Status Report - 27 May 15

[emuthreat 2837]

As far as the Standup Notes - much like the entirety of the Status Report this is something I wanted to get out in the hands of people and share. However with the Standup notes (Versus the Status Report itself) I find a lot of confusion regardless of the text, warnings, and so on. People seem to read the list of tasks that week as promises, change logs, or hard commitments and it just caused more confusion and conflict than good.

Too bad you guys released the 2015 roadmap before coming to that realization.  Foreknowledge makes the waiting even more painful when goalposts are moved or delays occur.  Is there going to be any sort of stand-in for the Standup Notes?  It was nice having a list of new features and items to go and test out.  I hope we won't have to use trial and error to determine which uses for plants are being added into the game over the course of development.

 

Regarding the new tent teaser photo, were the ships there for a reason?  As much as I promote heading inland to play, the coastline features could stand to be a bit more varied.  The addition of sunken, abandoned, and overrun ships would make the ports much more attractive.  Am I reading too much into this?

[Hicks_206 (DayZ) 4297]

Too bad you guys released the 2015 roadmap before coming to that realization.  Foreknowledge makes the waiting even more painful when goalposts are moved or delays occur.  Is there going to be any sort of stand-in for the Standup Notes?  It was nice having a list of new features and items to go and test out.  I hope we won't have to use trial and error to determine which uses for plants are being added into the game over the course of development.

 

Regarding the new tent teaser photo, were the ships there for a reason?  As much as I promote heading inland to play, the coastline features could stand to be a bit more varied.  The addition of sunken, abandoned, and overrun ships would make the ports much more attractive.  Am I reading too much into this?

 

I'd like to pair major stable branch updates with brief teaser videos of new mechanics, items, etc.

I know I've said I wanted to do videos for awhile now, but I think I have the resources and time on hand as I move more of the Status Report management and ownership over to our Community Manager SMoss.

Too bad you guys released the 2015 roadmap before coming to that realization.  Foreknowledge makes the waiting even more painful when goalposts are moved or delays occur.  Is there going to be any sort of stand-in for the Standup Notes?  It was nice having a list of new features and items to go and test out.  I hope we won't have to use trial and error to determine which uses for plants are being added into the game over the course of development.

 

Regarding the new tent teaser photo, were the ships there for a reason?  As much as I promote heading inland to play, the coastline features could stand to be a bit more varied.  The addition of sunken, abandoned, and overrun ships would make the ports much more attractive.  Am I reading too much into this?

Oh! And the ship models. Thats just our sample map, and you're seeing the Rify wreck, and some model variations in the background. Been there since September 13 or so.

[emuthreat 2837]

I'd like to pair major stable branch updates with brief teaser videos of new mechanics, items, etc.

I know I've said I wanted to do videos for awhile now, but I think I have the resources and time on hand as I move more of the Status Report management and ownership over to our Community Manager SMoss.

 

 

Oh! And the ship models. Thats just our sample map, and you're seeing the Rify wreck, and some model variations in the background. Been there since September 13 or so.

Sounds great!  The videos would be great for introducing new features, as I have still not yet figured out how to identify oak trees in game. 

 

I definitely recognized that deathtrap of a ship, I was just hoping that it was there for some greater purpose.

 

Thank you for the speedy reply; and the double quote-- it makes me feel speshul.  This level of community interaction more than makes up for little things like those weeks of BE messages warning of the wipe coming with the now non-existent .56 update. Keep up the great work.

[Hicks_206 (DayZ) 4297]

Sounds great!  The videos would be great for introducing new features, as I have still not yet figured out how to identify oak trees in game. 

 

I definitely recognized that deathtrap of a ship, I was just hoping that it was there for some greater purpose.

 

Thank you for the speedy reply; and the double quote-- it makes me feel speshul.  This level of community interaction more than makes up for little things like those weeks of BE messages warning of the wipe coming with the now non-existent .56 update. Keep up the great work.

 

Woah now, .56 is coming - with .57, so that wipe is for realsies.

