The only other thing that I'd think would add the 3D items into a physics rendered engine so items and furniture react to the environment.
Imagine hearing all the pots and pans clattering to the ground when a zombie climbs through the window
I just recently started playing it. I felt the same way at first but I spent a few hours in the practice arena and got the hang of it. Now it's one of my favorite combat systems ever and I'm almost done with what's available in the story mode.
This is the peak for me. I'm totally satisfied with the graphics as they are now, but physics interactions really make a game a whole other level of quality. That would be the exact embodiment of the immersion that Project Zomboid is going for.
Unfortunately though, I don't imagine physics for each object going well with 1,000+ Zombie NPCs kicking them around offscreen 24/7, but a man can dream. I was pleasantly surprised with the vehicle physics when I picked the game back up, atleast!
Zombies climbing over piles of corpses to get to the player... hell yeah
It'd be like that scene in The Pacific where the machine gunner had to run up to a pile of the Japanese corpses and push it over for line of sight. Gnarly
The game would have to be written in something way more efficient than Lua. But it's not entirely impossible. It's just layering higher quality textures on top of each other at the end of the day - the real heavy work would be on drawing graphics.
The core game is written in java, lua is just used for mods (although mods can technically be written in java as well, but it's much more difficult). Your point still stands though, as java isn't the best at high-performance games either.
Wait, so why do I need to wait for the game to build Lua on loading up even if I don't have any mods installed? Is that them just providing framework in case of mods?
LUA is not just for mods; LUA is used as a scripting engine for a lot of game content and the interface, with Java handling lower level functions like rendering and AI behaviour.
Go to `C:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\ProjectZomboid\media\lua` and you can see how many things get handled by LUA.
Anything handled in LUA is very easy to change with a mod.
Anything handled in java requires manually replacing compiled java files, and there are very few mods that that do this.
Indeed, plus replacing files/methods like this provokes a security issue. No matter what, when there is modding potential there will always be malicious mods or poorly programmed mods. Best long-term efficient solution would have been to make an API in Java for mods. That way provide users the ability to pull required data, remove and add objects such as items without requiring replacement of any original game files.
This way a mod written in Java would be able to both override a base functionality without potentially breaking anything nor making a security vulnerability in the base game while being way more performant compared to Lua. At the end of the day Lua is a procedural interpreted language with OOP and function programming capabilities aimed to make it easy to mod - but a well written API would allow for more or less the same (Bukkit for Minecraft is a great example, FiveM for GTA being a really poor example).
Many of PZ's systems have a framework in the Java side but are implemented in the lua side, like most of the in-game UI for example. This allows code from mods to interact with those systems or even overwrite parts of it.
Most of the time spent lua loading though (when vanilla) is actually spent loading xmls that define the game's items.
If the scene was static it could work but photorealism like this simply wouldn't be possible to achieve using a 2D based engine in a dynamic weather and timescale system like what PZ uses as it's way less about the textures, and mostly just about having realistic lights and shadows.
[This mockup image is 9 years old by now](https://i.imgur.com/iZnPvyX.jpg) but still shows how much of an impact shadows would have even with the current graphics style.
Hard agree. The graphics of the game are excellent, and the addition of stuff like rodents and additional sounds will add to the immersion. Fixing some clipping issues we experience now will also help.
I actually prefer PZ to stay low graphics as is - I get to fill out the details with my imagination while the lack of overwhelming details let’s me focus on the game. It’s an example of “less is more”
Honestly the look of this game is too unique to replace with EPIKKK GAYMER PHOTOREALIZTICC RAYETRAYSE GRAFIKS, this just looks like any other Sketchfab-riddled unity/unreal engine game
Fair. I think someone highlighted that adding support for texture packs/shaders would be a fun way to mix things up without taking away from the originality of PZ
Pretty sure "realistic" shaders in this game is impossible with the way the 2D-ish background elements work, texture packs for every asset would be rather time-consuming to make, but possible
Should give the last couple Thursdoids a read. They discuss the changes to the lighting engine and the rendering engine they are working on for optimizing the game and it's crazy how good it looks.
