August Round-up: DevBlog, #DayZDaily, Gamescom

[SmashT 10907]

August round-up
A collection of the most interesting/newsworthy posts by Rocket and other devs this month all in once place. I'll update the post as I find them.
 

27th August

• Writing up all the usability and metrics from people playing the build at GC. Will be making changes to inventory etc... #DayZDaily
• DayZ Wins IGN's Gamescom People's Choice Award http://ign.com/articles/2013/08/27/the-winner-of-igns-peoples-choice-award-of-gamescom-2013-is

Q: I don't understand how DayZ won IGN's Gamescom Players Choice award with all the bugs, broken zombies and missed release dates...

Just before things get negative, let's put some things in perspective:

• The zombies are terrible right now. We are changing that.
• There are many bugs. We are working on these actively
• I made big mistakes with the previous release dates I announced. And I should not have commented on these with my opinions.

Now, I'm not entirely sure whether we really earned this, but we'll take it as a vote of confidence and work towards earning it. [source]

 

Q: So you are not only waiting on the network bubble but new zombie AI too?

As I've said before, if the network bubble doesn't result in enough performance improvements to zombies, then we'll need to consider what step to take from that. But the zombies aren't of themselves a reason to delay the alpha. [source]

 

Q: How many people are currently working on DayZ?

Around 30 people are currently involved in DayZ development, with the number of fulltime staff rapidly increasing from 1st September when we move into a new building.

Many of the externals currently are modders/asset builders. However modders/asset builders aren't the ones required to fix multiplayer/code related bugs - those are programmers who have detailed knowledge of the engine. [source]

 

Q: Is there any chance we can get Amnesia style doors (incremental opening using mousehweel)?

The problem is, everytime you change a variable you must transmit it through multiplayer. I wanted to do amnesia style doors, but you then have to spam all other clients so they are displaying it correctly.

The hard part of designing something that is, effectively, an MMO - is that you must make things simple enough that they can be quickly broadcast to other players. [source]

 

24th August

 

Q: Will the location of your magazine effect reload time? 

The plan we have is that different slots will have different selection times overall (not limited to just magazines). However, adding this kind of thing won't delay the alpha so I wouldn't expect it on the release of alpha.

So this means using an item from a vest would be faster than using one from your backpack.

 

24th August

• Storm's a comin'... #DayZDaily
• Perhaps the last working washing machine in Chernarus? #DayZDaily 
• In the back of the booth working on usability changes and bugfixes based on feedback from those at the booth. #DayZDaily

 

 

Q: Honest question: how much does Dayz use the new Arma III engine?

Very little is directly taken from A3. Anything usually has to be rewritten as the two branches have different core architecture. An example of something directly ported was custom reload animations for individual weapons. [source]

 

Q: Do items degrade and take damage?

Items visually degrade when hit now. It's already implemented and you can see it in the GC build. There are three states: Okay, Damaged, Destroyed.

If you get shot in the chest, your "chest slots" (currently: Vest & top & Backpack) will get damaged, along with all the items inside that clothing. Armored items in these slots (i.e. helmet & vest) will protect damage to player and items inside clothing. We believe this might have an impact on KOS [source]

 

Q: It won't have an impact. When I see someone I'm not thinking about his items, I'm thinking about surviving.

It might not impact peoples thinking but it will have consequences. For example, now when you kill someone on sight - you get all their stuff. In SA when you kill someone on sight, their equipment could be severely damaged. This means that players who rob other players would get better/more gear. Ergo, there is now a consequence to killing someone, in that their gear is damaged where you shoot them. Not only that, but you waste a rare commodity - ammo. [source]

 

Q: Will melee attacks affect clothing the same way bullets do?

They affect clothing/equipment but there are three damage types: Shock, Brute, Ballistic. They affect player and clothing in different ways, and clothing can dampen various effects. For example, a motorcycle helmet greatly reduces brute + shock damage - but does not affect ballistic damage. [source]

 

Q: Do I need a can opener to open a can? I want to use rocks :(
After feedback from players, you can open the can of beans with a bayonet. This will be in tomorrows build at GC. [source]

Q: Can we use hunting knives as bayonets?
Knife won't stay on. There's no way you can tape it well enough. I saw it tried once during training. [source]

Q: Can we use hunting knives as a melee weapon then?
Sure. it's planned but melee is under active redevelopment so it's not done yet. [source]

Q: How are bodies of water going to work?
Some things I can confirm as currently implemented:

• you can fill water bottles in bodies of water, by placing the bottles in your hand and looking at a fresh water surface
• if you go into water, your clothes will get wet. This can cause you to get hypothermia or suffer other cold-related effects. You will then need to dry the clothes, such as by being near a fire or by just waiting for them to dry. If you are not swimming, just your boots and pants get wet. If you are swimming, all items get wet.

