Status Report - 19 mar 15

[boneboys 7988]

Greetings Survivors!
Work is chugging along on 0.55 update for stable branch, and the department leads have been sharing information and images over on the Dev Hub. If you haven't had a look - head over and you'll see some awesome work in progress stuff - like the SVD Sniper Rifle, V3S Animations, and new zombie models.


Peter, our Lead Designer will be discussing below in more detail zombies and diseases. This week I'd like to talk about a few in progress updates that I'm looking forward to.
First off, we have the mentioned full randomization of weapon spawn configurations. This ranges from attachment configuration, quantity, type, and condition. When functional, each weapon you find should be as unique as possible per that item type. Be it the chance to spawn with a magazine, potential attachment, overall weapon condition, and so on. This expands upon the uniqueness of each persons kit in-game, and ensures that very few two firearms are exactly the same. Who knows, you might get lucky and find that M1911 Engraved you always wanted, -with- a clip!

 
Moving on to more advanced weapon customization, we've done a good deal of discussion on allowing more specific customization per weapon. Adding in rail systems, shoe horn mount scopes, barrel swaps, and so on. Controlling when and where this is done is critical to the flow of gameplay across the map. Creating hot spots, and high traffic areas for players looking to gear up, and create their favorite weapon. At this point, we're looking at adding in advanced crafting tables into this existing (soon to be enter-able) maintenance structure scattered throughout Chernarus. 
 

Heading into April, we'll be discussing the tasks and accomplishments of Q1 2015, what the road ahead looks like and the status of long term engine tasks. From the new renderer, to the new player controller, server side performance, and so much more. Keep an eye on the Dev Hub, and the official DayZ forums for the latest news and information on DayZ Early Access.

- Brian Hicks / Lead Producer


"It is clear that former, by purpose simplified infected AI wasn't a hit by any means and it was frustrating to play and look at. When I was talking about the new infected in the Status Report two weeks ago I had a feeling that it would stir things up a bit. A few days after that I made short video with a horde running after a player and recently we released experimental update with the first implementation of infected AI. There were so many positive reactions on the direction that the new infected are heading, that the entire team was pleased. However there were also some which were calling for changing the DayZ lore and turning the infected into slowly moving beings.  

I appreciate different opinions but I can't see any reason why we should make infected as stationary as possible, it will just simplify the game too much in such case. It is important to understand that the infected in DayZ are not the undead, and to be honest I don't want to see DayZ to become a frenzied 'run and grab all you can' simulator. I would like to remind you that DayZ isn't supposed to be easy and straightforward, it's meant to be hard and unforgiving.  While they are pretty fast right now it is just the perception in comparison with current character movement speed, which is planned to be lowered in general as it was increased intentionally when we had decided to do a complete overhaul on how the engine handles vehicles, and thus they would be absent for some time. As well I'm looking forward to the implementation of a proper stamina system for characters which alone will cut off the constant sprinting across the map and thorough the structures which is just ridiculous. With the agile infected that are able to catch up with you while you are escaping the scene you will think twice about your approach and also the load you are carry as it especially determines how far you will be able to sprint to loose them. To balance things out, the infected have their own stamina and are slowing down during the chase and with the combination of the possibility that they can stumble upon it gives you a some chance to flee if you run into such situations. The infected AI will be continuously worked on, in terms of expanding it further and also balancing it close to the perfection. 

I would like to mention that we are bringing to life the long awaited disease system which in fact was hibernating under the hood for some time, but was never finished due the other needs. Diseases are described by their virulence parameters like transferability, invasivity and toxicity and to determine the potential influence on character, which can vary from carrier to heavy impact, they are compared against his or her current state counting in the levels of health, blood, diet and exposure. Diseases can be transferred in both directions, which means it's not wise to eat from the same meal after your companion, if you suspect that he may be ill. Physical and chemical resistance parameters of disease determines how it can be treated or their effects eased by medicinal drugs and after the disease passed you are resistant to catch it again for some time. System also have the possibility to be expanded with the use of gloves, niosh masks or other wearables which can obstruct transferring of the diseases by specific actions, like crafting. 

Stay healthy... see you in Chernarus folks!"

- Peter / Lead Designer

 

Standup Notes for the week of 17 Mar 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:

• Support for new player character system
• Hand poses 
• Zombie animation bugfixing
• SVD Reloading Animations
• V3S Animations

Design:

• Central Economy
• Barrel Crafting
• Infected
• Diseases
• Triggers
• Plant Pests
• Fireplaces
• Cooking
• Vehicle Transmission

Programming:

• Inventory refactorization
• Dynamic Events
• Vehicle Transmission bugfixing
• Infected/Animal AI
• New Player Character controller
• Crash to Desktop Bugfixing
• Network and Memory Optimizations

http://dayz.com/blog/status-report-19-mar-15

[igor-vk 909]

So much cool stuff coming. Great things for us PvE players.