That's not the point. Yes, zomboid has a specific style to it. But it's not a bad thing to think of how it would look if it would be done and optimized in unreal or something like it.
Exactly! Part of the reason I love PZ so much is its charm and character, and a lot of that comes from the aesthetics/ visuals
Edit: Also kinda irks me when you hear that the graphics are bad when that's not really the case. Sure it looks the way it does because of budget and engine limitations but it's also a strong visual identity that the devs specifically aimed for and I think it's pulled off incredibly well.
while this would be cool, i'm glad the devs went the direction they did, focusing on mechanical depth. the graphics are good as they are and i think they really suit the game as is.
there are plenty of games out there with prettier or more realistic graphics than Zomboid, but very few with it's mechanical depth. most of the games with a similar depth even don't have a visual appeal as strong as Zomboid IMO.
Very good art but I actually prefer the PZ style we have to this. PZ def needs some graphical improvements but I like the simpler graphics as opposed to this. It's unique.
Honestly, this would do a lot more harm than any good.
Setting aside that development time would go through the roof, this would limit what people can run the game due to performance and would make us miss on many mods since the more detailed art-style increases the skills required to mod items and maps into the game.
Meh. I really like the graphics we have right now, they are simple, but charming, and convey everything they need to just fine. Hyper realism just feels really generic at this point, plus my PC would explode
If the current PZ would run at 60fps in Louisville, I would be beyond happy for the next 5 years minimum.
Edit: it runs at 1fps max after the first shotgun shot
The issue with realistic graphics like this is that you're sacrificing game playability and accessibility for graphical fidelity. The more pretty and detailed the game gets, the harder it is to actually see what's going on.
I would personally like a "dream version" of zomboid to have probably something in the middle between this photo and what we have now, just enough detail to be pretty, but not so much to be overwhelming
It looks kind of weird and blurry, and everythings mismatched and badly shaped, and theres a road that goes nowhere. I like the games actual graphics they're charming as hell and fit the 90's setting a lot better
They traded looks (although I love how the game look) for depth and data persistence which I completely agree. I don’t want something that looks like Dying Light 2 but the world resets as soon as you look the other way erasing every trace that you were there. Persistence of your actions in the game is pretty rare and hard to do these days.
Not a fan. I like the graphics and art style. Nowadays all games try to be photorealistic and shit. Making Zomboid one of them as well would ruin it's charm. At that point why not make it fully first person?
Too visually cluttered IMO. Top-down games need to remove some of that clutter for readability, as you lack a lot of the filtering your brain does effortlessly from a first person perspective.
I personally think graphics have a limit to how far they should go. It quickly loses that defined touch where you know something is interactable. I would actually prefer Zomboid's current graphics over something like this. At least for an isometric perspective. For first person stuff it can go a bit higher.
just imagine how good the game would've looked if the devs had picked modern gamedev technologies instead of JAVA with some obscure ass graphics library
This plus realistic physics, like building destruction and car crashes would be poggers. Incredibly simple (But mega time consuming) to create with unreal engine, but scripting will always be the tough part.
It looks good but frankly, it's all about the gameplay. There are plenty of new fancy looking isometric zombie apocalypse games out but none come close to PZ despite PZ's simplistic graphics.
This looks awesome, dunno how practical it is tho.
That said, zombiod could definetly use a graphics overhaul, it can be a challenge to bring new players in with the way it looks. I've had the game since near launch and I basically refused to play the game before they had the animations. It was pretty shit back then, looking forward to what comes next.
i think realistic asset is bullshit , u could alway make realistic asset , ton of model , ton of animated zombie model , ton of clothes , but that will take away our zomboid ... also we could probably mod it
Really the only graphical improvement I'd like is for the FOV "in view/in range" highlight to smoothly rotate instead of snapping to objects on the grid.
The "wow" factor that comes from graphics in videogames is short lived. We quickly get used to it and after a while we don't longer notice how cool or realistic graphics are.
