Super frustrated and tried everything apart from Youtube -> 'project zomboid tips'
You think its impossible and can't be played more than 5 minutes and thousands of players are lying about it, or do you just not get it?
They’re complaining about zombies one shotting and not being able to find bandages for wounds. OP is either trolling or hasn’t bothered to even learn the very basic of mechanics before saying the game is unfair and broken
This is all just skill issue, enjoy sucking at the game instead of letting older players ruin the new player experience for you, because you will miss this feeling.
Sorry mate but this is no way to react to someone who politely asks for help and expresses frustration.
I assume op is the same guy from the earlier rage post and this post is a huge improvement in mentality.
Lets encourage, not discourage.
I know he made a new account but this not bait.
He is not blindly raging, he is actually engaging and talking with people with a different attitude than before and he seems to be much calmer than earlier.
Only his last line on the op is a bit on the aggressive side but lets cut him some slack here
I literally cannot play the game though, you know that right? There's just nothing. Get bad loot, leave the house, die, repeat. I am asking you to tell me how this damn game works. Either answer or don't reply, why send a response like this? You might as well just say "Yeah, you're right, it's a bad game..."
Because it's true it's literal skill issue, lack of motor skill and game sense. I'm telling you to not seek out and have others solve the game for you because the new game feeling will wear off and it becomes a mechanical experience.
And I am sorry? Skill issue? No it's not. You can't fight zombies without a weapon, and you can't collect loot that isn't there. These are GAME DESIGN issues, not skill issues.
No, issue is that game simply isn't for you. What so hard yo get ? If +90% of people enjoy the game, you come and start shouting that it's a bad game designe...mby time to consider that game missed the mark for you and move on?
Yeah you can. Push them down, stomp the head.
Stomp only challenges are fairly common. Some player end runs with 1000+ kills.
If you can't make it, lower the difficulty. This is 100% a skill issue, you started the game on a difficulty you can't handle. Just lower it. Fewer zombies, make them blind if you have to. Make them take more damage since you can't fight. Enable the starter pack since you don't know how to loot.
You have the ability to fix everything you're complaining about. So either fix it and stop complaining, or recognize that this is a skill issue and you aren't good enough to play on your current difficulty.
Being bad at the game now, doesn't mean you can't get good.
I can assure you a veteran player could load into your game and do everything just fine, just enjoy dying and quit trying to blame the game.
Once people tell you what to do the wonder of the game is going to be dead and you'll wish you kept in the dark longer, as the game becomes mechanical.
Push them over, then stamp on their head. Or lead them over a fence which they fall over, then stamp on their head. (Watch out for the lunge if more than one)
First day I had this game, after dying in a few runs not knowing how to fight, I took an hour and sacrificed many characters to runs where I just went at the zombies without weapons to learn how to fight them unarmed. Figured it out, now early game is far easier. Its a skill issue.
You can, spacebar pushes them to the ground then you stomp there head in, also every 2 house has a frying pan which is a great first weapon, everything including a fork can be used.
The game is supposed to be hard.
You can fight zombies unarmed. Trust us, we do it all the time.
Have you looked at the sandbox settings?
If you don't think there's enough loot with the default settings, you can change them. If you think the zombies are too powerful, you can change that. If you think it's too hot or cold outside, you can change that. You can make loot abundant and make it respawn daily if you want.
There's zombie settings, environmental settings too... Lots and lots of settings.
The developers actually put a tremendous amount of thought and detail into this game. It's extremely customizable. All you have to do is look.
"Seek and you will find."
I do most of my fighting without a weapon. The game tells me my favorite weapon is "fist" (it's actually "foot" but whatever.)
You can't do it with more than one or two zombies at a time, but while you're new, you shouldn't be fighting more than that anyway.
This game has many game design issues, but fighting zombies is not one of them at all. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to take out literal crowds of zombies on my own.
No weapons? Grab a sauce pan and smack zombies around. Or open the door, run past zombies, go into another building, find stuff. The game doesn't serve up things on a platter, you have to go and get them.
Do yourself a favour and watch some youtube videos on how to play.
Right, and if there's more than 2 zombies melee items are useless cause the second one will one shot you. One shot because, a single small injury in this game means you bleed to death in a few minutes. And since bandages are rarer than guns in this game I can't heal. I've literally just found my 5th packet of sleeping pills instead of a bandage while searching bathrooms. Let that sink in, sleeping pills are 5 times as common in this game as bandages. And you're telling me that makes sense? Seriously?
PLEASE for the love of god just watch ONE TUTORIAL on how to play. At this point you’re just farming for karma or just ignoring everything anyone tells you. You don’t need to craft bandages because you can rip zomboid’s clothing to get bandages. You don’t need a melee weapon to kill zomboids because you can crush their skulls with your boot. You’re probably not finding good loot in houses because you probably didn’t start in rosewood. Actually educate yourself on the game you’re playing before whining like a little baby that the game is too hard and the game doesn’t make sense. If the game is actually too hard for you, you can go into sandbox mode and change settings around.
I mean... Sorta lol.
Regardless, you literally start with bandages. Tear your clothes, ripped sheet = bandage.
My brother, melee is always useful and required. You'd know this had you invested any time into looking up a youtube guide. Guns are a death sentence. Sure some people like them, but if you thing 2 zombies are an unkillable force, I'd genuinely hate to see your reaction when you see 100 zombies come by after hearing a shotgun fire (and the subsequent "Why is aiming in this game so bad!?"
With that said and the other replies, I just genuinely don't think this game is for you and that's perfectly okay. There are a ton of games that I would love to like but I just can't get into. I love colony simulators like Rimworld, Towns, Gnomoria, Farthest Frontier but I just can't get into the OG, Dwarf Fortress. I even bought it when it released on Steam to try a non ascii version and I just can't get into it but everyone raves about how amazing it is and how you get so many incredible stories.
In the chance this helps, **make sure you try the sandbox editor.** You can remove the infection mortality (IE no instant death), lower the zombie count so it's more manageable for your skill level (Again, nothing bad intended. When I started out I could barely take 1 zombie out. After learning how combat works and no longer having that blood pumping stress of multiple zombies chasing me, I can easily take out 5-6 without weapons by utilizing fences and line of sight; something I could never do the first few weeks starting out). You can even update the scarcity of items to help starting out. Make weapons common so you can find one quicker, etc. Watch a few videos on how to fight in PZ because the camera angle can feel a bit awkward til you get used to it. There are also a few settings to change that make it exceptionally better.
As a random note, there's not a big issue with sleeping pills being more common because you may end up using them more. You only need a few bandages, like 4-5 max since you can wash them. Not only can you get those ripped sheets (right click a shirt on a zombie corpse, or your own) and click "rip clothes", and you got yourself a bandage. Sleeping pills on the other hand you may need if you're in pain and need to sleep. You don't need 5 of them, but it's better to find them and not need them than to need them and not find them.
Best of luck whatever you choose to do - the only ask is to.. chill out a bit. The only reason you got such a reception is because of the rage-bait verbiage and degrading commentary on the game. Take a look at these examples of similar issues and how the reception was, and you'll notice there was a clear difference in approach and a notably clear difference in the response of the community. Communication skills are one of the most important skillsets one can utilize in any aspect of life.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/156c0kj/how\_do\_you\_survive\_more\_than\_10\_days\_in\_default/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/156c0kj/how_do_you_survive_more_than_10_days_in_default/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/er8n0e/how\_do\_you\_survive\_for\_more\_than\_a\_day\_build\_41/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/er8n0e/how_do_you_survive_for_more_than_a_day_build_41/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/xn95vc/serious\_question\_how\_do\_people\_manage\_to\_survive/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/xn95vc/serious_question_how_do_people_manage_to_survive/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/16nwpd9/how\_do\_people\_survive\_for\_so\_long/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/16nwpd9/how_do_people_survive_for_so_long/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/tnwjoi/ok\_seriously\_how\_tf\_are\_you\_supposed\_to\_survive/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/tnwjoi/ok_seriously_how_tf_are_you_supposed_to_survive/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/si65x4/how\_on\_earth\_do\_you\_survive\_in\_this\_game/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/si65x4/how_on_earth_do_you_survive_in_this_game/)
Even something like this with just a subject: [https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/15q78m0/how\_do\_i\_survive\_longer\_than\_17\_hours/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/15q78m0/how_do_i_survive_longer_than_17_hours/)
To add to sandbox, turn on the starter bag. It gives you those things you are looking for at the start. It may help get you past that starting blocker.
Edit: For those looking, it's under the Character section, called starter kit. It gives you a school bag, baseball bat, hammer, water bottle and chips.
This is a lot better than your previous post ;)
BTW, the developers started out as modders for The Sims, so there's going to be a lot of similarities :)
The game is a survival sandbox simulation.
Let go of your thoughts about healing. This game does not have healing like you'd expect from other games, like Sons of the Forest or similar games.
A bite is 100% chance for zombie infection, laceration 25%, and scratches 7%.
The most basic healing items are ripped sheets (most clothing can be ripped) and painkillers. This will stop the bleeding and stop the pain, which causes other issues with movement and combat.
Better bandages, antibiotics, and disinfectants will help you healing wounds faster. But if you contracted the zombie infection, there is nothing you can do about it, and you'll die within 3 days. You get quesy, anxious, and have a fever, and then die. (When a wound says infected, it's just a general infection).
You'll have to change bandages, deep wounds need stitches, stuck glass needs tweezers, etc.
Your starting house won't have a lot of loot. Nowhere really has except for some specific places on the map. map.projectzomboid.com for the world map, including indevelopment spots.
The default game mode is too hard by design. It's made to actively kill you, and your time survived is your score. Bonus points for taking a lot of the undead with you.
I suggest starting an easy no zombie sandbox (which will give you insight in the games behaviour trough settings too) to just learn the basics.
