Playable Instruments

[Neanderthal]

There's already instruments in Zomboid that haven't got much use other than as a weapon or a collectible, but wouldn't it be cool to have them be playable?

 

Examples of their application could be:

• A way to stave off unhappiness or insanity.
• Social use in multiplayer for fun.
• Being the Post Apocalyptic Pied-Piper of Muldraugh.

 

I think the two ways of implementing this would be a form where you have access to a keyboard and can play the keys in sequence (not very fun) and through the ABC system (very fun), similar to how it was done in Lord of the Rings Online. The way this works is that the internet has websites that are these huge reservoirs of .abc file notated musical compositions (plus you can make your own) and you would have some designated folder, maybe in Zomboid's case it could be somewhere like This PC>Local Disk (C:)>Users>Player>Zomboid>music and then you paste the .abc file there. Then when you open the game, you would right click on your guitar to play and it would open a list that shows all the compositions you have in that folder, and you click on one and it will play, as your character acts out the complementary strumming animation. 

 

As a part of the game itself, there would be a perk requirement of guitar player, or an occupation like music teacher to be able to a variety of instruments. I think it would be an interesting way of showing how even a character whose traits wouldn't seem to ordinarily be sought after in an apocalypse, an entertainer, can still be a valued member of a group and contribute as such.

 

Please share your thoughts with me! 🙂

Edited March 14, 2020 by Neanderthal