Zombie Panic! Source News

[p]Hi everyone! I'm 'Tabajara' (team lead & coordinator) and I'm here on behalf of the Zombie Panic! Team for this announcement to talk about the future plans for the game, what is coming next for the franchise as a whole, and how this involves the community. Let's dive right into it![/p][p][/p][h2]What is the plan?[/h2][p]The team is currently in pre-production working to migrate ZPS to the TF2SDK update-branch. This will bring lots of game features and improvements to the game that will benefit both the dev team and the community as a whole in the long term. Everything discussed below should be considered as a work in progress and subject to change, being scrapped, or being delayed during the porting process due to development reasons.[/p][p][/p][h3]The 'TF2 SDK' update includes the following:[/h3]

• [p]64-bit Support - Moving from 32bit to 64bit architecture allows the game to utilize your system resources more efficiently than just 4GB of RAM. This should result in smoother gameplay, fewer game crashes, and potentially higher frame rates on modern hardware.[/p]
• [p]Networking Optimizations - There are a lot of prediction fixes included in this update, resulting in less hit registration errors and a better game-feel. This will be a longer process to fine tune it, so we will require your feedback in the forums.[/p]
• [p]Steam Networking (Peer-to-Peer) - Players will have the ability to host their own local server and play with their friends or anyone without needing to join a community server or install a Dedicated Server just for the occasion. This is soon to be tested if can be implemented into ZPS.[/p]
• [p]Miscellaneous - There are a bunch of other important backported changes, engine related bug fixes and very minor miscs from the 'TF2 SDK' update that will all be properly included in a future patch and documented, stay tuned for it![/p]

[p][/p][h3]What else is in the 'to-do' list?[/h3]

• [p]Barricade System Enhancements - To be frank, I wish to improve our barricade system overall to be more user-friendly and less chaotic without breaking any updated custom maps. We'll be discussing more in another announcement or through Steam forums.[/p]
• [p]Police Station Rework - This reworked version, created by the community-member Sethen, has unfairly been "on-hold" for years. The plan is to bring it back up and ship an objective version specifically for this map, rather than replacing the original Survival Police Station. Players will be able to playtest in advance and provide feedback before it goes public.[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p]
• [p]Updated Scoreboard - I want to add specific changes to our scoreboard and the round end panel that could result in a better understanding of your game. One is to rework our 'score point system' according to player feedback. Concepts and further discussion will happen in the near future.[/p]
• [p]UI/UX Improvements - There are a few issues with the game UI/UX that we've been struggling to fix over the past few years (one of them related to higher resolutions). Perhaps during this port, we may finally be able to solve lots of those VGUI problems once and for all. Time will tell![/p]
• [p]Special Gamemodes - Over the past years, the community has come up with a vast variety of custom gamemodes (PvP, PGM, The Hidden, Combine vs Humans etc) that have been well received and played many times to this day. According to the latest survey, new official gamemodes aren't a high priority, but we hope to see additions at some point. I can not promise anything at the current time but to continue pushing improvements to Angelscript for the custom ones.[/p]