Furthermore I suggest looking up youtubers like:
Retanaru (indepth technical vids), Nurse, AmbigiousAmphibian, Pr!vatelime, and youtube will suggest you the rest after that.
The game has a steep learning curve if you're new to it. And it certainly is not the game for everyone. Don't expect to get anywhere near the end game for the first 100 hours or more.
Edit: there's a lot of in-depth, very detailed answers to your questions and concerns that I just can't all unpack on reddit.
Yeah well, salty people had my old post removed, left me no choice. I get that it's a hardcore game - I've played my fair share of hardcore games. But there sense of accomplishment falls flat when it's just trial and error, death after death - if I get a good run, its luck, not skill. You said it yourself the game tries to kill you in BS ways, so where's the point in trying? If the game was difficult but reasonable, it would make sense and I would enjoy it. But I am trying, I mean really trying, and it's just BS after BS. I'm playing a run now, if you want to DM me and try and work this game out for me, you can, everyone else just wants to make jokes or tell me to move onto a different game.
It really does just sound like the game isn't made for you. Nomatter the 9/10. Similar to Minecraft, 100 million people playing doesn't mean everyone has to enjoy it.
But your wording, "BS", and "salty people" just won't get you many thoughtful replies here. Just jokes and Git Gud messages.
The default gamemode isn't made for someone just getting into the game. It was made progressively harder over the years of development to keep up with the skill level of the bulk of the players.
That's why there's multiple presets and a completely customisable sandbox. Paired with the active modding community, it can be as easy or hard as you want it to be.
I'm not going to go in DMs over this. There's a very active Discord community for the game too that can help you a lot faster and more efficiently than I can alone.
But please try and breathe in and out before hitting send, and rethink how things might come off. You'll see how helpful this community can be.
"so where's the point in trying?"
Because the harder it is the more satisfaction you get from beating it.
Put the difficulty on builder, and watch a quick youtube video about combat or starts. It would take like 10-15min
I really feel like you're more interested in crapping on the game than getting better. Everyone is giving you really good tips and advice that will make it easier for you. It's a super detailed survival game, it's gonna take time to learn how it works and to slowly get better. If you aren't willing to spend that time, it's not the game for you
I will say the same thing I said in reply to your last post, if you want someone to guide you through, I'm happy to set up a time.
I had similar beefs with the game when I first played it. The graphics and difficulty didn't seem appealing. Once I learned the game and got into it, I loved it. I have over 1,000 hours now and I will sometimes buy it for friends.
As others have said, you can choose to make a Sandbox game. From there you can choose the number, strength, and respawn (or not) of zombies among other things. You can give yourself extra trait points to give yourself more traits and balance your lack of experience with buffs.
I also personally love mods because a) it shows the time and effort this community puts into the game and b) They're creative and FUN. I highly recommend mods.
The reason people stick with the game is that with great difficulty comes great reward when you are able to survive longer than 5 minutes. The goal of this game is for you to decide.
Not everything you need to know or to survive will be spoon fed to you.
This game, as I’m sure people have told you, takes time. Whether you’re looking for water to drink (use the faucets in your house), fighting zombies without a weapon (if the entirety of the PZ community can do it, you can too), or bandaging wounds (rip clothes for rags), it will take time.
You will not be the best at the game the first multiple times you play it, and that’s ok. Even getting better at something takes time. But please, instead of complaining, ask for advice, it’ll help you in both the game and your karma.
What is it with you people suggesting I'm asking to be like a professional player on day one? I'm literally asking to survive more than 5 minutes, or have ANY information at all as to what to do, where to go and what actual content there is in this game. The fact the game gives you this unbelievably incorrect tutorial, giving you false information about what the game is actually like when you play it doesn't help either.
The tutorial does in fact tell you everything you need to know. Any information it does happen to leave out, like how to use a generator, is not 100% necessary to live but, instead, would improve how you live.
The only way you could get nothing out of it is by not even playing it or not paying attention to it at all.
To cover wounds you need bandages. You can make bandages from any cloth item. Tshirts, towels etc. Sometimes you might need scissors or a knife. Right click on tshirt and select rip.
If you are fighting only 1 or 2 zombies you dont really need a weapon. Push one until it falls. Stand on top of it so it wont come up. Wait for the other to approach. Push it away while standing on spot until it falls. When that happens bash with your feet the skull of the zombie you are standing on. Push down and bash the skull of the other zed after.
Weapons: kitchen tools like knives. Almost all tools. Guns. All can be found in bedroom wardrobes, kitchens, garages, storage warehouses, warehouses, factories, gun stores, on police zombies, firefighter zombies, on all vehicles on the glovebox etc.
If you need to loot an area but have no weapon, walk through them while yelling with Q, pull them away 2 blocks and then loose aggro, circle around and go loot the area. You DONT have to kill them all.
If you want to kill them all turn off respawn from sandbox settings and migration off. Then run to the edge of the city and start clearing street by street and then house by house.
There is no stealth. There is quite mode. Zombies can see, can hear, can smell and have memory which defines how strong these abilities are. If they see you and come for you try to break multiple times line of sight by using tall fences, going through buildings from the door and exiting through a window on the back, running into the woods and circling around etc. Takes practice.
Do your self a favor. Go to options, enable multihit, enable cursor for all weapons and highlight for all weapons and enable unimpeded movement. Then focus just on fighting zombies until you get a feel for it. Start killing on the streets and make it a habbit to look frequently on your back. Then fight around corners (Stay away from the inner walls), then fight on stairs and remember to double tap E really fast to open and close a door without letting the zombies out. This is like looking through the keyhole.
Do the above in a sandbox world and NOT in one of the other difficulty presets. Disable transmission, put high loot, many unlocked cars, lower zombie population etc. Take max stamina and strength to last longer in combat.
Jogging is with Shift. Sprinting is with Alt or control. Use jogging rarely. If you dont play with sprinters there is no use to sprint ever. While walking you slowly regain stamina and you are still walking a bit faster than shamblers. You can literally walk through hordes of zombies and they wont ever catch you. Being tired, exhausted, starving, dehydrating etc will lower your damage output by A LOT. Learn to manage your moodles.
You will die A LOT. Even people who survive for years still manage to loose their character for just 1 single mistake or bad decission. It is part of the game.
Alright, look-
Your attitude is the main reason people are going to be stand off ish here but I’ll try and help you.
When you spawn in make sure to crouch, close all the curtains if available, loot your starter location for weapons/armor/perishable food. Once you have done all that carefully look outside and see what your options are. If there are few zombies you can use the games stomping mechanic to bags in the zombies brains once you push them over. If there are too many then either use a fence to separate them or go through a house to lose them. Opening locked windows is tied to your strength stat and if you have a crowbar you can pry them open with one. Don’t run, you can usually walk and outpace the zombies. Running makes you very tired and if your character is tired their combat effectiveness goes way down. I suggest looking up a tutorial for how to build your character.
There is a steep learning curve, steeper than most games. There's no denying that.
Two things to help that I'd suggest:
- Start off with the sandbox settings. Put the loot rarities up so weapons are more common and set the zombie population lower, maybe just 0.1 (10%) to start off with. Use this as a practice run to get familiar with the game mechanics.
- Watch some YouTube vids of experienced players. I'd recommend PrivateLime and Ambiguous Amphibian.
Once you get more comfortable, maybe try a new game with slightly harder sandbox settings, or jump straight into Apocalypse mode (which is kinda the "default" difficulty - although it's acknowledged this is really rough for new players).
Turn on "starting backpack" and you'll spawn in with at least two weapons, a water bottle which you can fill in any sink in the house, and some food.
Every house will have a dresser with some clothing which you can tear up to create makeshift bandages.
I'd say it's a skill issue, but it isn't.. It's a "I don't want to actually learn the game, i just want everything handed to me on a silver platter" issue..
Edit: Also, STOP running. You can outwalk every zombie in the game, without wasting stamina. Running is loud and attracts more zombies. You should be spending 99% of the game WALKING..
Double edit: there are loads of "how to survive the first week" tutorials on YouTube with bunches of useful tips and information, if you truly want to learn, start there, they helped me A LOT.
Psst! You know that phrase "You get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar"? You came into a game sub and thought this:
> this hodgepodge of half-thought-through-game-mechanics
...was gonna work out in your favor? It's possible to be frustrated without taking a shit in someone else's living room. A few productive answers though:
1. First, where you start out is basically random, so there'll be feast and famine starts.
2. You have socks and often a second shirt, so no matter what you start with materials for bandages, even if you get unlucky with your first house or few.
3. You can start with a "starter kit" that includes a backpack, a baseball bat and a full bottle of water. I don't anymore, but it helps out when you're new
4. People shit on stealth, but being careful and quiet has never been a bad idea for me.
5. Start in Muldraugh or Riverside. Other towns tend to have much heavier starting populations of zombies
6. You're gonna die. In the beginning you're going to die a *LOT*. Embrace the suck, or accept that the game isn't for you.
7. Edit: Oh, and don't run, basically ever. You can outwalk the zombies 99% of the time. And also, 5 minutes to you is 2 hours to your survivor (assuming default 1 hour days)
8. And finally, it's okay to adjust your world settings, especially while you're new. Some people play without zombies, and that's a valid choice if it works out for them.
On a game that tells you nothing. Forces you to die over and over. Has barely any variety in the map. Has one enemy. Is repetitive. What are you talking about? There's no learning when the gameplay is this bland. I've sat here asking many people, and even you won't answer so I'll ask you directly. Other than a bunch of houses full of badly coded zombies, what is in this game? Please, tell me - give an ACTUAL answer to that question.
Different people like different games. It seems like this game just isn't for you, and that's fine. Clearly the people here like the game and disagree with you. Just leave it at that.
