The Endtimes are here! The dead are rising! The nukes are falling! Generally, this has been one of your worse days. The zombie horde is vast and quickly multiplying, but thankfully you're not alone!

Your only concern now is to get your sorry butt and those of four of your friends from Washington DC all the way across the country to Safe Haven. Why is it up near Seattle, you ask? Because it wouldn't be much of a survival game if you didn't have to travel far, now would it? And also because, just because.

Begin at the beginning.

With no explination as to why you are where you are or what the heck you are doing, you find yourself behind a small barricade staring down your impending doom that's shambling it's way to you in no real hurry. You fire the rifle you happen to find on the way here. BOOM!! One goes down but two more are behind it. You fire time and again until your gun makes a clicking noise and you realise that you're out of ammo. You panic and search for more as a stranger walks in front of you and effortlessly dispatches the remainder of the Zombies as if he was the son of Rambo and Annie Oakley.


He introduces himself as Clements, a wandering priest. He asks if you know of anyone else that could band together with you to make it to Safe Haven, some fort or something way up in the northwest corner of the country. You drop a few names and he smiles, points toward a Station Wagon he found recently and invites you aboard.

The vehicle is on fumes the entire way there. An unexpected bump in the road slams Clements into the car door, breaking his arm. He mentions that he isn't feeling well (really, you don't say?). A random drifter manages to bite him. And you thought you were having a bad day.

Rolling into DC, you hear a radio broadcast nearby. It's not good news. The government has declared that DC is a lost cause and will be steralized...via nuke. This day just keeps getting better and better. Clements heads off to the shelter to get your friends while you round up some supplies. Supplies are explained in a later section in more detail.
When all is said and done, Clements asks you to kill him while he's still human. You grudgingly honor his last wish. Thus, your epic quest for survival begins. Next stop, Pittsburg!

There are 9 resources you have to maintain to make a safe trip to Safe Haven.

• Fuel - The Wagon won't go anywhere without gas in the tank. One can will last you for four hours of driving. How far that gets you is dependent on the pace you set.
  
  
• Scrap - Spare parts (light bulbs, duct tape, bolts, screws, etc) that are used to make makeshift repairs if an auto shop isn't around or if you're low on cash. This is the only resource you can't scavenge for at the start of the game.
  
  
• Food - Ya' 'gotta eat. Every hour, food is rationed to all remaining survivors in your party. The amount that is rationed can be changed, depending on your remaining supply. More food means less health lost traveling or doing other things. Measured in ounces.
  
  
• Medkits - The main source of healing for your leader (you). Always keep plenty on hand. Medkits can also revive an incapacitated member of your party.
  
  
• Ammo - Since there are no melee weapons at all, you'll need these to keep your rifle going. No ammo means you're pretty much defenseless. Better hope you have rubber legs at that point.
  
  
• Tires - You can't very well drive a car if you don't have any wheels on it. Make sure you keep several spares. Thankfully the Wagon starts with a full set.
  
  
• Battery - A car battery is just as important for keeping the moror running. Have a couple lying around just in case.
  
  
• Muffler - Yes, you can realistically drive without a muffler. But you'll make so much noise that you'll attract every zombie in the tri-county area and never be able to stop. That's why you can't actually drive without one. Some extras would be nice.
  
  
• Money - Even though you'd think that money wouldn't have any real value after the fall of civilization, all shops still wheel and deal in greenbacks.

Your treck from Washington DC to Safe Haven will be long and hard. You'll get the chance to do some sightseeing along the way. Is there a reason they decided to nuke the areas with the fewest people? Maybe the infection started there.

City: Washington DC
Aww...A doggie! Can we keep him? Please??


City: Pittsburgh
Law states you must strike a defiant pose before shooting any zombies.


Landmark: Mall
Is the arcade still open?


City: Indianiapolis
Silly people. Why post signs? Zombies can't read.


Landmark: Farmland
I think your barber took a little too much off the top, Mc.Donald.


City: Chicago
Apparently blood has been replaced with bubblegum. That explains why you're so chewy.


Landmark: Remote Shack
Klatu. Barata. Gesundheit!


