All posts by Connall
Putting things in perspective.
So far there had been a huge outburst towards the incident with project zomboid and some are still arguing about it, I felt either the opinions were too close to project zomboid or so cruel. There was usually no middle ground, so far I have been going over twitter and emailing the developers my condolences because so far it seems like a shitty day for them (Lemmy shutting his twitter down and is stepping down from the public eye of the Project Zomboid paparazi both very sad.) Here is what I think on the matter.
First I think I should establish where I am coming from, I have developed two games in my life, one was released to a small audience and never garnered much attention after a year of the cycle the site that was hosting the file took it down after inactivity which wasn’t the best day of my life. I have been on 3 modding teams working on HL2 mods which always fell through and currently I am working on a mod single teamed on Crysis 2 trying to get a feel for the engine. I am not an accomplished developer but I always hold the fact that I kept at least one person entertained I would be happy. I have been burglared once and have witnessed quite a few muggings and nearly came victim to one. I am a fan of project zomboid but I haven’t been playing the game as much as I would like. I have written 4 guides for the site and hope to release my 5th very soon. Am I biased? Perhaps. Will I look at this objectively? Most definitely.
So let’s take a look. First lets take a look from the reaction side of things, when people found out that they had been robbed the response was a bit childish but I am willing to chalk this up to the fact that they had anger towards the robber but they didn’t know who he was, so the anger had to be directed to someone. The response from the devs was again misplaced anger, keep in mind these guys had just been robbed and it was going to be a nightmare, organizing locksmiths, cleaning the place, assessing what was gone, getting in contact with the police and insurance and then finding out the chances of the person being caught would be pretty slim. They had anger and needed to vent and the last thing these guys needed to see were people tweeting how they were rank amateurs these guys stay in contact with the community and this being so soon after the big delayed update they were probably so pissed off they had been drinking and hit the internet. Was the response Professional? No. However these guys are not the professional company you may be forgetting these guys are independent, while they shouldn’t hide behind this word (many people draw the comparison with notch) they aren’t perfect, these are 5 people who have quit there job and are only focused on the game, they do not have a stable job they took a risk and if this goes south there is no telling how much this could damage their lives. They can not afford things like this to happen to them because that is more money they have to spend to get things back in order. They should have done something more PR friendly to keep faith in the community, which they did eventually do but these were two pissed off guys most likely drunk and now dearly regret the action they took (except Binky and good for him!) These are flawed individuals who took the wrong course of action. Also I want you people to look me in the eye and haven’t been pissed off or even gotten in a fight because someone insulted you.
Refunds- I don’t like to say this and this only probably the only time I condone it I will admit that people may have been hurt from how the developers reacted, just or unjust I feel they are well within their rights to get a refund on this as long as they do it in a calm and collected with a nice email not something that will really distress the developers beyond what has already happened. I will say the following I feel the game at the current state is well worth the money that I had payed and will never ever ask for a refund. After this however in my eyes I see no reason for a refund you have seen the developers true colours (UK) after this you can complain all you want but I feel it is well within the rights to just say to you “No.” after a certain amount of time has passed. (Say 30 days)
THEY SHOULD HAVE BACKED UP!!!- While I do agree with this on one hand I don’t hate the developers because after all humans do make mistakes, they really should have because you can never predict the future, keep in mind they haven’t lost so much to garner such a big back lash, so they may have lost the most recent update keep in mind what about Mash? Her computer I am sure still contains some fragments of things or at least all her stuff for the update so at least that is something. Never lose hope with this sort of thing and honestly how many of you make backups of your important work and keep it in a safe place. You always think that you will never get robbed then when it does it comes with more regret and anger than you can ever imagine.
In the end, they could have been a bit more professional and Independant is not something you should hide behind but you also have to cut them some slack for being human. Lemmy has apologized and Binky kind of did but is still sticking to his guns and to be fair good for him he believes he is in the right and people aren’t going to make him fold on it. In the end these guys do not have the resources to really keep themselves going nor the personnel to organize backings and what not.
People aren’t perfect, you aren’t, I ain’t they aren’t. It’s time we got through this and come out the other side bigger and better than ever. Good luck to the developers, and again have my condolences.
-Your friendly user Connall
Connall is trying to get his foot in the door with gaming publications, and is about to write for The Escapist (hopefully) @conmanvalvefan 
Guide to your weapons
In “Project Zomboid” your choice of weapon is everything, if you don’t pick the right weapon then you will be the starter in the buffet for zombies.
There are 2 types of weapons Ranged and Close Quarters, lets get started with….
