Info about ZED ZONE: Official game description: JOIN OUR DISCORD ================ Details about the rewards ========================= 1、Redeem codes will be distributed on Monday, March 27th. Backers will receive additional Exclusive Access, which allows them to access the game before Early Access is released. 2、Your name will be included in the game's credits as a supporter. You can send the ID name to our email address (original ID + modified ID, not sent then default to Kickstarter username). 3、If the reward "A zombie named by you" is included in the support option you have chosen, you can provide a custom name, which will be used for a zombie in the game. You can send the custom name to us via Kickstarter or email. 4、If the reward "A letter with content of your choosing carried by a zombie" is included in the support option you have chosen, you can provide letter content and items, which will be found by other players on a zombie in the game. You can send the content to us via Kickstarter or email. 5、Backers will receive a Kickstarter "Exclusive in-game gifts" when Early Access officially begins. 6、Backers of the "BFG Kit" will receive a Kickstarter exclusive firearm when Early Access officially begins. 7、Backers of the "Melee Weapon Kit" will receive a Kickstarter exclusive melee weapon when Early Access officially begins. 8、The "Custom Character" option will be updated after Early Access launch. 9、Backers of the "Road Sign Kit" can send their road sign texture or content to my email. They will be added to the game after the Early Access begins. 10、Physical merchandise for the "Survival Supplies Kit" and "Survival Master Kit" are currently being produced. Please leave your address and contact information through Kickstarter or email. You will also be added to a special thank you list. Crowdfunding contact e-mail: shulinan1999@163.com About the Game ============== A great catastrophe has come, and you, who are on duty, crash and trapped in a Zed Zone. There are zombies and monsters everywhere, In order to escape, by collecting materials, upgrading skills, building shelters, defeating zombie waves and mysterious mechs, chasing a glimmer of hope. VEHICLES -------- * Use vehicles to explore the open world * Realistic driving physics simulation * Detailed parameters such as vehicle type, speed, power, gear ratio, etc.. * ​Pay attention and maintain your car. Repair, refuel, get a charged battery, and proper tires. SPECIAL INFECTED ---------------- * Blaster. Before the incident, it was a patient diagnosed with eating disorder. Explodes and leaves a poisonous area around him. * Spitter.Used to be a human with lung or stomach disease. After the infection, its organs secrete venom continuously. Attacks you by vomiting venom. * Beast.Previously a fitness enthusiast. After mutation, developed a super-powerful strength. * Mutant infected. Certain factors caused some strange mutations, and the skin of some humans became hardened by an unknown vegetal layer. WEAPONS ------- * Multiple and varied types of melee and ranged weapons * Craft your own weapons and ammunitions * Modify and enhance your firearms * Multiple types of calibers for your arsenal BUILDING AND CRAFTING --------------------- * Build your own **shelter**. * Collect resources & build facilities * Store supplies, improve your crafting capabilities and provide electricity to your base * Manufacturing tools, weapons and ammunitions through multiple workstations * Protect your grounds with a variety of traps, bombs and more! SURVIVAL MECHANICS ------------------ * A detailed survival experience. * Get supplies and food by searching houses, scavenging abandonned buildings, hunting or farming. * Keep an eye on the weather! Or your body temperature may be impacted. * Eat, drink and stay sharp! Craft a sleeping bag, you may need some energy before the next encounter... * Batteries, flashlights, hammers, equipment, repair kits... Hundreds of items to search for, find and craft. Release date: 29 Mar, 2023 Categories: Survival, Resource Management, Base Building, Crafting, Open-World Exploration, Real-time Combat, Character Progression, Weapon Customization - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: No data - Playtime Metrics: No data - Time-to-fun: No data - Player Archetypes: No data Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Engaging and enjoyable gameplay (weight 0.77): Players find the game highly enjoyable and addictive, praising its fun gameplay, unique elements, and overall solid foundation. Many express high hopes for its future development and appreciate the continuous updates that enhance the experience. - Unique take on survival genre (weight 0.53): The game is frequently compared to Project Zomboid, often being described as a more accessible, combat-focused, or refined alternative. Players appreciate its unique take on the survival genre, diverse enemies, and immersive post-apocalyptic atmosphere, with some noting its similarities to Cataclysm:DDA. - Dedicated and responsive developer (weight 0.35): The solo developer receives significant praise for their passion, responsiveness, and consistent efforts in updating the game. Players appreciate the frequent bug fixes, active communication on Discord, and the overall dedication to improving the game, even after