Survive the Nights News

Happy Saturday! Hope you’re all doing well. 1.28 introduced some major changes when it comes to vehicles, server performance and fortifications. It also introduced a handful of nasty issues. We’re hoping this patch squares a good deal of the server related issues away. A big thanks to everyone that has helped us out over the last week. Replicating issues is always a challenge for us being such a small team. We can’t find the issues without your help. Unknowingly or not, you are all our testers as it should be with a true indie team and a genuine early access game.

[h3]Server Issues[/h3]
With your help we’ve identified some really nasty server issues. Most (not all) of which were introduced with the RV improvements. Mainly the ability to set a home in the RV, this has caused unforeseen issues with the database and in some circumstances was manifesting itself as nasty server lag. This issue was what was causing some of you to not be able to join server, quite possibly causing all kinds of terrible effects on running servers and introducing crazy amount of lag.

We’ve also taken the opportunity to have a look over other not so current server issues, squashing a load of old warnings and misleading errors in the logs. This will make it far easier to identify actual issues in the future.

If you are still having issues or have anything further to report, please feel free to reach out to Jayty or JB on our Discord anytime. We need logs and info to fix issues :)



[h3]Store Refresh and New Logo[/h3]
Game development is an insane time consumer and we rarely get a chance to tidy anything up. During some downtime Andre has refreshed our store page. This is something we’ve pretty much not done since release. There are numerous features currently in the game that just weren’t even mentioned on the store page. The new page, along with the new logo should drive some more people into the community. We’ll stay on top of things as we move along while introducing new features, areas and in-game goodies.

New Store Page

[h3]Patch Notes - Hotfix 1.28.3[/h3]

• Added crafting recipes for work lamps.
  
• Added crafting recipes for bull bars and vehicle light bars
  
• Fixed issue that allowed the RV to be picked up when setting home.
  
• Fixed issue which caused beds to break (stopping further connections to server)
  
• Fixed lag issues on the server caused by zombies.
  
• Fixed issue which stopped players blowing up other players RV’s
  
• Fixed issue which stopped players destroying other players sleeping bags.
  
• Fixed issue which stopped home setting for longer periods than the intended 12 in-game hours.
  
• Reduced time between home sets from 12 to 6 in-game hours.
  
• Improved connection pipeline to make it more reliable and robust
  
• Fixed various misleading errors and warning in the log.
  
• Doors that do not have slam function now open/close when trying to slam.
  
• Removed Christmas movie and brought back Night of the Living Dead at the theaters.
  

Links
Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights

Patreon: https://patreon.com/a2zinteractive

Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net

Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive

Website: https://www.survivethenights.net

Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

We’ve had some feedback. You all have found some issues and we are fixing a few before the weekend. We’re also showcasing some cool community bits below so be sure to check them out.

[h3]Vehicle Stability[/h3]
As you have noticed since the addition of vehicle fortifications, vehicles have been, let's call it, ‘wonky’. Flying off to god knows where, sometimes with players in them. Dancing around like it’s the mid 80’s and someone has thrown a piece of cardboard on the ground in Times Square challenging their neon clad nemesis to a breakin' style dance-off. Sorry. Anyway, that should be somewhat better now

[h3]Patch Notes - Hotfix 1.28.2[/h3]

• Rv no longer gets cleaned up when you move bed to a structure.
  
• Vehicle fortifications now have ownership. Stopping other players removing forts.
  
• Players now get kicked to menu when steam stats retrieval fails
  
• Added option in general setting for resetting all progress (This sometimes fixes the steam issue)
  
• Improved vehicles flying off (not a complete fix)
  
• All new screenshots in the loading sequence.
  
• Fixed various errors on the client/server
  

** Known issues **

• Some players are experiencing issues with retrieving their steam stats. This seems to come down to a Steam query issue. This can cause in-game issues to manifest in all sorts of bad ways. We are attempting to fix this and are actively engaging with Steam for support.
  
