Survive the Nights News

Hello all,

We’ve released the 1.2.9 patch to our experimental branch on Steam. Thanks very much to all the testers finding current issues. There’s a lot of testing and breaking to do so go at it! Below you can find our patch notes. Please do your best to check against the list of changes and report bugs and issues in game using the F1 menu. You can also make suggestions in game using the same menu, changing ‘bug report’ to ‘suggestion’. Bold entries are new to 1.2.9. All entires should be thoroughly tested.

How to get into experimental branch:
1. Open Steam and go to your games library.
2. Right click on STN and select "Properties"
3. Navigate to the "Betas" tab and select "experimental" in the drop down menu.
4. Close the properties window.


[h3]Patch 1.2.9 [/h3]

Zombies now play correct animation when climbing through windows.
Reinforced plank placement improved.
Fixes for seeing other players consuming items.
Fixed issue with navigation thought hole in wall on first floor of new police POI.
Fixed issue with collision on bridge sound of union point.
Shopping carts can now be harvested.
Hatchet no longer has a floating shadow while equipped.
Reduced the volume of the interior loud speakers in the police POI.
Zombies now scream whe walking down the cell corridor.
Moved player spawn point that was inside a closed container.
Stopped vehicle spawning in chicken of police POI in Unionpoint.
Increased the amount of zombies in the police POI.
Lowered floating decals at Unionpoint police POI.
Fixed issue with discording causing sounds and UI to break.
Zombie scream sounds now align with animations.
Doors sound improvements.
Further performance improvements at the police station POI.
Fixed user reports. They can be submitted again.
Fixed spamming errors being caused by other players that are far away. This was causing console spam.

[h3]Patch 1.2.8 [/h3]

• Fixed issue that was causing ambient light to be brighter than it should be.
  
• Police POI peformance improvements.
  
• Fixes for broken sounds.
  
• Zombie footsteps working.
  

[h3]Fortifications[/h3]

• Aluminium Plank added.
  
• Reinforced Plank added.
  
• Plywood Board added.
  
• Plywood Board Reinforced added.
  
• Sheet Metal added.
  
• Window Bars added.
  

[h3]PVE Improvement (Only on PVE servers)[/h3]

• Damaging other player fortifications and locks is no longer possible.
  
• Damage from vehicles is now disabled.
  
• Damage from explosions and traps disabled.
  

[h3]Consumables[/h3]

• Energy drinks now effect stats correctly.
  

[h3]Player[/h3]

• Added mental health visual effects which get worse as mental health gets worse.
  
• Other players can now be seen consuming items.
  
• Death rag doll stability improved
  

[h3]Server[/h3]

• Added player initiated server restarting via vote system.
  
• Added scheduled restarting functionality which can be set in the serverConfig.txt
  

[h3]Discord[/h3]

• Added Discord rich presence support which displays an individuals global stats like zombies killed and nights survived. Once in game the information because specific to the player current actions.
  

[h3]Lights[/h3]

• Removed the faulty bulb effects from player placed bulbs (Lighting inside of circuits)
  
• Added faulty bulb flicking for both default and emergency lighting.
  

[h3]Audio[/h3]

• Improvements to zombie in vicinity system.
  
• Improvements to zombie alert sound reactions.
  
• Ambient sounds overhaul
  
• Wind noise system based on player height in the environment.
  
• Dynamic storm sounds playing with heavy rain and storm.
  
• Weather sounds transition system when entering buildings.
  
• Random ambient events system that plays 3d sounds around the player (frogs/crickets/crows/other birds/wind). Also plays different sounds dependant on time of day.
  
• Improved sound design by creating pooled audio playing to stop certain sounds getting cut off.
  
• Audio can now be heard after death (during fall to ground)
  
• Added new audio control system which muffles and reduces the range of sounds that are behind a wall.
  

[h3]AI[/h3]

• Resolved issue which stopped zombies wandering after they had roamed to a sound.
  
• Zombies can now open doors that require electricity but only while the door is powered.
  

[h3]Weapons[/h3]

• Reduced the power slightly on Rauser, Lola, Clinchester and the r-6804 to better balance then against specialist weapons.
  
• Pump action and FRKS shotguns now use 18 gauge ammo.
  
• Added new passive carry positions system which lowers the weapon when not in use. Carry position is entered after time without weapon use. It takes longer to enter when the weapon is in use.
  

[h3]UI[/h3]

• Cleaning kit guide point no longer says you need cloth when it was actually rags.
  
• Fixed wind up flashlight description.
  
• Dot in the centre of the screen (crosshair) no longer displays when looking at objects more than several meters away. This was causing confusion as players were assuming bullets would hit at crosshair location when fired from the hip position.
  
