DayZ Frostline Dev Blog Week 36

[lynn.zaw 241]

⚠️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.

Hey Survivors!

Welcome to our Dev Blog, where we take you behind the scenes of the DayZ Frostline Expansion development. Here, we share the ups and downs of our creative process with you, the community. Your continuous support has always been a lifeline for the game, and we're excited to give you a sneak peek of what DayZ Frostline has in store!
Let's talk about Clothing Insulation Variants, New Map Size* and Terrain Builder QoL enhancements!
We’ll aim to discuss further and provide clarity on a particularly hot community topic—inventory size changes—in the next dev blog.

Insulation Variants!

As many of you know, DayZ's diverse maps each come with their unique climates and weather conditions. Our goal with DayZ Frostline is to make your survival experience even more immersive and challenging by reflecting these environmental differences through our clothing system.

Seasonal Clothing Changes

One of the key changes we've implemented is the introduction of seasonal variants for certain types of clothing. For instance:

Summer Hunter Gear : In the heat of Livonia, you'll find a Summer Hunter Gear set designed with low insulation to accommodate the summer heat. Perfect for when you’re navigating through its dense forests and open fields in warmer temperatures.

Winter Hunter Gear : Conversely, on our new winter map, Sakhal, survival against the biting cold is paramount. Thus, you can expect to discover Winter Hunter Gear with high insulation to help you stave off the chill. Sakhal’s unforgiving climate necessitates outfits that provide maximum warmth and protection.

Item Spawning Rates

Each map will feature a unique system for spawning these seasonal gears, adhering to a logical rule of thumb:

• Cold Maps : Higher spawn rates for warm clothing. Expect to find Winter Gear with greater frequency.
• Warm Maps : Higher spawn rates for lighter, low-insulation clothing, making your scavenging efforts more fruitful in suitable climates.

It's important to remember that while these changes enhance realism and tactical play, all items remain transferable between maps . So, even if you choose not to purchase the DayZ Frostline Expansion, you can still acquire these seasonal gears through player trades or cross-map transfers.

Map Size

We initially shared that Sakhal would feature an 83km² traversable terrain, excluding the expansive ice sheets. However, we're pushing the boundaries—quite literally—and it's time to reveal some major enhancements!

From 83km² to a Massive 105km²

In our early communications, Sakhal was set to be our most compact map yet, focusing on an area of approximately 83km². This decision was inspired by observing player interactions on community-favored modded maps, which showcased a preference for more intimate settings that foster player encounters and engagements.

Since then, we've introduced ice sheets to Sakhal's geography. This update significantly expands the landmass, increasing it from the initial 83km² to an impressive 105km². As a result, Sakhal now further surpasses the landmass of the community modded map Namalsk, which measures 27km² without ice sheets and 63km² with them. 

Community Modded map - Creator: Adam Francu - DayZ Creative Lead

A Colossal Playable Area

With the recent introduction of boats in DayZ, your navigation and exploration capabilities now extend far beyond the confines of land. When factoring in the navigable waters, Sakhal's overall playable area surges to an impressive 236km² . This significant expansion offers you a plethora of new routes to conduct your loot runs, scavenge for essentials, and fight for survival. Despite the increase in size, we've thoughtfully designed key points of interest to maintain high player traffic, ensuring that encounters and engagements remain central to the experience.

Fine-Tuned, Immersive Terrain

Base building and placements on ice sheets will not be available at the release of DayZ Frostline but will be iterated on in updates following its launch.

The newly introduced ice sheets will appear barren and empty, providing an alternative travel route for those wishing to avoid main thoroughfares. Although these vast expanses of ice will support base building and placements in future updates, they will remain devoid of loot to keep players focused on scavenging more high-risk areas and encouraging engagements. We're particularly excited to see how the modding community will expand on this feature, adding further layers of complexity and innovation to the gameplay. (Hint hint: Build Anywhere mod) 

Even as Sakhal's landmass expands, our commitment to creating an immersive environment remains unwavering. The increased size does not detract from our focus on rich storytelling and intricate details. Our primary goal continues to be delivering the deeply immersive survival experience that DayZ is renowned for.

