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Project Zomboid - What compares for gameplay?
So I have heard of the game for a while, but I am not a fan of zombie games. I was recently shown a video apparently about it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XuKU2RziLo), and the game itself looks pretty awesome from my point of preferences.
The problem? None really, except... zombies. Just not a fan at all.
Edit: I like the menu options, though they seem like they could be clunky. I like the survival and crafting aspects.
So my question is this: Are there any games similar to this style of gameplay that might do without the zombies?
Would prefer on Steam/Linux, but if you have a similar equivalent that's great. Thanks. :)
You might enjoy Kenshi. I enjoy how it can be played in a few different ways, as a solo survivalist sort of experience up through building a town if you want to. It's really difficult and demands some time on the front end but as things improve and the options all show up you get a really wide range of things to do. There's also been a pretty robust modding scene, so you can find a lot to expand what's there/add new stuff and a lot of it works really well.
Kenshi is a fantastic game, very open sandbox with a lot of freedom and a huge, strange world. It doesn't approach the level of detail and realism that Zomboid has, but it definitely scratches a similar itch.
I was just introduced to this game today by a discord chat who mentioned it. This seems pretty interesting regardless of PZ.
Thanks!
You can edit the game options to turn off zombie spawning, probably adjust the other survival mechanics so the game still has some challenge.
That would actually be pretty awesome if you're on a large enough PvP server.
Good to know. Might make it worth it.
I picked up Zomboid late, too (about 8/9 months ago) and I love the gameplay. It's got that "losing is fun" vibe to it like Dwarf Fortress - which would be my first recommendation. If you like the crafting/skills- based parts of it, but you want something 180 degrees in the more heartwarming direction than Zombie Apocalypse, I would recommend Stardew Valley. If you're after the "ethereal/lonely exploration vibe" you sorta see in PZ but without quite as many zombies, I would recommend Starbound.
Starbound's new to me.
I've seen DF around for a while but it didn't seem to appeal. I could easily be wrong though, but I'd likely opt for PZ over it.
And, yeah I have SDV. Need to play now that ConcernedApe did the most recent updates!
What drew you to liking the look of zomboid? The crafting, survival, top down view, theme?
There's thousands of survival games, so any extra information can help narrow it down for us/you
Fair, and I hadn't thought of that. The isometric is okay (huge FO fan, before Bethesda), the menu and options I think are what are awesome.
Crafting and survival mainly I believe.
I edited the original question to answer that.
This might be more different than you're expecting, but is RimWorld anything like what you're looking for? There are some big differences like that you're indirectly controlling a group instead of directly controlling a single person, and there's more emphasis on base building/management/defense than on exploration (though there is that too), but I think there's some overlap in the survival atmosphere and the roles of items/crafting/menus. RimWorld and Project Zomboid strike me as games I expect to have overlapping fanbases.
It's been on and off my wishlist. I see how it'd be similar based on the concept, from what folks have said about it. I'm still not quite sure though, but I'm still not quite sure about PZ. So I'll definitely be considering both if I go with either. Thanks!
Worth noting that you can play on custom settings to pretty much remove zombies as a factor, or at least make them so rare that they're only a minimal hassle. Mods can probably help address this as well.
If you're in the mood for solo survival/crafting with realism and minimal PVE combat, I can heartily recommend The Long Dark. It's first-person, and really leans into the survival bits. The environment itself is the primary enemy. What combat there is revolves around hunting wild game or defending yourself from wolves, but in game settings that can be toggled pretty freely to be less or more of a factor, to your preference.
Subnautica is another strong recommend. It's a bit less realistic and intensive on the crafting, but it makes up for it in fantastic environmental exploration and a fairly extensive base-building system. As with TLD, combat is incidental and can (and should) be avoided. Unlike many survival games it has a clear win condition to build towards, which may or may not be a plus.
The Planet Crafter is basically Subnautica on "Mars", with the conceit being that you're terraforming a planet. The survival aspect drops off over time as you make the planet more hospitable. It's less polished than the others, but if the idea of changing your environment appeals to you it's worth a look.
With over 1700 hours in TLD and very active on the discord, I'd say... you're wrong but so right. That being said, a loper hardcore type there loves only doing nogoa and crazy challenges like that. I just stick to stalker because I suck at loper. But she's currently playing Planet Crafter while waiting for the next update. So that's a +1 for that game as well.
And I recently discovered the simple yet complicated world of Dave the Diver. Have seen folks recommend Subnautica as a similar game, so I guess I'll definitely have to check out the other two games. Thanks!
If depth and systems are what you're after RimWorld and Dwarf Fortress are good ones to check out.
Oxygen Not Included is also great in this vein.
Probably just a personal taste thing, but found Oxygen Not Included to be a bit one note comparatively.
Liked the setting, nicely polished, etc. Just there always felt like there was only a single 'upgrade path' of next thing to do compared to the other two. I know I was playing it in Early Access so that might no longer be true.
I never played EA, and they're still putting out new patches. I never really got into rimworld for comparison though.
Neither of those really seemed to strike my fancy, which PZ did not do either. Lots of folks seem to be recommending so I'll keep them in a bundle methinks.