• Lock kits no longer show resources left next to name.
  
• Lock kits now show their max application strength in the inventory after being removed.
  

[h3]World Interaction[/h3]

• Resolved issue where items would move slightly after been dropped
  
• Stopped entry into placement mode when item would be on top of another item.
  
• Explosions now have reduced damage when there is a wall between the explosion and the object getting damaged.
  
• Improved item placement stability. This should hopefully fix any remaining issues around placed items going missing.
  
• Fixed issue which meant that locks weren’t being cleared from the database after being destroyed. This resulted in locks with 1 condition after server restart.
  
• Fixed issue which stopped explosions affecting locks after first one.
  
• Added loads of new harvest locations linked to the new police station props.
  
• Removed the ability to drop certain items that require snapping to the ground surface.
  
• Improved placement mode by making item snap to the nearest downward surface.
  
• Added functionality for automatic opening/closing doors for when power gets activated/deactivated.
  

[h3]Loot[/h3]

• Long weapons can now spawn upright in the gun store and armories.
  
• Double barrel and hunting rifles now spawn at farm houses.
  
• Added new 18 gauge shotgun ammo.
  
• Specialist ammo no longer spawns at non special POI based locations.
  
• Specialist weapons no longer spawn in non special POI based locations.
  
• Ammo at POI locations are now full boxes by default.
  

[h3]Props[/h3]

• Added new police station POI building.
  
• Added commercial glass sliding doors.
  
• Added shooting range props.
  
• Added various new police station props.
  

[h3]Animation[/h3]

• Improved carry positions for other players.
  
• Added new eating animations for other players.
  
• Added new drinking animations for other players.
  
• Added new pill takin animation for other players.
  
• Improved pistol carry animations for other players.
  

[h3]Doors[/h3]

• Added new electric police cell door.
  
• Added new electric armory door.
  
• Added new 1 way electrict security door.
  
• Added new black office type door.
  

Thanks for the continued support and continued issue and suggestion reporting :). Below are some helpful links to anyone new and interested in the game. If you’d like to follow a bit closer, please consider joining our Discord. We’re here, we’re listening!

[h3]Links[/h3]
Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Forum: https://community.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net

Hello all,

We’ve released the 1.2.7 patch to our experimental branch on Steam. There’s a lot of testing and breaking to do so go at it! Below you can find our patch notes. Please do your best to check against the list of changes and report bugs and issues in game using the F1 menu. You can also make suggestions in game using the same menu, changing 'bug report' to 'suggestion'.

How to get into experimental branch:
1. Open Steam and go to your games library.
2. Right click on STN and select "Properties"
3. Navigate to the "Betas" tab and select "experimental" in the drop down menu.
4. Close the properties window.


[h3]Fortifications[/h3]

• Aluminium Plank added.
  
• Reinforced Plank added.
  
• Plywood Board added.
  
• Plywood Board Reinforced added.
  
• Sheet Metal added.
  
• Window Bars added.
  
• PVE Improvement (Only on PVE servers)
  
• Damaging other player fortifications and locks is no longer possible.
  
• Damage from vehicles is now disabled.
  
• Damage from explosions and traps disabled.
  
• Consumables
  
• Energy drinks now effect stats correctly.
  

[h3]Player[/h3]

• Added mental health visual effects which get worse as mental health gets worse.
  
• Other players can now be seen consuming items.
  
• Death rag doll stability improved
  

[h3]Server[/h3]

• Added player initiated server restarting via vote system.
  
• Added scheduled restarting functionality which can be set in the serverConfig.txt
  

[h3]Discord[/h3]

• Added Discord rich presence support which displays an individuals global stats like zombies killed and nights survived. Once in game the information becomes specific to the player current actions.
  

[h3]Lights[/h3]

• Removed the faulty bulb effects from player placed bulbs (Lighting inside of circuits)
  
• Added faulty bulb flicking for both default and emergency lighting.
  

[h3]Audio[/h3]

• Improvements to zombie in vicinity system.
  
• Improvements to zombie alert sound reactions.
  
• Ambient sounds overhaul
  
• Wind noise system based on player height in the environment.
  
• Dynamic storm sounds playing with heavy rain and storm.
  
• Weather sounds transition system when entering buildings.
  
• Random ambient events system that plays 3d sounds around the player (frogs/crickets/crows/other birds/wind). Also plays different sounds dependant on time of day.
  
• Improved sound design by creating pooled audio playing to stop certain sounds getting cut off.
  
