Zompiercer News

Hey, train drivers! Well, I finally decided to implement jumping in the game, but let me clarify right away, the jump is currently quite small and can be used as a tool for players to escape silly traps that occasionally occurred for some players. I assume that this feature might be used to hide from zombies in inaccessible places, but I expect there are very few such places. I also do not rule out that in the future, jumping will become a full-fledged game mechanic.



Since players have had the ability to build cars and place light sources, there has been a problem with severe frame drops if many light sources are on in the train and the player is in or near the train. Therefore, it was decided to develop a light source optimization system for the train. Optimization works by disabling shadows at a close enough distance from the player, which is practically unnoticeable due to a smooth effect. Depending on the number of light sources in the train, the efficiency of optimization in my tests ranged from 20 to 70%.



While watching players’ playthroughs of the new location on streams and from messages from some players, a problem with fuel depletion for the flamethrower was identified. This was due to the fact that refueling stations disappeared after the location with the train station. Therefore, it was decided to place a refueling station in the new location, on the road between the residential area and the supermarket.



The game has a special save "Location Start", created so that the game saves when entering a new location, allowing players to revert to this save in case of encountering a critical bug instead of starting the game from the beginning. It was found that this save could be overwritten not only when entering a new location, and this has been fixed.

This is likely the last update for version 17 of the game, after which I will begin actively working on update 18, dedicated to redesigning the locomotive and improving it by increasing armor.

[h3]CHANGELOG[/h3]

Improvements

• Added a small jump.
  
• Implemented light source optimization for the train.
  
• Saves are now sorted by date, making it easier to find the latest save.
  
• A refueling station has been added to the new location on the road between the city and the shopping center.
  
• The robot turret no longer fires prematurely when turning towards a zombie, which often resulted in misses.
  
• Localization updated for the warning about having a modifier in an item if we want to use it in construction.
  
• Added 1 new melody for the train theme.
  
• Sleepiness onset slowed by 15%.
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed the ability to enter the cabinet texture for the Caboose.
  
• Fixed a common bug where the environment was incorrectly displayed in boarded-up windows.
  
• Fixed a bug where the special save "Location Start" was overwritten not only when the player first entered a new location.
  

Hey, train drivers! Overall, this is a regular small update with bug fixes and improvements. Notably, a bug was fixed where there was no difference in lighting between a scrap flashlight and a regular flashlight. Now, each subsequent flashlight found will be brighter and have a wider beam angle than the previous one, whether the flashlight is mounted on a helmet or held in the player's hand.



[h3]CHANGELOG[/h3]

Improvements

• Korean and Ukrainian localization is 100% complete.
  
• Added several missing lines for Simplified Chinese localization.
  
• Increased the number of zombies that can be skipped to complete zombie-killing quests. For Mark from 5 to 10. For Stanislav from 3 to 6.
  
• Increased the chance to find brass scrap by 60%.
  
• A sawmill has been placed in the swamp workshop.
  
• The condition for dealing increased damage in stealth mode with a dagger is now that the zombie must not see or hear you at the moment of the strike. Being in a crouched position at the moment of the strike is no longer necessary.
  
• Reduced the volume of the following effects: bullet impact sounds for all surfaces, regular shotgun firing sounds, robot walking sounds, robot crossbow reloading sounds.
  
• Improved the description of the turret combined with a lamp and medical block.
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where there was no difference between a scrap flashlight and a regular flashlight.
  
• Fixed a bug where the flashlight continued to shine if the player removed it from the helmet slot.
  
• Minimized the chance of a bug where, after killing with a melee weapon, the zombie would fly high or jerk violently.
  
• Fixed a bug where the depletion of ammunition placed in the quick slot would cause the icon to freeze at zero without the ability to delete it.
  
• The kitchen refrigerator handle no longer stays in place when the door is opened.
  
• Fixed the unexpected appearance of a dead firefighter zombie in front of the player in one of the houses in the new location.
  

Hey, train conductors! Unfortunately, some players are still encountering a bug that breaks autosaves, and I have yet to figure out the cause. The bug also had an unpleasant consequence: after the autosave broke, all subsequent saves stopped appearing. Since autosaves are usually at the top of the list, all saves visually disappeared, making players think they were erased. This has been fixed; now saves will display even when an autosave is broken. You can identify such a save by the missing date and version. I also ask you to send me screenshots of the autosave failure if you encounter this, as it will speed up the resolution of this issue.

[h2]CHANGELOG[/h2]

Improvements

• Increased sniper bullet damage by 33%, from 60 to 90. When hitting the head, the damage will be 180.
  

Fixed Errors

• Fixed the blocking of save display if one save in the folder is recorded with an error.
  
• Fixed incorrect descriptions for all languages for train car wall spikes without a doorway.
  

[h2]CHANGELOG[/h2]

Improvements

• Boxes have been placed under the breakable staircase in the swamp location to minimize player damage from falling.
  
• Improved the positioning of shotguns and the Winchester in the character's hands while running.
  

Fixed Errors

• Fixed a bug where only a few zombies needed to be killed in quests involving zombie killing.
  
• Fixed a bug where the geometry of objects was not correctly hidden in the windows of some houses (known cases).
  
• Fixed an error in the key settings for the English localization where it was "Level Up" instead of "Lever Up."
  

Hey, train conductors! Over the past few days, there have been several reports of a serious bug breaking saves, including autosaves. Since this is a critical issue, I've decided to release an urgent update. The problem was that at a certain point, the game would start saving with an error, and if the player didn't stop the game, all autosaves would be overwritten and possibly corrupt the rest. This has been fixed; now, when the system detects a save error, the game stops overwriting autosaves and displays a large notification window about the issue:

Example of notification window.



If a player receives such a notification, they should stop, take a screenshot of the notification, and send it to me (the developer) by any available means. After that, they should go to the menu without saving the game (as saves are likely no longer being created). Check the last working autosave and also send this autosave to me (the developer). Given that autosaves are created at short intervals, this will help me identify the cause of the failure, and the player will hardly lose any game progress. Also, if you have any guesses about what might have happened during this short period and what could have led to the failure, describe your assumption to me along with the attached files.

[h2]CHANGELOG[/h2]

Improvements

• 100% Slovak localization.
  
• Implemented restrictions for missions involving killing zombies in a specific area. For Mark's mission, killing 120 out of 125 zombies is enough to complete the mission. For Stanislav's mission, 55 out of 58.
  
• Fixed the descent from fallen shelves in the far part of the Supermarket in the new location.
  
• Removed grass from the floor of the last house with armor in the swamp location.
  
• Removed grass from the first container to the right of the barrack in the starting location.
  
• Fixed several levitating zombie corpses.
  

Fixed Errors

• Fixed an error where, if a crash occurred, the game would start saving with an error, replacing all autosaves with broken files. Now autosaves will not be replaced, and a message about the save game error will appear. In this case, the player should stop, take a screenshot of the message, and send it to the developer by any means. Then check the operation of the last autosave and send this save to the developer to identify the causes of the save game error.