periods of inactivity. - Satisfying and diverse combat (weight 0.18): The combat system, particularly gunplay, is highly praised for its satisfying feel, rich variety of firearms, and strong feedback. Players enjoy the impact of hits, gore effects, and the flexibility offered by diverse weapons and equipment. - Engaging crafting and scavenging (weight 0.13): Players enjoy the engaging resource management, crafting, and scavenging systems. The intuitive crafting system and the loop of gathering materials, crafting, and exploring contribute significantly to the overall enjoyment. - Charming art and polished mechanics (weight 0.11): The game's art style and graphics are well-received, described as charming, pleasant, and easy on the eyes. Players also note the polished mechanics and clear UI for a pixel-art game. - Diverse enemies and abundant items (weight 0.1): The game offers a wide variety of enemies, including special monsters that provide a sense of dread and terror. This is complemented by an enormous assortment of detailed items and weapons, enhancing gameplay depth. - Fast-paced, combat-focused gameplay (weight 0.09): The game is characterized by its faster, more combat-oriented gameplay compared to other survival titles. It prioritizes action and monster combat, creating tension while offering clear objectives and player freedom. - Stable and well-balanced experience (weight 0.09): The game demonstrates good stability with few game-breaking bugs, and the developer is quick to address issues. Players appreciate the balanced difficulty, allowing for easy survival while still posing challenges for exploration. - Realistic survival mechanics (weight 0.06): The game incorporates realistic survival details, such as harsh weather and specific battery sizes, contributing to an immersive and bleak post-apocalyptic environment. Intricate survival mechanics make player decisions impactful. - Extensive customization options (weight 0.06): The game offers character customization, starting perks, and extensive weapon and skill customization options. This flexibility allows players to enhance combat abilities and adapt their playstyle. - Flexible base building (weight 0.06): The base-building feature is a pleasant addition, allowing players to construct and reinforce secure bases anywhere on the map, which enhances game enjoyment. - Rich and comprehensive content (weight 0.05): Players note that the game offers rich and comprehensive content, with expectations for even more planned for future updates. - Easy ammo acquisition (weight 0.05): The ease of acquiring and crafting ammunition, particularly with weapons like the air gun and crossbow, makes survival more manageable in the early game. - Effective melee weapon options (weight 0.05): Melee weapons are highlighted for their effectiveness, especially special ones found in malls, and the ability to equip spike modules for increased damage and cheap repairs. Common complaints: - Critical bugs and crashes (weight 0.51): Players frequently encounter critical bugs, including game crashes, save corruption, and significant performance issues like stuttering and frame drops. These problems often lead to lost progress and make the game unplayable, severely impacting the overall experience. - Clunky UI and crafting (weight 0.37): The crafting, inventory, and merchant interfaces are widely criticized for being clunky, unintuitive, and requiring excessive manual input. Basic quality-of-life features like batch crafting, quantity selection, and automatic material fetching are missing, making core gameplay loops tedious. - Unfair enemy spawning (weight 0.33): The enemy spawning system is problematic, with zombies frequently appearing inside player-built bases, cleared areas, or in overwhelming numbers. This leads to unfair encounters, difficulty in maintaining safe zones, and a monotonous gameplay loop. - Limited content and progression (weight 0.29): The game suffers from a lack of content, depth, and a clear progression system, leading to monotony and low replayability in the mid-to-late game. Character customization is basic, and there's a scarcity of meaningful skills, weapons, and buildable items. - Player structures and items disappear (weight 0.28): A severe and persistent bug causes player-built structures, homes, and stored items to inexplicably disappear after saving, loading, or even during regular gameplay. This issue, reported to have existed for a long time, leads to significant loss of progress and frustration. - Slow and inconsistent development (weight 0.24): Players express strong dissatisfaction with the slow and inconsistent development pace, noting a lack of significant updates or progress over two years. This leads to concerns that the game is unfinished, abandoned, and not worth its current price. - Unbalanced weapons and skills (weight 0.22): Weapon balance is poor, with the initial air rifle being disproportionately effective and cost-efficient compared to other firearms. The skill tree is unfinished, and many skills have little impact, making character progression and weapon choices unrewarding. - Poor graphics and optimization (weight 0.16): Despite pixel art graphics, the game suffers from poor optimization, leading to low frame rates, lag, and visual issues like blurry textures