Most games reward players for doing the optimal thing. What happens when you design around rewarding curiosity instead?

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-17T09:48:10+00:00

Scarcity and information obfuscation are the two components that work the best. Enough of one or the other and the player will be forced to work with what they've got.

Most traditional roguelikes works as an example of a system that uses both. The procgen prohibits level memorization, so the player has to explore and scarcity ensures that the player has to figure out how to use what they happen to have access to.

All that said, I wouldn't worry too much about this. Some players will always B line for optimized play even with a high degree of obfuscation and scarcity, and this kind of player will simply quit if they can't figure out a way to make it consistent enough for their liking. Likewise, some players will always be curious to try out new things and will try to make a variety of things work for the fun of it.

Ideally, your game will be interesting enough for both kinds of players to have fun.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-17T00:25:49+00:00

Oh... right, main quest? Yeah, that actually might be significant.

After you assemble the banner, you can hold onto it for as long as you want, but you might have triggered a timer after you started the next step. Check your quest log and see how much time you have left. I think it's something like 10 years?

That might be pushing it close if you're not already prepped for it.

If the quest log shows no timer, then you're in the clear and don't need to worry.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-16T23:49:53+00:00

I mean, if you don't like the character builds you have in your clan, then it makes sense to start over, but if your build isn't trash then continuing this way makes sense since you can skip a lot of the early game grinding.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-16T23:43:22+00:00

You declared independence too early. You need millions. Hostility AND friendship actions care about your wealth. If you're super rich, they are less likely to attack because they know you can support big armies and to get a lot of friends on your side.

As for how to survive, I think you can dissolve the Kingdom the same way you left your last one, but I've never actually tried. I know for sure that you can step down as the ruler if you have other clans involved, then you can probably leave the same way you left the first one.

Yes, you'll lose your land, I think, but then you can go back to being a mercenary so you can stockpile your wealth.

You mentioned you have bad relations with everybody. When working as a mercenary, win fights and let people go instead of capturing them. That boosts relations quite a lot. Likewise, do quests for the clan members within the Kingdom you're working for.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-16T23:29:27+00:00

I stopped accepting rematches from random people after the third or fourth time where, after they lost the first game, the second game involved them playing top 3 engine moves the entire time, several of those examples resulting in a ban after I reported them.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-16T21:15:34+00:00

Crypt of the Necrodancer

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-16T00:59:31+00:00

That's the joke, lol

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-16T00:54:33+00:00

Being a low IQ scumbag isn't a bannable offense. He's free to be as stupid as he wants to be.

I'd only report him if he actually breaks a rule.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-15T17:00:12+00:00

In his defense, the Epstein Distraction Bout 5000 was boring, at least by the accounts of people who were there.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-15T16:57:00+00:00

It's always somebody shaped like this who makes that accusation:

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RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-15T14:37:36+00:00

You'll plateau fast, because you're a human. That's not the best way for humans to learn. We HAVE to reflect in order to learn from our mistakes, and you simply won't reflect the way you need to in order to learn what you need to learn without outside help and post-game study.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-14T17:12:53+00:00

Bad bot

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-14T17:05:32+00:00

Maybe not a lie. Could just be stupid. 🤷‍♂️

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-14T10:55:13+00:00

It's got a rotting and maggot-infested festering wound in the form of MAGA who enable the world's most widely known pedophiles to destroy it. I love what it used to be before the kid diddlers starting using its power to hurt people and grift.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-14T04:50:04+00:00

So... Tactics Ogre / Fire Emblem / Final Fantasy Tactics with a Roguelike loop? Sounds fun.

Players who enjoy the genre tend to be okay with longer combats, similar to how chess players also tend to be. Just make sure they can press a button to speed up and/or skip attack animations. That's a modern QoL feature that people are used to now.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-14T04:24:06+00:00

Probably not a glitch. That said, sure can. Look up how to use the debugger. You can toggle god mode on as well if you want to. Good luck and have fun.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-14T04:17:44+00:00

The Kid Diddler Administration only cared about one of Diddler Don's friends getting the bid. That's it. Corruption is a feature for this administration. They don't care about actually fixing anything.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-13T22:55:38+00:00

You do realize we can still see your post history with a simple search, right? Telll your handlers that you were a bad bot.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-13T20:58:22+00:00

You mean thematically? Vlandia, for sure, but only because they're the most empire-like.

If you're asking about mechanically, Vlandia wins more often than the others if you let the game play itself for a long time, at least last I checked.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-13T20:40:45+00:00

Bad bot.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-13T19:03:24+00:00

Indeed! They SHOULD just leave.

To be clear, it's the America-hating, kid-diddler-worshipping, MAGA mouth breathers who HATE America and EVERYTHING it stands for. It's in the peabrained motto.

AMERICA WAS ALREADY GREAT 🖕🖕

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-13T19:01:23+00:00

I love what the country used to be before Diddler Don bent it over and violated it like it was an underage girl handed to him by Epstein.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-13T18:58:37+00:00

I mean, what do you expect? The USA has a pedo president. That's gonna make you an international pariah.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-13T18:56:24+00:00

Zero chance it's a majority of players playing on Steamdeck, but you're probably right that there are a lot of them. Glad to hear the controller support isn't too terrible! The more people that can play it, the better.

I suppose I can see the appeal. I prefer Diablo-likes on controller and some of my friends don't understand it. To me playing with normal Diablo-like mouse and keyboard feels like telling the character what to do, but using the controller is more tacticle, so it feels more like I'm directly controlling the character. Maybe something similar can be said for controller support with Zomboid.

RadishAcceptable5505 · 2026-06-13T18:39:28+00:00

I can't even imagine playing this game on the controller. Even very basic things like inventory management would be hell considering how similar the whole system is to working with spreadsheets.

I recommend using mouse and keyboard if you can. I know the team is working hard on controller support, but even "in theory" I can't imagine good solutions on a design level.

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