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lynn.zaw

DayZ Frostline Dev Blog Week 34

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⚠️Disclaimer⚠️
Please be aware: Information shared in our development blog represents a work in progress, not the final product. Contents and features discussed are subject to change before release. We aim to provide insight and foster community engagement, but details may evolve as development continues. Thank you for joining us on this journey, with the understanding that what you see here is a glimpse into the process.

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Hey Survivors!

Welcome to our Dev Blog, where we pull back the curtain on the development of the DayZ Frostline Expansion. This blog is our way of sharing the highs and lows of our journey with you, the community. Your support has been crucial to the game’s success, and we’re excited to bring you along as we continue to create something special.
Let's talk about boats and sound design for DayZ Frostline!

Boats!

We started prototyping boats late last year, and by the start of this year, the boat was selected for full development. mostly to complement the islandic nature of Sakhal, The initial implementation used in the prototype was stable enough for us to move forward, though we did take some shortcuts, such as leveraging existing simulations such as the car engine and gearbox. Early on, we realized that the complex nature of vehicles, combined with the instability of the pre-existing reconciliation system, could lead to boats bouncing and spinning uncontrollably in the ocean. To address this, we agreed that changes in networking were essential.

boat1440p-min.png

Buoyancy is a complex simulation designed for the possible inclusion of more realistic ocean waves in the future. It uses a shape - which the modders will know as the "Simple Geometry LOD" - to find the total displaced volume and find the buoyant force and does some additional simulation of drag.

Controlling boats in DayZ is intentionally simpler than handling cars. Boats feature three gears: Forward, Neutral, and Reverse. While there are no brakes, you can manage your speed by adjusting the throttle or shifting into reverse to slow down. Boats are primarily designed for one simple b
ut vital purpose: transporting players across large bodies of water. They don’t have any inventory space, so you won’t be able to hoard items on them. To get a boat running, you’ll only need a spark plug and some gasoline. If you find a boat on a beach or in shallow water, you can push it into deeper water to start your journey.

As demonstrated by 

@iRoadie_ & @AmishZed

GVnKHShWoAAi7Us.jpg

Each boat can carry three passengers and one operator, with unique animations for sitting, dying, switching seats, rolling out of the boat even being dragged out. 

Seatings (1).jpg

There's also the consideration of maintenance. While damage doesn’t immediately affect driving performance, it poses a risk as it accelerates the vehicle's progression toward a ruined state. You can repair the boat body by using the tire repair kit. The engine can't be repaired. Once the boat is ruined, it will start to sink slowly, giving you time to get out of the seat.

Last but not least, you have the ability to stand on the boat while it moves at a leisurely pace. However, caution is advised, as increasing the boat's speed will result in you falling off. And yes, you will be able to fish from the boat while it’s stationary, so get ready to cast your line and haul in some catches!
P.S. We've rolled out an experimental update for 1.26, which includes boats! You can test it out right now on the experimental branches for PC and Xbox. We've already seen some fantastic community reactions to the boats. Check them out below:
ROBL (Rolling off the Boat, Laughing) by Happybombs 
Slexify's Intense Boat Fight
Wobo's Review/Explainer Video on the Boats

Sound Design on Sakhal

In our work on environmental sounds for Sakhal, we've added 346 new short ambient sounds that play around the player as 3D audio. These include the sounds of vegetation, metal sounds for new harbor objects, and, of course, birds. We aimed to incorporate bird species specific to the Kamchatka region, but due to limited availability of recordings, we included some birds from other northern areas, like Alaska. These sounds complement the base 2D layers, such as wind, snowfall, and area-specific ambients. We've also introduced 19 new ambient loops that dynamically mix based on factors like area, time, wind, and snowfall.

Our goal was to create an environment that feels somewhat alive, even in low temperatures, while also emphasizing the harshness of strong winds. When the wind blows heavily, the contrast becomes apparent as all animal sounds fall silent, heightening the feeling of being overwhelmed by the elements. We control both 2D ambient loops and 3D ambient sounds with the wind factor to achieve this effect. In moments when the player is far from trees or objects where animals might be, and the wind is still, the world can feel almost eerily silent.

We're proud to say we've achieved this goal, though we already have a list of improvements we plan to make in the future.
Jan Knot, Sound Designer

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Pretty cool, boats are going to be a welcome addition to the freshies on Chernarus and Livonia because they can be used to group up with friends relatively quickly.

They seem to work well without any major issues, however it would be nice if we could shoot/interact with inventory from the sitting position.

42 minutes ago, lynn.zaw said:

To address this, we agreed that changes in networking were essential.

So are boats client side or did you guys fix something regarding networking, can and will the same be applied to the cars?

43 minutes ago, lynn.zaw said:

possible inclusion of more realistic ocean waves in the future.

That would be amazing to see and it would modernize the visuals of the game a lot.

Oh and one more thing, boat is named "Rubber boat" which indicates there might be other types in the future?

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Very cool inmersive stuff!

Minor observation; trees and branches sounds are a bit too loud, aren't they?

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Posted (edited)
57 minutes ago, DefectiveWater said:

So are boats client side or did you guys fix something regarding networking, can and will the same be applied to the cars?

Got a reply for this question on dev stream:

https://clips.twitch.tv/PricklyGiftedAyeayeBigBrother-ul2NQ-Tj_uB_ZiHE

Seems like the fix is boat only fix and it's not something that can be applied to the cars.

Edited by DefectiveWater

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Buoyancy is a complex simulation designed for the possible inclusion of more realistic ocean waves in the future. 

Interesting! Maybe in the future we could also see some upgrades to rivers and lakes... would be awesome to be able to make them as easy as it is in Reforger now instead of matching some water parts 😊

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On 8/23/2024 at 1:52 PM, Kathosky said:

Very cool inmersive stuff!

Minor observation; trees and branches sounds are a bit too loud, aren't they?

Definitely. The sounds are okay individually but theyre much too constant. The light wind also seems too loud amongst the trees.

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Sakhal need some rivers and lakes in my humble opinion when I look at the map😊

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