Survive the Nights News

Pre-Alpha Devblog #32 (Experimental Build Patch 0.11.31)

Hello all,

Thanks for checking out our 32nd devblog! We’ve released the 0.11.31 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 to our tracker.

Changelog

Resolved issue which caused containers to break over time. Previously broken containers should now work without item loss.
Resolved issue with containers which could cause the server to crash when pressing the 'take all' button.
[All] button now only goes grey in the inventory when you can actually take all the items. Button also works for a stack of only 1.
Container capacity UI now says 'Slots used' to make it clearer how they work.
Container quantity UI no longer gets clipped.
Resolved issue which would sometimes leave plays on the server after they'd disconnected.
Campfire drops no longer spam warning referencing particle systems on the server.
Large workbenches now work.
Trailblazer achievement now gets triggered at appropriate time.
No longer possible to log out while there are zombies nearby.
Locks now remember the player that set the code. This allows them to always retrieve saved pin via notifications.
Player that set a lock can now always auto lock and unlock their locks regardless of code.
Lock combinations now scramble when the lock is snapped shut.
Scrambled lock combinations are now persistent between players.
Improved notifications and hints surrounding lock functionality.
Added overall improvements to lock consistency. Previously there were issues when restarting the server.
Resolved errors being causes by players interacting with locks and trees far away from your player.
Vehicles should be most stable when stepping out of them while they're parked on certain surfaces. Previously they'd pop up and roll.
Removing weapon attachments while the inventory is full no longer destroys the attachment.
Tweaked various weight related UI in the inventory so that it always displays correctly.
Tweaked inventory weight calculations to make the whole system more stable.
Trying to pickup ammo while inv is full no longer says the item was picked up.
Added 5 new player starting points.
Zombies should no longer disappear when traversing/going through doors. This requires more community testing as it was hard to produce internally.
Zombie behavior transition between night and day should now be more consistent. Night zombies also transition behavior to day just before the new day UI.
Raised ceiling in house_10 building so that zombies can get up stairs.
Added security glass windows to house_10.
Increased size of global hint reset button in settings and added a warning message explaining what it does.
Improved scenarios where melee attacks wouldn't make contact while stood very close to AI.
Resolved issue which was causing PvP bullet hit detection to be unreliable.
Passive AI now fully ignores the player while they are in godmode.
Passive AI should no longer visually die around the player on entry into night time.
Small alterations to zombie agro, hearing and vision mechanics to improve their behavior.
Server no longer spams warnings that items cannot be spawned in barber shops.
Players now receive various hints on death which should help them with basic gameplay like crafting bandages and wooden clubs.
Dead zombies no longer appear frozen and animated in place when joining a server between their death and cleanup.
Drops should no longer drop through rugs.
Generators can now be placed in containers when they have no parts or fuel.
Vehicle effects like engine sounds and lights now update correctly when the vehicle is updated while there are no players inside.
Electricity meters and breakers panels now play animations again when being interacted with.
Fixed additional issue which was causing pump action and arg15 to spawn in houses.
Fixed issue which caused maps searching to be global between players. This stopped individual players finding maps.
Rag variants now stack in the inventory.
Disabled oil pump pickup since it currently serves no use.
Fixed sidewalk height on entry into old town.
Chickens now have a small chance of playing a rare idle sound.
Dirty and clean rags now give a hint when picked up for the first time. Indicates that bandages can be crafted.
Trash piles around the environment can now be harvested for various objects.
Large bushes can now be searched for berries.
Small swimming pools can now be searched for dirty water.
Wooden table can now be searched for worn planks.
Increased overall chance of harvesting berries in summer and spring.
Mail boxes can now be searched for tinder.
Fuel can now be pumped from gravity fuel tanks.
Lounge chairs can be searched for planks.

Thanks much for the continued support. We’ll keep smoothing out this .11 build and get it into proper shape for a solid alpha build. We couldn’t do it without the continued dedication of backers willing to help test for issues and suggest fixes and improvements.

Links

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

Pre-Alpha Devblog #31 (New Lock Mechanics | Road Signs)

Hello all,

Thanks for checking out our 31st devblog! We're still patching up the .31 builds. After some early week team testing, issues were found that needed to be resolved. We're currently waiting on new server and client builds and if all is well we should have the .31 update out next week. As you can see from the changelog, a lot of progress is already being made on 0.32!

If you're currently on the live 0.30 experimental branch, please report any issues found to our tracker. We'll be bringing our default branch up to date with the next patch so all builds should be on the same branch.

This is just a quick devblog to let you know that there will be not patch today while issues are being ironed out and to showcase a few new changes that are in the upcoming patch. Please remember, these are only a few changes and there will be plenty more to test!

