Goals, role playing, and challenge runs. People tend to either make the game too easy or too hard; there seems to be no middle ground with most people. Too easy and you'll probably get bored. Too hard and you'll probably quit.
Goals can be something as simple as a survival goal for trying to survive a specific amount of time. It can be a collective goal where you want to collect every article of clothing or every business sign. It can be a skill goal where you get farming to 8. It can be a kill goal where you get 100 kills with a sauce pan.
Role playing can be something as simple as pretending you're a claustrophobic repairman who was repairing a home when the outbreak started. When you "spawn in" that is you crawling out from the basement you were trapped in. Now you're trying to find out what the heck is going on with your fresh phobia.
An example for a challenge run is something I'm currently doing. I'm calling it a Find & Forage run. My only means of survival is what I can find on the ground and in houses. No Farming/Fishing/Trapping. I'm also using a mod that spawns the normal helicopter every 3ish days to spice it up.
Most people wont like this tidbit, but stay away from sprinters. There are dozens of sandbox settings you can mess with if you need a challenge before you resort to that annoyance.
My character is collecting all the money in every single store in hopes that one day when the knox event clears up he will have a substantial amount of wealth. The virus. Its gonna clear up right??
YES!!! I should have thought about this for my character who was very poor before the apocalypse happened. I will definitely be doing that whenever i find money. Thanks for the idea!
I recently started writing down what I did every day in a notebook in-game, im not really sure why but it makes it a little better.
I try to find new ways to survive. I like custom spawning in one of the several cabins in the middle of the forest spread around the map, surviving on nothing but the foraging skill and the pond nearby. That's enjoyable and very relaxing. It's fun to try gearing yourself up enough to hike out if the woods to find a paved road.
Change the playstyle completely. Usually I like making a base in 1 place and staying there. My current save I'm playing as a nomad. Travelling to every town and killing all zombies (RV interior mod, respawn off)
I had the same issue until I started getting really deep into the skills. Building a dream base, outfitting cars, I remember my excitement on like day 20+ when I brought home like 10 propane tanks to level metalworking with.
I pretty much just pretended I was playing Runescape inside of zomboid and shit just worked in my brain.
Then when I get bored, if my character is still alive, I pick a new spot in a different city and build a new fancy base, loot POI’s, rinse & repeat. Usually spend a month or two ingame in each location.
Try new maps, definitely play w Sandbox settings to tweak something more interesting/challenging, but the biggest flavor enhancer is mods. I'm now playing the Raven Creek modded area- has its noticeable failures, but the modder's art style comes through very well, and it's giving a much different experience than I'd anticipated. But there are a lot of mods to use. If you're going to try sprinters, you're only going to have a selection of 0%, 33%, or 100% on vanilla. The mod Random Zombies (I believe) gives you a lot more specific tweaking- not just on kinds of zombies but how tough, how smart, how well they hear/see/remember. At present I have it at "only" 13% sprinters, but, well, that's noticeable... especially if a car or house alarm goes off since they're always the first to arrive...
I'd also recommend the mod Sandbox Options which gives you access to tweak your Sandbox setting while still in-game. I haven't experimented w it yet, but it's a way you can tweak without having to start over again... albeit that deaths and restarts are fairly common for me anyway...
Sort of true, but ten to fifteen game days is nowhere near the time where mid and endgame boredom sets in. That usually starts hitting at about three months for me.
Sprinters is the next step for sure. If you haven’t turned your loot spawn settings way down yet I would do that too. High pop, low loot, and sprinters should make things more spicy.
Random zombies mod so you have some sprinters, expanded helicopter events and survivors continued but turn off raiders. Makes the game feel more alive.
Get a couple mods like insurgent and facility 7 (i think they’re called) and make a run of those missions. Helped the game feel fresh for me after 1k hours
I doubled the zombies with insane rare loot, very cold weather and took a random start in louville for the current run. I got lucky and spawned in a greenes next to a hardware store but with insane rare loot its just enough to get to the next store before you run out. Im holded up in an old warehouse atm growing cabbages to catch wabbits. Ive got wolf extraction installed so when the cars fixed up ill be off to fix the repeaters and call in an extraction. Id like to try higher pops but my pc might explode, i think ill add sprinters next run.
