Project Zomboid's new Build 42 update, 3 years in the making, is the biggest game release of 2024 for me—here's why

Christmas came early for me yesterday. After previously announcing Project Zomboid's long-awaited Build 42 would be out by the end of the year, developer The Indie Stone released the absolutely colossal update on Tuesday. In terms of the sheer number of features—from a total crafting overhaul to a considerable expansion of the already huge map—this is the biggest update Zomboid has ever gotten. And for me? It's the biggest game release of 2024. Move aside, Shadow of the Erdtree.

I mean, just look at some of these additions from the patch notes:

• Underground areas, basements, and high rise buildings
• New lighting system
• Animal husbandry
• New fishing mechanic
• New build menu
• Basic tracking and hunting
• Improved gunplay
• More Romero-like zombie spawn locations

There isn't really a single theme to Build 42, but the strongest elevator pitch I could make for it is that it aims to extend your post-apocalyptic life more or less indefinitely after the tumultuous times of the initial outbreak. The devs have expressed a desire to enable the "Alexandria Years" of your server or playthrough, referencing a settlement of the same name in The Walking Dead.

It's not the end of the world

Previously, Zomboid was mostly a game about looting. It's been in development since 2011, but really exploded in popularity with December 2021's Build 41, which made similar sweeping overhauls to the game. Prior to Build 42 there were limited farming mechanics just to make sure you wouldn't starve when all the supermarkets in Kentucky ran out of canned beans. But if you wanted more tools, supplies, or materials, you'd have to go scrounging for pre-apocalyptic stuff in the far-flung corners of the map. This was particularly an issue for multiplayer, since bigger servers would have to enable respawning loot—a major sacrifice of immersion, in my opinion—so new players didn't simply find a world already stripped bare.

Build 42 has completely reworked crafting and added a number of post-apocalyptic professions from blacksmithing to pottery that ensure even when all the machines have broken down, the gas pumps have run dry, and you've broken every wrench in the hardware store bashing zombies' brains out, you'll be able to make your own stuff from raw materials. There are now recipes for stone and forged tools and weapons, leather armor, and ceramic storage containers. You might not be able to make everything that was available in the Old World. But you'll be able to survive, potentially forever.

This includes a big expansion of farming and fishing, and the addition of hunting and animal husbandry. The number of seed types has been expanded from a handful to more than 50, and each type of crop has its own growing seasons now. Chickens can provide you with a constant supply of eggs as long as you keep them warm and fed. There are also supposedly cows and pigs out there, though I've yet to come across any just yet. Essentially, you could play the same character for 50 in-game years and have something resembling a thriving medieval village by the end of that time.

But wait, there's more!

That's just one aspect of Build 42, though. What if I told you they also completely reworked the entire lighting system, stealth, and ranged combat? What if I told you they made zombie stats like durability and hearing radius semi-randomized, so you never quite know what kind of rotter you're up against and you can't just memorize how far away you need to stand to be safe? What if I told you some houses will now randomly spawn with basements, which could include anything from a fallout shelter to a sex dungeon?

This update has also increased the maximum number of floors a building can have from seven all the way up to 32. So the urbanized part of the map, based on the real-world city of Louisville, Kentucky, can now have proper skyscrapers. Going to the city will really feel like, well, going to the city. And if you prefer a more rural existence, the map has been expanded considerably further west up the Ohio River, too, with three new smaller towns.

And while reaching the edge, previously, would just present you with an impassable barrier, these mad fiends have added new tech that will generate miles and miles of procedural wilderness beyond the handcrafted area. Now that you don't need loot to survive, why stay in civilization at all? Go be like that Primitive Technology guy on YouTube. Nothing's stopping you.

Living the dream

Zomboid runs mostly painlessly at 4K now, which was not at all the case in Build 41. I just about pulled my hair out trying to get it to work after I upgraded my monitor, and ended up having to just change my desktop resolution to 1080p in Windows every time I wanted to play. There was no recourse. It's not perfect yet—some UI elements like the backpack icons in the inventory pane are still almost too small to click on, even with resolution scaling maxed out. But it's a work-in-progress.

It's worth noting that this release has been dubbed "Build 42 Unstable" because not all of the planned features are finished yet, and it's in a bit rougher shape than they're aiming for for the full release. You'll have to opt-in to the build by right-clicking Project Zomboid in your Steam library and going to Properties > Betas > "unstable". But I've found it to be about 95 percent functional so far. I don't have any plans to roll back to 41.

There are also just tons of little things that make Build 42 nicer, too. You can now select between six different voices for your character, and alter the pitch on each of them. The grass and vegetation have been made more realistic. Books and magazines have proper titles now, which integrates what was previously one of my favorite mods. There's not much that hasn't been touched, to be honest.

In the two weeks after I discovered Project Zomboid last year, it devoured more than 80 hours of my life. And I'm looking forward to a holiday break filled with cozying up next to my new stone forge and hammering out spearheads I can sustainably skewer the undead with long after the lights go out and I run out of fuel for my portable generator.

Project Zomboid Build 42 is the single late December release that has made my entire year.