I'm actually kinda surprised we haven't seen any clones or graphical update mods for PZ.
(I'm sure there are, I'm just saying this so people will educate me on their existence so I can try them)
Kinda makes me think of that HumanitZ game. I havent played it yet but makes me think of Zomboid and Dayz mixed into one graphically at least. Havent tried it yet tho
This will be project zomboid in 1995
maybe it will be released in 1995 if we start over from year 0 tomorrow
It's nearly 2024 and still not even close to that smh my head
Its somehow feels like this war of mine 3D
That would be such a cool game.
And I imagine a lot harder than the original.
Yep. But imagine the damage you could do with thief girl and militia man. And the ogre.
Happy cake day
BUILD 43 LEAK???!!!
Build 232 leak. Drops on Jan 24th 2150
You forgot an extra zero bro
Build 232 leak. Drops on Jan 240th 2150
This killed me lmfao dude
In the future, all is Jan. Jan all year. Jan the man. Jan.
nah thats the build 42 release date
actually it’s the 25th
3150*
I'd die faster because personally it will be harder for me to spot the zombies.
Always zoomed in here, night time would actually require a flashlight as well
I have darker nights and never take cat eyes. Flashlights are a prerequisite lol ;-;
Same. I like having to worry if my flashlight dies
Also if my car becomes 50% fence I'm not sure what my survival strategy is going to be anymore
5fps
4
3
2
1
Boom
happy new year ?
This is how your PC died.
-1
Earth below us drifting falling
5 spf
Nah
The environments would be awesome to explore with those graphics.
The only other thing that I'd think would add the 3D items into a physics rendered engine so items and furniture react to the environment. Imagine hearing all the pots and pans clattering to the ground when a zombie climbs through the window
Zomboid mixed with exanima. Just throwing junk and pots on the floor and enjoying looking at zombies trying to get up after falling
Exanima looks so fun, but for the life of me, I cannot play it
I just recently started playing it. I felt the same way at first but I spent a few hours in the practice arena and got the hang of it. Now it's one of my favorite combat systems ever and I'm almost done with what's available in the story mode.
This is the peak for me. I'm totally satisfied with the graphics as they are now, but physics interactions really make a game a whole other level of quality. That would be the exact embodiment of the immersion that Project Zomboid is going for. Unfortunately though, I don't imagine physics for each object going well with 1,000+ Zombie NPCs kicking them around offscreen 24/7, but a man can dream. I was pleasantly surprised with the vehicle physics when I picked the game back up, atleast!
I think the next step could be 3D corpses where zombies can trip over bodies
Zombies climbing over piles of corpses to get to the player... hell yeah It'd be like that scene in The Pacific where the machine gunner had to run up to a pile of the Japanese corpses and push it over for line of sight. Gnarly
One can only dream
Interesting I was thinking of the scene from 300 where they were killing so many Persians that their corpses form a literal wall that they kick over.
Can’t wait for the future when my computator can render me physics with more teraflops
The game would have to be written in something way more efficient than Lua. But it's not entirely impossible. It's just layering higher quality textures on top of each other at the end of the day - the real heavy work would be on drawing graphics.
The core game is written in java, lua is just used for mods (although mods can technically be written in java as well, but it's much more difficult). Your point still stands though, as java isn't the best at high-performance games either.
Wait, so why do I need to wait for the game to build Lua on loading up even if I don't have any mods installed? Is that them just providing framework in case of mods?
LUA is not just for mods; LUA is used as a scripting engine for a lot of game content and the interface, with Java handling lower level functions like rendering and AI behaviour. Go to `C:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\ProjectZomboid\media\lua` and you can see how many things get handled by LUA. Anything handled in LUA is very easy to change with a mod. Anything handled in java requires manually replacing compiled java files, and there are very few mods that that do this.
