r/projectzomboid • u/HoThereMeLord • 13h ago

Discussion Basements

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Ever since B42 came out, my preference in bases have completely shifted to basements exclusively. They are just so cozy, easy to manage and easy to secure. Anyone have a favorite basement?

207 Upvotes

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126

u/-_-Orange Crowbar Scientist 13h ago

I’m the opposite, I have to be at least 1-2 floors off the ground. 

If zombies flood the base, you kinda have nowhere to go in a basement. If you’re upstairs there’s usually a window to escape through. 

88

u/MstrTenno 13h ago

Zombies are never going to flood the base though. They don't migrate in hordes. Once you clear out the zeds near your base you don't really have to worry about defenses at all, just need to kill the occasional stragglers you find.

In that context base aesthetics and functionality matter way more than defense.

53

u/Schmitty1106 13h ago

Yeah honestly I think it would be kind of cool if they implemented some kind of behavior changes that would actually lead to the sort of defensive battle that so many people's bases seem to be built in expectation of, but idk how that would really work given the foundation they're already working with

Defenses in this game have a fundamental problem where if you've spent enough time in an area to have constructed a defensible base, there's like a 99% chance that you've already cleared it of almost all zombies, and thus your defensible base is pointless

25

u/SellPitiful1702 13h ago

Many people don't know but this used to be a thing back in the very early versions. I remembered watching this one channel that did Zomboid let's plays back in the day (MayaTutors I believe it was called). They had cleared out the area around their base, until one day the amount of zombies that had wandered it started to grow again. Ok, no big deal, he just killed them off every morning. Then one day he woke up and hundreds of zeds were everywhere. It was like a sea of zombies. He was taken completely by surprise and that meant enough zombies had spotted him and started to break into his base.

It was really cool.

5

u/Pingonaut 7h ago

Was respawn turned off? I think it used to be on by default.

7

u/AdhesiveChild 3h ago

It's only recently that apocalypse has defaulted it to off

41

u/MstrTenno 13h ago

Yeah I think some of the devs have said that wandering hordes are something they'd like to do, but you know these devs it will probably take like 5 years until they get around to it while they work on creating a basket-weaving skill

1

u/SatoshisVisionTM 5h ago

It was spoken about in the youtube interview which was released shortly before the stable b42. I doubt it will take long, especially since NPCs are in the next unstable.

0

u/Schmitty1106 12h ago

I mean they do respawn by default, so there will always be some, but never really enough to be a problem.

Maybe they could have a setting where every so often a large population of zombies will all spawn all at once in a nearby cell, simulating the arrival of a migrating horde. That way you wouldn't have to deal with constantly tracking the updating positions of migrating zombies all over the map, which would probably tank performance into hell, which is probably one of the reasons they haven't done it.

18

u/MstrTenno 12h ago

They don't respawn by default, except in the extinction preset.

6

u/TommyVe 13h ago edited 11h ago

I think I saw a server setting that read like a chance of horde migration.

Which would make sense to be turned on by default. They need to find more brains to eat after all.

3

u/FUZZY_BUNNY All Hail Spiffo 11h ago edited 11h ago

Leave it in

Edit: horse migration

3

u/TommyVe 11h ago

I think I'll surprise my friends and secretly bump it up.

It's kinda lame that once you settle in and clean around the base, one doesn't have to be worried about anything but thirst and hunger lol.

We often just queue up reading books and leave our computers for ten minutes.

6

u/AkiraTheLoner 10h ago

Try living hordes mod. Still a beta but works well enough, you will have hordes dinamically roaming the map, and they will find you at some point. Yesterday i went out on a uneventful scrapping run, just to come back to a base in the process on meeting a 400+ zombie horde. You never know when you will meet them and how big they will be. You can kite them away, but if you meet a second horde blocking your road, then you really have to improvise. If your base has a generator it will attract roaming zombies and you will have to constantly seal breaches and leave spears next to most barricades. highly recommended for youe issue.

3

u/Auditore1507 11h ago

You could change the helicopter event from "once" to "sometimes" or even more. Then just sit in your base and the zombies would come to your location.

1

u/betrok 5h ago

Eh, even heli only draws zombies from limited area. After couple events there will be nobody to pull.

5

u/StepMumSanta 7h ago

I highly recommend the mod “wondering zombies” to fix this. Zombies now wonder much more than before, and can randomly merge into groups. Depending on your config, you can have the groups merge again to create larger hordes, and you can make it so there’s a chance that any given horde movement is towards your current location (although I don’t play with this on, I like the randomness).

3

u/-_-Orange Crowbar Scientist 13h ago

I wouldn’t say never… it’s happened to me a few times in Louisville. I’ll have my street cleared & maybe the surrounding area, then a house alarm undoes days - a weeks worth of clearing in a couple hours.

I can’t speak for people who make their base away from towns. That’s not something I’ve ever done on purpose.  

4

u/MstrTenno 12h ago

I make my base in towns all the time and this still isn't a problem. 

