For a safe first hour in Limp Mode, withdraw cash at the first gas station, fill the starting car immediately, take the OBD reader from the base, and register the vehicle you intend to keep. Before leaving on a long drive, save at a bed, carry fuel and basic fluids, and avoid making unnecessary noise around zombies.
Secure the essentials at the start
- Go to the first gas station near the beginning of the highway and use its cash machine. Your money starts in the bank, but fuel pumps and phone booths require cash.
- Buy fuel straight away. The first car has only
15%fuel, so delaying this is one of the quickest ways to become stranded. - Return to the base and take the
OBD reader. It is lying there and is your main tool for checking vehicle problems. - Look at the two additional random cars at the base. Choose a vehicle, then visit the
Vehicle registrationoffice. A car is not yours until it is registered.
Prepare your character and vehicle
Your starting bag contains a bandage, baseball bat, snack bar, water bottle, and toolbox. Keep these supplies with you while learning the opening stretch. Add a filled canister, oil, and coolant whenever possible; the first-hour tips specifically recommend carrying all three.
Vehicle fluid levels are not shown on the dashboard. Stop the car, stand at the yellow box in front of it, and press F to open the hood and enter the workshop view. Check fluids there rather than assuming the car is ready because it starts.
Save before exploring farther
Use the bed at the base to choose Sleep or Save before a longer trip. The base bed is free, while a motel room costs money. The game also autosaves every 10 minutes, when using phone-booth teleports, when saving and quitting, and when waking up, but a deliberate bed save is the safest preparation for an important departure.
Phone booths can teleport you to booths you have already visited. Walking home from a phone booth is free, while taking your car costs more, so a booth gives you a useful fallback if the vehicle runs out of fuel or becomes unusable.
Use quiet, low-risk tactics
- Stay inside the car when zombies are nearby: they cannot bite you in the vehicle, although ramming them damages the car.
- Keep noise down. Gunshots attract attention from about 250 metres, horns from 150 metres, crashes from 80 metres, and an engine from roughly 55–80 metres.
- Do not sound the horn near zombies unless you are prepared for the attention it creates.
- When walking, watch for attacks from behind. Bites can cause wounds that continue bleeding until treated with a bandage.
- Search and repair carefully because searching loot can be heard from about 20 metres and repairing from about 25 metres.
Controls that matter immediately
| Action | Key |
|---|---|
| Enter or exit the car and interact | F |
| Ignition on or off; hold to start | M |
| Inventory, then trunk while in the car | I |
| Radial actions such as eating, drinking, bandaging, pushing, or workshop | Short Right click |
| Aim | Hold Right click |
| Attack while aiming | Left click |
Do not exit a moving vehicle: above 8 km/h, you are thrown out. If you go down at zero health, the game does not end. You wake at your last bed eight hours later with 35% health, fed and watered, but your bag remains where you fell. Saving at the base before the first major trip therefore protects both your progress and your recovery point.