Status Report - 02 Aug 2016

Contents This Week

• Dev Update/Hicks
• Dev Update/Peter
• Dev Update/Viktor
• Community Spotlight

Dev Update/Hicks

Greetings Survivors,

Since the last Status Report we've been mostly focused on .61 - and getting it ready for experimental. That said, there are a few things I'd like to cover before we talk about the current status of each of the .61 milestone goals.

Over the last two weeks, Peter and I have spent a good amount of time discussing two areas of DayZ. Dynamic changes to the economy, and the external DayZ launcher. Peter will be talking about the launcher in his portion of this status report, so I'll talk a bit about the dynamic changes to the economy.
The current iteration of the central loot economy allows for dynamic (no patch required) updating of every item that spawns in DayZ. This means it includes:

• The minimum, and nominal operating values of each item.
• The frequency it can respawn.
• The region of Chernarus it can spawn in.
• In the case of items such as magazines, and piles of ammo - it can dictate the minimum and maximum ranges for how much of that items capacity it spawns with.

The reason I bring this up is because the design team routinely will adjust these levels based upon data and behaviour observed on stable branch, and these changes can be effective within an hour of the change occurring. Over the last few weeks quite a few adjustments have been made on everything from the availability of certain ammo types, to the available quantity of non perishable canned goods. Thus, it makes it even more valuable for those observing bugs or general issues with this system to be specific in their reports on the feedback tracker. Make sure to detail exactly what you observed, when you observed it, and most important - what server it occurred on.

To give you an example of exactly how important this data is, we've been trying internally to track down behaviour in regards to certain items spawning in piles (specifically in this case firearms) despite the fact that the restock timer should prevent such behaviour. It has been a nasty issue that has seemed to occur on the stable branch significantly easier than we have been able to reproduce it internally. That said, thanks to several dedicated feedback tracker users - we were able to isolate the issue on stable branch - and have identified the cause of it. (Much to the satisfaction of both Peter and I) We'll now be able to resolve the issue discovered with .61.

In addition to this, today the design team will be introducing changes to firearm and ammunition tiering and nominal values. Like all things, we'll need to wait and observe over the coming week to see the impact as existing availability within the economy (on players, in camps) can and will impact how this behaves. As these changes become effective in the stable branch wide economy, it is vital that if you notice an issue, you file a feedback tracker issue with as much information as possible.

Enough about the economy though - lets take a look at where we are with .61 development goals:

0.61 Milestone Goals:

• Server Login Queue:
  • Feature implemented, system under review with internal QA teams.

• Merge of New Audio Technology from Arma 3 Eden Update:
  • Tech implemented fully into DayZ. Existing sounds and configs from legacy system functioning properly. (Backwards compatibility with legacy sound technology).

• Update of Weapon Sounds for New Audio Technology:
  • 21 weapons ready, work continues on remaining firearms. Youtube channel dev log preview upcoming!
  • SKS
  • Sporter
  • Trumpet
  • Repeater
  • AKM
  • Steyr
  • FAL
  • SVD
  • MP5K
  • 1911
  • CR75
  • Derringer
  • Flaregun
  • FNX
  • Glock 19
  • Longhorn
  • Magnum
  • Amphibia
  • P1
  • Makarov
  • Red 9

• Dynamic Spawning of Infected:
  • Feature implemented into internal branch. QA teams are doing initial passes and providing programmers with initial issues.

• Predators (Wolves)
  • The team are currently working on several key issues with predators (wolves). Specifically being addressed currently are:
    • Issues with navigation in urban / dense areas.
    • Overall physics related issues.
    • Damage application against non player targets.
    • AI Targeting priority.

  
  

It's no secret that as far as DayZ and .61 goals go, predator AI is a big addition to gameplay, and clearly the largest at risk area for milestone goal slippage. That said, we're still very confident in our progress on the feature and the pace at which it is moving forward. We'll continue to update you all as to the status of this milestone goal with Status Reports.

- Brian Hicks / Creative Director

For the full status report, please use the following link: http://forums.dayz.com/topic/234802-status-report-02-aug-2016