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Project Zomboid

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Project Zomboid
Developer(s)The Indie Stone
Publisher(s)The Indie Stone
Composer(s)Armin Hass
Platform(s)Java[1]
Microsoft Windows
OS X
Linux
Genre(s)Role-playing, survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Project Zomboid is an open-world isometric survival horror video game in development by British and Canadian independent developer The Indie Stone. The game is set in the post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested exclusion zone of the fictional Knox Country, Kentucky, where the player is challenged to survive for as long as possible before inevitably dying. It was one of the first five games released on the alpha funding section of the gaming portal Desura.[2]

In 2011, The Indie Stone were subject to a high-profile setback within the indie gaming community following the theft of two laptops containing the game's code. Since then, Project Zomboid has appeared on Steam Early Access and continues development to this day. Project Zomboid is The Indie Stone's first commercially released game.[3] The latest stable release is Build 41, released in December 2021, which includes animation and combat overhauls, new audio and music, the city of Louisville, KY, and revamped multiplayer by General Arcade.[4][5] Project Zomboid is set in 1993, with the game starting by default on July 9; however, the start date and time can be changed in the game settings.

Gameplay

Project Zomboid heavily uses windows and drop-down menus for interface navigation.

In Project Zomboid, the player aims to survive for as long as possible in an apocalyptic and zombie-ridden area around the city of Louisville, Kentucky - referred to as 'Knox Country' - which has been quarantined by the government.[6] The player can choose their character's appearance, occupation, and traits before selecting to spawn within one of four starting towns, the type of trait that is chosen also will influence where exactly the character will spawn (e.g. a firefighter has a higher chance of spawning in a fire station if the chosen town has one). On top of avoiding zombies, the player has to manage their personal needs (such as hunger, stress, fatigue, and boredom) to stay alive through resting, scavenging for supplies, and using survivalist techniques. The player can level skills through activities and reading skill books and magazines. The game uses the traditional Romero style slow-moving zombies, though certain zombies are faster than others, and sandbox mode includes a setting for 28 Days Later style "sprinter" zombies.

The game features a variety of preset difficulty modes, along with a sandbox mode, which allows the player to customize their game's settings such as zombie population, virus transmissibility, and the rarity of loot.

'Knox Country' - the playable region in Project Zomboid - heavily bases its locale on the Louisville metropolitan area. The towns of Muldraugh, West Point, and Louisville are loosely replicated in the game world alongside other fictional locations, such as Riverside. The world becomes more desolate and decrepit as time progresses, with water and power grids being shut off within a month, followed by the erosion and overgrowth of the region's structures. Additionally, the game features a set of fixed 'challenge' scenarios, some of which are set on separate, smaller maps and/or feature unique gameplay elements, like an endless winter storm or a zombie horde which tracks the player after one in-game day.

The modding community are also very active in this game, further allowing for customization of gameplay. The mods range from minor, quality of life changes such as a visible stamina, hunger and water bars, to complete overhauls of mechanics and gameplay. These mods can be found in the Steam Community Workshop. The community for this game also actively update the wiki for players to help understand the game.

Development

Project Zomboid major release timeline [7] [8]
Pre-release years in red
20110.0.0
Pre-Alpha
20120.2.0
Experimental Combat Build
2013Build 1
Build 11: "Steam Release"
Build 14
Build 19
Build 20
Build 21
Build 23
2014Build 25
Build 26: "Online MP & 3D Character Models"
Build 27: "Trapping"
Build 28: "Firearm Overhaul"
Build 29: "Foraging"
Build 30: "Erosion"
2015Build 31
Build 32: "Spiffo's Workshop"
2016Build 33
Build 34
Build 35
2017Build 36
Build 37
Build 38: "The Pre-Vehicles Build"
2018Build 39: "The Vehicles Build"
Build 40: "The Weather Build"
2019
2020
2021Build 41: "Animation Overhaul"

According to the developers, the game has been something they "always wanted to make" and their "dream game" although they felt that they would be unable to due to time commitments. This changed after the success of Minecraft, which showed them "another way to develop a game" that would produce quicker result.[9] According to the team, the main inspiration for the game were zombie movies as opposed to zombie video games.[9]

Beginning

The game was first released on April 25, 2011 as a tech demo.[10] It is written in Java for its portability, using LWJGL.[1]

Early setbacks

In June 2011, soon after the game's release as a paid pre-alpha tech demo, the game was leaked, and unauthorized copies spread to many other websites.[11] The unauthorized version of the game enabled downloading from the Project Zomboid's servers with the press of an 'update now' button, regardless of whether the user already had the latest version. In order to avoid paying for these downloads, The Indie Stone took the customer-only paid version offline,[12] and instead, released a free "public tech-demo" for download the next day.[13]

On October 15, 2011, the flat of two of the developers was broken into, and laptops containing large amounts of the game code, which had not been backed up externally, were stolen.[14] This resulted in severe delays to the game development.[15][16] Due to this setback, they gave a presentation at Rezzed entitled "How (not) to make a video game", going over some of the lessons they have learned since starting the project.[17]

Continuation

As of November 8, 2013, Project Zomboid was released on Steam's Early Access.[18] In February 2014 the Indie Stone released a multiplayer version of the game publicly for the first time.[1] Following this release, the game has been actively updated over time, with numerous overhauls to the gameplay and sound, as well as a removal and subsequent reintegration, of multiplayer.[19] The game is now in a "fully released" version, but news features additions and bug removals still happen regularly. The developers also actively communicate with the players, releasing blog posts every two weeks, on Thursdays, known as Thursdoids. These can be about updates, servers, changes or removal of bugs in the next build or mod showcases.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c "APZDTISA #3: This time with LIVE MULTIPLAYER!". Project Zomboid. 17 February 2014.
  2. ^ Greg (14 September 2011). "Alphafunding for Indie Games". Desura Community. Desura. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Games released by The Indie Stone on their IndieDB profile". Indiedb.com. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  4. ^ "Project Zomboid - Build 41 - Released!". Project Zomboid. 20 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Zombie survival game 'Project Zomboid' adds multiplayer servers". NME. 14 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Survive". Projectzomboid.com. 20 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2013-03-29. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  7. ^ "PZ Updates". The Indie Stone Forums. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  8. ^ "Version history - PZwiki". pzwiki.net. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  9. ^ a b Walker, John. "Interview: Indie Stone On Project Zomboid". Rock Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  10. ^ "First release ever :: Project Zomboid General Discussions".
  11. ^ Wesley Yin-Poole (20 June 2011). "Pirates force Project Zomboid offline". Eurogamer. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  12. ^ "Sorry we've had to take the game down for the day". 2011-06-18. Archived from the original on 2013-02-14.
  13. ^ "FREE PUBLIC TECH-DEMO RELEASED!". 2011-06-19. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26.
  14. ^ "Project Zomboid Burglary: Statement". Archived from the original on 2013-03-18.
  15. ^ Good, Owen (16 October 2011). "Burglary Delivers Huge Setback to Indie Game Project Zomboid [Updated]". Kotaku. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  16. ^ Conditt, Jessica (16 October 2011). "The Indie Stone is burgled, loses code for latest Project Zomboid update". Joystiq. Joystiq. Archived from the original on 2015-01-31. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  17. ^ "Project Zomboid Rezzed Session - How NOT to make a game!". YouTube. 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  18. ^ "It's Been A Long Road…". Project Zomboid. 4 November 2013.
  19. ^ "B41 MP Test 41.60 Branch Released!". 9 December 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  20. ^ "Project Zomboid News Page". Retrieved 28 July 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Project_Zomboid&oldid=1124697597"