A New Chapter

[Fester]

Part 1.

In urban zombie distribution the zombies all stay in cities and urban areas and that's that, they sit there and rot and the only danger you have is when you go into those areas, meaning that when you're at home you've got nothing to fear unless you lead the zombies back to your home, whereas in the uniform distribution they're evenly spread throughout the map but once you clear out an area around your home they won't respawn until the time has passed in the settings, meaning that it's also very boring and nearly entirely without risk unless you somehow lead them back to your base, I've had dozens of gameplays on both urban and uniform settings and I find myself becoming incredibly bored with building a fortress out in the woods, in or even near a city and then going into a city as once you've cleared those areas out they have no motives or ability to leave the city or surrounding areas to come and harass you, it becomes very tedious to find a nice spot and settle down and realize a few in game days later whilst walking through the surrounding land that there's no threat of being ambushed by ANY zombies because you end up clearing them out almost immediately after moving into said base.

I believe a modification to the helicopter event could easily change this E.g after a helicopter event has come through, (depending on either settings or devs choice on both timing and numbers) zombies would start spawning in the nearby area, small clusters, groups, hordes in essentially wave like increments as if they were trailing behind the heli, (Could also possibly need to watch out for where the player has been recently I.E if you just came from Muldraugh which was EMPTY and got to West Point, there probably wouldn't be many zombies that would've came from Muldraugh way, not sure if it's even implementable with programming but there's always a chance right)  following it before they've dispersed into the area around wherever the heli event last interacted with the player/was in the general vicinity of eachother, giving a new sense of danger around owning a base and requiring it to be well fortified.
It would give players a more thrilling experience at home where they'd have 3 choices, Run, fight or try to hide and not only that, it would help give players with the engineer perk the ability to use some of their skills.

On top of that a variety of new weaponry, traps and defenses could be made to really implement this and make it even cooler E.G bear traps, land mines from the military base which would probably require a manual to operate, diffuse and arm, spike traps, traps that can be set up to fall on zombies or set them alight and chop them up, the ability to make deadfall traps like logs tied up in trees where you could cut the rope or even like moats/ ditches you could dig around your base.

Even simple alertness traps like tripwires with cans, bottles or flares attached would make it much more interesting.

 

The possibilities are endless and this would be an excellent addition to an already great game that is constantly expanding, most of these things wouldn't take much work to put in, like the bear traps could break legs or trap zombies and if there's a crawler there could be a 50% chance of killing it and a 50% chance of it being trapped in place as the trap could snap shut on either its head or a limb/ body part, barbed wire could be rolled out to slow the zombies down as well as the ability to fortify walls with spikes sticking out of either wood or metal, metal having a higher durability, some of these sorts of defensive fortifications could be placed not only horizontally and vertically on the screen but also diagonally, once again the possibilities here are absolutely endless and this would open up a whole new type of gameplay where NOWHERE is safe forever.
it also helps boost usage of other items already in the game like the pipe bombs, noise makers, alarm clocks, spotlights and other probably very useful things that I can't remember, these would also work excellently with the upcoming AI changes for anti personnel and animal defence/trapping,

 

Part 2.

Rodents are fairly decent sources of food, why solely rely on a very finite source of catching them I.E the mouse traps when you should (and could) easily be able to make traps yourself!?
There are currently only two ways to get rats and mice in PZ and neither are renewable;

Option number 1. Mouse traps, these traps are hard to find, non craft-able and can break.
Option number 2. Looting them from cupboards, this is fine for the first couple days into a completely fresh world where the apocalypse has only just begun but after a short period of time the rats and mice inevitably rot and become inedible without a very high cooking level, this is where my suggestion of renewable/creatable traps comes in.
Onto the craftable rodent traps we go! there are countless different ways of doing this although I personally think that these few should suffice rather than the generic snap trap which is already in PZ;

Small Wire Cage Trap: A small metal cage requiring roughly half the amount of material the normal metal cage trap requires to make, probably the same level in trapping etc to make and should also either require an animal or be taught alongside the regular trap as it's essentially the exact same thing only smaller, devs choice on durability etc.