City: St. Louis
Don't let that sign fool you. You've got quite a ways to go still.


Landmark: Cave
Huh...Nobody's home. Grab their stuff!!


City: Memphis
They still have water pressure?!


Landmark: Prison
Here's looking at you, Stubbs.


Landmark: Hospital
I hate cameos.


City: Dallas
A zombie in a wheelchair. Crawling's too good for him.


Landmark: Strip Club
How did the girl in the cage get infected?


City: Albuquerque
Is she carrying a bazooka or something?


Landmark: Desert Motel
Nope. Not going to point out the obvious reference. Not a zombie, is it because it's green?

City: Las Vegas
All famous casino silouettes are trademarked. Have a bland, generic background instead.


Landmark: Mine
Even the lights can be infected! What's going on with those flowers?


City: Salt Lake City
She has a handgun! He's got a bat! What game do they think they're playing?


Landmark: Airbase
Cool shades, dude! I think I'll call you Zeke. How are things in the neighborhood?


Finale: Safe Haven
Please place all refuse in the bin to your right. Look both ways before being eaten alive. Exact change only.

Whenever you stop, either at a city or landmark or while on the road, the first button that will appear on the bottom of the screen is the Party button. This is where you can rest, use medkits, kill off party members, or talk to random strangers in the area.

Rest - Resting is the primary way you'll be keeping your party members healthy. Every hour rested regenerates health, even if they are infected, have a disease or both. Resting also increases the chance that they will recover from a disease. Resting in a city increases this chance even further. Please note that resting will not heal your main character unless all other members of the party are gone.
Medkit - Using Medkits is the primary source of health for your main character, since resting will not heal you. Medkits can also be used to revive incapacitated party members. Using a medkit does not cost time.
Kill - If someone is infected and is near death, if you simply don't have the food to spare for them, or if you simply decided that you don't like them anymore, use the Kill button. After shooting your friend, they will be lost to the game forever (or until your next play though). Killing (or deciding not to) does not take time.
Talk to Stranger - At every stop on the road you'll come across other random strangers doing their own thing. Some of them give you advice, some whine about lost loved ones or how they yearn for cheese, and yet others offer their theories as to why this all happened and why the government wasn't able to contain it. Since talking is a free action, it takes no time at all.

Whenever you stop, either at a city or landmark or while on the road, the second button that will appear on the bottom of the screen is the Car button. This is where you can apply makeshift repairs, set your speed pace, view your upgrades, and check the road map.
Repair - Using scrap to fix up the Station Wagon is great if you're low on cash, there's no Auto Shop around, or if you have plenty of spare scrap to spare. The success chance of the repair depends on how many scrap you use. Repairing take an hour to complete. If the repair fails, the hour is still lost, along with the scrap that was being used.
1 scrap - 20%
2 scrap - 32%
3 scrap - 43%
4 scrap - 53%
5 scrap - 62%
6 scrap - 70%
7 scrap - 77%
8 scrap - 83%
9 scrap - 88%
10 scrap - 92%

Set Pace - You set your driving speed here. Slow takes longer from one point to another, inviting more random events, (both good and bad) but wears down the Station wagon less. A faster pace will get you from A to B in less time, but will take more out of the Wagon per hour to do so. Remember that fuel is consumer per hour, not per miles traveled. Changing your pace does not take time.

Upgrades - Here you can view what upgrades you have installed on your ride. There are a total of five upgrade slots, each can only hold one upgrade each. The slots are Front (lights, batteries), Misc (radio, air freshiner), Top (fuel storage, windows), Back (tool kits, mufflers), and Bottom (tires). More information about the different upgrades and their usefulness is in the Upgrades section. Viewing does not take up time.

Road Map - The main map shows how far you are along your journey, if the next stop is a City or a Landmark, how many miles you've traveled so far, and how far until the next destination. Checking the map does not consume time.

