Survive the Nights News

We've released 1.11.52 on our experimental branch via steam. This build will be moved to the stable branch as v1.12 if no major issues are found by players. You can find our patch notes below. Please report bugs and issues in game using the F1 menu.

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.

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]Experimental Patch Notes - Alpha 1.11.52 (Alpha 1.12 Experimental Build)[/h3]

Quality of Life

• Tweaked guide to add placing of a marker for navigation to the car lot.
  
• Added snipers to police station and prison.
  
• Removed snipers from Farmhouse.
  
• Removed broken searching functionality from certain bathtubs.
  

Animations

• Improved the set of walk animations for zombies that are less repetitive and vary in speed.
  
• Improvements to run animations.
  
• Improvements to idle animations.
  

AI

• Zombies no longer attack vehicles during the day.
  
• Added headshot sound when shooting zombie in the head
  
• Improved zombie hit detection
  
• Zombie speeds now more varied. Most outdoor zombies will be walking slowly during the day but a small percentage will still run when chasing a player. Outdoor zombies during the night will become a lot more aggressive but some will still walk. Indoor zombies will still be more aggressive than outdoor zombies during the day.
  
• Rebalanced zombie spawn locations to cater for new outside zombie during the day.
  
• New zombie texture variants added and textures improved.
  
• Zombie textures now more desaturated and blend more into the world
  
• Zombies spawn with a random height difference to increase variety
  
• Zombie ambient lighting now looks correct when zombies are outdoors
  
• Improved zombies floating above the ground
  
• Improved zombies sliding when starting to move and when coming to a stop
  
• Improved zombies sliding when walking around
  
• Zombies are now easier to kill.
  
• Headshots on zombies are now more powerful.
  
• Disabled several zombies from spawning.
  
• Performance improvements when close to a lot of zombies.
  
• Rag doll pooling system which reduces lag associated with dead zombies.
  
• Fixed screaming zombies turning around on the spot instantly
  
• Increased zombie amounts.
  
• Zombies no longer die in morning and remain outside.
  
• Fix for zombies legs moving around when a stationary zombie is attacking a player
  

Map

• Map now re-centers to the player upon opening.
  
• Added map positions for to hardware store, pharmacy and gun shop
  
• Added info when hovering over map pins
  
• Map pins now highlight based on current tutorial step
  
• Fixed issue which caused the mouse to unlock while in the map UI.
  
• Map now starts zoomed in on the player location.
  
• Players can now place a marker on the map which shows in the world as a waypoint.
  
• Map icons now increase in size when zooming for improved visibility
  
• Outline around player position on map now reflects friend vision distance
  
• Player is now displayed on the map as a white arrow instead of blue.
  

Crafting

• Removed cloth from machete recipe.
  

Design

• Added strip mall (pharmacy) to tile 49, north east corner of map.
  
• Added strip mall (hardware shop) to tile 42, north of Sage Creek.
  
• Added a HARDWARE STORE to terrain tile 2
  
• Added PHARMACY to 11
  
• Added strip mall (hardware shop) to tile 36 west of Union Point
  
• Added strip mall (pharmacy) to tile 35 north west of Union Point
  
• Added strip mall (gun shop) to tile 26 north of Union Point
  
• Added strip mall (hardware shop) to tile 48 between Old Town and Black Rock.
  
• Added strip mall (pharmacy) to tile 45, in the airport.
  
• Added strip mall (pharmacy) to tile 53, west of Addersfield.
  
• Added strip mall (hardware) to tile 58, north east of Sage Creek.
  
• Added strip mall (gun shop) to tile 52, north of Sage Creek.
  
• Added strip mall (hardware store) to tile 63, north east of Black Rock.
  
• Added strip mall (pharmacy) to tile 55, north of Black Rock.
  
• Added strip mall (gun shop) to tile 46, north of Black Rock.
  
• Added strip mall (hardware store) to tile 13, west of Mt.Baron.
  
• Added a PHARMACY STORE to terrain tile 31
  
• Added strip mall (hardware store) to tile 30, north east of Old Town.
  
• Added strip mall (hardware store) to tile 15, west of Old Town.
  
• Added strip mall (hardware store) to tile 15, west of Old Town.
  