The Shotgun
The shotgun is a potent weapon possible of killing 3-8 zombies if used correctly. Yet, you should never use this weapon unless you are swarmed and you have no other choice. “Why?” you may ask, to put it simply. Sound. Sound is your worst enemy in this game, the more sound that you create the more that zombies will begin to move towards the last known position. Now you may think “Well if I just move away from that position then I will be safe.” WRONG! In theory your right but the problem is zombie won’t just go “Oh crumbs it appears our dinner has escaped!” They will listen for more sounds and move towards that or even sight, they WILL find you make no mistake. Then you also have to worry about the humans….
Molotov Cocktail
The molotov cocktail an elegant device of burning, a key ingredient in zombie flombae. This much like the shotgun is more of a last resort sort of weapon. Fire is your second worst enemy (if that wasn’t apparent in the tutorial.) It can clear a huge wave of zombies but keep in mind don’t do it near your safe house or you might have to relocate!
Baseball Bat
Since there isn’t really a lot of weapons currently in Project Zomboid I am going a little bit of a stretch when I say this is a long ranged weapon but for the sake of argument lets say it is it can keep zombies at an arms length and can take on groups of 2-5 confidently any more and you can expect to run into a bit of trouble. The nice thing about these are low sounds and can usually take 1-3 hits on average to take a zombie down, however if you are looking for that extra bit of power then it is possible to upgrade the baseball to a spiked baseball bat.
A spiked baseball bat is fantastic and can usually kill a zombie in 1 or 2 hits. However, you still don’t want to get into too big of a fight.
Axe
This is like your Swiss army knife in the game: it is able to take down large groups of zombies killing them in 1 hit but it also allows you to knock down doors for wood quickly and effectively. This may sound like the perfect weapon but it comes with a fault a miss and you can say goodbye to a couple of chunks of Bob.
Hammer
This is your beginner tool and not invaluable it helps you put up barricades but in a pinch can help you take out a couple of zombies, and I do mean a couple forgot about going after groups with 4 or more with the hammer does take about 3-5 hits before taking down a zombie so huge groups and you might as well take flight over fight. It does take down doors but prepare to stay for a while and is usually inadvisable.
Wood Planks
Although it is true that you can use this as a weapon good luck killing 1 zombie, this is more of a riot control to push the zombies away from you and take flight, DO NOT TAKE ON GROUPS WITH THIS! Just trust me when I say do not actively go into a fight with this as you will lose.
Pictures: Courtesy of the PZ wiki
How to create custom sounds for Project Zomboid
Difficulty:Easy
Unpredictability:Low
How: With Audacity and technical magic.
When:When you want to.
Pros:No more sounds you don’t like.
Cons:May not be as good as the original.
Sounds are arguably one of the most important things in a game. However, what if you don’t like a sound? What about a sound from your favorite game? Or maybe create your own?
What do you need?
-Audacity
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
-Your sound from a video game (if you are creating your own ignore this.)
1.) Download and install Audacity.
2.)Open it up.
3.) Press the red button and as long as you have a microphone create the sound.
or
3.)Get your audio clip from your favorite video game.
4.)Drag the clip into the program audacity and you will see a blue wave.
5.) Then go to the Project Zomboid folder. Need help?
*Shameless Promotion Alert*
6.)Identify which sound you wish to replace in the “sound” folder. Make sure to take a copy of the original sound.
7.) Click File, export as Ogg Vorbis, navigate to the Project Zomboid “sound” folder name it the same as the sound you copied.
8.) Save it to there and run the game hopefully it will work.
How to add mods
Difficulty: Simple
Unpredictability: None
How: Opening Project Zomboid file and add another file.
When: When you want.
Pros: Get to try out a variety of amazing maps.
Cons: Can’t think of any.
I’M BACK! Sorry it’s been so long school has been all over me and a death recently occurred so I had other things on my mind.
Project zomboid is an amazing community full of talented people who make amazing mods to expand on the already amazing game that is project zomboid
2.) Download it. If it comes with an extension (An extension can be found at the end of a file) .rar
then you will require a program that can open it. I suggest WinRar.
http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm
3.) Maps:
If you have the downloaded version of Project Zomboid open the folder and go to “media” then
you will find a file called “test.tmx”
WARNING: I highly recommend making a backup there is always
the possibility of a corrupt file or you may want to revert back to the original map. Make a
copy and keep it somewhere safe.
4.) Now put the downloaded file into this area and run the game.
5.) THIS IS FOR DESURA USERS:
C:\Program Files\Desura\Common\Project Zomboid
Then do the steps above.
6.)Sounds:
If you are adding sounds then just do step 3 except after going to media go into “sounds”
and add the sound. If however you are replacing it again I do recommend making a backup of
the sound. Make sure that the extension of the sound is .ogg otherwise it won’t work.