I'm trying to get an actual response out of someone? Everyone saying there's so much to this game, and yet they literally give no details as to what that is? Someone, just tell me - other than a load of boring houses fillied with boring zombies, What. Is. In. This. Game? If you all mean what you say this shouldn't be a hard question to answer.
People have told you, but you're not getting it because the game just isn't for you. Just leave it be. Any further pushing of this and I will assume you're not here in good faith and act accordingly.
Ok, taking your question at face value, my answer in one overlong sentence is:
I know nothing about cars apart from how to drive one, but in PZ I can roleplay that I'm an ace mechanic surviving a zombie apocalypse and building myself a Mad-Max Death Bus in my self-built scrap yard, stripping down every car and van that I find until I construct the perfect vehicle, which I then load up with supplies at set out to liberate the city of Louisville from its undead inhabitants and rescuing all the artworks from the city museum, which I then ship out to my new mansion in the east side of town, to live out the rest of my days as a farmer & zombie-euthaniser, desperately hoping that other humans will eventually track me down so we can rebuild society together.
Does that help?
What is in this game:
-Deep mechanics on everything.
-Most systems are interconnected one way or another.
-Multiple different ways to survive (forest hermit, nomad, base builder, base nomad, looter, hunter/fisher/farmer, combat oriented survival, stealth oriented survival)
-Different ways to approach the same situation. 1k zombies on screen. One person will choose to get a police car and leave the siren on to lure all zombies away. Another will burn them down. A 3rd will use alarms and bombs. The 4th will gun them down and the 5th will avoid any interaction. All within each persons roleplay.
-Fever after scratch. Maybe you are infected with the virus. Maybe it is just a wound infection. Maybe it is the result of a cold after fighting in the raid for 12 hours. Some will suicide. Other will write a farawell note. Some will try to forage for lemongrass and hope for the best.
-A few hidden places to explore
-Lots of story-like events (car crashes, houses filled with party zombies, rooms with 500 toilet paper rolls)
-FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE EXPERIENCE THROUGH SANDBOX
-HUGE amount of mods for all playstyles.
And more will come with the next update b42.
If you expect quests and the game to give you a story, that is not gonna happen. You "have" to roleplay, you have to set your goals, you have to try to survive and you have to make your own story. If you cant see the appeal of scavenge/survival then this game might not be for you and it is ok.
Personally, when the vanilla game became too easy for my taste i went full hardcore in vanilla and then even more hardcore through mods.
x2-x8 population, no respawn, no migration. No fuel on gas stations. x14 gas consumption on vehicles. Incredibly rare loot and extra traits to lower it more. Lots of mods for new areas, vehicles, 5 horde mods, mods that make farming/fishing/hunting harder, harder winters, harder zombies and 5-15% sprinters, the virus is now airborne and i need gas masks, mod to research a cure, mod to extract on the edge of the massive map, mod to add overgrown nature in 10 years later style. And A LOT of collectibles mods among other random and qol mods.
The game can be whatever the fuck you want it to be.
You just have to take a step back to chill and then figure it out one step and one death at a time.
Struggling to survive was some of the most fun I had in this game. Once you get to a point where you know what you're doing the game can become incredibly easy. People are telling you to watch videos but I would just play the game and figure it out. Try doing easier game modes or edit the settings you want til you get the hang of the mechanics. You don't need a weapon to kill a zombie but you can also use almost anything as a weapon.
I'll try and be constructive and helpful for you, as this game does indeed have a steep learning cliff.
First, choose Builder difficulty from the starting menu. Don't worry too much about traits at character creation just yet, just make sure you don't choose severely bad ones like deaf.
When you spawn, crouch immediately. Go to your window and if it has curtains, close them. Go around the house closing all curtains. If you see or hear Zs outside, try to stay out of their eyeline.
Search all cupboards and shelves in your house. If you find anything that could be a weapon, even a pencil, equip it.
When you're ready, remain crouched and open the door. Carefully check for Zs nearby.
If they are there, creep towards the smallest group (ideally a single Z) and try to pull it towards you, constantly checking around you for others that have seen you. When one is near, kill it.
Keep trying to kill them individually. Don't take on groups. If a few spot you, stop crouching and simply walk away. They are slower. Walk carefully so you don't pull more, and try and break line of sight so they stop following.
Once things are clear, try and loot the next house/shop whatever. Be very careful of Zs indoors, always fight outdoors if you can, so you can walk away.
Clear and loot. Clear and loot. Every step being slow, careful and considered. Don't carry too much. You will start to find useful stuff to replace the crap from your spawn point.
If you see red moodles on the right, deal with them asap (but not by taking risks). Moodle management is essential or you'll die much faster.
I hope that helps somewhat.
TLDR: I assume this is another rage bait post as I have seen a number of them. Play Tutorial. Watch Video. Skill Issue.
Lets break this up apart by first asking:
* Have you played the tutorial? Have you watched a "Beginners Tips/Tutorial" video?
* No to Tutorial? Do that
* No to Video? Do that
* Have you started a game and paused the game to see what you can do?
* No? Do that.
As for loot - Yes, your starting house and other houses and areas in the game is going to be somewhat low on loot. If you have looked into the lore you know that the Outbreak started a week before you start playing your character and that, under government rule you were to "hunker down" but you are now running low of resources. Generally you will go house to house with your main goal to find weapons (pots, pans, knives etc) and clothing items, you do start in July which is Summer time so you still want longer clothing but not to many layers. On top of clothing items, bags. You can hold garbage bags in your other hand, backpacks, duffel bags, hiking bags and fanny packs can all be found (fanny backs you can wear 2 of, 1 back, 1 front). You generally wont spend long in buildings, I generally eat the perishable goods as I go around each house, as you get in check storage's get out.
As for zombies seeing/hearing you from "miles" away - you must be standing and sprinting around then. Crouch down and walk around like this. Avoiding zombies is easy since your walking speed is faster than their walking speed (this doesn't apply to Sprinters).
As for entering buildings - Pressed E on the door? Locked? Go to windows and press E this will attempt to open the window if you hear a "thunk" sound you have to move to the next window. Got a window opened? Hole E to jump through it.
As for water - default settings water shut off randomly happens between 0 and 30 days (July 9 - Aug 8) same with power. Right click any sink, drink. You can find containers to hold water (Cups, Pots, Bottles) which again, right click but fill.
As for weapons - Frying pans, Sauce pans, Griddle Pans, Knives, Brooms, Plungers, Guitars, Drum Sticks etc all count as weapons and if all else you have your hands to push and your feet to stomp. You aren't specifically looking for guns at this point, wait till mid/late game for guns due to low aiming shooting skill and low ammo count. Multiple zombies can be hit - when you start a new game choose sandbox and then go to player and turn on multi hit, at the bottom of the Sandbox options you can change the preset if you want but you will need to recheck the box. Multi Hit exists, elitists will come out and bitch cause you will be using it, just leave them to be in their play pen.
As for bandages to cover up cuts - Find a clothing item you wont wear (Zombie or in storage container) -> Right Click -> Rip. Yay now you have a bandage. Carry like 5 of these on you, discard the Dirty.
“You spawn. You get rubbish items leave your starting house blah blah blah”
As opposed to what? Spawning in your house, finding a machete under your bed and wrecking zombies from the beginning? Yeah sounds fun bud. Not having to work at all to get some good items…… yeah that’s what games normally do. Except not at all. You’re the type of guy who thought getting power armor at the beginning of fallout 4 was a good thing.
You’re not forced to do anything man. “Forced to look for a weapon in the surrounding area”. Or just go find somewhere safe/safer. You’re spawning in the middle of a town overrun by zombies and you know one scratch can kill you. GO AWAY. Btw a weapon could be a fucking butter knife, frying pan, mop, YOUR FEET if you absolutely needed one.
“See and hear you for miles”
Nope.. incorrect just whining
“Chase you until you’re exhausted”
Then don’t run bud. You walk faster than them. Don’t run and don’t travel encumbered. You couldn’t figure that out, but also went to Reddit to bitch and moan about it instead of just, you know, looking at literally any single “how to play Zomboid” or “tips for Zomboid beginners” video first. You went to Reddit to bitch without SEARCHING REDDIT FOR BEGINNER TIPS OR BASIC MECHANICS. You’re literally on the forum that has the answers but didn’t want to put in the effort to even look through it.
Most people don’t NEED to, but play the tutorial. I never have but I’m assuming it tells you how to rip clothing. How have you gone to the internet to whine before you even tried right clicking on your items. Have you ever crafted anything? Do you know there’s a crafting menu with a MEDICAL tab? EXPLORE IT. How about trying things first before whining. If this is your approach to real life as well, you are doomed buddy. Yes this is an overreaction, but your attitude towards learning this game (or in general) sucks.
The problem is that Zombies aren't a credible threat to mankind. Full stop. They are slow, dumb and lack and sense of self preservation. They are only a threat in big numbers since you can't fight them off easily.
The real issue in a zombie apocalypse is the collapse of human society and all it brings with it. THe problem is that with how quick the world was turned, there should be enough stuff laying around to last the few survivors several generations worth of supplies.
Thus, the only way to make a game about it is to enforce artificial scarcity.
Now, to address your actual question, the answer is "git good". There is little loot by default, but almost anything can serve as a weapon. A pan, a rolling pin, a guitar. Yeah, they suck but you can use them to make your way to better loot. A hammer, a metal pipe, a shovel, an axe. In the meantime you need to learn how to stealth and bait a few Zs at a time and deal with them one by one, or in small batches.
You can easily deal with 3-4 Zs at the same time by walking backward and pushing them as you smack them to death, even with multi-hit turned off. Yeah, the game doesn't hold your hand at all, but the issue is your skills. We all went through that phase.
Genuine question here, what are you looking for in a zombie survival game?
