[OPINION] Repeated Failure is Getting Frustrating

[Bullethead]

This is my opinion. You opinion is almost certainly different, which is cool. But repect the right of folks to have opinions different from yours. I'm not hating on the game, I'm giving what I consider is probably a fairly common opinion of Exanima, FWIW to the devs.

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OK, I think I've been around here long enough now not to be dismissed as a completely uninformed noob. Still a noob, yes, but I've been here in the forums a while and Steam says I've played Exanima 23 hours. I'd say that's probably split about 60%-40% arena to dungeon. I routinely beat the novice arena now and sometimes the expert arena. If I didn't really like the game, I wouldn't have put in this amount of time for what is merely practice for the actual game, which is the dungeon. And the dungeon whups my ass. I have yet to get more than a room or 2 beyond the main locked doors on the 1st level. Which by now I'm finding intensely frustrating.

Here's why that's so frustrating. To open the locked doors on level 1, you have to sneak/fight/think your way through a fairly large amount of dungeon to get the key, plus whatever fixed items/lore/random chest contents/known zombie equipment you consider worth risking your life for. Then retrace all you steps back through it which can be, depending on luck of the totally random draw on wandering zombie placement, even harder than getting the key to begin with. So you do all that (maybe--it's never a sure thing) and open the locked doors, and the hostility factor steps up a couple notches. And you die. Then there's nothing for it but to repeat all the stuff that gets you the key again. And die in the same general area. Repeat ad nauseum, and it's the ad nauseum part that's getting me down.

Seriously, I hear the next update adds all kinds of wonderful stuff after the end of the current 3rd level. To which I think, "Whoop-dee-doo", because I can't even get respectably far into the 1st level. From where I sit, I'll never, ever see any of the new content. I doubt I'll ever see level 2. I'll keep trying, but the desire to do so is fading fast due to endless, will-sapping repeats of stuff I've done already dozens of times, and the sheer frustration of having to repeat (AGAIN!) so much stuff to even have a chance at seeing something new.

It's not that I think Exanima's combat system is all that hard in and of itself. After all, I do reasonably well in the arena and can take down zombies with fair success. It's just that it's so prone to random variation and so unforgiving when you're on the short end of that. It just takes 1 mistake to ruin your game, and even if you do everything right you can still get screwed by chance events. When either happens, it's back to the beginning again.

Now, Exanima and SG have been in work for years, and many of those currently in this forum have been with it from the get-go, or at least as long as contributions were open. I've only been here a couple months and have only 23 hours of playtime. But seriously, how much time is a mere dungeon crawl supposed to take? Most full-blown RPGs are proud if they have even 50 hours of gameplay, so that by the time you're halfway through that, you've seen and done a lot of different things, you feel like you're actually making some progress. Exanima is giving me the exact opposite of that. It's the same damn handful of rooms and corridors, the same damn zombies, the same crappy starter gear over and over. I hear rumors that there's all kinds of cool stuff further along but from my POV it might as well be vaporware.

I'm sure there are many out there who feel as I do, and there's a simple solution to this problem: a more forgiving save system. I get the no saving thing for Sui Generis, where a lot of the story revolves around the character's ability to come back from the dead. But Exanima isn't Sui Generis with a whole world and a complex story, it's just a dungeon crawl. Start the game, make it to the end of the dungeon, the end. So why have no saves? Why not at least put a save point where you've got the key and are about to unlock the 1st door there on level 1? And perhaps other similar places further on. I've never been there but I'm sure appropriate places exist later in the game.

God mode would be another nice addition. Just to be able to see all the cool stuff further on, for the motivation necessary to continue flagellating myself trying to get there legitimately. The lack thereof is becoming increasingly galling. I mean, I bought all the content, why can't I have a look? If I buy a book, nothing stops me from reading the last chapter first. If that ruins the surprise, I'm the only one who suffers and nobody else should care, least of all deny me the ability to do so out of their own sense of self-righteousness. Remember, everybody's entitled to their opinion.

