Status Report - 24 Feb 15

[SMoss 2101]

 

Greetings Survivors,

As we move towards the 0.54 stable branch update, I’d like to cover a few points that you all should know. As with all updates during Early Access, this is a development build and thus has its own issues, bugs, and so on. If you encounter any of this, please open a ticket over at feedback.dayzgame.com.

 

More specifically, for those who may be experiencing issues seeing servers in the server browser – please make your way over to this thread on the Official DayZ forums for instructions from Community Manager SMoss, and BattlEye developer Bastian.

 

Part of the 0.54 is the tech required to support the redesign of our user interface. This is just the initial work required to support said changes, not the changes itself. Thus everything will –look- different, but not necessarily how we intend it to look by the time we hit 1.0. The user interface is just one part of the evolving technology coming in from the engine and gameplay programming teams, and will be iterated throughout Early Access.

As well, with 0.54 comes the initial implementation of the new animal A.I., this system is still early on so odd behaviour will be encountered. However even with the system in this early state, this is a strong step in the direction of a more robust, lifelike animal behaviour system. I for one look forward to the hermit-hunter lifestyle the next time I log in on my public hive character.

 

 

In addition to a large amount of new content to explore, new enterable structures, villages, redesigned areas and more – 0.54 features continued security enhancements, bug fixes and more.

Over the coming weeks SMoss will also be rolling out some new features over on the community side of DayZ.com, including a weekly Community Focus that showcases user created content, streams, art, and so much more. Head over to the Community hub at DayZ.com and take a look.

As always, developers are on hand to take your suggestions and feedback on the Official DayZ forums at forums.dayzgame.com.

Brian Hicks / Lead Producer

"As we are getting closer to the release of the next stable branch update of DayZ with version number 0.54, we are focusing more on tidying up and fixing the most annoying bugs and issues instead of working on new features or expanding existing ones. For example we identified and fixed a long timer related to synchronizing the temperature of objects, which was consuming relatively large chunk of communication between server and client. Fortunately it didn't happened often or in large scale but it's really great to have it fixed now with upcoming refactored fireplace which will become more usable with more items thus used by survivors. There was also few issues which was fixed related to the independent liquid types we introduced in last version, one worthy to mention is the issue which completely breaks character stomach, energy and water statuses.  

 

I already mentioned the fireplace which is undergoing a refactoring for some time now and it's getting seamlessly to the fixing and polishing stage. Now when there is the solid foundation of the system the next step is the cooking process in general. With plenty of the different food available in the game and three distinctive food processing types, to name them - boiling, baking and drying, things can get out of control really quickly. Well at least especially when we want to stretch the possibilities and interactions to the maximum and want to visualize the outcome of the process. What will happen when food is already baked and you start to boiling it? Do you need to pre-process the food before drying? What about moldy food? And plenty of other questions related to that topic which needs to be answered beforehand. After the intended cooking mechanics are in place and the central economy is working as it should, we can finally say good bye to the generous amount of spawned non-perishable food. 

 

Most of you are probably waiting for the enrichment of the vehicles controls - manual transmission. We had some quality time already while trying it on our internal build, but it needs a little bit more time to be tweaked into the state which is safe for public release. Good thing is that with its implementation some of the issues with vehicles behavior were properly addressed so little bit of waiting doesn't hurt. As far as vehicles parts goes I owe you at least quick update, their functionality is dependent mostly on the new inventory system that is currently being implemented and of course on the support from the extended vehicle simulation itself. 

 

Last but not least we are making steady progress on the new AI for infected which is getting along nicely and I hope you will be able to experience it and its benefits soon on experimental versions before it hits the stable release later on, however animal AI will be released beforehand.

 

Start preparing your nerves for some intense encounters... see you in Chernarus folks! "

Peter / Lead Designer

Standup Notes for the week of 24 Jan 15

(Note: Standup notes are not a change log - they are a quick high level look at tasks the teams worked on throughout this week)

Animation:

• Trumpet reloading animation
• Winchester reloading
• Zombie attack animations
• V3S Animations
• MoCap Session

Design:

• Manual transmission
• Firearms Damage
• V3S Cargo
• Gas cooker refactoring
• Fireplace Polishing
• Diseases transfer
• New script language
• Central economy
• Bugfixing

Programming:

• Inventory refactorization
• Loot distribution per buildings
• Zombie/Animal AI
• Character controller (animations & physics)
• Vehicles - Manual transmission and bugfixing
• Flaregun Improvements
• Security Bugfixes

[fluxley 2228]

 

 

After the intended cooking mechanics are in place and the central economy is working as it should, we can finally say good bye to the generous amount of spawned non-perishable food.

