State of Decay 2 - Time is your worst enemy

I ended up shelving this, I just couldn’t find the fun (for me). :(

And its weird because I really enjoyed SoD1.

SoD1 was charming because it was a cute little puppy. So even when it shit on the carpet, it was all right.

SoD2 is that dog grown up and that goddamn thing should know better that it shouldn’t shit on the carpet, but it does anyway

Hats.

https://www.stateofdecay.com/2019/10/01/update-11-outfits-customization/

And so many of them!

Ugh.

-Tom

Coming to Steam in 2020 with crossplay.

https://www.stateofdecay.com/2019/11/22/state-of-decay-2-is-coming-to-steam/

State of Decay 2 on Steam will feature Xbox Live cross-play, enabling you to play with up to three friends across your platforms of choice (Steam, Windows 10 and Xbox One)

Yep!

I picked this up to experiment with it before I tried it coop with a friend. I was hesitant given the mixed reviews above and on other sites. After 10 hours I can say I really like it! I started on normal difficulty but it was too easy. I switched to Dread Mode (difficulty level 2 of 3) and it feels great. It’s scary, I need to plan, I need to think, and sometimes I need to run. Soloing an infestation with multiple screamers and ferals takes a lot of work and luck. I am only on Day 3 of the Dread Mode community, and am looking forward to trying to survive a bit longer.

Undead Labs have done a good job of supporting the game with 11 updates across 18 months. Some of these, like the “choose your own adventure” difficulty levels have been meaty. Some others like “Christmas sweaters” less so. But all show an ongoing commitment to the game.

Here are all of the patches: https://support.stateofdecay.com/hc/en-us/sections/360002870631-Patch-Notes

If you are on the fence, I would encourage you to try. Or wait until the Steam release (maybe in a few months?) and try on a platform with refunds.

Headed back into the game to try and survive a bit longer …

Really enjoyed no. 1 and would love to get into 2 but it runs like crap on my laptop (which can play most games at 1920x1200). Stuttering so bad at the worst times causing loss of characters.

Saying that, anyone that can play it without issues should give it a go. From what I managed, it’s well worth a play, especially if you have XBox Pass.

Last night I was trying to help the NPC community next door. Its a short walk, which I can keep mostly clear of zombies with a little work. My neighbors wanted more ammo. I wanted to help them in order to improve my standing in hopes of convincing them to join my community. One of them was a good chemist, I figured I would need her eventually.

I took her on the mission to clear their barn and get an ammo resource rucksack. You can only carry one ruck at a time, and if I found two she could carry one.

The run went badly. There were two ferals inside and we only had melee weapons. I was whittled down to 10% health, had to knock a feral off of me before it got the killing blow in, then I escaped and ran for my base. I made it - she did not.

I went back to the barn again in daytime. I lured the ferals out at a distance and they chased me across the fields as I sprinted. They followed me into my neighbors house, and we used the enclosed space and multiple attacks to kill the ferals. I was then able to sneak back and pick off the rest of the normal zombies.

I looted the ammo rucksack and returned it to my neighbors. They were happy. I had enough standing to recruit them into my own community. I went to look for the chemist - but she was gone. Of course, I got her killed. I reluctantly recruited a different neighbor, a mechanic. She has been helpful but I will always remember she was my second choice. I may never find another chemist.

It’s a really excellent game/series, and I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more traction with gamers at large (though I think sales are more than respectable ).

The Heartland DLC is really excellent too, if you decide you want more at some later date. It has a story campaign with set characters, so if you lose one you’re really in trouble.

On your current difficulty level run through, remember if the ferals start getting out of hand, a sniper tower is a good to great investment. Though it might tilt the balance too far for you.

Survived another two days - four days total on Dread Mode.

Lost my first survivor, one of my original three. Two of us were on a mission and drove a moderate distance to get to the quest target. I don’t know how it happened, but we drew a horde. I didn’t drive through one, I didn’t see it on the map. I think they were in the house, unscouted, and when we pulled up they poured out.

We started to fight, we can take a horde if we go slow. Then the feral appeared.

I stayed in the fight for a little while. I had to trigger a health and stamina regen, things were happening fast.

