What could make this game more popular

[Zen 5]

I came back to pz after long break. Love the animations, vehicles and new skills. What I never liked and feel it's holding this game back is interaction and inventory system. They always felt clunky to me and could be replaced. I would love classic rpg view of my character in middle with slots for clothing and main/off hand around it. For inventory something more like escape from tarkov or unturned where every piece of clothing give certain amount of inventory slots. It would make clothing system even more complex. Inventory should move from ..can I carry this much weight to ..can I fit all this in my bag and pockets. As for interaction I think something like The Sims system would work fine. You click on object and wheel of moodlets shows with available options. What are you thoughts on this? Do you enjoy text menu format of inventory/interaction or would you like something different ?

[sprkng 76]

I think Tarkov style (or Diablo 2 style if you prefer :)) would be a good addition to this game. It looks nice and makes you consider both weight and size of objects

 

The negatives I can think of is that it doesn't handle tiny objects well (1 square for a single paper clip etc?)  so they'd have to come up with a clever solution for that. And that it would require a lot of art assets, so maybe there are more impactful features they could spend their time on.

[Zen 5]

It does require a lot of art assets but that is what makes game more enjoyable. They show with animations,clothing and vehicles that they know how to make good art so i would like to see more of it. As to paper/nail problem, we could always have these things in boxes even if its just a single nail or paperclip. Its not ideal solution but it solves your problem.

[Leopoldo Tremblay 1]

On 12/2/2020 at 6:57 PM, sprkng said:

I think Tarkov style (or Diablo 2 style if you prefer :)) would be a good addition to this game. It looks nice and makes you consider both weight and size of objects

 

The negatives I can think of is that it doesn't handle tiny objects well (1 square for a single paper clip etc?)  so they'd have to come up with a clever solution for that. And that it would require a lot of art assets, so maybe there are more impactful features they could spend their time on.

This is very informative info!

[Badgzerz 25]

I side with simplicity, I don't want slots in pants and jackets, I don't want slots at all. I much prefer a simpler approach of carry weight, its simple and its all the depth that an ambitious game like zomboid needs. 

I don't want slots in pants or jackets because I think they would be pointless as we already have a default inventory capacity of (12 lbs or kg?) without any equipment. 

And besides, in a situation where I need to be ready to leave and live off my back for a week, my jacket and pants won't be my method of carrying my supplies. That will come down to my vest/rig, my backpack/satchel/fanny pack. You can't loot anything bigger than a family size bag of chips with pants or a jacket, its not happening. 

 

As for the inventory menu there needs to be a window that displays everything in your cardboard box menu, the 12 pound one. It should have a puppet that shows what my guy is wearing along with the ability to interact with those equipped articles. It is so incredibly tedious to change backpacks, stop alarms, or just drop a bag I have in my secondary slot. The listed menu is fine though for containers. 

I want a better way of looting lots of containers and interacting with things like sinks. Sometimes I just can't get the bloody wash/fill menu when I'm in the sink. Its so clunky looting a row of bookshelves or a warehouse. 

[turkler 32]

fr, something closer to tarkov's inventory would be much, much better than the one we have right now.

[numbersixthecat 37]

Sexy Zeds

[fcolley3 29]

Love it just the way it is now. Of course there can always be improvements but, I don't want my game to be modeled after another game. PZ is distinct and that's what makes it the best zombie/survival game for me and not just another zombie game.

[DXPOHIHIHI 23]

I think the game is already good by itself, it's the audience's problem. I think if more youtuber's play this game it would be introduced to more people cause most of the time people can't find this game since it's being buried by other games similar to the genre. I really think if the game has a better promotion and heck the NPC update the game would reach feats or even reach the popular page of steam. I really really really really really really really really really really really love this game and I want more people to discover it  I instantly fell in love with the game as soon as I played with my first character, the feeling of just exploring a crap ton of things that you don't know about because the game has more content than any other zombie apoc survival game I've ever played. It just saddens me that it doesn't get the love it deserves.

[BoogieMan 213]

The single and seemingly least difficult improvement I can think of  is that I would like to see items being categorized more specifically by type so you spend less time doing inventory management and organizing.

