Project Zomboid

Project Zomboid is an open-world, isometric video game developed by British and Canadian independent developer The Indie Stone. The game is set in the post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested exclusion zone of the fictional Knox Country (formerly Knox County), Kentucky, United States, where the player is challenged to survive for as long as possible before inevitably dying. It was one of the first five games released on the alpha funding section of the gaming portal Desura.

In 2011, The Indie Stone were subject to a high-profile setback within the indie gaming community following the theft of two laptops containing the game's code. 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. The latest stable release is Build 41, released in December 2021, which includes animation and combat overhauls, new audio and music, the city of Louisville, Kentucky, and revamped multiplayer by General Arcade. Project Zomboid is set in 1993, with the game starting by default on July 9; however, the start date and time can be changed in the game settings.

Plot
The plot of Project Zomboid centres around the "Knox Event" which is conveyed through in-game radio broadcasts and TV channels. The initial cause and origin of the "Knox Infection" remain a mystery, with characters in the in-game radio station, KnoxTalk, speculating a variety of possibilities, including a prion disease, an act of God, or bio-terrorism. The infection is known to be spread through contact with saliva, blood, and eventually airborne water droplets; however, the player is immune to the latter mode of transmission. After being infected, individuals first experience a high fever followed by increasing feelings of anxiety and nausea, which will progressively worsen until they succumb to the disease. There is no cure for the Knox Infection, and it is invariably fatal.

The game begins on July 9, 1993, approximately three days after the United States military establishes a blockade surrounding the infected areas of Muldraugh, Riverside, West Point, and Rosewood, dubbed the Knox Exclusion Zone. U.S. Army General John McGrew, who oversees containment measures within the Knox Exclusion Zone, issues a statement informing the public to remain calm, assuring that no fatalities have been reported within the Exclusion Zone.

On July 11, the WHO grounds all non-essential international flights to prevent the global spread of the infection. Riots erupt in various American cities and curfews are implemented in New York City and Miami following a series of deaths and injuries in these areas. The next day, a picture is leaked from West Point to the media showcasing a one-armed man covered in blood and standing among corpses, which fuels fear and panic surrounding the situation. On July 13, media interviews with survivors who had been released from military captivity within the Exclusion Zone reveal the nature of the infected to "hunt" the living, spreading the infection through bites.

General John McGrew issues a statement on July 14 assuring that "America is safe" while elaborating on details of the Knox Event, confirming that the infection is spread through direct fluid contact, scratches, and other "un-American" acts of violence. Increased chaos within the Exclusion Zone eventually leads to a breach of the military blockade, resulting in the complete withdrawal of the military. Around this time, Louisville canonically becomes infected (though the player can visit Louisville prior to the breach and find it infected). By July 15, the first reports of individuals falling ill to the Knox Infection without being bitten are confirmed by the media. As the Exclusion Zone expands, the airborne transmission of the virus becomes apparent. On July 16, in a desperate attempt to contain the spread, the United States military demolishes bridges over the Ohio River, killing hundreds of escaping civilians and effectively trapping survivors and zombies within Knox Country.

On July 17, the highly contagious virus is confirmed in Cincinnati, Mogadishu, Seoul, Okinawa, and multiple cities in England. In a final broadcast, General John McGrew addresses the individuals unaffected by the second wave of the Knox Event, urging them to take extreme measures for their survival. He confirms that while these immune individuals cannot contract the disease naturally, they remain susceptible to infection through fluid contact, specifically citing bites. McGrew commands these survivors to defend themselves, stressing the importance of their survival for the continuation of humanity. The general ends his message assuring the survivors they haven't been forgotten and promising rescue and support. Subsequently, most radio and television stations cease operation by July 18, marking the end of the world.

Gameplay
In Project Zomboid, the player aims to survive for as long as possible in an apocalyptic and zombie-ridden area around the city of Louisville, Kentucky – referred to as 'Knox Country' – which has been quarantined by the government. The player can choose their character's appearance, occupation, and traits before selecting to spawn within one of four starting towns, the occupation that is chosen also will influence where exactly the character will spawn (e.g. a firefighter has a higher chance of spawning in a fire station if the chosen town has one). On top of avoiding zombies, the player has to manage their personal needs (such as hunger, stress, fatigue, and boredom) to stay alive through resting, scavenging for supplies, and using survivalist techniques. The player can level skills through activities and reading skill books and magazines. The game uses the traditional Romero style slow-moving zombies, though certain zombies are faster than others, and sandbox mode includes a setting for 28 Days Later-style "sprinter" zombies.

The game features a variety of preset difficulty modes, along with a sandbox mode, which allows the player to customize game settings such as zombie population, virus transmissibility, and the rarity of loot. Additionally, the game features a set of fixed 'challenge' scenarios, some of which are set on separate, smaller maps and/or feature unique gameplay elements, like an endless winter storm or a zombie horde which tracks the player after one in-game day.

'Knox Country' – the playable region in Project Zomboid – heavily bases its locale on the Louisville metropolitan area. The towns of Muldraugh, West Point, and Louisville are loosely replicated in the game world alongside other fictional locations, such as Riverside. The world becomes more desolate and decrepit as time progresses, with water and power grids being shut off within a month, followed by the erosion and overgrowth of the region's structures. The game also features a detailed climate system which approximates the humid subtropical weather patterns of the area; cold and warm fronts form and shift causing a wide range of weather events, from warm sunny days to severe tropical storms. Seasons also change as time passes, so choosing appropriate gear for the current season and weather is an important factor in survival.

The modding community is very active for this game, further allowing for customization of gameplay via downloadable mods. The mods range from minor changes to the interface such as visible stamina, hunger, and water bars, to complete overhauls of gameplay mechanics, addition of new mechanics and custom made maps and expansions of the current game map. These mods can be found in the Steam Community Workshop. A community wiki is also actively maintained by the players, with detailed guides on gameplay and tips for survival.

Unlike most other zombie survival games, power and water start off active in Project Zomboid, and players can make use of household electrical appliances such as lights, televisions, ovens, and microwaves, as well as get unlimited water from taps, but after a random number of days between 0-30 (A different amount can be achieved by changing the sandbox settings for power and water shutoff to occur later), the power and water will shut off, forcing the players to get water and use electricity by other means.

Development
According to the developers, the game has been something they "always wanted to make" and their "dream game" although they felt that they would be unable to due to time commitments. This changed after the success of Minecraft, which showed them "another way to develop a game" that would produce a quicker result. They have also said the main inspiration for the game were zombie movies as opposed to zombie video games.

Beginning
The game was first released in April 2011, as a tech demo. It is written in Java for its portability, using LWJGL.

Early setbacks
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. 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, and instead, released a free "public tech-demo" for download the next day.

On October 15, 2011, the apartment of two of the developers was broken into, and laptops containing large amounts of the game code, which had not been backed up externally, were stolen, resulting in severe delays to the game's development. Due to these setbacks, 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.

Continuation
As of November 8, 2013, Project Zomboid was released on Steam's Early Access. In February 2014 the Indie Stone released a multiplayer version of the game publicly for the first time. Following this release, the game has been actively updated over time, with numerous overhauls to the gameplay and sound, as well as a removal and subsequent reintegration, of multiplayer. The game is still in "early access", and as such, new features, additions, and bug removals still happen regularly. The developers also actively communicate with the players, releasing blog posts every two weeks, on Thursdays, known as Thursdoids. These can be about updates, servers, changes or removal of bugs in the next build or mod showcases.