  Players will now be kicked back to the menu if they are experiencing this issue. If this should happen to you please join our DISCORD and DM Jayty (lead dev) directly. He's building a ticket base and trying to get the issue sorted.
  
• Vehicle stability (some improvement in 1.28.2) this is a priority.
  

[h3]Community Spotlight[/h3]
We’ve had some great content come in from all kinds of folk, some on our discord, some on YouTube and our workshop. With every update we’ll try to feature some community content for everyone to check out.

Video of the Week
This weeks video of the week brought to you by The Accidental Survivor Gaming as he checks out the 1.27 build.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Workshop Scenario
There are some fantastic scenarios on Steams workshop currently and we’ve had a good play over most. Today we’d like to feature Steam user WOLFMAN’S “Dead by Dawn” scenario. Wolfman was featured a couple of weeks back with a really neat 28 days later scenario!



Screenshot of the Week
This update's screenshot comes from T.TV/Undastelar over on the steam community. Making good use of the new placement system on vehicles. Rooftops are always such a waste of space in most games ;)

Rooftop Storage

Links
Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights

Patreon: https://patreon.com/a2zinteractive

Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net

Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive

Website: https://www.survivethenights.net

Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

We’re back at it here and we’ve got a nice little update to discuss. Firstly, happy new year! The team hopes you had a great holiday. We’ve been working on some general gameplay improvements and adding some new features. Below is just a writeup along with a devlog on what we’ve been up to over the last couple of weeks.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]RV Improvements[/h3]
The RV has been a team favorite since the concept. We’ve always loved the idea of creating a “mobile home base." In 1.28 that vision becomes more of a reality. The RV is now fully functional. This includes the stove, sink, bed, rear ladder and a functioning/lockable side door.

These features have been a long time coming. Along with the working RV features, we are introducing a new RV variant. The player can now find a completely empty RV, allow you to place crates, new lockable storage and whatever else you’d like to store inside.

[h3]Working Stove[/h3]
This has been probably one of the most requested features from the community. The ability to cook inside the RV allows for a true nomad experience. The player can also get dirty water from the sink, for the time being the supply is endless.


Cooking on the road!

Dirty water mobile

[h3]Working Door[/h3]
The RV door has always been kind of wonky, in 1.28 players can manually close and now lock the door. A well fortified RV locked up is a very secure and feasible survival vehicle.

RV locking door

[h3]Working Bed[/h3]
In version 1.28 the bed can now be used to set home. This creates a genuine nomad experience and rounds the RV off nicely. You can live on the road and always respawn back at your fortified RV.

RV Home

[h3]RV Ladder [/h3]
Another feature added to the RV in 1.28 is a working ladder mechanic for the rear ladder. 1.27 introduced placement mechanics for the RV. This allows players to place loot/fortifications or random items on most surfaces in and on the RV.

This feature also encompasses the RV’s roof. Players can now easily access and use the roof for storage or some kind of insane rolling fortress…

RV Ladder

Rolling fortress

Rolling fortress 2

Rolling fortress interior

Rolling fortress exterior

[h3]Empty RV and Prison Bus[/h3]
Placement mode inside vehicles has opened up some new possibilities. We realized with this mechanics introduction in 1.27 that empty/cleaned out versions of both the RV and Police Bus were absolutely needed, allowing players to retrofit their vehicles as they see fit.

Empty prison bus

Stocked up prison bus

Empty RV

Stocked up RV

[h3]Patch Notes - 1.28[/h3]

HOTFIX 1.28.1

• Sensor items now spawn in the world.
  
• Sensor work lamp now working correctly
  
• Now possible to remove home for RV
  
• Propane tanks now explode and clear up items correctly.
  
• Items attached/on vehicle now get destroyed when the vehicle explodes.
  
• It's now possible to interact with RV interior cabinets without unlocking the vehicle.
  

Lockable Storage

• Added new craftable metal storage containers.
  
