my 1pp character 2.0 (post .55)

[Red_Ensign 990]

the people who want a more challenging game experience should read this.

 

for a long time I've been playing my hardcore (1pp) character under certain restrictions, in the interest of a different game experience than I have with my 3pp character.  the restriction are:

- can only use bow and melee weapons

- can't eat or drink from cans (rice, cereal and powdered milk is ok)

- can't use anything from previous life's camp or corpse

- campfires only, no gas stoves

- no server hopping

 

when .55 hit, this character was totally screwed.  bows don't work, zombies are silent (much bigger problem in 1pp than in 3pp), spawned veggies are invisible, and you need a dumb number of things to cook meat (I was gone for a few patches so this change hit me in .55) and those things weren't even spawning.  well... shit.

 

in the game's current state though (spawns rolled back, and cooking supplies spawning again) it's workable again.  I've gone back to playing in 1pp with the original rules.  man it's hard though.  I know what people were talking about on those servers where food wasn't spawning - when you have to rely on berries and apples for food, there's actually LESS food when you leave the coast.  and when you're an inch from starving it takes just one zombie hit to knock you out (died several times that way yesterday).  yes there's hunting and horticulture but it takes several tries to live long enough to just find the basic supplies for those.

 

I'm enjoying my 1pp's brutal life though.  this particular life I took the time to get up to energized on berries (thrilling hour of gaming, that), and then moved on, planning the trip ahead and deciding what route to take that would cost the least energy and hydration and have the most opportunities to replenish.  several hours in, I've managed to keep him healthy and found 2 bags of rice as a nice cushion against starvation when I'm in those areas inland where apples and berries aren't as easy to find (half the time I play at night).  found myself a vest and a good pack so I have space to start collecting seeds and tools to get a small plot planted.  one concession I made is I picked up a crossbow because bows don't work right now.  saw some bolts but couldn't pick them up (alpha).  too bad you can't craft bolts.  but I'm healthy and slowly finding what I need and surviving.  and it's been rewarding and compelling - what this game hopefully will be for everyone.  and I drive better in 1pp (who knew).

 

the people bemoaning the spawns being rolled back to 'easy mode' can dump all the gear they currently have stockpiled (I did) and try the way I play my 1pp.  if anyone does, I'd like them to comment here about the experience.

 

for the people who took a break from the game after .55, give it another shot and restrict your resources by choice.  it's good practice for surviving what's coming.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Red_Ensign