Some things that are planned/in discussion:

• swimming being developed similar to A3. But realize A3 is using DX11 and DZ is not - so some magic is required.
• cleaning items is being considered, but is unlikely due to seeming to be unnecessarily complex without any real benefits to gameplay.
• fishing is planned but nothing has been done yet
• filling salt water into bottles for nefarious purposes and "player freedom to choose the bad way", is being considered [source]

Q: What happens if captor and/or captive disconnects while tied up? Especially those with poor internet connections?
They forfeit their character. Characters can struggle out of restraints after a period of time. If you're worried about it, invest in a UPS. [source]
 

Q: What about first/third person?
We're still toying with what to do with first person/third person, we have a few plans around that. Whether we do context sensitive and force players to not use third person in certain situations for example maybe when you go prone on the ground the camera moves in really close or forces you into first person. However, sometimes you are running around and you want to be in third person because it's just a good way to see your character and what's going on.
 
Q: I really dig the idea that if you prone, the camera goes into first person. It's logical and stops something that's been a bane to the ARMA series, also crouching could zoom in / go over shoulder a bit.
It's going to be hard to get it right, but I really want us to try. I find I am using third person alot in DayZ SA while running long distances, or to "check" my character (like to see where I am shot to check direction of firer), but then third person is so exploitable in prone. So we are going to try both forcing first for prone, and the "sucking camera in close" and see which works best.
Agree too, crouching would really benefit from a more "over the shoulder", we'll try that and put some previs up for people to comment on. [source]
 
Q: Third person can still be used to look behind corners and over walls while standing..
 I'm comfortable that enough rational has been established for the absolute and complete removal of third person from the standalone. I also believe that third person allowed servers, by virtue of demand, are more popular in the mod than first person ones. I think that it has been demonstrated that there is a "problem" with the allowance of third person, and the proposed solution is the best I can come up with. It's not perfect, but if we just allow servers to turn it on/off then I think demand will dictate that people gravitate to 'third person allowed" servers - despite them acknowledging the exploits.
This is a long winded way of saying, so what do you suggest given the evidence at hand? [source]
 
Q: What about yanking people out of third person when they get close to objects like trees, bushes, rocks, cars, trash piles, walls, buildings, etc
From a technical standpoint, this is very nasty because its going to either involve constantly polling for nearby objects and possibly raycasting also. It will have to be done serverside, adding to the poor servers increasing load. It will also result in a massive array of false positives and false negatives - as many map objects have no "object" status and are thus... not real objects to the game. I'm taking a wait-and-see approach at the minimum, at the maximum I'm proposing we put some context related limitations to 3rd person. Stance is easy to poll, and can actually be controlled in animation. [source]
 
Q: Why compromise and allow the exploit, why not remove third person all together?
Because I can see (and employ myself) many legitimate uses of 3rd person. The servers are also far more popular than 1st person ones. What I'm doing is acknowledging the problem, acknowledging that server-demand will drive in favor of third-person allowed servers, and proposing a compromise that perhaps eliminates the worst of the offending, at the very least taking the edges off it. In short, because removal of a feature should not be taken lightly, and I'm just not convinced we should remove 3rd person at the game level. [source]
 
Q: I'm curious about what you think third person adds to the game.
I find it gives me a sense of my character, especially when running long distances. As stonedlemming noted: it gives you an excellent idea where you are bleeding from. This is particularly relevant with standalone where the particle source is bound directly onto the mesh in the exact position you were hit. During an interview I used this to realize where someone shot me from, and I then killed them. Overall, perhaps it's just my intuition that I just don't feel convinced yet that deleting the feature at the game level is the best solution. Players choose third person servers, and I don't think they are all choosing that so they can cheat. I found I hardly ever used third person in the mod but I am using it very regularly to check my character for many things in the SA, especially because of the range of different clothing. [source]
 
