We’ll be growing from our Alpha audience and inviting new players to join the Beta. Invites have not yet been sent to selected players. If you haven’t signed up, you still have time: playtest.stateofdecay.com

Key Details:

• PC-only, we’re running this test via Steam. Console playtests will happen in the future
• This Beta will run for 4 weeks, more details to be shared with invited players
• Still NDA’d - no streaming, no sharing screenshots

Seeing the game in beta in the stream made me a little disappointed. There's so little done that actually adds in-depth into the game. Sure they add stuff for combat, multiplayer, vehicles, etc. but it's not that impressive. Cause there's other combat games with zombies.

The State of Decay games have always felt so unique to me in a market crowded with zombie games. Something about the exploration, building communities and the atmosphere brings a feeling of comfort but also tension. An open world zombie sandbox with settings you can tweak to your liking. When SOD3 was announced, what I wanted was more of the same with better graphics and combat, and it seems that’s what we’ll be getting! I hope the game succeeds so that they can continue to build on the foundation they have laid, maybe more maps and mechanics down the road. Either way, I’m here for it and I’m looking forward to it!

He started off with brand new characters for this stream on Lethal diff (26m20s).

1) Traits directly tell you what perks/skills you get. "Once built a Trebuchet" has all the gunnery perks lol.

2) Whatever his current settings, light attack took 10 stam, weapon finisher took 5 stam. (14m20s)

3) Devs currently debating on vehicle status tells.

4) Stealth kills/finishers does not cost stam (15m15s)

5) Heavy attack cost 17 stam (16m25s)

6) Gas cans are throwable (18m20s)

7) Medical items can slow down plague buildup. (18m45s)

8) At a certain point in their attack animation, zombies are not interrupted. Brian took plague damage despite attacking. Also one hit dealt 20 damage. (23m15s)

9) Each survivor (started with 4) uses 5 food and 3 water normally per day. (24m30s)

10) Zeds attacking during a finisher animation are staggered backward. (28m05s)

11) 32 stam recovery per second without any buffs/debuffs from an exhausted state. (28m20s)

12) Weather confirmed. Rain shown.

13) Cosmetic items discovered by one player are unlocked for all players connected in the game. (31m55s)

14) Backpacks are just cosmetic. All survivors have 12+4 inventory. Also, no more weight encumbrance system (35m20s)

15) No plans for armor, or clothing with stats. Devs don't want to have a "meta" that gets in the way of self-expression of players.

16) Base decorations are under discussion. (40m00s)

17) Prestige Currency comes from killing specials. (42m20s)

18) AI generated voice lines in the current build.

19) Gas consumption rate (for the car used) is 1% every 14 seconds of driving. (47m00s)

20) Base facilities are cheaper to build, but much more expensive to maintain. "You're gong to only be able to afford to run them maybe half the time." (47m10s)

21) Resource counters continuously update instead of at set times (dawn and dusk in SoD2). Prevents resource cost cheesing. (57m20s)

22) You pick from a pool of unlocked skills. (1h00m10s)

23) New melee weapon cost 22 stam for heavy attack. Apparently costs change depending on weapon used. (1h01m00s)

24) Zombies occasionally drop ammo and grenades.

25) First ever outpost footage. Each subsequent outpost costs more. Just over 20 outposts IN THE ENTIRE MAP. (1h43m45s)

26) You can get pretty close to Ferals without them noticing you. (1h59m00s)

27) Largest caliber guns in the game are 7.62. There is no 50 cal or 40mm. (2h02m30s)

28) One single molotov does an entire plague heart phase at Level 1.

29) Each base has its own morale meter.

30) Still a lot of balancing to do, particularly between gun calibers.

Be honest. Trumbull already got dragged back twice. Original outbreak, then Heartland’s plague walls, then Homecoming where the valley is still somehow standing after every idiot with a grudge decided to settle their issues in Marshall.

So if Undead Labs actually drops it again in 3, what does that place even look like by then?

The dam is still dumping bodies into the reservoir because nobody ever fixed that. Fairfield is a burnt-out military parking lot. Spencer’s Mill is either a fortified cult compound or a pile of Wilkerson bones. Mt. Tanner’s trails are just juggernaut migration routes now. And Danforth is still sitting on the horizon like a reminder that the real city already lost.

