Project Zomboid

Project Zomboid is an open world survival horror video game in

Project Zomboid
alpha stage development by British and Canadian independent
developer, The Indie Stone. The game is set in a post apocalyptic,
zombie infested world where the player is challenged to survive for as
long as possible before inevitably dying. It was also one of the first
five games released on the alpha funding section of the gaming portal
Desura.[2]

The Indie Stone were subject to a high-profile setback within the indie
gaming community following the theft of two laptops containing code
for Project Zomboid. Since then, Project Zomboid has appeared on
Steam Early Access and continues development to this day. Project
Zomboid is The Indie Stone's first commercially released game.[3] As
of October 2018, Build 40 was released as stable, and the next build
was in development.[4]

Contents Developer(s) The Indie Stone

Gameplay Publisher(s) The Indie Stone
Development Director(s) Andy "Binky"
Leak to public distribution Hodgetts, Marina
Theft of developers' laptops with source code "Mash" Siu-
Chong, Will
References "Velvet Owl"
External links Porter, Chris
"Lemmy"
Simpson

Gameplay Programmer(s) Chris "Lemmy"

Simpson, Romain
Dron, Tim Baker,
The aim of Project Zomboid is to survive in the fictional, zombie- Andy "Binky"
ridden Knox County, which has been quarantined by the Hodgetts, Paul
government.[5] The player has to manage such things as hunger, Ring
tiredness, pain and mental stability to stay alive. To do this, players
Artist(s) Marina "Mash"
must scavenge for supplies to keep themselves alive for another day, Siu-Chong, Andy
while avoiding the roaming zombies. The game uses the traditional "Binky" Hodgetts
Romero style slow-moving zombies, though certain zombies are faster
Writer(s) Will "Velvet Owl"
than others.
Porter
The game itself features two gameplay modes: Survival mode and Composer(s) Zach Beever
sandbox. In survival mode, the player is first tasked with creating a Platform(s) Java[1]
character and then surviving as long as possible after the character Microsoft
spawns in one of four cities in Knox County. Alongside other towns Windows
and points of interest, the player has the choice to begin the character OS X
in Muldraugh, Riverside, Rosewood, or West Point. The sandbox Linux
Genre(s) Role-playing,
mode allows players to change various gameplay mechanics of the survival horror
game such as the speed and numbers of zombies inhabiting the world, Mode(s) Single-player,
weather conditions, and item availability within the world. multiplayer

Additionally, the game features a set of 'challenge' scenarios, which are unique compared to the traditional
gameplay of survival. This includes last stand mode, where the player must survive against either waves of
zombies or a steady flow of zombies, earning cash for killing zombies that they can spend on ammunition and
weapons. When creating a character the player must choose a profession, each with its own perks, and then
choose the character's traits. Each trait has a points value assigned to it, either positive or negative, depending
on if it is a good trait or a bad one. The player begins with 8 trait points available (if unemployed occupation is
chosen), which can be used for positive or negative traits. The player needs at least 0 points to continue and
play the game.

Development
The game was first released on April 25, 2011 as a tech demo. It is written in Java for its portability, using
LWJGL.[1] As of November 8, 2013, Project Zomboid was released on Steam's Early Access.[6] In February
2014 the Indie Stone released a multiplayer version of the game publicly for the first time.[1]

Leak to public distribution

In June 2011, soon after the game's release as a paid pre-alpha tech demo, the game was leaked, and
unauthorized copies spread to many other websites.[7] The unauthorized version of the game enabled
downloading from the Project Zomboid's servers with the press of an 'update now' button, regardless of
whether the user already had the latest version. In order to avoid paying for these downloads, The Indie Stone
took the customer-only paid version offline,[8] and instead, released a free "public tech-demo" for download
the next day.[9]

Theft of developers' laptops with source code

On October 15, 2011, the flat of two developers of the game was broken into. Two laptops were stolen from
the flat, containing large amounts of the initial game code which had not been backed up externally.[10] This
resulted in severe delays to the game development.[11][12] Due to this setback, they gave a presentation at
Rezzed entitled "How (not) to make a video game", going over some of the lessons they have learned since
starting the project.[13]

References
1. "APZDTISA #3: This time with LIVE MULTIPLAYER!" (http://projectzomboid.com/blog/2014/02/
apzdtisa-3-this-time-with-live-multiplayer/). Project Zomboid. 17 February 2014.
2. Greg (14 September 2011). "Alphafunding for Indie Games" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130
630204910/http://www.desura.com/groups/desura/news/alphafunding-for-indie-games). Desura
Community. Desura. Archived from the original (http://www.desura.com/groups/desura/news/al
phafunding-for-indie-games) on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
3. "Games released by The Indie Stone on their IndieDB profile" (http://www.indiedb.com/compan
y/the-indie-stone). Indiedb.com. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
4. "Build 40 Released" (https://projectzomboid.com/blog/2018/10/build-40-released/). Project
Zomboid. 30 October 2018.
 5. "Survive" (http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/04/survive). Projectzomboid.com. 20
April 2011. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20130329201259/http://projectzomboid.com/
blog/index.php/2011/04/survive) from the original on 2013-03-29. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
6. "It's Been A Long Road…" (http://projectzomboid.com/blog/2013/11/its-been-a-long-road/).
Project Zomboid. 4 November 2013.
7. Wesley Yin-Poole (20 June 2011). "Pirates force Project Zomboid offline" (http://www.eurogam
er.net/articles/2011-06-20-pirates-force-project-zomboid-offline). Eurogamer. Retrieved
21 August 2011.
8. "Sorry we've had to take the game down for the day" (https://web.archive.org/web/2013021407
1940/http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/sorry-weve-had-to-take-the-game-dow
n/). 2011-06-18. Archived from the original (http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/s
orry-weve-had-to-take-the-game-down) on 2013-02-14.
9. "FREE PUBLIC TECH-DEMO RELEASED!" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120326120846/htt
p://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/free-public-demo-released/). 2011-06-19.
Archived from the original (http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/free-public-demo-
released/) on 2012-03-26.
10. "Project Zomboid Burglary: Statement" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130318154543/http://pro
jectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/10/project-zomboid-burglary-statement). Archived from
the original (http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/10/project-zomboid-burglary-state
ment) on 2013-03-18.
11. Good, Owen (16 October 2011). "Burglary Delivers Huge Setback to Indie Game Project
Zomboid [Updated]" (https://kotaku.com/5850245/burglary-delivers-huge-setback-to-indie-gam
e-project-zomboid). Kotaku. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
12. Conditt, Jessica (16 October 2011). "The Indie Stone is burgled, loses code for latest Project
Zomboid update" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150131112005/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/1
0/16/the-indie-stone-is-burgled-loses-code-for-latest-project-zomboi/). Joystiq. Joystiq.
Archived from the original (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/16/the-indie-stone-is-burgled-loses-
code-for-latest-project-zomboi) on 2015-01-31. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
13. "Project Zomboid Rezzed Session - How NOT to make a game!" (https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=HYgPI0qkdU4). YouTube. 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2013-05-15.

External links
Official website (https://projectzomboid.com/)
The Indie Stone forums (https://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php)

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This page was last edited on 31 March 2021, at 18:57 (UTC).

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