Whenever you stop, either at a city or landmark or while on the road, the third button that will appear on the bottom of the screen is the Supply button. Here you can scavenge for more supplies, Trade with other people in the area, set your food rationing for the party, and review your combat training.
Scavenge - By far the best way to get more resources and supplies is by scavenging. When scavenging, you go out in the wild and search for loot. You'll also find many unwanted guests that will be happy to make lunch out of you. Be sure you have plenty of ammo. The most common supplies you will find is Food. You can also find Scrap and Money as well. Some Combat Training can cause other items, like Medkits, to appear as well. Scavenging ends either after a certain amount of time has passed, or you are harmed by a zombie. If you are injured, you will also lose half the supplies you picked up. The time of day or night and subsequent zombie activity level will determine how many zombies will come after you. It is highly advised to scavenge during low and medium activity levels only. While scavenging, you may also come across two of the bosses in the game, the Zombie Bear and two Zombie Wolves. More details on them in the Boss section. Interestingly, food is consumed normally per hour spent scavending, but noone else in the party will lose health.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there are 3 types of zombies: Shamblers, Waddlers, and Crawlers. Shamblers are your typical garden-variety zombie. One shot and dead. Waddlers carry around some extra bulk with them. Barely slower than Shamblers, Waddlers take two shots to make re-dead. Crawlers are only half of what they used to be...literally. Also slower than Shamblers but they have the pesky ability to crawl through walls and barricades with ease. One shot to dispatch.


Trade - Unlike most other zombie apocalypse games, there are many, many other survivors to meet along the Organ Trail. Every hour used to trade will generage 1 to 3 trade offers, sometimes none. What they want and what they are willing to offer are randomized so there will be offers that will make you want to shoot the idiot, and others that will make you feel like you're taking advantage of them. Offers are presented one at a time and once they are gone, they're gone. You can't back up to a previous offer you said no to, or ask for a refund to one you accepted. Unfortunately, you also cannot barter or make a counter offer of your own.

Rationing - This is where you set the pace of food consumption per hour for you and your party. Less food per hour taxes your resources less, but taxes your body more. Expect your party to take more damager per hour the less they eat. A full party at max rations consume 15 ounces of food per hour, so take that into consideration as well. Larger rations will also speed health regeneration when resting as well. Setting ration size does not take time.

Combat Training - Take a look at the special abilities you paid for and learned from Combat Trainers. You also get a portrait of someone who looks very much like Shawn from Shawn of the Dead. Nothing else special here. Admiring yourself takes no time.

Whenever you stop at a city or landmark the fourth button that will appear on the bottom of the screen is the Town button. This is where you can pay cash for supplies, get cash for supplies, check the local listings for jobs, and visit the Auto Shop or talk to a Combat Trainer. None of these options except taking a job take any time.
Buy - Money still apparently makes the world go 'round, although maybe not as much as it used to. This is where you check out all the nifty supplies the local merchant has to offer. The prices can vary and only get more expensive the closer to Safe Haven you get. Supplies offered are scrap, food, fuel, medkits and ammo. These are the only supplies that are ever offered in this menu. Scrap is sold individually, as is fuel and medkits. Food is sold in 10 ounce blocks. Ammo is sold by boxes of 20.

Sell - Having too much of a good thing is often a good thing if you need some money. You can sell food, scrap, fuel, medktis and ammo here. Scrap is paid for per piece, as is fuel (1 whole can) and medkits. Food is sold in 10 ounce blocks. Ammo is sold by boxes of 20. Since food and scrap are the most common drops to find while scavenging, these are probably going to be your main source of income.

Jobs - The local job board will have either one or two jobs lined up, offering variable rewards for certain tasks. These tasks are also listed with their difficulty. Difficulties range from normal to dangerous to suicide. Suicide jobs are listed as such for a reason. Time of day has no bearing on how many zombies appear, only difficulty does.[/list]

Defense Jobs: From a holding position, kill all zombies. Just like when you met Clements.

Recovery Jobs: Screen just like scavenging. Move right, avoid zombies and find the crate.

Bandits Jobs: Shoot the bandits in the window while they're aiming. Don't get shot.


Auto Shop - The local auto shop will gladly repair your vehicle for a price and sell tires, mufflers and batteries. Each shop also has an upgrade that you can purchase. If you already have an upgrade in the same slot that the upgrade the Auto Shop is selling, you will be notified before buying the new upgrade. Sadly, the upgrade being replaced is completely lost and is neither sold nor held onto for later use. The Auto Shop is only be available in Cities.