Q: I feel like all of that can be accomplished in first person using freelook, especially hit location...
Tried the free look thing. It doesn't work. You can't see most of your body. You can't see your back, butt, in fact your whole back of body and the sides. Even when i used TrackIR not only could I not see most, but it was unnecessarily irritating. My friend was shot in the ass, he knew he was shot in the ass, and he knew exactly where he was shot. I'm not pulling all this from thin air, I felt like I really tried to consider all sides of this. And I'm just not convinced that removing it at the game level is the way to go. I think that the compromise will solve the worst of the offending. [source]
 
23rd August
Me and co are at GC. But programmer Jirka is working on new disconnect system to support management of alt-f4 + combat logging #DayZDaily
 
Q: What about the zombies and the new player skeleton?
Zombies are being completely removed and reworked. We're not doing any more on the current zombie implementation, as it is being redone from scratch. [source] Player skeleton is totally new. Thats why every animation had to be redone. New script command airTemperature works, hooks into tms system and simulweather. And my zombie ai proposal has been accepted for ground up rewrite. [source]
 
Q: How long is the network bubble going to take?
The programmer who is assigned, is Ondrej Spanel (who founded Bohemia with his Brother, Marek, over 15 years ago). He's the author and architect of the engine, responsible for all the awesome multiplayer patches from A2, and he's the one who rewrote the engine to provide a server/client architecture for DayZ, and just finished rewriting the damage simulation so that it only occurs on the server. Hence he's moved onto network bubble. The actual work on the bubble won't begin for another week, as we're moving offices as we don't have enough room for new staff. Hilariously, we're growing so fast we already know our new location won't be big enough, so we have to soon move again! The work is waiting on me to complete the sample architecture for him to work in, as the current DayZ environment takes to long in debug. Once that's done, Ondrej begins his work and he believes it is a relatively trivial task. But with these complex matters, many things can go wrong and often do. [source]

Q: What's the problem with the network bubble?
Actually, there is no problem. It was just waiting on the complete rewrite of the damage system. In ArmA (including A3), damage simulation is done on ALL clients for ALL objects and players - and then compared together. This has now been moved entirely to the server, and this is the reason why the framerates are now very smooth in MP, but DayZ SA is now almost unplayable framerate wise in SP - because we've offloaded complex simulation. The lead programmer did this, in preparation to move towards the network bubble after that. He believes, as he has been preparing for it for some time, that the network bubble implementation will now be rather trivial. I'm just conscious that, as someone said below, it can go wrong and there can be things that weren't obvious that need reworking.
Incidentally, I'm not aware of any crashes during the entire GC - I believe much of this is because we've greatly simplified damage calculations and lumped all simulation (other than pre-simulation for your own client) onto the server. [source]

Q: Wouldn't the bubble have to increase in size if you are in a helicopter for example
Yes, but you could also define what information you actually need. Many things (such as loot, etc...) wouldn't be needed above a certain altitude. So a bubble could have many layers, each layer grows or shrinks depending on certain parameters - such as vehicle and speed. [source]
 
22nd August
At Gamescom for the rest of the week, follow news/interviews/gameplay etc here
 
21st August

• Last minute merging of some damage related stuff for gamescom. Wasn't originally going to put in, but let's see #DayZDaily
• It worked! finally... As yes, I am working on more important things. This was just for fun. #DayZDaily

 
Q: I also love that even the foregrip of the M4 is removable. That's awesome and bodes well for the amount of weapon modification possible.
Its going to be ridiculousness. We're hoping to have customizable handguards, buttstocks and we're even thinking about pistol grips..and thats on top of suppressors and optics. We want the optics to be so sick looking we didn't want to show what we have yet at Gamescom until we're convinced its as good as it can get. [source]
 
Q: Are those things going to have a practical effect or will they be completely cosmetic?
Sure, we can assign attributes to the attachments. What would be the use in attaching a suppressor to your gun if it didn't make it quieter? But I doubt we'll assign an effect to every single attachment. Its hard to quantify in practical terms the effect of replacing the standard A2-style plastic handguard with a Magpul-style one on the gun's performance. [source] Only thing really is probably subtle changes to the dispersion values. [source]
 
Q: No but putting free floated handguard would improve accuracy! Also standard handguards dont have rail sections where the magpuls do. 
Yes, exactly. Free Float RIS wold have an impact but for those items that have negligible impact on the gun's characteristics, I wanted to present a functional choice. The Magpul-style handguard is a perfect example. It's not free float and doesn't allow you to attach the same number of attachments as a full metal RIS would but its kind of an intermediate 'level' in between the carbine length A2 handguard and the 4-way RIS, which could be used as the highest 'level' for more advanced attachment options. [source]
 