Deadfall Trap: This should require two or three in foraging, trapping and carpentry but should NOT require a manual/magazine to create, if a magazine/manual option is added then it should negate the need for a high level in each category and the requirement could be bumped down to level 1 after reading the manual, it'd use a recipe composed of a few sticks, a knife (which you'd get back although it would use a little durability) and a rock, it should have a very low success rate and a fairly high (roughly 70-75%) chance of breaking and if it is successful the animal it kills should have less food on it (due to being squished by the rock), this could also work on other small animals I.E the squirrel. This trap would require bait.

Metal Bucket Trap: This should require trapping and carpentry to create and for other requirements on creating this trap I'll leave it up to you although I'd suggest at the very least a bucket and some sticks, maybe a plank? there's plenty of youtube videos describing how to create these traps so I imagine it wouldn't be too much hassle for you guys to figure out the best way possible to create it, I'd imagine it has a medium success rate and a medium chance to break. This trap would require bait.

Electric Trap (Both a craftable and non renewable version): The craftable version should require a medium-high level of electricity and metalworking to actually create and use the trap, I think the trap should be able to be turned on and off and would require small metal sheets, scrap metal, electrical wire and regular metal wire to create, it would also require a battery to be powered and has a medium/high success rate and a medium/low chance to break, after a few animals caught the trap would need the battery replacing (The higher the electricity skill when crafting the less the batteries need to be replaced and the sturdier the trap is).
The non craftable version should require either a medium-high level of electricity and/or a manual to use, requires batteries to be used, can be turned on and off and has a high success with an incredibly low chance to break although it would have a SLIGHTLY better battery usage than the craftable version (4-5 kills instead of 3-4). This trap should be VERY hard to find but would have a much higher chance to spawn in richer/upper class areas and more official sorts of buildings I.E certain warehouses. Both of these traps would require bait.

Another suggestion would be smaller trap boxes and snares for rats, mice and squirrels although they'd require a medium level in carpentry and trapping and/or a manual, have a low success rate and a high chance to break (the rodents could literally just eat their way out of the trap boxes.) These traps would also require bait.

Part 3.

Some gardening/farming and foraging additions I'd love to see implemented; Planting fruit trees, berry bushes and other such fruit bearing items (with small yields for balancing reasons(You could just assume birds and wild animals keep eating them although building a scarecrow could give a small % boost within a certain radius for chance to get good fruits etc) via either seeds or actually being able to find and dig up small trees and nearly any sized bush within reason to transport them, they could all be randomized spawns throughout the map too which would make it harder to find them due to having to actually go to look for them).
Garden peas being growable.
Fruit and other specific plants giving seeds upon eating/processing them I.E cutting them up or turning them into salads (If found naturally via foraging or grown by the player)
The ability to pick up grass tiles (which grow into the longer grasses etc unless pruned/remove grass'd either before or after placing) with a shovel and sacks.
The ability to find, pick, plant and vase flowers and other such nice items in pots and other containers for a nice homely feeling (Gotta stay sane in the apocalypse somehow, right?)

More farming tools I.E billhooks (for clearing/removing bush type plants easier and chopping MFs), 1 handed pickaxes etc.

Buckets can carry other things than just water, plaster and cement/concrete, either as an actual container to hold or to act like a sack to store dirt etc.

 

Other junk food items to increase happiness levels.

Having a wider variety of foods positively boosts unhappiness, stress and boredom rather than lets say: Eating the same egg stir fry for every single meal, every single day of the week whereas eating the same foods over and over having a negative effect.

The ability to add milk to a bowl of cereal.

The ability to freeze milk.

The ability to boil eggs in a saucepan OR cooking pot.

The ability to rotate carpet tiles to make homes look even nicer.

The ability to craft basic, nicer than just sheet curtains using twine, sturdy sticks/a plank or two, some nails and a needle.

Bottle openers required to open bottles like red wine and beer.

Antique ovens and other indoor heating sources slowly but surely heating up more than just the room they're sat in OVER TIME and the temperature inside both the same room as them and the neighbouring rooms (Upstairs and also the rooms connected to the heat source room depending on size, doors being open or shut and other realistic things)  lingering and slowly either dropping or raising whether the heat source is turned on or off and the outside temperatures effects.
Freezing cold weather actually freezing and preserving food (could be less efficient than an actual freezer/fridge but it could also attract scavengers with the AI update like rats, dogs etc etc).
Warm weather making food degrade faster when left outside of a freezer or fridge.