I panicked, turned and fled. I turned after a few seconds, triggered more consumables, and saw only normal zombies chasing me. My companion was back there, in the fight with the feral.

I changed my mind, ran back. He was still up. I got closer and took a swing, the feral knocked him down, he called for help. I swung some more, hitting normal zombies.

The feral finished him off. Three more swings and the two zombies were down, then the feral went down.

He died because I got scared and ran off.

I am getting to know the three nearby enclaves, trying to figure out who to help. I need a fourth recruit back in my settlement.

We’ve had lots of discussions in other threads about the first one. It’s a great game and they have a good core engine. I like the RPG elements. But the teleporting zombies is what turns me off to it. I like being able to clear an area and develop it. If they had made it so zombies came in from other areas that would have been a more believable mechanic but to see them just materialize out of thin air just sucked the inspiration I had to play more.

Others thought differently and took the philosophy that you don’t clear zombies but just coexist with them which I thought was an interesting way to look at it.

Glad you’re enjoying it. I decided not to get into number 2 but the first one ate up way too much of my free time.

Passed a major milestone with this game. Played for 15 hours total. Put it down for a few days. Picked it back up, and still enjoy it! Too often once I put down a game its gone forever.

Day Five in my community. Working to increase my population. Got one enclave member killed while we were out and stumbled across a feral. Ran again, no way I was dying for an NPC.

Then I settle in and played real careful. Ran two enclave missions. Recruited someone (fourth in my community) and improve my faction with others.

The base is as upgraded as it can be. Its the starter house (in the hills), so its small. Next session I need to venture out and start grabbing resources to refill things, and see if I can scout a new, larger base.

This game is tense! The biggest issue is I need to have enough time to play a full session (2 hours, one in game day) and need to be focused enough to do well. If I play casually then survivors start dying.

Was playing something else for 10 days, then picked this up… again!

My initial settlement survived past Day Six. This was the first time I thought I would lose. A Juggernaut spawned at a close mission and chased us back to the settlement. All of us had to fight it with lead pipes inside of our courtyard. This lead to two of my four survivors having full blood plague. I had to put both in medical beds.

I equipped my last two survivors and was determined to find more plague samples to make cures. I almost took on a plague heart head on with two weak survivors. On my way, I spotted and killed a blood horde and killed them all! But zero plague samples dropped.

Luckily, a trader mission appeared. I grabbed the last of my valuables. It was a special occasion so I took the (precious) pickup truck out. The trader saved us. I was able to get two food rucksacks (we were down to 1 food in stock but -2 food used per day), and two plague cures.

I raced back, cured the two in sick bay, and restocked the food. Then we finished another local mission and was able to recruit a fifth survivor! She is our only firearms specialist, which came in handy when the next horde invasion spawned moments later

Dread Mode is 100% the way to play this game. Remember this, future readers, when the game launches on Steam. Play in normal mode for a day or two to grock the systems, then put on your big person pants and restart on Dread Mode.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-02-14-state-of-decay-2-gets-massive-free-overhaul-next-month-with-new-juggernaut-edition

Big free update.

Steam launch announced: 13 March

Cross-platform play, including XBOX One, Windows Store and Steam.

It’s nice that they’re doing that, but unless they fundamentally change the structure of the multiplayer then no one in my friend group will be interested.

I’m guessing a friend still can’t join my game and just pick one of my people to play as my sidekick and help me explore/expand?

No change. Here is the summary from the main game page:

"State of Decay 2 can be played either solo or multiplayer. You can join your friend’s game or have them join yours. When you’re visiting another player’s game, you’re there to help them succeed. You bring a survivor from one of your active communities, and together you can scavenge locations on the map and complete the host’s goals.

While visiting a friend, you’ll have access to your own community’s Supply Locker, so you don’t have to borrow stuff from your buddy. You won’t gain standing for your visiting character, but you can still collect items and resources and build your skills. Plus, helping your friend earns you a nice chunk of influence and other rewards upon returning home."

Its such a strange decision.

Also - when we tried it, we failed to connect to either ones game for three hours, until we gave up.