20th August

• Little fixes, collect water from pumps + first aid kit container.Additional M4 attachments. MP stability improved with loot spawn #DayZDaily
• More bugfixing today and scoping out some (hopefully quick) usability improvements prior to GamesCom. More work on modifiers #DayZDaily
• Today is about usability and bug fixing, wholly and completely, in preparation for GC. #DayZDaily
• Rolling up machines now with the GC build probably with another hotpatch tomorrow morning #DayZDaily
• Looking forward to meet first survivors at @gamescomcologne tomorrow, hall 9.1, stand C032. #DayZDaily 

 
Q: Does your character still stop while switching guns?
Not during jog. Still working on the animation for other stances. [source]
 
Q: What do you think of DayZ on consoles, Yes or no?
Yes but master race comes first, naturally. [source]
 
Q: Will DayZ be playable at GamesCom?
Unless something goes horribly wrong, DayZ will be playable at gamescom multiplayer with 14 machines [source]
 
Q: Are you guys gonna have a panel at GamesCom or is it just a booth?
Just a booth, people can come and play the game! Pretty sure I'll be at the public booth on public days also but I need 2 check
 
Q: I take it you won't discuss your AI proposal at Gamescom? Are your people seeing if coding wise it's possible?
It's essentially this: More chase + collision avoidance, less pathfinding. It's one of the simplest kinds of AI there is. It doesn't really pathfind, it just avoids obstacles and chases it's target. The performance impact could be very significant in increasing server framerates. But it's all just a proposal at the moment. The server frames is really just an ancillary benefit. The primary win would be the zombies don't stop to turn, etc... and would not conduct complex pathfinding that suddenly gets scrapped each time the player moves. They would run straight towards you, all the time, moving only to get around something in front of them. [source]
 
Q: This looks interesting rocket, how does it cope when there are multiple "targets" compared to the current pathfinding setup?
Only has one target. chase nearest. [source]
 
Q: What are the downsides to this new AI proposal?
Requires coding from scratch. and let's face it, I'm not going to do that it's going to be someone else. It's a task that someone should not be forced to do, it's the kind of code task someone must actually agree is the right way forward. [source]
 
Q: Can you elaborate on modifiers?
For the code-whores out there, here is the latest config details for the hunger modifier.
 
Q: Have you considered using this kind of system for hunger and thirst too?

That's what it is, it's a buff/debuff system. Currently there are a bunch of states, that are constantly monitored. Your hunger is one of them. Events can occur based on hunger levels (such as being hunger) or also caused by external things, such as getting hurt causing a "bleeding" event modifier. The messages are just that at the moment, messages. Once we have things confirmed we will replace/complement these with effects (post-process), actions (vomiting etc...), and sounds.
 
Q: Why are there e.g. two values for cooldown? 

Cooldown is used when to generate the next notification event, i.e. text/sound/animation/effect
Duration is either nothing (permanent and/or condition based) or how long the stage lasts.
The two numbers in duration and cooldown relate to min/max values, actual value is random in between the two.

19th August

• Lots of bugfixing today in prep for GC. Going to be a long night... #DayZDaily

Q: What can we expect to see at GamesCom? I'd love to see areas other than Vybor, progress on new apartment buildings, new M4 sounds, more clothing, melee combat, night time ideas/plans, screens of items/clothing.
    - Areas other than Vybor - Confirmed. Will be another area.
    - Progress on new apartment buildings - Unknown. Not sure about this one, to be honest.
    - New M4 sounds - Confirmed, all M4 sounds are new (but still WIP - first draft).
    - More clothing - Confirmed. Will be new clothing such as a rain jacket.
    - Melee combat - Possible but low priority. I had intended to merge that this weekend but have had issues preventing me getting to it.
    - Nighttime idea/plans - Nothing done, won't be shown.
    - Screens of items/cloting - Possible. If we get time to take some. Otherwise will be ingame.[source]

Q: What about progress with Zombies/Zombie AI?
Zombie AI is on holding pending a proposal for redoing. It's not an alpha-blocker (unless it's performance issues aren't solved with network bubble). But we won't do any more work until we decide on the radical new proposal. [source]
 