New Lock Mechanics

Locks have functioned for some time in the project. They have been reliable for the most part but recently we've run into some annoying issues. With that in mind, James has spent some of his time in the last week reinforcing the mechanics backbone along with shoring the mechanic up as we have reworked it a bit. Players are now able to automatically unlock their locks by simply holding the interact key. The video below showcases the new mechanic and how you can expect it to work in the coming updates.

https://youtu.be/JO50WZ8qUQs

Town Road Signs

Getting around the island can at times be very stressing. Road signs are few and far between and now inform the player as to how far away towns are. Jos has spent some of his time this week measuring and plotting out our road system for proper sign placement. In the coming builds, you'll notice proper direction toward towns along with distances to towns. This will make it far easier to traverse the island.

Road and sign placement being mapped out

Town signs

Town signs in the world

Thanks much for the continued support. We'll keep working on the .31 patch and get it out to you as soon as possible! Thank you for all the bug reports. We couldn't do it without the continued dedication of backers willing to help test for issues and suggest fixes and improvements.

Please remember, if you're currently helping us find bugs, report all issues to the public bug tracker. You can track all of our progress on our changelog. Thanks again!

Links

Pre-Alpha Devblog #30 (Experimental Build Patch 0.11.30)

Hello all,

Thanks for checking out our 30th devblog! We’ve released the 0.11.30 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 to our tracker.

Changelog

AI hit reactions now play sooner making the zombies will more responsive. (Further melee improvements planned for EA)
Melee damage now always registers. Previously hits were being detected and blood effects would play however no damage would be applied if the limbs were hit. (Further melee improvements planned for EA)
Resolved issue with passive AI which would mean they didn't receive their death effects if killed while they were outside of your relevancy range.
Removed errors being generated when AI was killed by other players far away.
Other players no longer still hold their weapons while in the driving seat of a vehicle.
Fixed gap in road between terrain and road surface on terrain 51 where the road meets 59.
Fixed issue where a full box of nails would be given when harvesting. This would happen when the amount of nails found was greater than the stack you already had. It would fill up the existing stack and then give another full box.
Added support for tools to be included in recipes that include the item when clicking the [Search] button.
Work benches small and large now work properly.
Items that don't have a crafting recipe now have Greyed out [Recipe] buttons.
Craftables that consume multiple of the same item now stack and only have one label in the crafting recipe page.
Fixed issue where clicking [Search] button when looking for recipes would fail and throw errors into the log.
Fixed issue where consuming items which caused damage would alter health but not actually damage the player. This resulted in being able to achieve 0 health which made the player invincible.
Improvements to overall zombie agro functionality. Sneaking near zombies should now be more consistent.
Player now receives a small notification in top left when trying to open a locked door.
Fixed issue causing sidewalks to load incorrectly on the entry into towns.
Resolved issue which could cause water bottles to go to 0 quantity when harvesting water.
Melee is now full auto again meaning you don't need to keep clicking in order to attack (Sorry about that one).
Resolved issue which could caused some items to go to 0 quantity when crafting.
Zombies no longer always choose the shortest route in the case that there's an open pathway. This intelligence is only slight and is designed to stop zombies choosing the path that includes a fully fortified window; when there is an open doorway right next to them.
Removed crash being caused during loading of 'Oceans and rivers'
Improvements to overall loading times.
Added system for removing limited hints over time so that returning players can see hints that they have had in the past.
Altered snow and season vegetation shaders to improve performance and lower chance of crashes.
Fixed issue which caused winter season to not work on public servers.
Passive AI should no longer traverse fences/windows.
Fixed pivot position on various drops to stop them falling in to the ground.
Set all resources category items to stack where possible.
Updated hover icons for various interactions to correctly indicate what action will be performed.
Fixed floating design on terrain 23.

Thanks much for the continued support. We'll keep smoothing out this .11 build and get it into proper shape for a solid alpha build. We couldn't do it without the continued dedication of backers willing to help test for issues and suggest fixes and improvements.

Links

Pre-Alpha Devblog #29 (Experimental Build Patch 0.11.29)

Hello all,

Thanks for checking out our 29th devblog! We’ve released the 0.11.29 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.

The next couple of patches will be strictly on the experimental branch. The next default update will be our public alpha launch. Please do your best to check against the list of changes below and report bugs to our tracker.