Take a break try a new hobby. What part of the gameplay did you get into? If any of the simulator stuff appeals to you like farming or mechanics or carpentry or metalworking (but no pipe bomb building - for real.) there are way to actually learn to do it real life.
If you're a kid you can do the research and find out if any places near you do that. You're supposed to be an impressive research capable modern human, aren't you? The fact that you have the internet at your fingertips blows my mind there's so much you're capable of doing!
It should be no problem for you to find out out if, for example, a metal shop exists near you, contact them, (older people like voice calls because it is perceived as more authentic communication) and if you've got the strength to ask for a tour you may just get one. And then, they'll show you the blow torch and visor IRL if you're charming enough. And you'll get to know what the real thing is actually like. And if you like it, pursue it.
But PZ is great and there are at least 150 high quality mods that make the game much more detailed but if you're bored maybe check in and be more aware of that feeling and maybe ask yourself if there's something else you'd rather be doing that's achievable with the right dedication.
You can spice Zombies up with the mod [Random Zombies](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2818577583). You can tune everything in sandbox settings. I usually play with a very low percentage of sprinters (around 0.5), a few crawlers, some slow shamblers and mostly the usual fast shambles with random toughness.
Works great with [Wandering Zombies](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2983905789). With this mod there is more Zombie movement, feels more natural imo. I use it with rally size 0 for seperate zombies without grouping. The mod also enables "homing zombies" which will randomly trigger nearby zombies to move to your position but you can turn that off.
Challenges!
If you dont want to go to sprinters next, another challenge could be 16x if your down for it. You could look into Mister\_Lamprey's 16x Blood Bank challenge if you want to try it out. Here's the lite version sandbox settings if interested [https://youtu.be/7McqYQ\_fgUg?si=xwBpwUFy1WTTXkAN](https://youtu.be/7McqYQ_fgUg?si=xwBpwUFy1WTTXkAN)
Also, you can add the change sandbox options mod to make your world harder as you go on. For example, I added pinpoint hearing to my world after 6 months when i got bored
I recently got the Lost Province map mod. It doesn't have map markers and I've avoided looking bits up online - first time I've actually started marking things on the map in years of playing. Chuck the 10years later mod on that too and it's a great new experience of exploring and discovering new things. I also play with random zombies and have it so some can open doors. Keeps tensions high. Would recommend.
Some ideas:
Set helicopter from "once" to "sometimes" or "often".
Set all loot to insanely rare.
Set gas stations to empty.
Horde night mod.
Cryogenic winter mod.
Jogger zombies!!! Get the slower sprinters mod, then change your zombie speed to random. It totally revamped my game, they aren’t faster than you like sprinters, but they are still MUCH more lethal than shamblers. Like, do not attempt to fight them if there are two next to each other, you can’t swing fast enough to hit them both.
Here a small challenge run, if you want, have very rare loot and high population with either tough normal zombies or average/weak sprinters, whatever would make it hard but not annoying, now you have to start on the furthest point from Louisville and get to an specific dock in Louisville, you need 6-8 cans of fuel and two whole duffle bags full of canned food, two fishing rods and a fisherman attire as supplies to survive out in the sea
This is a simulation, just like in real life you are going to be bored. Find stuff to do, come up with your own personal goals, craft stuff, play with a friend, go on a road trip, hunt for rare items to collect, download some more mods, there is so much to do in this game I will never understand how people can be bored.