 

[Greenbrog]

Wouldn't ever expect the game made easier, but it will get smoother.

And another way point is being added to the first level somewhere, probably after/at the locked door.

Not certain what is killing you, I've beaten the first floor 50+ times with no fights, and there really is nothing random about the combat system.

A different save feature, not gunna happen.

Sounds like you need to change your play-style/approach and maybe get better at running away/past things. I'm not calling you noob, or anything, but this sounds like a strategy issue, not a tactics issue.

 

[ZaratanCho]

The 'dungeon' is not like the arena. You need to pay attention to more things, play differently and be careful. Really you should have no problem finishing it. When you die think exactly how and why and adjust. Lots of people with less play time finish it.

A game is also not a book, one of the core concepts of games is overcoming challenges. Especially true here where it is also highly player skill based. You paid for a game, specifically a game that is not about holding your hand and is about being challenging. ;d

Pretty sure after level 3 for the remaining 7-8 levels there will be no check points. Instead of asking for 'god mode' and things that will never happen figure out what is the problem. It should be fairly easy for an experienced player to finish it. Seen noobs that are terrible at the combat make it pretty far, 2nd-3rd level. It is not random, it is up to the player decisions. Yeah it can be very punishing when you make a mistake sometimes. Say how you die and why, that might help. ;d

First 3 levels are fairly easy it will only get harder after those(3rd is hardest i guess). You can always run away, can get some armor easily enough. Most zombies are armed with crappy weapons and are weak in general, also can make sure you fight them 1 on 1 and in places where others are unlikely to walk by. You can avoid making them angry and progress without fighting or trap them. Requires good decision making though. Probably with a small change you'll make it a lot further. Very easy when you take advantage of everything you can do.

 

[Tony]

The first three levels are designed so that the player chooses how difficult the gameplay is. The choices a player makes will greatly influence whether or not they survive or die. There is very little luck involved in whether or not you make progress or not. Even a complete noob (first time someone loads up the game) can make significant progress if they take the game seriously and play cautiously. I know this because I've seen it happen numerous times (first time players getting to the second and third levels).

If a player treats the game like a real life scenario their likelihood to survive greatly increase. What would you do in real life if you woke up in an unknown location with no armor or weapons? Would you run around picking fights with everything you encountered or avoid those creatures that look suspiciously like a zombie? About 90% of the undead on the first level are not hostile until provoked which makes avoiding them quite easy if you take the game seriously. And if you do encounter a hostile creature running away is a valid option. Closing doors behind you is a sure way to prevent running into an entire mob of hostile creatures since the undead currently do not open doors.

Yes, your opinion(s) are as valid as anyone else's. However, the devs spent a lot of time creating the particular gaming experience which Exanima presents. They want players to take it seriously and not just mindlessly run through. They want real consequences for the player's choices and actions. Your opinions and suggestions directly conflict with the gaming experience the devs are trying to create. Yes, your opinions are valid but don't be surprised when the devs do not add things which they consider to be "game-breaking" like a manual save/load system or a god mode.

 

[Bullethead]

The first three levels are designed so that the player chooses how difficult the gameplay is. The choices a player makes will greatly influence whether or not they survive or die. There is very little luck involved in whether or not you make progress or not. Even a complete noob (first time someone loads up the game) can make significant progress if they take the game seriously and play cautiously. I know this because I've seen it happen numerous times (first time players getting to the second and third levels).

I see very little meaningful player choice in the game. Progress is, after all, entirely linear. At the big picture level, you go from Level N to Level (N+1). Within each level, you go from entrance to exit and, to do that, you have to move through most of the rooms in the order dictated by the overall floorplan. And the floorplan has various chokepoints: locked doors, the locations of keys, and places where there's only 1 route to follow. Sure, you can sometimes take a different route between 2 chokepoints, and you can avoid certain rooms entirely, but these choices do not affect the overall linear, lock-step nature of the game as a whole. They're no more meaningful than deciding to swap your white cloth plants for a green pair with identical stats. You still have to follow the pre-ordained overall routine.

