Project Zomboid News

[Released to the Stable branch on November 30th]

- Added AllowCoop server option to allow or disallow splitscreen clients.
- Added MaxTextureSize (default 256) and MaxVehicleTextureSize (default 512) options to the Display options menu. Each of these can be 256, 512, 1024 or 2048.

- Fixed the propane required for the metal wall upgrade system so that you are capable of making a Mk II metal wall without having to upgrade first.
- Fixed sleeping pills not being taken in account with the panic sleep exploit fix.
- Fixed some vehicle textures (such as for wheels) being limited to 256x256 instead of 512x512.
- Fixed reading ServerList.txt and ServerListSteam.txt with the default system encoding instead of UTF-8.
- Fixed being unable to slice or smash a rotten watermelon.
- Fixed an error in the farming menu that limited squares watered after the first to 50 water units maximum instead of 100.
- Fixed /additem command exception when run from the server console.
- Fixed redundant console output from ISInventoryPaneContextMenu.lua.
- Fixed distant remote players not being displayed on the in-game map.

Let’s get something out of the way first then. Ugh. We feel so unclean doing what we’re about to do. SORRY. SORRY EVERYONE.
All the other games were posting Steam Awards links like that, so we did too. Don’t vote for us if you’d rather not, but if you do – well click on the above massive intrusive image and that would be swell.

So, back to business, we released some final-ish fixes for the current stable build yesterday – the changelist for which can be found here.

There may well be another smaller patch, early next week, with some other minor changes – namely a few small anti-cheat measures, a fix for some modded textures and a bit of metal walls weirdness that still needs addressing.

[h3]B42 FARMING[/h3]
This week we’re going over to Blair, and his current mission on overhauling our Farming system. Now, priority number one is to get things more tactile and animation-led with farming: when you use a watering can we want it through a direct mouse-click and not a maze of sub-menus.



Away from this, however, we are also making the overall system more complex, varied and interesting. Elements of this already coded into the 42 mainframe include:

• Plants have growing seasons, and for most crops there are one or two optimal planting months. You’ll be able to read the best month to plant your crops on the back of seed packets, and if you plant at the wrong time of year you’ll get a reduced yield, and perhaps the risk of producing sickly plants.
  
• Appropriate plants, such as Potatoes, can be planted using the vegetable itself.
  
• You’ll be able to dry seed Corn and Peas to preserve them for planting next year.
  
• Plants can accumulate slugs and snails for the player to deal with – either using looted pest control, or perhaps using a folksy remedy. Nearby slug repellent plants such as Rosemary will help too.
  
• Rosemary is one of several herbs added as well. They tend to grow more quickly, and when harvested are knocked back a few growth stages – and then can be harvested again later. The herbs you pick can also be used to propagate new herb patches while they’re still fresh, and can be dried as well.
  

• We are expanding the need to water your crops to houseplants. Potted indoor vegetation that players find in the world will now be living – similar, but not identical, to crops. They need to be watered, can fall victim to diseases, and will become visibly unwell before they die and become a dried husk. This also means that they will be another cool signifier of the days that have elapsed since the beginning of the Knox Event – since in time all the plants in homes, shops, the mall etc will wither and die.

Elsewhere, we’ve been seeing what animals look like without their clothes/skin on. We’re thinking that these look realistic but a little too fatty and should have a little more muscle on show – but it’s interesting nonetheless.



These past two weeks we’ve also made a lot of progress with getting the previously shelved fire system back on track, including the ability for the game to have liquid-looking Molotov fire FX on the ground. The actual visuals are going to be fine-tuned and improved soon, so we’d rather not share images of it, but rest assured it’s going to be pretty cool.

Finally, another quick bump for the Spiffo plush that Makeship are creating for us – which is something that the community has been asking for since forever:
https://shop.makeship.com/3FHlgG8

If you want one you’ve got two weeks to put your order in.



In case you want to give it for Christmas then Mash has also created a certificate of gifting intent that will hopefully come in useful.



This week’s road-side (well, centre) picnic from Athena. A changelist of all our pre-release and post-release patches since the 41 beta began can be found here. The Block of Italicised Text would like to direct your attention to the PZ Wiki should you feel like editing or amending something, and the PZ Mailing List that can send you update notifications once builds get released. We also live on Twitter right here! Our Discord is open for chat and hijinks too.

• Propane Torch usage rebalanced for Fixing and Repair scripts to accommodate the change in capacity; all reduced to 2.
  
  
• Added "AllowRottenItem:true" parameter to the recipes to Empty Frying Pans; Griddle Pans; and Roasting Pans. This will allow players to reclaim said pans when they let Stir Fries and Omelettes get rotten.
  
• Recipes such as the Mildew Spray Cure, and Emptying Sacks of produce now have the field "AllowRottenItem:true" which allows rotten items to be used in that recipe.
  
• Fixed the Make Mildew Cure recipe not allowing both regular and Canned Milk; as players were unable to make this cure after all of the normal Milk has gone rotten.
  
• Fixed being unable to use Rotten Milk to make the Mildew Spray Cure.
  
  
• Commented out the "Make Pot of Soup" recipes; they're obsolete given the evolved recipe system which handles this matter better.
  
• Fixed being unable to use Canned Soup to make evolved recipe soup.
  
