The first time you played 7dtd

[Erik Louden]

Waiting for A18 I was thinking about the first gaming sessions with 7dtd.

 

When I find a game I usually doesn't watch an vids or read about it since I want to discover it for myself.

 

So I really didn't know much about the game when I first played the first backer Alpha and for the first 40 or so hours had no idea how to find ingredients to craft things and had to reply on what I found.

 

Then in a Beverly hillbillies moment (that was a old comedy about a hillbilly trying to shoot a rabbit and missed shot and the stray bullet revealed an oil deposit and the now rich hillbillies then move to Beverly Hills (a place where the very rich and famous live)).

 

I tried to punch a rabbit, missed and hit the grass and got a plant fiber, then spent next few hours punching everything.

[Bubo]

The very first time I spawned was in the desert right near the old Nav trailer houses (A7 or A8). I broke through the first door I could find and had 3 or 4 z's at my back. I frantically hopped up on the kitchen sink with cabinets in my face, and died. It was love at first heartattack.

 

COLOR/5 MIN./PG-13

[bobrpggamer]

The first time I played, I played for 1 hour got killed over and over and thought it was garbage. I could not get over how as being spawned in the game you had such a short amount of time to get inside before night fell and I got killed so many times I could not understand wtf I was supposed to do. Later I got into it got stuck in the desert tried drinking the water got dysteria and spent and hour trying to figure out again wtf to do.

 

Then I picked it up around A16 and followed the tutorial and came to love it. The tutorial must have been put in later because without it I was lost.

[Ti2xGr]

I remember being completely terrified to go out at night. We hid in a house and reinforced the doors/windows. Going out "into the wilderness" and coming up on the first wandering horde, we all ran away and then inched back up to them to hit them one at a time with our bows. Not knowing how powerful the zombies were, seeing each POI for the first time - When we discovered the mine on the side of the canyon was amazing to us. The thought of exploring a skyscraper was not going to happen. We were hooked. I'm still learning new tricks to this day and I've almost got 5,000 hours into it. Great memories.

[Guppycur]

I can remember my first post but not my first game... Assuming the post was about my first game, I was holed up on top of the north gas station in nav just below the snow biome... (At least it was then, it's now part of the snow biome in a17).

 

Played about a week or so right before they got rid of blocky terrain I think.

[n2n1]

It was A8 or A9.

 

I appear in Westland and i was immediately attacked by a dog.

I barely fought back with my fists, but another one came running. After a couple of defeats, i realized - i needed a plan...

And you know what the first plan was?

After respawn i had to run to the remains of the house, those single corners of the houses that were everywhere in Westland. On the way i collected cinderblocks, when he reached the remains of the house i was hiding in a corner and put each other cinderblock to form a wall.

....from Cinderblocks!!! Carl !!!....

 

The first time i was in the game - i did not like the game. Did not like this clumsy graphics and a complete mess around. I wanted to delete this game right away.

I still can't figure out what stopped me. Somewhere in the back of my mind i was beckoning back.

And i want to remind people once again - "Not everything is gold that glitters" .

[bobrpggamer]

It was A8 or A9.

 

I appear in Westland and i was immediately attacked by a dog.

I barely fought back with my fists, but another one came running. After a couple of defeats, i realized - i needed a plan...

And you know what the first plan was?

After respawn i had to run to the remains of the house, those solitary corners of the houses that were everywhere in Westland. On the way i collected cinderblocks, when he reached the remains of the house i was hiding in a corner and put each other cinderblock to form a wall.

....from Cinderblocks!!! Carl !!!....

 

The first time i was in the game - i did not like the game. Did not like this clumsy graphics and a complete mess around. I wanted to delete this game right away.

I still can't figure out what stopped me. Somewhere in the back of my mind i was beckoning back.

And i want to remind people once again - "Not everything is gold that glitters" .