As you're doing that, you have to deal with both planned and random encounters, both of which are controlled to a large extent by pure dumb luck. Each "fixed" zombie seems to be in a different mood each time, sometimes ignoring you, sometimes attacking. Which is cool from an AI perspective, but it means you can't rely on being able to just walk on by them. And the starting positions of the wandering zombies is random, so that sometimes an area is clear and other times it's teeming with enemies, or a "fixed" zombie has a friend or 2 with him when you get there. When a mob is blocking the route that the structure of the game forces you to take, then you're just screwed.

Thus, the player has very little actual control over the situations he finds himself in, and this is all before even considering all the variables involved in combat. With combat, you can try to avoid it. When you can't, you can try to arrange it on the most favorable terms before committing to the fight. But once the swordplay starts, anything can happen. Even if you're reasonably good at the mechanics, there's still a huge amount of luck involved. Your parries don't always work. Your strike don't always connect. You can get tangled up with the enemy or the environment. A wandering zombie might hear the commotion and want to join in. And it only take 1 good hit on you, at least early on before you've got much in the way of armor, to mathematically eliminate your chances of going very far in the game, even if you win that fight.

NOTE: I'm not saying any of this is bad. Far from it. These are all great game mechanics. I treat combat in Exanima with the same respect I do in real life (where I've fought a major war and am a firefighter by trade). Putting your life on the line is a serious matter and I'm still alive today because I know how to judge risks vs. rewards, pick my fights, take every advantage I can, etc. But only takes you so far and I'm also only alive because of pure blind luck. Artillery shells with my name on them have been duds. I've tripped by accident just as bullets meant for me were going by. Burning houses have collapsed seconds after I've walked out of them. All of these could easily have had other outcomes, and the outcome was totally beyond my control either way.

Exanima is exactly like that, which is a good thing. It really captures the serious risk inherent in fighting and forces you to think, plan, and maneuver as best you can beforehand, either to avoid fighting or at least do so on the best terms you can manage. All very good. However, the player has very little real control over the general situations he gets into thanks to the linearity of gameplay, and success in combat depends greatly on luck. And the penalty for failing in combat is having to start over and replay an amount of dungeon that increases the further one goes, even if the player was doing everything right up to the point he died, and only died due to bad luck. That, IMHO, is a frustration trap waiting to disenchant players.

 

[Bobob]

To be honest the game is very easy.
After the ending of level 1 you should pretty much never take permanent damage, even if you get hit a few times.
It's understandable that you die a lot in story mode if you still struggle in arena.
Success of combat depends greatly on luck?
Please. I understand your side here, because I also felt your frustration at some point.
But saying that is ridiculous. Very little control on the situation?

Your entire post implies that you just need to get better at combat.

 

[Greenbrog]

There are no random encounters, mobs path yes, but they spawn within a area and the doors start the same way every-time, so even if they path they will be within a set area until you start opening doors, sure the pathing of the mobs seems relatively random, but they are actually following their "nature" set by the ui; which, is perceived as random, but since they can't open doors they are still relatively confined to small areas.

Every mob has a "attitude, nature", some are inherently aggressive and some are not. But they are always the same, and with some practice you can identify them by just a glance. Some are literally so passive they won't even chase you if you knock them down, most are not.

Only a small few will chase on sight, and then only slightly more will chase if you simply get too close or look at/away from them while too close; the too close threshold changes for every mob. MOST mobs will let you run on by if you don't contact them, and none are as fast as you in a sprint. You can literally run away from all mobs (for now), and many will stop chasing after they aren't on your screen anymore (some of the more aggressive ones will chase quite a bit longer and even search for you, but they aren't common). If you can beat the arena then you should be pretty safe from any mob that's not using a bladed weapon, and understand you don't "have" to go everywhere.

