DeadPoly News

Garden City is finally making its long overdue return, even though the interiors aren't ready yet. I'm very happy with how far the game has come in the last few months, and the real map finally getting back in is going to help push the game forward much faster.

Over the next few weeks and months, the game will begin getting a large amount of content updates to add more items, buildables, weapons, guns, gun attachments, vendors, and more. I know I say this a lot, but we really are just getting started!



Additions

• Garden City is back! (Full building interiors, military base, and bunkers still in progress, eta ~3 weeks)
• Added Trust system for sharing your base with friends
  
• Added friends on world map if added as Trusted
  
• Added respawn point buildable (Sleeping Bag - 1 minute cooldown)
  
• 10 actual zombie models, more coming for sure
  
• Steam Cloud Save has been enabled - this has caused issues in the past, so keeping an eye on it right now
  

Changes

• Many performance improvements, especially with memory management
  
• Changes to build part collision detection
  
• Changes to enable building foundations in most locations as long as they have landscape support (standard ground, roads, sidewalks, etc...)
  
• Adjusted spawn rates for lootable containers
  
• Adjustments to saving code in attempt to prevent corruption
  
• Player character capsule collision size has been increased (you may no longer fit in some areas you could before)
  
• Changed the player icon for the map to be easier to tell which direction you're facing
  
• Replaced the Ping section in the server browser with Map, since ping doesn't seem to work anyway
  
• Significantly reduced the built in flashlight brightness to not blind you when bouncing off of weapons
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed critical issue that could cause placed items to not be returned when picking them up
  
• Fixed harvesting deer sometimes not returning meat
  
• Shelves no longer spawn large items (no more free loot!)
  
• Fixed doors not loading their interact menu
  
• Fixed free place doors interact menu not following the door mesh
  
• Fixed more building doorway sizes to be consistent
  
• Fixed iron sights on M4 being out of whack
  
• Fixed possible crash from firearm collision
  
• Fixed zombies sometimes sliding away slowly after being escorted beyond their undeath
  
• Fixed some incorrect collisions on buildable objects
  
• Fixed being able to use food and water while in another action that wouldn't increase your stats but did consume the item
  
• Fixed bug that would cause the lightest skin tone to not load in multiplayer correctly
  
• Fixed bug that could cause ADS to not work when using Hold to ADS option
  
• Fixed issue with zoom magnification not adjusting mouse sensitivity when using Hold to ADS option
  
• Fixed bug with campfire causing it to not run its timer correctly
  
• Fixed bug with double doors losing collision after reload
  
• Fixed vaulting bug that would let you jump through solid objects
  

Patch 0.2.0:

Additions

• Item consumption / usage animations added (sounds coming in next update)
  
• Many new items added
  
• Items can now spawn directly on many world objects such as shelves (and until the next update, they spawn A LOT - happy holidays!)
  
• Storage items now drop their items on the ground when destroyed
  
• Added the hotbar to the rebindable keys (will update the hotbar graphic to reflect in the future)
  

Changes

• Changes to inventory backend code to prevent broken inventory slots
  
• Changes to inventory loading code to fix previously broken inventory slots
  
• Changes to inventory move code to prevent items from pending until reboot when moving in to a broken slot
  
• Adjusted settings menu colors to be less damaging to your eyes at night
  
• Many building meshes adjusted to fix geometry issues
  
• Many building doorways adjusted to be the new standard size
  
• Many building collision issues resolved
  
• Multiple performance optimizations with how the game loads data
  
• Changes to loot randomness and general loot table mechanics
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed issue with multiplayer not ending sessions even after leaving the server
  
• Fixed issue that would not allow you to host a multiplayer session until you restart the game
  
• Fixed roof having weird collisions in some specific use cases
  
• Fixed lights not being placable on the underside of buildable floors
  

Lots of little things to fix up for this update, but won't have as much time for a few days due to Holidays, so releasing now, with many fixes planned to happen in the next few weeks, along with more additions.

Hey there Survivors,

It's been a minute since the last community update, so let's jump right in.

The rebuild launch sucked. I dropped the ball hard on the launch of the rebuild. I absolutely should have waited until the game was at full parity with Legacy before launching it. There's no way to make losing content feel good, period, and I should have considered that way more when making the decision to launch it.