Warning: Music isn’t the same as sound, music is what plays in the
background. Make sure you do not get confused.
7.)Sprites:
Again navigate to media folder except this time go to “texturepacks”.
Like always if you are replacing a sprite then remember to make copys. If you are just adding
then sling the files in there.
WARNING: If you are changing the UI (the hud) then the picture does not go in there but goes in
the “UI” folder in “Media”
Enjoy!
Getting started first time around
Difficulty:Very Easy,
Unpredictability:Low,
How: Playing the game!
When: Start of the game
Pros: A nice base and equipment to start off with.
Cons: Can take a while to actually start the gaming.
Note: This is for the old update, a new version with the added interface will be added soon. The information is still relevant but there are parts missing.
NOTE: I do paraphrase some of AdricTheGreat’s tips. Want it direct from the source? Then check his tutorial In the premium video guides section.
Oh look at you all bright eyed and bushy tailed! You think your ready for the pre-alpha PZ? Look at you go….. Dead. See life ain’t too easy out there, but don’t worry I am here to help!
Firstly I do HIGHLY recommend that you play the game once or twice anyways so there isn’t any surprises, there is alot of stuff I am going to ruin in this guide which are quite giggle worthy to find on your own. However perhaps you already know what to do and just want to skip the tutorial. Well if that is the case then keep an eye out for this END TUTORIAL
For the rest of us, let’s start!
First let’s familirise ourselves with all the icons on the screen.
This will be explained a bit more in the tutorial, but this is your inventory icon.
The inventory is used to keep track of all the items you may come across, if you want to add an item to your inventory then all you do is click on the item then click on the box icon. If you want to access the inventory however just click on the box and you will presented with this box.
All those empty boxes are for your items, this is where they are stored. Up at the top is the weight counter, those of you who are familiar with RPG’s know about the weight limit. In this game however it is a little different the higher the number goes up the shorter you can run and eventually when near the top will mean a slower walking speed, go over it completely and you won’t be able to walk. If you want to find out how much an item ways just hover your mouse cursor over the item in question.
Now lets move onto….
The heart
Which I am sure many of you can guess is your health. When you click on it you will be presented a picture of Bob’s body.
The body will highlight red in the areas that have been injured. The bar next to it can act as your health bar in general. If you get injured there are usually many ways to heal yourself makeshift bandages, painkillers, beta blockers (more for the psyche) and sleeping pills are all health items that need to be administered. To admister these items all you have to do is, click on the health object then click on the heart much like how you put an item in your inventory.
Now we move onto….
Primary and Secondary Bubbles:
(Refer to image below)
This is pretty easy to explain the big circle is where your weapon of choice goes and the second one is the secondary weapon holder. My biggest suggestion for this is to put the wood planks there in case you are in a hurry to barricade something, then it means it is just there, ready to go.
I feel the clock is pretty self explanatory so I leave that to you.
Now to move onto the actual game.
When you first start of you will be in a room with your wife, you will notice these…
These are just tutorial bubbles now these are really helpful on their own but just in case, you can click “No more” and recieve no more hints as I will be explaining most things here.
First of your wifes injured, go to the closet behind you and click on it to access it collect the sheets but don’t take the pillow we don’t want that…. yet 
put the sheets into your inventory by clicking the sheets then clicking on the box at the top left hand corner.
Now it is time to craft click on your inventory and at the bottom of the inventory screen there is some hammer and nails, this is your crafting screen, click on that and put the sheets into the box as shown.
Take the results and put them in your inventory. Then move up to your wife click on your inventory take the bandages and click on your wife. Congratulations you have sucessfully bandaged your wife now it’s time to go grab some painkillers. go to the bathroom behind you and grab the painkillers which can be found in the cabinet above the sink and use them on your wife in the same way as the bandages.
Now it is time to fortify your new home go into the shed by leaving through the door in the kitchen.
Get to the shed and grab the hammer nails and board. Put the hammer in the big circle and the board in the smaller circle while putting the nails in your inventory. Use the hammer by pressing Ctrl + Left click and swing at the door to break it and recieve more wood.
Head back to the house and go through the kitchen door barricade all the windows and the door in the kitchen.
Move southeast through the house, where there will be 3 doors and a window. Barricade the window next to the door, but not the door (you will find out why soon enough). Behind you there are 2 other doors, barricade the futhest door and then break down the first door for more wood. Now go upstairs and barricade all the windows in the room you started off in, then go to the bathroom and barricade the window through there. Barricading windows is quite possibly the most important thing to do, zombies are able to see you walking around when you are upstairs. If that were to happen then they would all come shuffling towards the house! We don’t want that. Remember if you can see them, then they can see you.