02 ▸ Game mods ▸ Project Zomboid · Lua

Project Zomboid mods

Six mods for Build 42: a set of first-person inventory screens, and five gameplay mods that change how a run starts, how infection plays out and how zombies move and break in.

Role: Design, build, test
Game: Build 42.20
Mods: 6
Built with: Claude Code + local MCP

IEUI

Inventory screens for first-person play

Project Zomboid's inventory is built for a top-down camera and a mouse that stays still. With the Viewpoint first-person camera, opening it means stopping and hunting through floating windows. IEUI replaces them: Tab opens Gear, which shows what you carry, bags inside bags and what is in reach, with the cursor free while you keep walking.

IEUI Gear screen in game: the player's backpack contents on the left, a nearby cupboard and other containers on the right, with a hotbar and key hints along the bottom — Gear in game, in the style that matches vanilla: what you carry on the left, every container in reach on the right.

IEUI Craft screen in the notebook style, with a recipe list and the Break Glass recipe detail — Craft in game, notebook style: what you can make now, what each recipe uses, and Make or Make all.

Design mockup of the Gear screen in a parchment style, with On you and Nearby panels — Parchment style, a design mockup planned as its own mod.

Gear, Health, Craft and Build screens open from one tab bar. The vanilla windows are hidden while IEUI is open, never removed, and come back when the last IEUI screen closes.
Every screen works from the keyboard, with the shortcuts listed along the bottom.
Build places objects in front of the player along the look direction, with an OK, Blocked, Missing or Too far label at the cursor.
It was the first feature built with the hybrid workflow from the local research MCP: engine questions went to the local model first, Claude reviewed every change, and each screen shipped against an in-game test checklist.

Gameplay mods

Animated promo: a zombie pushes against a boarded window wrapped in barbed wire

Barricades Bite Back

Zombies hurt themselves breaking through barricades. Reinforce doors, gates and tall fences with planks or sheet metal, add barbed wire for climbers, and watch a door hold against one zombie but fall faster to a crowd.

Kentucky Arrival

Start as a traveller driving into Knox County, at a road entrance, with a vehicle of your choice and a loadout sized to fit it. Works with every vehicle mod.

Randomized Starting Skills

New characters roll a spread of starting skills weighted by their profession and traits, with rare savant rolls that push one skill to expert.

Severe Infections

Infection becomes a long illness instead of a death sentence: onset, a fever that burns food, water and sleep, then recovery. How you treated the wound sets the odds.

Zombie Speed Mix

Set the share of Shamblers, Fast Shamblers and Sprinters instead of one sprinter percentage. Applies to existing saves.

Next ▸ 03
Local research MCPOpen ▸