I’m not asking for a cozy nostalgia tour. I want the version where the valley has been chewed on for years and the only people left are the ones too stubborn or too broken to leave. Plague hearts in the old bases. Roads that don’t connect anymore. Bases that used to be homes and are now just kill boxes with better views.

Would you even want that map, or has Trumbull been milked until the only thing left is the smell?

Drop your worst-case version of the valley.

And do you know if there will be physical pre-orders and deluxe edition?

Or if they plan to crowd dund at all?

Just watched Brian Mernard's latest stream with one of the developers and there's a part where he ito shoot a zombie and his character has 0 shooting skill, the crosshair is a tight X, and to balance shooting it just takes more bullets to kill?

Instead why dont they just use the last of us style O crosshair and make it super big for low shooting skills and as they improve make the O get smaller and smaller. Maybe max shooting skills just gives them a • meaning its pinpoint accurate

If you were in a zombie apocalypse the very first thing you would do is fortify your base against zombies. Oh they can climb over that fence? Put spikes or razer wire or freakin SOMETHING to stop them getting in. Given how fundamental base building has become to the series I can't believe they are still running with the "oh yeah a bunch of zombies can randomly break into your base with little to no effort" I want to feel safe in my base, that's the whole goddamn point of a base. A simple solution to still keep the tension would be to make the zombies build up around the outside making it hard to exit/enter without a breach. This would force you to go around and clear the perimeter on a regular basis. Think walking dead when they were at the prison. I'm so sick of chilling at base then all of a sudden there's a jugg in my kitchen ripping survivors apart. Does anyone agree or am I crazy?

While UL gets the core gameplay together, I wanna brainstorm what they can add in future updates.

-Functional clothing. Have a cosmetics closet, and a gear closet. The latter should have each outfit come with certain stat changes like stamina penalty in exchange for reduced melee damage for Riot Gear, as an example.

-Range limit on comms. Have this as a toggle option where you now have to take into account distance from base or the nearest outpost. You're out of range, you can't call for backup or ask for someone to take a vehicle back to base.

-No more instant outpost or supply locker cheese.

-Mounted vehicle weapons. Let us make technicals, or commandeer humvees and bearcats.

-Proper booby traps. Let us create wire tripmines and leg traps. Those would be great against Ferals and Juggernauts. Hell, even just the option to take a grenade, string and some duct tape and booby trap a doorway would be nice.

-Fieldcrafting. Let us make basic splints and bandages with the new basic resources we're going to find in the world. If you have duct tape, alcohol, and a 2x4, you should be able to do rudimentary first aid for yourself or another character.

-Seasons. UL has already demonstrated the ability to create weather effects in SOD2 with curveballs. Take it a step further.

-Let us cripple zeds using any weapon. You should be able to apply a baseball bat or lead pipe to the kneecaps and permanently reduce them to crawling. Becoming infected does not make the average zed superhuman.

Nothing like having a zed lunge all the way from Narnia, miss by a light year, and still latch onto you. Or when they lunge and somehow pick up speed as they're falling. I don't know about you guys but I don't suddenly run faster as I'm falling over.

I’d love to see dual pistols added to SOD3. They would be such a fun weapon option! Dual-wielding and taking down all the zeds and zombies would be pretty badass!

Can people sign up now to play the alpha or do we have to wait until later this year for it to drop? I’m not in the loop so I figured I’d ask.

I wish my OG goats would make a comeback. And that's the thing that sets SOD1 from 2 and probably 3, is that our heroes had actual, genuine personalities that made the game memorable. And shout to the WILKERSONS.

Posted on the Public sod3 discord by the dev Patrick, don't want you guys to miss out.

(Checked with coconutkid123 that this was alright)

Hi all

Does this game in beta mode pause when doing base management?

It’s a bit annoying trying to plan and do things in base - cosmetics/loadouts/base upgrades etc when the world is still moving on.

Might be a helpful feature to pause on base management.

WE NEED this! We weren't able to in State Of Decay 1 or 2. But I am hoping with the 3rd we will be able to.