[Hicks_206 (DayZ) 4297]

Thank you Hicks for trying to explain things additionally to the status reports here. We appreciate your hard work, but I guess a bunch of people (including me) are a bit dissapointed after the latest status report, because you teased us with some awesome stuff a few weeks/months ago (new HUD concept, some screenshots from the new renderer, new audio FX from the sound guy etc) and now we don't know what happened to all this long term tasks. I'm sure you guys are working your asses off to complete the major changes in tech, but can we have some insights please? What is the problem with the new renderer (planned for Q1 and delayed to May for internal testing)? Is it already working in your internal build or do you guys need more time? Anything new about the new player controller or the new HUD? Are you guys testing a 64bit client version of DayZ? There are so many open questions about the current state of development and I think it's quite fair that a bunch of people are complaining about the lack of communication. You have a really passionate and addicted community for your game...we all hope for major improvments and we would love to see more of your development process.

 

Complaints about "lack of communication" are ridiculous. There is no lack of communication, we're accessible - information on the development is centralized - and released when it is ready.

I'm more apt to read claims of lack of communication as actually meaning a lack of people hearing about what they want to hear about.

Which naturally is going to happen because I lean towards not talking about things much until they are *ready* to be talked about.

When you get towards the last few days / weeks before a stable branch update the news is naturally going to get thin. *ESPECIALLY* for those who read the Dev Hub, Dev Twitters, Forums, and scour sites like reddit for all the latest data mined or experimental branch pictures. 

[emuthreat 2837]

Woah now, .56 is coming - with .57, so that wipe is for realsies.

So was the letdown with every week that didn't get wiped, despite the constant BE warnings.  I'm not complaining. I'd rather have somewhat vauge and premature forewarning, than no warning at all.  But I did have to apologize to my buddy who let me use him for  target practice two Tuesdays ago.  :o

I won't worry about the semantics, as most buildings both do, and do not, have 13th floors.

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

-snip-

Patches to Stable Branch are not like patches to a shipped game, or an MMO - Its just the most stable development build come the end of that month.

 

 

-snip-

 

This concept alludes people.

 

Persistence and dynamic events have needed tweaking/fixing numerous times since the launch of the SA.

 

Just those 2 elements alone will likely break time and again throughout the rest of the development and may need to be pulled altogether.

 

If those are things that keep you playing, it's a perfect time to take a break, avoid DayZ burn out, and see a whole bunch of new stuff when that thing you love is fixed.

[Noctoras 409]

Too bad you guys released the 2015 roadmap before coming to that realization.  Foreknowledge makes the waiting even more painful when goalposts are moved or delays occur.

 

True. My proposal would actually be to skip status reports when it comes to "what is worked on" or "what will be introfuced in the future" or "which items are new in the patch". I mean, just imagine the community searching for the Easter eggs in the new patch.

They'd be all happy to find out which new items they can find across the map. It would relieve the devs of pressure and at the same time give the community something to look forward to ... like "look what I just found". The new game mechanics when introduced should be explained in a short way in order to facilitate bug finding and the like. But when it comes to new items.... why not skip that.

We would have to deal without regular status report, but then again there would be no release pressure and we would not be waiting in the corner at week's end.

[Parazight 1599]

Roadmap.  Worst possible term to use in order to describe non-linear progression.  

 

Like, when you look at a map and you follow where you are now to where your destination is at.  It's a clear line that needs to be followed in a specific order.  Traveling a road is linear progression that is easy to comprehend, easy to calculate how long it will take to complete. You can't complete kilometer #10 (or even start working on it!) before kilometer #9.

 

I imagine developing a game is more like creating a painting, and less like following a road.  The squeaky wheel  gamers who lament over non-obvious progress are probably the ones who see game development as linear progression.  

 

It's a unique entity, the developers are not working on an assembly line here.  That said, it's fun to watch these game artists create a painting that they've already sold to 3 million people.  

[Sister Ray 41]

 As these systems are actively being worked on by the gameplay programming team - the stable branch update will have the spawning of infected, and the persistence disabled on stable branch servers. This is only a temporary measure while these two issues continue to be worked on, and we'll see both base building, and infected return with a vengeance as soon as possible.

