Anyone have tips for starting out in the game? I’ve been fiding around with it and I can’t seem to getthe survivors to not act retarded.
Which game, I assume you mean the first one
The survivors ARE retarded, there is absolutely nothing you can do. The game has the most accurate portrayal of Americans in all of gaming, ie having them be dysfunctional morons who will slow you down at every opportunity and quite literally go out of their way to get killed for no reason. The only reason why you would bother saving them is because they're walking PP farms, however they're not worth risking your entire run when you're on the clock and risk running the timer for the main mission out. Giving them a gun helps(they never run out of ammo), but be aware that some survivors are just straight up useless(like Aaron) no matter what, and if there is too many zombies around survivors might blow their brains out if you give them a firearm. It might be better to give them a melee weapon or no weapon at all, depending on the circumstances.
As for other starting hints, yeah there is a few:
*Pick up books. There is a few that are really useful, find one of your choosing to make up for being weaker at the start of the game. You can have as many books as you want, but each one takes up a single inventory slot.
*Watch out for PP stickers, which you can see at the bottom of the camera HUD if you're pointing in the right direction. Each one is worth up to 1000 free PP. First one you can get is by taking a photo of the map in the security room(save bed), another one is in the air duct, right after you exit it(needed for one survivor mission, keep that photo) and another is found on a dove statue right as you exit the warehouse. If you see any interesting landmarks, store logos or movie posters chances are that there is a PP sticker hidden nearby. If you're doing Kent's mission, remember to get a good Erotica photo(taken from several NPCs who are considered "ultra sexy" by the game and give ridiculous score), Jessica is the best candidate as she is always in the safe room. Don't forget that you only need to take this photo once, if you keep it in your album it will stay in there for the rest of time, for future playthroughs(no such luck with the air duct photo, which needs to be taken every single playthrough for a certain group of survivors).
*Look for hidden items, like submachine guns or katanas. Note that submachine guns, shotguns and sniper rifles(latter only found in a gun store, guarded by a psychopath for most of the game) will not respawn in that location if the item is still in your inventory. There is at least one hidden submachine gun in every major location of the game.
*All items reset when you enter and reenter a cell, if you want to farm specific items keep that in mind
*Always have a mixed drink, there is no point in using other healing items outside of desperation. If you make Randomizer, try again and make something else. Remember that some items, such as ketchup or baking sugar, count as ingredients for the blender in place of food.
*Save often, but remember that you only have one slot(at least on xbox). You can easily screw yourself over if you're not careful
*Psychopaths are tough, don't feel bad if you can't kill them on your first run. Do remember that Adam, the game's first proper psychopath, not only gives you the most powerful weapon in the game when you kill him but also a shortcut, which is more useful than any weapon. I recommend at least giving this one a try.
*You can keep your level if you start a new game, letting you do new game+ without finishing the game. I strongly recommend finishing the game on one save starting from level 1, however, as it is much more satisfying. However, if you're getting frustrated and need a boost, you can always start over with a leg-up.
*If you dedicate your entire run to running over zombies in a truck in the underground tunnel, you will get 53,594(population of Willimette) or more kills. When you finish this playthru, you will receive a really OP gun that you can use to cheese the rest of the game with, if you're into this sort of thing.
*There is an underground tunnel that one can only access via parking lot in the park...at first. Once you make it in, head to the storage place not too far from the parking lot entrance. You will find a key that lets you open all maintenance doors in the mall now, letting you fast travel at ridiculous speeds if you know where you're going and what you're doing. This key is nearly essential in one of the later story missions.
*If you can't complete objectives on time, that's fine. Ending B is perfectly servicable as you're learning the game, it isn't even that bad(you die in every other ending other than S or A going forward). Don't reload when you run out of time necessarily, it might not be the end of the world.
There might be more, but that's what I can think of right off the bat. Most importantly of all, make sure to experiment with your loadouts. You're in a mall, some of the most fun(and effective) weapons are hiding in plain sight, and are in fact not weapons at all. Unarmed builds are brutal too, one you learn the ropes of the game.
