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Survival Post 2-Months - Long Term Discussion-


Mdschlotman

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First things first; Project Zomboid is an addictive drug that has begun to consume all facets of my life! But seriously, my buddy cannot go 30 minutes without talking about new base building ideas, farming techniques, or just general craftiness.

 

Props Indie Stone - Keep delivering and you've got a real indie hit.

 

Anyways, like I said, my buddy (Slanga) is completely consumed by PZ. He has a a pretty sprawling base built in the free zone between a 4-square of houses. Here's a pic.

XYw7Gx1.png

 

At this point, he's leveled his farming to 5 and Carpentry is almost there. Here's some things we've discovered...( I mostly watch him play)

 

-Skills books: Enable extra fast leveling of skills

 1. Must be read in order and only corresponding to each level from: ex. Read Beginner at Carpentry 0, Intermediate at 1

     -Beginner x?, Intermediate x4, Advanced x8, Expert x12, Mastery x16 (number = exp. multiplier)

 2. As you level skills past 3/4 with books you will begin to accumulate MANY extra skill points (20+), as the experience multiplier counts towards your level. (Slanga currently has 35, presuming this is a bug)

 3. Stash your skills books in your safe house. They never get used up, and can be used by subsequent survivors with new reset skills.

 - Farming: Only long term sustainable food source

   1. Potatoes, potatoes, and moar potatoes. And Cabbage. Potatoes last forever, and will fill you up. Cabbage grows more quickly than any other crop we found. As far as all the decadent Kapua Suite fruit (strawberries, oranges, etc...), stay away. This is the Latvian Zomboid apocolypse. You live on potatoes and you'll die happy because of it.

    2. Spread your crops out. Slanga prefers rows to clumps, as clumps can spread plant disease quickly. Also, try to start several self contained farming areas with in your base, each with it's own water barrel and watering can.

    3. Higher levels of Farming skill allow you to check on your crops statuses more easily, but you should still check plants water level EVERY day. If you are planning on multi-day excursion, make sure all plants are watered up before.

    4. The GigaMart in Westpoint is bugged for Slanga. Power has been off weeks, but 2 random fridges keep perishables indefinitely fresh. It's the GigaFridgeofLife

 

-Carpentry - Do NOT level without skill book, as will typically waste precious nails.

   1. Find a Hammer, Axe, Saw, and Nails. Lots of Nails. Always pick up Box o' Nails. Box o' Nails is number 1 best item game.

   2. Start by cutting down every tree in the  vicinity. Bug allows you to pick up as many logs as you want, if you right click on them. Slanga's hauled 48 back at once. Sawed up to damn near 130+ planks. Sawing logs levels Carpentry, and is the best way to avoid building too many shit walls. Plan on doing some sawing for each level.

   3. If you look closely above, you can see the progression of Slanga's walls as he leveled his Carpentry around his base.

   4. Stairs seem currently bugged. Slanga and I have tried building stairs in both of our games, and both times lead to a crash shortly after construction. Advise exiting game to save, before attempting any level 2 construction. 2nd floors, in general, seem a bit buggy and cause crashes.

   5. Plaster is hard to come by, and heavy as a donkey. Don't plan on doing any extensive dry walling.

 

 

Game time: 2 months, 10 days 

 

Power and water are both off, but it is also a Sandbox game with out infection (No danger of zombification). We more wanted to see how the later stages of the game functions. I've heard stories of zombies gathering up in hordes at 6 months+, and besieging forts. Is there any validity to that?

 

Would love to hear other's experience with the late/end game! Been difficult to find any streamers with an established survivor.

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the longest ive ever made it was 1 month 27 days about, but that was in an earlier build.

 

I've heard alot of ppl say different things about the hordes, some say after 1 month you have a chance of super horde showing up, some say 2 month. Im pretty sure this doesnt happen at all though, but i dont think its been confirmed anywhere.