Maybe if you are in Louisville or play on insane pop the natural zombie migration will pose more of a challenge but those are more edge cases cause most people dont do that I would say. From your comment about house alarms it seems like you've downloaded a mod to spawn in Louisville too because by the time I would get there in a normal run the house alarms would be off.

2

u/DirtyPiss Drinking away the sorrows 11h ago

Unless you play with Wandering Zombies and Calm Before the Storm, then base defense with quick exits becomes very real and relevant.

3

u/MstrTenno 10h ago

I actually play with Wandering Zombies and while it makes the time before you clear an area more challenging, I've found that after you clear it it's still pretty safe. That mod only affects zombies within the loaded zone so it doesn't really increase migration to your area.

The other mod seems like it would help address the problem but I don't like anything that makes zombies "home in" on the player... That feels really immersion breaking to me.

1

u/peanutist 10h ago

You can disable the homing on the player, so a huge horde still comes close to you, but doesn’t know where you are unless they see/hear you

2

u/MstrTenno 10h ago

Oh shit ok I might try that out :)

1

u/DirtyPiss Drinking away the sorrows 7h ago

As someone else said you can turn the homing off, none of it is on by default, but you also have the ability to disable the homing when they get within a certain distance. I’ve had very good results with 70 squares, it doesn’t lead them right to your base, but it does mean when you wake up in the morning a fair amount will have gathered while you were sleeping and are organically milling around the neighborhood.

I’d really encourage anyone on the fence to give it a try, it’s really livened up zomboids for me and turned it more into a classic base defense as opposed to the vanilla experience of clearing an area and then driving out to the next town.

1

u/Kaarl_Mills All Hail Spiffo 7h ago

You're not wrong, but you should still do your due diligence and board up all ground level windows. Just so if any zeds wander at night they don't instantly break in

7

u/wizardslayer66 13h ago

“You know, fightin' in a basement offers a lot of difficulties. Number one being, you're fightin' in a basement!”

3

u/FluidAppeal9196 13h ago edited 13h ago

over time i'm learning to keep window sheet rope and 2 nails with me(with all other EDC hammer/screwdriver/extra weapon/bandages etc)

26

u/Draven_crow_zero Zombie Killer 13h ago

I've always been put off them because of the only one exit

14

u/fastbikkel 13h ago

I remember something from Aldo Rain (movie) about basements.
But yeah, they are deathtraps.

I agree with the cozy feel, but that's it.

In PZ i feel very cozy in a house above a store, those are safer.

1

u/Gridleak 11h ago

What are some of your favs, any in West Point or Louisville?

2

u/sasquatchmarley 5h ago

Fishing shop on the outskirts of West Point is good. North of the Gun Shop, on the east side.

6

u/FluidAppeal9196 13h ago

That's interseting. i found the most 'coziness' at this location(top story, the conical roof, book reading room with the mattress) here: 7285x8361 SE corner Main and Lakehead dr Fallas Lake

i kept going there to sleep on said mattress when i was tired

5

u/Successful-Depth-126 13h ago

On a long term save during unstable I renovated the Muldraugh police station basement. I liked how close it was to the gas station and the high fences (plus close proximity to the highway)

Tore a lot of shit out and refloored the place. More work than I'd do again, but I don't regret it

5

u/ExpertPerformer 13h ago

I like to use a mod to dig out my own basement.

Even did a wilderness survival where I lived out of a bunker in the wood.

5

u/Legitimate-Fish5891 12h ago

I always leave myself at least one spare exit, so basements are no no for me.

3

u/No-Comfortable-1717 11h ago

I don't like the idea of only having 1 exit so I generally avoid them. I play with pretty low loot settings and pretty strong zombie settings so I tend to move around to get the easier loot and thus bases don't last very long, though if I'm mixing it up with a playthrough where I keep a real base I'll have it be somewhere that isn't traditionally a house like a gas station or smthn so I get more creative when decorating.

3

u/TryDry9944 7h ago

Did they fix the bug where zombies have infinite vertical hearing so if you're loud 40 stories up a zombie on the ground will hear you and vice versa?

1

u/HoThereMeLord 6h ago

Not sure, I personally have not run into this issue.

5

u/Banned-User-56 13h ago

I am the opposite, I am terrified of basements. No escape passages.

Hell, the only reason my bases have WALLS is because i'm pretty sure my guy would become depressed everytime it rained otherwise.

5

u/CaseFace5 13h ago

1 entrance and exit? No thanks

5

u/SwamyBoss 13h ago

Be careful tho, there’s only one way in and out, so you could get swarmed with no way to escape.

2

u/Grompen 13h ago

I read that when electricity goes out, generators don't work in the basement - so you're left powerless (heh). Any experience there?

I'm not even able to build in the basement of the house I picked (farm north-east of Muldraugh). Assuming this is modded? :)

3

u/Pan_Panifex 13h ago

2 floors up and down from generator. Basements can be powered still. Or bring your sleep aid generator!