My main reasoning for going forward with the launch before it was at full parity was just trying to be honest on the store page with what the game is going to be. New and existing players weren't reading news and updates, so they weren't really aware that the entire game was in progress to be changed, and I was trying to avoid that as much as possible. It isn't and never was my intention to deceive or confuse the amazing players of DeadPoly.

In truth, I also vastly underestimated how big of a deal it would be perceived as to have to select the Legacy version to not play the rebuild. It takes far longer to write a scathing review about the game 'removing' content even though Legacy is still readily and easily available than it does to just swap to the Legacy beta option and keep playing Legacy. The majority of the players leaving negative reviews saying I should bring back Legacy don't seem to acknowledge (or care I guess?) that it's still available.

Hindsight is much easier to see the faults in my decisions. If I could change the release, I would for sure have waited until Garden City was finished and all of the items from Legacy were back in, but what's done is done at this point. Reverting the store page and default version back to Legacy isn't going to magically reverse the huge negative review count that the rebuild has caused, and then I'd be back to feeling like I was deceiving players anyway.

There were pros and cons to all possible ways to release a completely rebuilt game in place of the existing one. Some players suggested I should have made a new store page for the rebuild, but to me, that might come off as if I'm trying to make people buy a new game when Legacy was never finished, which isn't my intention at all. The entire purpose of the rebuild is providing all of you with the best game possible, and I still firmly believe the rebuild is a better game in every way except the map size and missing items.

I cannot thank the patience many of you have shown with this whole process enough. The decision to rebuild the entire game from scratch wasn't taken lightly. I knew it was going to take a long time to get back to the raw content amount of Legacy, and that the interim period was probably going to be a bit brutal. I completely understand why players who aren't reading what's in the works might think the game was dead because it wasn't getting the weekly updates like it used to.

Now that I'm rapidly approaching the point of being able to push content updates more regularly, I am super happy with where the game is at and how bright the future is. To me, the game just feels leagues better. All of the new systems feel much closer to what I've always wanted the game to play like, without losing the fun aspects of Legacy.

Yes, the map is far too small. I am working constantly on getting Garden City updated and brought back in to the game. It is the top priority right now. ASAP.

All of the items from Legacy are being brought back in. This is mostly just data entry at this point, and I'm chipping away at it every update. Still a solo dev, never enough time in the day, right? Haha.

Plans for 2024?

• Official servers
  
• Dedicated server files for community servers
  
• Garden City Map reintroduction
  
• 2 additional maps added
  
• More items, always more items!
  
• Finally adding the actual zombie models instead of just having recolored players
  
• Non-zombie AI like raiders, scavengers, etc
  
• More bunkers, puzzles, questing, factions, and content in general
  
• Proximity VOIP
  
• Emote system for dancing, waving, pointing, gestures, etc
  
• Continued systems development for things like farming, electricity, fishing, and more
  
• Team expansion to finally get more hands involved with the game and increase development speed and scope
  
• and, as always, stay tuned for more!
  

Contrary to the word on the streets, DeadPoly is nowhere near dead. There's still so much more on the horizon, and I'm still as eager and excited as I was the day the game released to keep pushing forward with all of you towards the full release and beyond.

Also, friendly reminder that Legacy is still playable for players who aren't enjoying the rebuild yet!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Patch 0.1.12:

Additions
- Holiday items added
- Many new items added

Changes
- Adjusted the running animations while holding melee weapons for first person to not boop your character in the nose as much
- Adjusted camera rotation lag to be more precise and snappy
- Fix some errors with the admin panel, and extended to function with dedicated servers once they're released
- Increased vendor inventory to allow selling larger items until different solution is implemented

Bugs Squashed
- Wire no longer has the wrong mesh when setting down
- Fixed some zombies who didn't make noise when they walked

//

Halloween Items Bug!
This update caused an issue with existing Halloween items. I have researched the cause of this issue so it won't happen again going forward. Apologies for not catching this bug sooner.

Because saves that were loaded on the new update can't recover their Halloween items, I am adding two vendors (One next to Tallahassee and one on the corner in the city) that will sell the Halloween items for cheap.

The bigger oof to this issue is that bags that contained the Halloween items will be broken at the moment due to the same issue. I am looking in to a better solution for this going forward. I'd recommend finding a new bag and storing the 'broken' bag until I can find a fix.

If your character inventory is broken, you'll just need to respawn. Put all your items in storage and find a nice citizen to assist you with respawning.

Huge shoutout to Crumbls for taking the time to chat and ask meaningful questions!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]