Bookcases and shelving actively reflecting the items inside them I.E not always having books, showing canned goods if food is there, bottles if water is there etc etc.

 

Pick-uppable doors, please for the love of god, all you need is a screwdriver, even if to balance it you could possibly have to build a door frame for walls that don't naturally have them like the player built one not having an actual frame for the door and rather just a door shaped cut out, it really isn't absurd to consider the ability to unscrew a door, pick it up and put it somewhere else.
TRIANGULAR ROOFS, we need the ability to make shingles/roofing tiles and corrugated roofing for a nice, slanted, genuine looking roof rather than a flat square: requiring both high level carpentry AND metalworking.

More small decorations/ornamental items for homes.

A pick uppable corner shelf + double ones and a player built pair which would seamlessly fit with the player built carpentry shelving.
The ability to pick up light SWITCHES from inside homes with extremely high level electricity and being able to place them with high level carpentry, electricity, some copper wire and the appropriate tools inside a new location, (I can see this being fairly annoying to work out but it'd be lovely to have an off the grid cabin way out into the woods to actively live in.
(To go hand in hand with the previous suggestion) Wall sockets! we need lots and lots, near enough every house on the map would have a buttload which should also be pick uppable and placeable with high levels of carpentry and electricity, makes sense to have to actually plug in appliances, right?

Wallpaper rolls and necessary equipment, makes sense to make your house a home, especially if you've built it all yourself, probably requires a specific perk/trait/mid level carpentry level/ instructions on how to use!

More furniture styles.

The ability to paint doors.

More backpacks of differing looks and sizes etc.
More clothing options: Sweatpants, jackets, pants, boot/shoe types and visuals, shirts etc etc, some more lumberjack/flannel shirts would be amazing, especially some that aren't super neon/aggressively colored.
The ability to stack clothing I.E wearing a long sleeve T-shirt AND a short sleeve one inside or outside of it, or a hoodie AND a sweater underneath/ on top.

More knife and axe types and styles I.E folding knives, pen knives, different types of hunting knives etc etc.

More options for crafting weapons.

More methods of attaching spears I.E spear with screwdriver attached, could require rope or twine etc and is probably a little weaker than duct taping it.

Being able to craft weapons via metalworking.

Edited June 14, 2022 by Fester
(Edit on a very small part of a sentence to make more sense.)

[Old Gregg]

I think mousetraps is a very good idea - as a part of the trapping skill.

[Papa Juliet Whiskey]

I'm guessing that if I've found, deployed, and harvested mice/rats from mousetrap, it must be a mod I have?

[Fester]

You can find mousetraps in the base game, I'm asking for alternative methods of catching them other than a finite, breakable source.

[duh7]

On 5/3/2022 at 11:37 AM, Fester said:

Part 1.

In urban zombie distribution the zombies all stay in cities and urban areas and that's that, they sit there and rot and the only danger you have is when you go into those areas, meaning that when you're at home you've got nothing to fear unless you lead the zombies back to your home, whereas in the uniform distribution they're evenly spread throughout the map but once you clear out an area around your home they won't respawn until the time has passed in the settings, meaning that it's also very boring and nearly entirely without risk unless you somehow lead them back to your base, I've had dozens of gameplays on both urban and uniform settings and I find myself becoming incredibly bored with building a fortress out in the woods, in or even near a city and then going into a city as once you've cleared those areas out they have no motives or ability to leave the city or surrounding areas to come and harass you, it becomes very tedious to find a nice spot and settle down and realize a few in game days later whilst walking through the surrounding land that there's no threat of being ambushed by ANY zombies because you end up clearing them out almost immediately after moving into said base.

There are ppl that like to play easy mode if u dont like it make ur base i center of LV or RC. I play like that and it is chalange. 