This was my immediate reaction as well and I did uninstall it. I am FPS player and when I could not find anything not even a stick to defend myself I got too frustrated. I lucked out one time and got a gun or something with no ammo and I thought I was going to make a stand but I got killed at a gas station looking for ammo. I am a RPG gamer and the RPGs I dislike the most are Rogue-Like RPGs so that was another thing that made me dislike the game from the start.

 

Its easily the hardest game I ever started with no Idea how to survive a single day let alone 7 days. I remember thinking the game lasted 7 days and then you would start over or something and that sounded kind of lame to me.

 

I was a Steam sale fanatic and this was on sale so I picked it up without watching any reviews or anything and not really understanding the content, just thinking "Oh this is like left 4 Dead" or something, once building became a part of the gameplay, I was in love.

 

I just checked and I bought the game Jun 14, 2015 so I must have played A12 or somewhere around that time and only got fully into it until 2017.

[n2n1]

.... I remember thinking the game lasted 7 days and then you would start over or something and that sounded kind of lame to me.

Oh, yes! it was a popular legend

I remember, the first letsPlays on YouTube aimed to check this mystery...

[LowfDog]

My first game was in Alpha 7. I got all of my friends to play with me after watching Seananners do a YouTube video on it, lol.

 

The first time I spawned in, I spawned in Navezgane in the far eastern part of the map in the Snow biome. I ran down to right where the forest biome started, and built my first shack base there. My friends converged on the same point, and the five of us built a ridiculous concrete keep with a wood fort around it.

 

I didn't die that game. My first death was in one of the Alpha 8 versions, I spawned in the burnt biome I think and got dogs on me almost immediately, lol. The irony is not lost on me. This was before there was a safe zone, you had to craft your stone axe on the freaking run lol.

[bobrpggamer]

My first game was in Alpha 7. I got all of my friends to play with me after watching Seananners do a YouTube video on it, lol.

 

The first time I spawned in, I spawned in Navezgane in the far eastern part of the map in the Snow biome. I ran down to right where the forest biome started, and built my first shack base there. My friends converged on the same point, and the five of us built a ridiculous concrete keep with a wood fort around it.

 

I didn't die that game. My first death was in one of the Alpha 8 versions, I spawned in the burnt biome I think and got dogs on me almost immediately, lol. The irony is not lost on me. This was before there was a safe zone, you had to craft your stone axe on the freaking run lol.

Yes i am a dog lover too, that's why I always throw out the meat but I keep the leather which makes me feel a bit guilty. I also hate to kill the boars as they always look like their smiling and they just stand there not even bothering to attack unless you attack first. I would have a hard time in the wild hunting deer like the Motor City Madman - who can guess who that is kids - they are just such graceful beautiful animals.

 

I do believe this game is for the dads and grandads or people over 40, not too sure why but it seems to be.

[Guppycur]

...but... It's just a game... The dogs and hogs ain't real!

[bobrpggamer]

...but... It's just a game... The dogs and hogs ain't real!

Yeah I know but its the difference of a real dog lover, I mean a person who thinks dogs are gods greatest creation type-guy making fish tacos with dog meat, its just not thinkable.

 

Another odd thing is so many requests in pimp dreams for guys wanting child zombies. So you can kill children zombies, why would that be something you would want to do? Maybe it is scarier than adult zombies, this could be true because the Exorcist and The Ring actually scared the heck out of me, so I guess there's that.

 

Maybe you get a trader clear quest and there is a room with a crying sound and you say, oh no please not that, I can't, I can't. Yeah that would need to be in the options to choose whether or not you want child zombies I think.

 

Interestingly enough I remember Carmageddon 2 had an option to turn on or off dogs in the game for those who could not stand the sound of whining sounds when you run over a dog.

[Khulkhuum]

I think i started around A15, although i don't remember now if i've seen any vids before playing the game. I sure as hell started watching later on though.