[degude 133]

Hi,

 

I recognized that since the status report was announced to be published on tuesdays, there was always some kind of delay. It semms plausible to me that this is due to higher amount of work that needs to be done before releasing the wednesday updates and doing the maintenance. When publishing the status report after that (let's say thursdays), the devs may have more time on their hands and post it on time and even can talk about the new updates they just implemented.

 

Btw, this status report is currently not in the "featured intel" box on dayz.com

 

Keep up the good work, I love your status reports  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

[Damnyourdeadman 1045]

I'm glad Hicks realizes that the current zombie AI has miles of work ahead of it's "perfection".

While the latest implementations were certainly a step in the right direction,they are still frustrating and by no means a real threat.

Despite additional work on the infected AI,there need to be at least 5 times their current numbers.

And imo if they wish to succeed,they must shift their focus on server performance and the poor melee system mechanics.

 

Zombies aside,they need to give more gravity in diseases,especially with ponds.

Water contamination related infections was a big deal for me as it would pose a great incentive for players boiling their water before consumption.

This would actually promote a survival challenge,as no sane man would dream of drinking straight from the pond.

 

Sadly there is no information on the upcoming Renderer implementation.

Maybe the system is not yet ready yet to undertake such a task.

I don't know...i'm only speculating.

 

Something else that was not included was work on basic vehicles.

Along the previous week,there were plenty of car parts showcased by Chris.

Additionally there was a comment about work on 2 other civilian vehicles.

Some information or just a sneak peak about the upcoming vehicle maintenance mechanics and models would have been highly appreciated!

[blaf 63]

Im looking forward to all the things!

[lucianpin 80]

"While they (zombies) are pretty fast right now it is just the perception in comparison with current character movement speed, which is planned to be lowered in general as it was increased intentionally"

 

What I understand from this is that zombies are not fast, but current character movement speed is low - which is planned to be even more lowered - what?

[blaf 63]

"While they (zombies) are pretty fast right now it is just the perception in comparison with current character movement speed, which is planned to be lowered in general as it was increased intentionally"

 

What I understand from this is that zombies are not fast, but current character movement speed is low - which is planned to be even more lowered - what?

Both zombie and player speed will be lowered.

[lucianpin 80]

Both zombie and player speed will be lowered.

Oh, I see, thanks

[Ken Bean 175]

Loads of awesome stuff to wait for. If gloves and  respirator masks reduce the chance to infect yourself, it would be realistic. Maybe there should even be an area which is somewhat contaminated, could be a high loot location, which gives gas masks a use. Maybe one needs to treat items with disinfectant in order to safely use them? One should be able to identify them though, or one should be quite a bit hard to come by. Otherwhise it could get pretty annoying by time.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Ken Bean

[smoq2 221]

I find the lack of information regarding the renderer a bit disturbing. I got the impression from previous announcements that they are nearing its release, yet there have been no mention of any progress recently.

 

I'm happy to see the first fruit of labour regarding the zombie problem. I'm very curious as to how the developers envision their "perfection", and when do they see this "perfection" rolling out to stable - Weeks? Months? Years? I have to remind that time and sustainable level of interested players is diminishing (always and in every product's life cycle).

 

Also, there has been no mention of melee being further worked on. For the love of God, I do hope we'll see improvement in that area, as what we have now can't be even compared to modern gaming standards.

 

Diseases... Now that's something that will finally make DayZ more like DayZ. Plus, the enormous amount of factors taken into consideration when designing this system by the developers is astonishing.  Kudos!

Edited March 19, 2015 by retro19

[Ken Bean 175]

I find the lack of information regarding the renderer a bit disturbing. I got the impression from previous announcements that they are nearing its release, yet there have been no mention of any progress recently.

[...]

Also, there has been no mention of melee being further worked on. For the love of God, I do hope we'll see improvement in that area, as what we have now can't be even compared to modern gaming standards.

 

 

I'm quite certain that they still are working on both.

[smoq2 221]

I'm quite certain that they still are working on both.

 

I am certain about the renderer, it's the fact that they are not reporting progress what worries me. The outcome is not as expected perhaps?

 

About melee... I'm not convinced. I have an itching feeling in the back my head that they judged the current implementation as adequate and shelved further direct work on the matter.

