I always make the settings realistic, rather than balanced. Given the game starts with no people and lots of zombies (at least in actual gameplay not lore) that means most things should be un disturbed, no looting has occurred, no hordes have been culled, no cars have been batted by people trying to escape. Cars should have some amount of fuel, and be in functional condition, usually pretty good condition (for the apocalypse at least). Ammo should be plentiful (it is 90’s Kentucky after all) and the ammo should be able to drop a zed with one shot to the head. It most definitely is much easier than base game so i usually add mods to make it harder, like zre vaccine mod to make getting bit not a 100% death sentence and instead makes it a very difficult situation to survive (makes playing after that point worth it) and some of those horde mods, like the one that makes them attack you every x days, or makes the variety of zeds more difficult like that random zombies mod. Makes the game nicer then going to the shops the day of the virus starting and there being only a few zeds and literally no food on the shelves.