 

My first map was an RWG and i only discovered Nav late A16 - i was looking up on the internet how the map looks and later in A17 it was expanded and i was also looking for it. Hell, i still only played a couple times on Nav and don't know much around on it. My first game though was pretty fun, i spawned in the regular forest i think, not too far from a city. Found a gas station in a small town with a skyscraper hotel next to it. I clearly remember how i cautiously tested coming out at night and exploring various places. Died a couple times, but it was so much fun.

 

One of the next maps i played (because that first ended in a catastrophe), i raised a big base next to a lake, a short distance from a nearby town (which had a skyscraper hotel). I still remember how many hordes started with zombies coming out of the water.

[Kattla]

My first spawn in 7d2d , A10.4 was in Navezgane, in the burnt biome, east on the road next to the radiation zone. There was one zombie at that place, which i first tried to punch, then use my torch to hit it. Whatever. I eventually died, and after a handful more deaths, i started to at least learn how to fight.

[Fox]

One of my first Alpha 1 sessions was trying to tower defend one of those tall cobblestone buildings with a store inside... the one on the north-west side of the map... and I was watching a pig go up and down a ladder and thought it was the funniest thing ever. This was before forges existed and before fireplaces served a purpose other than light which slowed the zombies down. I also remember cutting trees down using a shotgun as it was a lot faster than an axe.

[tricorius]

I bought the game fairly recently. I've never really been into the whole "zombie" or "survival" scene before. But I actually did run into 7DtD from a YouTube channel (Zebra Monkeys, which highly entertain me). I watched a few episodes and thought...hmmmm...actually looks kinda fun.

 

I'm generally not into shooters (except Borderlands) and really mostly into strategy games and RPGs (traditional RPGs, like the real ones that have attributes and statistics and randomized loot--not random loot, loot with randomized stats).

 

(I've since learned that ZM bump the difficulty up quite a bit so it's a challenge / entertaining to watch. I also found out they were playing A16, but that was before I did any research into the game.)

 

Initially, I was a bit terrified (ok significantly terrified) of the night. I knew I needed to build some spikes around things; and I started with A17, so the initial quest helped significantly with learning the basics of crafting, UI, etc.

 

So, after dying a few times I finally got a spawn which let me take over a mobile home and fortify it a bit. Added some spike traps. Survived a day 7 horde and thought I was pretty blasted awesome... In celebration I jumped off the roof of the mobile home to grab a loot bag, landed on spikes, and killed myself.

 

 

I'm quite hooked on the stupid game, to the point where my wife teases me. Also, early on before I learned all the zombie sounds I was playing late at night on the weekend when I couldn't sleep. Night fell during a regular day, so I was out mining in a lightly-fortified hole. My wife started snoring, I thought it was a zombie, and I nearly had to change my pants.

 

She was not entertained by this story when I told her the next morning.

 

:: shrug ::

[Roland]

Wives always deny their snores.

 

Marriage ProTip: NEVER record them snoring and play it back for them the next day.

[dan]

My first time playing was A8, after downloading it illegally, I spent the next 18 or so hours playing it non stop. I didn't read about the game or watch any videos, just wanted to experience it on my own. There were many deaths. I was hooked. I bought the game soon after so I could get updates and help support the developers. I've taken a few extended breaks from it with some alphas that didn't live up to the hype, but it looks like it's going in the right direction now.

 

And thank you for the pause game feature in single player, it helps a lot for people with small children who always want something when you're fighting off a horde.

[tricorius]

And thank you for the pause game feature in single player, it helps a lot for people with small children who always want something when you're fighting off a horde.

 

I'll second this. It also helps a lot for people with older, larger teenage children who always want food and you have to remind them they have two functioning arms and two functioning legs. And that you wouldn't mind a snack either. Zombie massacres are hard work.

[Jysen]

I actually got the game only because it was in The Walking Dead Telltale bundle back in October 2017 that I bought. Yep, console.

 

The game sat in my library for months, there were other games to be played, and I didn't know anything about 7D2D. But at one point I decided to try it out, just to see, and a friend of mine said he had played it in the past, so joined in. Long story short, he didn't help at all with our introduction lol.