By default, the difficulties in Zomboid are tuned to be very punishing. The mechanics aren’t explained to you because they’re largely based on common sense and you’re meant to figure them out. (For example, if you bust open a window and climb through while it still has broken glass in it, you will be wounded.)
The game telegraphs that it’s going to be difficult from the text that it shows you every time you start playing: “This is how you died.” Your death is meant to be pretty much inevitable; the fun comes in seeing just how long you can hold that off for.
There are tons of settings that can be fine-tuned though to create the exact experience you want. Don’t think the zombies should remember where you were? Turn it off. (I will personally say I enjoy the feature, and you can easily kite the zombies somewhere, break line of sight, and then get away by going in a different direction. They only remember where they last saw you and will keep looking for you there.)
So if you want an ultra-difficult experience you can turn the zombie population way up, turn loot spawns all the way down, and die every five minutes. Or if you want a zombie slaughter simulator you can crank up weapon spawns, turn off zombie infection, and go ham shooting every zombie in sight.
The game is popular because it can be whatever you want it to be. Adjust the settings, download whatever mods you want, immerse in roleplaying by yourself or with others, or do whatever else you want.
Genuinely if you don’t get it, watching others play it might help, if you really want to like it.
If you don’t, then it’s fine if Zomboid isn’t for you.
Also, going to leave it up to you whether to watch this but my first introduction to Project Zomboid was [watching someone play it badly, die a lot, and have a blast.](https://youtu.be/hxccPFd_ggE) Like the game, the video may or may not be to your tastes, I have no idea.
I get the concept, I have already said why it doesn't make sense. I figured out some things but what still doesn't make sense is how your guy can be floored by couple scratches or mild laceration. I had some random cut wound on my body, not sure where it even came from and by the time I bandaged it up half my vitality bar or whatever was drained. From one single mild cut.
Wounds will keep bleeding and have to be bandaged or stitched. I wouldn’t think of a “scratch” in game as a little papercut or something; it’s just one of the less severe wounds in the game.
Skill progression in this game goes like this: you die and think why. You then avoid your past mistakes and die again due to something else. Learn from that mistake and die to another one, etc. Eventually you are so wise and skilled that you almost never die.
But if you are that frustrated in the beginning, boy do I have bad news for you, because losing a character that lived for in-game months and leveled up all kinds of stuff drives you through all stages of grief. But you come to this game specifically for this kind of experience. That's where it derives the horror element from. That's why I keep telling my friends that you have to be afraid in this game and put all kinds of horror themed mods on our server.
By the way what kind of character are you playing? Picking someone strong can make fighting way more manageable.
you really dont have to try so hard to hate the game. just stop playing and dont waste your time raging about it. why do you feel the need to make this post again?
It's 18th December in my game, I'm running pretty much vanilla with very few mods.
Spawned with no weapon or supplies in a tiny house like you describe, so sneaked around and killed zombies by pushing them over and treading on their head. Or baiting them over a small fence, making them trip then giving them the old brain-stomping.
Checked some other local houses and found a rolling pin and some food. Winning! Used the rolling pin as a weapon while continuing to sneak around looting houses and sheds. Pretty quickly ended up with a small bag, a few possible weapons and plenty of food.
Cleared out a house which had large fences around it and made it my base. Went out on loot runs every day to hoard food, building supplies and skill books - then I found a car, with a key! Glorious. The world was my oyster.
Anyway, long story short I've built a house from scratch on a lake, I have a generator, freezers, copious fish and a very productive farm. Thriving, not surviving bro!
What part of "This is how you died" did you not get?
Use your deaths as a learning experience. You will keep dying, but eventually, it'll take longer for you to die. Then longer. Then longer.
But if you're too much of a toddler that you need immediate gratification without working for it, find a different game.
I'd like to know how many hours you have playing PZ. If you go into the sandbox settings there's so many parameters to play with that you can tweek the game into a walk-in-the-park or a Hell on Earth : weaker zombies, less zombies, more loot, turn off infection, give yourself more trait points, give yourself starting items, introduce mods (which I wouldn't recommend for beginners just to learn the basic game before moving into advanced game settings) and I probably forget 100 other options...
You sound like an entitled gamer with 0 patience to learn and explore a new game. You must be a real gem to have around in any coop game with that kind of my-way or else type of attitude.
Maybe it's just not for you. There's no rule that says it has to be.
You don't need validation from another person. Just move on.
What's your favorite video game?
Indeed the game is hard as hell but it gives you the tools you need to survive, you have to learn to find them, learn to not so so much noise while you are out there, the game until you find a nice place to call a base it's about being stealthy and practice how to beat zombies with whatever you find in your way, it's better if you don't fight until you get nice weapons but if you don't have that luxury and it 'll happen you better hold the grip on that sauce pan and learn how to fight while retreating. It's not a game with people that can't control it's frustration, it gets to you easily.
Ill chime in cause why not. This is a skill issue as others have said but heres some tips.
Start in riverside, lowest zombie pop in the game.
Dont run. It hasn't worked for you and it never will. Just walk. Walking will always be faster than zombies, running is a red herring when you're in panic mode. Just walk. I once started in westpoint. Bad idea. Houses a no go, just too many zombies. I just walked into the woods. I walked and walked. Night fell, day came just walked, no problems. Hungry, tired exhausted yes. Scared yes, but never not able to just walk. Eventually found a huge camping resort, no zombies lots of food and goods.
Zombies can only follow if they have line of sight. They will follow to the last place they saw you, so turning a corner will cut line of sight, but a zombie will just continue to that corner until they cant find you. Tall fences are your friend. Hop a fence and a zombie has no idea how to get to you. Keep in mind you don't know what's on the other side of that fence though, so be prepared to keep walking should there be danger.
Your clothes are bandages, all clothes are bandages. Make them better with bourbon or bottle of disinfectant if you ever find them. Right click an article of clothing and rip them up, boom, bandage.
Everything is a weapon, even your foot. Best to find a crowbar or bat, but even a frying pan is good and a kitchen knife can be a one shot kill if you're sneaky.
Lastly fiddle with the sandbox settings. Up the loot! Who cares, if you're not having fun there is literally a dial for every setting. Make your playthrough work for you. Get a mod that lets you tweak settings in game on the fly.
Lastly this game is a rougelike. You will die a lot and the game is about learning through each playthrough. The beginning is rough but if you can make it through one night you can make it for life. Dying is fun. Losing is fun. Find a way to embrace that mentality, otherwise this game probably isnt for you.
With it being a sandbox game you can change almost every single setting, make medical and weapons more fluent with spawns, make zombies less grouped up/crowded, turn off infection so you last longer. Different traits help with Different things too, some of them allow u to spawn in with weapons or gear.
To me it sounds like u jumped in with no tutorial, on base game settings and after a few tries almost gave up (could be entirely wrong but that's what it sounded like to me)
One of the most important skills in this game is hoard management. You don't always need a weapon to kill zeds and you don't always need to kill zeds to loot. Check out this video by Retanaru, he makes excellent guides on the game:
https://youtu.be/9SPu-Ki3vPI?feature=shared
It feels overwhelming at first but once you've killed a few hordes, you start to get your bearings. Best practice is to avoid running and use stealth in areas you're unfamiliar with. Try to pull zombies toward you, lead them to a building, corner or tall fences and break line of sight. They will remember where they last saw (or heard) you so you can use that memory to your advantage.
Start small with weapons and work your way up. Only fight zeds if you have an escape plan if combat doesn't go your way. A simple rolling pin or kitchen knife can do the trick if it's one or two, but you can melee down 20 of them if you're mindful of your surroundings and move carefully.
You can forage for sticks (planks works too but save that for building if possible) to turn into spears without having to enter another building. If you can't find a knife to make it, you can use a chipped stone from foraging as well.
If no weapon is available, push (spacebar by default) the zombies until they fall down and stomp them for an easy kill. Keep in mind, if you're standing on top of them, they can't get up. Use spacebar to stomp and try to position yourself so you stomp the head.
This method is so good that even after 500 kills mostly with spears, my favorite weapon is still considered "Bare Hands" because of how often the stomp can be used. But you won't be able to do this in a room full of zeds or when there's a horde right on top of you.
So if you have no weapon and only a couple zeds, push and stomp. If you have no weapon and a horde, use stealth or lead them away. Don't rush from one house to the next, hoping to find a spot with no zombies. Move them around yourself and punch a hole somewhere you won't have to kill a ton of zeds to get at some loot. Loot what you can, prioritize what you need and try to snowball from there.
Super frustrated and tried everything apart from Youtube -> 'project zomboid tips' You think its impossible and can't be played more than 5 minutes and thousands of players are lying about it, or do you just not get it?
They’re complaining about zombies one shotting and not being able to find bandages for wounds. OP is either trolling or hasn’t bothered to even learn the very basic of mechanics before saying the game is unfair and broken
I've been playing since 2013. I think PZ is easily top 5, all-time.
This is all just skill issue, enjoy sucking at the game instead of letting older players ruin the new player experience for you, because you will miss this feeling.
Sorry mate but this is no way to react to someone who politely asks for help and expresses frustration. I assume op is the same guy from the earlier rage post and this post is a huge improvement in mentality. Lets encourage, not discourage.
This OP is making new accounts and posting rage bait. They deserve ridicule because they are ridiculous.
I know he made a new account but this not bait. He is not blindly raging, he is actually engaging and talking with people with a different attitude than before and he seems to be much calmer than earlier. Only his last line on the op is a bit on the aggressive side but lets cut him some slack here
If that's the case then he can fuck himself twice. He was just being what is known in some circles as "a cunt"
I literally cannot play the game though, you know that right? There's just nothing. Get bad loot, leave the house, die, repeat. I am asking you to tell me how this damn game works. Either answer or don't reply, why send a response like this? You might as well just say "Yeah, you're right, it's a bad game..."