Combat Trainer - You come across some old grizzled veteran that's willing to teach you a new trick for a measly $80. You can have a total of 3 skills at one time and any new skills after that need to overwrite an older skill. Each Trainer only has one skill available to learn at a time, not a selection. Trainers are only found at Landmarks.

Mostly purchased in Auto Shops, car upgrades offer significant boosts to your vehicle's performance. Many others offer interesting bonuses and other perks. Upgrades can also be found in random events. Unfortunately, upgrades found during events will not tell you what they are beforehand, but you will still be given the option to keep your existing upgrade or take the new one if you find one for a slot that you already have flled. Also keep in mind that upgrades increase in cost the closer to you get to Safe Haven. Upgrades are not listed in any particular order.
NOTE: The upgrades listed have been found and confirmed by me and additions to this list will only be added as I confirm them.I have graded each upgrade from 1* to 3* based on how useful I have found them to be, compared to other upgrades in that slot, and a small explination as to why.

Front Upgrades

• V6 Engine - 2* Traveling at a faster pace does less damage to the Wagon.
  Traveling faster takes less time, fuel and food, but repairing doesn't take much time, either.
  
• Nev-R-Break Battery - 3* Battery never needs replacing.
  Not having to worry about your battery going out on you is just one less thing to worry about.
  
• Cowcatcher - 1* Debris on the road won't slow you down.
  As ideal as you'd think this would be, the events this prevents are very rare.
  
• Fog Lights - 1* Don't slow down in heavy fog.
  Fog doesn't happen very often and usually lasts for only a few hours at most.
  
• Sup-R-Last Battery - 2* Less likely for the battery to break.
  Not having to worry about the battery going out as much as normal is comforting.

Misc Upgrades

• GPS - 3* Never get lost or have to worry about the map being upside down.
  Never get lost on a back road, have to argue about directions, or drive the wrong way.
  
• Radio - 1* Chance to heal you while driving. I have no idea why.
  An interesting gimmik, but ultimately worthless.
  
• Air Freshener - 1* People in front seat less likely to take damage. I have no idea why.
  Again: Interesting, but worthless.
  
• Sno-Cone Machine - 1* Don't consume food while looking for trades or while repairing.
  Food should never be a concern, this is more for the lulz than anything else.
  
• Yard Sale Sign - 2* Increases chances of receiving trade offers.
  Good if you can get it early on. The only thing better is the GPS.

Top Upgrades

• Tinted Windows - 1* Driving through desert areas will not increase fatigue.
  More fatigue for the few hours I'm in the desert? Whatever. Pass.
  
• Armored Windows - 2* or 3* Less likely to be bit by zombies. Also can save people if you are overwhelmed by a zombie blockade.
  If you have the Ninja Muffler, you want these.
  
• Chainsaw Windows - 2* or 3* Automatically succeed fighting through the horde.
  If you don't have the Ninja Muffler, you want these.
  
• Fuel Carrier - 1* Never lose fuel. Fuel can still leak or find that they're full of water.
  Unless you are extremely unlucky, fuel should not be a concern.
  
• Solar Panels - 1* Move very slowly when out of gas.
  Gas is plentiful and shouldn't be a problem. This is ideal only if you want to push your luck.

Back Upgrades

• Nev-R-Break Muffler - 2* or 3* Muffler never needs replacing.
  If you have the Chainsaw Windows, you want this.
  
• Toolchest - 1* Increases the amount repaired using scrap.
  Scrap is easy to find. Definately the best of the 1*s, but there are much more important upgrdes.
  
• Easy Grow Garden - 1* Generates 1 ounce of food per hour.
  1 ounce of food per hour...Oh boy!! Pass.
  
• Ninja Muffler - 2* or 3* Automatically succeed sneaking through the horde.
  If you don't have the Chainsaw Windows, you want this.
  
• Sup-R-Last Muffler - 2* Less likely for the muffler to break.
  The upgrade to have until something better comes along.