• Changed the display name of "Canned Soup" to "Canned Vegetable Soup".
  
  • Note: To make Pots of Soup with Opened Cans of Soup you must now add them to a Pot of Water, as an evolved recipe soup. This fixes the Super Soup exploit and will allow players to also add additional ingredients to the Soup. The other way of making Pots of Soup was an obsolete and in many ways incompatible method from before the evolved recipe system.
• Updated the Clean Tray recipe so it works with trays of Biscuit Dough, and also so that it works with rotten and cooked ingredients, so players can always recover a tray from rotten trays of food.

• Several tweaks to clothing masks.
  
  
• Added missing SetMelee Delay on Pistol Whip animation.
  
• Fixed Hoodie and Vest masks to work properly with base mesh.
  
• Fixed JokeKnife, JokeArrow, BunnyEars, FurryEars, Antlers and GodStar Headbopper to work with all hairstyles.
  
  
• Fixed moodle and heart wiggle-speed, now reduced by half.
  
• Fixed an issue with forageSystem.lua not accounting for the new loot rarity settings.
  
• Fixed the veteran having some duplicate clothing selection options.
  
• Fixed in-game map road that was made curved in cell 35,31.
  
• Fixed print() statement from JoyPadSetup.lua that resulted in unnecessary messages in the console log.
  
• Fixed source files not being loaded in the Lua debugger on Linux.
  
• Fixed mod Lua files not being loaded in the Lua debugger.
  
  
• Fixed being able to purify Watering Cans in an Oven.
  
• Fixed being able to turn Cooked Eggs back into Uncooked Eggs.
  
• Fixed Pizzas having the hasMetal tag.
  
• Fixed error in SliceCooked test.
  
• Fixed PopEmpty2 and PopEmpty3 having DisplayCategory = WaterContainer instead of DisplayCategory = Junk.
  
• Fixed PopEmpty having DisplayCategory = Material instead of DisplayCategory = Junk.
  
• Fixed BeerCanEmpty having DisplayCategory = WaterContainer instead of Junk.
  
• Fixed Buckets not having been updated to use metal filling sounds instead of plastic filling sounds.
  
• Fixed distant players not appearing on the in-game map when the server option allows it.
  
• Fixed Male_Undies not having the "OBSOLETE = TRUE" parameter. Also removed them from the foraging pool.
  
• Fixed not using a language's desired encoding when reading credits.txt.
  
• Fixed non-admins seeing invisible remote players on the in-game map.
  

ProjectZomboid's ultimate survival companion is here!

This limited edition Spiffo plushie is now available to order and is ready to take on the zombie
apocalypse with a usable backpack packed with all the newbie survivor trimmings.

Order yours today!

Orders will be live for 21 days only. Makeship will start their production once the campaign ends, with shipments estimated to start on March 4th 2023.

Hello survivors! Three things of note this week.
[h3]FINAL BUILD 41 PATCH RELEASED[/h3]
This afternoon we put out 41.78 to the stable branch, and you can read its changelist here.

Nothing seems to have exploded just yet, but there will very likely be a hot fix for anything that does crop up. We’ve had a few complaints of visual issues with some clothing that we’d thought we’d fixed for instance, that can probably get a quick look-over again before we move on.

This patch is largely quality of life changes, some MP tweaks and fixes for longstanding annoyances – so hopefully you’ll see a few things in the changelist that make you feel both cherished and warm.

Other than that hot fix, unless we return if circumstances demand it, the final devs who were tinkering in Build 41 will from this point on all be fully aboard the Build 42 train.

 
[h3]BARNYARD FRIENDS[/h3]
First, let us reiterate – Build 42 is still a long way off. However RJ’s development playpen for the domestic animals that the build will feature is still ticking along quite nicely. This week he has prepared two videos for your delight but first TWO caveats.

First, our animator Martin wants it known that one of the things we’ll be working on will be the way animals turn / turn when they move.

Secondly, clearly what you’re seeing here is debug dev-stuff – especially how it looks and operates when leading an animal around on a rope. We haven’t quite landed on the best way to herd animals around yet, and will likely have to land at a halfway house between realistic, feasible and fun. Likewise, thirdly I guess, UIs clearly aren’t final yet either.

So here’s proof that you can pet the cute little animals in Build 42 of Project Zomboid.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

And here’s how to coax them into a trailer so you can cart them off to slaughter them somewhere distant so their loud desperate squeals won’t attract zombies.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


[h3]MAGICAL WOODLAND FRIEND[/h3]
Yes, it’s happened. Spiffo merchandise is finally a thing. Behold! More information to come later on down the line. But for now…



To register your interest in crowdfunding a Spiffo plushie visit the Makeship Store! The full campaign begins in less than a week!

To find out how you could win one of two free plushies visit this twitter post!

This week’s table arsenal from Polaris. A changelist of all our pre-release and post-release patches since the 41 beta began can be found here. The Block of Italicised Text would like to direct your attention to the PZ Wiki should you feel like editing or amending something, and the PZ Mailing List that can send you update notifications once builds get released. We also live on Twitter right here! Our Discord is open for chat and hijinks too. No-one is allowed to make a jar-based gag in the presence of our Spiffo plushie, please, as we had to google it and oh dear god no please no.