Project Zomboid

Project Zomboid
Developer(s)	The Indie Stone
Publisher(s)	The Indie Stone
Composer(s)	Zach Beever (formerly) Armin Hass
Platform(s)	Java [1] Microsoft Windows macOS Linux
Genre(s)	Survival, RPG
Mode(s)	Singleplayer, Multiplayer

Project Zomboid is an open-world, isometric video game developed 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 (formerly Knox County), Kentucky, United States, 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, Kentucky, 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.

Plot

The plot of Project Zomboid centres around the "Knox Event" which is conveyed through in-game radio broadcasts and TV channels. The initial cause and origin of the "Knox Infection" remain a mystery, with characters in the in-game radio station, KnoxTalk, speculating a variety of possibilities, including a prion disease, an act of God, or bio-terrorism. The infection is known to be spread through contact with saliva, blood, and eventually becomes airborne; however, the player is immune to the latter mode of transmission. After being infected, individuals first experience a high fever followed by increasing feelings of anxiety and nausea, which will progressively worsen until they succumb to the disease. There is no cure for the Knox Infection, and it is invariably fatal.

The game begins on July 9, 1993, approximately three days after the United States military establishes a blockade surrounding the infected areas of Muldraugh, Riverside, West Point, and Rosewood, dubbed the Knox Exclusion Zone. U.S. Army General John McGrew, who oversees containment measures within the Knox Exclusion Zone, issues a statement informing the public to remain calm, assuring that no fatalities have been reported within the Exclusion Zone.

On July 11, the WHO grounds all non-essential international flights to prevent the global spread of the infection. Riots erupt in various American cities and curfews are implemented in New York City and Miami following a series of deaths and injuries in these areas. The next day, a picture is leaked from West Point to the media showcasing a one-armed man covered in blood and standing among corpses, which fuels fear and panic surrounding the situation. On July 13, media interviews with survivors who had been released from military captivity within the Exclusion Zone reveal the nature of the infected to "hunt" the living, spreading the infection through bites.

General John McGrew issues a statement on July 14 assuring that "America is safe" while elaborating on details of the Knox Event, confirming that the infection is spread through direct fluid contact, scratches, and other "un-American" acts of violence. Increased chaos within the Exclusion Zone eventually leads to a breach of the military blockade, resulting in the complete withdrawal of the military. Around this time, Louisville canonically becomes infected (though the player can visit Louisville prior to the breach and find it infected). By July 15, the first reports of individuals falling ill to the Knox Infection without being bitten are confirmed by the media. As the Exclusion Zone expands, the airborne transmission of the virus becomes apparent. On July 16, in a desperate attempt to contain the spread, the United States military demolishes bridges over the Ohio River, killing hundreds of escaping civilians and effectively trapping survivors and zombies within Knox Country.

On July 17, the highly contagious virus is confirmed in Cincinnati, Mogadishu, Seoul, Okinawa, and multiple cities in England. In a final broadcast, General John McGrew addresses the individuals unaffected by the second wave of the Knox Event, urging them to take extreme measures for their survival. He confirms that while these immune individuals cannot contract the disease naturally, they remain susceptible to infection through fluid contact, specifically citing bites. McGrew commands these survivors to defend themselves, stressing the importance of their survival for the continuation of humanity. The general ends his message assuring the survivors they haven't been forgotten and promising rescue and support. Subsequently, most radio and television stations cease operation by July 18, marking the end of the world.

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 occupation 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 game settings such as zombie population, virus transmissibility, and the rarity of loot. 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.

'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. ^{[5] [7]} The world becomes more desolate and decrepit as time progresses, with water and power grids shutting off within a month, followed by the erosion and overgrowth of the region's structures. The game also features a detailed climate system which approximates the humid subtropical weather patterns of the area; cold and warm fronts form and shift causing a wide range of weather events, from warm sunny days to severe tropical storms. Seasons also change as time passes, so choosing appropriate gear for the current season and weather is an important factor in survival.

Player-made mods allow for further customization of gameplay; downloadable via the Steam Workshop. The mods range from minor changes to the interface such as visible stamina, hunger, and water bars, to complete overhauls of gameplay mechanics, addition of new mechanics and custom made maps and expansions of the current game map. These mods can be found in the Steam Community Workshop. A community wiki is also actively maintained by the players, with detailed guides on gameplay and tips for survival.

