Moodles and skills are a huge part of the game in Project Zomboid. There are many kinds of moodles, both positive and negative. As you play the game, you will encounter many of them. Each one will affect the mental and physical state of your character. Managing all of this can be pretty heavy, and takes some learning. These guides will help you understand some of the harder to figure out elements. Then there are traits.
Players pick various traits when designing their characters. This has two major impacts: one is that you determine skill-based bonuses; the other helps you immerse into your character for the sake of roleplaying. Both can be a ton of fun to fool around with. But much like real life, not everything is all sunshine and rainbows. One of the negative effects you can find yourself under is depression in Project Zomboid.
What is depression in Project Zomboid?
Despite the dire state of mental health in a zombie apocalypse, it’s much easier to treat in the game. That’s not to say you can just ignore it, though, it remains a serious issue. Depression is a direct result of a low Happiness stat. There are many ways to handle it, but the best way to keep on top of it, is to not get bored.
Depression is mostly caused by boredom. The more bored you are, the more likely you are to develop the moodle. If you do, you’re going to find it harder to complete tasks, and your skills take a penalty. This can be lethal if you’re surrounded by zombies. To lower boredom in Project Zomboid, players will need to become more active.
How to cure depression in Project Zomboid
The general idea is that you need to remove Boredom by doing things. Here are a few tasks you can do to help reduce boredom in PZ:
- Reading and watching TV – Learning is a great way to both improve your skills and reduce the negative mental impacts of being surrounded by the undead.
- Comics and other escapism – Comics in the vanilla game add a huge buff to hapiness. Modded items can also be a good source of boredom destruction. Music CDs also exist in the game
- Eat certain foods – Some sweet treats like Chocolate and soda give a minor buff to Happiness. Be careful not to over-indulge. You can negatively impact your health by binging.
- Go outside – If the weather is warm and you can work on your garden or other outdoor tasks, they can help negate boredom.
There are plenty of other things to learn about the game as well. Before you go out on that supply run, make sure you’re well prepared for what’s to come. Basic tasks like boiling water are key to survival. You must know how to build defenses too. Cleaning up after yourself after all the zombie slaying is a good idea. You don’t want a bunch of blood hanging around. Burning corpses is also a great thing to do. It’s a good idea to learn how to deal with cuts and burns as well, which can keep you alive.
Finally, it’s a great idea to know how to alter the game settings, like removing zombie respawning. That can be pretty handy if you find the default game too hard.