This is a comprehensive gameplay overhaul for Dead Island. It replaces the loot treadmill, Left4Borderlands design of the vanilla game with a more realistic and tense survival experience similar to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The goal wasn't necessarily to make the game harder, just more plausible, immersive, and consistent. If you plan ahead, conserve your supplies, and proceed carefully, this mod is actually easier than vanilla DI. If you are reckless, wasteful, and stupid... well, there's a reason it's called an apocalypse.
This is actually three mods in one, designed to work together for a seamless experience.
M.A.I.M., the Minimally Active Interface Mod
D.I.S.M.E.M.B.E.R., the Dead Island Survival Mod Emphasizing Melee Balance and Enhanced Realism
Z.O.M.B.I.E.S., the Zombie Overhaul for More Believable and Intense EncounterS
see the readme for installation instructions
===Mod compatibility===
- 100% compatible with the Dead Island helper program (custom FOV, various game fixes, etc.)
Theplaywrite.com
- 100% compatible with dead-deadisland's weather and car mods
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===M.A.I.M., the Minimally Active Interface Mod===
This mod removes all the interface clutter to maximize immersion, while still providing all necessary information to play the game from start to finish.
removed:
- icon overlays on objects in game world (!)
- text labels for common actions such as Open and Search
- world boundary popup
- skip hints in dialogues and cutscenes
- co-op join notices
- stamina bar
- grapple button prompt
- door breaking meter
- message queue in lower-left corner
- zone name in lower-left corner
- flashlight icon
- tape recorder icon
- achievement/challenge notifications
- reload notification
- crosshair
- minimap
- crouch indicator
other:
- new, less obtrusive boomerang indicator
The minimap is off by default, but you can enable/disable it at any time by copying the contents of the "minimap on"/"minimap off" folders into your DeadIsland/out user directory. I like to leave it off for most of the game, and turn it on only for the sewers and prison.
===D.I.S.M.E.M.B.E.R., the Dead Island Survival Mod Emphasizing Melee Balance and Enhanced Realism===
Weapon and combat changes:
- no more leveled weapons (!), you can use any weapon at any time.
- weapon stats have been rewritten from scratch with logical, realistic stats.
- attack power increases with player level, so zombies don't suddenly become immune to paddles and pipes after the first few levels.
- weapons cannot be repaired (except partially when crafting). Yes I'm serious.
- weapons cannot be upgraded
- crafting is free ($0), only the components and blueprints are required. No more payments to the invisible workbench elves.
- crafted weapons are much more effective and deadly
- critical damage from modded weapons is more diverse. Each damage type has its pros and cons.
electric - high damage, short duration, stuns enemy
poison - low damage, very long duration, stuns enemy
fire - high damage, medium duration, danger to player
bleeding - medium damage, long duration, safe to player
impact - medium damage, no duration, knockback
- zombie melee damage stays roughly the same throughout the game, so increases in player health actually feel like more health. No more 1-out-of-10, 10-out-of-100 nonsense.
- reduced fist damage - killing a zombie with your bare hands are you nuts?! Fists can still be useful for knockdown, but if you want to do some damage you'll need some brass knuckles at least.
- you're not a Can-can girl - kicks require significant stamina and do very little damage, so no more kickspam
- reduced chance of head smash and decapitation instakills
- greatly reduced enemy grab chance
- explosives damage increased to be more effective late-game
Item changes:
- shop inventories completely redesigned. All traders have a slight chance of stocking legendary weapons.
- loot tables completely redesigned
- reduced cash loot amounts
- 100% cash loss on death. Unrealistic, but it provides a powerful incentive to stay alive. Also provides a nice risk/reward mechanic: do you play it safe and spend all your cash on supplies so you don't lose anything when you die, or do you risk walking around with lots of cash so you can afford a legendary weapon from a shop?
- smaller inventory, starts at 7, upgradeable to 10. All quickslots available from start.
- medkits and food now scale with max hp, so they stay effective
- effectiveness of healing items: energy drink, snack < fruit < medium medkit < extra snack < large medkit
- new craftplans for medium and large medkits available as quest rewards in Act I and II.
- alcohol is now a craft item, and doesn't take up an inventory slot. Yes this means you can't get drunk anymore. That's because drunks don't survive a zombie apocalypse.
- reduced stack count on medkits (5), explosives (3) and meat bait (5)
Character and skill changes:
- each character starts the game with a special bonus trait.
- completely redesigned, unified skill trees allowing any playstyle with any character. You want to play a sledgehammer-wielding Xian Mei? Or a firearms expert Sam B? Go for it.
- many skills have been revised, and there are even a few brand new skills
- 45 total skill points for a lvl 60 character. Spend them wisely!
- every fourth level-up (level 5, 9, 13, etc.), a health boost is awarded instead of a skill point.
- lowered max health cap
- overpowered skills like fury and jump stomp removed (Sam B gets the basic stomp as a bonus trait)
- designed for solo play. co-op oriented skills that are useless for a solo player (like ninja) have been removed.