Q: Has the network bubble been fixed?
To clarify, the network bubble doesn't need "fixing" it needs creating. And it won't be shown at GamesCom, as the GC build will be LAN MP. Also, the network bubble changes haven't been merged in yet, as they are not finished. [source]
 
Q: Will you show us how rare loot will be, not every loot spawn full of items?
Balancing is one of the last things we will probably do [source]
 
17th August

• MP bug fixing and prep for gamescom (a.k.a. tying everything together!). New action on self system (drinking/eating/etc...) #DayZDaily

16th August

• 2am just finished writeup of new proposal for a complete redesign of zombie AI. sleep... #DayZDaily
• Oh also, last night... new M4 sounds... new supersonic cracks (near/far) with reverb. Now you have a distorted crack, then a pop, then reverb #DayZDaily
• Big mocap session included advanced animations for weapons incl. fingers, using real weight + size M4 #DayZDaily

 
 
Q: What are your thoughts on using community developed sounds?
Lots of copyright issues with using community generated sounds, which are often ripped from other sources [source]
 
Q: How are zombies are going to be different after the redesign has been completed?
It's currently just a proposal. No point in saying how that might work until the proposal is accepted.
 
15th August

• Prep for a big mocap session tomorrow. discussion of zombie AI. proposals for changes to melee system. MP testing of new updates. #DayZDaily

Q: How are zombies progressing? They still seemed to be clipping badly through the players in the devblog.
Clipping through players is not going to be a priority for any fixes of AI zombies. The map is huge, giving around 3000 - 5000 zombies per map on a good day. Doing collision detection on body parts for these zombies is not possible, even for a map half the size. My current proposal is to stop the zombies trying to be so smart, break them back to basics and have them always run towards their target and simply use collision avoidance when they encounter obstacles. [source]
 
Q: You're still doing motion capturing now?
Motion capture will probably occur right through until release, as is the case with ArmA3 and ArmA2 before it. The Alpha is not dependent on motion capture, additional mocap is driven by the desire from the team to improve the animation quality as much as possible. [source]
 
Q:  If we are just waiting on the network bubble to be completed, why are there no #DayZDaily tweets about it?
I only say what I'm directly involved in, not what everyone else is doing. 
 
13th August

• Lots of MP testing today, together with bug-fixing. Also working on advanced damage mechanics such as ballistic vests and helmets #DayZDaily

12th August

• Today: Syncing disease/infection states to database. Inventory ammo load/unload from mag and combining piles of ammo. MP testing #DayZDaily

Q:  Do you have any plans for heavy machinery like excavators?
We haven't officially started working on vehicles yet but yeah, I've got some ideas that involve large construction/mining equipment :) [source]
 
10th August

• Cleaning my apartment then it's time for some more work on the modifiers system, to enable diseases and other buffs/debuffs. #DayZDaily

9th August

• New network damage system controlled by server. Item degradation. More work on buff/debuff modifier implementation. Testing later #DayZDaily
• Nighttime now, I'm working on the "modifier" system I scoped to handle "buffs and debuffs" like illness, disease, and injury. #DayZDaily

Q: Can you give us a little more insight about "buffs and debuffs"?
I needed an efficient system for the server to manage things like injuries, diseases, infections, ailments, and etc... on the player. It also needed to be scalable, and generic so it could be used for many things. It also needed to easily save it's state the the database and result on loading. The system I came up with allowed an ailment to have many states, and progress through them (or not at all).
Don't have much time to explain, but here's a sample of a head injury modifer (it's a WIP...): Sample data for testing only, values will change. [source]
 
Q: Are injuries done locally, won't that be easily hackable?
njuries don't even get reported to the client. They only exist on the server. The client is simply told what animation it should currently be displaying, what sounds to play. Even text messages are generated on the server, and send to the client. [source]
 
Q:  I slowly start to worry about bandwidth problems. Will SA will hit my bandwidth a lot harder then other games?

That's the purpose behind the network bubble. The server will only be required to distribute information to a player within, say, 2km, of the player. This is opposed to how ArmA currently works, where every update is sent to every player. Also, in many ways the server communicates less with the client because all the math and calculation is done on the server. We still have a way to go with server optimization, but pre-optimization we have 15 players on the server with full compliment of everything else with the server executable on a steady FPS of 30-40. [source]
 
Q:  It sounds like servers will use more procesing power, ram, hard drive space and bandwidth etc.