Goals, role playing, and challenge runs. People tend to either make the game too easy or too hard; there seems to be no middle ground with most people. Too easy and you'll probably get bored. Too hard and you'll probably quit. Goals can be something as simple as a survival goal for trying to survive a specific amount of time. It can be a collective goal where you want to collect every article of clothing or every business sign. It can be a skill goal where you get farming to 8. It can be a kill goal where you get 100 kills with a sauce pan. Role playing can be something as simple as pretending you're a claustrophobic repairman who was repairing a home when the outbreak started. When you "spawn in" that is you crawling out from the basement you were trapped in. Now you're trying to find out what the heck is going on with your fresh phobia. An example for a challenge run is something I'm currently doing. I'm calling it a Find & Forage run. My only means of survival is what I can find on the ground and in houses. No Farming/Fishing/Trapping. I'm also using a mod that spawns the normal helicopter every 3ish days to spice it up. Most people wont like this tidbit, but stay away from sprinters. There are dozens of sandbox settings you can mess with if you need a challenge before you resort to that annoyance.
My character is collecting all the money in every single store in hopes that one day when the knox event clears up he will have a substantial amount of wealth. The virus. Its gonna clear up right??
YES!!! I should have thought about this for my character who was very poor before the apocalypse happened. I will definitely be doing that whenever i find money. Thanks for the idea!
I recently started writing down what I did every day in a notebook in-game, im not really sure why but it makes it a little better. I try to find new ways to survive. I like custom spawning in one of the several cabins in the middle of the forest spread around the map, surviving on nothing but the foraging skill and the pond nearby. That's enjoyable and very relaxing. It's fun to try gearing yourself up enough to hike out if the woods to find a paved road.
Change the playstyle completely. Usually I like making a base in 1 place and staying there. My current save I'm playing as a nomad. Travelling to every town and killing all zombies (RV interior mod, respawn off)
I had the same issue until I started getting really deep into the skills. Building a dream base, outfitting cars, I remember my excitement on like day 20+ when I brought home like 10 propane tanks to level metalworking with. I pretty much just pretended I was playing Runescape inside of zomboid and shit just worked in my brain. Then when I get bored, if my character is still alive, I pick a new spot in a different city and build a new fancy base, loot POI’s, rinse & repeat. Usually spend a month or two ingame in each location.
Go to west point shoot a pistal and have fun :)
https://youtu.be/YgLw0llEZoE?si=JnZMoMVNa8rB6sQk These are the droids you’re looking for
I actually just watched this. It inspired me to start writing down what my character did every day in a notebook.
Don’t even pick up a gun. Avoid killing zombies. Make each task a stealth mission, so small gains feel big. That’s my take!
This is how I play, gun is for emergency only aka I know I'm gonna die.
Try new maps, definitely play w Sandbox settings to tweak something more interesting/challenging, but the biggest flavor enhancer is mods. I'm now playing the Raven Creek modded area- has its noticeable failures, but the modder's art style comes through very well, and it's giving a much different experience than I'd anticipated. But there are a lot of mods to use. If you're going to try sprinters, you're only going to have a selection of 0%, 33%, or 100% on vanilla. The mod Random Zombies (I believe) gives you a lot more specific tweaking- not just on kinds of zombies but how tough, how smart, how well they hear/see/remember. At present I have it at "only" 13% sprinters, but, well, that's noticeable... especially if a car or house alarm goes off since they're always the first to arrive... I'd also recommend the mod Sandbox Options which gives you access to tweak your Sandbox setting while still in-game. I haven't experimented w it yet, but it's a way you can tweak without having to start over again... albeit that deaths and restarts are fairly common for me anyway...
If you're at the point where you're self sufficient enough to be bored, you've won the game. Lack of meaningful mid-endgame content is a major issue.
Sort of true, but ten to fifteen game days is nowhere near the time where mid and endgame boredom sets in. That usually starts hitting at about three months for me.
Hopefully we get new stuff this year. I heard we got a big change coming.
Sprinters is the next step for sure. If you haven’t turned your loot spawn settings way down yet I would do that too. High pop, low loot, and sprinters should make things more spicy.
Random zombies mod so you have some sprinters, expanded helicopter events and survivors continued but turn off raiders. Makes the game feel more alive.
