Project Zomboid has been shambling onwards in the public eye for nigh on four years now. Bits of it have fallen off in the process, but the game’s been sustained the whole time by an otherworldly undead force: the sheer strength of its central survival pitch.

The Indie Stone are now implementing endgame features like vehicles, stealth and NPCs – and shooting for a finished game in the first few months of 2015.

“We’re starting to plan out our final march toward 1.0, which we’re hoping will be within the late first quarter of 2015, possibly creeping into Q2,” blogged the devs. “However that’s not an ETA because you know what dark alleyways ETAs lead us down!”

The march begins with a trumpeting of Zomboid features yet to come.

Stealth-peeking, fence-creeping and shooting around corners will “shake up the looting game significantly”, and vehicles will render the journey between West Point and Muldraugh both shorter and squishier – provided you have a mechanic and enough siphoned petrol.

News on the radio and kids’ shows on the telly will provide crafting tips, as well as a new means of keeping your character from madness. And NPCs will finally be pushed out in a not-too-distant update.

“Yes they are being worked on,” said The Indie Stone. “They are always being worked on. We know. We know!”

Finally, the devs are working to overhaul their UI with the help of an outsourced team who “made a phenomenal UI for another game”. Joypad and split-screen players in particularly are going to be served better in the months leading up to 1.0.

“There are obviously many other things we want to do with the game, and as we’ve said before no one should panic that 1.0 means the end,” wrote The Indie Stone. “As long as PZ makes enough money to keep the devs stocked up in fish pies (i.e. makes enough money to pay for development) we’ll try and keep the train going as long as possible.”

Our Fraser recommended we buy into Project Zomboid in early access over a year ago. Perhaps there’s a forgotten three-year-old Paypal transaction with your name on it?