[blunce 991]

- Brian Hicks / Lead Producer

" I would like to remind you that DayZ isn't supposed to be easy and straightforward, it's meant to be hard and unforgiving."

Now in my sig..

Edited March 19, 2015 by blunce

[blacktwin0 98]

I wonder how deep the disease system will go and what additional features will be added for it. Like what will be the range of a disease that is airborne? Will blood handling be revised to have spilling blood or chance to spill? What will be the best way to transfer diseases? Will it be eating some of my beans then force feeding the now diseased beans to my capture? When and how will vomit, urine, stool come into play in regards to disease?

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the stamina systems. Hopefully we'll have more vehicles when the stamina systems are introduced. I'd also like to hear more about Plant Pests. What is their expected impact or use?

 

Future is looking bleakly bright.... :huh:

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

-snip-

I have to remind that time and sustainable level of interested players is diminishing (always and in every product's life cycle).

 

-snip-

 

 

People have been saying this for years and it's still not true.

 

Just becuase you saw 5 people put this completely unfinished game down doesn't mean 10 others you don't know about didn't just buy it.

 

The changes being discussed here may drive some people away but those of us following from the beginning know the benefits of PATIENCE.

[wingman.edu 55]

I'm glad Hicks realizes that the current zombie AI has miles of work ahead of it's "perfection".

While the latest implementations were certainly a step in the right direction,they are still frustrating and by no means a real threat.

Despite additional work on the infected AI,there need to be at least 5 times their current numbers.

And imo if they wish to succeed,they must shift their focus on server performance and the poor melee system mechanics.

 

Zombies aside,they need to give more gravity in diseases,especially with ponds.

Water contamination related infections was a big deal for me as it would pose a great incentive for players boiling their water before consumption.

This would actually promote a survival challenge,as no sane man would dream of drinking straight from the pond.

 

Sadly there is no information on the upcoming Renderer implementation.

Maybe the system is not yet ready yet to undertake such a task.

I don't know...i'm only speculating.

 

Something else that was not included was work on basic vehicles.

Along the previous week,there were plenty of car parts showcased by Chris.

Additionally there was a comment about work on 2 other civilian vehicles.

Some information or just a sneak peak about the upcoming vehicle maintenance mechanics and models would have been highly appreciated!

 

Server performance has been a constant task, is this your first status report?

Melee shouldn't be worked on until the new player controller is implemented.

Diseases are coming, and water contamination will certainly be a component of this. (water purification tablets anyone?)

Renderer is coming, for all we know they're keeping quite to surprise us, they've done it before (look at the Holiday update)

Chris is the art lead, his team creates item art, creating items for cars doesn't hinder the work other teams are doing on actual vehicle systems...

[Damnyourdeadman 1045]

Server performance has been a constant task, is this your first status report?

Melee shouldn't be worked on until the new player controller is implemented.

 

Yes it has but that doesn't change the fact that it's still inadequate.

Last time i checked,the game didn't exactly run like a dream.

The servers are often very unstable and ruin the provided experience.

But hey,maybe i don't know what the hell i'm talking about since it's my first status report and all....

 

Both server performance and melee point on the direction of a decent zombie combat experience in order to change this...

...into something better.

 

 

Diseases are coming, and water contamination will certainly be a component of this. (water purification tablets anyone?)

 

Yeah they will,it would be nice if they talked about it on this Status Report though...

Peter is mostly focusing on airborne diseases which is good and all,but i see no mention of water contamination which has been a long awaited feature for a lot of people.

 

 

Renderer is coming, for all we know they're keeping quite to surprise us, they've done it before (look at the Holiday update)

 

The Renderer isn't teddy bear containers and suppressors.

It's a feature that will have a tremendous impact on the game,in multiple ways.

Be it server performance and enhanced graphics to fixing light leaking from structures and procedural coloring.

Implementation is bound to resurrect nighttime gameplay into a rewarding experience and even surpass certain feature restrictions placed by the current system.

 

 

Chris is the art lead, his team creates item art, creating items for cars doesn't hinder the work other teams are doing on actual vehicle systems...

 

Yes,i didn't claim otherwise.

What i was saying is that a sneak peek of his WIP vehicle models and talk about these upcoming newer systems would have been highly appreciated.

It's been way to ling since only the V3S's basic is currently ingame.

It's only natural for people to wanna know more info about these things...

Features like vehicle inventory system and car maintenance is going to transform gameplay.

[smoq2 221]

People have been saying this for years and it's still not true.

 

Just becuase you saw 5 people put this completely unfinished game down doesn't mean 10 others you don't know about didn't just buy it.

