Project Zomboid has many hidden features and items throughout its randomly populated worlds. Each map has tons of secrets that help players out in their attempts to survive. This guide will help lay out some of the most overlooked items you can make in the game. And we’ll try to teach you about some hidden features that are very useful.
Overlooked Resources
There are many items with alternate uses in Project Zomboid. There are a lot of things like this in the zombie sim.
Some players might not realize this, but alcohol has a few uses beyond just the standard. Sure you can get drunk and increase your moods like Happiness in-game, but it has other uses as well. The Bourbon, previously known as a generic whiskey bottle is one of the best resources in the game for disinfecting wounds and used bandages.
Another way to keep things clean is bleach. If you don’t like those bloodstained walls, you can use bleach to clean blood off of walls and floors. Most players won’t waste the cleaning product too much, but it’s helpful to keep your main sleeping area tidy for the sake of moodlets. You just need a towel and a bottle of bleach to enable the cleaning function via the right-click menu.
If you find yourself running low on water, the Rain Collector is one of the best items to build. The Rain Collector Barrel needs a hammer, as well as 4x Plank, 4x Nails and 4x Garbage Bags to make. This is useful for getting renewable sources of water for long-term survival. One of the tricks added in recent patches is that you can build a sink directly beneath a rain barrel and have water flow out of the sink. Build the Rain Collector Barrel on the roof of a building, above the sink already installed, and you have running water.
This might seem obvious, but players can use an umbrella equipped in their off-hand slot to keep dry during rain and snow. This can help prevent your character getting sick from exposure.
Switching to Batteries
Getting battery power is pretty important, least of for the reason that the game made fuel a very limited resource. This does mean you will have to get electrical skills to level 5. With level 5 Electrical skill, you can swap any lanterns and other light sources to battery power. This is also good for lighting up bases as you can build improvised light fixtures to help light exterior defenses.
If you’re trying to do this, just break down electrical watches and other electronic items to break down. You can scavenge batteries, amplifiers and other scrap for electrical crafting with just a screwdriver, it’s very easy. When you get the level there, you can go out and power up your base. At level 5, the player can use a screwdriver and a piece of electrical scrap on any lamp to create a battery connector. This allows for lighting areas using batteries when the power goes out or a generator has not been found.
Mapping the World
Maps can be found throughout the game world as loot. The base game’s maps have various maps for each sub-region. Finding one of these is awesome for getting your bearings. You will need to have your wits about you to survive, and knowing your surroundings helps a lot with that. The maps can be found randomly out in the world, either as container or zombie loot.
There’s also a special version called an annotated map. These annotated maps, which can be found by chance on Zombie corpses, are the best thing you can find. These will point out supply stashes with rare loot and other helpful stuff. An annotated map in Project Zomboid can be fairly common, or exceedingly rare. This will depend on your game settings, and any mods you have enabled.
Project Zomboid Annotated Map
When you’re exploring homes and buildings out there, keep a lookout for supply caches. These random loot spawns contain a ton of useful loot, from weapons to food. You can also find skill books and other useful items here. These are found in a few key areas of the game’s maps. Finding annotated maps is key to finding these things, and can be a huge help.
Another common thing you will find in Build 41 is regular city maps. If you’re running a map pack. Each one will update your in-game map with the general locations that you have unlocked. This will mark buildings using the color-coding system from annotated maps, but without locations marked. This can be very useful when exploring to help figure out where you are in the world. Read the map when found, via the right-click menu, to update your overall in-game map.