Bottom Upgrades

• Nev-R-Break Tires - 3* Tires never need replacing. Unknown if they can still be shot out.
  Never needing to change tires takes a huge load off your back.
  
• Rain Slick Tires - 1* Don't slow down during heavy rain.
  Rain doesn't happen enough or last long enough to make these worthwhile.
  
• Snow Tires - 1* Don't slow down during snowstorms.
  Same as Rain Slick Tires. Pass.
  
• Offroad Tires - 1* Don't slow down during Sandstorms.
  Again: Same as above. Useless...unless free.
  
• Sup-R-Last Tires - 2* Less likely for the tires to break.
  The only tires you need until the Nev-R-Break Tires come around.

Only found at Landmarks, Combat Trainers offer you special skills for $80 each. You can have up to 3 skills at any time. If a new skill is to be learned, another one must be overwritten.
NOTE: All skilled listed are verified by me.I have rated the skills from 1* to 3* based on how useful I have found them to be, along with a little explination.

• Carrying Capacity+ - 1* or 2* Increases the limit of food that can be successfully salvaged per hour from 250 ounces to 350 ounces.
  Easier difficulties, with more drops, make this more viable. Food should never be a problem.
  
• Faster Movement - 3* Increases movement speed while on foot.
  Even though it say's it's only 5%, you can notice the difference. Very worthwhile.
  
• Action Hero - 1* Chance while shooting that a bullet will not actually be used.
  Chance is low and your ammo should never be a concern unless you're unlucky.
  
• Faster Reload - 3* Reduces reload time by half.
  The ability to fire twice as often can never be valued high enough.
  
• Faster Bullets - 1* Bullets travel twice as fast.
  Simply not something that should be a priority.
  
• Body Armor - 2* Reduces damage taken by losing combat by 20%.
  A good skill to have if there's nothing better being offered.
  
• Money Scavenger - 2* More likely to find money while scavenging.
  This will pay for itself in spades. Very good to have near the beginning of the game.
  
• Medkit Scavenger - 3* Possible to find medkits while scavenging.
  The chepest Medkits are around $25 to $30! Plus you can NEVER have enough of these!

Quite often you will hear people griping about the controls for aiming and shooting. I do admit that even I was put off by it initially. But after a while I got the hang of the way it worked and now I'm pretty good at capping zombies.

The combat mechanic is relatively counter-intuitive. What you do is click anywhere on the screen and hold the mouse button. You then drag the mouse to create a firing line. The relative position of where you first clicked and where the mouse is after moving determines the firing direction, only in the oopposite direction.

For example: If you click anywhere on the screen and drag the mouse straight down and let go, the shot will be fired straight up. Click and drag left to shoot right. One good way to make your shots is to click on the enemy you want to shoot, and then drag your mouse directly to where you are on the screen. While aiming, you can't move, so keep that in mind if you have several zombies around you.

On Easy and Normal difficulties, a row of three dots will appear going out of your character to show you where the shot will go.Hard and Suicide modes do not give you this firing guide. But by the time you get around to those difficulties, you should have the concept down pretty well. Endless Mode also starts with the aiming dots, but they will eventually go away as you progress.

Depending on the time of day, you will run into more or fewer zombies while scavenging. Also if there is a horde blockade outside of town, the size of the horde will be directly related to the time. More information on horde blockades is in the Boss & Situational Events section.

10am to 2pm - low

3pm to 5pm - medium

6pm to 9pm - high

10pm to 2am - deadly

3am to 5am - high

6am to 9am - medium

Low zombie activity is the best time to go scavenging, since the most zombies that will appear is roughly 8 or 9. Horde blockades will also be small, granting a greater change to fight through, even if they are Adgitated or Ravenous.

Medium activity gives only a few more zombies while scavenging, generally 10 to 12. The horde will be medium in size. This is still a pretty safe time to scavenge.

High zombie activity is where things start to get tricky. While scavenging, plan on seeing 14 to 18 zombies minimum. I do not advise scavenging during these hours. The horde is consifered to be large at this point.

Deadly activity will turn the screen into a sea of green if you dare set foot outside. DO NOT SCAVENGE! The blockade is massive at this time and unless the zombies are Docile, you are better off waiting or getting an escort.

