History VideoGame / SevenDaysToDie

* MoneySpider: Human zombies can be killed and looted, and they seem to contain quite a large range of items. Some ranges from cans of food to weapons and VendorTrash, while specialized zombies like hazmat workers and miners are more likely to drop tools, and soldiers often have ammo or some gun part. Feral walkers almost always drop .44 revolver parts.

* VendorTrash:
** Averted. Iron Scrap, Lead Scrap, Brass fixtures, Empty Cans, Feathers, Lead Batteries, Scrap Plastics and such may seem worthless but they aren't. Every item you find can be crafted into something, if not used, even if there hasn't been a function implemented yet, it most likely will have a use. That said, Painkillers can sell for quite the pretty penny when fully stacked, and while extremely common on zombies, is nowhere near as potent as the more advanced methods of healing you acquire later on.
** As of Alpha 16, there are now "rare ores" such as diamond, gold, and silver. These can be found in treasure chests or rarely when digging. They serve no purpose other than to be sold to traders for a huge sum of money ([[AcceptableBreaksFromReality even though they would have essentially no use in a post-apocalyptic setting]]).

The game is currently in Alpha 20, featuring a new faster world generator, New POIs, updated textures, some new equipment, and dynamic difficulty based on which biome the player is at.

* FetchQuest: Teased during the trailer. Quests are supposed to bring you around the map, to points of interest and self-sustaining towns, but the game is still in Alpha, so it'll be a while until quests are added, probably longer until [=NPCs=] are added. As of the more recent builds, these quests are now a sizable part of the trader's tasks, either with recovering dropped supplies, stealing opposing supplies or digging them up from a location akin to the treasure maps (the difference being aside from the supplies, the other loot is food and water).

* AllOrNothingReloads: In earlier builds when ammo was counted in full magazines or otherwise full reloads, when you reloaded a gun any bullets left in the gun would simply disappear. [[DamnYouMuscleMemory People who'd developed the habit of reloading constantly to ensure they always had a full coup ended up wasting a lot of ammunition by accident]]. It was done away with in later alphas in favor of OneBulletClips when the ammo unit was changed into the individual bullet instead of the full reload.

The game is currently in Alpha 19.4, featuring a graphics and art overhaul, a reworked survival system, and a new loot and perk rebalancing meant to resolve some issues from Alpha 18's rebalancing.

** Taken quite literally. Rarely, zombies can inflict [[StatusAilment a debuff on you]] known as [[TheVirus an infection]] (Stage 1). [[GenreBlindness For new players]], they might not think much about it, [[DefinitelyJustACold and aside from a loss of stamina]], [[ZombieInfectee they might just forget they had it at all]]. [[SecretlyDying 3 days later]], it goes into Stage 2. [[FromBadtoWorse And then]] [[MeaningfulName on the 7th day of infection]], [[DamageOverTime the health loss]] [[OhCrap begins...]]

* BoringButPractical:

* {{BFG}}: The rocket launcher, and to a lesser extent, the M60.
* BladeOnAStick: The spears, added in A18, either made from Stone, Iron, or Steel. It has better melee range than other options, and while it doesn't have a power attack, you can throw it if you need to close the distance without switching to a gun/bow.

* NailEm: There's a nailgun in the game, and it ''can'' be used as a ranged weapon... [[RealityEnsues except it has low firepower, poor accuracy, and generally isn't indicated to be used that way]]. The real way to use it is for block repair/upgrading, at which it is by far superior to any other tool.

* RealityEnsues:
** "Ah it's a block-based game like Minecraft! I'll just build a house in the air. Why is it- OH GOD IT'S FALLING!"
** Wearing a Leather Duster because it looks cool? Unless you're in a cold biome or it's raining outside, it will likely lead to overheating. It should be noted, though, that leather dusters were worn commonly in deserts out west largely to keep people ''cool'' during the day by helping one sweat, and insulated and warm at night.
** Falling from too great of a height (Unless you have Parkour maxed out) will lead to a broken leg, which will take a while to recover from, with a speed and star penalty, unless you use a Plaster Cast.
** A17 introduces some drugs that you can use to get powerful buffs, but using them dehydrates your character and runs the risk of withdrawal, and while the symptoms are short, they're unpleasant if you decide to go cold turkey.
** Explosives are dangerous, regardless of your character's level and/or equipment. Even in Steel armor that has the Steel Plating mod installed, you'll still take a significant amount of damage from land mines, let alone the Rocket Launcher.