There is literally nothing random in combat, the zombies don't dodge, or parry, or double attack, or feint. You choose the ground to fight and you can even run away.

You say the game is linear, yup, and as such you should be able to learn the layout relatively quickly, and practice sprinting away. With practice you probably can learn to do the first level in 5 minutes taking no damage, skipping the maze, or in about 15-18 minutes with the maze. If you're having this many issues now though I'd skip the maze, because as of now there isn't a check point to let you just face rush it.

If you know the beginning so well, why are you fighting things? You can get to locked door interacting with no zombies though it's likely you'll have to run by 2 (average). And none of them are extremely aggressive, just don't stand next to them.

Text wall, too much. Refuse to rant, too many suggestions to change your play-style too be helpful.

Basically I'd say the game isn't playable for you right now, wait until they add the second level 1 way-point.

 

[Tony]

All combat in the first three levels is optional since running away is always an option. Most of the undead you can either lose by taking a few corners or they'll get sick of following you after a while; unless you've done something to really piss them off they hardly ever pursue you very far. Again, closing doors is also a guaranteed way to avoid fighting since the undead don't open doors (yet). If you close doors behind you you'll significantly reduce the risk of encountering multiple zombies at once and won't get jumped while exploring a room.

Like I said in my previous post: 90% of the zombies on the first floor are passive until provoked. Some don't like it when you get too close too fast, some don't like it when you make eye contact, some will take advantage of attacks of opportunity (you giving them your back and/or making yourself an easy target), etc. If a zombie is in your path then stay as far away from the zombie as you can and eventually it'll ignore you and keep walking, clearing the path. If you're within line of sight of a zombie many times they'll become curious about you and investigate what you're doing. This is apparent by observing their actions; does the zombie mostly ignore you and keep going (passive/friendly/doesn't consider you a threat) or do they stop and stare at you, paying close attention to what you're doing (undecided if they consider you a threat or not and will likely attack if you provoke them). The zombies always use the same default AI scripts (passive/hostile) on consecutive playthroughs and only a handful of zombies on the first level will immediately attack on sight.

Again, it is up to the player how difficult the game is based upon their choices. You can make the game very difficult (fighting with no armor, crappy weapons and intentionally fighting everyone you encounter) or you can choose to avoid 100% of combat by being cautious, making the game quite easy. If you know the route it is literally possible to simply walk through all three levels without fighting once. If you don't know the layouts you can do the same by exercising caution. Luck plays a very tiny role in the game; what decisions you make is the most important factor followed by how skillful you are at moving/fighting.

 

[Bullethead]

To be honest the game is very easy. ....
Your entire post implies that you just need to get better at combat.

If you're sure to win all your fights, then where's the challenge? Why play the game at all?

Exanima has no middle ground. Due to the very limited healing and the lack saves, you not only have to win all your fights, you have to be essentially perfect in them, avoiding nearly all damage. And it demands this perfection from the get-go or you'll never get far. Sure, you can avoid some fights but not all of them, and if you're not perfect, it's soon back to the beginning again. But OTOH, if you ARE perfect in combat, then there's no reason to avoid any fights, and nothing is a challenge.

I routinely beat the novice arena. I nearly always get well into the expert arena and sometimes beat it, too. I usually beat zombies and often do so with little or no damage. But for some reason those bastards behind the locked doors on level 1 have my number. And I wouldn't object to that if I could have another crack at them immediately. But no, I have to start over from scratch and redo the whole process of getting that key before attempting them again, and there's no guarantee I'll even succeed at that in 1 try. Usually I do, but there are no guarantees in Exanima combat because of physics.

It's this continual, time-consuming repetition that I object to. I have a life. I usually have only an hour or so every few days to play this game. And because there are no saves, I have to spend most of that time revisiting places I've already seen dozens of times. The known drudgery of that is rapidly starting to outweigh the desire to see something new in the game. Especially when the new stuff is, at the bottom line, simply more tunnels and zombies.