- revised XP tables to keep level-ups consistent throughout the game - a thorough player should be able to reach lvl 60 during a single playthrough
- xp bonuses removed from challenges to ensure a smooth level progression.
TIP/WARNING: installing/uninstalling this mod will reset your challenges (which is actually kind of cool if you want to get the XP awards again for a new character in vanilla)
- fixed starting stamina values to match character selection screen
- fixed firearms skill values
Other changes:
- substantial rewrite of item names and in-game text.
- corrected several typos and inconsistencies in game script
- ID cards now have names - can you figure out who they are?
- The Banoi Herald has been replaced by the Zombie Herald, a collection of interesting zombie history and trivia
- all new loading screen hints
- breaking down doors is slightly easier
- adjusted iron sights zoom (FOV) for guns
- crafting a molotov yourself only requires 1 bottle of alcohol
- hot rod craft requirements fixed
- badass and brutal brass knuckles can now be used with the juggernaut craft
- short shotgun has the same reload time as the regular shotgun
- increased shotgun spread and number of pellets per shell
- adjusted ammo craft requirements and yield
- ammo: you can carry up to 3 pistol clips (3*15=45), 3 rifle mags (3*30=90), and 1 box of shotgun shells (25). The bandolier skill raises the capacity to 60, 120, and 40.
- added name prefixes to the new weapon mods from the 1.3 patch
- swapped burst and single-shot rifle skins
- added a light sniper rifle, available from the NE trader on the jungle map (Michael Stick)
===Z.O.M.B.I.E.S., the Zombie Overhaul for More Believable and Intense EncounterS===
- walkers are more like classic Romero zombies - stupid, easily distracted, and apt to trip over beach chairs. If you see some walkers feasting on a corpse, you might be able to sneak by them undisturbed. If you lead a walker or even an infected to a non-zombie corpse, it might give up on you and enjoy the free meal.
- walkers are tougher but do less damage
- walker sight range reduced to make stealth more viable
- improved infected damage scaling - they remain a dangerous threat for the entire game
- blows to the torso do almost no damage. You'll need to destroy the head, use explosives, or land a special crit (bleed/shock/burn/poison/impact) with a crafted weapon. Infected are still human-like so they're more vulnerable all over.
- limbs are more easily destroyed, but zombies are less likely to die because of limb damage
- zombies are harder to knock down, and they get up faster. You'll need to think tactically - aim for the legs, use jump kicks, or invest in the weapon knockdown skills.
- zombies react less predictably to kicks. Larger zombies may ignore them completely.
- headshots are deadly. Thugs and other boss zombies are a little tougher, but in general, guns are your best friend (as long as you aim for the head).
- bite damage increased. Don't think you're safe just because you chopped that zombie's arms off.
- walkers don't drown
- suicider speed and damage increased
- greatly improved combat physics. physics effects gradually increase as player transforms from a bewildered survivor into an experienced zombie hunter.
- incorporates the varied walker attack animations from tnutz's excellent Director's Cut mod. All credit goes to tnutz.
- enemy bullet damage increased to make firefights more tense and tactical - you'll need to use cover, stealth, and speed to survive
Bought Dead Island today since it was about $10 on the Steam Summer Sale (: I'm going to try your mod out when it has finished downloading and I get the time to play.
Excellent mod.
Tried to do something like that myself, but your modification is much more interesting.
At first, I was afraid of inability to repair weapons, but gave it a try and aren't dissapointed at all.
Smooth leveling, tense combat, emphasis on scavenging and survival, very nice.
“Rule #1” and its +25% sprint speed buff is, in my opinion, a little bit too much, though. And separate skill to jumpdodge too.
"- weapons cannot be repaired (except partially when crafting). Yes I'm serious.
- weapons cannot be upgraded"
WoOOaahhh, someones being controversial and edgy! But how is that realism...
Will weapons still be ruined quickly?
that mod is rubbish
Is this only for the english game ? or will be work this mode on the german game too?
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I need to know only the file for disabling money in the crafting; can you help me? Please.
Seeing skill trees is enough to tell that there is no proper balance or progression in this mod. RNG instakills are still here, flying strike (jump like a retard to double bladed damage) is still here, ammo capacity and inventory skills are a waste of skill points and other bonuses like 4% crit per skill point are too strong and 10% bullet penetration per skill point is too weak.
I'll try to use it as a base and give it an hour of Notepad++ balancing.
Okay, so mod summary:
1) only 7 inventory slots, 10 with skills.
2) skills make weapons have insane durability, +60% and +60% for modified which defeats the whole point because zombies die in 2-3 hits so modified crowbar will last you an hour
3) all boxes have weapons and it's the same weapon for the whole area - brass knuckles for resort, hatchet for jungle and city and there is never a shortage
4) damage scaling - your damage is based on level, enemy HP is based on level so you will kill enemies in 2-3 hits to the head on level 1 and level 60.
Overall it's not bad, but not good either. Very playable if you mod in bigger inventory, pickup-able healing items and bigger ammo capacity.