* BeeAfraid: In alphas before 16, the game featured Giant Hornets. They seemed to make the Wasteland their home (also found occasionally in other biomes as well) and would chase any survivor without mercy. However, they could be heard thanks to their loud buzzing and easily be taken down with one well aimed shot from a crossbow. Harvesting their corpses yielded Honey Jars, which provide a nice replenishment to your Hunger, Thirst, and Stamina, and can treat any infections you are currently suffering. Their hives could be found rarely in the burnt forest; approaching one will cause them to attack you en masse. A16 did away with them, and their role of airborne harasser is fullfilled by [[FeatheredFiend Vultures]].

* AnAxeToGrind: You can craft or find a stone axe as one of you first do-all tools and weapons, and later can craft or find iron or steel axes which can be used for wood or as a weapon.

** As of A17, aside from a couple of exceptions, all craftable gear recipes are behind the Intelligence Skill tree. While this does mean it takes longer to unlock them, this also means that players are no longer at the mercy of RNG to get their hands on one specific blueprint they've been trying to find. In A18, this was changed so craftable gear is distributed across all the stat and skill trees, and you will always be able to craft your related tool or weapon for that perk (wrenches for Salvage Operation, clubs for Pummel Pete, hunting knives for Deep Cuts, etc.) in increasing quality as your rank in it increases, starting with faulty quality (lvl 1) and ending with great quality (5).
** Meat items as of the recent build no longer have stench, so there is no risk of detection due to holding resources. The Boiled Meat was also retooled so that it fits the new system.

** Downplayed with the [[HandCannon .44 Magnum revolver]]. The Enforcer magazine that serves as its schematic is hard to come by, it's slow to fire and even more so to reload, but ammo is quite cheap to produce and feral walkers (common on weekly horde nights from day 21 and on) drop parts for it like there's no tomorrow.

** Boiled Meat is one of the simplest cooked meals you can make with no real negative side-effects, save the passive 3% food poisoning chance added in A18. It has the same hunger recovery as the other meat items unlocked at its tier, and it can recover thirst on top of that. It's even ''lampshaded'' by the crafting menu!

The game is currently in Alpha 18.x, featuring a new game engine, UI improvements, and [[ProceduralGeneration random world generation]]. Updates are currently focused on bugfixing, with new content planned for the beta releases.

As of 2019, there is a new experimental build that completely revamps many elements of the game.

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality:
** Raw Meat and foods that require it all emit a smell that notifies zombies to your presence. That said, nothing's stopping you from storing those items in containers such as your [[CoolBike Minibike's]] shopping basket.
** All vehicles as of A17 now have storage built onto them, so you no longer have to turn a potential loot location upside down to give your vehicle the ability to store items.

** If you're playing on Navezgane, there's a chance you may stumble onto an [[Film/TheEvilDead isolated cabin a short ways from a rickety bridge that could collapse with a workshed out back]].

* BearsAreBadNews: Bears are often deadlier than the zombies. They are very aggressive, they always run after you (no matter the difficulty setting) and they hit very, very hard. An unexpected bear encounter is usually lethal in the early game.

* CriticalExistenceFailure: Varies

* BFG: The rocket launcher, and to a lesser extent, the M60.

* ShoutOut: The can of 'Stash' chili every starting character gets looks nearly identical to real-life canned chili brand Stagg.

The game is currently in Alpha 16.x, featuring a new game engine, UI improvements, and [[ProceduralGeneration random world generation]]. Updates are currently focused on bugfixing, with new content planned for the beta releases.