• Added functionality for locking craftable containers
  

Performance

• Various server improvements to bring the RAM usage down significantly. 1.27 introduced a bug which caused the server to use 6gb. That should now be down to 2gb.
  

Pickups

• Reintroduced the work lamps (Switch and Sensor variants)
  
• Placement of items now allowed inside of AI rag dolls
  
• /kill now displays right amount of AI killed (no longer includes dead AI)
  
• Placement of items now allowed inside of AI rag dolls
  
• Vehicle repair kit now has icon in the inventory.
  

Vehicle accessories

• Vehicle bull bars vehicle attachment drop added.
  
• Vehicle light bar vehicle attachment drop added.
  
• Cooking stoves in RV now works.
  
• Water tap in RV now works.
  

Vehicles

• It’s now possible to set the RV as your home by interacting with the bed.
  
• Ladder on the RV now works.
  
• RV door now works and is lockable.
  
• Added emptied version of the RV and prison bus. Allowing for more placement area.
  
• Vehicle license plates now randomize.
  

Graphics

• Fix for pink shaders in fortification mode
  
• Improved pillow model
  
• improved wood drop visuals
  

Admin

• /kill now displays right amount of AI killed (no longer includes dead AI)
  

If you're enjoying the game and our recent updates, please consider leaving a review. Thanks for your support! :)

[h3]Links[/h3]

Discord

Patreon

Changelog

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube

Website

Merch

Grab a copy for yourself or a friend at this great price! If you have any questions before purchasing, please join our friendly community on discord.

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


[h3]Links[/h3]
Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/a2zinteractive

Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net

Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive

Website: https://www.survivethenights.net

Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks tackling a huge concept feature and probably the most requested feature from the community. Vehicle improvements, fortifications, tire punctures and replacement along with a lock system are being introduced in 1.27.

NOTE: This version requires a database wipe. If you’re hosting a server the system should handle the creation of a new DB automatically.

[h3]Vehicle Locking System[/h3]
Until this update vehicles were not securable beyond the ability to remove a couple (or all) of the parts. The lack of fortifications and locking systems made it difficult for players to hold onto a vehicle for very long. In 1.27 we’ve introduced a basic locking system, owners of vehicles (those that first get them running) will have the UI option to lock that vehicle when looking at the doors.

Along with the lock feature, car alarms now only arm when the vehicle is locked. Vehicles found in the wild will not have their alarms set off by a shot/hit any longer.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Vehicle Fortification System[/h3]
We have wanted to introduce vehicle fortifications since our original concept videos. 1.27 finally introduces the base system we’ll be able to build from. It has been much requested and a long time coming but as you might notice from the last few updates, we’re finally having the chance to get to introducing some fun features now that core gameplay is in decent shape.

Vehicle fortifications work somewhat like freeplaced and structure fortifications. The player can “place” fortifications directly from the inventory now. They can placed on any of our vehicles and on most parts of the vehicle.

Fortifications add their strength to the vehicles base strength. All fortifications must be destroyed from a vehicle before the vehicle is vulnerable to damage. The combination of our freeplaced system and the ability to bolster the strength of vehicles with freeplaced fortifications should allow you all to create some really unique designs.

We plan on expanding on vehicle fortifications and variants. Keep an eye out in the next build for our RV Nomad, a stripped out RV setup for life on the road.

Zombie plow

New vehicle fortifications

RV fortifications

Vehicle fortification placement

Zombie plow on the 4x4

Buggy forts - you can get as crazy as you’d like ːsteamhappyː

[h3]Placement Collider Expansion[/h3]
Along with the fortification additions Andre has spent some time this update cycle working on expanding placement colliders. Players can now place items on top of most vehicle roof tops along with being able to place all over the RV interiors.

