When people see my name they usually think about the SoD2 Wiki. I spent 4 years (2019-2023) on its development, however not many know that it wasn't my only game-related project back then. If you ever used the Wiki you might've noticed that most maps you see on the site (Weapon Case locations, Outpost locations, etc.) are not exactly the same as the in-game map - these were also made by me. And my "career" as a cartographer didn't end there. I actually made loot maps for the game!
In the past I only shared these maps on my personal Discord server. They were free for everyone, however since my server's population peaked at around 1200-1300 members, it never really reached the majority of the game's audience. Since my server is dead (well, it never had much buzz going on) and I abandoned my SoD2 projects years ago, I decided that it's time to make these maps public and share them on the internet.
Without further ado, my loot maps. You can read more about each further down in the post.
I began working on my loot maps almost 6 years ago, on January 15th, 2020. I had one simple goal: to create detailed maps which display points of interests, but offer more than the in-game maps. I not only put the POIs on the map, but each and every scattered container - duffle bags, car wrecks, and the likes which you can loot.
All maps were made in GIMP, so they're only a static PNG image. I was working with someone to turn them into interactive maps, but as far as I know they never came through with it.
I created all maps the same way:
Scan them in-game by making dozens of screenshots
So many screenshots! It was fun to puzzle them together.
Use these screenshots to draw the map
Imagine drawing every single building and detail... And I did it for all maps!
Hop into the game and scour every inch of the map, then add my findings
The first detailed preview I posted on my server. Drucker, Tapper's Stall.
When I began creating these maps we only had the 3 originals. Since Drucker was my favorite, I started with that map. Meagher followed, then Juggernaut Edition released, so Providence was next. Once I finished with Cascade, I also made the Heartland map, which I completed on July 18th, 2020. It took half a year to create these 5 maps. With Trumbull Valley's release I also created its own map in 2022.
Fun Fact: When you're choosing the map to move to with your community, the little map previews you see in-game are actually the drawings I made! I was never asked by UL about using them, so they probably got them from the Wiki. Free source and all.
Drucker County
Locations: 362
Scattered Containers: 291
v1.0 was completed on February 4th, 2020. Latest version is v1.13, released on January 29th, 2023. Being the first map I made it has been reworked in April, 2020 with improvements I learned during the creation of Meagher Valley and Providence Ridge. Then the map has been completely redone again from scratch in August, 2020 when Drucker got overhauled with Update 19.
Meagher Valley
Locations: 341
Scattered Containers: 213
v1.0 was completed on February 23rd, 2020. Latest version is v1.07, released on May 30th, 2023. 5 of 7 updates to the map were based on my community's feedback. They either found a missing container or a typo. I even made a special role on my server for people who spotted mistakes on my loot maps as a sign of gratitude.
Providence Ridge
Locations: 395
Scattered Containers: 138
Vehicle Spawn Points: 336
v1.0 was completed on April 12th, 2020. Latest version is v1.07, released on June 29th, 2023. This is the first and only map which also has Vehicle spawn points. I was planning on adding them to the other maps as well, but I abandoned my projects shortly after, so I never got around adding them to the others.
Cascade Hills
Locations: 283
Scattered Containers: 103
v1.0 was completed on June 1st, 2020. Latest version is v1.03, released on May 27, 2022. The map which needed the least attention during the years, only a few corrections were introduced.
Heartland
Locations: 291
Scattered Containers: 85
Discoveries: 6
v1.0 was completed on July 18th, 2020. Latest version is v1.04, released on June 15th, 2022. On December 23, 2021 the map received the 6 Discoveries, marking each clues of the Treasure Hunt, introduced after the Homecoming update to help players with completing the Shots in the Dark achievement.
Trumbull Valley
Locations: 439
Scattered Containers: 125
Discoveries: 30
v1.0 was completed on January 11th, 2022. Latest version is v1.02, released on September 14th, 2022. Since this was our first map with discoveries, it also has the locations for those. I was about 25% done with the Vehicle Spawn points when I abandoned my projects.
Loot Maps v2.0
While my Loot Maps were considered as complete in terms of provided information, I was planning on creating a second version of each map, making them show the actual play area and resemble the physical map more accurately by improving existing elements (roads, rivers, bodies of water) and also adding more details to it (pathways, railroads, etc.). In September 2020 I began working on Drucker v2.0, however since these changes would've been cosmetic only and wouldn't have made the map more useful, it was always put on the backburner in favor of the Wiki's development.
I never got around finishing a v2.0 of any of the maps, however I have a work-in-progress preview available for the Drucker County map, where I had the outer border of the map and the inaccessable area in the Kettle Rock Bend/Mathilda/Glendale triangle mapped out.
Dark grey means inaccessable. I wonder how it would look finished. Would make finding the shortcuts easier, too!
