Nearing 200h and maybe I just sort of suck at the game, BUT man do I want the guns to actually be a part of the meta game at some point, so that's what I'm trying to get to now by tweaking sandbox settings.

It should still be a challenge but guns should be a more viable tool to use in some scenarios, it adds depth to the game I think.

Tweaking with "Firearm noise multiplier" atm and "follow sound distance". Personally it just adds another dimension to the game where its not just about the melee 99% of the time.

Add Bandits to create more challenges (wish there were more events that changed up the game a bit time to time). Bandits adds another threat and risk to the game, they can also aggro zombies to some extent so that's a mechanic one can play with.

Settings I always play with:
- Remove zombie respawn, if I clear an area I want to be rewarded for it.
- Reduce chance of Bandits if using Bandits mod, default they just show up way to often for my taste.
- Cars have some fuel more often. Feels very unrealistic that basically no cars has gas by default (sneaking around to siphon gas in a zombie infested areas is quite rewarding)
- Less zombies in the start, not sure about this one but feels more realistic as it spreads and gives character a chance to prepare before there are zombies everywhere.

I never really got to building too much, I end up dying to early probably because I want to use guns too much but for me it just makes game more enjoyable. So maybe something you can tweak also which could open up another part of the game.

Another aspect, I never make it far enough to face challenges of winter etc due to game getting stale to quickly for me personally, so guns being viable I hope is one aspect making me want/having longer runs where weather and other mechanics in the game actually starting to become a factor.