 

Does disabling persistence mean still using the old placeholder loot system, with persistence disabled, or a gutted version of the CLE? Something like having the loot spawn as in experimental, but respawning on server restarts?

 

 

 

Anyway, I quess there are big wheels turning when stuff breaks and takes time to finish. No worries. I wish more people realized that they should take some breaks from time to time when they start to feel burned out. I know it's hard though :D

Edited May 28, 2015 by Sister Ray

[Avant-Garde 229]

Complaints about "lack of communication" are ridiculous. There is no lack of communication, we're accessible - information on the development is centralized - and released when it is ready.

I'm more apt to read claims of lack of communication as actually meaning a lack of people hearing about what they want to hear about.

Which naturally is going to happen because I lean towards not talking about things much until they are *ready* to be talked about.

When you get towards the last few days / weeks before a stable branch update the news is naturally going to get thin. *ESPECIALLY* for those who read the Dev Hub, Dev Twitters, Forums, and scour sites like reddit for all the latest data mined or experimental branch pictures. 

 

Hey mate! May I ask you, are the melee mechanics ready to be talked about, or does it need the new animation system/other stuff I have no idea?

[Zboub le météor 250]

no more Z and persistence for 0.57, but we can enjoy those amazing gain in player interactions with the world, WAY less desyncr, a lot of new weapons, new clothes and HUGE map improvement (look at the new berezino). i'll enjoy it and maybe spend more time into PVP before zombies/persistence return.

 

keep updates going, and let brian and eugen get some well deserved sleep ;). days are going warmer and warmer, take some vacations guys

Edited May 29, 2015 by Zboub le météor

[PaniXx 34]

Dear Hicks_206, 

 

i appreciate your work, time and effort put into DayZ:Standalone (the development, the testing, the ruling, being on events, the replies here or on twitter etc.). Your point of view regarding the status reports is understandable. Don't be sad or angry because people are unhappy or not understanding everything. But may i write one suggestion, which would probably silent most of the critics with some justice: 

 

- Write a few words or at least two sentences about the issues you have found out or experienced while trying to implement/change/add/rework feature or system X. Could you fix the issue? Did a new issue come because of the fix? It is interesting for the readers and the dayz-community. Something like this could come from you or someone from the "Art", "Animation", "Audio" (if Andrej is not working on other projects), "Design" or "System"-team. 

 

I totally understand that Status reports or week reports are something free. You don't have to create these, nor do you owe them anyone. But they are a big great way for seeing how the development goes for anyone outside your workplace. Please, read this comment and give a thought regarding this. 

[cuartas 36]

Wish dayz had 50% of the info people get in rust weekly updates, that's a good example of keeping people informed

Edited May 28, 2015 by cuartas

[JiJi (DayZ) 223]

I've been quoted across a great deal of places reiterating this point: Development of the game is going to have bugs, critical issues, even gamebreaking problems

 

I know, we know...

But you must know warning about that do not take away the sense of disappointment when it happens (Especially when expectations were high and the waiting was long).

[Ben_uk 24]

Any news on the new renderer? It was slated for Q1 or Q2 of 2015 but we have heard nothing...?

[PaniXx 34]

Any news on the new renderer? It was slated for Q1 or Q2 of 2015 but we have heard nothing...?

 

Eugen gave some infos regarding the renderer yesterday on Twitter! Right now the new renderer produces a black screen. 

 

 

Speaking of Status Report, Peter Nespesny gave some thoughts regarding the future Hermit Playstyle in DayZ: Sa. This is what the status report would have needed as information. Here is the thread: http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/225481-hermit-playstyle-enchancement/ 

[Hicks_206 (DayZ) 4297]

No, it is not what the Status Report would have needed. The Status Report covers critical information on the development of the game that week - not stuff much further down the line.

The Status Report will discuss things that are *ready* to be shown, and discussed.

[Hicks_206 (DayZ) 4297]

True. My proposal would actually be to skip status reports when it comes to "what is worked on" or "what will be introfuced in the future" or "which items are new in the patch". I mean, just imagine the community searching for the Easter eggs in the new patch.

