A new Project Zomboid mod has just transformed the zombie survival game into a fully living, breathing simulation. The promise of human NPCs is one The Indie Stone has been teasing since their early implementation was abandoned (all the way back in April 2013), and several community creations have attempted to fill the gap in the meantime. Newcomer Project A-Life is the latest contender, promising “a persistent living world” that simulates NPC behavior and factions across the map, and it’s available now via the Steam Workshop.
In case the name didn’t give it away, Project A-Life takes inspiration from the so-called ‘A-Life’ system created by GSC Game World for the Stalker series. It essentially uses artificial intelligence to determine the behavior of non-player characters and factions, simulating their actions whether you’re around them or not. The idea is to help the world feel alive by ensuring that other characters continue to progress and pursue their goals even when you’re not watching, and it’s those fundamentals that this Project Zomboid mod brings to the table.
The Project A-Life mod is ready to go on the current build 42 release of Project Zomboid, and includes a total of 105 sandbox options that let you tweak its behavior to your liking. NPCs will explore, scavenge, patrol areas, raid bases, and generally continue pursuing their goals independently of your actions. When you run into them, their disposition and faction impacts how they act – they might give you a warning to stay clear, attempt to hold you up and take your gear, or simply open fire on sight.
Different factions have varying agendas, and squad behavior means you might have to deal with co-ordinated teams where they can breach buildings, lay down suppressing fire, send medics out to assist wounded allies, or set up a sniper to provide cover. They’re capable of remembering your previous interactions, and will retreat and regroup if they think they’ve lost the advantage. Kill half of a group, and the rest might return days later for revenge.
Even while you’re not nearby, the NPC groups will travel between towns and continue to go about their business. They might fight each other and create abandoned battlefields to discover, set up roadblocks and ambushes, or occupy buildings. Should you come across an outpost, you could try cutting their comms and simply attempt to snatch up what supplies you can – or you could make a call yourself and see who shows up to help.
The Project A-Life mod is available now via the Steam Workshop. You’ll find it right here. It also supports creation tools to build your own NPCs and factions, which you can then share with friends and other players using a simple code.
This is still an early release, so you’ll probably want to make a backup save before you test it out. However, the team notes you should be able to implement Project A-Life on an existing save without issues (and even safely remove it later due to the lack of any custom items). The mod’s creators invite anyone who’s interested in the project to join its Discord server, saying, “We are releasing bug fixes and shaping this mod with you.”