and small, unreadable fonts. This impacts visual clarity and overall performance, even on capable hardware. - Inconsistent localization (weight 0.1): The game has inconsistent and incomplete localization, with untranslated text, item descriptions, and UI elements, particularly for Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, and French. This hinders immersion and makes item identification difficult for non-English speakers. - Poor road generation (weight 0.1): The procedural world generation creates problematic roads that end abruptly, lead into buildings, or are blocked by obstacles. This makes vehicle travel difficult and unrealistic, detracting from exploration. - Unrealistic weather mechanics (weight 0.1): The weather and temperature mechanics are considered unrealistic and overly harsh, especially for new players starting in winter. Hypothermia can occur illogically, leading to rapid health loss and frustrating early-game experiences. - Rapid weapon durability loss (weight 0.09): Firearms and their accessories (scopes, magazines, stocks) lose durability too quickly, often after only a few shots or reloads. This necessitates frequent, costly repairs and makes gun combat less appealing due to high maintenance. Gameplay feedback: - Strong Project Zomboid resemblance (weight 0.29): Players frequently compare the game to Project Zomboid, highlighting its post-apocalyptic survival theme, top-down isometric view, and emphasis on resource gathering, crafting, and base building. It's seen as a more combat-focused or simplified version of Zomboid, with elements from other survival games like Zero Sievert and Neo Scavenger. - Skill-based character progression (weight 0.15): Character progression is driven by an in-game skill system and a skill tree, where skills are upgraded by consuming specific items or farming materials. Players can allocate points to various talents and traits, such as 'Firearm Mastery,' infection resistance, or specific weapon proficiencies. - Core survival loop and resource management (weight 0.14): The core gameplay loop involves scavenging for resources, managing hunger, thirst, and temperature, and then returning to a base for crafting and organizing. The early game focuses heavily on exploration and establishing a base, with progression leading to better equipment and easier survival. - Varied and frequent enemy types (weight 0.12): The game features a diverse and challenging array of enemies, including numerous zombie types (normal, armored, exploding, plant-based, juggernauts) and mutant creatures like Destroyers and Spider Robots. These enemies attack frequently, often in groups, and some areas contain boss-like encounters. - Diverse weapons with manual loading (weight 0.12): The game offers a wide array of weapons, including various melee options, firearms, bows, and thrown objects, many with customization attachments. A notable mechanic is the manual loading of magazines for most ranged weapons, though some, like revolvers and bows, bypass this. - Nested inventory for expanded capacity (weight 0.11): The game allows for 'bag-in-bag' or nested inventory functionality, where players can place backpacks inside other bags or vehicle trunks. This significantly expands carrying capacity, enabling players to transport vast amounts of loot without needing a permanent base. - Unfinished attribute system (weight 0.11): Character creation allows players to allocate points to basic attributes and select traits, advantages, and limitations. However, the attribute system is currently unfinished, with no in-game method to gain additional attribute points after creation, and some related tabs are inaccessible. - Randomly generated maps and character creation (weight 0.09): The game features randomly generated, large maps that are separate from character save data, allowing multiple characters to access the same map. Character creation is robust, offering customization of appearance, traits, and initial skills. - Manual save system, no auto-save (weight 0.09): The game utilizes a save-based system, with a quick save function (F5), but lacks periodic auto-saving. Progress is lost upon death unless saved beforehand, leading to requests for a 'safe house' mechanism or more forgiving save options, especially for easier difficulties. - Pixel art with top-down isometric view (weight 0.08): The game features a pixel art style with a top-down, 2D isometric perspective. The camera perspective is quite vertical, prioritizing a game-like view over flashy action, similar to Project Zomboid. - Simple crafting, needs batch options (weight 0.08): While the crafting system is generally simple and intuitive, some players find it 'weird' or cumbersome due to the need for manual material filling and the lack of batch crafting. Crafting difficulty is low, primarily requiring basic resources like wood, stone, and iron. - Merchant-based trading system (weight 0.07): The game includes a trading system with NPCs (merchants) found at specific locations on the map. Interactions with merchants are text-based, allowing players to buy and sell items, including weapons. - Minimal tutorial, learn by doing (weight 0.06): The game has a 'learn by doing' approach, with an initial tutorial but a general lack of extensive tutorial missions, which can be