• Audio can now be heard after death (during fall to ground)
  
• Added new audio control system which muffles and reduces the range of sounds that are behind a wall.
  

[h3]AI[/h3]

• Resolved issue which stopped zombies wandering after they had roamed to a sound.
  
• Zombies can now open doors that require electricity but only while the door is powered.
  

[h3]Weapons[/h3]

• Reduced the power slightly on Rauser, Lola, Clinchester and the r-6804 to better balance then against specialist weapons.
  
• Pump action and FRKS shotguns now use 18 gauge ammo.
  
• Added new passive carry positions system which lowers the weapon when not in use. Carry position is entered after time without weapon use. It takes longer to enter when the weapon is in use.
  

[h3]UI[/h3]

• Cleaning kit guide point no longer says you need cloth when it was actually rags.
  
• Fixed wind up flashlight description.
  
• Dot in the center of the screen (cross hair) no longer displays when looking at objects more than several meters away. This was causing confusion as players were assuming bullets would hit at cross hair location when fired from the hip position.
  
• Lock kits no longer show resources left next to name.
  
• Lock kits now show their max application strength in the inventory after being removed
  

[h3]World Interaction[/h3]

• Resolved issue where items would move slightly after been dropped
  
• Stopped entry into placement mode when item would be on top of another item.
  
• Explosions now have reduced damage when there is a wall between the explosion and the object getting damaged.
  
• Improved item placement stability. This should hopefully fix any remaining issues around placed items going missing.
  
• Fixed issue which meant that locks weren't being cleared from the database after being destroyed. This resulted in locks with 1 condition after server restart.
  
• Fixed issue which stopped explosions affecting locks after first one.
  
• Added loads of new harvest locations linked to the new police station props.
  
• Removed the ability to drop certain items that require snapping to the ground surface.
  
• Improved placement mode by making item snap to the nearest downward surface.
  
• Added functionality for automatic opening/closing doors for when power gets activated/deactivated.
  

[h3]Loot[/h3]

• Long weapons can now spawn upright in the gun store and armories.
  
• Double barrel and hunting rifles now spawn at farm houses.
  
• Added new 18 gauge shotgun ammo.
  
• Specialist ammo no longer spawns at non special POI based locations.
  
• Specialist weapons no longer spawn in non special POI based locations.
  
• Ammo at POI locations are now full boxes by default.
  

[h3]Props[/h3]

• Added new police station POI building.
  
• Added commercial glass sliding doors.
  
• Added shooting range props.
  
• Added various new police station props.
  

[h3]Animation[/h3]

• Improved carry positions for other players.
  
• Added new eating animations for other players.
  
• Added new drinking animations for other players.
  
• Added new pill taking animation for other players.
  
• Improved pistol carry animations for other players.
  

[h3]Doors[/h3]

• Added new electric police cell door.
  
• Added new electric armory door.
  
• Added new 1 way electric security door.
  
• Added new black office type door.
  

[h3]
Covid19 and the Team[/h3]
We here at a2z want to wish you all the best and just a quick reminder (not that you need it) to please stay safe and home if possible. We have temporarily closed the office in the UK and have been working from home.

Thanks for the continued support and continued issue and suggestion reporting :). Below are some helpful links to anyone new and interested in the game. If you'd like to follow a bit closer, please consider joining our Discord we're here, we're listening!

[h3]Links[/h3]
Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Forum: https://community.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net

Survive the Nights is now 35% off for the entire week! If you have any questions before purchasing, please join our discord and speak with the developers or other players in the community.

You can also see what we're working on for the next update here.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/541300/Survive_the_Nights/

[h3]Links[/h3]
Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Forum: https://community.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net
Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net

Hello all,

Thanks for checking out our 4th alpha devblog! Some of you might be new here so thanks much for the support! The team is hard at working on player found issues and developing the 1.3 patch. Below we'll go over a few of the features we're working on for 1.3. If you'd like to track the patch progress and follow more closely with development check our Changelog and feel free to join our Discord.


[h3]Police Station Progress[/h3]
Jos and the rest of the team have continued to rework and develop the Police Station as a new Point of Interest. We'll be introducing new door mechanics, like one way doors and prison cell doors (to keep your buddies locked up) ;). Below are a few screenshots and gifs of the progress being made.


Large armory


Office space


Hallways (for getting cornered in of course)


Hallways (emergency lighting)

Shooting range


Exterior - Garage on the left


Your way out or their way in?


Creepy Emergency Lighting


Creepy Emergency Lighting 2 


[h3]New Doors and Door Mechanics[/h3]

The police station POI will introduce quite a few new mechanics, models and features. One of them being new doors. We have a few new office doors, powered doors and one way door systems that should make the POI quite a challenge. 