Terrain Builder - Improvement for Modding community 

With the release of DayZ 1.26 alongside the Frostline Expansion, we are excited to introduce a range of quality-of-life improvements tailored specifically for the modding community. This update brings enhanced tools and more streamlined workflows, allowing modders to create custom terrains more efficiently and effectively.

What is DayZ Terrain Builder?

DayZ Terrain Builder is a powerful tool designed for the creation of DayZ's virtual worlds. It empowers users to build extensive and immersive landscapes from scratch, offering endless possibilities for creative modders.

Key Improvements:

PNG Generator Speed Boost

• The PNG generation process for satellite images, satellite normal maps, and surface masks has been significantly optimized. Now, these tasks run approximately three times faster than before. This improvement will greatly enhance your workflow efficiency, allowing you to spend more time on creative aspects rather than waiting for processing.

Improved Road Object Handling

• Moving road objects in Bulldozer used to drastically decrease performance. This issue has been addressed, and the operation now only triggers when you stop moving the road object. This tweak ensures better performance while editing roads.

Additional Enhancements:

Library Manager Window Search Bar

• A new search bar has been added to the Library Manager window. This feature enables users to filter template libraries by typing search terms, making it easier to find specific items. 

Usable Console for Useful Logs

• The console window, accessible via Window → Console, now functions properly without freezing Terrain Builder (TB). It provides valuable log information for different actions, helping users troubleshoot and optimize their workflows more effectively.

Bug Fixes:

Selective PAA Generation

• The PAA generation tool has been fixed to generate .paa files only for the tiles specified by the user, rather than recreating files for every tile in the layers folder. This targeted approach saves time and resources during the export process.

Layer Operations Refined

• Renaming object or shape layers now correctly renames the existing files instead of creating new ones. Additionally, deleting layers from the Layers Manager now properly removes the corresponding .tv4l files, cleaning up unnecessary files and reducing clutter.

Fixed Clear & Fill Operation

• The "Refill (clear & fill)" operation now works as expected, removing existing objects within a shape and generating new ones according to preset names. This functionality ensures that your terrain modifications are accurately reflected.

 

[Presence- 32]

Fantastic decision for expanding the map! Thank you.
Can we please expand and extend the land more?
Even surpass Chernarus by far? 

The journey rather than the destination and that requires a huge extended map.
Even though I do enjoy Namalsk, I do not enjoy it for its actual size, I do enjoy it for its unique atmosphere. I'd have enjoyed more than any other map in Dayz a huge winter map. A huge Namalsk or a huge Sakhal.

- The idea of being thrown into a vast utterly hostile post-apocalyptic world is always more intriguing, immersive and terrifying than that of being thrown into a small one that could quickly become familiar and difficult to get lost in.
- The varying amounts of desolation and vastness add to the feeling of the emptiness of the post-apocalyptic world, to the gloomy tone, the wide open spaces and the unknown, the cold, the strong crosswind, that old cabin wood cracking, the quiet and caressing sounds of water and to the rustling of leaves, where wind-blown leaves catch in the long grass and floating leaves of trees. Still life!
- The character's death can be more punishing. Returning to a given place can be very demanding because of the distance involved (which is good). This partially adds to the decision-making required to survive and not take our actions lightly. It is a crucial part for how we set the tone, strategy and the pace of the content because that's part of the investment requirements which reflect on consequences. In a setting, minimising loss of investment is devaluing it along with the effort of time and space required to acquire back the loss in which results in users taking decisions and actions lightly.
- It is more inclined towards the slow-pace aspect where things take time.
- More terrain to plot and discover.
- Longer trips even with vehicles.
- Less death-match aspect and more vast authentic post-apocalyptic survival world focused which will make a more pronounced solitude in-game, thus making the rare interactions probably more intense.

[Whiskey_wp 0]

36 minutes ago, Presence- said:

Fantastic decision for expanding the map! Thank you.
Can we please expand and extend the land more?
Even surpass Chernarus by far? 

The journey rather than the destination and that requires a huge extended map.
Even though I do enjoy Namalsk, I do not enjoy it for its actual size, I do enjoy it for its unique atmosphere. I'd have enjoyed more than any other map in Dayz a huge winter map. A huge Namalsk or a huge Sakhal.