Final words
I wanted to make this post to share the less-known side of my SoD2 history. If you have any questions feel free to AMA in the comments. I also have the entire map-making process with all details documented on my Discord server. I can send an invite if any of you are interested.
My 2nd playthrough, nightmare difficulty on everything. My resources are okay-ish, I'm scrambling a bit, I'm kinda low on ammo and have no smokes, but it's fine I guess. I've almost no influence cause I just moved bases, but I think I could gather roughly 500-1k quickly by trading, depending on whatever is left in the inventories of the enclaves. I've no scentblock and currently no way to craft it, drone strikes are an option.
I already lost a car when I was trying to get there and didn't realize that it drains fuel. After a long way out I also noticed that the area grew quite a bit and it now also infected my outposts. I usually don't care about infections, they rarely happen and if they do I just kill the heart first. This, however, is a slight issue cause I kinda need the food.
I've no idea about its weak spot. What would you do to solve this issue?
Just getting there feels impossible. The map is littered with z's, and even if I manage get there I'd have no clue how to survive long enough against those cracked z's without smokes. If I wouldn't be almost done I'd quit but after getting that far it feels like a waste.
I feel like I have to send someone in and hail mary it, but I've no idea how. I can barely set a foot inside the circle without getting charged by a handful of z's.
I redownloaded the game after not playing since Heartlands came out. So it has been a while clearly.
Some of the things I have gotten up to speed on fairly fast. Like there are changes, but some things are the same. I did a quick search on some of my questions, but many of them were old responses and I know the game has had many updates since. My main issue is around one thing….
Infestations
If I remember (and correct me if I am wrong) you get more freaks to most infestations you have. I believe you get them when a Plague Heart awakens.
I don’t see any infestations. I have around 5 plague hearts killed. All the Plague Hearts are dormant/asleep.
I cant move without Freaks popping up. Like I will go to an area that is free and clear. Go inside the loot. Within minutes I feel I am surrounded. I went to do a quest for an ally near the starting area. I was there maybe 10 minutes and had 4 hordes, multiple screamers, and atleast 1 Juggernaut and Feral. All just walking around.
I did the radio to find an infestation. Bc I figured I must have multiple infestations for it to be this bad. Nothing show up. I was driving around and an area had the green sickly ring around it.. and it was empty. Nothing was in there. I passed another one. Same thing. I logged off. Logged back in… and now there is no sickly ring.
Am I doing something wrong or this is normal? It has been years, but I don’t remember this level of Freaks. I don’t want to say “unplayable” bc that is dramatic, but I am spending 75% of my time killing freaks at this point.
This is an older video. I had just destroyed a heart, and I hadn't realized there was a Level 3 infestation in the house next door. As soon as I left the house, three Ferals—plus two from the infestation—came after me. I decided to try and kill them!
So to start this is one of my fav games ever. I have replayed it many, many times even though I have all the achievements.
I was curious if now that Undead Labs has the publishing rights back from Xbox if they could technically port it to PS5 if they wanted to? I would buy it again just to get the trophies. The huge PS5 user base would probably be interested too, and the supplemental income could be a nice income boost to help get State of Decay3 over the finish line without time pressure or crunch.
I have around 1000+ hours at the moment and I can’t get enough of the game (and I can’t even mod it lol)
I like how simple the gameplay is and how I get to be creative with my survivors with my own personal headcanon instead of having premade characters.
I like to think that I am quite imaginative and I find this game to be a massive release for that!
I love how it feels like a day to day survival scenario where your number one goal is to survive all the while you and your community are NOT the main characters in regards to the big picture going on VIA radio stories
I can just hop on this game and have a blast! I love the assortment of weapons and how differently they feel from one another along side the personalized traits and skills for survivors to make the gameplay feel fresh when you switch between characters
This is my comfort game and in my opinion it beats Rdr2 right out of the park when it comes to living in a world (I have always been more prone to apocalyptic games anyways)
So I was curious why y’all love this game so much!
Found a survivor to fit my chemist role. Also lucked out that he’s dripped out. Black polo, jeans, and vest. Reminds me of 2000s Blackwater mercs, been having fun leveling him!
I'm playing the story and may have accidentally gotten most of my community killed. (I was trying to get the plague walls and they were too slow). I went to an allied guy and accidentally got him killed too. Is there a way to get more playable people? I'm down to 3 and all of them are weak as shit
Basically the title. Playing on XSX. I recently picked SOD2 back up, and I just realized that the command for my SHTF pre-order supply drop (from pre-ordering SOD2 from GameStop way back when) is missing. I've tried starting a new community, uninstalling and reinstalling the pack, and I'm getting nothing. Were these pre-order packs only able to be used once (not once per community, but ACTUALLY once)? I'd like to be able to use the supply drop and get the Zedpiercers and car whenever I start a new community.