I've repeatedly said, the server HD space footprint is dramatically reduced because of a new data stripping process we are using. The server files only require about 1 GB of space, as everything a server can't use is stripped out and/or compressed (such as textures).This also reduces the time it takes the server to load certain model files into memory and reduces their footprint when it does. [source]

8th August

• More on player melee, testing of yesterdays work, fixing bugs, player restraints, and updates to inventory screen. #DayZDaily
• Really good day today, heaps done. Been working on player unarmed melee now, continuing once home for dinner #DayZDaily
• Checking out the new forests of Chernarus, thanks Mr @_SenChi__! Still LOTS to do, but feeling is there. #DayZDaily

Q: How will melee work? I'm worried it's going to end up like hatchets in the mod.
A different method is used, the players cursor. I just run the test before and its much more reliable than the previous "fake weapon". Also, I'm planning on expanding it to selections meaning the area on the body you hit will dictate the effect. But that might not happen in time for the alpha release. [source]

7th August

• Today is fun day. Implementing player targeting and associated crafting systems, such as blood collection and basic melee! #DayZDaily
• More on zombie AI proposal. Loot spawn optimization. Configured aftermarket Magazines for the M4. Tested MP fixes committed. #DayZDaily
• I looked into possible compass enhancements for DayZ today. Look what I found.  :) #DayZDaily

​​
 
Q: What do you mean player targeting?
It relates to the server being able to know what a players cursor target is. This makes things much easier and safer than previous ways of doing things. Because the server generates all actions and crafting recipes the server needed a way to know what a player was looking at. Hence, we have a new system. [source]

Q: Can you confirm if the new Magpul 40rnd mag will be in there?
Not called Magpul, but looks exactly like it. All their equip will be there, but cant use the trademark (they're fans, though) [source]

Q: Will the weight of the items affect the movement speed of your character?
Balancing what we have currently is an incredible challenge. The intention is to work in weight after we have the alpha out and get feedback on what we already have. [source]

6th August

• Today I worked on system for ammo and loading up magazines. Also use of medical items and writing labels on items with a pen. #DayZDaily
• Right now I'm further scoping the new proposal for zombie AI, tasking bugs associated with the MP test, and reviewing new items #DayZDaily

Q: Writing labels? Would players be able to intentionally mislabel items?
Yup thats the idea ? that syringe is going to be interesting....
 
3rd August  
DayZ Developer Blog 3rd August 2013
 
Q: We saw hostage animations in the dev blog, are they going to be functional as well as visual?
Player who is restrained cannot move until they struggle out of their restraints. Different restraints (cuffs, zipties, ropes) take different times. You can see someone struggling out of their restraints. [source]

Q: Zombies still looked bad in the devblog, why are they still zig-zagging?
Zombies have not been worked on by programmers. hence, why they were not showcased in this devblog. zombies are not 50% done, they are 0% done. AI in the engine currently will often stop to change direction. This can make it look like zig-zagging. We have a proposed solution to that, but it's complex, so it will take time. It involves having an animation of the zombie turning while running - but it creates pathfinding and collision issues that are not trivial. [source]

Q: When is the alpha being released?
Until DayZ passes it's alpha milestone requirements it won't be released. The alpha is assessed on a monthly basis. I won't even utter dates in any context now less confusion occurs
 
Q: In the DevBlog, hy was as there no mention of gun sounds, zombie sounds, the zombie AI and honestly that sight on the M4 looked a little strange?
It's pre-alpha. The gun sights are not displaying the highest LOD because they are proxies. It was a bug discovered before filming but I decided to film anyway. There are hundreds of bugs just like this.
Sounds will not even be considered until we pass our alpha milestone review. There is no point adding sounds until you confirm all the sounds you need (i.e. more-or-less feature complete). The zombie AI is a WIP, hence why I did not focus on it for the devblog. [source]

Edited September 1, 2013 by SmashT

[DemonGroover 8836]

Zombies are not 50% done - they are 0% done - music to my ears.

[rustledmyjimmies 361]

Thank god they've not worked on the zombies at all, If they had i would have been severely disappointed.

[okami (DayZ) 129]

Hm but did they not show a video some months ago with the new zombie pathfinding? I remember seeing a dev version with the pathfinding indicators on screen and if i recall correctly Dean talked about the progress and how zombies could now run inside because of the new pathfinding.

 

I mean its good to hear the progress but after seeing the above + devblogs where they did motion capturing for the new zombies and seeing the new zombie animations in game... to hear that they are 0% done is a little bit strange to me.