• Added strip mall (gun shop) to tile 22, north of Old Town.
  

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
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

Survive the Nights is now 35% off for the Autumn Sale! If you have any questions before purchasing, please join us on our discord.

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

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

Hello everyone,

Another week closer to the 1.12 release and the team has been making steady progress. There’s a good deal going on behind the scenes. James has been working on quite a few features along with zombie improvements. John is reworking a ton of original zombie animations. Andre has been working on map improvements among other new introductions. We’ll discuss a little of what’s going on below but be sure to check out our Changelog for more information.

[h3]Zombie Improvements[/h3]
We’re making some pretty big changes to zombie behavior in the coming build. Some of the biggest changes you’ll notice are the increased amount of day zombies. Previously, zombies that made it through the night would die off. From 1.12 on they’ll no longer die, they’ll simply turn from ‘night zombies’ to ‘day zombies’. There are increased numbers of zombies all around and we’ve made some decent optimizations to surrounding AI systems.

Along with the increased numbers of zombies, you’ll notice there will now be small zombie behavior differences. Zombies that around during the day will be dumb, slow and sluggish. Day zombies that aren’t inside darker structures won’t really be a massive threat; their danger comes in the amount of zeds not their speed and strength.

Day Zombies Roaming

Day Zombies Gathering in Alleyway

In addition to the added number of zombies, you’ll also notice a few more changes. Zombie animation speeds have changed along with zombie speeds themselves. We’ve introduced some variation in zombies, some are faster than others, some are far slower. This should greatly improve the general feel of zombie hordes.

Zombies are now easier to kill and headshots drop them easier than before. This change is very simple but plays into the changes we’re making with more zombies. The overall feel we’ve gone for here is that headshots get the job done much easier now, range and weapons being a factor of course.. Overall though zombies should just go down easier. It feels more satisfying to kill them in general and feels far more apocalyptic with the increased amounts.

Zombie walk and run animation have been improved to reflect new zombie speeds. We’ll continue to tweak these as we move through development.

Updated Slow Zombie Walk

We are still looking to add new zombie models although to be completely transparent with everyone the new assets we had been working with have fallen through. Seems they have been completely removed from the asset store and the developers behind them have gone dark. We’re currently expanding the team and looking for freelance designers to tackle some of our needs with zombies and character rework being a major one.

In the meantime, Andre has made some really nice texture improvements to our current zombies and we’re concepting a random texture system for scaring and clothing. The updated textures remove a lot of the bright colors and shininess the zombies have. They look way more fitting the the world and bring the zeds far closer to what the team originally imagined. They’ll make better placeholders for the time being.

Updated Zombie Textures

Updated Textures

[h3]Waypoint Improvements[/h3]
We’ll be introducing a fully placeable waypoint system in 1.12. You’ll be able to add one marker anywhere you’d like on the map. Along with that, you’ll not notice all important map markers highlighted depending on your needs. Should the guide be directing you towards something like a car lot.

Waypoint Placement

[h3]Additional Strip Malls[/h3]
We’ve been greatly expanding the quick guide and plan to continue to do so. In 1.12, the guide will continue right on through to finding a vehicle and getting to a hardware store for some fortification materials. We’ve added around 20 new strip mall additions, mainly hardware stores, gun shops and pharmacies.

Hardware Stores, Pharmacies and Gun Shop Additions

We hope to have an experimental build of 1.12 out within the next week. There are a lot of major changes to zombies and it will require a good deal of testing. Thank you for the continued support. We’re working on issues you’re finding so please keep reporting any bugs and submitting your game suggestions.

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

Hello all,

We've released a hotfix (Alpha 1.11.50) to our default branch on Steam. You can find our patch notes below. Please report bugs and issues in game using the F1 menu. In case you missed it, the full v1.11 update can be viewed here.

[h3]Patch Notes - Alpha v1.11.50 (Hot Fix)[/h3]

• Mac builds.
  
• Hordes working on Solo/Self hosted.
  
• More spark plugs in vehicles on Solo/Self hosted.
  

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

Hello everyone,

We’ll be releasing our 1.11 branch directly to stable today. A lot has gone into 1.11 and we want to get it tested by as many people as possible right off the bat, so here you have it. There are quite a few new additions to the world and to gameplay. We’ll go over those below and include the full changelog right here in the update.

