v3.1 Beta Update 2 - Melee Rework

Happy New Year!

As we promised, our second beta update is focused more on melee adjustments and buffs on their damage and usage. We've made a significant change in their hit detection and how they actually work, hoping to minimize the "long arms" problem. We also have slightly increased their damage value on most of the melees and implemented a new feature giving a little damage boost when charging up (holding MOUSE2) a two-hand melee weapon (sledgehammer, chair, and shovel).

We'll keep planning and working new ways to improve even further our melee weapons as overall for better dynamic combat against those nasty zombies. This requires you telling us if today's changes was a welcome addition or not, and what else could require our attention. Be sure to voice your concerns and thoughts by leaving your feedback in our 3.1 sub-forums.

Added a new console with better color support.
Added a "phone settings" tab in ZP Options.
Added an optional ability to drop your current firearm as soon as it's fully unloaded (à la Contagion).
Added a system's cross cursor when using voice commands.
Bullets now apply physics impulses to physical props.
Divided cooldown for weapons/ammo interactions (e.g. dropping) by 2.
Fixed being able to grab weapons while charging a 2 handed melee weapon.
Fixed "Create Listen Server" going haywire.
Fixed CVARs "crosshair" and "cl_crosshairobserver" being ignored.
Fixed last survivor(s) earning survivors related achievements if the round wasn't won by survivors.
Fixed missing spectator flashlight material.
Fixed Panic not scooting inventory in certain cases.
Fixed some official sprays.
Fixed spectators not getting updated info.
Fixed Steam Cloud bad configuration.
Fixed Steam overwritting user config. files for both client and dedicated server every update.
Fixed weight issue with delivery items and grenades.
HUD is now hidden during cutscenes.
Increased ladder climbing speed by x0.25.
[Linux Only] Forced missing "-secure -steam" parameters.
POTENTIAL fix for "bouncy crouching".
POTENTIAL fix for "ghost" ammo/ragdolls/items/weapons.
POTENTIAL fix for T-posing ragdolls when dying.
Migrated more strings to the new localization system.
Reduced panic duration from 5.5 to 3.5 sec.
Removed lag compensation for melee weapons.
Reworked the entire melee weapon system (should be more easy to hit your targets now).
Reworked the green inoculator effect.
Reworked the "look closer at the phone" code (zooming should no longer block other functions).
Reworked the generic Source's options menu/tabs to fit more with ZPS's.
Reworked the voice system.


We've also updated the following official maps: Biotec, Frozenheart, Murksville, Asylum, and Subway. All content is now available on the unstable build.


Besides the melee work, we've made an important gameplay change in our green inoculator and voice command cooldown as requested by the community. The Green Inoculator now gives you a temporary speed boost for 6 seconds (as if you were panicking) ignoring all the weight and fatigue you have. It no longers delays the infection.

As usual, this is an experimental change and necessitate a reasonable period of testing to decide the best result for the green inoculator.


To get a thrill out of all those changes, we'll be hosting a few gaming community events to play on the unstable branch in the upcoming weekends (19th, 20th, 26th, and 27th) of January. It's going to be at the same timezone as it was in the previous event we did last year - 7 PM (GMT - UTC 0) // 2 PM (EST - UTC -5).

We will be playing on the Official EU Server #3 first, then the Official US Server #1 for the rest of the days. More info you can find here.


Stay connected with game developers, playtesters and other community members by joining our official Discord server! Tell us what did you like and did not like about the update, what we could work on next and so on! Use this public link to join: https://discord.gg/zps

See you in the next announcement,
- Zombie Panic! Development Team