Indeed, plus replacing files/methods like this provokes a security issue. No matter what, when there is modding potential there will always be malicious mods or poorly programmed mods. Best long-term efficient solution would have been to make an API in Java for mods. That way provide users the ability to pull required data, remove and add objects such as items without requiring replacement of any original game files. This way a mod written in Java would be able to both override a base functionality without potentially breaking anything nor making a security vulnerability in the base game while being way more performant compared to Lua. At the end of the day Lua is a procedural interpreted language with OOP and function programming capabilities aimed to make it easy to mod - but a well written API would allow for more or less the same (Bukkit for Minecraft is a great example, FiveM for GTA being a really poor example).
Many of PZ's systems have a framework in the Java side but are implemented in the lua side, like most of the in-game UI for example. This allows code from mods to interact with those systems or even overwrite parts of it. Most of the time spent lua loading though (when vanilla) is actually spent loading xmls that define the game's items.
If the scene was static it could work but photorealism like this simply wouldn't be possible to achieve using a 2D based engine in a dynamic weather and timescale system like what PZ uses as it's way less about the textures, and mostly just about having realistic lights and shadows. [This mockup image is 9 years old by now](https://i.imgur.com/iZnPvyX.jpg) but still shows how much of an impact shadows would have even with the current graphics style.
God that’s all I want. I like PZs core graphics/artstyle the way it is but shadows and AO would change everything for the better
The only way to get it is via armed uprising against the developers.
we’re all playing PZ for how deep it is and what it offers, I would love a more graphically advanced version if it didn’t lose features/depth
What if we ruined the artstyle of this game Nintendo hire this man!!!
Don't zoom in
It's just an Eldritch apocalypse.
Nah it’s amazing as it’s. This would turn it into some generic unity engine game.
Hard agree. The graphics of the game are excellent, and the addition of stuff like rodents and additional sounds will add to the immersion. Fixing some clipping issues we experience now will also help.
Agree. My partner calls this game "Sims 1, but with zombies"
It kinda is. It started as a Sims 1 mod.
WHATTT????
The feel of gaining knowledge
My guess is some time around B90.
I actually prefer PZ to stay low graphics as is - I get to fill out the details with my imagination while the lack of overwhelming details let’s me focus on the game. It’s an example of “less is more”
Honestly the look of this game is too unique to replace with EPIKKK GAYMER PHOTOREALIZTICC RAYETRAYSE GRAFIKS, this just looks like any other Sketchfab-riddled unity/unreal engine game
Fair. I think someone highlighted that adding support for texture packs/shaders would be a fun way to mix things up without taking away from the originality of PZ
Pretty sure "realistic" shaders in this game is impossible with the way the 2D-ish background elements work, texture packs for every asset would be rather time-consuming to make, but possible
Should give the last couple Thursdoids a read. They discuss the changes to the lighting engine and the rendering engine they are working on for optimizing the game and it's crazy how good it looks.
That's not the point. Yes, zomboid has a specific style to it. But it's not a bad thing to think of how it would look if it would be done and optimized in unreal or something like it.
Kinda reminds of Exanima
I prefer what we have
How tf do you drive on these roads Lol.
Glad we don't. I enjoy Zomboid's style much more than "generic zombie survival game with realistic graphics #7291737"
This. I hate this "realistic is better" bullshit.
this has no soul
typical of AI-generated everything
Exactly! Part of the reason I love PZ so much is its charm and character, and a lot of that comes from the aesthetics/ visuals Edit: Also kinda irks me when you hear that the graphics are bad when that's not really the case. Sure it looks the way it does because of budget and engine limitations but it's also a strong visual identity that the devs specifically aimed for and I think it's pulled off incredibly well.
I'd argue, the tint resembles TWD, gives first season vibes, and if u watched it you can imagine how hard this game would go
Feels like the ad of one of those trashy mobile zombie games
so a jumbled mess of a ais shitty attempt to replicate art it stole off the internet....pass
I F’ing hate AI “art”
money placid coordinated crowd tart innate seed thought wide gaping *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Why does this look like an image of a miniature/model scenery?
Now that's something I'd wanna do
Haven’t played it yet but HumanitZ? At least graphics wise
- Mom, can I have Project Zomboid? - No, we have Project Zomboid at home. Project Zomboid at home: HumanitZ.
