Attention inmates! Strap in and strap up as we're gearing for this week's dev update - coming this time with some news pertaining to the next update for the game!
Let's start off with our code wizards, shall we? As we've reported last week, work on the much-anticipated inventory rework has been resumed and, make no mistake, this is going to be a mainstay in this section so make sure to get used to it. In other news, work on the new and exciting diseases & common cold feature has mainly been wrapped up and is currently being tested and the initial bugs are being squashed. We've also promised to improve the NPC and their reactions and we're doing just that with our continued efforts on making them react to tear gas grenades and flashbangs. We've also completed our work on the encounter manager improvements, but more on that later! A lot of work has also gone into some UI improvements, the aforementioned new BB elements, and of course the armor penetration rework. Along with the armor rework, we're also working on improvements to bullet penetration, which will now take into account the depth and type of the material the bullet is penetrating. Of course, let's not forget the bugfixing...
Apart from preparations for the launch of new base-building elements and adding details like destruction particles for them, the level designers have also started working on a rework for the industrial kitchen cupboards found in restaurants in the settlements on the map and on certain elements for the eventual introduction of Wild hunters.
The hard surface team is still at it with improving shaders on props such as glass bottles, the trench gun bayonet, and the water collector. However, they've started to work on a rework for the SVD mag.
Nothing new to add here from last week on the soft surface side. They are still at it with the improvements to female character clothing, and are working on all the assets for the head bandana item, as well as on the wild hunter NPCs coming in an update later this year.
Same as last week, the 2D guys have continued their work on the UI improvements for painting and on some level design concepts.
The animation team is still mostly engaged with bug fixing and have begun their work on supporting the NPC reactions to flashbangs with new animations.
The sound team is also deep into bug fixing and on recording and editing new footstep sounds, but have also begun work on the sound effect for the diseases.
This past week, the designers have continued their work and are doing their part with regards to the new base-building elements and on resolving some challenges with the armor rework, as well as some bugfixing and quest improvements.
Now for the meat and potatoes. We said there will be more info on things going on, and we are here to deliver. Today specifically, concerning the next update. So when is it? Q3 is coming to a close. Where is it?
Originally, the update was supposed to be delivered this week; however, during the testing phase, we realized we needed a bit more time to complete some features and test them properly. So the choice was, cut features out or miss the Q3 deadline by a couple of days. We decided to give it a few extra days, so the update release date is 2nd of October.
In other news, there have been questions about wipes. We are looking at our stats and changes in the update, and we can see on the officials that a wipe is needed. So we can confirm that in the coming update, the official servers will receive a soft wipe. However, here is the kicker. For SP saves and private servers, wipe will be recommended but optional , as we are not forcing it for all.
Now, some other big news for everyone, regarding our favorite thing in the game. Yes, the encounter manager.
We are introducing the first pass of changes to the encounter manager and exposing many more options to server settings for customization. This includes things as spawn distance, activation distance, and virtualization timer. Last one put in simple terms is the thing that controls how long it takes a POI to respawn puppets after it was cleared. Not only are we exposing them as settings, but we are also changing them ourselves on official and vanilla settings. According to all the feedback you provided, we can now act upon that.
All that and more coming on the 2nd of October.
