AuthenticPeach: Style Meets Survival

What do you do when you're not doing this?

I have been working on a career in tech. I would say more, but in terms of privacy, I'll leave it at that.

Did you have any of these skills before Zomboid, or did you learn through developing mods/frameworks?

I had some experience with coding through classes I had taken, but I had learned 3D modeling as a hobby during COVID lockdowns.

How long have you been at it, and what was the first thing you shipped that actually worked for Zomboid?

I've been at it off and on for about 6 years, released the AuthenticZ mod in late December 2020 for my 5th mod. My previous work included light reskin mods and AuthenticAnimations, a vanilla animations mod that gave the player the ability to execute unused or interesting animations. Most of my early work were proof of concept projects.

What made you go from "I play this game" to "I'm going to make something for this game"?

When I wanted to make something that the game lacked and more rare items.

Do you remember the moment you realized people were actually using your work?

I remember several points like that. Some people would DM me that some streamer was playing with the mod on. The mod subscriber count exploded when Build 41 MP came out and servers picked it up. I would also term search for the mod title in the official Project Zomboid discord to find feedback of the mod.

Walk me through your setup. What tools/software/process do you use?

Blender for 3d modeling, Photoshop for texture edits, Notepad++ for scripting, grepWin to grep search terms.

Where does an idea start for you? A new potential game mechanic, a bug, a screenshot in your head? Just wanting to do something cool?

Well initially when I come back to the mod I try to fix any bugs that are reported to me. Then once a sufficient amount are fixed, I try to add something from my ideas list. It usually comes from seeing an IRL outfit or costume piece I that I like.

How many hours goes into your work? Per mod, per week, per month, however you want to describe it.

I now dedicate any PZ/3d modeling efforts to the weekend due to my new work schedule, but I am usually there for 3-6 hours with breaks in between.

Was there ever a time you spent weeks working on something just to throw it out?

No, I try not to rip up my work. Now there are projects that I would wish to keep updated, but there are others where it's just kind of not worth it anymore.

What does burnout look like for you, and what are the things that contribute to burnout the most?

I play Minecraft when I get burnt out of this project space. If I get frustrated enough I just compartmentalize it in this project space and throw it into the closet to be revisited on a better day. Burnout for me breeds negative thoughts and curbs creativity.

What's the part of your work nobody notices but you're proudest of?

The fact I kept the mod up and running for 6 years to work on over 2.5 million devices is a bit Incomprehensible. I feel like it's hard to quantify that and I'd argue it's an arbitrary number.

What's the most useful thing a player or the community has ever done for you?

I've had several people offer their dedicated server resources for me to help troubleshoot the mod.

What's the most damaging or discouraging thing a player or the community has ever done to you?

I have pretty thick skin but I can't handle monsoon waves of people sending complaints in on every platform existence I have. This is what broke my previous bug tracking methods.

What should real support actually look like?

Detailed bug reports up front. I like having conversations and threads regarding bug reports. I really appreciate if they preface their reports with as much info upfront so I can get into that mood to think through the problem. That goes to say, my time is limited and my mental bandwidth is even more so, therefore when people say "My game don't work because of your mod", I am more inclined to delete the low effort comment and move on.

What tool or resource is missing that someone should build?

For modders - a native animation creator tool (AnimZed comes to mind) For the community - an automated ticket based bug reporting system for bug reporting for mods for the mod creators.

What mod author is underappreciated or should be known?

I'll shout out my bud, Ninjawizard. His big costume mod is the WizardTrade mod. He's working on revitalizing it for Build 42.

What needs to change in the way players, server owners, or the community in general treat mod authors?

Just remember that these people, often single individuals like me, volunteer their time and effort into making these projects and they are under no obligation to drop everything to fix their mods same day or same week as a build update. Please resist the urge to stress them out as they can quit as fast as a drop of a hat.