Project zomboid was a lot of fun, but single-player it gets boring after a while. I don’t feel like playing on a public server and I don’t have friends willing to play it.
Comment on I'm bored and desperately search for a proper game
linkinkampf19@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Always gonna recommend Project Zomboid. Yeah it may look like the Sims (which oddly is where TIS got their art influence from), but it’s pretty darn unforgiving. Hell, I lost my last character without realizing how, chalking it up to some strange drug interaction (aka don’t drink and take sleeping pills, kids). Resource management, while not a direct focal point for PZ, is still important as you are watching every aspect of your character’s health and wellbeing.
The latest beta build 42 has incorporated some new mechanics and a nicer lighting system so things feel proper spooky when slinking around in the darkness. And don’t even get me started on the modding community. Infinite possibilities and a constant influx of new content, some which gets so popular it’s adding into the base gameplay. Look up Week One if you want more than just a zed simulator.
I also second Stardew if you are also looking to scratch that cozy gaming itch.
LordWiggle@lemmy.world 23 hours ago
linkinkampf19@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
You aren’t wrong about the SP getting boring at times. I’ll usually find myself kitted out after a week in game and bored and then asking “what next?”, and then I’ll either create a new character in that same world but on the other side of the map, and see how far they can get. Still waiting for mods like RV Interiors to be released, as they are holding out until a proper stable beta of B42 is released… so that could be some time. Granted I’ve also been using Week One as a baseline mod for PZ, as it revitalizes the baseline start to be more in line with “how does this apocalypse truly go down?”. Is it perfect, far from it, but it adds just enough plausibility to make you feel immersed even further. As for MP, I’m not a fan at all. I tend to play most all games SP, as I’m a very patient gamer and usually jump onto the MP bandwagon too late to feel included.
LordWiggle@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
Yeah I feel the same about MP. Although I do like to play with friends, but that’s different than random people online. I believe I had a mod for rv interiors. Like, half a year ago or something.
zecg@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Also Barotrauma
tal@lemmy.today 1 day ago
It does have a sandbox aspect, but much as I want to like the game, I always find myself dropping it and playing Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead instead, which is a similar “zombie survival” genre, but has vastly more stuff and game mechanics. The big selling point for Project Zomboid, in my book, is the far gentler learning curve and lower barrier to entry; it’s got an adorable tutorial racoon, and doesn’t hit you with too much at once, but…
The combat in Project Zomboid frustrates me. It’s very simple, not a lot going on, but because a zombie infection is incurable, a single mistake in timing can have catastrophic effects, so it requires no errors.
The character builds. Project Zomboid has a lot of perks and such. Cataclysm’s got vastly more, plus mutations, bionics, all that stuff.
I prefer the Cataclysm turn-based play to the Project Zomboid real-time play. I don’t have to wait in the real world for actions to complete, and I can stop and think about what my next move is.
To try to illustrate the game complexity difference, take firearms as an example. Project Zomboid has six handguns, four shotguns, and four rifles. Each has one type of ammunition. There are ten weapon mods, each of which can be placed on some of those weapons. There is a firearms skill.
Cataclysm has, to look at just one firearm class and caliber category, 41 rifle-class weapons chambered in .223 (and that’s by default, as chambering can be modified). Each of these can take something like six different classes of weapon mods (replacing the stock, sticking things on the barrel, adding secondary weapons like underbarrel grenade launchers or flamethrowers, etc), multiple fire modes. There are 18 sight mods alone, and it’s possible to have multiple sights on a weapon. Recoil is modeled. Firearms can fit in various types of back/ankle/hip holsters, and draw time and encumbrance is a factor; these also have volume and longest-dimension characteristics, so that a large revolver can’t fit in a small holdout holster. For those .223-caliber rifles alone, there are 13 types of ammunition, including handloads, tracer rounds, armor-piercing rounds, etc. There are 63 different calibers of weapons. Energy weapons, flamethrower/incendiary weapons, chemical weapons, explosive projectile weapons, flechette weapons, illumination rounds, EMP weapons. There are multiple-barrel weapons, including some in different calibers. You can load specialized ammunition in a specified order. Different types of reloading mechanisms (revolver, magazine, belt) are modeled. Some weapons use compatible magazines, and high-capacity and drum magazines exist. Speedloaders for revolvers exist. Weapons can be installed mounted on vehicles (fired manually from a mount position, or with an automated weapons targeting system installed, set up to fire automatically). NPCs (friendly, and hostile) can be armed with them. Bore fouling is modeled. When you fire a weapon without hearing protection, you’re temporarily deafened to some degree. There are multiple stances one can take when firing those weapons. Some of the game’s martial arts forms permit use of firearms. There are firearm melee modifications, like bayonets. There are skills for different types of weapons. The game has all sorts of exotic real-world firearms (e.g. to pick a random one, the American-180, a submachine gun firing .22 rounds with a 180-round pan magazine); the game probably has more real-world firearms than any other video game out there; my current source tree says that there are 555 in total.
linkinkampf19@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
I will say that CDDA has piqued my interest, but I’m not a huge fan of turn based anything, although weirdly I will get into some of them. May have to give this a shot myself… once I have time.
I think I’ve been spoiled by the massive modding community with PZ, as I feel there’s always something that’s added that feel right within the game world. Sure, there are plenty of non-lore friendly mods, but stuff like adding all the classic consoles into the loot pile, or real world foods keep the immersion up quite well.