On 5/3/2022 at 11:37 AM, Fester said:

I believe a modification to the helicopter event could easily change this E.g after a helicopter event has come through, (depending on either settings or devs choice on both timing and numbers) zombies would start spawning in the nearby area, small clusters, groups, hordes in essentially wave like increments as if they were trailing behind the heli, (Could also possibly need to watch out for where the player has been recently I.E if you just came from Muldraugh which was EMPTY and got to West Point, there probably wouldn't be many zombies that would've came from Muldraugh way, not sure if it's even implementable with programming but there's always a chance right)  following it before they've dispersed into the area around wherever the heli event last interacted with the player/was in the general vicinity of eachother, giving a new sense of danger around owning a base and requiring it to be well fortified.
It would give players a more thrilling experience at home where they'd have 3 choices, Run, fight or try to hide and not only that, it would help give players with the engineer perk the ability to use some of their skills.

Zombies are stupid u dont need to run or fight. U can make some noise maker traps around ur base and u will keep them on distance or even pull them with gun shots far away and get back around to ur base and kill whatever stai there. Im in for new traps. There is a mod with holes with spikes that kills zombies instant.
For heli and other sound events there working diffrently from last patch or spawn works diffrently?  Depends from ur setting when sound event start on my map there is a big miggration so look at ur settings.

 

 

On 5/3/2022 at 11:37 AM, Fester said:

On top of that a variety of new weaponry, traps and defenses could be made to really implement this and make it even cooler E.G bear traps, land mines from the military base which would probably require a manual to operate, diffuse and arm, spike traps, traps that can be set up to fall on zombies or set them alight and chop them up, the ability to make deadfall traps like logs tied up in trees where you could cut the rope or even like moats/ ditches you could dig around your base.

Even simple alertness traps like tripwires with cans, bottles or flares attached would make it much more interesting.

 

The possibilities are endless and this would be an excellent addition to an already great game that is constantly expanding, most of these things wouldn't take much work to put in, like the bear traps could break legs or trap zombies and if there's a crawler there could be a 50% chance of killing it and a 50% chance of it being trapped in place as the trap could snap shut on either its head or a limb/ body part, barbed wire could be rolled out to slow the zombies down as well as the ability to fortify walls with spikes sticking out of either wood or metal, metal having a higher durability, some of these sorts of defensive fortifications could be placed not only horizontally and vertically on the screen but also diagonally, once again the possibilities here are absolutely endless and this would open up a whole new type of gameplay where NOWHERE is safe forever.
it also helps boost usage of other items already in the game like the pipe bombs, noise makers, alarm clocks, spotlights and other probably very useful things that I can't remember, these would also work excellently with the upcoming AI changes for anti personnel and animal defence/trapping,

 

Depends how u play. U can easly take sledge and destroi stairs or leave in car/ boat, bulid on water. There will be places where u will be more safe but where is fun in that?
AI will have scripts so depends for what situation and ocupation it have there will be options to do that or other stuff.
 

 

 

[duh7]

On 5/3/2022 at 11:37 AM, Fester said:

Part 2.

Rodents are fairly decent sources of food, why solely rely on a very finite source of catching them I.E the mouse traps when you should (and could) easily be able to make traps yourself!?
There are currently only two ways to get rats and mice in PZ and neither are renewable;

Option number 1. Mouse traps, these traps are hard to find, non craft-able and can break.
Option number 2. Looting them from cupboards, this is fine for the first couple days into a completely fresh world where the apocalypse has only just begun but after a short period of time the rats and mice inevitably rot and become inedible without a very high cooking level, this is where my suggestion of renewable/creatable traps comes in.
Onto the craftable rodent traps we go! there are countless different ways of doing this although I personally think that these few should suffice rather than the generic snap trap which is already in PZ;

 

There are other traps that u can make so why if u have option to eat rabit or bird u want to have rodents?
It is becos of??
 

Edited June 15, 2022 by duh7

[duh7]

On 5/3/2022 at 11:37 AM, Fester said:

mall Wire Cage Trap: A small metal cage requiring roughly half the amount of material the normal metal cage trap requires to make, probably the same level in trapping etc to make and should also either require an animal or be taught alongside the regular trap as it's essentially the exact same thing only smaller, devs choice on durability etc.