[p]Back in October, the team shipped an update with some of those changes from the TF2SDK update with other game balance tweaks per community request, which you can find the announcement here![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Now, I want to reserve the next part of the announcement for projects which are fully managed by members of the community, who are willing to support ZPS in some way by volunteering their experience and work at specific areas where the game is lacking the most. Let me introduce you to those.[/p][p][/p][h2]Contributor Projects[/h2][h3]New Animations[/h3][p]This project aims to improve the ZPS player character models and viewmodel animations, making them high-quality up-to-date standards with fluid movements, which will also save time and effort for the animators and any modder who wishes to create custom assets for ZPS. [/p][p]The team behind this project are: TexasSteve, HardyNerdy and Silent. They will be required to create a completely new skeleton rig that will be used in all player models for consistency. Steve already shared a work-in-progress on some weapons which you can check out in the video below:[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][h3]New Weapons[/h3][p]New rig also means the possibility of new guns. Our first brand-new weapon soon to be added into the ZPS arsenal is a Lever Action Rifle - a Winchester 94. Created by the talented Alvaro Vidal. This rifle will be very powerful at long-range, use the .357 magnum ammo type, have low clip capacity, and a slightly longer reload time than a Revolver but better firerate. All brainstorming for now. More news will be shared in the future detailing when it will be released and what's next. Images below![/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][h3]Characters Overhaul[/h3][p]Once the team has the new model rigging completed, Mage will resume his 'character overhaul' project and rework the rest of the character models with better quality and performance in-game. He plans to totally recreate the models from the ground up for both teams, together with concept arts being made by the 2D artist LucaBuca2000. Here is a preview of the new upcoming Carrier design:[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][p]You can follow Mage's new Carrier development progress up close in his WIP Gamebanana page here.[/p][p] [/p][h2]Zombie Panic! Sequel/Source 2[/h2][p]Our official FAQ and the ZPS sequel threads have some detailed information about this topic. To recap:[/p]

• [p]Source 2 port of ZPS is out of the question. We have NO plans to port ZPS to the new engine without breaking all of our custom content and fully rewriting the source code again. Not worth it.[/p]
• [p]There isn't any fresh news about Monochrome's Zombie Panic sequel in UE4. However, JonnyBoy did say he has plans to move the project to other game-engine platforms where it runs on a heavily modified version of Source 2. There isn't much to discuss right now besides that.[/p]

[p][/p][p]A reminder that the Zombie Panic! Team has completely no involvement with the Zombie Panic! sequel in UE4 or any future games under the Zombie Panic! franchise (unless we announce it). If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the sequel, join the official Monochrome Discord server.[/p][p][/p][h2]Zombie Panic 1 coming to Steam[/h2][p]With the recent increase of community game nights and renewed interest in playing the original Half-Life mod, the team decided to give a bit of uplift to it. JonnyBoy did a complete code rewrite to be compatible with the Half-Life 1 25th anniversary update, including major gameplay fixes, a bunch of quality-of-life changes, and a few welcome improvements to make things easier and more stable for players.[/p][p][/p][p]Since we were going through all the trouble with it and wanted to let as many people know about the update, I'm very excited to finally announce that Zombie Panic 1 is coming to Steam Store! Featuring everything discussed above, plus Steam Achievements and Workshop support. Wishlist now and tell your friends![/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]As a bonus, the GoldSrc mod is now opensourced and source code is available in the GitHub! [/p][p][/p][h2]ZPS Mapping Contest[/h2][p]This is a personal wish I always had when we first conducted the "Spray Contest" on GameBanana back in 2018 as an experiment for community contests. Map makers within the community have been asking one for this for years, so I'm in the talks with LambdaGeneration staff to organize and push this idea forward in the near future with a theme and prizes in mind. Stay tuned for that![/p][p][/p][h2]"I want to donate/support!"[/h2][p]I'm always flattered to hear people asking where and how they can donate for the game. Even though the former team stopped accepting donations long ago, I strongly recommend to shift your donation wishes to the dedicated team working on those projects above or support your favorite community servers by donating to them directly![/p][p][/p][p]Don't worry though, you still can give your free support for the game by sharing ZPS with your friends, playing it with others and leaving a review on Steam! You have no idea how much it helps![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]If you would like to hang out with other players just to play some ZPS, the people over at Zombie Dome have come together to host community game nights every Friday at specific times. Check out this thread for more info and to suggest other dates or different timezones for upcoming events. You can also check out other ZPS communities to connect with others.[/p][p][/p][p]Lastly, I want to give a huge thanks to all the contributors leading these projects, the dev team working on the migration port, and to all the community playtesters who will help us shape the next updates. That's all for now, if you have any questions, let me know down below or through Steam forums![/p][p][/p][p]A reminder to also join the Official ZPS Discord server if you would like to hang out and play either both the GoldSrc and the Source games together with other players! https://discord.gg/zps[/p][p][/p][p]Take care,[/p][p]Tabajara and the Zombie Panic! Team[/p]