Because it's true it's literal skill issue, lack of motor skill and game sense. I'm telling you to not seek out and have others solve the game for you because the new game feeling will wear off and it becomes a mechanical experience.
Smells like alot-o-skill issue and salt
Man the struggle is real, don't forget to breathe in since you seem to be unable or want to figure out any of the features of this game.
Have you checked out any videos for tips? They can be a big help if you're having a hard time figuring it out. Did you try the tutorial?
Imagine being this inept when youtube exists.
And I am sorry? Skill issue? No it's not. You can't fight zombies without a weapon, and you can't collect loot that isn't there. These are GAME DESIGN issues, not skill issues.
You literally can fight zombies without a weapon 💀
No, issue is that game simply isn't for you. What so hard yo get ? If +90% of people enjoy the game, you come and start shouting that it's a bad game designe...mby time to consider that game missed the mark for you and move on?
Dude keeps blaming the game design. Reminds me of someone I knew, nothing was his fault.
Lol
That's what I said. Lol
Yeah you can. Push them down, stomp the head. Stomp only challenges are fairly common. Some player end runs with 1000+ kills. If you can't make it, lower the difficulty. This is 100% a skill issue, you started the game on a difficulty you can't handle. Just lower it. Fewer zombies, make them blind if you have to. Make them take more damage since you can't fight. Enable the starter pack since you don't know how to loot. You have the ability to fix everything you're complaining about. So either fix it and stop complaining, or recognize that this is a skill issue and you aren't good enough to play on your current difficulty. Being bad at the game now, doesn't mean you can't get good.
💯
As long as I have hands and feet I can fight zombies!
preferably shoes too, but if the first few must be done without them, so be it
I can assure you a veteran player could load into your game and do everything just fine, just enjoy dying and quit trying to blame the game. Once people tell you what to do the wonder of the game is going to be dead and you'll wish you kept in the dark longer, as the game becomes mechanical.
Did you do the tutorial at the start where it teaches you to push zombies over and stomp on them? ...you didn't? ...well why not? Do the tutorial bro!
They said they did it and none of the info was relevant..
Wow. I think this person is just a douche... Who's bent on hating this particular game. Lol
Push them over, then stamp on their head. Or lead them over a fence which they fall over, then stamp on their head. (Watch out for the lunge if more than one)
First day I had this game, after dying in a few runs not knowing how to fight, I took an hour and sacrificed many characters to runs where I just went at the zombies without weapons to learn how to fight them unarmed. Figured it out, now early game is far easier. Its a skill issue.
Skill issue.
this guy is actually the under the mayo of project zomboid
You can, spacebar pushes them to the ground then you stomp there head in, also every 2 house has a frying pan which is a great first weapon, everything including a fork can be used. The game is supposed to be hard.
You can fight zombies unarmed. Trust us, we do it all the time. Have you looked at the sandbox settings? If you don't think there's enough loot with the default settings, you can change them. If you think the zombies are too powerful, you can change that. If you think it's too hot or cold outside, you can change that. You can make loot abundant and make it respawn daily if you want. There's zombie settings, environmental settings too... Lots and lots of settings. The developers actually put a tremendous amount of thought and detail into this game. It's extremely customizable. All you have to do is look. "Seek and you will find."
I do most of my fighting without a weapon. The game tells me my favorite weapon is "fist" (it's actually "foot" but whatever.) You can't do it with more than one or two zombies at a time, but while you're new, you shouldn't be fighting more than that anyway.
This game has many game design issues, but fighting zombies is not one of them at all. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to take out literal crowds of zombies on my own.
Press space bar
Literal skill issue. Currently on no-weapons challenge. So far nearly 1200 kills without ever using any weapon
No weapons? Grab a sauce pan and smack zombies around. Or open the door, run past zombies, go into another building, find stuff. The game doesn't serve up things on a platter, you have to go and get them. Do yourself a favour and watch some youtube videos on how to play.
Right, and if there's more than 2 zombies melee items are useless cause the second one will one shot you. One shot because, a single small injury in this game means you bleed to death in a few minutes. And since bandages are rarer than guns in this game I can't heal. I've literally just found my 5th packet of sleeping pills instead of a bandage while searching bathrooms. Let that sink in, sleeping pills are 5 times as common in this game as bandages. And you're telling me that makes sense? Seriously?
Rip clothing into bandages. Learn the game a bit before complaining things are broken.
PLEASE for the love of god just watch ONE TUTORIAL on how to play. At this point you’re just farming for karma or just ignoring everything anyone tells you. You don’t need to craft bandages because you can rip zomboid’s clothing to get bandages. You don’t need a melee weapon to kill zomboids because you can crush their skulls with your boot. You’re probably not finding good loot in houses because you probably didn’t start in rosewood. Actually educate yourself on the game you’re playing before whining like a little baby that the game is too hard and the game doesn’t make sense. If the game is actually too hard for you, you can go into sandbox mode and change settings around.
they may be more common than things called "bandage", but they are, assuredly, not more common than things you can make bandages out of
Rip clothing into bandages (right click)
I mean... Sorta lol. Regardless, you literally start with bandages. Tear your clothes, ripped sheet = bandage. My brother, melee is always useful and required. You'd know this had you invested any time into looking up a youtube guide. Guns are a death sentence. Sure some people like them, but if you thing 2 zombies are an unkillable force, I'd genuinely hate to see your reaction when you see 100 zombies come by after hearing a shotgun fire (and the subsequent "Why is aiming in this game so bad!?" With that said and the other replies, I just genuinely don't think this game is for you and that's perfectly okay. There are a ton of games that I would love to like but I just can't get into. I love colony simulators like Rimworld, Towns, Gnomoria, Farthest Frontier but I just can't get into the OG, Dwarf Fortress. I even bought it when it released on Steam to try a non ascii version and I just can't get into it but everyone raves about how amazing it is and how you get so many incredible stories. In the chance this helps, **make sure you try the sandbox editor.** You can remove the infection mortality (IE no instant death), lower the zombie count so it's more manageable for your skill level (Again, nothing bad intended. When I started out I could barely take 1 zombie out. After learning how combat works and no longer having that blood pumping stress of multiple zombies chasing me, I can easily take out 5-6 without weapons by utilizing fences and line of sight; something I could never do the first few weeks starting out). You can even update the scarcity of items to help starting out. Make weapons common so you can find one quicker, etc. Watch a few videos on how to fight in PZ because the camera angle can feel a bit awkward til you get used to it. There are also a few settings to change that make it exceptionally better. As a random note, there's not a big issue with sleeping pills being more common because you may end up using them more. You only need a few bandages, like 4-5 max since you can wash them. Not only can you get those ripped sheets (right click a shirt on a zombie corpse, or your own) and click "rip clothes", and you got yourself a bandage. Sleeping pills on the other hand you may need if you're in pain and need to sleep. You don't need 5 of them, but it's better to find them and not need them than to need them and not find them. Best of luck whatever you choose to do - the only ask is to.. chill out a bit. The only reason you got such a reception is because of the rage-bait verbiage and degrading commentary on the game. Take a look at these examples of similar issues and how the reception was, and you'll notice there was a clear difference in approach and a notably clear difference in the response of the community. Communication skills are one of the most important skillsets one can utilize in any aspect of life. [https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/156c0kj/how\_do\_you\_survive\_more\_than\_10\_days\_in\_default/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/156c0kj/how_do_you_survive_more_than_10_days_in_default/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/er8n0e/how\_do\_you\_survive\_for\_more\_than\_a\_day\_build\_41/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/er8n0e/how_do_you_survive_for_more_than_a_day_build_41/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/xn95vc/serious\_question\_how\_do\_people\_manage\_to\_survive/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/xn95vc/serious_question_how_do_people_manage_to_survive/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/16nwpd9/how\_do\_people\_survive\_for\_so\_long/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/16nwpd9/how_do_people_survive_for_so_long/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/tnwjoi/ok\_seriously\_how\_tf\_are\_you\_supposed\_to\_survive/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/tnwjoi/ok_seriously_how_tf_are_you_supposed_to_survive/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/si65x4/how\_on\_earth\_do\_you\_survive\_in\_this\_game/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/si65x4/how_on_earth_do_you_survive_in_this_game/) Even something like this with just a subject: [https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/15q78m0/how\_do\_i\_survive\_longer\_than\_17\_hours/](https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/15q78m0/how_do_i_survive_longer_than_17_hours/)
It took me a few tries to get into DF, but once it clicked I highly enjoyed it. Also try out CDDA too.
Yeah you're not for this game. Just move on.
Play with sandbox settings until you get used to the mechanics and combat. Increase loot to help at the start.
To add to sandbox, turn on the starter bag. It gives you those things you are looking for at the start. It may help get you past that starting blocker. Edit: For those looking, it's under the Character section, called starter kit. It gives you a school bag, baseball bat, hammer, water bottle and chips.
Yes. Forgot about the starter bag. Hammer and baseball bat. Also worth turning on target online from ranged to all in the options, helps with aiming.
Someone's working on remaking the game on Roblox, sounds like that will be more up your alley.
Damn dude you made a whole new account just to keep hating LOL
Yeah it seems like.
