JaxTeller718
New member
With the announcement that 7 will most likely be releasing for everyone on Monday November 19th I felt it was important to release this mod as I had been working on it for months and I wanted to give people an opportunity to try it. There are no show stopping bugs or nulls to worry about but I had a choice: Drop it now and let people experience eit or cancel it and it never releases.
Keep in mind it is NOT finished. There is no real end game, and some structure and balancing it is missing but it IS playable and it has enough of an overhaul that I think people will both enjoy playing and also seeing the concept I have planned for 17.
First I want to thank all the members of the community for being so amazingly generous and supportive during this difficult time for me and my family. The messages, support and generosity of so many has been humbling. I set out to make a mod people would enjoy and out of it I gained a community and friendships that would not have been possible without this amazing game The Fun Pimps have given us.
So what the hell is Scavengers of the Living Dead (formerly Extinction)? First and foremost I need to warn people that this mod is designed to be scavenger heavy, zombie heavy and action oriented. No AFK or Underground dwellers here. There are plenty of other mods you can play if you are looking for level 30 by day 3 and boxes full of mats by day 5. Scavengers is a reality based horror mod set in the Universe of the George Romero “Dead” Trilogy (Night, Dawn, Day). Most specifically Night of the Living Dead. Assets have been added to give the game a flavor for the 50’s. Not everything was able to be finished so you will see some things like HDTVs but in 17 all will be replaced properly. You won't find spitting acid cops, mutated behemoths or night terrors here. The threat are the zombies. Lots of them. And they are squishy. No longer are zombies a prize, they will be something to fear and dread, and the power they possess does not come from an artificial undead jog or a regenerating glowing scooby doo villain, it comes in their sheer numbers and in their power to overwhelm.
The mod itself is VERY heavy on resources. Slightly more than Ravenhearst perhaps. I've included the amazing Dust2Death HD Texture pack by default because I feel it adds such a clean distinct look to the world that fits the 50’s atmosphere. Keep in mind this one may take a while to download, the assets have not been 100 percent optimized and that loading times can be significantly higher than Vanilla. Be patient is my best advice.
First and foremost I wanted to focus on reality here. And when I say reality I mean in this world where zombies are a thing. At times we need to stretch that reality (cement in bags etc) but for the most part I want to keep this grounded in what can be accomplished realistically. This extends to all areas of the game from building to crafting to getting around.
Farming will play a huge part in your survival. Meat and live animals will be rare, as expected in this situation. HOW you acquire your farm will also be a challenge. Around the world you will find crops growing. You can pick them up as usual for one yield of your fruit or vegetable. Punching the crop will sometimes return a usable seed, but sometimes it will return nothing at all. So you must choose carefully based on needs. In the future you will be able to use a seed nursery to turn mass crops into small amounts of seeds to keep your garden sustained. As you progress tools like the hoe can yield both a crop and a seed. I'm also planning on reworking how fertilizer works so that it is not a one time use thing. Not all of this was implemented just yet but we are proud to announce that plants MUST be planted next to water in order to grow.
Crafting tools and weapons will be more difficult. Crafting is more complicated. No longer will there be a magic potion where you take wood, a stone and some grass and a stone axe is born. Now you will need to sharpen stones, craft handles from sticks and wood and gather multiple amounts of fiber to make cordage. You will assemble these using your personal working space.
Your personal workbench is your lifeline. The only items you can craft on yourself are basic things like sticks, sharpened stones and cordage. For everything else you will need to use your station. This provides a central spot for your crafting but also introduces a huge element of danger and you must plan accordingly when you craft your items for defense. Tools and weapons can break if you are not careful. The more challenging crafting is replacing the class system. Now no one is limited to certain roles, but if they want to be GOOD at those roles they must seek that role out and work their way up it.
I have reworked the entire progression system to allow for greater flexibility in speccing. While 7 Days is very basic in HOW this can be done I think after using this new system it can provide a lot of replay-ability to the game. Gone are all the skills you can purchase. There are a handful of boosts you can purchase for your tool or weapon but those are limited to reaching milestones in your spec.
So what do I mean by speccing? Speccing is now applied for the tool or weapon you use instead of a blanket overall system. That stone axe? As you use it you will level IT instead of an overall Tools skill. Want to be a better miner? Use your stone pickaxe often and as you use it it will level. Crafting is now tied into each tool as well, bringing back the old “spam crafting” way of making tools….WITHOUT the spam crafting. ALL XP is blocked when you craft. So now when you chop those trees, you will level your stone axe and be able to create better ones as time goes on, up to level 600, which increases not only its stats but your USE of it as well. Your stamina drains less, you harvest more with it. All through levelling your tool or weapon. Every tool has its own progression. It make it exciting to go out and use that pickaxe when you can feel it level and get stronger.
But that is not the only way to increase your levels. As you complete your opening quest you will receive an old telephone that can be placed in your base. This telephone will offer you new bounties every few days. Traders have been completely removed. These bounties come in 3 sets. 1,2,3 level ups to every tool or weapon. You can purchase these bounties with coins you earn from killing and harvesting zombies. Every zombie drops at least 2 coins, up to 6. Right now the bounties are simple. Go out and kill 25,50 or 100 zombies and you get the associated points or gather or craft certain items to meet certain requirements. But as time goes on I plan to expand this to tasks like farming for farmers, sniping for snipers etc. Outside of using the actual tool or weapon to level itself these bounties will help you gain additional levels on those items.
The world itself is amazingly unique. There are areas of amazing beauty, snow covered mountains, forests with deep ravines and flowing natural rivers, roads flow up and downhill into rural and local towns and farm areas. Wilderness pois are limited to small homes and abandoned housing designed for you to travel and take over. Looting will be VERY important and these houses will be your lifeline until you can take on a zed infested town or if you are lucky a city. The actual map itself is going to feel very lonely and alone. Finding a town or gas station is an event worthy of marking your map so you can make return trips.
Travel is also extremely important on this map as towns are few and far between. Players start with a full minibike and limited amounts of gas. It is up to them to find more as they travel the land of the undead. From tiny farms to small off road truck stops there is plenty to explore and our POIs will be handpicked for realism. Gas is going to be a very valuable resource as it is no longer craftable. You must either harvest cars found for small amounts or find or craft empty cans to take to gas station pumps in order to activate and fill your cans. Mind you, they can only be filled every 8-12 hours so its important to keep searching for this valuable resource.
Also making travel extremely important is that most stations and benches can no longer be crafted! Basic things like the drying rack and campfire are at your disposal but the more complex stations like Chemistry can only be found in stores or business. Crafting stations like the Carpenters Bench and Metal Shaper can be found in the scattered garages and attics of homes around the world. Danger and fortification as well as planning ahead is very crucial now when you go to make much needed items.
You will notice a lot of new sounds as you play. From the opening theme to zombie noises, to ambient sounds and even music emanating from vehicles based on the 50’s the mood of the mod is definitely as important as to how it presents visually and we are always working to add new and unique sounds to places.
New vehicles will be making their appearance here. As you get further along you will find the need for better travel options. Manu’s Quad and Dust2Deaths Roadhog can be assembled and built if you are lucky enough to find the right manuals. Parts for these vehicles are different and costly and resources are acquired through the harvesting of vehicles for special parts.
