All new towns in Project Zomboid Build 42

I’d say that Project Zomboid‘s new Build 42 update (Unstable though it may be) has revitalized the game. Actually, that’s a bit of an understatement: B42 is so substantial that it seems like a fever dream at times, and that’s without even discussing the new towns added to the map.

To get the obvious caveat out of the way, yes, this is the “Unstable” branch of the game I’m talking about. What this means is that you shouldn’t set up for a long-term playthrough anytime soon because The Indie Stone is pushing out hotfixes at a brisk pace, and there’s a propensity for your save-game to break. Yet, I’m still not about to return to the stable and mod-rich B41 of Project Zomboid anytime soon, possibly ever. That’s how good this new version is, and the new towns are a huge part of the equation.

Without much in the way of fanfare, Project Zomboid developer The Indie Stone has added a massive list of new areas to the game’s Knox Country. I’ve already spent about a dozen hours rummaging through them, losing about half as many characters to zomboids themselves, car crashes, poorly planned-out wilderness survival attempts, and (of course) fire. The new towns, specifically, have intrigued me so much that I haven’t even gone back to any of the old favorite spots, and that’s not something I expected to happen.

Screenshot by Destructoid

One of the first things that are bound to impress you upon spawning into Project Zomboid‘s massively improved Knox Country is the map itself. Upon seeing it, I took the better part of an hour just zooming across the map and checking what’s new and what’s old. The actual high-res asset has already been extracted for viewing outside of Project Zomboid itself, and you can check it out via the featured Reddit post, courtesy of SpeedNastyGarage:

Up until Build 42 came out, there wasn’t much of anything interesting in the western portion of this map. Ekron was just about halfway finished, but most players didn’t stick around the place all that often due to it being fairly uninteresting. That’s all changed now, though, as not only has Ekron been finished, but The Indie Stone has also added at least two more sizeable towns to the map:

• Brandenburg
• Ekron
• Irvington
• Echo Creek

If you, too, would like to experience these as soon as humanly possible, I recommend spawning at the new Echo Creek point of interest. This shoddy, downtrodden trailer park has been a relatively safe starting point in my experience, and it won’t take that much driving before you explore all these fancy new locations at your own pace.

A few things to keep in mind on that front! Firstly, car keys are much easier to find in Build 42, but in an extremely sensible way. For example, if a car is parked in a house’s driveway, the odds are very good that its keys will now be in one of the storage containers in the house’s entryway, on one of the nearby zomboids, or just dropped somewhere nearby. Of course, they can also spawn in the car itself, on one of the seats or in the glove compartment.

This seems neat but irrelevant at a glance, but in practical terms, it means the Hotwire skill is no longer a must-have for early-game mobility. If you’re persistent enough, you can get a car running in mere minutes now, and this means you’ll be able to close in on Echo Creek’s nearby shooting range and the farmland to the south of it. That’s weapons and food you’ve got solved(ish) already, setting you up for success as you explore.

Screenshot by Destructoid

First things first, the addition of varied and believeable wildlife to Project Zomboid is transformative in its own right. The lack of Spiffo-like raccoons is felt, to be sure, but traveling across peaceful farmland to see cows and chickens grazing is a joy in this game. Rats, deer, rabbits… the animals are faring just fine in Knox Country, as the zomboids don’t care about them at all. This means the long stretches of travel between, say, Ekron and Irvington are now more interesting than ever before, and I highly recommend just going for a ride every so often.

And you’ve got much to ride for, to boot. Just moving from one of the new towns to another, you’ll come across so many awesome potential bases that it’ll be hard to keep track of them. I thought I’d be able to come up with a comprehensive list of all the good new bases within a few days of Project Zomboid B42’s release, but there’s no feasible way to do that.

Old towns such as Muldraugh have been given a once-over, for sure, but all-new places such as Irvington are the perfect showcases of just how far The Indie Stone has taken this iconic game. The thing to keep in mind as you explore is that houses now have procedurally generated basements, and you can’t spot those from just driving past them. Even larger constructions, such as hospitals, military bases, and industrial buildings benefit from this feature, so you’re going to want to explore as much as possible.

Screenshot by Destructoid

From what I’ve been able to experience so far, Brandenburg is the richest in loot and features while also playing host to the largest hordes of zomboids. Ekron is somewhat similar to how it looked in its Build 41 version, except it is more built-up and interesting. In my pass-through, large sections of it have been burnt down, however, which has obviously made it unappealing so far. Finally, Irvington seems like a reasonably safe place if you avoid the town’s very center. There’s a solid shooting range to be found not far away from the city outskirts and plenty of loot wherever you look.

Now, you’re going to want to keep track of key out-of-town areas as well. For example, the campground to the east of Irvington is a phenomenal spot to load up on survivalist gear such as backpacks, tents, and sleeping bags. I highly recommend gunning for it and keeping some of these goodies in your car and/or base, just in case. Go-bags are a thing for a reason, after all.

And don’t forget to check out the Irvington Speedway to the northwest of Irvington, either. My experience with it so far has been that it’s absolutely brimming with zomboids, but the location is going to be a phenomenal long-term spot for multiplayer scenarios. I mean, an actual race track is a dream come true for a subset of the modding community, so I can’t wait to see what comes of it.

Screenshot by Destructoid

Frankly, Build 42 of Project Zomboid has made me feel like I’m playing a sequel to Build 41 of the game. So many quality-of-life improvements have been made that I’m having trouble keeping track of them all, and the introduction of a whole new region of Knox Country is going to keep players busy for years on end easily.

Obviously, I am hoping that it doesn’t take another three years for Build 43 to drop, but Project Zomboid is going to be in such an astonishingly good spot once Build 42 leaves Unstable that I think everyone’s going to be thrilled with it. Don’t believe me? Just hop right in and see for yourself whether you can go back to Build 41 after experiencing the Unstable version of B42.

More specifically, my recommendation for the Unstable build specifically is to gun it straight for Brandenburg and see how far you get. The new towns and the places between them are bound to keep players busy for months on end alone, and it all feels genuinely fresh and exciting wherever you go.

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