Deadfall Trap: This should require two or three in foraging, trapping and carpentry but should NOT require a manual/magazine to create, if a magazine/manual option is added then it should negate the need for a high level in each category and the requirement could be bumped down to level 1 after reading the manual, it'd use a recipe composed of a few sticks, a knife (which you'd get back although it would use a little durability) and a rock, it should have a very low success rate and a fairly high (roughly 70-75%) chance of breaking and if it is successful the animal it kills should have less food on it (due to being squished by the rock), this could also work on other small animals I.E the squirrel. This trap would require bait.

Metal Bucket Trap: This should require trapping and carpentry to create and for other requirements on creating this trap I'll leave it up to you although I'd suggest at the very least a bucket and some sticks, maybe a plank? there's plenty of youtube videos describing how to create these traps so I imagine it wouldn't be too much hassle for you guys to figure out the best way possible to create it, I'd imagine it has a medium success rate and a medium chance to break. This trap would require bait.

Electric Trap (Both a craftable and non renewable version): The craftable version should require a medium-high level of electricity and metalworking to actually create and use the trap, I think the trap should be able to be turned on and off and would require small metal sheets, scrap metal, electrical wire and regular metal wire to create, it would also require a battery to be powered and has a medium/high success rate and a medium/low chance to break, after a few animals caught the trap would need the battery replacing (The higher the electricity skill when crafting the less the batteries need to be replaced and the sturdier the trap is).
The non craftable version should require either a medium-high level of electricity and/or a manual to use, requires batteries to be used, can be turned on and off and has a high success with an incredibly low chance to break although it would have a SLIGHTLY better battery usage than the craftable version (4-5 kills instead of 3-4). This trap should be VERY hard to find but would have a much higher chance to spawn in richer/upper class areas and more official sorts of buildings I.E certain warehouses. Both of these traps would require bait.

Another suggestion would be smaller trap boxes and snares for rats, mice and squirrels although they'd require a medium level in carpentry and trapping and/or a manual, have a low success rate and a high chance to break (the rodents could literally just eat their way out of the trap boxes.) These traps would also require bait.

Im ok with new traps i think variaty is needed but if u want them to catch rodents u can use normal wooden one for birds with option to catch rats. That is a quick fix. I will be happy if i could have my own little farm with rats/mices/birds/rabits etc to make more of them.
 

 

On 5/3/2022 at 11:37 AM, Fester said:

Part 3.

Some gardening/farming and foraging additions I'd love to see implemented; Planting fruit trees, berry bushes and other such fruit bearing items (with small yields for balancing reasons(You could just assume birds and wild animals keep eating them although building a scarecrow could give a small % boost within a certain radius for chance to get good fruits etc) via either seeds or actually being able to find and dig up small trees and nearly any sized bush within reason to transport them, they could all be randomized spawns throughout the map too which would make it harder to find them due to having to actually go to look for them).
Garden peas being growable.
Fruit and other specific plants giving seeds upon eating/processing them I.E cutting them up or turning them into salads (If found naturally via foraging or grown by the player)
The ability to pick up grass tiles (which grow into the longer grasses etc unless pruned/remove grass'd either before or after placing) with a shovel and sacks.
The ability to find, pick, plant and vase flowers and other such nice items in pots and other containers for a nice homely feeling (Gotta stay sane in the apocalypse somehow, right?)

More farming tools I.E billhooks (for clearing/removing bush type plants easier and chopping MFs), 1 handed pickaxes etc.

Buckets can carry other things than just water, plaster and cement/concrete, either as an actual container to hold or to act like a sack to store dirt etc.

 

Agree its a nice feature. 
 

 

On 5/3/2022 at 11:37 AM, Fester said:

Other junk food items to increase happiness levels.

Having a wider variety of foods positively boosts unhappiness, stress and boredom rather than lets say: Eating the same egg stir fry for every single meal, every single day of the week whereas eating the same foods over and over having a negative effect.

The ability to add milk to a bowl of cereal.

The ability to freeze milk.

The ability to boil eggs in a saucepan OR cooking pot.

The ability to rotate carpet tiles to make homes look even nicer.