 

We started a random map, and thankfully I am a quick learner on controls, but looking back it was sad that I punched a boulder for what feels like 30 minutes and didn't realize there were small stones you could just pick up. But, once I figured out how to craft shortly after, I remember running to his location, he spawned in the Northwest, I was in the Southeast. With zero clue what to expect, I ran straight into the central hub city, and immediately died.

 

My 1st true experience was shortly afterwards as after experiencing just a sample of the atmosphere, I was beyond intrigued. We started a Navezgane map, a game I still have saved today. I spawned in the Desert, with my limited previous knowledge, quickly crafted through the steps the game guides you through. With a trusty lvl 2 stone axe and a bow with like 6 arrows, followed the road East, which immediately brought me to the Junkyard.

 

I can still remember that initial awe feeling of seeing that building. I knew nothing about the map at the time, so everything felt amazing to discover. I also can still remember the brutal mauling I quickly received by two dogs that I didn't know existed in the game...

 

But I was 100% addicted to the game from that point on. And because of that 1st experience, despite all the various locations I could build, if I play Navezgane, I'm always drawn to that Junkyard to build as my main base.

[DannyBlazeTM]

I first started my 7DTD adventures back in Alpha 10.4. A couple friends of mine wanted to get people together to play something interesting, and he spotted the game on a Steam sale. He bought it, then bought 4 copies for the rest of us a bit afterward. He hosted the first game (he had a really good PC at the time, and a pretty good connection).

 

We decided to do a random gen map, and when we connected to the game we felt lost and intimidated by everything. Fortunately most of us were quick learners and got a pretty good grasp of some of the fundamentals fairly quickly.

 

After finding everyone, we struck out on the road until we came to a small town in a forest biome somewhat close to the hub city (we didn't know about it at first), and our first couple nights were spent huddling together in one of those old yellow flagstone (?) shops on the roof. After a couple days spent looting the small town we ended up in, we decided to travel along the road to the west and ended up in the burnt forest...

 

The first time we heard that screaming baby ambient sound we almost turned back to the safety of our small forest town, but we put on our tryhard pants and pressed on. Apart from the spooky sounds and atmosphere, we found that the burnt forest was pretty tame. Our confidence began to grow.

 

On Day 3 when a friend was out gathering food and plants, he told us about the infamous hub city that looked like it held all kinds of tantalizing loot and fun experiences. We decided that if we were to go to the city, we would have to gather more supplies and have at least one gun for each person. So we got to looting a couple of the surrounding towns.

 

On Day 5 we felt we were decently geared enough to poke around in the hub city. We were wrong...

 

Our first horde night was terrifying but ultimately relatively easy, as we had gone crazy with the wood spikes and we had some decent guns.

 

On 10.4 we ended up playing until around Day 18 or so, then someone had to stop due to IRL. So we called it quits then. We mostly skipped Alpha 11 because people had IRL obligations and life situations that prevented us from getting a game going. Alpha 12 was when we began our first serious game, building a huge underground base out in the plains biome. That game lasted until Day 146.

 

Several of the people I used to play with have drifted off to other things, both IRL and other games. However I still actively play (mostly solo though). I do have two friends who still play with me on a NitroGen map I host every now and then, at least.

 

(Also my first post, been a longtime lurker).

[Guppycur]

Welcome!

[DannyBlazeTM]

Thanks!

[DMPlayin]

First time I played was just after the release of Alpha 15 and I didn't know what the heck I was doing.

 

I'd seen (and still do see) Kage848 play some and I'd seen the official live action trailer but not much else.

 

Spent the first night stand on top of a wooden shack just not moving, waiting for morning to come. Second night I was a bit braver and used my stone axe to take off some roof tiles but freezing whenever I saw a zombie.

 

I didn't know anything about building a base or protecting myself so I spent every night up there until horde night came when they took down the wood building and I kept running until my stamina ran out. Then I died. A lot.

[bobrpggamer]

This has been interesting, please keep up the stories.