We will be wiping servers and suggest all private servers owners do so also. As you know, we try to avoid wipes as often as possible. A lot of changes have gone into 1.11, items have been renamed and recipes adjusted among other factors like home setting, etc. It's best to have a nice clean start with major updates.

[h3]Self Defense and PvP Improvements[/h3]
The PVP system has needed some love and it’s getting attention now. The introduction of the sleeping bag and home claiming system introduced a few issues and we’ll be addressing them in 1.11

Self Defense
We have wanted to work out some kind of a who shot first system for quite some time now. The next version will introduce a basic self defense system. Players will have a set amount of time (currently 2 minutes) to return fire without penalty. This obviously only works if you’ve been hit first. This system also changes when taking home status into effect as explained below.

Structure Defense
The initial reason for this change was to stop players placing sleeping bags and using them to grief other players. There’s a need for a more advanced system but this is a great base to work from and should solve many of the initial issues.

It is now possible for players to protect their own home under any circumstance (without mental health impact) providing the player is inside their home. Homes are now considered to ‘age out’ meaning any home that has been set for more than 12 in game hours. A long standing home was extra right over a home that has just been placed. In the event a placed home is new and not older than 12 hours, that player will face a cool down to respawn.

This isn’t a fail safe solution by any means. Should an attacker age out of a home, placing a bag and making it 12 hours without it being destroyed they will be able to respawn and attack without negative effect. This could basically create a PVP free-for-all if you’re both in your houses shooting across the gardens. This, of course, would only work if you were both in your structures once outside the system reverts to the who shot first system above.

Example of the System
Player 1 is in their home and protecting their aged base (their real home that’s been there for a while). Player 2 places a home near player 1’s base and intends to use it to exploit by attacking player 1 over and over. Previously player 1’s mental health would deteriorate as player 2 could just keep respawning at their home and attacking player 1. This effectively left player 1 helpless, not able to protect their base without suffering from negative mental health effects and eventually committing suicide.
With the new system, providing player 1's base is aged out, they have the right to kill on sight anyone attacking them (regardless of who fires the first shot) without consequence. In the event player 2 gets killed by player 1, they are placed on timeout to spawn at home, in the event their home is close to player 1’s. If player 2’s home isn’t close then they are allowed to spawn at home as per normal gameplay.

[h3]Waypoint System[/h3]
The vibe of Survive the Nights is really starting to come into its own. 1.11 will feature a totally revamped spawn system. As mentioned in the last devblog, the new system will randomly spawn players in structures around the world. This really makes every life and experience unique. Spawning in houses in towns vs spawning in a country house creates a wide variety of gameplay experiences.
Along with the new spawning system, James has spent some time improving and expanding on the quick guides’ abilities and features. New players have a far more task oriented start. The game really is starting to feel like a game with these recent changes. The original ‘hunker down’ vibe is coming back into its own and guiding the player from the start is a big part of our intended gameplay style.
The waypoint system and new help system is meant to gently guide new players in the right direction. It can be fully disabled for returning players and is automatically disabled even for returning players after completion.

Waypoint directing the player towards a wood harvest

[h3]Item Highlighting Improvements[/h3]
Item and harvest highlighting has recently been introduced and James has made some improvements to the system. Current highlighting on harvest machines stays even after you’ve harvested the times from it even if it’s ‘empty’.. The updated system will now remove the glowing effect from empty harvest machines making it far easier to distinguish what you have and haven’t harvested. We'll have some more info in next week's devblog.

[h3]Friends on Map and Compass[/h3]
We’ve always wanted Survive the Nights to be a co-op experience. Surviving with friends is a totally different experience than surviving on your own. We introduced the home system in 1.10 allowing players to set their homes. This feature itself allows for a more cooperative experience. We’ve taken it a step further with the 1.11 update by adding the much requested ability to see your friends on the map.
In 1.11, players will be able to see any of their Steam friends on the map. This should work without the need for you to do anything in game so long as you’re Steam friends. In addition to seeing your friends when you bring up the map, they will also be visible when you inspect your player and bring up the compass UI.