They'd be all happy to find out which new items they can find across the map. It would relieve the devs of pressure and at the same time give the community something to look forward to ... like "look what I just found". The new game mechanics when introduced should be explained in a short way in order to facilitate bug finding and the like. But when it comes to new items.... why not skip that.

We would have to deal without regular status report, but then again there would be no release pressure and we would not be waiting in the corner at week's end.

In theory it seems like a good idea, but not surprisingly there are as many people who would be upset and see it as me being lazy. :)

 

I'm very pro Status Report - the report came into existence as a personal initiative of mine, and we've tried to push more availability into things coming down the pipeline with changes to the Dev Hub. I don't think we can realistically go backwards in that area, it wouldn't be fair to those who enjoy it. 

I just find more value in talking about the teams focus *at the time* and things that are *ready* to be discussed at that moment.

I hope you understand.

[Hicks_206 (DayZ) 4297]

Does disabling persistence mean still using the old placeholder loot system, with persistence disabled, or a gutted version of the CLE? Something like having the loot spawn as in experimental, but respawning on server restarts?

 

 

 

Anyway, I quess there are big wheels turning when stuff breaks and takes time to finish. No worries. I wish more people realized that they should take some breaks from time to time when they start to feel burned out. I know it's hard though :D

 

It does not mean using the legacy loot spawning system. That said - there is no "gutting" of the central economy - it just means items don't save past server restart.

[Sister Ray 41]

It does not mean using the legacy loot spawning system. That said - there is no "gutting" of the central economy - it just means items don't save past server restart.

Yeah, that's what I though. Thanks for the reply, man!

[Coheed_IV 381]

not surprisingly there are as many people who would be upset and see it as me being lazy. :)

Yeah, you see people use this word to explain something they don't understand. Game developers aren't the lazy type, and it's has to be somewhat dejecting to hear it from fans.

 

A few voices can seem to be many on social media, when most don't agree or don't voice what they are unsure of.

 

Thanks for all the hard work. Lots more to come I'm sure.

 

Also, there is always more than just Status Reports, check this out and give feedback http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/225481-hermit-playstyle-enchancement/

Edited May 30, 2015 by Coheed_IV

[Hicks_206 (DayZ) 4297]

Hey mate! May I ask you, are the melee mechanics ready to be talked about, or does it need the new animation system/other stuff I have no idea?

We'll probably start talking in more detail about that after the stable update - Our Animation Lead Viktor will more than likely do the talking.

[Hicks_206 (DayZ) 4297]

Dear Hicks_206, 

 

i appreciate your work, time and effort put into DayZ:Standalone (the development, the testing, the ruling, being on events, the replies here or on twitter etc.). Your point of view regarding the status reports is understandable. Don't be sad or angry because people are unhappy or not understanding everything. But may i write one suggestion, which would probably silent most of the critics with some justice: 

 

- Write a few words or at least two sentences about the issues you have found out or experienced while trying to implement/change/add/rework feature or system X. Could you fix the issue? Did a new issue come because of the fix? It is interesting for the readers and the dayz-community. Something like this could come from you or someone from the "Art", "Animation", "Audio" (if Andrej is not working on other projects), "Design" or "System"-team. 

 

I totally understand that Status reports or week reports are something free. You don't have to create these, nor do you owe them anyone. But they are a big great way for seeing how the development goes for anyone outside your workplace. Please, read this comment and give a thought regarding this. 

 

I suppose its an interesting suggestion. Naturally the first thing I would worry about is riling up those who already think software developers who struggle with solving problems or creating new systems are somehow abnormal, or insufficient. There are some changes I'll be trying out over the coming weeks with the Status Report and forums, etc as I move more of the management of these things over to SMoss our Community Manager. I'll be here in the Status Report posts to discuss them.

Edit: Thought about this a bit more - Sure, I'll give it a try. 

[Coheed_IV 381]

So, if your around. Will the new 3pp camera be in experimental after .57 stable is out? Really cant wait to see what it can do.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Coheed_IV