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



[h3]Discord Integration[/h3]
Discord has been a massive part of the project since we launched un-listed pre-alpha at the end of 2017. It has provided a great deal of direct 1 on 1 contact with players and a tremendous amount of feedback. We've begun to introduce Discord integration. You'll be able to see player stats along with joining your friends on servers with a simple, single click! Below is a video of just a few of the newly introduced hooks. We are looking into expanding this with the possibility of Discord replacing our out of date in game voice chat.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



[h3]Weapon Nerfing[/h3]
'Risk vs Reward' has been somewhat of an issue with the current point of interests. We'll be nerfing pistols and smaller firearms with the aim of making those found in these POI's worth their while. In short, the idea is to change the overall feel and reason to weapons giving the player a good reason to head to and take on a point of interest like the airport or police station, to gather weapons like the ARG and FRKS. Most weapons before this change damage wise were on a level playing field. Now, the nerfed pistols take 1 to 2 extra shots to kill zombies. The Clinchester takes an extra shot from distance but will still one shot zombies up close. The r-68 will no longer one shot kill other players. This was frustrating to say the least. We'll tweak these changes together as the 1.3 goes live.


[h3]Covid19 and the Team[/h3]
We here at a2z want to wish you all the best and just a quick reminder (not that you need it) to please stay safe and home if possible. We will likely be closing and working from home in the coming days/weeks. 


Thanks for the continued support and continued issue and suggestion reporting :). Below are some helpful links to anyone new and interested in the game. If you'd like to follow a bit closer, please consider joining our Discord we're here, we're listening! 


Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Forum: https://community.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net



Hello all,

Thanks for checking out our 3rd alpha devblog! Some of you might be new here so thanks much for the support! The team is hard at working sorting player found issues and developing the 1.3 patch. Below we'll go over a few of the features we're working on for 1.3. If you'd like to track the patch progress and follow more closely with development check our Changelog and feel free to join our Discord.

[h3]POI - Police Station Rework[/h3]
We'll be introducing new points of interest and reworked structures with nearly every update during our alpha stage. The world you see now in many ways will not be the same by the years end. We're reworking large Points of Interest and will soon begin the task of updating and replacing residential structures.

The police station began with a mock up, pen and pencil on paper. Jos used quite a few references to achieve his initial design. It's mocked up on paper and discussed by the team. The structure will feature long halls and pinch points. Getting through this POI should prove quite a challenge.

Jos' initial police station mock up


From this point on, the design is slightly tweaked and the block out stage begins. Jos will block out the structure in unity using some of our tools which will allow us to test the feel of the structure and how the gameplay aspects will work.


Block out stage of Police Station



The block stage allows for mechanics to be tested in the Unity editor


Alongside Jos' design, Andre starts working on some structure details. The above is simply a representation of how the building will look and 'feel'. Actual modeling begins once we're sure the structure will work. Details are created alongside block out to speed the end process up.


HVAC units will provide detail to this police station along with other commercial structure in the world



Garden and path detail leading to front door of the police station



Radio/aerial mast for police station roof



Cell doors and emergency lighting


You'll see the police station in the 1.3 update and we'll start our residential structure rework in 1.4. The residential rework will be a massive game changer. We will likely rework one town at time doing our best to make them unique and the structures more realistic in layout and size.

[h3]Passive Weapon Carry[/h3]
Something many of our players have asked for is a passive carry animation. Currently unless you're sprinting the player will always be carrying the weapon at the hip pointing down sights. This is rather annoying in as a seen by the server proxy you instantly appear hostile. We've changed this and you'll see a passive carry in our 1.3 update.

https://youtu.be/CM4kCnhGUBI

[h3]Server Optimization and Stability[/h3]
A lot of work is going into server optimization in our 1.3 patch. Among many tweaks and updates, we'll see a daily automatic server restart. This will free up CPU and ram and is just all around healthy for the server. The player will be notified in chat and via the top left notification area. The players position will be saved and they'll relog where they were when the server restarted.


Timed server restarts

[h3]Roadmap[/h3]
If you're active on our Discord you'll know we've been talking about our roadmap for some time. We've worked it out over the last couple of weeks while I (JB) was in the UK and we'll be releasing it alongside our 1.3 update or just before. Thank you for the continued patience. We have a good amount of work to do and want to get it right. Expect to see the roadmap shortly.

Thanks for the continued support and continued issue and suggestion reporting :). Below are some helpful links to anyone new and interested in the game. If you'd like to follow a bit closer, please consider joining our Discord we're here, we're listening!

Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Forum: https://community.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net