** The pistol. Simple to use, simple to aim, simple to shoot. A few headshots from a pistol will take down most zombies,less with perks, and it is better at dealing with fast-moving targets (such as dogs, vultures, wolves, chickens and rabbits) thanks to its good rate of fire. Pistols are also easier to find than most firearms, as they can be found in toilets, which are ''everywhere'' in the game. Ammo is also relatively plentiful and can be crafted relatively early on, provided that you can find or make a workbench to assemble them on. Can possibly veer into {{Simple, Yet Awesome}} with the Gunslinger skill introduced in A17.

** The wooden bow and stone arrows. You can craft them at the beginning of the game out of nothing more than wood, fiber, stones, and feathers. They provide you with the ability to silently kill things at a distance and as such, will be your go-to weapon for killing most zombies, as well as hunting animals. While the crossbow is an upgrade in most respects, it cannot be created without the appropriate schematic (which is a random drop), a forge (to provide the forged iron necessary to craft it) and leather (which has to be salvaged from furniture or created from animal furs and clothing using a perk). The compound bow that comes much later is a straight upgrade, but has to be assembled by individual parts just like a firearm, needs a schematic so you can put it together, and only accepts steel and flaming arrows as ammo.
** Boiled Meat is one of the simplest cooked meals you can make with no real negative side-effects. It has the same hunger recovery as the other meat items unlocked at its tier, and it can recover thirst on top of that. It's even ''lampshaded'' by the crafting menu!

** The pistol. Simple to use, simple to aim, simple to shoot. A headshot from a pistol will take down most zombies, and it is better at dealing with fast-moving targets (such as dogs, vultures, wolves, chickens and rabbits) than any other basic weapon. Complete pistols are also easier to find than most firearms, as they can be found in toilets, which are ''everywhere'' in the game. Ammo is also relatively plentiful and can be crafted relatively early on, provided that you find calipers for the casings. Can possibly veer into Simple, Yet Awesome with the Gunslinger skill introduced in A17.
** Wood log spikes. Very resistant and deadly if you fall on them from high enough. Digging a moat as deep as you can[[note]]about 15 blocks deep[[/note]] and filling it with trunk tips makes for a very efficient zombie defense.
** An underground base (be it a simple basement or a player-built/pre-existing bunker) is an excellent hideout for survivors, as digging down a sufficient distance will usually keep spawns from triggering outside of horde nights. However, it requires proper planning, as without proper support, the game physics will make it crumble on you.

* BladeOnAStick: The spears, added in A18, either made from Stone, Iron, or Steel. It has better melee range than other options, and while it doesnt have a power attack, you can throw it if you need to close the distance without switching to a gun/bow.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: With the new skill system in the A17 build, players can make themselves possibly more powerful than the ones before, such as making powerful foods/aid items, make them immune to stunning, fall safely from heights that would normally kill/ break legs, do some massive damage with certain/all weapons, or even just mine nodes in a few quick swipes with a pick axe.
* ColorCodedItemTiers: The game color-codes items based on ''quality'', i.e. how effective a certain item is and how long it can be used until it breaks. The sorting is unusual: growing quality order is grey, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Subverted as of Alpha 12. No matter how much you minimize the penalty via the settings for dying, your Wellness stat [[MaximumHPReduction will drop]].

** In A17, this trope has noticably gotten more subverted, due to the new Skill and Stat system makes each Attribute equally important.
* EarlyGameHell: You start off with just a can of chili, a bottle of water, a first aid bandage and a torch, and there isn't anything that actually leads you to anything. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And you're wearing nothing but your underwear]]. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Good luck]].

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Has already occured, due to a Third World War. Navezgane is sort of fine, but the damage of the war is pretty clear at certain areas of the map. Trying to leave the map leads to a nuclear wasteland.

** Screamers, which take the appearance of a girl in a white dress, are otherwise normal zombies whose screams will cause other zombies to spawn nearby. Failing to deal with them in a timely manner could result in a neverending horde of zombies descending on your base.