 

The changes being discussed here may drive some people away but those of us following from the beginning know the benefits of PATIENCE.

 

It is true and has been for any recreational product since the beginning of time. The fact that a product has a life cycle and an always diminishing interest is a universal fact. Unless you're trying to tell me that collage grade marketing education is horse crap.

 

Now that we got that out of the way let's look at the case at hand...

 

Check steam charts for relevant data. The interest is diminishing, with regular updates trying to bring it back to some level. However, the returning and new players do not completely fill the gap of the ones that leave each time for good. Of course, the game is alive and well now "user-wise", but will it be in the same shape with an adequate player base by the time it hits release?

 

There is a time frame in which a product has to be finished and delivered since its initial "leakage" to the general public, otherwise it will not attain its full market potential. I'm not saying that this time frame has been missed, I'm just saying that it might be in the future. My own patience will do me no good if there will be no adequate amount of players to play with after a month of the final release, or worse, even before the release. 

Edited March 19, 2015 by retro19

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

retro19, please allow me to elaborate.

 

DayZ is a special case.

 

It's development has been exceptionally public and is constantly evolving.

 

Now, JUST take into consideration how far we are from 1.0 AND PS4 release....

[Damnyourdeadman 1045]

retro19, please allow me to elaborate.

 

DayZ is a special case.

 

It's development has been exceptionally public and is constantly evolving.

 

Now, JUST take into consideration how far we are from 1.0 AND PS4 release....

 

 

On the one hand you are right.

We are still very early in the Alpha dev. cycle.

The team had no intentions of hiding that fact and even warned users before buying.

 

On the other hand Retro is also right.

Whatever the product demand and supply have close ties together.

If there is low demand,there will be low incentive for supplications.

There is a real danger that by the time the game is complete,people will have already moved on.

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

On the one hand you are right.

We are still very early in the Alpha dev. cycle.

The team had no intentions of hiding that fact and even warned users before buying.

 

On the other hand Retro is also right.

Whatever the product demand and supply have close ties together.

If there is low demand,there will be low incentive for supplications.

There is a real danger that by the time the game is complete,people will have already moved on.

 

 

The evolution and time line I spoke of fuels demand in waves.

 

Look at how other dev teams have floundered in trying to "out DayZ", DayZ already.

 

The "you're doing it wrongs" will just get quieter with time.

 

This project has massive legs IMO.

Edited March 19, 2015 by BioHaze

[Ken Bean 175]

It is true and has been for any recreational product since the beginning of time. The fact that a product has a life cycle and an always diminishing interest is a universal fact. Unless you're trying to tell me that collage grade marketing education is horse crap.

 

Now that we got that out of the way let's look at the case at hand...

 

Check steam charts for relevant data. The interest is diminishing, with regular updates trying to bring it back to some level. However, the returning and new players do not completely fill the gap of the ones that leave each time for good. Of course, the game is alive and well now "user-wise", but will it be in the same shape with an adequate player base by the time it hits release?

 

There is a time frame in which a product has to be finished and delivered since its initial "leakage" to the general public, otherwise it will not attain its full market potential. I'm not saying that this time frame has been missed, I'm just saying that it might be in the future. My own patience will do me no good if there will be no adequate amount of players to play with after a month of the final release, or worse, even before the release. 

 

 

As a player I wouldn't make this to my concern. Do I want a decent game or do I care about marketing? Not hart to answer, if you'd asked me.

 

However, I'm certain that a decent game will attract people and financially the game already should be a succsess (despite of not being my concern, still feel happy for them). ;-)

Edited March 19, 2015 by Ken Bean

[The Riddler (DayZ) 410]

I would like to mention that we are bringing to life the long awaited disease system which in fact was hibernating under the hood for some time, but was never finished due the other needs. Diseases are described by their virulence parameters like transferability, invasivity and toxicity and to determine the potential influence on character, which can vary from carrier to heavy impact, they are compared against his or her current state counting in the levels of health, blood, diet and exposure. Diseases can be transferred in both directions, which means it's not wise to eat from the same meal after your companion, if you suspect that he may be ill. Physical and chemical resistance parameters of disease determines how it can be treated or their effects eased by medicinal drugs and after the disease passed you are resistant to catch it again for some time. System also have the possibility to be expanded with the use of gloves, niosh masks or other wearables which can obstruct transferring of the diseases by specific actions, like crafting. 

Stay healthy... see you in Chernarus folks!"

- Peter / Lead Designer

 

 

 

YES!!!! DISEASE IN DAYZ!!!! I am very very excited about this!!!! 