 

** and how do u carry 48 logs at once? the most i can pick up is 4-5, as soon as my inventory hits 50/50 i cant carry anything else

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Welcome to my safehouse - Lev Ivanov character. So far - 2 months, 17 days alive.

 

2013-12-23_00001_zps3fd96156.jpg

 

 

I've come to the point where I decided that I am not taking unneccessary risks and stay within the safehouse for as long as humanly possible, unless I am forced to go out.

 

The crops that I'm growing : Potatoes (kill hunger really good), Strawberries (They grow REAAALLLYY slow, but from what I've heard - you don't have to re-plant them as strawberries will just "respawn" on the bush when they are ready to harvest), Tomatos (Kill both hunger and thirst - in case I run out of water), Cabbages (mainly because of how fast they grow).

 

Every-day starts off with checking every plant for disease - if someone has it, either dig it out or wait until harvest, depends how much left until it happens.

 

Then, depending on the weather, I go jog around the perimeter of my safehouse to gain level in sprinting (that one levels veeeeery long).

 

If I get hungry, I eat the "oldest" food that I have in my fridge from the harvest. If it gets to the point of being not fresh, I just eat three points of it (3 non-fresh Tomatos at once, for example) so it doesn't go to waste once it rots. 

 

Then I usually skip around to evening (be it a rain or just nothing else to do) and go out again to check crops. If the "water level" drops below "Well Watered" (I don't grow those that die from over-watering), I just add some water. Usually night-rains do that for me.

 

Then, at evening, I eat again (so I eat all my food before it rots) and go to sleep. Routine repeats, until something happens.

 

 

Sometimes, things get tense. Once the gunshot fired off, and I heard a lot of zombie moans outside. That was the time when I genuinely felt scared. I've waited for several in-game hours, then exited the safehouse. A couple of stragglers were punching on my barricades. I killed them, then made sure that area around my outer walls was safe enough to go back.

 

One time I went through half of muldraugh just to reach library, had to find a carpentry book... Nearly had my life taken away during that day. I stopped to pick up a bag of nails from the box outside one of the houses, and didn't see a crawler behind it. He scratched me, and then I ran back home turning back for nothing. Then I bandaged myself, and hoped for the best... Fortunately, scratch wasn't lethal, but that was the day I told myself never to leave safehouse unless absolutely neccesary.

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Jauki redzēt kādu citu latvieti šajā forumā! :D

 

I have realised that there is no point in farming after 2,5 months. The crops just die off in the cold.

My strategy is that I stockpile all the food I can find, eat the perishable stuff first, once the electricity cuts off, I start farming until winter comes. After that I eat all the canned foods until I die. So far I have survived 3 months in this save.

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Jauki redzēt kādu citu latvieti šajā forumā! :D

 

I have realised that there is no point in farming after 2,5 months. The crops just die off in the cold.

My strategy is that I stockpile all the food I can find, eat the perishable stuff first, once the electricity cuts off, I start farming until winter comes. After that I eat all the canned foods until I die. So far I have survived 3 months in this save.

There are seasons. Farming is rough in the winter months. Wait until spring, and you'll be harvesting huge yields. 

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Jauki redzēt kādu citu latvieti šajā forumā! :D

 

I have realised that there is no point in farming after 2,5 months. The crops just die off in the cold.

My strategy is that I stockpile all the food I can find, eat the perishable stuff first, once the electricity cuts off, I start farming until winter comes. After that I eat all the canned foods until I die. So far I have survived 3 months in this save.

There are seasons. Farming is rough in the winter months. Wait until spring, and you'll be harvesting huge yields. 

 

 

I can't seem to figure out how to tell what season I'm in. The time/clock indicator has a number that looks like month/day or day/month, but I have seen no correlation to seasons in that I've never seen either number higher than 15 - and they seem to progress much faster than the game days survived.

Mine currently looks like this; 15:50  15/10

Where's the documentation that explains it?

