Zombita Craftable Bows and Arrows: Trickshots, Stealth and Archery

Zombita Craftable Bows and Arrows

Bows and arrows for Project Zomboid Build 42 (42.21 or newer), with their own Archery skill (0 to 10), real archery controls and hand-made animations.

[color=orange]Work in progress: crossbows are NOT finished.[/color] They are switched off in this version (they do not spawn and cannot be crafted) and will come in a later update with a system of their own. If you spawn one anyway it still uses the old gun-style controls and may misbehave. The bows themselves are complete.

Found a bug? Tell us with your console.txt (Zomboid folder).

In-game guide

Everything is explained in the game itself: bow in hand, right-click anywhere > Zombita Bows Guide. Right-click any Zombita Bows item and the guide opens on that item's page: shooting, nocking, keys, the Archery skill, every bow and arrow, crafting, loot, this server's settings, an admin testing page and fixes for common problems.

How a bow works

• Aim (right mouse) and hold attack (left mouse) to draw; a meter by the cursor fills. Release to shoot.
• Held at full draw too long, the arms shake (worse aim) and at last the arrow goes by itself.
• The zombies the shot will go for get an outline: green for each arrow, amber for the ones a pierce carries on into.
• No arrow on the string: it nocks by itself while you aim. From a worn quiver it is quick; out of the inventory or a bag it takes a while. Archer's Hand Straps make quiver nocks faster.
• R: tap for the next trickshot mode (or to nock), hold for the bow wheel (shot mode, arrow type, unnock).
• Space (Shove) still shoves while aiming.
• A zombie lying at your feet (knocked down, crawling) is always hit, like shooting the floor with a gun.
• Hits play the vanilla gunshot reactions; a lucky headshot kills outright; a miss says so and the arrow lands where it can be picked up.
• Stealth shots: a zombie that has not noticed you gets a teal outline; against it your headshot chance is 8 per Sneaking level (Sneaking 10 = 80 percent). Bows are nearly silent: pick them off one by one.

Archery skill

• Accuracy, damage, range, draw speed and nock speed grow with the level. Weak at 0, as strong as guns at 10.
• Pierce: from Archery 3 an arrow can go through more than one zombie; steel arrows go through the most.
• Trickshots (not the Compound): Double Shot at 7, trickshot pierce at 8, Triple Shot (Robin Hood) at 9. Trickshots reach about as far as a shotgun.
• Archery skill books in book loot.

The gear

• Bows: Wooden Bow, Hunting Recurve Bow, Yew Longbow, Compound Bow, Smithed Steel Bow.
• Crossbows: coming in a later update, with their own system.
• Arrows: wooden, steel (pierce) and the rope arrow: shoot it into a window above, then climb up.
• Two worn quivers: the sewn Leather Quiver (about 120 arrows, 65% lighter) and the found-only Hunting Quiver (about 160 arrows, 85% lighter).
• Bundles of arrows, arrow shafts, steel arrowheads, bowstrings; crafting at Carving and Blacksmith levels.

For server owners

• Workshop ID: 3816831788
• Mod ID: ZombitaBows
• Sandbox page: damage and XP multipliers, hold-to-draw on or off (off = bows shoot like guns), hold and nock times, pierce, trickshots and their levels, arrow recovery and breaking, rope arrows, loot amounts.
• Standalone. Safe to add to an existing world (new loot appears in places that have not spawned yet).

Credits

• Huge thanks to Karatena for convincing me to build this mod in the first place.
• Testing and ideas: Karatena, CiBo, Kise and Nin.
• Engine notes from RadArchery (Workshop 3775407541); the flying-arrow drawing follows Mandela Bow and Arrow / ClassicBows.
• Sounds: made from scratch for this mod (synthesized, no recordings or third-party files), free to use (CC0).
• Made for the State of Undead Purge server: https://stateofundeadpurge.site/