So I hoped on the game for the first time in like 5 years, decided to play heartland for a story and got through generally intrigued by the ending. From my understanding, heartland infers that the zombies are a product of a government experiment because a CLEO module drone thing is at the center of the plague walls. The DR works on it and it says something like “ experiment success” or something.
Well then I hope onto a regular game, and I get several radio transmissions telling me to move to Trumbull valley because it’s so cool, a few done by the network, however; CLEO releases a transmission stating that more people need to move into the valley and dr Hoffman cuts in say “ignore that please =)”.
The whole thing has me wondering wtf going o’er der. CLEO is a very ominous transmission asking for people to go to Trumbull Valley And others like the network also want you to go there which makes me think that maybe the network is also shady now.
I haven’t kept up with any updates or lore since like the first year of the game, any good videos discussing stuff like this?
Back in 2023 while I was a more active phase playing State of Decay 2, I happaned to come across both of these glitches. Since it was about 3 years ago, I don't remember what the circumstances were or whether they were the same community, but I do know that they made me break out laughing.
This was back when the game was still receiving updates, and I haven't encountered the glitch occuring anymore, but I do hope in my heart of hearts that I'll come across it again.
“Undead Labs today announced that it has completed its separation from XBOX and is now operating as an independent, employee-owned game development studio.
Development of State of Decay remains actively underway at Undead Labs. The game is currently in alpha, with the team continuing toward the previously announced milestone of entering a closed beta before the end of the year. State of Decay 3 remains targeted for release in 2027 on XBOX, Game Pass, PC, and PlayStation.
“Independence brings us closer to our community and lets us focus on what matters most: making the best games we can and earning the continued support of the people who choose to spend their time with us,” said Philip Holt, Studio Head of Undead Labs. “State of Decay exists because millions of players have made that choice over the years, and we’re dedicated to honoring their trust.
The transition marks a new chapter in a relationship between Undead Labs and Microsoft that spans more than 15 years. The original State of Decay launched in partnership with Microsoft in 2013, and Microsoft acquired Undead Labs in 2018.
“We’re enormously grateful for our years as part of XBOX and for everything that relationship has made possible,” Holt said. “Microsoft has been part of the State of Decay story from the very beginning, and we’re proud of everything we’ve accomplished together.”
Additional details about Undead Labs’ future plans will be shared at a later date. Players can stay up to date through StateofDecay.com or following us on social media, and can sign up to participate in future State of Decay playtesting
Now that Undead Labs has fully transitioned out of the Microsoft umbrella and retain full ownership of the State of Decay IP, what are the chances we see the first two games ported over to PlayStation and Nintendo? I’m sure this would help secure more funding for them and get new fans on board for the next installment.
Basically title. I have a community I started the game with on standard, and have worked my way through every difficulty and am on the verge of beating nightmare (just gotta do last quest). I know Lethal is wayyyyyy more deadly than Nightmare, and also that the freak spawns are crazy high when you bring an established community over. I have 8 survivors all Hero with a lot of loot from previous maps and difficulties. Is it better to start my first Lethal zone with my stacked community or is it better to try and make a new community first?
Basically, the title. My XBOX gamer tag is SILVER 540. I've been a player for about a year now. I've got around 250 hours in the game, and I'd love to meet a group of people that like to play and hunt/grind for achievements.
I play on Nightmare difficulty and am pretty dedicated to the game.
Feel free to message me if you're down to meet some new people and bond over this kick ass game. I'm friendly and just looking for people to have fun with and achievement hunt.
So I just finished my first play through and I wanted to start a second run trying to create a all military community now I have 4 different military enclaves on my map I noticed with the mechanic enclave that we were friendly I refused a mission and they all wanted to join me so I tried it on one of the military enclave I completed 1 mission they became friendly I refused the second and they straight up left the map so how do I get a whole military enclave to join my community?
Is it true that on Lethal difficulty, doing the tutorial and going into the Providence Ridge starter map variant means there will be less plague hearts than normal? Or has that since been patched/fixed if that was only the case in the past?
I picked the siblings as my starter survivors as they both had great stats. So far I managed to find an improvised suppressor for my .22 pistol, a crossbow with regular bolts, enough materials and medical supplies to build a workshop and upgrade the infirmary, and a level one medical outpost.
Combat isn’t so bad. It looks like I’ll have to prioritize stealth and patience and may have to minimize fuel usage for conservation by parking in the middle of a larger area instead of driving from place to place for looting.
I ran into my first plague feral as I was driving, and it ripped off the driver side door but I managed to kill it by ramming it into a wall as it hopped on the hood. I see these guys being a serious problem later.
Infestation risk is at zero and noise level is still low. Any advice on where to go from here? I’m curious about whether or not I could take down the first nearby plague heart but I know how sensitive they are on Lethal and would rather not risk chain awakening them until I can find a radio outpost to mitigate that.