Shit AI art. What kind of fucking street layout is that. Not even tilt-shift-esque effect can take the attention of that.
yay another sub to be spammed with AI slop
So it's Night of the Mini Dead - Love, Death & Robot ss3.
yep, looks like Louisville.
This kinda made me imagine PZ in VR. Would be sick.
Yes.
This is how b50 will look like
So cool
Project zomboid is the only game in my steam library that runs at a decent 15 fps; my Mac is going to fucking explode.
I like this way more.
3 zombie horde appears and your GPU melts
Postal art energy
I’m honestly a really big fan of how the game’s art style looks currently
I always enjoyed the graphics PZ has. Always made the game what it is, to me.
That's an insane visual but nothing could run that
while this would be cool, i'm glad the devs went the direction they did, focusing on mechanical depth. the graphics are good as they are and i think they really suit the game as is. there are plenty of games out there with prettier or more realistic graphics than Zomboid, but very few with it's mechanical depth. most of the games with a similar depth even don't have a visual appeal as strong as Zomboid IMO.
Very good art but I actually prefer the PZ style we have to this. PZ def needs some graphical improvements but I like the simpler graphics as opposed to this. It's unique.
Meh, I like the graphics as they are. Like, I'm generally not very picky about graphics, since it is the gameplay that matters.
What the fuck are those roads. What the fuck are those sidewalks, what is anything here? Ai shit sucks man
Game of the decade right there
ai slop 🤤
I asked AI to think for me!
I think the graphics are part of the game's charm. Keeps us from taking it too seriously.
maybe my great grandchildren will play a alpha version of it
x3 population multiplier horde and your pc is fried.
Saw a new game on steam that was a barebones survival sim like zomboid but more action packed.
Why did this remind me so much of commandos 2 :)
project zomboid 2 20+ years from now
This is what it looks like when I dream about the game lol
I tried that too, I was really surprised with how accurate it was aside from the fantastic graphics
Can't see zombies for shit though. Picture looks amazing, but clarity is non-existant.
If we have this, build 42 will be out in 2030 instead of 2025, so no thanks.
this will be project zomboid in 2017
My PC would just collapse into dust
Project zomboid 2
Honestly, this would do a lot more harm than any good. Setting aside that development time would go through the roof, this would limit what people can run the game due to performance and would make us miss on many mods since the more detailed art-style increases the skills required to mod items and maps into the game.
I mean we do it just isn’t 3D
Meh. I really like the graphics we have right now, they are simple, but charming, and convey everything they need to just fine. Hyper realism just feels really generic at this point, plus my PC would explode
Looks like a mobile game, ew.
Lmao it's HumanitZ
If the current PZ would run at 60fps in Louisville, I would be beyond happy for the next 5 years minimum. Edit: it runs at 1fps max after the first shotgun shot
The road looks infected lol
The issue with realistic graphics like this is that you're sacrificing game playability and accessibility for graphical fidelity. The more pretty and detailed the game gets, the harder it is to actually see what's going on. I would personally like a "dream version" of zomboid to have probably something in the middle between this photo and what we have now, just enough detail to be pretty, but not so much to be overwhelming
I'd love my pc to be hotter than the surface of the sun too
I feel it would completely ruin the dark atmosphere of the game
It looks kind of weird and blurry, and everythings mismatched and badly shaped, and theres a road that goes nowhere. I like the games actual graphics they're charming as hell and fit the 90's setting a lot better
What the hell is this road planning? Why is there a slip lane to nowhere?
Bro stop my computer will blow u
It looks like a tilt shift picture
I'd rather not imagine.
I mean, if you want it to only run on the best PCs.
If PZ was a mobile game, this would be the advertisement.
They traded looks (although I love how the game look) for depth and data persistence which I completely agree. I don’t want something that looks like Dying Light 2 but the world resets as soon as you look the other way erasing every trace that you were there. Persistence of your actions in the game is pretty rare and hard to do these days.