disorienting for new players. It avoids complex base-building requirements seen in some other survival games. - Fast-paced, strategic combat with durability (weight 0.06): Combat in the game is described as faster-paced and more strategic than some other survival games, with a stronger emphasis on combat. Items, including weapons, have a durability system. - Basic controls, needs hotkey improvements (weight 0.06): The game includes basic hotkeys for movement (WASD) and interaction (F key), along with quick pick/drop and equip/unequip functions. However, players desire improvements like one-click item pickup and the ability to bind backpacks to quick slots. - Diverse items and environmental features (weight 0.04): The game includes various items such as lighting equipment, liquid containers, and features like vehicles, radiation, and destructible objects, adding to the survival experience. - Clear end-game objective (weight 0.04): The game provides a clear end-goal: repairing a boat to leave the area. This objective guides exploration and progression, offering a sense of purpose beyond pure survival. - Temperature and health mechanics (weight 0.04): The game features a temperature system that requires players to manage clothing layers and use campfires to avoid fever and other health issues. Health and disease mechanics are present. - Challenging Factory boss encounter (weight 0.04): The 'Factory' is a notable location featuring a challenging boss-like fight with various mutant enemies. Successfully completing this encounter rewards players with valuable items like gasoline generators and a water jet engine. - Toggleable gore and kill cam (weight 0.03): The game features gore expression, execution animations, and a 'kill cam,' all of which can be toggled off in the settings, allowing players to customize their visual experience. Performance notes: - Severe performance and lag issues (weight 0.17): Many players report significant performance issues, including constant stuttering, severe frame drops, and lag, even on high-end systems and minimal settings. These problems are exacerbated in complex scenarios like combat, crafting, or when many items/zombies are present, leading to a poor gameplay experience and occasional crashes. - Developer responsiveness to stability (weight 0.03): The developers have been responsive in addressing critical stability issues, such as engine noises causing crashes and general stability problems. This indicates a commitment to improving the game's technical foundation. - Long loading times (weight 0.01): Players have noted that the game suffers from long loading times, which can disrupt the flow of gameplay. This suggests an area for potential optimization to improve the overall player experience. - Corrupted resolution display (weight 0.01): One player reported an issue where the game's resolution was corrupted, indicating a potential display or graphics setting bug. This is a specific technical issue that could affect visual fidelity. - Expect bugs in early access (weight 0.01): Players generally expect bugs in an early access title. This point serves as a general acknowledgment that the game, being in early access, will naturally have some imperfections. Recommendations: - Good for zombie survival fans (weight 0.29): The game is recommended for fans of zombie survival, open-world, and scavenging genres, especially those who enjoy Project Zomboid but desire a different experience (e.g., more shooting, less complexity). It's seen as a solid indie title for its niche. - Current game state not recommended (weight 0.28): Many players currently do not recommend the game, often suggesting waiting for future updates, bug fixes, or a sale. Some even refunded the game due to issues like load times or specific bugs. - High hopes for future updates (weight 0.24): Players have high hopes for the game's future, eagerly anticipating new content, features, and continued development. There's a strong desire for more frequent updates and performance optimizations. - Suggestions for new features (weight 0.12): Players suggest various new features and improvements, including farming/animal husbandry, better trading, simplified crafting, more weapons/attachments, a conversation/recruitment system for wanderers, skill respec, and keybind settings. - Good value, especially on sale (weight 0.07): Many players feel the game offers good value, especially when purchased on sale. Some consider it worth buying even in its current early access state, giving it high ratings. - Bugs need fixing (weight 0.05): Players report various bugs, including a critical 'house disappearing' bug, and suggest workarounds like reloading the game. There's a clear call for developers to fix these issues. - Positive review for developer support (weight 0.04): Some players give positive reviews primarily to support the developers and encourage continued work, often with the caveat that they are observing future development. - Tips for item management (weight 0.02): Players offer advice to avoid losing items, such as not venturing too far from home and always carrying all items in the car when traveling long distances. Other player notes: - Expand game content and features (weight 0.54): Players consistently express a strong desire for more content, including new