 

That way you could go to a container and right click and say "transfer all items of this type" so it's faster and less tedious. You could go to a fridge and right click a food item and have it transfer all food items, to storage crate and have it move all building materials, etc.

[Maravone 7]

To be honest, I find the current inventory menu good enough. But maybe thats just me, I like uncluttered game screens, and I can work just fine with PZs drop-down menus.

The one thing I find it could be better is the weight calculations. Its a long standing issue with any game really: how do you rate size versus weight? There's plenty of items on PZ that are way heavier than in real life, with some of its weight being abstracted into its size. But it would be nice if we could get a better weight/carry system. I find that particularly useful when such a big part of PZ is about looting and inventory management.

[TrailerParkThor 93]

@MaravoneI think a simple Volume figure could be simple and fit well in the current system. Standing containers like Crates/Boxes/Stashes would not have any Weight cap anymore, but would have a hard Volume cap (variable based on Organized/Disorganized Traits) instead. You could put 1000 kilo of scrap in these as long as they fit. Hanging containers like Shelves/Clothes Racks would have a hard Weight cap, but no Volume cap. If your shelves are strong enough, you should be able to stack hundreds of cans on them. Alternatively, even an arcade cabinet should fit on a sturdy shelf. Mixed containers like Fridges/Lockers/Counters/Wardrobes would have both a hard Weight and Volume cap. Just like the standing containers, you can't fit everything in these. However, you also need to take into consideration the strength of the inner shelving, so the weight doesn't break the object. Finally, I think Bags should have a flexible Weight and Volume cap based on Traits and Moodles. This would not only make the game a lot more engaging by making inventory management more realistic (no more putting your fridge into your hiking bag), but it could open to door to a lot more features in the future. I think a system similar to Encumberance but for furniture could be nice. Imagine you have too much in your fridge and it has a chance to completely break, destroying some of your supplies in the process. This could also lead to further depth in the character inventory system too. Clothes could have pockets with volume and adding too much weight could rip them. Belts could finally have variants with different levels of strength and amounts of hotbar slots. Even the survivors arms and back could have weight/volume caps so bone fractures from strain are more realistic. This would also mean you might need to rethink how to move things like Fridges or Car Parts, but I think more realism is always a plus.

[DXPOHIHIHI 23]

On 12/21/2020 at 1:17 AM, Maravone said:

To be honest, I find the current inventory menu good enough. But maybe thats just me, I like uncluttered game screens, and I can work just fine with PZs drop-down menus.

The one thing I find it could be better is the weight calculations. Its a long standing issue with any game really: how do you rate size versus weight? There's plenty of items on PZ that are way heavier than in real life, with some of its weight being abstracted into its size. But it would be nice if we could get a better weight/carry system. I find that particularly useful when such a big part of PZ is about looting and inventory management.

Just to put the idea of size over weight is kind of scary, that feeling when my tools can fill up my whole inventory or bag. I think adding both weight and size will make the game more realistic and harder at the same time, making loot runs more of a hell and overall making the game a lot more harder than it already is.

[BoogieMan 213]

On 12/20/2020 at 12:17 PM, Maravone said:

To be honest, I find the current inventory menu good enough. But maybe thats just me, I like uncluttered game screens, and I can work just fine with PZs drop-down menus.

The one thing I find it could be better is the weight calculations. Its a long standing issue with any game really: how do you rate size versus weight? There's plenty of items on PZ that are way heavier than in real life, with some of its weight being abstracted into its size. But it would be nice if we could get a better weight/carry system. I find that particularly useful when such a big part of PZ is about looting and inventory management.

It may be "good enough" but it could also be better. It wouldn't require any visual UI changes or additional clutter to let you transfer items more easily. It could even just be a modifier key that you hold when you tell it to transfer items.

 

I agree the weight system could use a bit of an overhaul, and the weight of things reconsidered. Ammo in this game is quite a bit heavier than in reality, for example.

 

I've spoken to and played MP with a few friends and every one of them eventually mentions that the gameplay loop of sorting and placing gathered loot is cumbersome and time consuming.