* FindTheCure: Can result in this if you get [[TheVirus infected]]. For the first stage, honey helps, but starting from stage II, only antibiotics cure it, and those are hard to both come by and craft.

* GunsAreWorthless: Downplayed. As of Alpha 13, guns no longer automatically OneHitKill zombies right off the bat, due to the introduction of skills, which affect how good you are with items like weapons and tools. Fully-assembled guns themselves are ''exceedingly'' rare, whereas gun ''parts'' are the norm. You need to find schematics to assemble gun parts into a functional weapon, and gathering sufficient ammunition can be difficult. Besides that, [[TheStraightAndArrowPath archery weapons are far more practical to craft and sustain with ammo and repairs, if a bit lacking in firepower and crowd control]].

* LevelGrinding: In A17, the skills system was completely revamped: in the past, using the skill enough would raise it. Now, skills can only be raised when you spend points when you level up (like in Fallout). But you get only one point to spend per level up, and the cost for each point gets more expensive as you advance. Plus you have to buy perks separately, they are not earned at a threshold. So if you want a particular perk, you may have to build 10-15 levels just to get it.

** If infected, a player has 7 days to cure it before they start losing health and dying.

** In A17, this has been changed where you can't loot zombies directly, but now they have a chance of dropping a yellow bag with a Z on it, which contains various loot that ranges from canned stuff to high end tools/mods.

** As of Alpha 17, though, this trope has been finally Averted, with the introduction of the Bicycle, unlocked at the first rank of Grease Monkey. The vehicle is very simple to make (doesn't even need a workbench to assemble, makes less noise than the other vehicles and doesn't need fuel (it uses stamina) at the cost of being slower than the other build able vehicles.

** Pistols, Shotguns (short and long), and [=SMGs=]. The only weapon to be a bit uncommon is the Hunting Rifle, whereas the Sniper Rifle and Rocket Launcher are pretty rare. They're both rare to the point that you may not see them at all.
** With the introduction of more weapon-specific looting locations (e.g., military camps, police stations, Shotgun Messiah stores, etc.), parts for higher powered weapons (including sniper rifles and [=SMGs=]) is more common. However, since part quality can vary greatly and the the overall quality (durability and damage) of a weapon is the average of its component parts, putting together a high quality weapon remains fairly difficult.
** The weapon with the highest DPS in the game, an AK-47 that fires full-sized 7.62mm NATO rounds, is without question the hardest to obtain. Parts for it are only rarely found on Fallen Soldiers, Feral Walkers, airdrop crates and ''extremely'' rarely on Shotgun Messiah gun crates. To compensate, it works more like a general-purpose machine gun than the assault rifle it's supposed to be, and even single shots are still devastating.

* UselessUsefulStealth: Not so much useless as hard to achieve. Zombies can't detect you if they can't see you (meaning, if you are not in their line of sight or if something hides you from them), but they are attracted by odours (such as cooked or raw meat). They're also highly sensitive to sounds, and practically any action beyond creeping around or standing still will attract their attention.

* BFG: The rocket launcher.
* BladeOnAStick: The spear, added in A18.

** As of A17, aside from a couple of exceptions, all craftable gear recipes are behind the Intelligence Skill tree. While this does mean it takes longer to unlock them, this also means that players are no longer at the mercy of RNG to get their hands on one specific blueprint they've been trying to find.

** A few, some of which are under AntiFrustrationFeatures.

* MisaimedRealism: The body temperature system used to be this. If you get too hot, wearing heavy clothes, you get heatstroke, which can kill you. If you get too cold, such as being bare in the arctic, you will freeze and die. Great concept, right? Only problem is that in alphas before 15, the system was ludicrously spontaneous and uneven: you could find yourself somehow getting heatstroke while swimming naked in an arctic pool, or find yourself sweltering at 110 degrees wearing only a shirt and pants in a temperate zone rainstorm. The algorithm was later completely reworked so that temperature management is more plausible, and in the recent build, the system was changed entirely, with clothing providing a set amount of cold and hot resist rather than increasing or decreasing a general insulation.