[p][/p][p]Hello everyone! We're very excited to introduce the long-awaited v3.3 patch and to announce our plans to migrate Zombie Panic! Source to the latest 'TF2 SDK' update-branch![/p][p][/p][p]Back in February, Valve released a massive update to the Source SDK which adds Team Fortress 2's client and server game code, making it possible for modders to change or rewrite TF2 however they like. This update brought a lot of cool new features, changes, and improvements to all of Valve's multiplayer Source engine titles, such as 64-bit support, Steam Networking (Peer-to-Peer) and many more.[/p][p][/p][p]Our programmers are currently in the process of bringing all of those features into ZPS and they will arrive in future updates when they are ready. We'll have a detailed dev blog explaining each one of those new features, what we've been working on, and new upcoming content in the near future![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Today's update includes the first phase of our TF2 SDK migration plan, focused on specific changes and improvements to the game that don't change anything within the game engine for a faster release and to fix any technical bugs from the initial port. We'll highlight and discuss the most important ones included in this patch, followed by a full changelog below![/p][p][/p][h2]Networking Optimizations[/h2][p]The first changes from the TF2 SDK implemented in this patch are improvements to networking precision and lots of client-side prediction fixes, resulting in less hit registration errors and better game-feel. Players with high ping latency might notice some improvements in this aspect. Please let us know in our forums of any issues you find when playing![/p][p][/p][h2]Steam Workshop Improvements[/h2][p]We've made significant changes to our Workshop mounting to support VPKs that should result in better game performance and reduced loading times. Players with lots of subscribed items will notice this change clearly when launching their game. We highly recommend to all Workshop authors to pack your items into a VPK file for this change to take action![/p][p][/p][p]We also want to mention that the "custom" folder will no longer be used. From now on, we require you to move any custom content you have there to the "addons" folder instead, since it's not very efficient to have two mount points that do the same job. Packing your own custom content into a VPK also helps![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]More detailed info about this in the readme.txt file in your 'addons' folder! Or check guide below![/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][h2]Game Settings Changes[/h2][p]There is a 'new' setting in "Video -> Advanced" called "Material queue mode" (aka mat_queue_mode) for you to change with an extra description of what it does. This option was always forced to "1" in the past due to reasons that aren't relevant anymore, and we want to let you know that you can now manually toggle this option![/p][p][/p][p]We unfortunately had to remove both "Multicore rendering" and "Windows Aero" options from the advanced settings; the first was causing users to get stuck in a listen server, and the second was not really applying the change anyway. You can still use the host_thread_mode CVAR in the console for multicore rendering, and you can add the command-line argument "-nod3d9ex" in your game's launch options to disable Windows Aero extensions. Keep in mind we do not recommend messing with these options as they might threaten game stability and thus your gameplay experience.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Gameplay Tweaks[/h2][p]According to player feedback and past community surveys, players have been asking for changes to the player movement speeds and stamina/fatigue regen. We wish to let you know that we've made some improvements in this regard that should make the Survivors less exhausting with walk/duck mode being slightly faster and recovering stamina much better than before.[/p][p][/p][p]We also took this opportunity to increase the head damage multiplier on Pistols, Revolver and Rifles to feel more rewarding as we agreed it was really underwhelming (base dmg had to be tweaked as a trade).[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Addons system & Steam Workshop[/h3]

• [p]Added support for VPK files.[/p]
• [p]Removed "custom" folder mount point.[/p]

[h3]Achievements[/h3]

• [p]Steam achievements can now be earned through custom maps.[/p]

[h3]Angelscript[/h3]

• [p]Fixed various inconsistent order of calls with Source I/O (now AngelScript is always first, Source I/O is second).[/p]