The ability to craft basic, nicer than just sheet curtains using twine, sturdy sticks/a plank or two, some nails and a needle.

Bottle openers required to open bottles like red wine and beer.

Antique ovens and other indoor heating sources slowly but surely heating up more than just the room they're sat in OVER TIME and the temperature inside both the same room as them and the neighbouring rooms (Upstairs and also the rooms connected to the heat source room depending on size, doors being open or shut and other realistic things)  lingering and slowly either dropping or raising whether the heat source is turned on or off and the outside temperatures effects.
Freezing cold weather actually freezing and preserving food (could be less efficient than an actual freezer/fridge but it could also attract scavengers with the AI update like rats, dogs etc etc).
Warm weather making food degrade faster when left outside of a freezer or fridge.

Bookcases and shelving actively reflecting the items inside them I.E not always having books, showing canned goods if food is there, bottles if water is there etc etc.

 

Pick-uppable doors, please for the love of god, all you need is a screwdriver, even if to balance it you could possibly have to build a door frame for walls that don't naturally have them like the player built one not having an actual frame for the door and rather just a door shaped cut out, it really isn't absurd to consider the ability to unscrew a door, pick it up and put it somewhere else.
TRIANGULAR ROOFS, we need the ability to make shingles/roofing tiles and corrugated roofing for a nice, slanted, genuine looking roof rather than a flat square: requiring both high level carpentry AND metalworking.

More small decorations/ornamental items for homes.

A pick uppable corner shelf + double ones and a player built pair which would seamlessly fit with the player built carpentry shelving.
The ability to pick up light SWITCHES from inside homes with extremely high level electricity and being able to place them with high level carpentry, electricity, some copper wire and the appropriate tools inside a new location, (I can see this being fairly annoying to work out but it'd be lovely to have an off the grid cabin way out into the woods to actively live in.
(To go hand in hand with the previous suggestion) Wall sockets! we need lots and lots, near enough every house on the map would have a buttload which should also be pick uppable and placeable with high levels of carpentry and electricity, makes sense to have to actually plug in appliances, right?

Wallpaper rolls and necessary equipment, makes sense to make your house a home, especially if you've built it all yourself, probably requires a specific perk/trait/mid level carpentry level/ instructions on how to use!

More furniture styles.

The ability to paint doors.

More backpacks of differing looks and sizes etc.
More clothing options: Sweatpants, jackets, pants, boot/shoe types and visuals, shirts etc etc, some more lumberjack/flannel shirts would be amazing, especially some that aren't super neon/aggressively colored.
The ability to stack clothing I.E wearing a long sleeve T-shirt AND a short sleeve one inside or outside of it, or a hoodie AND a sweater underneath/ on top.

More knife and axe types and styles I.E folding knives, pen knives, different types of hunting knives etc etc.

More options for crafting weapons.

More methods of attaching spears I.E spear with screwdriver attached, could require rope or twine etc and is probably a little weaker than duct taping it.

Being able to craft weapons via metalworking.

Well if ur old u know how to open buttles without opener but with rest ur right.

[MrTrololo]

considering the fact that i've created once mouse trap with small plank, spring and thick piece of steel wire i must disagree about non-craftability of it 

[Fester]

On 6/15/2022 at 9:46 AM, MrTrololo said:

considering the fact that i've created once mouse trap with small plank, spring and thick piece of steel wire i must disagree about non-craftability of it 

That is not a part of the base game.

[Fester]

On 6/15/2022 at 4:35 AM, duh7 said:

Im ok with new traps i think variaty is needed but if u want them to catch rodents u can use normal wooden one for birds with option to catch rats. That is a quick fix. I will be happy if i could have my own little farm with rats/mices/birds/rabits etc to make more of them.
 

 

Agree its a nice feature. 
 

 

Well if ur old u know how to open buttles without opener but with rest ur right.

You've said too much for me to even reply to all of it at the current time, the entire idea is to expand the game a little, even if there are rabbits and squirrels and birds, it'd be nice to have more options, I want to expand the way people can play, it's very tiring to be FORCED to play one of two ways, in a city with constant danger until you clear out the area OR away from everything with less danger and then when you clear the area out there is no danger.