Roof Placement

Roof placement and pickup fortification

[h3]Tire Functionality[/h3]
Tires have not up until now been actual vehicle parts. All vehicles spawned with them intact and inflated. This didn’t add too much realism or add to the post apocalyptical atmosphere. Starting in 1.27 you will see vehicles spawns produce vehicles with all kinds of different tire states. Missing tires can be scavenged from other vehicles. There are small and large tires, they can also spawn in punctured. If tires a punctured players will need to find a tire repair kit, found at hardware stores for the time being. We will likely be expanding on this feature and the ability to repair tires in coming builds.

Tire replacement

[h3]Flare Gun Improvements[/h3]
We have heard you and we agree, flare gun was useless and not bright enough. We’ve taken a bit of time and tweaked brightness and distance for the flare light. Making the weapon far more useful for seeing around dark corners and throughout the woods.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]The Christmas Event[/h3]
We’ve updated the event this year, the tree is brighter there’s a firework show if you make it through and we’ve added a few new goodies to the gifts received if you manage to kill all the zombies. Have a watch of the video below as James and Andre take on the challenge (cheating most likely, as they tend to do).

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Holiday Movie [/h3]
We’ve updated the drive-in movie theater movies for the holidays. You can receive the film case as a reward for completing the tree event. This years movie is the cult classic “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians,” a confusing and quite frankly insane Christmas sci-fi/comedy flick from 1963.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Community Spotlight[/h3]
We’ve had some great content come in from all kinds of folk, some on our discord, some on YouTube and our workshop. With every update we’ll try to feature some community content for everyone to check out.

Video of the Week TAS (The Accidental Survivor) has a series of great videos and his latest STN video is no exception. We had a blast watching, go check it out.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Screenshot of the Week
This updates screenshot comes from Erick over on the steam community. It’s a snowy shot in front of one of the islands churches. We should see a few more season themed screenshots with this update and the Christmas event.



Workshop Scenario
There are some fantastic scenarios on Steams workshop currently and we’ve had a good play over most. Today we’d like to feature Steam user WOLFMAN’S “28 Days Later” scenario. As he puts it himself..

• “Zombies run and the world is screwed!”
  
• BEST PLAYED ON THE SETTINGS I LEFT IT ON FOR THE REAL AUTHENTIC FEEL OF 28 DAYS LATER.
  
• ZOMBIES ARE FAST AF BOY
  
• DAY & NIGHT RUNNER 100%
  
• ZEDS STRENGTH VISION AND HEARING IS MAXED AS IS THEIR FORTIFICATION DAMAGE
  

[h3]Patch Notes - 1.27[/h3]

NOTE: DATABASE WIPE WITH THIS VERSION

Vehicle Fortification

• Vehicle fortification base implementation
  
• Added vehicle zombie plow variants.
  
• Added spiked vehicle fortification.
  
• Added barb wire vehicle fortification.
  
• Removed trunk storage from pickups and 4x4 (place your own)
  

Vehicle Wheels

• Added ability to remove vehicle wheels
  
• Tires can now be punctured.
  
• Punctures can now be repaired.
  
• Added puncture repair kit
  

Vehicle Locks

• Owned vehicles can now be locked.
  
• Unlocked vehicles no longer have alarm.
  

Vehicle General

• Improved smoothing to vehicle movement when others are driving.
  
• Improved physics on vehicles.
  
• Velocity of vehicle is now lowered when running into zombies
  

Christmas Event

• Large Christmas tree event in town centers. Kill the zombies and get presents!
  
• New Christmas movie at the drive in theatre.
  
• Christmas trees in houses
  

Crafting Recipes

• Added recipe for Zombie Plow
  
• Added recipe for Zombie Plow (Large)
  
• Added recipe for Spiked Wall
  
• Added recipe for Barbed Wire Wall
  

If you're enjoying the game and our recent updates, please consider leaving a review. Thanks for your support and happy holidays! :)

Links
Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights

Patreon: https://patreon.com/a2zinteractive

Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net

Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive

Website: https://www.survivethenights.net

Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive