A-Life: Caravans - Traveling NPC Convoys, Trading, Escorts and Road Encounters for Project Zomboid

A-Life: Caravans expands the NPC simulation in Project Zomboid with traveling faction convoys, roadside encounters and interactive trading. Instead of remaining in fixed locations, groups of survivors drive between towns, transport supplies, react to threats and interact with players.

You might encounter a military patrol heading toward Louisville, a merchant carrying valuable goods or a gang of raiders blocking the road. Depending on their attitude, you can negotiate, request transportation, accept an escort contract or become involved in a firefight.

The addon builds upon Project A-Life's existing driving and faction systems, introducing new activities without replacing the original NPC framework.

Version 0.3.3 is currently a test release.

Dynamic Caravans Traveling Between Towns

Up to three caravans can operate simultaneously, with each group containing a named leader, a callsign and 3-6 NPCs traveling in one to four vehicles.

Available convoy types include:

• Military: Organized armed patrols.
• Police: Law enforcement groups.
• Rescue: Teams providing emergency assistance.
• Traders: Merchants carrying goods for exchange.
• Raiders: Hostile groups that may demand payment or attack.

Travel routes consist of two to four segments using A-Life's existing road network.

Real Vehicles Near the Player

The system combines simulated long-distance travel with physical NPC driving.

When a convoy is far away, its position is calculated through a virtual travel ledger at three times normal cruising speed.

As you approach, it transitions into actual vehicles moving through the game world.

Movement rules:

The transition occurs on suitable roads, with the system designed to prevent vehicles from suddenly appearing in front of you.

Convoy Formation

Vehicles coordinate their movement rather than driving independently.

Following cars slow down or stop behind the vehicle ahead. Leaders wait for stragglers, and the entire group parks when a halt is ordered.

The deliberately moderate speeds make it possible to catch up, overtake or intercept a passing convoy.

How to Stop and Interact with Caravans

Several methods are available for attracting a crew's attention.

You can:

1. Right-click within 18 tiles.
2. Honk your vehicle's horn within 30 tiles.
3. Flash your headlights three times.

Friendly and neutral groups generally stop for two minutes.

Cautious crews refuse approximately half of the time, while hostile survivors may order you to clear the road.

Raiders can stop your vehicle and demand a toll.

Once a group has halted, you can ask for news, request that it wait or tell it to continue traveling.

Trading and Bartering

Merchant encounters include an exchange interface where both sides can offer goods.

The barter window displays:

• Items available from the caravan.
• Goods carried by the player.
• The value of offered equipment.
• The amount needed to complete the deal.

Transactions can use cash, items or a combination of both. The total value must cover the agreed exchange.

Available stock varies by faction:

Inventories refresh after each trip.

Multiplayer transactions are designed to be controlled by the server, although the trading interface still requires further testing in actual gameplay.

Faction Favor and Reputation

Relationships influence the behavior of traveling survivors.

Fair exchanges and successful escort missions increase favor, potentially reducing prices and improving access to cautious groups.

Threatening or attacking people damages your standing.

The addon uses Project A-Life's existing reputation mechanics to handle the consequences of hostile actions.

Robbery and Road Tolls

You can threaten a convoy, but the response depends on who you confront.

• Traders: May surrender an item and attempt to escape.
• Military and police: Can leave their vehicles and fight.
• Raiders: May respond with armed resistance.

Bandits can also demand 60 cash in exchange for a 30-minute truce.

These encounters create additional choices beyond ordinary combat.

Hitchhiking and Escort Contracts

Not every encounter needs to end in a trade or confrontation.

Travel with a Caravan

You can request a ride to the group's destination town.

When a player is inside a convoy vehicle, that car is not removed by the virtual travel system. The caravan also pauses upon arrival to accommodate passengers.

Escort for Rewards

Some groups offer protection contracts.

To complete an escort, remain within 70 tiles of the convoy until it reaches its destination.

Successful completion provides cash or goods together with faction favor.

Ambushes and Dangerous Encounters

Road travel is not always peaceful.

A convoy may encounter an infected horde or an armed raider gang.

When attacked, crew members can exit their vehicles, fight and attempt to continue the journey afterward.

Additional behavior includes:

• Replacing a killed driver with another surviving crew member.
• Abandoning vehicles that cannot move because of engine or fuel problems.
• Leaving cargo inside abandoned cars.
• Recovering from blocked routes by skipping waypoints or finding another path.
• Returning to virtual simulation only outside every player's view.

If an entire crew is eliminated, its vehicles remain stranded.

Caravans do not teleport to recover from obstacles.

Map Tracking and Radio Communications

Every active group is represented by a small vehicle icon on the world map and minimap.

Markers display the convoy's type, direction and callsign, with movement updated during both simulated and physical travel.

Individual players can disable these indicators.

Crews also communicate through A-Life's Knox County Radio, with radio chatter available within approximately 600 tiles.

Dialogue is provided in English and Russian.

Settings and Installation

Requirements

• Project Zomboid: Build 42.21 or newer.
• Project A-Life: Version 1.4.6 or newer, required.
• A-Life Driving: Must be enabled in Sandbox settings. It is enabled by default.
• A-Life: Factions Expanded: Optional, recommended for additional faction variety.

Installation Steps

1. Install Project A-Life and its required components.
2. Subscribe to A-Life: Caravans.
3. Enable the caravan addon after Project A-Life in the mod list.
4. Restart the game.

For multiplayer servers, place ALifeCaravans after ProjectALifeNPCs in Mods=.

Every participating player and the server must have the addon installed.

Updating from version 0.1.0 preserves existing saves through migration of the virtual travel ledger. Backing up important worlds is still recommended.

Sandbox Options

The settings can be found under:

Host > Edit Settings > Sandbox > A-Life: Caravans

Available controls include convoy numbers, speed, crew size, vehicles, appearance distances, stop duration, horn and headlight signals, trade, passengers, escorts, ambushes, hostile groups, radio communications and abandoned cars.

Additional interface preferences are located under Options > Mods.

Settings can be adjusted during an ongoing game.

Current Testing Status and Limitations

Version 0.3.3 remains experimental.

The addon has passed 115 automated simulation checks, and a Project Zomboid client successfully loaded it without caravan-related Lua errors.

However, several features have only been verified in simulations.

Known limitations:

• Multiplayer vehicle handoffs require further practical testing.
• Trading and passenger mechanics may behave unexpectedly.
• Map markers have not yet been visually verified inside a game world.
• Physical driving works only on loaded map areas.
• No more than four vehicles can form a single convoy.
• Trailers are not supported.
• Convoys with no surviving crew remain stranded.

The project's source code is available under the MIT license on GitHub.

A-Life: Caravans adds moving social encounters to Kentucky's roads. Passing vehicles can become trading opportunities, temporary allies, transport providers or dangerous enemies, giving exploration more variety while preserving the underlying survival mechanics.