 

In the end they all quit playing without a whole lot of play time because they say it is too difficult and they'll wait for more progress to be made. So at least from my observations, making the default settings a bit easier may be a good start, or have a more clearly accessible newbie-friendly set of sandbox options to select.

[XxBarakaxX 5]

Adding basic stuff thats still missing and of course NPC's.

Very important for some players are some goals.

Maybe missions  nothing too big because its a sandbox I know.

Something for the late mid and endgame.

I dont play atm  I wait for NPC's.

[orikamii 40]

Animal Hunting, Dog Companions, More Faming options, More Buildables, Animal Husbandry. Horses?

[ArcanumElite 7]

9 hours ago, orikamii said:

Animal Hunting, Dog Companions, More Faming options, More Buildables, Animal Husbandry. Horses?

lucky for you then as most of that is coming... minus the horses.

 

I just want my bow and arrow so I can finally have a ranged option that doesn't draw the entire neighborhood to me...

 

Oh and 1 thing I would love changed... is the ability to see what is in a backpack without equipping it.. and to move things from a backpack without equipping it too... its just a hassle having to remember whats in a backpack and equipt it to move it to a new backpack you found.

[TrailerParkThor 93]

On 1/5/2021 at 6:12 PM, ArcanumElite said:

Oh and 1 thing I would love changed... is the ability to see what is in a backpack without equipping it.. and to move things from a backpack without equipping it too... its just a hassle having to remember whats in a backpack and equipt it to move it to a new backpack you found.

 

I've always thought that you should be able to see what's in any container you have on you but you would need to equip it to move things in and out of it. Obviously it could auto-equip like when Barricading or Digging Furrows, but it would mean that it would potentially take a lot longer to get things out of a bag in your "pocket." If anything, you shouldn't be able to see what's in a backpack more than something in your pocket. Carrying things on your back should be about weight reduction, not accessibility.

[Caturday 61]

Interesting late game would make this game more popular.

Allowing players to deal with zombies like electric fences, maybe some attacking zomby waves instead of "i pley sneky cowardly boyo"

[KanaryS 0]

On 12/2/2020 at 7:27 AM, sprkng said:

I think Tarkov style (or Diablo 2 style if you prefer :)) would be a good addition to this game. It looks nice and makes you consider both weight and size of objects

 

The negatives I can think of is that it doesn't handle tiny objects well (1 square for a single paper clip etc?)  so they'd have to come up with a clever solution for that. And that it would require a lot of art assets, so maybe there are more impactful features they could spend their time on.

They can somehow merge both the current inventory system and that system together.

[DXPOHIHIHI 23]

Wouldn't it be cool if all of your inventories have like small compartments so your forced to sort them out, basically the user interface adds in your possible placesments for items like: shirt pocket, pants pocket, hoodie pocket, leather jacket pocket, Hiking bag left compartment, right compartment, main compartment, Water Bottle Compartment basically makes micro management even more micro.

[Zork 56]

Working MP is a big one.

Working NPCs that can have agendas, build barricades and safe houses, loot etc. is another.

Working Blacksmithing / Gunsmithing is going to make a big difference too.

Lastly, better performance; some effects are unreasonably taxing on hardware and the game should have a way to deal with, for example, 200 zombie corpses so they don't make FPS tank. If you ever walked across a corpse-filled landscape in the rain you know what I'm talking about.

 

So none of these things are completely new. They're all in the pipeline, it's just a question of getting stuff out there. Personally I think the hunting update will be good as well, but is not as critical as items #2 - #4.

 

Oh, another good one: More interesting zombie dynamics especially for mid- to late-game. Roaming hordes, zombies spawning or getting attracted more towards player bases. Events like zombie migration at night with slightly increased speed and aggression levels. Zombies "playing dead" in corpse piles or other sneaky locations, which is a great zombie film trope.

[Masmassu 20]

I love that you cant save the game and go back to but some sort ort of saftybox shud be aded, you die from an misclick/mousebutton dont react or by lag. And you can jump back just some second.

 

A way to se in first person/radar or a way to se longer when you drive a car, so you se wher you are driving

And maybe some simular when  using an binoclars.

 

Real nudity options, atleast for Europe and areas that is ok.

 

More gore options and that the area is still gory afther the Z have sespawnd.