[Mos1ey 6301]

Good post, Smasht.

[DemonGroover 8836]

Hm but did they not show a video some months ago with the new zombie pathfinding? I remember seeing a dev version with the pathfinding indicators on screen and if i recall correctly Dean talked about the progress and how zombies could now run inside because of the new pathfinding.

 

I mean its good to hear the progress but after seeing the above + devblogs where they did motion capturing for the new zombies and seeing the new zombie animations in game... to hear that they are 0% done is a little bit strange to me.

Good point.

 

5% done then?

[barrett_killz 229]

Nothing really new.

[cautoad 216]

Nothing really new.

Did you read the post?

[DemonGroover 8836]

Nothing really new.

Hmmm...just by actually reading the post you can learn about...

 

"Been working on player unarmed melee"

"Use of medical items and writing labels on items with a pen"

"Different restraints (cuffs, zipties, ropes) take different times"

"blood collection and basic melee!"

 

Don't know what post you were reading.

[SmashT 10907]

to hear that they are 0% done is a little bit strange to me.

I assume he meant it figuratively rather than literally 0%.

[DazTroyer 227]

You get more news on Reddit these days, at least Rocket replies to threads there. It'smy go to site for Dayz news these days. :)

[Fraggle (DayZ) 15720]

You get more news on Reddit these days, at least Rocket replies to threads there. It'smy go to site for Dayz news these days. :)

It's probably been like that for about a year tbh.  Nothing new there really.

 

At least with the DayZ Daily tweets we can all just keep up with the new stuff.  It sounds like it's their new approach and I like it.  I much prefer these little but frequent nuggets of info over a larger blog.

[Bat (DayZ) 230]

Thank god they've not worked on the zombies at all, If they had i would have been severely disappointed.

 

They have already worked quite a bit on the zombies pathfinding. They do not zig zag anymore, and can now attack while moving. BUT nothing is final and they are working hard on a new pathfinding system to make them feel a lot more natural. Also animations and such are subject to change during alpha/beta states. Remember it's pre-alpha, everything you see is either placeholder or in very early stages of development.

 

BTW the new forests look so amazing, is there a higher resolution version of the screen somewhere?

Edited August 8, 2013 by Bat

[St. Jimmy 1631]

I love this!

And that Chernarus screenshot got some Arma 3 lighting vibe so I'm very excited how the lighting in DayZ will be because it alone makes the Arma 3 look so wonderful.

[victusmortuus 1074]

Wake me when it's released until then I'll play Civ and Payday 2.

[Aimstrong 50]

Wake me when it's released until then I'll play Civ and Payday 2.

 

You won't miss the release, you can't because there will be so much videos etc of it, and me driving a car and throwing out tons of DayZ SA flyers

Edited August 8, 2013 by BaconTrooper

[Avtion_Bro 2]

up!

[joe_mcentire 2074]

ehh ehh ehhhhhhhhhh

 

YOU THE MAN SMASH'T! thanks!

 

btw:

 

 

Nighttime now, I'm working on the "modifier" system I scoped to handle "buffs and debuffs" like illness, disease, and injury.

https://twitter.com/rocket2guns/status/365573958575202304

Edited August 8, 2013 by joe_mcentire

[joe_mcentire 2074]

Zombies are not 50% done - they are 0% done - music to my ears.

well i am somehow in a schroedinger's cat - position about that right now :/

 

i am going to give it a shot: Rocket 

 

stealth and teamplay tactics are possible and highly rewarded

will there be certain stealth or teamplay techniques or animations?!

Edited August 8, 2013 by joe_mcentire

[CapricornOne (DayZ) 379]

will there be certain stealth or teamplay techniques or animations?!

 

He was talking about Payday 2  :lol:

[joe_mcentire 2074]

He was talking about Payday 2  :lol:

NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

i even rechecked...didn't even notice then ;)

 

anyway....question seems to be legit! focus on melee would mean focus on stealth as well....

Edited August 8, 2013 by joe_mcentire

[HumanBeing25 299]

Hm but did they not show a video some months ago with the new zombie pathfinding? I remember seeing a dev version with the pathfinding indicators on screen and if i recall correctly Dean talked about the progress and how zombies could now run inside because of the new pathfinding.