[h3]Audio[/h3]

• [p]Upgraded FMOD to 2.03.09 version.[/p]

[h3]Client[/h3]

• [p]Added "viewmodel_offset" CVARs.[/p]
• [p]Changed raw input mouse default value to enabled (TF2 SDK update).[/p]
• [p]Changed unload weapon input bit value to HL2's zoom (community bots might require an update if said bit is used).[/p]
• [p]Renamed the "disable spray" CVAR from "cl_playerspraydisable" to "cl_spraydisable" (consistency with other Source titles).[/p]
• [p]Upgraded Discord RPC to the latest maintenance version.[/p]

[h3]Debugging bots[/h3]

• [p]Added "bot_zps_add_lobby" command.[/p]
• [p]Fixed "bot_zps_add_spectator" adding a Zombie bot instead of a Spectator one.[/p]

[h3]Entities[/h3]

• [p]Backported "non-solid" spawnflag for rotating buttons (TF2 SDK update).[/p]
• [p]Backported "point_worldtext" entity (TF2 SDK update).[/p]
• [p]Fixed buttons "OnDamage" output passing the activator rather than the attacker.[/p]
• [p]Removed unused HL2:DM spawn entities (info_player_combine and info_player_rebel).[/p]
• [p]Renamed the player entity from "zpplayer" to "player" (consistency with other Source titles).[/p]

[h3]Game rules[/h3]

• [p]Reduced Hardcore mode timer cap from 8 minutes to 5 minutes (requires server to have "sv_zps_hardcore_roundtime_clamp" set to 1)[/p]
• [p]Removed forced infection chat messages.[/p]

[h3]General[/h3]

• [p]Backported some misc fixes and improvements from the TF2 SDK update.[/p]
• [p]Fixed default max players being set to only 2 instead of 24 slots.[/p]
• [p]Fixed players being able to kick server bots without admin rights.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a very minor memory leak on Key/Value pairs.[/p]
• [p]Renamed the "specmode_next", "specmode_prev", "specmode_switch" and "specmode_target" commands to "spec_next", "spec_prev", "spec_mode" and "spec_target" respectively (consistency with other Source titles)[/p]
• [p]Removed "mat_queue_mode" being forced to value 1.[/p]
• [p]Updated contributors list.[/p]
• [p]Various code optimizations and security fixes.[/p]

[h3]Localization[/h3]

• [p]Added Brazilian (Portuguese) translations.[/p]
• [p]Updated French translations.[/p]
• [p]Updated German translations. (Thanks XeroX)[/p]
• [p]Updated Russian translations. (Thanks Reborn and Orphanage)[/p]
• [p]Removed several unused strings.[/p]

[h3]Maps[/h3]

• [p]Added 'jack o' lantern' and fixed minor issues with zombie spawns LoS in Haunted. [/p]
• [p]Fixed missing zombie spawns having LoS (PVS spawn) not enabled in Sapidcerebrum.[/p]
• [p]Fixed "volume > 255" console spam due to wrong soundscape values on Nightmare.[/p]
• [p]Moved the police car AK spawn to the generator room as a random_rifle on Harvest.[/p]
• [p]Updated Aquatica, Clubzombo and OBJ Keretti.[/p]
  • [p]Cubemap fixes and miscellaneous.[/p]

[h3]Player[/h3]

• [p]Updated Survivor's fatigue, recharge stamina and duck/walk mode values.[/p]
  • [p]Decreased fatigue limit to 46[/p]
  • [p]Increased ducking speed to 126[/p]
  • [p]Increased walk mode speed to 144[/p]
  • [p]Increased fatigue recharge rate to 0.03[/p]
  • [p]Increased fatigue (walk) recharge rate to 0.015[/p]

[h3]UI[/h3]

