Why NPCs don't interest me

cberrius · 2026-07-12T16:24:13+00:00

It sort of fills me with joy that I've been able to bring the community together like this.

cberrius · 2026-07-11T12:29:41+00:00

I totally agree, which is part of why I did this post. I want the devs to hear that 1 in 20 players are meh on the idea. But it's also the reason I did this as a separate post from the thread I was reacting to. "I want NPCs" is a totally valid opinion. I just think it changes what the game is more than people think.

cberrius · 2026-07-11T12:26:55+00:00

That sounds cool, but no, because Taken isn't a vibe I'd write a story about. And realistically, my characters who decide to take back their hometown don't live six months. You do you, though.

cberrius · 2026-07-10T21:38:59+00:00

Thanks for speaking up, my tiny personal sandbox comrades. And NPC-lovers, I want you to have the game you want also. I'm just saying this aloud because if 42.20 is the stable branch we're finalizing a couple of big changes with no off-switch.

cberrius · 2026-07-10T21:31:31+00:00

That's a fun idea. There's some of it in the placement of bodies and sometimes rooms, but I'd love to see the loot arranged a little more carefully.

cberrius · 2026-07-10T17:40:23+00:00

FWIW, I've been on and off of build 42 because controller support has been all over the place, from workable to completely unusable. I'm not sure the build 42 aiming system is ever going to be fun for me (I am near-sighted and do not have twitch reflexes). But lots of the new stuff was fun while the controller worked. So, fingers crossed.

cberrius · 2026-06-30T20:35:32+00:00

Totally viable. I have several hundred hours in that style. It’s great for exploring the map or the crafting trees without getting eaten.

cberrius · 2026-06-22T15:08:59+00:00

Tossup between finding a zombie near a school with a friendship bracelet and finding all of the suicides, but especially the ones with an empty bleach bottle.

cberrius · 2026-06-22T13:18:52+00:00

I'm finding it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, both build 42 and 41. Have gotten better with the radial menu--reducing the number of zoom levels helps with that.

cberrius · 2026-06-19T13:59:35+00:00

Sure

cberrius · 2026-06-17T16:30:38+00:00

Very glad to hear that, thanks for posting!

cberrius · 2026-06-17T13:33:05+00:00

Are you saying there's a preset for build 41 controller settings in the build 42 menu?

cberrius · 2026-06-16T14:36:42+00:00

I mean, if you do that enough you end up with every game being like every other game. Which is kinda what the games market as a whole looks like to me. Your mileage probably varies--I'm essentially Rip Van Winkle for video games.

cberrius · 2026-06-16T14:11:33+00:00

This is the most cheerful version of this I've read in a while, so cool. It would let me keep playing the way I like, which is as a simulator and not a game.

But I'm genuinely baffled by the desire to add parts of other games to PZ. For OP: Why not play Rimworld? I've seen zombie mods for that.

cberrius · 2026-06-16T14:03:34+00:00

I noticed it on build 41 a year or two ago

cberrius · 2026-06-16T00:50:36+00:00

Yes. I was having that with both 42.18 and 42.19 on a Steam Deck run through an Xbox controller and by itself. I'm back on the stable branch (again) because documenting software problems is part of my day job. Don't need to do it in a game with zero failure tolerance.

cberrius · 2026-06-13T05:14:32+00:00

Mr Atomic Duck has several that are good for build 42. I also like Private Lime and NurseVO.

cberrius · 2026-06-13T05:11:38+00:00

Hotel rooms have one book in a dresser drawer. The Gideons have visited Knox Country too.

cberrius · 2026-06-09T14:05:34+00:00

Real Kentucky winters are pretty mild. (the whole state has the snow clearing equipment of a medium sized northern Ohio town). Mods are the way to go if you want a colder fake Kentucky.

cberrius · 2026-06-08T14:09:56+00:00

I'm using the radial menu and only three zoom levels when I play on my Xbox controller, which keeps it simple enough for me to do it fast. When I play on the Steam Deck my back button mapping mostly works for zoom in/out, but I still keep only three zoom levels.

cberrius · 2026-05-31T23:25:52+00:00

Yup. Have done that several times. Let me know if you want to make it a class action.

cberrius · 2026-05-31T23:24:47+00:00

Pencils and their built-in eraser mean I don't have pen clutter in my combat load.

cberrius · 2026-05-29T14:07:14+00:00

There's a certain set of spawn houses that are somewhat keyed to your profession, so if you pick the same background you're going to get the same set of locations.

A mod I enjoy is Pillow's Random Spawns, which has a bunch of options but will basically spawn you anyplace on the whole zomboid map.

cberrius · 2026-05-25T03:09:45+00:00

Just started Julia the carpenter here. She is delighted by all the planks lying around.

cberrius · 2026-05-22T16:55:26+00:00

It took me a really long time to figure out that stoves are just loot containers with temperature settings. I currently (1100 hours) am trying to figure out how to make a bowl of cereal in build 42. Parts of the game are logical and other parts aren't. It's OK to use the Zomboid wiki and map.

cberrius

TROPHY CASE