 

I mean its good to hear the progress but after seeing the above + devblogs where they did motion capturing for the new zombies and seeing the new zombie animations in game... to hear that they are 0% done is a little bit strange to me.

Covering up the mistakes.. They're humans, so what do you expect? We're all humans--except me.

[YZ250 248]

Zombies still looked bad in the devblog, why are they still zig-zagging?

zombies have not been worked on by programmers. hence, why they were not showcased in this devblog.

zombies are not 50% done, they are 0% done.

http://www.reddit.com/r/dayz/comments/1jly74/dean_how_complete_are_zombies/cbg0uye

 

Makes you wonder if working on things like Radios, Ability to write on Bottles ( ohh dear ) , and many other things I could mention, actually stop the Zombies being worked on.

One would logically suggest no, but who knows ? Zombies 0% in a Zombie Survival Game , but hey we can listen to some fck tard on a Radio Station. 

 

Thinking out aloud maybe he's saying 0% implemented in what is currently being tested and shown, but could be say 80% done but not available for testing, ie Skins, Sounds, Animations etc completed waiting on Tracking

[AnarchyBrownies 1383]

Makes you wonder if working on things like Radios, Ability to write on Bottles ( ohh dear ) , and many other things I could mention, actually stop the Zombies being worked on.

One would logically suggest no, but who knows ? Zombies 0% in a Zombie Survival Game , but hey we can listen to some fck tard on a Radio Station. 

 

Thinking out aloud maybe he's saying 0% implemented in what is currently being tested and shown, but could be say 80% done but not available for testing, ie Skins, Sounds, Animations etc completed waiting on Tracking

 

I think you're taking a reasonable stance on this. I, for one, am totally lost as to how something that seemed weeks away I now feel is months away. I've adamantly argued for people to be patient and I've relentlessly supported the team having no release date... but like back at E3 or wherever it was it was almost laughable for Rocket to think the game would take more than two months before an alpha could be released. The vibe I'm getting now is it could take much longer. Release went from imminent- just have to get rid of some game breaking bugs- to game release completely unknown because we always have new game breaking bugs that make the game unplayable. 

 

Someone please correct me and clarify the current state of development. The devblog just confused me as to how such a big step back has taken place. I'll always be able to patiently wait for release but now I feel there isn't even a window for release, even a big one (and the window of possibility has always been big!). 

 

EDIT: And I also would like to add that I'm also completely lost as to how we got a video of new zombie tracking back in March and how much better it was already, to zombies are 0% complete.

Edited August 9, 2013 by AnarchyBrownies

[okami (DayZ) 129]

Makes you wonder if working on things like Radios, Ability to write on Bottles ( ohh dear ) , and many other things I could mention, actually stop the Zombies being worked on.

One would logically suggest no, but who knows ? Zombies 0% in a Zombie Survival Game , but hey we can listen to some fck tard on a Radio Station. 

 

Thinking out aloud maybe he's saying 0% implemented in what is currently being tested and shown, but could be say 80% done but not available for testing, ie Skins, Sounds, Animations etc completed waiting on Tracking

 

That was pretty much what came to my mind, too and what i wanted to point out in my previous post. There WAS progress made on the zombies and we could see it in previous devblogs. But if people did not see it and only read the latest news (e.g. in germany some of his reddit posts are often presented as news on one of the biggest gaming news sites!) that there was zero progress on zombies in a zombie game but motorcycle helmets and trolling radios are in the game, this is bad PR!

 

In my eyes they should really think about hiring a PR person, they dont need a fulltime jobber just a freelancer who communicates with the devs, keeps track of the progress and puts out some information in a professional manner. In my opinion rockets attempt to be 100% honest is absolutely honarable and he deserves props for doing so but the majority of people wont read all of his information bits but only some. And if you dont get the full view of someone being 100% honest you can get a hell of a wrong impression. Thats why some people still dont understand that there never was a release date last year for THIS version of the standalone we will get now.

 

So in an information bit like this a PR person would emphasis on the progress they made while saying that there would still be a lot of work to do. Which is even truer than Rockets statement but would not have the potential to upset people. And lets be real here, people like me are still defending the standalone and telling people to be patient, but the perception outside of this hardcore fanbase is getting worse and worse. Please dont pretend thats wrong or that its absolutely enough if only the hardcore fanbase will buy the game. People are putting hard work in the standalone and they should be rewarded. But there is a problem that has to be dealt with and in my eyes thats pr related.

Edited August 9, 2013 by okami