The difficulty mode you set will greatly affect your gameplay. Harder difficulties have you starting off with less supplies, more random events, faster zombies and fewer scavenge drops. You may even need to relearn how to shoot. But higher difficulties also grant score multipliers after completing the finale. You need to beat the game with all party members alive on Suicide mode if you want any chance to make it on the leaderboards.
Easy: 18 hours initial scavenging. Very few events on the road. Very slow zombies. Usually 4 drops while scavenging. Aiming guide is on. No score multiplier.

Normal: 12 hours initial scavenging. Moderate number of events. Slightly faster zombies. Usually 3 but sometimes 4 scavenging drops. Aiming guide is on. Double score multiplier.

Difficult: 8 hours initial scavenging. Many events. Zombies get a bit faster. Usually 2 drops while scavenging but sometimes 3. Aiming guide is off. Triple score multiplier.

Suicide: 4 hours initial scavenging. Events nearly ever hour, sometimes multiple events per hour. Usually 1 scavenging drop but you may find 2. Zombies are still not as fast as you, but almost. Aiming guide is off. Quadruple score modifier.

While on the road, many things can happen. Some seem more plauseable than others but regardless all can affect your journey for better or worse. This involves brief interactions with other less-reputable survivors, minor driving mistakes, delightful discoveries, and the occasional choose-your-own-adventure side event. Oh, and nature might take a piss on you as well.
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It's a fact of life that people get sick and for a while they just grunt and groan and you just want to strangle them. All diseases have the same overall effect on whoever gets sick, causing additional fatigue while driving and slightly reducing the regenerative effects of resting. Curing any disease (except the zombie infection) is simply a matter of time and is mostly likely to happen while resting in a city.

Dysentery
Measles
Green Flu
Cholera
Typhoid
Exhaustion (not exactly a disease, I know, but same effects nonetheless)
T-virus (yes, THAT T-virus)
G-virus (scary, isn't it?)
Fever
Radiation Sickness

Bosses are the big things that go bump in the night (or midday) that keep people sweating and looking around nerviously. There are officially 2 encounter bosses and 1 event boss in the game. The encounter bosses are only found while scavenging and include the Zombie Bear and Zombie Wolves. While on the road, you may hear some rumbling coming up behind you as a stampede of Zombie Deer run wild all around you.

Zombie Bear - If it walks and bleeds it can die, right? Wrong! The Zombie Bear is completely immune to your puny rifle, only being slowed down for a little while so you can run away while pissing your pants. The only good thing about this boss is that there is only one of them, and all other zombies stop showing up.

Zombie Wolves - Yes, wolves, as in plural. Thankfully there are only two of them. They move with decent speed and will try to flank you from the left and right and pounce at you for a short burst of speed. They can even leap over barricades. These beasts are exceptionally dangerous but can be killed by 3 shots each. All other zombies also stop coming in after they have shown up.

Zombie Deer - Not even when in you car are you safe! A huge herd of Zombie Deer will chace after you. That, or you happen to be going in the same direction as they are. Regardless, you must avoid as many deer as you can. Each one that hits the Wagon will damage it. All you can do is last until they either lose interest in you or decide to take a detour.

Situational Events may not get as much attention as the bosses do, but they can definately put a wrinkle in your plans. These events are singled out because they happen at very specific times, usually right as you leave a City or Landmark. One of these events is zombie related, one is not.

Biker Gangs - Every once in a while, you come across a group of people that only want to help and will go out of their way to see that your needs are met. These...are exactly the opposite of that. These basdards will try to drive up alongside the wagon and shoot it! Teach them why four tires are better than two!

Zombie Blockades - Entering a city or Landmark may be easy, but sometimes leaving can be a real mess. Blockades happen when there are a large number of zombies wandering around town, specifically between you and the next stop. The size of the horde depends on the time of day. Smaller hordes are easier to shoot through. The disposition of the horde determines how likely they are to spot and overwhem you. Docile herds are easy to sneak through. If you feel you need some extra firepower, you can always hire some mercs to clear a path for you, though this takes some money and several hours to setup.
Be very careful with your choices, because the hordes have been known to pull people out of cars and eat them alive on the spot.

