[2021] 7 Days To Die: Fallout edition

We should acknowledge that experience is one factor here. The version of you that plays Alpha 19 today may have hundreds of more hours under their belt than the version of you that played Alpha 13/14. I know I do. Hence there’s a trove of working knowledge details you’ve picked up - like that sinks are a good source of wrenches, or the drop rate of an arrow - that you may not consciously think about anymore, which allow you to play more efficiently and aggressively. They actually set the default difficulty one level lower than it used to be, based on their assessment that the game had gotten harder.

I do agree that 7DtD’s standing as a survival game has lost a lot of legs, and I hope to see that restored so long as it’s billed as the survival horde crafting game. But for getting away from that throw-caution-to-the-wind, first person shooter style, try adjusting your settings, or mods as Jost Amman suggests. If you play on 25% loot and no loot respawn for instance, I don’t think you’ll keep ignoring cooking.