 

Really looking forward to this,  :thumbsup:

[The Riddler (DayZ) 410]

Really looking forward to this,  :thumbsup:

 

Me too. Its really going to add a dynamic to the game that I think everybody will appreciate. 

 

Also very excited to hear them working on fixes/bugs more so than adding in new content for this release. 

[Ludz 17]

Nice § The best things are coming soon. Nice job as always !!

 

Cheers

[Rags! 1966]

Good. Make all the vehicles manual transmission. 

 

Encourage my fellow Americans to actually learn something. 

[Apollo'sFire 31]

Also very excited to hear them working on fixes/bugs more so than adding in new content for this release.

Agreed x1000

[joe_mcentire 2074]

As far as vehicles parts goes I owe you at least quick update, their functionality is dependent mostly on the new inventory system that is currently being implemented and of course on the support from the extended vehicle simulation itself. 

[Conrad_The_Comrade 577]

Standup Notes for the week of 24 Jan 15

(Note: Standup notes are not a change log - they are a quick high level look at tasks the teams worked on throughout this week)

It's February, not January.

[SFRGaming 718]

Good. Make all the vehicles manual transmission. 

 

Encourage my fellow Americans to actually learn something. 

Ahh, this terrible stereotype. Again, you'd be surprised how many of us drive manual. My weekend car, listed in my sig, has a 5 speed dog box for instance. Several of my friends own manual transmissions in their daily driven cars.

Edited February 24, 2015 by SFRGaming

[therandomredstone 432]

Any idea on when better optimization is going to be added?

[gannon46 788]

man i like what i'm reading seems this year is gonna be awesome for dayz.

[Rags! 1966]

Ahh, this terrible stereotype. Again, you'd be surprised how many of us drive manual. My weekend car, listed in my sig, has a 5 speed dog box for instance. Several of my friends own manual transmissions in their daily driven cars.

 

No, I wouldn't be surprised. It's not a stereotype. It's true. 

 

I was a Valet for over two years and we fought over who got to drive the manual transmission cars they were so rare. At one point, I was the only person who could drive them. We would go days and days without seeing one, and this was at the largest capacity hotel in the entire state. 

[solodude23 649]

No, I wouldn't be surprised. It's not a stereotype. It's true. 

 

I was a Valet for over two years and we fought over who got to drive the manual transmission cars they were so rare. At one point, I was the only person who could drive them. We would go days and days without seeing one, and this was at the largest capacity hotel in the entire state. 

Or maybe people who drive manual are just more likely to park their own cars!  :D

 

Just kidding. They're definitely more rare than autos but a good portion of my friends drive manual by choice. These days, however, autos are becoming a more popular choice everywhere as they are not only more efficient, but better performers. I'll never give up manual though!

Edited February 25, 2015 by solodude23

[DURRHUNTER 597]

Can we please have fires in the fireplaces in homes? im tired of having to go out in the cold to light a fire.

[Bororm 1156]

What am I missing in the animal ai showcase?  Not trying to be snarky =P

[nexdubz 0]

good job guys !!! 2015 is a great year for dayz

[TrooperToon 0]

Any idea when normal service will resume?

I can only see about 5 none experimental servers and when joining there doesn't seem to be any items or Z's.

I assume this is because there is some development going on.

[RosscoMac 75]

Can we please have fires in the fireplaces in homes? im tired of having to go out in the cold to light a fire.

Never even thought of that, makes so much sense!

 

Would be good seeing a house in the distance and going towards it, then noticing the smoke coming out the chimney then seeing that there are people inside lit up from the light from the fire. Quite cool. :)

[Helix2000 128]

cant wait until the new animal AI hits stable. hunting will be so much more fun
!!!

[trev186 389]

here i am waiting for the update at 3 am my time....i gots to get the first pass on dem loots ;)

[The_Lonely_Bandit 94]

@DEVS

Has persistence been altered at all in this patch? And if so to what extent?

Specifics would be nice as nearly no information has been released regarding this, yet rumors strongly suggested it WAS going to enforced in all servers from the latest .54 patch.

Cheers.

[moeb1us 91]

nothing new, nothing added regarding persistence. it's not working. the loot distribution system is unfinished, and they need that first. it will take weeks is my guess. eight or so.