There are no random encounters, mobs path yes, but they spawn within a area and the doors start the same way every-time, so even if they path they will be within a set area until you start opening doors, sure the pathing of the mobs seems relatively random, but they are actually following their "nature" set by the ui; which, is perceived as random, but since they can't open doors they are still relatively confined to small areas.

On the way to get the key on level 1, many doors start open and that allows all the wandering zombies to range over most of the area. And because they either start in random places along their routes or decide to take different routes each time, you can find anywhere from 0 to 4 zombies waiting for you when you open that 1st door en route to the key, even if you go directly there from the start each time.

Trust me on this. I've done this part of the level enough to know :/

Every mob has a "attitude, nature", some are inherently aggressive and some are not. But they are always the same, and with some practice you can identify them by just a glance. ....

Which knowledge is gained from repetition, which of course is not realistic. Which defeats the argument that not having save is somehow more realistic than having saves. You repeat it either way. Why make this take more of the player's time than necessary?

There is literally nothing random in combat, the zombies don't dodge, or parry, or double attack, or feint. You choose the ground to fight and you can even run away.

Combat is full of randomness, thanks to the physical interactions of weapons, shields, characters, and the environment. You might be doing just fine but then trip on an unseen piece of debris, or get your weapon hung momentarily on the wall, leaving yourself open.

And then of course there's the unknown situation on the far side of any door you open. How many zombies, which ones they are, which way they're looking, what mood they're in? What have you left behind you that might limit your options of running away?

 

[Tony]

Here is a video of someone literally walking through all three maps. You may not want to watch after the first level if you want to avoid spoilers (note: this was also done in a previous version so the first level layout is now different):

The game is literally as hard as you make it.

 

[Greenbrog]

I'm going to use the the word literally again, and correctly. There is literally NOTHING random about combat. EVERYTHING literally happens for a specific reason. The zombies LITERALLY act in a predictable manner.

Spoilers! There are exactly 5 mobs to interact with if you open no extra doors getting the key and the locked door. None are overly aggressive. The first "area "has up to 3 mobs. 2 use blunt trash for wraps and aren't overly threatening, one uses a machete and should be avoided, though he rarely paths to the area you need to run through, and can have one partially open door shut to block off any of the 3 that haven't path into the required hall. The next area has 2 mobs, neither are extremely aggressive, the one without the axe is extremely non aggressive, but because this area is a loop with wide halls you can easily avoid or pull mobs into areas that can be isolated. There is literally only the player making anything difficult about getting to the locked door. Obviously this is after you know the area, and if you die 40 times learning the area, um so what. You can literally make it to the locked door with the key in under 3 minutes, and if it takes you 3 hours to learn the area, so what, all games worth playing have a time investment to learn. You are literally complaining about a part of the game that can take almost no time and be either very challenging or very easy, all without luck involved.

When I play I don't even pick up a weapon until after maze. As I fight NOTHING until late in the 2nd level. Maybe you don't want to play that game, that's fine, that's what the arena is for. I've obviously spent a lot of time on the game, I'm not say most people should or need too, but I was less than 20 hours in the game with a no permanent damage full clear. This isn't an epeen rant.

The game is literally as hard as you make it. You can sprint to the portal in under 10 minutes, with no damage taken, no fights participated in.

The game literally had no randomization in fights, everything, everything, happens for a reason. Everything moves in a predictable way,. This is literally what makes this game engine so good. Everything happens because of physics.

 

[Scarecrow]

Combat is full of randomness, thanks to the physical interactions of weapons, shields, characters, and the environment. You might be doing just fine but then trip on an unseen piece of debris, or get your weapon hung momentarily on the wall, leaving yourself open.

And then of course there's the unknown situation on the far side of any door you open. How many zombies, which ones they are, which way they're looking, what mood they're in? What have you left behind you that might limit your options of running away?

