Project Zomboid – Setting up a good first base in Riverside.

Before we carry on:

This guide works under the assumption that you understand the core elements of the game. While I’ll try to explain some elements knowing how to craft, how to move objects, how to fight and when to fight is best left up to more extensive guides on those subjects. This guide is meant for one goal: building your first base.

This is a new character friendly base. You can take it within the first week of spawning. In some cases you could even rush right over there and set it up in a day or two.

Everything written in this guide I have done myself with no mods and on core Apocalypse difficulty. If you want to use mods or change the difficultly that is 100% up to you and wont effect this guide much if at all.

This guide is written for the Beta Version B41. As of the time of writing there is no multiplayer so everything shown here will represent the single player experience.

I will be using https://map.projectzomboid.com for a lot of directions in this guide. It’s a great resource that I highly recommend you use.

Where the base is located:

• The base I have chosen is located at the far north of Riverside. It’s a glass windowed restaurant with two floors and two ways up (for now). It’s located right by the river and north of all the shopping centers.

When you arrive:

• Before we get started there are three things you need. Hammer. Nails. Sheet rope. All of which can be found on the way here with a tiny bit of luck.

• When you first arrive at your new base chances are it will have some undead inside and outside. Go ahead and clear those fellas out top, bottom, and outside making sure to check the backroom and bathrooms. Once you’re sure the place is secure we can move onto the defenses.

• On the ground floor towards the south end of the building there will be a flight of stairs. This is one of two ways up. For now we want to take the two tables nearby and block them off. Zombies can destroy these tables, but there is more stuff around that you can continue to block them off with.

• Now head towards the other side of the building next to the bathrooms. There is a door that will lead to the back room. Inside here you will find a shelfing unit and a box. You’re going to want to empty both of them out and then move them in front of the doors. This will block the doors.

• Now work your way up top. You’re going to want to break out at least two windows, remove the glass, and attach the sheet rope. It requires the hammer and nails along with the sheet rope. Now we have two ways out and two ways in and zombies have none. Kind of. What we need is a sledge hammer to make it fully secure.

After it’s secure:

• After the base is cleared out and set up it would be a good idea to look around. The first floor has a large bar to loot. The second floor has a kitchen with four fridges, two sinks, four stoves, and plenty of storage for all your loot. There are two bathrooms. The dining area has plenty of tables and chairs to dissemble to increase your carpentry. The booths count as “average” beds. There is even a balcony.

Where to go now:

• Now you might be wondering where the best places to go are. My advice would be to go across to the hotel (pink) and grab a bed and a T.V. Then you could head over to the food market (blue) and loot some food prioritizing the perishables that you can put in your new fridges. Then you could head over to the hardware store (green) and loot some tools. Then you could head over to the book store (yellow) and get some books to read. Really you could do just about anything so long as you keep your head on your shoulders. If anything gets too dicey just hoof it on back to your base.

What to do:

• Since you’re right by the river you have all the fishing potential you could desire. If that isn’t your cup of tea you could make a garden on the balcony; up there no zombie can get you and you have a beautiful view of the river. If you’re down with carpentry you could disassemble everything on the top and bottom floor. If you like nature you could run it back into the woods and do a little lumberjacking and foraging. If all of that sounds boring you could head into town for some looting and killing. From this base the town is yours.

Getting a Sledgehammer:

• This would be the end game to securing up your base. Sledgehammers are pretty rare in my experience, but are an amazing tool. The best bet to acquire one would be at the warehouses outside of town.

• This will be an extremely sketchy journey that might not even have what you’re looking for. It’s still in my opinion the best bet to get a sledge hammer when you’re on this side of the map. Just check all the creates slowly making sure not to skip one.
• A sledgehammer is not mandatory for this base, but it is essential for your complete safety. Until you get one you will have to keep replacing the tables with varies objects to block the path of zombies from coming up. This is a mild hassle that can ultimately lead to death and most people don’t want that.

• Once you get the sledge hammer you will want to take out the staircases. Personally I only opted into destroying the main flight of stairs.

• Once it’s destroyed you can add a floor over the opening so you don’t fall down. Learned that the hard way.

The End:

If you made it this far I would like to say thanks and I hope this guide has helped. I know this guide might be rather specific, but after roaming through town after town attempting to set up shop here or there I stumble upon this place. It looked daunting and I almost didn’t take the time to inspect it. I wanted something close to town while being damn secure and this was it. I figured I would just share my journey so maybe another lost survivor can enjoy what I did. So again, thanks and I hope this guide was helpful.

This is all about Project Zomboid – Setting up a good first base in Riverside.; I hope you enjoy reading the Guide! If you feel like we should add more information or we forget/mistake, please let us know via commenting below, and thanks! See you soon!