features, items, weapons, and gameplay systems like farming, animal husbandry, and a quest system. There's also a call for expanded maps, more building options, and deeper progression systems like attribute boosts and skill trees. - Consistent updates and development (weight 0.34): Players acknowledge the game is in Early Access and has potential, but there's a strong desire for consistent and frequent updates. While some note the developer is regular, others feel the pace has slowed or that the game has been unfulfilled for too long. There's anticipation for upcoming major updates. - Implement multiplayer functionality (weight 0.32): A significant portion of the community is eagerly awaiting the implementation of multiplayer or co-op functionality. Players want to experience the game with friends, and many believe this feature is essential for the game's long-term success and enjoyment. - Prioritize bug fixes and optimization (weight 0.31): Players are keen for the developer to prioritize bug fixes and performance optimizations. Specific issues mentioned include item disappearance, overlapping items, and general game stability. Addressing these foundational issues is seen as crucial for a smoother player experience. - Improve quality of life features (weight 0.31): Players are requesting various quality-of-life improvements to enhance the user experience. This includes better inventory management (sorting, stacking, 'put all' functions), UI/text scaling, improved item visibility, and customizable keybinds, especially for left-handed players. - Players invest significant playtime (weight 0.18): Players have invested a significant amount of time in the game, with many reporting 50+ hours of gameplay. While some express frustration leading to uninstallation, others are still engaged and looking forward to future improvements, indicating a dedicated player base despite current issues. - Positive sentiment on pricing (weight 0.06): Many players purchased the game on sale, finding it to be a good value. Some also bought it at full price to support the developers, indicating a positive sentiment towards the game's pricing and a desire to support its continued development. - Request for Japanese localization (weight 0.03): There is a demand for Japanese language localization, with a community-made machine translation mod already existing. This indicates a desire for broader accessibility and support for non-English speaking players. Emotions: - Frustration (weight 0.26): Players are frequently frustrated by a high volume of critical and game-breaking bugs, leading to loss of progress, items, and bases. Poor UI/UX design, unintuitive controls, and a lack of essential quality-of-life features like auto-save and clear tutorials also contribute significantly to player annoyance. Additionally, performance issues such as lag, crashes, and slow load times, along with unbalanced mechanics like unfair enemy spawns and unrealistic durability, consistently hinder the gameplay experience. - Disappointment (weight 0.18): Disappointment stems from the game's perceived lack of progress and content despite being in development for an extended period, often failing to meet player expectations. Persistent unaddressed bugs, slow and insubstantial updates, and the absence of promised or desired features like multiplayer contribute to a sense of unfulfilled potential. Players also express disappointment with core game design flaws, including unrewarding progression, poor loot distribution, and a general lack of depth in various systems. - Satisfaction (weight 0.15): Players find satisfaction in the game's core gameplay, particularly its combat system, crafting, and immersive survival elements, often praising its unique blend of features. Consistent developer support, regular updates, and responsiveness to feedback significantly enhance player enjoyment and trust. The game's value for money, high replayability, and engaging atmosphere also contribute to a positive overall experience. - Excitement (weight 0.08): Excitement is primarily driven by the game's potential for future development, including new content, features like multiplayer, and continuous improvements. Players are also excited by the game's unique take on the survival genre, its challenging and memorable gameplay moments, and the anticipation of future updates. Specific elements like scary zombie designs and new base-building options also generate enthusiasm. - Hope (weight 0.07): Hope is centered on the game's future potential, with players expressing a strong desire for continued developer updates, bug fixes, and optimizations. There is significant hope for the implementation of new features, particularly multiplayer, workshop support, and expanded content like farming and base upgrades. The continued activity of the developer, despite current issues, fuels this optimism for a more complete and polished product. - Anger (weight 0.04): Anger arises from critical game-breaking bugs that cause significant loss of progress, items, and entire bases, often compounded by a lack of auto-save. Players also express anger over perceived developer neglect, slow and insubstantial updates, and a feeling that their feedback is being ignored. Specific design choices, such as anti-human UI and unkillable enemies, further