 

Just curious, but how many of us now share food as mentioned above in the game? I.E. Eat half a bag of rice and then give the other half to a fellow player? I'm just curious how many actually do this, b/c I have not ever shared food like this with a fellow player and rather, I'll give a whole can/box/bag of food to a fellow survivor. I assume this is more to do with when you cook food vs. eating from a can since there is mention that canned food is going to become harder to find as the game progresses? I'm curious how this is going to work......Will an infectious player simply touching something (like food) have the "potential" to transfer the disease?   

 

I'm sure we'll see more from Peter in the future on how this system is actually going to work, but below are a couple of things I hope they're considering:

 

• Airborne illness can be transferred to another player via coughing or bodily fluids thus the need to have a face-mask, respirator or gas-mask will be necessary if you're going to hang around somebody who is sick. This will make respirator's a very high value loot item if you ask me. Of course gloves too will be high-value if they indeed prevent your player from becoming infected. Maybe this will allow for them to implement boxes of surgical gloves to handle the sick? 

   

• Disease can be transferred via utensils (knives) or melee weapons. Isn't this why mom and dad always tell us to wash our hands before eating? 

   

• Hospitals should be a much more dangerous place to venture to and collect gear with this new system but also be a place where you hope to find the proper medicine.

   

• Water borne illness should take some time to take effect as it does in real life. Like several hours or even a full day. Having experienced this in real life makes feel that this is who it should be in the game.

   

•  Characters should show signs of illness, and I don't just mean from them vomiting, etc etc. I'd like to see a player hunched over from an upset stomach or physical strain in the characters face from fever, pain etc. Seeing somebody with the sweats will indicate to me that they are not feeling 100% and I should avoid contact with them just like in real life.   

I have a ton of other things that are spinning through my head about the things surrounding infected players but don't wanna bore anybody at this point in time in the game's development. Please also note, this is just my .02 (2 cents) on the subject and am very excited to see how this gets deployed down the line. I would be happy if just one of my suggestions is on target with what the dev's have in mind for the disease system.  

 

Exciting times ahead!!!

[Ken Bean 175]

YES!!!! DISEASE IN DAYZ!!!! I am very very excited about this!!!! 

 

Just curious, but how many of us now share food as mentioned above in the game? I.E. Eat half a bag of rice and then give the other half to a fellow player? I'm just curious how many actually do this, b/c I have not ever shared food like this with a fellow player and rather, I'll give a whole can/box/bag of food to a fellow survivor.

 

 

Well, I used to do this a lot in the mod. There sometimes we even used to fly people around in a heli. We also tried to make sure that everyone has a nvg while playing at night.

 

In the stand alone I use to share almost everything, eg. food, water, ammo, clothes ... also have a look for stuff they could need. I can't carry everything anyway. Simple maths: The better the group is equipped, the better the chances. Therefore of cause you need to trust each other. You wont arm a potential enemy. Also simple logic.

 

But if I play alone, I always get shot first or be the one who does so (did it only 6 or 7 times by now, got killed more often - just because of not having made that decission in advance). The KOS people somehow ruined that whole playing together thing and I wonder if it comes back when we have infected hordes and stuff. Most of the time I try to avoid people, but after I got shot, I try to pay back.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Ken Bean

[smoq2 221]

The evolution and time line I spoke of fuels demand in waves.

 

Look at how other dev teams have floundered in trying to "out DayZ", DayZ already.

 

The "you're doing it wrongs" will just get quieter with time.

 

This project has massive legs IMO.

 

I envy you the confidence in DayZ. Believe me, my deepest hopes are to be wrong.

 

I agree that DayZ is a special case, hence my strong interest in the project not only as a player, but as a marketer. I see their initial success as something that bends the rules of the trade. I'm hoping to write a loooooong and thorough article about BI and DayZ once it gets released.

 

As a player I wouldn't make this to my concern. Do I want a decent game or do I care about marketing? Not hart to answer, if you'd asked me.

 

However, I'm certain that a decent game will attract people and financially the game already should be a succsess (despite of not being my concern, still feel happy for them). ;-)

 

I don't mean to attack you, but you're forgetting that DayZ thrives on its multiplayer aspect and that makes it impossible to separate and neglect the need for a good marketing plan. It has to have a certain critical mass of popularity to thrive. You wouldn't play this game if nobody would like to play with you, but I guess by that time there wouldn't be even any servers to play on.

 

You'd be surprised how many revolutionary projects (not just in the game industry) of huge potential I witnessed slowly roll down the hill and get abandoned just because the author couldn't supply it with enough attention.