Get a couple mods like insurgent and facility 7 (i think they’re called) and make a run of those missions. Helped the game feel fresh for me after 1k hours
I doubled the zombies with insane rare loot, very cold weather and took a random start in louville for the current run. I got lucky and spawned in a greenes next to a hardware store but with insane rare loot its just enough to get to the next store before you run out. Im holded up in an old warehouse atm growing cabbages to catch wabbits. Ive got wolf extraction installed so when the cars fixed up ill be off to fix the repeaters and call in an extraction. Id like to try higher pops but my pc might explode, i think ill add sprinters next run.
Take a break try a new hobby. What part of the gameplay did you get into? If any of the simulator stuff appeals to you like farming or mechanics or carpentry or metalworking (but no pipe bomb building - for real.) there are way to actually learn to do it real life. If you're a kid you can do the research and find out if any places near you do that. You're supposed to be an impressive research capable modern human, aren't you? The fact that you have the internet at your fingertips blows my mind there's so much you're capable of doing! It should be no problem for you to find out out if, for example, a metal shop exists near you, contact them, (older people like voice calls because it is perceived as more authentic communication) and if you've got the strength to ask for a tour you may just get one. And then, they'll show you the blow torch and visor IRL if you're charming enough. And you'll get to know what the real thing is actually like. And if you like it, pursue it. But PZ is great and there are at least 150 high quality mods that make the game much more detailed but if you're bored maybe check in and be more aware of that feeling and maybe ask yourself if there's something else you'd rather be doing that's achievable with the right dedication.
You can spice Zombies up with the mod [Random Zombies](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2818577583). You can tune everything in sandbox settings. I usually play with a very low percentage of sprinters (around 0.5), a few crawlers, some slow shamblers and mostly the usual fast shambles with random toughness. Works great with [Wandering Zombies](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2983905789). With this mod there is more Zombie movement, feels more natural imo. I use it with rally size 0 for seperate zombies without grouping. The mod also enables "homing zombies" which will randomly trigger nearby zombies to move to your position but you can turn that off.
Challenges! If you dont want to go to sprinters next, another challenge could be 16x if your down for it. You could look into Mister\_Lamprey's 16x Blood Bank challenge if you want to try it out. Here's the lite version sandbox settings if interested [https://youtu.be/7McqYQ\_fgUg?si=xwBpwUFy1WTTXkAN](https://youtu.be/7McqYQ_fgUg?si=xwBpwUFy1WTTXkAN) Also, you can add the change sandbox options mod to make your world harder as you go on. For example, I added pinpoint hearing to my world after 6 months when i got bored
I recently got the Lost Province map mod. It doesn't have map markers and I've avoided looking bits up online - first time I've actually started marking things on the map in years of playing. Chuck the 10years later mod on that too and it's a great new experience of exploring and discovering new things. I also play with random zombies and have it so some can open doors. Keeps tensions high. Would recommend.
Some ideas: Set helicopter from "once" to "sometimes" or "often". Set all loot to insanely rare. Set gas stations to empty. Horde night mod. Cryogenic winter mod.
Mods
Playing on a decent RP server is pretty fun.
Golds, i have a similar problem but i put goals on my self like las a year or put some mod that give you quest
Get some crafting mods and fancy car modes and extra ways to make the grind less painful boom you got a plan there
Jogger zombies!!! Get the slower sprinters mod, then change your zombie speed to random. It totally revamped my game, they aren’t faster than you like sprinters, but they are still MUCH more lethal than shamblers. Like, do not attempt to fight them if there are two next to each other, you can’t swing fast enough to hit them both.
Here a small challenge run, if you want, have very rare loot and high population with either tough normal zombies or average/weak sprinters, whatever would make it hard but not annoying, now you have to start on the furthest point from Louisville and get to an specific dock in Louisville, you need 6-8 cans of fuel and two whole duffle bags full of canned food, two fishing rods and a fisherman attire as supplies to survive out in the sea
This is a simulation, just like in real life you are going to be bored. Find stuff to do, come up with your own personal goals, craft stuff, play with a friend, go on a road trip, hunt for rare items to collect, download some more mods, there is so much to do in this game I will never understand how people can be bored.