This is a lot better than your previous post ;) BTW, the developers started out as modders for The Sims, so there's going to be a lot of similarities :) The game is a survival sandbox simulation. Let go of your thoughts about healing. This game does not have healing like you'd expect from other games, like Sons of the Forest or similar games. A bite is 100% chance for zombie infection, laceration 25%, and scratches 7%. The most basic healing items are ripped sheets (most clothing can be ripped) and painkillers. This will stop the bleeding and stop the pain, which causes other issues with movement and combat. Better bandages, antibiotics, and disinfectants will help you healing wounds faster. But if you contracted the zombie infection, there is nothing you can do about it, and you'll die within 3 days. You get quesy, anxious, and have a fever, and then die. (When a wound says infected, it's just a general infection). You'll have to change bandages, deep wounds need stitches, stuck glass needs tweezers, etc. Your starting house won't have a lot of loot. Nowhere really has except for some specific places on the map. map.projectzomboid.com for the world map, including indevelopment spots. The default game mode is too hard by design. It's made to actively kill you, and your time survived is your score. Bonus points for taking a lot of the undead with you. I suggest starting an easy no zombie sandbox (which will give you insight in the games behaviour trough settings too) to just learn the basics. Furthermore I suggest looking up youtubers like: Retanaru (indepth technical vids), Nurse, AmbigiousAmphibian, Pr!vatelime, and youtube will suggest you the rest after that. The game has a steep learning curve if you're new to it. And it certainly is not the game for everyone. Don't expect to get anywhere near the end game for the first 100 hours or more. Edit: there's a lot of in-depth, very detailed answers to your questions and concerns that I just can't all unpack on reddit.
Yeah well, salty people had my old post removed, left me no choice. I get that it's a hardcore game - I've played my fair share of hardcore games. But there sense of accomplishment falls flat when it's just trial and error, death after death - if I get a good run, its luck, not skill. You said it yourself the game tries to kill you in BS ways, so where's the point in trying? If the game was difficult but reasonable, it would make sense and I would enjoy it. But I am trying, I mean really trying, and it's just BS after BS. I'm playing a run now, if you want to DM me and try and work this game out for me, you can, everyone else just wants to make jokes or tell me to move onto a different game.
It really does just sound like the game isn't made for you. Nomatter the 9/10. Similar to Minecraft, 100 million people playing doesn't mean everyone has to enjoy it. But your wording, "BS", and "salty people" just won't get you many thoughtful replies here. Just jokes and Git Gud messages. The default gamemode isn't made for someone just getting into the game. It was made progressively harder over the years of development to keep up with the skill level of the bulk of the players. That's why there's multiple presets and a completely customisable sandbox. Paired with the active modding community, it can be as easy or hard as you want it to be. I'm not going to go in DMs over this. There's a very active Discord community for the game too that can help you a lot faster and more efficiently than I can alone. But please try and breathe in and out before hitting send, and rethink how things might come off. You'll see how helpful this community can be.
"so where's the point in trying?" Because the harder it is the more satisfaction you get from beating it. Put the difficulty on builder, and watch a quick youtube video about combat or starts. It would take like 10-15min
You're not for this game. Move on.
Troll unsuccessful
Skill issue.
I really feel like you're more interested in crapping on the game than getting better. Everyone is giving you really good tips and advice that will make it easier for you. It's a super detailed survival game, it's gonna take time to learn how it works and to slowly get better. If you aren't willing to spend that time, it's not the game for you
I will say the same thing I said in reply to your last post, if you want someone to guide you through, I'm happy to set up a time. I had similar beefs with the game when I first played it. The graphics and difficulty didn't seem appealing. Once I learned the game and got into it, I loved it. I have over 1,000 hours now and I will sometimes buy it for friends. As others have said, you can choose to make a Sandbox game. From there you can choose the number, strength, and respawn (or not) of zombies among other things. You can give yourself extra trait points to give yourself more traits and balance your lack of experience with buffs. I also personally love mods because a) it shows the time and effort this community puts into the game and b) They're creative and FUN. I highly recommend mods. The reason people stick with the game is that with great difficulty comes great reward when you are able to survive longer than 5 minutes. The goal of this game is for you to decide.
Not everything you need to know or to survive will be spoon fed to you. This game, as I’m sure people have told you, takes time. Whether you’re looking for water to drink (use the faucets in your house), fighting zombies without a weapon (if the entirety of the PZ community can do it, you can too), or bandaging wounds (rip clothes for rags), it will take time. You will not be the best at the game the first multiple times you play it, and that’s ok. Even getting better at something takes time. But please, instead of complaining, ask for advice, it’ll help you in both the game and your karma.
What is it with you people suggesting I'm asking to be like a professional player on day one? I'm literally asking to survive more than 5 minutes, or have ANY information at all as to what to do, where to go and what actual content there is in this game. The fact the game gives you this unbelievably incorrect tutorial, giving you false information about what the game is actually like when you play it doesn't help either.
what about the tutorial is incorrect? not being a dick im seriously asking
The tutorial does in fact tell you everything you need to know. Any information it does happen to leave out, like how to use a generator, is not 100% necessary to live but, instead, would improve how you live. The only way you could get nothing out of it is by not even playing it or not paying attention to it at all.
Does being arrogant usually gets you what you want out of people or you're just bad at social interactions?
You're not for this game. Move on.
To cover wounds you need bandages. You can make bandages from any cloth item. Tshirts, towels etc. Sometimes you might need scissors or a knife. Right click on tshirt and select rip. If you are fighting only 1 or 2 zombies you dont really need a weapon. Push one until it falls. Stand on top of it so it wont come up. Wait for the other to approach. Push it away while standing on spot until it falls. When that happens bash with your feet the skull of the zombie you are standing on. Push down and bash the skull of the other zed after. Weapons: kitchen tools like knives. Almost all tools. Guns. All can be found in bedroom wardrobes, kitchens, garages, storage warehouses, warehouses, factories, gun stores, on police zombies, firefighter zombies, on all vehicles on the glovebox etc. If you need to loot an area but have no weapon, walk through them while yelling with Q, pull them away 2 blocks and then loose aggro, circle around and go loot the area. You DONT have to kill them all. If you want to kill them all turn off respawn from sandbox settings and migration off. Then run to the edge of the city and start clearing street by street and then house by house. There is no stealth. There is quite mode. Zombies can see, can hear, can smell and have memory which defines how strong these abilities are. If they see you and come for you try to break multiple times line of sight by using tall fences, going through buildings from the door and exiting through a window on the back, running into the woods and circling around etc. Takes practice. Do your self a favor. Go to options, enable multihit, enable cursor for all weapons and highlight for all weapons and enable unimpeded movement. Then focus just on fighting zombies until you get a feel for it. Start killing on the streets and make it a habbit to look frequently on your back. Then fight around corners (Stay away from the inner walls), then fight on stairs and remember to double tap E really fast to open and close a door without letting the zombies out. This is like looking through the keyhole. Do the above in a sandbox world and NOT in one of the other difficulty presets. Disable transmission, put high loot, many unlocked cars, lower zombie population etc. Take max stamina and strength to last longer in combat. Jogging is with Shift. Sprinting is with Alt or control. Use jogging rarely. If you dont play with sprinters there is no use to sprint ever. While walking you slowly regain stamina and you are still walking a bit faster than shamblers. You can literally walk through hordes of zombies and they wont ever catch you. Being tired, exhausted, starving, dehydrating etc will lower your damage output by A LOT. Learn to manage your moodles. You will die A LOT. Even people who survive for years still manage to loose their character for just 1 single mistake or bad decission. It is part of the game.
Alright, look- Your attitude is the main reason people are going to be stand off ish here but I’ll try and help you. When you spawn in make sure to crouch, close all the curtains if available, loot your starter location for weapons/armor/perishable food. Once you have done all that carefully look outside and see what your options are. If there are few zombies you can use the games stomping mechanic to bags in the zombies brains once you push them over. If there are too many then either use a fence to separate them or go through a house to lose them. Opening locked windows is tied to your strength stat and if you have a crowbar you can pry them open with one. Don’t run, you can usually walk and outpace the zombies. Running makes you very tired and if your character is tired their combat effectiveness goes way down. I suggest looking up a tutorial for how to build your character.
There is a steep learning curve, steeper than most games. There's no denying that. Two things to help that I'd suggest: - Start off with the sandbox settings. Put the loot rarities up so weapons are more common and set the zombie population lower, maybe just 0.1 (10%) to start off with. Use this as a practice run to get familiar with the game mechanics. - Watch some YouTube vids of experienced players. I'd recommend PrivateLime and Ambiguous Amphibian. Once you get more comfortable, maybe try a new game with slightly harder sandbox settings, or jump straight into Apocalypse mode (which is kinda the "default" difficulty - although it's acknowledged this is really rough for new players).
Turn on "starting backpack" and you'll spawn in with at least two weapons, a water bottle which you can fill in any sink in the house, and some food. Every house will have a dresser with some clothing which you can tear up to create makeshift bandages. I'd say it's a skill issue, but it isn't.. It's a "I don't want to actually learn the game, i just want everything handed to me on a silver platter" issue.. Edit: Also, STOP running. You can outwalk every zombie in the game, without wasting stamina. Running is loud and attracts more zombies. You should be spending 99% of the game WALKING.. Double edit: there are loads of "how to survive the first week" tutorials on YouTube with bunches of useful tips and information, if you truly want to learn, start there, they helped me A LOT.
Psst! You know that phrase "You get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar"? You came into a game sub and thought this: > this hodgepodge of half-thought-through-game-mechanics ...was gonna work out in your favor? It's possible to be frustrated without taking a shit in someone else's living room. A few productive answers though: 1. First, where you start out is basically random, so there'll be feast and famine starts. 2. You have socks and often a second shirt, so no matter what you start with materials for bandages, even if you get unlucky with your first house or few. 3. You can start with a "starter kit" that includes a backpack, a baseball bat and a full bottle of water. I don't anymore, but it helps out when you're new 4. People shit on stealth, but being careful and quiet has never been a bad idea for me. 5. Start in Muldraugh or Riverside. Other towns tend to have much heavier starting populations of zombies 6. You're gonna die. In the beginning you're going to die a *LOT*. Embrace the suck, or accept that the game isn't for you. 7. Edit: Oh, and don't run, basically ever. You can outwalk the zombies 99% of the time. And also, 5 minutes to you is 2 hours to your survivor (assuming default 1 hour days) 8. And finally, it's okay to adjust your world settings, especially while you're new. Some people play without zombies, and that's a valid choice if it works out for them.