I'm sorry, but how is this "Full of randomness"? If you trip on an unseen piece of debris, it's because you weren't perceptive enough to spot it and managed to move your character straight into the debris. Nothing random about it, that's on you. Weapon hung on the wall in the sense of a glitch? Sure, that's a bit random, but Exanima is still in early access and bugs are to be expected. If you mean the weapon getting hung on the wall because you slam it into the wall when you attack, well then that's entirely your fault. You need to realize the reach of your weapon and your distance to the wall, then calculate accordingly. Nothing random about it.

And you can open a door by just a crack, and you can literally see the entire room. No one is forcing you to run blindly inn. Check the room out before you barge inn, and proceed cautiously.

The randomness you talk about doesn't really exist to be honest. There is some randomness to the height of your swings, but even that can be altered by the player's cursor movements. I fail to see this immense random nature of the combat which you talk about.

 

[ZaratanCho]

There just recorded this cus why not, actually that's the second run, shadow record didn't catch the whole of the 1st one which had more interesting situations and interactions like almost sprinting into the axe guy near the key and still managed to not make him angry and walked around looting chests. Still same basic thing tho, very easy to deal with unexpected stuff too like getting into a small room and suddenly walk into 2 guys on your way out. Might upload whatever i managed to record from the 1st run if you like.

 

[Bullethead]

Here is a video of someone literally walking through all three maps. ...

Yeah, I've seen that and believe me I've tried doing it, but I find it doesn't work like that. That video was made in March and there have been, what, 3 updates and a hotfix since then? I find zombies a lot more aggressive than shown in that video. All of them seem to attack if you come within arm's reach so there's no squeezing around them to the doors right behind them as shown in this video. I agree there aren't many who charge you at 1st sight, but only rarely can I just stroll on by one in a corridor. And I certainly don't ever have them stop whacking on me just because I ignore them and walk away. Once they decide to attack, they keep at it until one of us dies.

So I've learned not to trust zombies up close. When trying to walk past them, averting my eyes, no weapons equipped, the most likely outcome is I get a sucker punch. That usually does me more damage than I'd take from this same zombie in a straight-up fight, especially because I now have to quickly equip a weapon and switch to combat mode, during which time the zombie will get in another couple of cheapshots. Thus, if there's a zombie in a narrow space between me and where I need to go, I make sure we're alone and then give him the sucker punch. I find I usually take less damage this way than when trying to be friendly. But the more fights you have, the more chances you have of making a fatal mistake, and even small amounts of damage add up over time.

 

[Bullethead]

There just recorded this cus why not,...

Thanks. That gives me a bit of hope.

 

[Tony]

There just recorded this cus why not, actually that's the second run, shadow record didn't catch the whole of the 1st one which had more interesting situations and interactions like almost sprinting into the axe guy near the key and still managed to not make him angry and walked around looting chests. Still same basic thing tho, very easy to deal with unexpected stuff too like getting into a small room and suddenly walk into 2 guys on your way out. Might upload whatever i managed to record from the 1st run if you like.

Thank for you recording this. It demonstrates exactly what I was saying earlier: the game is only as difficult as you make it. Notice how Zaratan used caution to avoid provoking the undead and doors to prevent too many from gathering in one location? It's simple strategies like this that determine how difficult the game is, not luck. It's all about the choices the player makes.

You can avoid 100% of combat if you choose to do so. If someone is struggling at the start I strongly suggest they avoid combat as much as possible until they learn the layout of the maps. It is quite possible (and rather easy) to get fully armored with a selection of decent weapons without ever engaging anyone. Once the player is adequately armored the chances of taking permanent damage in combat are heavily reduced.

Also just to note: walking through all three levels is entirely possible even in the latest beta build. The AI isn't any more/less aggressive than in the video I previously linked of the old build. However, in the future builds AI will behave differently and actually sprint to catch up to you (thus making walking/running away a lot more difficult). Likewise, the AI will have more varying personalities so it's possible they'll feel threatened and attempt to flee instead of always fighting to the death like they currently do.

