APZDTISA IV - Ask Project Zomboid Developers The Indie Stone Anything

[nasKo]

It's time for another APZDTISA!
For the newbloods in town, this is going to be our fourth "AMA"-kind of thing, with the name that rolls right off the tongue:

"Ask Project Zomboid Developers The Indie Stone Anything".

What it is?

An opportunity for you to get answers to your burning questions!

Post your questions in this thread. Ideally, reduce yourself to one question per post.
If you like a question from someone else, hit the "Like This" button on the post.
The most popular questions will be answered in a Mondoid, in case there are too many to cover.

 

Our previous APZDTISA posts can be read here, here and here!

 

[Viceroy]

Will water become passable/swimmable at some point and how would zombies interact with it, submerging like in some Romero lore or avoid it entirely?

[noxiousd]

1. Is there any chance of getting something like a shopping trolley to cart objects around, provide much more carrying capacity, and possibly have it be knockable over by Zombies etc (and slower on grass)

 

2. When will things like backpacks, raincoats, hats etc be visible on the character? (theres only so many times that purple sweater can look good)

[pauliepaul1]

Did you guys ever run out of ideas for features to add?

[LeoIvanov]

We all understand by now that there are certain ways to avoid your character getting bored in the game, be it cutting a tree, do inventory management or read a book. But what about actual players? Aside from the much anticipated NPC's and "The Governor", do you plan to implement anything else that will keep the actual player entertained throughout the "Sims" stage, when we manage to build a good safehouse and only have to care about our crops and water barrels?

[Aardman55]

How will we get to see the seasons? For example in winter, will the tiles slowly turn white via a shader / overlay texture, will there be actual winter animations, will the clothing and other visuals on people turn into a snowy texture? In multiplayer theres no sleeping, and even if there is it would still be hard to make it simply swatch all the textures when somebody goes to sleep as that would result in some people talking about winter wonderlands and joking about zombies having hard times / building snowmen in the snow while others will still be stuck in some rainy kentucky with bare trees and such. Also, how much and what clothing will we get? Will the update be simple as in adding A hoodie for cold climates, a jacket to put over everything, and a t shirt for summer? Or will it be more indepth and personal with stuff like extra parkas, trenchcoats, rain coats down jackets etc..

[Viceroy]

As Dutchman I must know... Will we see bicycles in the apocalypse?

[Armeretta]

What types of vehicles do you plan to add?

   

Will it be named like the guns are? (named after what category they fall into; truck, suv, 2-door, ect.) 

 

Do you have any plans to add RVs or Tow-Behinds?

[CaptKaspar]

Do you have a development 'roadmap' that you are willing to share with the community? What is your planned progression of implementing features/content? I know better than to ask for ETA's, and that vehicles and NPC's will be added when they're ready, but it would be nice to know that after say the erosion mod is added, and the new animations are added, that we should expect to see elevations (sewers, basements, hills, valleys, etc) after that. Something like that. When this is done we will work on this sort of thing. Of course we know that you are working on multiple things at the same time utilizing your team's talents/skills.

 

I guess, what are your development priorities at TIS?

[Deadend]

Will we ever see animals roaming around?

[Strang]

What do the absolute, most game changing feature besides npcs and vehicles do you plan on adding?

[Seustace89]

Alright guys, quite a while ago I posted a topic

(found here http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/6902-door-mechanicsanimations/)

on the suggestions page regarding 'door mechanics' which received a fair bit of attention. It's something that I personally, amongst others, think would add an extra level of depth to the gameplay. Is it something you would consider adding into the game?

TL;DR would you be interested adding in these 'door mechanic' features into the game?.. http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/6902-door-mechanicsanimations/

Many thanks, keep up the awesome work TIS!

[Strang]

Ok, someone had to ask this , and I shall be the one.

Pie or cake

[bumany]

When can we expect to see dragons released?

[Strang]

Can we expect more meta game sounds, such as

Car alarms

Explosions

Tanks/ heavy vehicles moving in the distance

Screams

Cars screeching

[Rathlord]

Is an overhaul of the health and medicine system in the cards for pre-1.0 release?

[Gammlernoob]

1. Any news on new clothing possibilitys/stuff ?

2. When/Do you plan to overhaul the sleeping system ?

3. Do you plan to add more storys than Kate&Baldspot ?

[noxiousd]

1. Any plans for a sewer system to navigate?

 

2. What about procedural parts of the map, like campsites randomly placed around the forests (overrun with zombies etc, think walking dead) and even, to a lesser extent, chopper crashes

[syfy]

my question relates to rented servers......no ETA is asked for of course

(i don't know if the SteamWorks affair has any bearing on this)

 

 

in the past you have mentioned that a Dedicated Server version of the game had not been released. so the 2 part question is this

 

1: is a Dedicated Server version in the works

2: if so, will it have a proper admin panel that will allow an admin to easily upload a mod or map without having to alter the servers games files themselves as is common for other mod friendly games

[Jatta Pake]

1. Will the mod community be able to mod NPCs?

Will NPCs be procedurally/randomly generated, or will they be true "characters" with their own pre-set background story and behavior?  Or a combination of both?

What is the new office address of Indie Stone, so I can mail you guys a care package?

[Pravus]

Are there currently any feasible plans to release the expanded modding tools (particularly a model/skin editor) to the community in the near future or have the recent issues placed too much of a workload upon the team with the primary game's coding for such action to be realistic at this time?

[Kajin]

We've got so many different ways to acquire food now, with more to come. But we currently lack any method of preserving them, so we risk losing out on excess food supplies if we farm, fish, or hunt to much. What plans do you have for food preservation, to prevent such quandaries? And what plans do you have to make use of food that has rotted? A compost heap would be awesome. As would a worm garden, now that I think of it. Feed the food to worms in a bin and use them for fish bait as they breed.

[Suomiboi]

Have you guys discussed about the possible modding tools regarding npcs/ai etc? If so, could you shed some light on that?

[harakka]

What is your favorite cheese? RJ excluded since he already answered.

[Deadend]

is carpentry meant to be how it is right now or will it eventually get an overhaul? Things like queuing construction, getting plank back from removing barricade, only being able to remove barricade from the side it was placed on (it actually placing on the side you wish to place it on); seeing a broken down staircase, wall, fence, or door instead of it just disappearing with maybe a nail and plank loot drop (and possibly being able to pick up a broken door and repairing it to to put it back up instead of having to make a new one). You know, things of that nature.