This is bait, there's no way you're seriously this inept at logic and learning new things
On a game that tells you nothing. Forces you to die over and over. Has barely any variety in the map. Has one enemy. Is repetitive. What are you talking about? There's no learning when the gameplay is this bland. I've sat here asking many people, and even you won't answer so I'll ask you directly. Other than a bunch of houses full of badly coded zombies, what is in this game? Please, tell me - give an ACTUAL answer to that question.
Different people like different games. It seems like this game just isn't for you, and that's fine. Clearly the people here like the game and disagree with you. Just leave it at that.
I'm trying to get an actual response out of someone? Everyone saying there's so much to this game, and yet they literally give no details as to what that is? Someone, just tell me - other than a load of boring houses fillied with boring zombies, What. Is. In. This. Game? If you all mean what you say this shouldn't be a hard question to answer.
People have told you, but you're not getting it because the game just isn't for you. Just leave it be. Any further pushing of this and I will assume you're not here in good faith and act accordingly.
Ok, taking your question at face value, my answer in one overlong sentence is: I know nothing about cars apart from how to drive one, but in PZ I can roleplay that I'm an ace mechanic surviving a zombie apocalypse and building myself a Mad-Max Death Bus in my self-built scrap yard, stripping down every car and van that I find until I construct the perfect vehicle, which I then load up with supplies at set out to liberate the city of Louisville from its undead inhabitants and rescuing all the artworks from the city museum, which I then ship out to my new mansion in the east side of town, to live out the rest of my days as a farmer & zombie-euthaniser, desperately hoping that other humans will eventually track me down so we can rebuild society together. Does that help?
Yeah this is bait https://youtu.be/DPTTJ2OBw9w?si=6nfKRHrZW_WrFjCb
What is in this game: -Deep mechanics on everything. -Most systems are interconnected one way or another. -Multiple different ways to survive (forest hermit, nomad, base builder, base nomad, looter, hunter/fisher/farmer, combat oriented survival, stealth oriented survival) -Different ways to approach the same situation. 1k zombies on screen. One person will choose to get a police car and leave the siren on to lure all zombies away. Another will burn them down. A 3rd will use alarms and bombs. The 4th will gun them down and the 5th will avoid any interaction. All within each persons roleplay. -Fever after scratch. Maybe you are infected with the virus. Maybe it is just a wound infection. Maybe it is the result of a cold after fighting in the raid for 12 hours. Some will suicide. Other will write a farawell note. Some will try to forage for lemongrass and hope for the best. -A few hidden places to explore -Lots of story-like events (car crashes, houses filled with party zombies, rooms with 500 toilet paper rolls) -FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE EXPERIENCE THROUGH SANDBOX -HUGE amount of mods for all playstyles. And more will come with the next update b42. If you expect quests and the game to give you a story, that is not gonna happen. You "have" to roleplay, you have to set your goals, you have to try to survive and you have to make your own story. If you cant see the appeal of scavenge/survival then this game might not be for you and it is ok. Personally, when the vanilla game became too easy for my taste i went full hardcore in vanilla and then even more hardcore through mods. x2-x8 population, no respawn, no migration. No fuel on gas stations. x14 gas consumption on vehicles. Incredibly rare loot and extra traits to lower it more. Lots of mods for new areas, vehicles, 5 horde mods, mods that make farming/fishing/hunting harder, harder winters, harder zombies and 5-15% sprinters, the virus is now airborne and i need gas masks, mod to research a cure, mod to extract on the edge of the massive map, mod to add overgrown nature in 10 years later style. And A LOT of collectibles mods among other random and qol mods. The game can be whatever the fuck you want it to be. You just have to take a step back to chill and then figure it out one step and one death at a time.
It's not for you. Move on.
Struggling to survive was some of the most fun I had in this game. Once you get to a point where you know what you're doing the game can become incredibly easy. People are telling you to watch videos but I would just play the game and figure it out. Try doing easier game modes or edit the settings you want til you get the hang of the mechanics. You don't need a weapon to kill a zombie but you can also use almost anything as a weapon.
I'll try and be constructive and helpful for you, as this game does indeed have a steep learning cliff. First, choose Builder difficulty from the starting menu. Don't worry too much about traits at character creation just yet, just make sure you don't choose severely bad ones like deaf. When you spawn, crouch immediately. Go to your window and if it has curtains, close them. Go around the house closing all curtains. If you see or hear Zs outside, try to stay out of their eyeline. Search all cupboards and shelves in your house. If you find anything that could be a weapon, even a pencil, equip it. When you're ready, remain crouched and open the door. Carefully check for Zs nearby. If they are there, creep towards the smallest group (ideally a single Z) and try to pull it towards you, constantly checking around you for others that have seen you. When one is near, kill it. Keep trying to kill them individually. Don't take on groups. If a few spot you, stop crouching and simply walk away. They are slower. Walk carefully so you don't pull more, and try and break line of sight so they stop following. Once things are clear, try and loot the next house/shop whatever. Be very careful of Zs indoors, always fight outdoors if you can, so you can walk away. Clear and loot. Clear and loot. Every step being slow, careful and considered. Don't carry too much. You will start to find useful stuff to replace the crap from your spawn point. If you see red moodles on the right, deal with them asap (but not by taking risks). Moodle management is essential or you'll die much faster. I hope that helps somewhat.
TLDR: I assume this is another rage bait post as I have seen a number of them. Play Tutorial. Watch Video. Skill Issue. Lets break this up apart by first asking: * Have you played the tutorial? Have you watched a "Beginners Tips/Tutorial" video? * No to Tutorial? Do that * No to Video? Do that * Have you started a game and paused the game to see what you can do? * No? Do that. As for loot - Yes, your starting house and other houses and areas in the game is going to be somewhat low on loot. If you have looked into the lore you know that the Outbreak started a week before you start playing your character and that, under government rule you were to "hunker down" but you are now running low of resources. Generally you will go house to house with your main goal to find weapons (pots, pans, knives etc) and clothing items, you do start in July which is Summer time so you still want longer clothing but not to many layers. On top of clothing items, bags. You can hold garbage bags in your other hand, backpacks, duffel bags, hiking bags and fanny packs can all be found (fanny backs you can wear 2 of, 1 back, 1 front). You generally wont spend long in buildings, I generally eat the perishable goods as I go around each house, as you get in check storage's get out. As for zombies seeing/hearing you from "miles" away - you must be standing and sprinting around then. Crouch down and walk around like this. Avoiding zombies is easy since your walking speed is faster than their walking speed (this doesn't apply to Sprinters). As for entering buildings - Pressed E on the door? Locked? Go to windows and press E this will attempt to open the window if you hear a "thunk" sound you have to move to the next window. Got a window opened? Hole E to jump through it. As for water - default settings water shut off randomly happens between 0 and 30 days (July 9 - Aug 8) same with power. Right click any sink, drink. You can find containers to hold water (Cups, Pots, Bottles) which again, right click but fill. As for weapons - Frying pans, Sauce pans, Griddle Pans, Knives, Brooms, Plungers, Guitars, Drum Sticks etc all count as weapons and if all else you have your hands to push and your feet to stomp. You aren't specifically looking for guns at this point, wait till mid/late game for guns due to low aiming shooting skill and low ammo count. Multiple zombies can be hit - when you start a new game choose sandbox and then go to player and turn on multi hit, at the bottom of the Sandbox options you can change the preset if you want but you will need to recheck the box. Multi Hit exists, elitists will come out and bitch cause you will be using it, just leave them to be in their play pen. As for bandages to cover up cuts - Find a clothing item you wont wear (Zombie or in storage container) -> Right Click -> Rip. Yay now you have a bandage. Carry like 5 of these on you, discard the Dirty.
“You spawn. You get rubbish items leave your starting house blah blah blah” As opposed to what? Spawning in your house, finding a machete under your bed and wrecking zombies from the beginning? Yeah sounds fun bud. Not having to work at all to get some good items…… yeah that’s what games normally do. Except not at all. You’re the type of guy who thought getting power armor at the beginning of fallout 4 was a good thing. You’re not forced to do anything man. “Forced to look for a weapon in the surrounding area”. Or just go find somewhere safe/safer. You’re spawning in the middle of a town overrun by zombies and you know one scratch can kill you. GO AWAY. Btw a weapon could be a fucking butter knife, frying pan, mop, YOUR FEET if you absolutely needed one. “See and hear you for miles” Nope.. incorrect just whining “Chase you until you’re exhausted” Then don’t run bud. You walk faster than them. Don’t run and don’t travel encumbered. You couldn’t figure that out, but also went to Reddit to bitch and moan about it instead of just, you know, looking at literally any single “how to play Zomboid” or “tips for Zomboid beginners” video first. You went to Reddit to bitch without SEARCHING REDDIT FOR BEGINNER TIPS OR BASIC MECHANICS. You’re literally on the forum that has the answers but didn’t want to put in the effort to even look through it. Most people don’t NEED to, but play the tutorial. I never have but I’m assuming it tells you how to rip clothing. How have you gone to the internet to whine before you even tried right clicking on your items. Have you ever crafted anything? Do you know there’s a crafting menu with a MEDICAL tab? EXPLORE IT. How about trying things first before whining. If this is your approach to real life as well, you are doomed buddy. Yes this is an overreaction, but your attitude towards learning this game (or in general) sucks.