- The idea of being thrown into a vast utterly hostile post-apocalyptic world is always more intriguing, immersive and terrifying than that of being thrown into a small one that could quickly become familiar and difficult to get lost in.
- The varying amounts of desolation and vastness add to the feeling of the emptiness of the post-apocalyptic world, to the gloomy tone, the wide open spaces and the unknown, the cold, the strong crosswind, that old cabin wood cracking, the quiet and caressing sounds of water and to the rustling of leaves, where wind-blown leaves catch in the long grass and floating leaves of trees. Still life!
- The character's death can be more punishing. Returning to a given place can be very demanding because of the distance involved (which is good). This partially adds to the decision-making required to survive and not take our actions lightly. It is a crucial part for how we set the tone, strategy and the pace of the content because that's part of the investment requirements which reflect on consequences. In a setting, minimising loss of investment is devaluing it along with the effort of time and space required to acquire back the loss in which results in users taking decisions and actions lightly.
- It is more inclined towards the slow-pace aspect where things take time.
- More terrain to plot and discover.
- Longer trips even with vehicles.
- Less death-match aspect and more vast authentic post-apocalyptic survival world focused which will make a more pronounced solitude in-game, thus making the rare interactions probably more intense.

I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I’d respectfully argue that DayZ doesn’t need another big map. We already have Chernarus and Livonia, both of them being significant in size. A smaller map like Namalsk is hugely popular within the community, not because of the size, but because of the intense atmosphere and player focused gameplay.

A smaller map like Sakhal would offer several advantages:

More meaningful encounters – On smaller maps, player interactions are more frequent and intense. Not everyone has the time to traverse a massive map, only to encounter fewer players. A tighter space brings more strategic, high-stakes interactions.

Richer detail – Smaller maps allow for denser, more polished environments, making every part of the map feel unique, rather than spreading out content across a vast but empty space.

DayZ already caters to large-map fans. A smaller Sakhal would add variety and appeal to players seeking tighter, more short-tem and engaging gameplay without compromising immersion. This all is not to say DayZ doesn't need to make a massive map aswell. I just think we're more due for a smaller, more intense map.

[gibs25 1]

Hello, the increase in the size of the map is excellent news for me👍. And thanks for these new modding tools. Great news all these new features and optimizations.
Since the announcement of the 83km, I was afraid that the map would be quickly searched and abandoned.
With large areas, the appeal of the player increases because DayZ is above all for me and for many players,, an adventure, meeting other players and survival game where the slightest mistake can be fatal. And for the PVE and RP community it's surely excellent news.
So having a very large map teeming with detail and unique places is an extremely important value.

Concerning the base building, I hope it will arrive quickly because the first thing I thought when you announced Sakhal is that I was eager to build a base on this new map.

I wish you good luck in the development of DayZ Frostline and we are all eager to know the release date.😎

Edited September 6 by gibs25

[Presence- 32]

On 9/6/2024 at 4:36 PM, Whiskey_wp said:

I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I’d respectfully argue that DayZ doesn’t need another big map. We already have Chernarus and Livonia, both of them being significant in size. A smaller map like Namalsk is hugely popular within the community, not because of the size, but because of the intense atmosphere and player focused gameplay.

A smaller map like Sakhal would offer several advantages:

More meaningful encounters – On smaller maps, player interactions are more frequent and intense. Not everyone has the time to traverse a massive map, only to encounter fewer players. A tighter space brings more strategic, high-stakes interactions.

Richer detail – Smaller maps allow for denser, more polished environments, making every part of the map feel unique, rather than spreading out content across a vast but empty space.

DayZ already caters to large-map fans. A smaller Sakhal would add variety and appeal to players seeking tighter, more short-tem and engaging gameplay without compromising immersion. This all is not to say DayZ doesn't need to make a massive map aswell. I just think we're more due for a smaller, more intense map.

Well, you wrote in your post-first sentence that you'd respectfully argue that DayZ doesn't need another big map but then you finish in your pre-last sentence by writing that you're not saying that DayZ doesn't need to make a massive map as well. Thus, you're respectfully arguing just for the sake of respectfully arguing.

Quote

A smaller map like Namalsk is hugely popular within the community, not because of the size, but because of the intense atmosphere.

You're just repeating the same thing after me. 