Friend locations on the map

Friend locations on the compass

[h3]Structure Variant (Car Lots)[/h3]
A vehicle makes survival a lot easier and we would like to get players driving around sooner rather than later. We will be making some adjustments to the guide systems including the task to get a vehicle started. This task will now waypoint players to the new car lot additions on the island. These car lots as mentioned above are spread across the map and there are currently 6 variants although you might not notice much difference initially. We will expand on structure design later, our prefab system allows us to swap out any structure in the game or just make general improvements and changes without issue for the most part.

Black Island Impound Lot

New Impound/Dealership Locations

[h3]Patch Notes - Alpha 1.11[/h3]

Quality of Life (QoL)

• Vehicles will now be more common and start with slightly more parts
  
• Increased the size of the cooking surface on the hearth
  
• Sleeping bag recipe now only requires 2 cloth.
  
• Player now start a new life after respawning when not having a home set.
  
• Searched wood/metal/cloth items now indicate that they cannot be searched again.
  
• It’s now possible to equip while in the UI for other machines/looking at cooking surfaces.
  
• Fixed issue that was stopping stewing working correctly.
  
• Increased visible distance of various large/important pickups so that they don't pop on right in front of the player.
  
• Fixed scenarios where machines continued to run after the player left the area.
  
• Optimisations to vegetation rendering.
  
• Pre-warm assets system disabled to fix possible crash issues on startup and improve performance when entering menus/game
  
• Canteens no longer spawn.
  

New Players

• Now spawn inside a structure
  
• Guide order tweaked to work better with new spawn locations.
  

Solo/Hosting

• Solo play now has a disclaimer explaining additional RAM requirements.
  
• Fixed issues that stopped certain player getting into game on solo play.
  
• Added a button to test port status on host tab.
  
• Added warning to host tab that lets players know ports are still closed.
  
• Fixed issues that stopped solo/host servers launching.
  

Waypoints

• Added dynamic waypoint system that guides the player to their next objective.
  

Self Defense

• Added self defense system that allows you to kill a player in the event that they initiate combat.
  
• It’s now possible to destroy other players sleeping bags.
  
• It’s now possible to kill other players while defending home without mental health impact.
  
• There is now a cool down on home respawning in circumstances considered to be exploiting.
  

Animation

• Fixed various scenarios where it was possibly to see extra hands while consuming.
  

Design

• Town sign achievements now work.
  
• Fixed flickering snow on and off when moving around the world
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 13 on the north east corner of the map.
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 43 on the north east corner of the map.
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 42 north of sage creek
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 15 west of Oldtown.
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 45 north of airport.
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 62 south of Addersfield.
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 53 west of Addersfield.
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 56 west side of Black Rock.
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 52 north Addersfield
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 57 on the north east corner of the map.
  
• Added a dealership to terrain tile 28
  
• Added a dealership to terrain tile 26
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 10 north of Union Point
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 35 west of Sage Creek
  
• Added Car Dealership to terrain tile 55 north of Black Rock
  
• Added Car Impound Lot to terrain tile 59 north of Addersfield
  
• Improved water materials on ponds
  
• Added car dealership and variants.
  

Lighting

• Adjusted nighttime lighting for easier navigation
  
• Increased lights from fires indoors
  
• Decreased light from club when it’s on fire
  
• Disabled running animation when flashlight is enabled on a gun
  
• Disabled LED flashlights + windup flashlight
  
• Increased brightness and range of normal flashlights
  
• Removed weird grill shadow from fixed campfire
  
• Fix for flashlight colour not updating when removing flashlight attachment
  
• Fix for weapon not going back to passive carry position when headlamp is enabled
  

UI

• Updated pre-alpha warning message and reduced skip time
  
• Reworded new life UI to better reflect new spawn locations.
  
• Tweaked wording for fire elements of guide.
  
• Added friend position on map and compass within a close proximity
  
• Sniper scopes now render behind other UI so that it doesn't hide other important information.
  
• Added indicator if zombies are nearby to logoff menu.
  
• Item thats just been crafted now selects in the inventory.
  

PvP Exploit Improvements

• Health clamp to 1 system made more lenient so that it doesn’t affect PvP as much.
  
• No longer possible to place sleeping bags in POI’s.
  

Thank you for the continued support :) We’re working on issues you’re finding so please keep reporting any bugs and sharing your suggestions with us. 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
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