fuel this frustration. - Desire (weight 0.02): Players strongly desire the implementation of multiplayer/co-op features to enhance the social aspect of the game. There is also a significant desire for quality-of-life improvements, such as batch crafting, and for more content, including larger maps and additional updates. Localization into various languages is also a frequently expressed desire. - Joy (weight 0.02): Joy is experienced through the overall enjoyment of the game's core mechanics, particularly fun gunplay and charming graphics. Players appreciate the developer's efforts and the game's current polished state, finding it to be a worthwhile and engaging experience. Specific features like the 'bag-in-bag' inventory system also bring joy. - Optimism (weight 0.02): Optimism is rooted in the belief in the game's future potential, especially given its Early Access status, and the expectation of continuous improvements and new content. Players are optimistic about the game's direction and the developer's commitment to enhancing its quality over time. This sentiment persists despite current issues, focusing on what the game could become. - Annoyance (weight 0.02): Annoyance is caused by various minor but persistent issues, including random enemy spawns, constant environmental factors like cold, and repetitive maintenance tasks such as the repair loop. UI/UX issues like small, unreadable fonts and accidental console activation also contribute to player irritation. Performance issues like recent crashes and fan noise are also sources of annoyance. - Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion primarily stems from unclear game mechanics, a lack of tutorials, and illogical systems, making it difficult for players to understand basic functions like loading ammunition or the purpose of certain durability stats. Visual issues, such as strange graphics or unclear door states, also contribute to player disorientation. The disappearance of items on the map further adds to this confusion. - Appreciation (weight 0.01): Appreciation is directed towards the developer's consistent effort, responsiveness to feedback, and regular updates and bug fixes. Players value the game's overall quality and detailed design, recognizing the sincerity and dedication behind its development. This positive sentiment is often tied to the ongoing support and improvements. - Relief (weight 0.01): Relief is felt when critical bugs are fixed, performance issues are improved, or when developers confirm they are still actively working on the game after periods of silence. Finding workarounds for persistent problems or the release of specific language patches also brings a sense of relief to players. The assurance that the game has not been abandoned is a significant source of this emotion. - Enjoyment (weight 0.01): Enjoyment is derived from the game's core gameplay, including its customization options, engaging combat, and challenging survival aspects. Players find satisfaction in the unique features, good gun feel, and variety of firearms available. The overall experience of playing the game, including mini-boss encounters, contributes to this positive emotion. - Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration is expressed for the developer's dedication, hard work, and responsiveness, particularly given the game's quality as a solo developer's project. Players admire the game's overall quality when compared to other titles in the genre, recognizing the significant achievement in its creation and ongoing support. - Anticipation (weight 0.01): Anticipation is driven by the desire for new content, features, and faster updates, especially for multiplayer and more late-game experiences. Players eagerly await mod support and other improvements that will expand the game's longevity and depth. This emotion reflects a forward-looking hope for the game's evolution. - Concern (weight 0.01): Concern arises from perceived abandonment by the developers, often due to a lack of news or updates, leading to worries about the game's future. Players observe development pitfalls in other indie games and fear a similar fate for this title. This concern is rooted in the uncertainty surrounding the game's long-term support and completion. - Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom sets in due to a monotonous and repetitive gameplay loop, particularly in the mid-to-late game, leading to a loss of replayability. Players find the content repetitive and specific tasks, such as inventory management, become tedious. This indicates a need for more varied and engaging activities to maintain interest. - Impatience (weight 0.01): Impatience is primarily driven by a strong desire for new features, especially multiplayer, to be implemented more quickly. Players are eager for the game to evolve and expand its content, indicating a readiness for more significant updates and additions to the gameplay experience. - Sarcasm (weight 0): Sarcasm is used by players to express frustration or disappointment through ironic comments, often highlighting severe bugs or illogical game mechanics. Examples include calling a non-launching game a 'god game' or ironically using a car as a mining tool due to poor handling, underscoring critical issues with a humorous, albeit critical, tone.}