Quote

More meaningful encounters – On smaller maps, player interactions are more frequent and intense. Not everyone has the time to traverse a massive map, only to encounter fewer players. A tighter space brings more strategic, high-stakes interactions.

A tighter space doesn't bring more strategy, it just brings a different strategy. 
Bigger environments bring higher-stakes interactions.

Quote

Richer detail – Smaller maps allow for denser, more polished environments, making every part of the map feel unique, rather than spreading out content across a vast but empty space.

That's not necessarily a proper characteristic. It all depends of the effort and time you have. 
Bigger maps also allow for denser, more polished environments, making every part of the map feel unique.
What do you mean by vast but empty space?
Vast fields, vast mountains, vast forests, vast ocean, vast landscapes, vast expanse of hills, vast rolling hills, vast rocky hills and valley, vast grassy terrain, vast buildings, vast highways, vast empty roads, vast snowy expanses and landscapes, vast snowy fields, vast snowy mountains, vast snowy wilderness, vast snowy plain... are all nature and/or built spaces and environments that a map can have.
We don't need to play Baroque music for every corner. Welcome the emptiness and the howling windy cold in the post-apocalyptic atmosphere.
A bigger map in detail can surpass a smaller map in detail and a bigger map in less detail can also surpass a smaller map in detail.
Size does matter! The bigger and well done, the better.

DayZ need a huge ass winter map more than ever! Much bigger than Chernarus.
We've already got a little winter map which is Namalsk for more frequent encounters.
It'll be good to have a huge winter map for less fast-paced death-match aspect and more vast authentic post-apocalyptic survival world focused.

Edited September 7 by Presence-

[Kilobytez 0]

I am a player who feels the map should remain at its currently (freshly increased) size. The impact of the snow maps is already very survival based, and the smaller map will push the type of strategy namalsk players are used to, while bringing adventure of the place, hopefully with some secrets included. The namalsk map is so special because it has those hidden secret types of places. It brings team work into the picture, and gives more pressure. Much more likely to be killed when there is physically less space for other players. I feel that is what we need, a high risk survival winter map. I think they are dead on with the 100~km map. Bigger than namalsk, yet smaller than cherno. I am excited to see these changes!

[Presence- 32]

Message to the devs and CM: 

If you choose to keep the landmass small, can we please continue to widen and expand the ocean much more that what it is now? (As far as the systems allow). 
- Having far ocean is useful for placing mapping there and expand the landmass on our own winter servers. 
- This will be useful for users who prefer to experience a massive terrestrial environment rather than a condensed space forcing interactions.
- This will grant the possibility of expanding in community servers the landmass while letting the official landmass condensed for users who want a small winter map.

I'm asking the devs to expand, extend, stretch and widen the ocean and make it as vast and large as possible. 

May we examine this question?

Regards,

Edited September 8 by Presence-
Writing and correcting orthography

[Girth Brooks 569]

A map this size needs 60 players minimum or its gonna be dumb

[gibs25 1]

Quote

A map this size needs 60 players minimum or its gonna be dumb

If the spawns are placed intelligently, no.

[DejaiPhenix 0]

Great Job Bohemian :)

So happy to see some updates on the terrain builder that us modders use tirelessly for years trying to make our dreams of a map a reality.
This new update is a step in the right direction for both modders and the longevity of the DayZ game itself.

One request that I think would be great is if we can have the preview p3d thumbnail also function to help us see the models in preview.
I know this was an early feature that has been broken but its a great tool when you have lots of p3d models and want to preview them

Have a great DayZ guys

Big Grampa

[Pyongo Bongo 235]

Some more stuff I love about 1.26 exp:

Immense improvement in soundscape.

The constant full blast wind was irritating and completely unrealistic, now it is a lot quieter. And instead we have the wind blasting around the corners of houses from time to time, for a more ASMR like but importantly spooky and immersive atmosphere, it's great. More realistic, comfortable to the ears AND immersive 😄

🙂

+ Blouse was added to the loot pool after 5 years, every piece of clothing adds a lot of variety, stylistic choice and possibilities for funny setups 😄

+ More diseases present more of a survival challenge and authenticity, I love helping strangers survive, because for me it's gotten easy as an experienced player

- Sadly I get the impression that I have slight micro stutters which don't happen on stable, even with graphics settings lowered a bit and terrain distance on low