother idea I really liked was the inclusion of animals that could stalk the player - or at least, follow the trail of spoiled/abandoned food, or corpses, they may leave behind. A pack of animals that could very easily out-number and out-run a player if prompted to. it would certainly give more reason to keep zombie corpses neatly piled a safe distance away from your camp. Unlike Bears, wolves are actually quite picky about what they choose to attack; they won't attack if the need to isn't present... The only real need that coaxes them to do so is hunger and the defense of their territory. Now imagine if you, or your group, unknowingly set up camp near a Wolf den only to hear or see them stalk the forest near your camp... Or - for simplicity's sake, because Script writers have it rough - you hear them howling in the distance, prompting your group to immediately pack up and leave before a bunch of wolves spawn from the forest and hunt you down. Neutral Wild life - Deer, Buffalo, CoyotesThis is pretty straight forward - while trapping and foraging may be excellent ways to get food, they're also quite slow and not very efficient in comparison to farming - which is even slower, but far more rewarding. If one was living out in the woods for months, if not longer, and had nothing to eat but canned goods and whatever food they can get to grow out of the ground, I wouldn't be surprised if they'd be willing to spend a few precious bullets to shoot down a Buck or a handfuck of shotgun shells to bag a Buffalo. While I think these animals should be quite rare and extremely evasive of the player, I also think they should yield a lot of raw meat - make finding and killing one a rewarding, albeit rare, occurrence. It would give ability to preserve food a lot more value for end-game scenarios where normal goods are long gone. Passive Wild life - Raccoons, Rabbits, Fish, etcThese are already implemented - at least, some of them are. Still, they bare mentioning; these are the bottom of the food chain competitors, but ones with their own means of survival as well. While it's quite easy, in theory, to trap a rabbit or to shoot a raccoon for food... If one isn't careful, and leave their doors open, they may find one of said creatures raiding their fridge - or worse - carrying unwanted pests and diseases into their very home! While this might be a little advanced for the current medical system, even for the new system being developed for the 30.0 release - can you imagine acquiring a new hatred for urban pests and scavengers? Suddenly hearing an annoying 'Scratch Scratch' sound every few minutes because - oh dear, you've gotten fleas... Or worse, rabies. Other suggestions Radio StationIt's been discussed that radios and TVs will now have channels which will deliver exposition and a story which will develop along with the game's timeline. This alone is brilliant. I love the idea that there could be people out there still hanging on - just like you, and are trying to communicate to others, even if said 'others' can't communicate back. -but I'll be blunt; Someone had brought up the idea of having a Broadcasting station on the map - or on one of the new maps, one who's doors would be locked shut and the building would be inaccessible whilst the people broadcasting are still inside. The story, either through TV or Radio broadcasts, would continue until their stories end. When ended, the station itself becomes unlocked - or atleast, accessible - and the player would then be able to enter it and further investigate what happened to the people within it. Whether or not they died depends on the Dev team, but with the broadcasting station freed, Players might be able to send out messages of their own. I can already guess that, if the power is still on, every TV will be shouting "DICKS DICKS DICKS" non-stop. Forest / House FiresWhile this is an easily abused concept already, fires are a constant threat to those who use it. Whether this be a house fire which renders an entire building to rubble, or a forest fire which destroys a large chunk of trees and anything within it, the concept alone would make using campfires and stoves a lot riskier and require a much more cautious approach - such as not leaving them on, or not stuffing flammable objects within it. This could also be a good way to send a daunting threat to other players; if they find a building near their base, or their own hideout, burnt down... Again, easily abused, but an interesting idea - I would think. Derelict VehiclesIt's already been confirmed that Vehicles are in the works, but why not add non-functional vehicles as well? Why? Well, when me and a group of 8 other players were traveling from city to city in search of more supplies, we found the travels exceptionally fun due to our own comradery, however the journey itself was... Well... A little underwhelming. While the vast expanse of emptiness and endlessly stretching road gave me a sense of immersion and a realistically grim sense of seclusion, there wasn't very much to make me feel like the world truly was alive; there were no hints of population other than occasionally wandering Zeds. Why not spruce the roads up with derelict vehicles; trucks which have burnt down or tipped over, blocking portions of the road - ones that can be searched. Cars that have been destroyed due to riots, or simply broken in. Their only use would essentially be window dressing and possibly a spot for loot to be found, nothing more than added details to the world. "Nah man, we can't go down Barker Street. A truck's blocking it, we gotta' go around." Anywho, that's really all I have for now. Stay safe out there.