Development

Project Zomboid major release timeline ^{[8] [9]}

Pre-release years in red

2011	0.0.0
	Pre-Alpha
2012	0.2.0
	Experimental Combat Build
2013	Build 1
	Build 11: "Steam Release"
	Build 14
	Build 19
	Build 20
	Build 21
	Build 23
2014	Build 25
	Build 26: "Online MP & 3D Character Models"
	Build 27: "Trapping"
	Build 28: "Firearm Overhaul"
	Build 29: "Foraging"
	Build 30: "Erosion"
2015	Build 31
	Build 32: "Spiffo's Workshop"
2016	Build 33
	Build 34
	Build 35
2017	Build 36
	Build 37
	Build 38: "The Pre-Vehicles Build"
2018	Build 39: "The Vehicles Build"
	Build 40: "The Weather Build"
2019
2020
2021	Build 41: "Animation Overhaul"
2022
2023
2024
TBA	Build 42: "Expanded Crafting and Balance"

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 a quicker result. ^[10] They have also said the main inspiration for the game were zombie movies as opposed to zombie video games. ^[10]

Beginning

The game was first released as an "Alpha Tech-Demo" on May 28, 2011. ^[11] 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. ^[12] The unauthorized version of the game enabled downloading from the Project Zomboid 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, ^[13] and instead, released a free "public tech-demo" for download the next day. ^[14]

On October 15, 2011, the apartment 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, ^[15] resulting in severe delays to the game's development. ^{[16] [17]} Due to these setbacks, 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. ^[18]

Continuation

As of November 8, 2013, Project Zomboid was released via Steam's Early Access. ^[19] In February 2014 the Indie Stone released a multiplayer version of the game publicly, ^[1] before being removed and later re-integrated in Build 41.60. ^[20] Between new version releases, developers actively communicate with the player base through their blog and Discord server. Twice a week, development blog posts called "Thursdoids" detailed sneak peeks on updates and improvements planned in the next build, as well as community-made mod showcases. However, in August of 2023, these were phased out in favor of monthly updates. ^[21] On December 17, 2024, Build 42 of Project Zomboid entered open beta. ^[22]

References

1. "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. Brown, Andy (14 December 2021). "Zombie survival game 'Project Zomboid' adds multiplayer servers". NME .
6. "Survive". Projectzomboid.com. 20 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2013-03-29. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
7. Vaughan, Andrew (23 March 2022). "Where to find Gas Stations in Project Zomboid". Pro Game Guides. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
8. "PZ Updates". The Indie Stone Forums. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
9. "Version history - PZwiki". pzwiki.net. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
10. Walker, John (June 2011). "Interview: Indie Stone On Project Zomboid". Rock Paper Shotgun . Retrieved 18 April 2022.
11. Simpson, Chris "Lemmy" (2011-05-28). "Alpha Tech-Demo Released!". Project Zomboid. Archived from the original on 1 June 2011. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
12. Yin-Poole, Wesley (20 June 2011). "Pirates force Project Zomboid offline". Eurogamer . Retrieved 21 August 2011.
13. "Sorry we've had to take the game down for the day". Project Zomboid. 2011-06-18. Archived from the original on 2013-02-14.
14. "Free Public Tech-Demo Released!". Project Zomboid. 2011-06-19. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26.
15. "Project Zomboid Burglary: Statement". Project Zomboid. Archived from the original on 2013-03-18.
16. Good, Owen (16 October 2011). "Burglary Delivers Huge Setback to Indie Game Project Zomboid [Updated]". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
17. Conditt, Jessica (16 October 2011). "The Indie Stone is burgled, loses code for latest Project Zomboid update". Joystiq . Archived from the original on 2015-01-31. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
18. "Project Zomboid Rezzed Session - How NOT to make a game!". YouTube. Eurogamer. 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
19. "It's Been A Long Road…". Project Zomboid. 4 November 2013.
20. "B41 MP Test 41.60 Branch Released!". Project Zomboid. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
21. "News Page". Project Zomboid. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
22. "Build 42 Unstable". Project Zomboid. 17 December 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.

External links

• Official website
• The Indie Stone forums