Changelog

Resolved issue causing a crash during the loading of the water and ocean.
Resolved errors on the client being produced when windows were smashed in areas that weren't loaded for your client.
Vehicles can now be started by pressing 'W'
Vehicle explosions now kill or damage the player.
Engine fires now produce sound.
Engine fires now start small and grow in size before explosion.
Vehicles engine smoke now stops when repairing past 60% condition.
Fuel station electric doors now use effects audio slider.
Fuel station electric doors now work again.
Tweaked punching reach to improve hit chance (Further improvement still needed.)
Spark plugs no longer break when taking them from a vehicle.
Voip - Microphone UI now shows when pressing to talk. Speaker UI shows when receiving proximity chat.
Fixed texture tiling on fuel station building.
Harvesting from stag no longer wrongly claims "Interaction canceled"
Soup and rice variant food now play animation when consuming.
Drinking from canteen now plays an animation.
Standard item decay increased to 1 day.
Generator should no longer decay!
Vehicles should no longer despawn after server restarts.
Added vehicle explosions to the asset reload.
Removed several errors being caused by the asset preload menu stage.
Fixed issue where zombies would glitch and stop moving correctly when the player was close to a a wall.
Hay bales should now return items correctly.
It's now possible to purify water in a canteen via crafting.
It's now possible to move water between canteen and bottles via crafting.
Water bottle and canteen consumables now provide the same stats.
Zombies can now enter shipping containers.
Radio now has inspect animation.
Resolved issue where zombies wouldn't return items because they'd been deleted on the server.
Stags and chickens now remain in the world for longer after being killed. This gives players longer to harvest items.
'Silencer' label in the inventory now says 'Suppressor'
Searching dead animals no longer turns off the option when searching while you have no combat knife.
Reduced the range in which zombies are drawn to light.
Interaction with dumpsters improved.
Removed bush from house on terrain 44.
Stopped hover UI disappearing when looking directly at the interaction icon.
Vehicle controls no longer show in the menu when entering game very quickly.
Aggressive and passive AI no longer continue to roll after become rag doll.
Resolved issue where standard planks didn't work on some building windows.
Zombies no longer play the attack animation while climbing through a window while in range of a player that can be damaged.
Hand warming can now be canceled when aiming or firing.
Hand warming over fire animation now plays quicker when first walking up to a fire and now has longer breaks between thereafter.
Stopped the aim accuracy buff being applied for the the weapon is fully aimed in.
Increased chance of finding less vibrant coloured vehicles.
Removed error being caused by vehicles loading in.

Links

Pre-Alpha Devblog #28 (Vehicle Damage | Town Signs | Patch 0.11.28)

Hello all,

Thanks for checking out our 28th devblog! We've released the initial 0.11.27 build to our experimental branch on Steam. We've already received some fantastic feedback and bug reports. If you've not done so already, we suggest switching over to our experimental branch. Please report any issues found to our tracker.

Vehicle Damage

Vehicles are already getting a fantastic test on .27. We're getting some solid reports and fixing issues. Development continues on vehicles and vehicle mechanics. You'll soon see vehicle damage where the end result is an explosion. Obviously maintaining your vehicle should be a high priority. Allowing a vehicle to be damaged to the point where it catches flame will always result in an explosion.

https://youtu.be/dekiVzrjS84

Town Signs

Something Jos has worked on quickly this week is town signs. Some in the community have mentioned that without a map and compass it can be nearly impossible to tell where you are. In response, town signs have been created and will be implemented shortly. They'll be placed at entrance and exit points to all of the islands towns so it should always be evident what town you're in.

Patch Notes for 0.11.28

We're currently releasing the first patch for 0.11.27. This build will likely remain on our experimental branch while receiving many small patches until the build is stable and solid enough to call alpha. Below are the patch notes for 0.11.28. Please report any issues found on our BUG TRACKER, thanks much!

Patch 0.11.28 (Experimental Branch)

Teleporting is now possible after you've been killed while in a vehicle.
Players should now always start with full calories on a new life.
Improvements to weapon loot spread. Previously all gun types where spawning at all locations. Weapon locations should now be more balanced.
Vehicles should no longer despawn! Cannot be 100% sure that there won't still be issues with cars going missing.
Flashlight position on pump action shotgun no longer floating.
Added idle override animation when standing near a fire that is on.
Added town name signs to all towns. These are designed to help groups of players figure out where they are on the map.
Add item and AI spawners to buildings that didn't have enough to meet loot spawn requirements.
Resolved errors which happened when loading the bunker areas.
Added several new early game hints to help new players get established.
Tweaked the amount of meat given from stags and also balanced their calories against other items.
Added and tweaked menu hints to show more early game relevant hints.
Fires now slowly regenerate health while stood near them. This feature is designed to help new players with early game difficulty.
Improved quality settings so that options all work and descriptions are easier to understand.
Vehicles now start smoking as they take damage. Smoke increases as vehicle conditions becomes lower and explode once fully broken.
Fixed issue which caused zombie screams to not always play sound.
Fixed issue where zombies would sometimes move sideways.
Altered the /stuck command so that it can no longer be used for cheating.
Added solution for exiting vehicles that are up against a wall. Players now exit via the alternative side.
Fixed issue which was causing small notifications to spam in the top left corner when a container was 1 item short of full.
Can no longer eat while you are the driver of a vehicle.
Punch animation no longer plays before wind up flashlight animation starts playing.

Links