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Jauki redzēt kādu citu latvieti šajā forumā! :D

 

I have realised that there is no point in farming after 2,5 months. The crops just die off in the cold.

My strategy is that I stockpile all the food I can find, eat the perishable stuff first, once the electricity cuts off, I start farming until winter comes. After that I eat all the canned foods until I die. So far I have survived 3 months in this save.

There are seasons. Farming is rough in the winter months. Wait until spring, and you'll be harvesting huge yields. 

 

 

I can't seem to figure out how to tell what season I'm in. The time/clock indicator has a number that looks like month/day or day/month, but I have seen no correlation to seasons in that I've never seen either number higher than 15 - and they seem to progress much faster than the game days survived.

Mine currently looks like this; 15:50  15/10

Where's the documentation that explains it?

 

3.50 PM; 15th of October

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Here is my home base.  It's my second safe house but the one that I'm setting up as my main base of operations for now.

 

XopPKb2.jpg

 

Questions: It says I have six skill points available.  How do I use them?  Or are they already used (indicated by the yellow boxes below)?

 

G7uazde.jpg

 

This stage of the game is all new to me.  I'm fairly used to killing lone zombies with melee, killing small groups with pistol, looting houses, killing crawlers, and building things.  This is my first time farming and I've never done any cooking.  Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Current plans:

1. Finish relocating all supplies from original safe house.

2. Loot more food.

3. Try to find more trash bags for more rain barrels.  Water is now off.

 

This is to give you an idea of my inventory.  I have about triple the amount at my original safe house.

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I can't seem to figure out how to tell what season I'm in. The time/clock indicator has a number that looks like month/day or day/month, but I have seen no correlation to seasons in that I've never seen either number higher than 15 - and they seem to progress much faster than the game days survived.

Mine currently looks like this; 15:50  15/10

Where's the documentation that explains it?

 

3.50 PM; 15th of October

Thanks, I realized the date format once it flipped over to 01/11. I already knew the 24hr time format, mostly due to being a US Navy Veteran. But being a silly 'Merican I'm not use to the Day/Month format (which, honestly, makes sense if you think about it).

 

I managed to live to 2 Months, 16 Days, 7 Hrs. before making an error in judgment trying out using a heavy weapon that caused high exertion during combat, which resulted in getting bitten and infected (I'll never make the mistake of using a nailed plank again). So, as soon as Zombification set in, I dumped all my stuff at the safe house (including clothes) and ran my nearly-naked butt to a self-sacrificial death, straight into the nearest Zed horde. My new survivor just picked up where the other left off with a fully stocked safe-house; it's like I never died. :P

 

I would recommend not growing so many crops all at once – first it just becomes a farming-sim at that point, and I don't find those fun at all. Second, it's better to rotate your crops; plant one or two (crops) at a time, a few days apart, water every few days (the rain does a fair job of it, but best to check), then replant when you harvest. That way you don't have to worry so much about rot waste, and you aren't spending most of your time farming. Potatoes are the best because they last so long and feed you well. Other than that, it becomes easy routine. In my opinion, if you resort to being a farmer in this game, you might as well just go play Farmville instead.

 

I also recommend setting up incremental 'satellite location' safe-houses, so you can venture out and still have a relatively safe place to hole up when you need to rest, eat, etc. I generally pick a place that is about two-three sprinting distances away from each other, or where makes sense for defensibility ( pick a structure). I place a few necessities there; a weapon, some non-perishable food, basic supplies, a bag, etc.. They make great way-points, and can be a life saver at times; and even make things easier on new characters should you die.

 

I venture out to explore and kill the Zeds, because that's the 'Adventure' part of this title – and one of the reasons I play.

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I'm trying to figure out my next goals forward as well.  With my neighborhood free of zombies, a strong fort, water supplies, and a small potato, cabbage, and strawberry farm - I feel safe.  I have one of every tool I need and a lot of supplies stocked.