  6. I think when hunting is released (and npcs, this a bit of the same technology needed), you should be able to tame pets, for example, instead of killing an animal, you can try to aproach it, with a feeding item on your hand, and if your lucky (in real life AND with the lucky trait) it might eat it and decide to follow you around, with this you could: -Get a predator to join you, helping you hunt other animals and protecting you from zombies, but will eat a part of the animal they hunt (they need feeding too). -Breed animals, then kill them for meat. -Get animals like chickens and cows, so you can get eggs and milk (need some kind of progress bar, witch you increase by feeding it, and then you are able to get the food) Also, open a new tab in the skills/character menu, where it would show the list of animals you own, in witch it would show their loyalty to you (change to leave in a fight/betray you, most likely with predators) how hungry they are, their happiness and exclusively to animals like chickens and cows, the bar that shows you how close you are to collecting the recources they give, and the hungry and happiness bars would also influence loyalty. So there, a giant wall of text, tell me what you think in the replies
  7. Around the area I live (I live in Northern Kentucky) I can think of a great amount of creatures that'd make great additions to the game as huntable/trappable food sources: (The Obvious) Deer Deer are very populous around here and would only get moreso without more hunters. They're also very quiet and would not rouse attention from wandering stiffs. Deer meat is absolutely awesome for cooking, but there is a danger one should be wary of - in certain seasons, Lyme disease is a huge risk. If the inherent danger of contamination is taken into consideration, this could make hunting deer in Project Zomboid risky but rewarding, as that is probably going to be the only source of red meat available after power goes out. Deer meat could go toward any recipe that uses raw red meat. Potential Loot: Deer Meat, Antler, Hide, Innards [Fishing/Compost?] Wild Turkeys Wild turkeys range all around the area I live, one can even see them crossing roads sometimes in their little flocks. Good meat, and plenty more on them than any chicken. There's also less disease risk than, say, Deer - but eating raw would still be higher chance of sickness than starter, fridge found meats. A zombie might have a hard time even getting close to a Turkey given how easy to spook they are. Potential Loot: Whole Turkey, Feathers, Innards [Fishing/Compost?] Hungry Coyotes & Feral Dogs Kentucky, and many other places, are lousy with Coyotes since they got reintroduced after about being wiped out. Now, especially in my county, there's literally open hunt on Coyotes to keep the populations in check (and it's still not very effective). Also, tons of people keep Dogs here - they're a lot more popular than Cats, at least in my area, and there'd be a ton of ownerless dogs turning feral. Depending on how lore is determined for Project Zomboid, these wild dogs could be more hungrier or less hungrier. In the Walking Dead Comics, most predators like feral dogs or birds can still eat Zombies, so they'd be a lot less on the hungry side and breed in large numbers. If we're going by Max Brooks/NoTLD staple, animals avoid stiffs like the plague they are, so they'd be a lot more hungry and brazen (and likely dangerous to players). Either way, Coyotes and Feral Dogs could be a source of red meat that might keep a player alive - as well as a threat while travelling, especially in wooded areas. Given that they are capable of being very fast, relatively social, and might have been eating zombies (or at least, scavenging filth), bites could cause all range of diseases and death. Big survival challenge. Potential Loot: Dogmeat, Hide, Innards [Fishing/Compost?] (Feral) Cats, Rabbits, Groundhogs, and Squirrels As unpalatable as it may be, there will be tons of feral housecats in a Zombie Apocalypse. While cats aren't as popular in my area, there are many spots I do know of where stray cats are extremely common and would be a much more accessable food source than most game (let's not get soft here, folks, this game is about survival). Consider also that cats will undoubtedly be trapped in houses when their owners are zombified and could turn quite feral without food. Scratches from feral cats could get infected easily and be a challenge to the player. I'd imagine that most cats would generally flee zombies to mixed effect, and do breed fairly rapidly. Likewise, small mammals like Rabbits, Groundhogs, and Squirrels are common even in towns out here. They'd be very spookable and flee from zombies or non-stealthing players, but with the right means (Such as traps) could provide handy foodsources. Potential Loot: Mystery Meat, Pelt, Innards [Fishing/Compost?] (Feral) Chicken & Wild Fowl Many people near me have chickens they just let freerange on their land, and the things usually stick to yards. Zombies would be attracted to eating the chickens and could overwhelm them, but most chickens will flap/flutter away easily without anyone to keep their wings trimmed. Likewise, Ducks/Geese are common, but so are ground Pheasants and other small birds that are quite edible. It'd be nice to include nests with lootable eggs, so that players can have access to such things after power goes out. As cliche as it is, one shouldn't have a game that takes place in Kentucky without the ability to make Fried Chicken. Potential Loot: Whole Fowl, Feathers, Innards [Fishing/Compost?] Pondlife & Fish A fishing system should definitely be included in Project Zomboid, maybe even with its own skill. Fishing is very common around Kentucky. There's plenty to catch, from Bluegill, Catfish, Bass, to Gars (*which aren't very useful for meat, but hey, they're there to annoy), even large Crawdads. Heck, there are bullfrogs in my ponds that weigh as much as cornish hens with legs like small drumsticks. I'd absolutely love for these kinds of things to be catchable in Project Zomboid for a character to survive off of. Zombies would not have access to most of these creatures and thus could provide a relatively safe foodsource for players willing to invest the time/luck. Potential Loot: Fish, Fish Bones, Innards [Fishing/Compost?], Dead Frog, Crawdad I'm hesitant to include Wild Boar and Elk on here, as they don't to my knowledge tend to get close to suburban/urban centers. I do know that Wild Boar are getting brazen and would only get moreso during a Zombie apocalypse, though - they might be an additional consideration.
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