Wow - that sure took a while! A year since the first part of build 42 released and just in time for the holidays, Project Zomboid build 42 finally goes online.
Oh, I find that surprising. I’m a pretty casual game player but don’t find the controls too difficult. Maybe that’s because I take a pretty minimalist approach and don’t use most of them. A lot of the controls are optional and you can use the context menus by right-clicking the mouse instead.
From memory, because it’s been a little while since I played, this is what I commonly use, ordered by how frequently I use it:
WASD - moving around the map
Left / Right mouse buttons - aim and attack
Space - shove/stomp
C - crouch/sneak
Esc - cancel action
E - interact, but I believe in most cases you can use the context menus instead, like for opening doors, so I don’t use it a ton
V - vehicle menu
I think that’s pretty much it.
Edit: added the mouse buttons, that I had left out from my original list, moved “C” down a couple of notches, and removed “shift” to run because I very rarely do that. We have the running zombies disabled on our games because they don’t seem very lore-accurate. The regular slow zombies you can keep at bay just by walking.
I don’t know if it’s what the original commenter was referencing, but the combat controls - mostly not shown in your list - were extremely unintuitive last time I played it. Otherwise I enjoyed the game.
Interesting, I find the combat controls also very simple. In addition to the space bar I listed, I only use the left and right mouse buttons to aim and attack.
It sounds like it maybe has improved since you played, although I would be surprised if they haven’t always had weapons. I only started playing with build 41 though.
I find that the tutorial level that they include now teaches the core controls very well.
Very interesting! Yes, it seems that the game has progressed a lot in the last few years. The tutorial level seemed very well done to me, and taught me most of what I thought I needed to know to play the game.
With the number of games that I’ve been playing for years that didn’t have tutorials when I started playing them but do now, I’m starting to feel pretty old.
You hold Ctrl for combat mode, left click to swing your weapon, mouse to aim, space to shove or stomp, Q to talk/whisper mobs. That’s about it, it’s not complex at all.
Oh, I find that surprising. I’m a pretty casual game player but don’t find the controls too difficult. Maybe that’s because I take a pretty minimalist approach and don’t use most of them. A lot of the controls are optional and you can use the context menus by right-clicking the mouse instead.
From memory, because it’s been a little while since I played, this is what I commonly use, ordered by how frequently I use it:
I think that’s pretty much it.
Edit: added the mouse buttons, that I had left out from my original list, moved “C” down a couple of notches, and removed “shift” to run because I very rarely do that. We have the running zombies disabled on our games because they don’t seem very lore-accurate. The regular slow zombies you can keep at bay just by walking.
Q - apply heals
I don’t know if it’s what the original commenter was referencing, but the combat controls - mostly not shown in your list - were extremely unintuitive last time I played it. Otherwise I enjoyed the game.
Interesting, I find the combat controls also very simple. In addition to the space bar I listed, I only use the left and right mouse buttons to aim and attack.
It’s been years since I played. When I did, the only options (at least that I found) were shove and stomp. I guess it’s improved since then.
It sounds like it maybe has improved since you played, although I would be surprised if they haven’t always had weapons. I only started playing with build 41 though.
I find that the tutorial level that they include now teaches the core controls very well.
When I played, there absolutely, positively was not a tutorial level. Or even the hint of one. Good to know things have changed!
Very interesting! Yes, it seems that the game has progressed a lot in the last few years. The tutorial level seemed very well done to me, and taught me most of what I thought I needed to know to play the game.
With the number of games that I’ve been playing for years that didn’t have tutorials when I started playing them but do now, I’m starting to feel pretty old.
Haha, I hear you, although it could just be down to being an early adopter!
You hold Ctrl for combat mode, left click to swing your weapon, mouse to aim, space to shove or stomp, Q to talk/whisper mobs. That’s about it, it’s not complex at all.
Right, and I don’t even use Ctrl at all - I use the right mouse button instead, so to me it’s even simpler.
Not a comment on PZ but often “intuitiveness” and expressiveness must trade off against each other. I prefer expression.