 

I like the Adventure idea.  The vast majority of the map and buildings are unexplored by me.  I'm tempted to go exploring now that I feel safe.

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I'm trying to figure out my next goals forward as well.  With my neighborhood free of zombies, a strong fort, water supplies, and a small potato, cabbage, and strawberry farm - I feel safe.  I have one of every tool I need and a lot of supplies stocked.

 

I like the Adventure idea.  The vast majority of the map and buildings are unexplored by me.  I'm tempted to go exploring now that I feel safe.

 

Know one thing: in the Zombie genra, nothing is safe.  No character is immortal and no safe house is invulnerable.  We can't help the immortaility part, but we can built other safe houses.

 

My first recommendation is build a bolt hole every two blocks or so.  Nothing more than a VERY secure room, on a second story with a few days food, water and spare weapons.  Every four blocks or so build another fort.  It does not have to be a farm, but it should be solid and stocked for a siege.

 

If you are very well stocked and fell secure, maybe a true building project is needed.  Up the ante. Wall off a subdivision (or a section of one), a city block, whatever.  Go from surviving on the fringes to owning it :)

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I present to you:  Shawn Lewis

Survived for: 2 months, 16 days. (Still alive)

Killed 400+ zombies.

 

Here's my home :)

 Xm5XVCC.jpg 

 

As you can see, I've built a large safe-house from two houses and a garage. I've gotten to level 5 carpentry because of this safe-house and the long amount of times I've spent with the floors. I have 1500+ nails, also :).  Overall, this safe-house is pretty good and I've yet to see a large amount of zombies. The most I've ever saw was four at once.

 

I got a farm, also. It's currently just growing cabbages because of how fast they grow. I'm not doing good with food though. I'm currently living off of cigarettes and the cabbages that rot in a few days. At least it keeps me going. My level in farming is 4.

 

And I have A TON of axes.

 

That's basically it. I got a ton of stuff. Lots of carpentry going on. Not much food. Got a farm. Not many zombies. Basically, it's a quiet life in PZ. I am thinking about killing myself. There's not much to do left except build and fight any zombie that comes along. This could be my advantage to try to survive a year, though... :D

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So hordes were implemented in the game at one point? Can you elaborate on hordes? What attracts/causes them? Are we talking 10-20 zombies, or 25-50? Hordes is exactly what I was hoping for! What better way to test your fortifications than a throng of zombies.

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So hordes were implemented in the game at one point? Can you elaborate on hordes? What attracts/causes them? Are we talking 10-20 zombies, or 25-50? Hordes is exactly what I was hoping for! What better way to test your fortifications than a throng of zombies.

It was before I bought the game, but I have seen videos and read posts about. It seems both terrifying and exciting at the same time.

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This may come off as a noobish question and, sorry if it has been answered before, but how do you zoom out in your game to get a picture of the whole safehouse like that? I have been stuck at the default starting camera positioning and haven't seen an option for it - I may have just overlooked it.

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This may come off as a noobish question and, sorry if it has been answered before, but how do you zoom out in your game to get a picture of the whole safehouse like that? I have been stuck at the default starting camera positioning and haven't seen an option for it - I may have just overlooked it.

 

Mouse Wheel = Zoom In & Out

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This may come off as a noobish question and, sorry if it has been answered before, but how do you zoom out in your game to get a picture of the whole safehouse like that? I have been stuck at the default starting camera positioning and haven't seen an option for it - I may have just overlooked it.

 

Mouse Wheel = Zoom In & Out

 

 

Also, the '=' and '-' key might work if you don't have a mouse scroll-wheel. If not, you may be in compatibility mode. Otherwise, I don't know.

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I see my issue. I have been in compatability mode without realizing it the whole time. Silly me. I am so used to playing in compatability mode that I hit compatability mode button without even thinking about it now, even though the normal mode works fine. Thanks for the help.

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