This is what you've been driving for all this time. Your back aches from sitting for hours on end. Your legs are stiff. Your gas gauge is almost empty and so is your stomach. You may be missing a friend or two. You may have had to shoot one of them yourself. But all this madness is worth it because before you stands one of the few beacons of hope left in this shattered world, Safe Haven. Beyond that gate is salvation and an honest-to-God good night's sleep.Any smile you may have had drops and you nearly scream with disgust. You just happen to get here while the electrical system is down for maintenance. And there's a horde coming this way. Did I mention that your back achs and your legs are stiff?


Yeah, yeah. You heard them the first time. Get the gas back to the generator. Don't ask me how you're carrying two of them and can still shoot.


With all 10 cans in, the generator sparks to life and the drawbridge lowers.


Now go to bed, becuse it's probably 3 in the morning over there and you've been playing this game for the past 6 hours straight. You'll sleep with a smile on your face knowing that you made it. And you'll do it all over again tomorrow because someone just happened to get a hundered more points than you on the leaderboard.

• Suicide mode is the only difficulty that does not give you enough supplies to start with a little of everything. I suggest starting with 2 Fuel, 1 Medkits, and 1 Ammo. Why no food? Because you begin your journey at noon. Immediately stop after leaving DC and scavenge for a few hours.
  
  
• Always always, ALWAYS scavenge during the low zombie activity hours.
  
  
• When coming across events on the road or tombstones, it is always a good idea to stop and check it out. You'll probably end up gaining something and, at worst, losing an hour.
  
  
• Never never NEVER take suicide jobs.
  
  
• Use Medkits only on yourself unless someone is dying. Use the Rest option in camp to keep your friends healthy.
  
  
• Always always ALWAYS check everything in every town and landmark. Check the prices in the shops, even if you don't plan on buying or selling anything. Check what the Auto Shops are offering. Check what Jobs are posted. Check what the Combat Trainer can teach you. You may come across some very nice suprises.
  
  
• While scavenging, learn how to use walls and trees to your advantage to block zombies. Be careful though, sometimes they can glitch through them.
  
  
• Never never NEVER scavenge during deadly zombie activity hours unless you have more bullets that sense and a very itchy trigger finger.
  
  
• Karma has no effect on gameplay, if an event allows you to steal from other survivors and you do it, you will not end up facing more zombies during the finale. It just makes you a jerk.
  
  
• Stop right before you reach Safe Haven to repair the Wagon. The overall health of the Wagon is worth loads more points than what each scrap will give you.

In the end, it's all about getting on that damn leaderboard, isn't it? Your final score is based on the general condition of yourself and your crew and your supplies on hand. Add that all up and then multiply by your difficulty to get the end result. Let's see what's worth what.

• Distance Traveled - 1 point for every 2 miles traveled. This will always be the same.
  
• Healthy Party Members - 500 points each. (cap of 2500 points to start if you're lucky!)
  
• Incapped Party Members - 400 points each.
  
• Infected Party Members - 300 points each.
  
• Station Wagon Condition - 5 points per 1% health. Can somehow go above 100%.
  
• Fuel - 1 point per quarter of a tank.
  
• Scrap - 1 point per 2 scrap.
  
• Medkits - 2 points per Medkit.
  
• Bullets - 1 point per 50 bullets. (extremely undervaued)
  
• Food - 1 point per 25 ounces.
  
• Money - 1 point per $5.
  
• Time Taken - 1000 points minus the number of hours you took.

NOTE: There are other conditions and random events that can add additional points, such as rescuing a baby.

After adding all that up, you then multiply by your difficulty modifier to get your final score.

• Easy - No(1x) multiplier.
  
• Normal - 2x multiplier.
  
• Difficult - 3x multiplier.
  
• Suicide - 4x multiplier.

Looking at these point values, it's easy to determine what the relative values of different supplies are compared to others in terms of points. This, however, in no way represents their value in actual gameplay. Notice you don't get points for having spare batteries, tires and mufflers.

1 tank of gas = 8 scrap = 2 Medkits = 200 bullets = 100 oz. of food = $20.