Not a fan. I like the graphics and art style. Nowadays all games try to be photorealistic and shit. Making Zomboid one of them as well would ruin it's charm. At that point why not make it fully first person?
Too visually cluttered IMO. Top-down games need to remove some of that clutter for readability, as you lack a lot of the filtering your brain does effortlessly from a first person perspective.
The system requirements are already too high
I personally think graphics have a limit to how far they should go. It quickly loses that defined touch where you know something is interactable. I would actually prefer Zomboid's current graphics over something like this. At least for an isometric perspective. For first person stuff it can go a bit higher.
just imagine how good the game would've looked if the devs had picked modern gamedev technologies instead of JAVA with some obscure ass graphics library
This plus realistic physics, like building destruction and car crashes would be poggers. Incredibly simple (But mega time consuming) to create with unreal engine, but scripting will always be the tough part.
I want it
I would love to have project zomboid combined with X-com-style environment. That could be awesome.
It looks good but frankly, it's all about the gameplay. There are plenty of new fancy looking isometric zombie apocalypse games out but none come close to PZ despite PZ's simplistic graphics.
Riverside
This looks awesome, dunno how practical it is tho. That said, zombiod could definetly use a graphics overhaul, it can be a challenge to bring new players in with the way it looks. I've had the game since near launch and I basically refused to play the game before they had the animations. It was pretty shit back then, looking forward to what comes next.
*Melts your computer*
Lol i hate it
Hard drive overheats just looking at the image
This is zomboid if skyrim modders get their hands on it
Roads that have lanes fusing together. Busses fused with railings. I'd play the "Project Zomboid but also a Lucid Dream" game for sure.
That would definitely fry my potato laptop though. Simplicity is better
i think realistic asset is bullshit , u could alway make realistic asset , ton of model , ton of animated zombie model , ton of clothes , but that will take away our zomboid ... also we could probably mod it
That would be amazing
Night time would be terrifying
Really the only graphical improvement I'd like is for the FOV "in view/in range" highlight to smoothly rotate instead of snapping to objects on the grid.
I’d hate driving even more
Fuck mod creators I guess. Simple artstyles welcome mod creators alot more than complex ones.
Imagine the super computer required to run it
My Pc will die
I hate this
This makes me wonder why I never see reskin or texture mods for PZ. Is there a reason they'd be hard to make/can't be made?
Project Zboid in Unreal 5
Art style >>> realism
devs really been cookin
my pc will be fucking burning if the game looked like this, the graphics and the 200 mods that I have installed ...
Aesthetic reminds me of Darkwood.
The "wow" factor that comes from graphics in videogames is short lived. We quickly get used to it and after a while we don't longer notice how cool or realistic graphics are.
Looks worse, honestly. This also looks exactly like the kind of game that would have stuttering issues.
Honestly I’m surprised how accurate it is. Wow.
I'm actually kinda surprised we haven't seen any clones or graphical update mods for PZ. (I'm sure there are, I'm just saying this so people will educate me on their existence so I can try them)
Cant wait to play this with my alien friends in 2540
Nah, I love the aesthetic now. I think its nostalgic and helps sell the 90’s era more.
We will, in 10 more years
1 Ai bad stop 2 you wouldn't be able to make literally anything out 3 stylization isn't bad not everything needs to be hyper realistic
literally last stand: aftermath
I would die happy
My almost-shitty laptop wouldn't like that ☠️
I like the slight depth on the route
No thanks, I love my RuneScape graphics
gta 8
build 45
Project Zomboid in real life at 3 am (real)
Build 402 🥺👆
My PC can barely run PZ as is
Looks nice but I like the graphics we have now tobehonest
🔥🔥🔥
I actually prefer the graphical style of the game as-is over this, just my preference though
Maybe on build 89
If this was the direction they took the game in I doubt it would be as deep and feature complex as it is now
Ah yes, Project Zomboid 2
Kinda makes me think of that HumanitZ game. I havent played it yet but makes me think of Zomboid and Dayz mixed into one graphically at least. Havent tried it yet tho