• [p]Added setting to control Steam overlay's position.[/p]
• [p]Added hints to advanced game video settings when hovering over them.[/p]
• [p]Added "Material queue mode" advanced video setting (mat_queue_mode).[/p]
• [p]Fixed broken teammate inventory HUD.[/p]
• [p]Fixed "https://" protocol in text not being detected as links.[/p]
• [p]Removed "about community servers" and "welcome (back) to ZPS" dialogs.[/p]
• [p]Removed several leftover unused HL2 HUD elements.[/p]
• [p]Removed video tutorials in the menu (the "Manual" button will now open the official Steam guide in the Steam overlay web browser if possible)[/p]
• [p]Removed "DirectX" labels from advanced video settings as we don't support older DirectX levels.[/p]
• [p]Removed "Multicore rendering" from advanced video settings.[/p]
• [p]Removed "Windows Aero" extensions from advanced video settings.[/p]

[h3]Weapons[/h3]

• [p]Updated all Pistols and MP5 (9mm) values.[/p]
  • [p]Decreased base damage to 20[/p]
  • [p]Increased head damage multiplier to 2.0[/p]
  • [p]Set body damage multiplier to 1.0 by default.[/p]
• [p]Updated all Rifles values.[/p]
  • [p]Increased AK47's base damage to 27 and M4's base damage to 23.[/p]
  • [p]Tweaked head damage multiplier to 2.0[/p]
  • [p]Set body damage multiplier to 1.0 by default.[/p]
• [p]Updated Revolver values.[/p]
  • [p]Increased head damage multiplier to 3.0[/p]
  • [p]Set body damage multiplier to 1.0 by default. (80 base dmg)[/p]
• [p]Updated Broom melee.[/p]
  • [p]Decreased head damage multiplier to 1.5[/p]
  • [p]Decreased base damage to 35[/p]
• [p]Updated fists values.[/p]
  • [p]Decreased head damage multiplier to 1.5[/p]
  • [p]Set body damage multiplier to 1.0 by default (25 base dmg)[/p]
• [p]Restored viewmodel recoil animations (if they are present, this is a visual change that does not impact gameplay).[/p]

[p][/p][p]The 'TF2 SDK' release is a great opportunity to bring ZPS to the latest (free for use) Source engine branch that includes lots of new features (64 bits, Steam Networking etc...) that the community could benefit. However, most of them requires heavy changes to its engine, resulting extensive work and dedication from our programmers. Therefore, we decided to release this patch with everything available from the TF2 SDK update that doesn't change anything within game's engine, including lots of quality of life fixes, game balance changes (per community request) and lots of miscellaneous.[/p][p][/p][p]We'll being the pre-production of ZPS v4.0 in the near future to test the waters of those new features, see if they can be implemented or not, take this chance to rework technical areas of our game and then have a playable build for testing. Everything is a working in progress and subjected to change. We'll publish a devblog later on discussing all the possibilities of the port, our future plans for the franchise and any upcoming content (official and from community contributors).[/p][p][/p][p]Until then, please enjoy this Halloween update and let us know what you think by discussing below, make sure to report any bugs or issues you find in our forums! 🎃[/p][p][/p][p]The Zombie Panic! Team[/p]

On Nov 16th, 2004, Valve released a sequel to their most acclaimed franchise Half-Life 2. Debuting their latest engine technology: Source ® - founding the path to innumerous creation of community mods since. The former Zombie Panic Team didn't waste the opportunity and began the work on their sequel, using the Half-Life 2's Source Engine as a base, leading the release of Zombie Panic! Source in Dec 28th, 2007.


Over the past year, we've been doing these official community gamenights on both ZP1 and ZPS with the help of Pikouchu's servers and we thought (people also suggested) making one on the older version too. Therefore, we'd like to celebrate this date with a Zombie Panic Source v2.4 gamenight on Nov 30th!

As always, Pikouchu will provide the community server for us, others are also welcomed to host their own. Be sure to click on "Set a reminder" to be notified, here are the timezones: GMT: 8:00 PM // PDT: 1:00 PM // EDT: 4:00 PM // CDT: 3:00 PM -- Click HERE for a quick install guide of ZPS v2.4 legacy version.