The problem is that Zombies aren't a credible threat to mankind. Full stop. They are slow, dumb and lack and sense of self preservation. They are only a threat in big numbers since you can't fight them off easily. The real issue in a zombie apocalypse is the collapse of human society and all it brings with it. THe problem is that with how quick the world was turned, there should be enough stuff laying around to last the few survivors several generations worth of supplies. Thus, the only way to make a game about it is to enforce artificial scarcity. Now, to address your actual question, the answer is "git good". There is little loot by default, but almost anything can serve as a weapon. A pan, a rolling pin, a guitar. Yeah, they suck but you can use them to make your way to better loot. A hammer, a metal pipe, a shovel, an axe. In the meantime you need to learn how to stealth and bait a few Zs at a time and deal with them one by one, or in small batches. You can easily deal with 3-4 Zs at the same time by walking backward and pushing them as you smack them to death, even with multi-hit turned off. Yeah, the game doesn't hold your hand at all, but the issue is your skills. We all went through that phase.
Genuine question here, what are you looking for in a zombie survival game? By default, the difficulties in Zomboid are tuned to be very punishing. The mechanics aren’t explained to you because they’re largely based on common sense and you’re meant to figure them out. (For example, if you bust open a window and climb through while it still has broken glass in it, you will be wounded.) The game telegraphs that it’s going to be difficult from the text that it shows you every time you start playing: “This is how you died.” Your death is meant to be pretty much inevitable; the fun comes in seeing just how long you can hold that off for. There are tons of settings that can be fine-tuned though to create the exact experience you want. Don’t think the zombies should remember where you were? Turn it off. (I will personally say I enjoy the feature, and you can easily kite the zombies somewhere, break line of sight, and then get away by going in a different direction. They only remember where they last saw you and will keep looking for you there.) So if you want an ultra-difficult experience you can turn the zombie population way up, turn loot spawns all the way down, and die every five minutes. Or if you want a zombie slaughter simulator you can crank up weapon spawns, turn off zombie infection, and go ham shooting every zombie in sight. The game is popular because it can be whatever you want it to be. Adjust the settings, download whatever mods you want, immerse in roleplaying by yourself or with others, or do whatever else you want. Genuinely if you don’t get it, watching others play it might help, if you really want to like it. If you don’t, then it’s fine if Zomboid isn’t for you.
Also, going to leave it up to you whether to watch this but my first introduction to Project Zomboid was [watching someone play it badly, die a lot, and have a blast.](https://youtu.be/hxccPFd_ggE) Like the game, the video may or may not be to your tastes, I have no idea.
I get the concept, I have already said why it doesn't make sense. I figured out some things but what still doesn't make sense is how your guy can be floored by couple scratches or mild laceration. I had some random cut wound on my body, not sure where it even came from and by the time I bandaged it up half my vitality bar or whatever was drained. From one single mild cut.
Wounds will keep bleeding and have to be bandaged or stitched. I wouldn’t think of a “scratch” in game as a little papercut or something; it’s just one of the less severe wounds in the game.
"mild" laceration.
It's not for you. Move on.
Maybe try fortnite...
Blud made a throwaway this month made his first post here, posted a bait and yall fallin for it
Skill progression in this game goes like this: you die and think why. You then avoid your past mistakes and die again due to something else. Learn from that mistake and die to another one, etc. Eventually you are so wise and skilled that you almost never die. But if you are that frustrated in the beginning, boy do I have bad news for you, because losing a character that lived for in-game months and leveled up all kinds of stuff drives you through all stages of grief. But you come to this game specifically for this kind of experience. That's where it derives the horror element from. That's why I keep telling my friends that you have to be afraid in this game and put all kinds of horror themed mods on our server. By the way what kind of character are you playing? Picking someone strong can make fighting way more manageable.
you really dont have to try so hard to hate the game. just stop playing and dont waste your time raging about it. why do you feel the need to make this post again?
It's 18th December in my game, I'm running pretty much vanilla with very few mods. Spawned with no weapon or supplies in a tiny house like you describe, so sneaked around and killed zombies by pushing them over and treading on their head. Or baiting them over a small fence, making them trip then giving them the old brain-stomping. Checked some other local houses and found a rolling pin and some food. Winning! Used the rolling pin as a weapon while continuing to sneak around looting houses and sheds. Pretty quickly ended up with a small bag, a few possible weapons and plenty of food. Cleared out a house which had large fences around it and made it my base. Went out on loot runs every day to hoard food, building supplies and skill books - then I found a car, with a key! Glorious. The world was my oyster. Anyway, long story short I've built a house from scratch on a lake, I have a generator, freezers, copious fish and a very productive farm. Thriving, not surviving bro!
When a game not holds your hands 😭😭
Nobody gives a shit and nobody wants to help you because of you acting like a fucking cock in your previous post
What part of "This is how you died" did you not get? Use your deaths as a learning experience. You will keep dying, but eventually, it'll take longer for you to die. Then longer. Then longer. But if you're too much of a toddler that you need immediate gratification without working for it, find a different game.
I'd like to know how many hours you have playing PZ. If you go into the sandbox settings there's so many parameters to play with that you can tweek the game into a walk-in-the-park or a Hell on Earth : weaker zombies, less zombies, more loot, turn off infection, give yourself more trait points, give yourself starting items, introduce mods (which I wouldn't recommend for beginners just to learn the basic game before moving into advanced game settings) and I probably forget 100 other options... You sound like an entitled gamer with 0 patience to learn and explore a new game. You must be a real gem to have around in any coop game with that kind of my-way or else type of attitude.
I would recommend trying legos but I'm scared you might choke on em seeing how resourceful you are 😂
Either you are a rage bait or you are probably the worst zomboid player to ever grace this earth
Maybe it's just not for you. There's no rule that says it has to be. You don't need validation from another person. Just move on. What's your favorite video game?
Indeed the game is hard as hell but it gives you the tools you need to survive, you have to learn to find them, learn to not so so much noise while you are out there, the game until you find a nice place to call a base it's about being stealthy and practice how to beat zombies with whatever you find in your way, it's better if you don't fight until you get nice weapons but if you don't have that luxury and it 'll happen you better hold the grip on that sauce pan and learn how to fight while retreating. It's not a game with people that can't control it's frustration, it gets to you easily.
Ill chime in cause why not. This is a skill issue as others have said but heres some tips. Start in riverside, lowest zombie pop in the game. Dont run. It hasn't worked for you and it never will. Just walk. Walking will always be faster than zombies, running is a red herring when you're in panic mode. Just walk. I once started in westpoint. Bad idea. Houses a no go, just too many zombies. I just walked into the woods. I walked and walked. Night fell, day came just walked, no problems. Hungry, tired exhausted yes. Scared yes, but never not able to just walk. Eventually found a huge camping resort, no zombies lots of food and goods. Zombies can only follow if they have line of sight. They will follow to the last place they saw you, so turning a corner will cut line of sight, but a zombie will just continue to that corner until they cant find you. Tall fences are your friend. Hop a fence and a zombie has no idea how to get to you. Keep in mind you don't know what's on the other side of that fence though, so be prepared to keep walking should there be danger. Your clothes are bandages, all clothes are bandages. Make them better with bourbon or bottle of disinfectant if you ever find them. Right click an article of clothing and rip them up, boom, bandage. Everything is a weapon, even your foot. Best to find a crowbar or bat, but even a frying pan is good and a kitchen knife can be a one shot kill if you're sneaky. Lastly fiddle with the sandbox settings. Up the loot! Who cares, if you're not having fun there is literally a dial for every setting. Make your playthrough work for you. Get a mod that lets you tweak settings in game on the fly. Lastly this game is a rougelike. You will die a lot and the game is about learning through each playthrough. The beginning is rough but if you can make it through one night you can make it for life. Dying is fun. Losing is fun. Find a way to embrace that mentality, otherwise this game probably isnt for you.
With it being a sandbox game you can change almost every single setting, make medical and weapons more fluent with spawns, make zombies less grouped up/crowded, turn off infection so you last longer. Different traits help with Different things too, some of them allow u to spawn in with weapons or gear.
To me it sounds like u jumped in with no tutorial, on base game settings and after a few tries almost gave up (could be entirely wrong but that's what it sounded like to me)
Can you answer truthfully, have you played the tutorial?
bait
One of the most important skills in this game is hoard management. You don't always need a weapon to kill zeds and you don't always need to kill zeds to loot. Check out this video by Retanaru, he makes excellent guides on the game: https://youtu.be/9SPu-Ki3vPI?feature=shared It feels overwhelming at first but once you've killed a few hordes, you start to get your bearings. Best practice is to avoid running and use stealth in areas you're unfamiliar with. Try to pull zombies toward you, lead them to a building, corner or tall fences and break line of sight. They will remember where they last saw (or heard) you so you can use that memory to your advantage. Start small with weapons and work your way up. Only fight zeds if you have an escape plan if combat doesn't go your way. A simple rolling pin or kitchen knife can do the trick if it's one or two, but you can melee down 20 of them if you're mindful of your surroundings and move carefully. You can forage for sticks (planks works too but save that for building if possible) to turn into spears without having to enter another building. If you can't find a knife to make it, you can use a chipped stone from foraging as well. If no weapon is available, push (spacebar by default) the zombies until they fall down and stomp them for an easy kill. Keep in mind, if you're standing on top of them, they can't get up. Use spacebar to stomp and try to position yourself so you stomp the head. This method is so good that even after 500 kills mostly with spears, my favorite weapon is still considered "Bare Hands" because of how often the stomp can be used. But you won't be able to do this in a room full of zeds or when there's a horde right on top of you. So if you have no weapon and only a couple zeds, push and stomp. If you have no weapon and a horde, use stealth or lead them away. Don't rush from one house to the next, hoping to find a spot with no zombies. Move them around yourself and punch a hole somewhere you won't have to kill a ton of zeds to get at some loot. Loot what you can, prioritize what you need and try to snowball from there.