 

[Tyon]

For me, it's the other way around. I can easily complete the dungeon while fighting pretty much every mob I encounter, but I lose a lot when it comes to the arena, something about the final guy with a poleaxe scares me and I forget all combat knowledge lol.

In the first level, you should avoid any combat unless you get some really good gear like a cap and a leather vest. The easiest combo for me in level 1 is using the barrel lid as a shield and finding a well balanced one handed weapon, such as the machete which you can get a very short amount of time after the start of the game if you know where to look. When a zombie stops in the middle of a hallway and looks at me, I just sprint past them and that almost always works unless the zombie is the

Spoiler

longsword girl or the dude in orange gambesons who wields an axe.

 

[Tottel]

I generally don't have any problems with the arena/dungeon. And still, most of the time I will die somewhere before I reach the third level, just like OP.

Only on very few occasions do I blame the game for making me fail (getting stuck with my head in a door, ..). All of the other times are me messing up miserably. I have absolutely no problems fighting one-on-one. The problem comes from inexperience in fighting multiple opponents at the same time (The arena does NOT prepare you for this..).
When I engage multiple opponents, my nervousness takes a jump right away. I don't want to lose this fight, and by constantly thinking this, I am making more mistakes than I usually would. I make a wrong move, I get hit, I back off again, but I'm starting to panic (seriously, what other game can do that? I never panic..) and this makes things worse until eventually I die.

Something that is very high on my wish-list is an arena mode with multiple opponents at the same time.
I mean seriously: It's not just a fun thing, I NEED it for practice so I can progress in the dungeon. Sure, I could just play smarter and avoid fights or lure opponents, but unfortunately my pride is in the way: I never go around fights.

 

[K.L.R.G.]

@Bullethead:
As somebody who has a very similar opinion to yours ... Here is the sarcastic version:

Treat everything like a real life situation! You wake up in a dark dungeon with a lot of dangerous zombies. So act like you would act in real life dude! Pick up no weapon so that nearly no zombie in the first few rooms will attack you, because mostly they only get aggressive if you wear a weapon ... So like I said ... Act excactly like you would in real life ... And you're really lucky. As I learned on this board zombies are exactly as intelligent as 3-year-old kids ... Picking up bedpans to fight you is in their reason but doors will totally irritate them! So close the doors and you'll be fine!

And in a more serious way:

Use google to get a map of the first level. There are different maps that show the location of keys and more importantly treasure chests. With that you can easily plan a way with the least bit of encounters and the highest chance to get loot. As soon as you have a sword and decent armour the fights became managable ...

And you'll have to play the game of doors. There is actually not that much random about the zombies. They have specific routes they follow in every room. And they will went through any open door. With the map you can actually use that to your advantage. Watch them from far (with no weapon ideally), open an unimportant sidechamber and as soon as they went in close them in. You'll be able to clear most areas easily with that untill you get armour that will minimize any kind of lethal damage. It's actually a very stupid way to play it in my opinion, but hey ... That's what you would do in real life when you wake up in a dark and dirty dungeon ...

So in conclusion: Get a map for treasure and key-positions. Do not equip a weapon until you have atleast a sword. Stay distance to the zombies. And close every door behind you!

As soon as you have the equipment stage 2 and 3 are relativly easy. Because that's what a difficulty curve is for ... Sry if I might sound to sarcastic ...

 

[tiny lampe]

@Bullethead:
mostly they only get aggressive if you wear a weapon

I've never had this experience. In my playthroughs, having a weapon equipped while not being in combat mode has been as safe as having no weapon equipped at all.

My recommendation: grab a weapon and as long as you 1) don't enter combat mode, 2) don't get too close to a zombie and 3) don't stare at him for too long, you should be fine in most cases.