However, there are some important notice to share regarding this build;

[h3]Known 2.4 Legacy Issues[/h3]
This game version still uses/shares the old Source SDK 2007 MP as a base and it's no longer officially supported by the former and current developers. There will be graphical glitches, launch issues or game crashes during your playthrough. Some might experience it while others it will run without a problem.

Pikouchu provided a handful list of known issues and troubleshooting in case you're having those.

[h3]I want more ZP1/ZPS gamenights![/h3]
We rarely do these official gamenights in high capacity out there in the community, but Pikouchu usually is the one who will occasionally schedule random game events. If you want to gather a group to play together in specific date or to know when the next event is, join his Discord server!



We will see you up ahead!

We're shipping a small update today containing bugfixes reported by the community from previous patch, few Angelscript additions and other miscs. Full details in the patch notes below:


[h2]Angelscript[/h2]

• Added "Utils.RemoveImage".
  
• Fixed "Globals.SetAutoBalanceBlocked(bool)" not working in Objective maps.
  

[h2]Characters[/h2]

• Fixed missing texture on Paul Zombie's viewmodel arms.
  

[h2]Client[/h2]

• Added checks to prevent changes to DirectX levels.
  
• Fixed a case where a certain player wouldn't be displayed in 'Player List'.
  

[h2]Game rules[/h2]

• Added experimental forced infection cure when someone dies.
  
• Fixed auto balance chat spam mostly on custom gamemodes such as PG maps and The Hidden.
  

[h2]Maps[/h2]

• Added and updated item balance and other AS event scripts in the following maps: Aquatica, Biotec, Corpsington and Sapidcerebrum.
• [Aquatica] Changed zombie respawn timer to not go below 1.
  
• [Biotec] Fixed Lab's side doubledoors not correctly breaking via I.E.D and smoothed the zombie ladders on outside tree spawn.
  
• [Frozenheart] Fixed garage side door not properly opening when being blocked and updated tree models skyboxes with less verts.
  
• [Cinema] Added an anti-idle zombie method on certain spots where Survivors can't reach.
  

[h2]General[/h2]

• Removed unnecessary Half-Life 2 singleplayer stuff.
  

[h2]User Interface[/h2]

• Changed badge popups (Commander, Medic, etc...) to be an Angelscript (and SourceMod) exclusive feature.
  
• Minor font scaling changes to scoreboard and ammobank hud for 1080p and higher resolutions.
  

[h2]Weapons[/h2]

• Updated Glock17 spread and yx with better values.
  
• Updated Revolver damage multiplier on head only.
  
• Updated Chair dmg multiplier and removed its unique vertical trace module.
  
• Updated Shovel dmg multiplier both head and body slightly.
  
• Fixed collision and rigging on Grenade worldmodel.
  
• Fixed Winchester secondary attack not refreshing camping timer.
  
• Updated phone names list.
  

Hello everyone!

We're bringing you another series of community gamenight events, but this time on both Zombie Panic 1 and Zombie Panic! Source on July 6th and 13rd. We're partnering with LambdaGeneration platform who will be hosting and streaming the 'Zombie Night Month' where every Saturday of July there will be a gamenight event with the community in a different zombie game - first two focused on ZP1 and ZPS!



Event will start on those timezones and IP above - July 6th on Zombie Panic 1 and then July 13th on ZPS!

Just like last time, Pikouchu will be providing the Zombie Panic's dedicated servers for us! If this is your first time playing ZP1 or someone who forgot how to set up the mod, Pikouchu created a quick guide just for you! You need to have Half-Life 1 installed and follow all the instructions in the following link: https://pikouchu.com/zombie-panic

Make sure to click on "Set a reminder" on the right to not miss the start of the event day!

See you there!
- Zombie Panic Team