Hello Kickstarter backers and Early Access players! How are you guys liking the new modes?
Below you can find and discuss the latest changes to the game. Z. Year One is currently under heavy development and will continue to be tweaked and improved throughout the Early Access period.
Make sure to read the Early Access launch FAQ!
And the How to Play megathread/guides!
General
- Enemy AI will act instantly rather than waiting a few seconds between actions
Watching people play the game online made me realize how excruciatingly slow the enemy AI takes their individual actions. We’ve drastically sped that up so the AI is much faster now.
We’ve tested this out and refined it a bit already, but keep an eye out for anything weird and please report unexpected AI behavior (like attacking a target that’s already dead, which shouldn’t happen anymore).
Card Changes
- Mules no longer stack
- Stealth Attack costs 3 (instead of 2) and requires the Survivor to have Stealth
- Temporarily removed "Slow" from Fallen Trait pool
Stealth Attack is balanced until you use it in conjunction with an SMG or Assault Rifle, in which case it can lead to easy OTKs. So this card has been and will be continually refined until we find the perfect functionality for it.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug where an attack sound would play while searching
- Fixed a bug where a certain Hurt Event was incorrectly damaging Fallen
- Fixed a bug where the game would soft lock if a unit with Bloodlust had no available targets
- Fixed a bug in Extermination where killing a unit with loot and winning the game at the same time would cause overlapping graphics
Finally hunted down and killed that weird searching/sound bug. That one was driving me crazy!
[ARCHIVE]Update Notes: v0.14.0
New Mode: Extermination
Destroy the enemy Base to prevent them from playing new units, then wipe out all their existing in-play units to win.
Dev Note: Even though losing your Base will also nullify the Base perks, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re done. I’m hoping to see some epic comebacks with this mode!
New Mode: Domination
- Starting from Fallen Turn 3, the player with the MOST UNITS IN PLAY at the end of the turn gets 1 Domination Point (DP)
- The first player with 5 DP wins
- A tie rewards NO DP
- A player can receive DP even if it's not their turn
Dev Note: This mode dramatically shifts player priorities. It’s no longer just about survival, searching, and sacrifice, but also numbers. Can you maintain a larger force than your opponent? It hopefully challenges the entire way you’ll think about playing Z., and, ideally, will make for some intense tug-of-war-style battles.
New Mode: Domination x Raze
Same as Domination but with Bases enabled. Players can win either by dominating or destroying the enemy Base!
Card Changes
- ”Location Units” have been renamed to “Rescue Units”
- Added “Does not stack with other Mules” text to Mule tooltip. Functionality remains the same.
- Gunrack Hideout can no longer reduce Ranged Weapons below 1C. Tooltip reflects this change.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug where Assault II counted Melee Weapons towards its DMG.
- Fixed a bug where “Stunned” status text appeared behind the unit
- Fixed a bug where Trap text could be seen floating in air in certain situations
- Fixed a bug where cards gained mid-turn weren’t highlighting as playable
- Fixed a bug where Stun/Hurt Events would affect the wrong target(s)
- Fixed a bug where Frightened Survivor was resolved even when Fallen units were in play
Major Known Issues
- Various AI issues (constantly being improved on -- please keep reporting any weirdness you may encounter!)
- Survivors sometimes make an attack noise when they search
- The Flashlight Item currently does not work
Upcoming Features
With the new modes out of the way we’ll be tinkering with improving the enemy AI and adding some new content, while polishing/adjusting existing content.
We’ll also be trickling various visual and especially audio improvements/additions into the game over the next few weeks.
Twitch -- YouTube -- Facebook -- Instagram
[ARCHIVE]Update Notes: v0.13.4, v0.13.5, & v0.13.6
General
- Added Status Effect text over units for certain abilities/effects*
- Added Options button to Main Menu
- Added new SFX for Snipe and .50 Cal Snipe
- Exact DMG is shown now (instead of always “1” even if 2+ DMG was dealt)
- Added unique Survival Challenge subtext in the Main Menu
- Added Survival Mode explanation at the start of each Survival match
- Survivor Challenge 3: The Fallen will now play any Revenants from their Hand before the free Revenants are put in play
- Increased max Trap limit per Base to 6
- Various resolution / full screen improvements
- New explosion VFX added to Ladee’s Grenade Launcher
- Added Overwatch Trait explanation to Overwatch Hideout tooltip
*The new Status Effect text should go a long way in making it more clear what’s happening, and why. This is just the first pass of this feature though so expect improvements and let us know what you think about it so far!
Card Changes
- Dark Secret can no longer target Heroes
- Backfire cost increased to 3 (from 2)
Dark Secret was never intended to target Heroes as that’d be way too powerful (Reggie, for example, will immediately kill himself if he gets Corrupted...on principle).
Meanwhile, Backfire is easily the most notorious card in the game, beloved by Fallen players and hated by Survivors, but it’s way too cheap at 2. In fact, it always hovered at 3 for years during physical testing, so it’s time for it to return to its rightful cost. This should balance out the early game a little bit better.
Likewise, a few alternatives to Backfire will be introduced down the road so you’re not always seeing the same Traps over and over again, and remember that a good way to prevent an expensive Survivor from triggering it is to put a Handgun on a Location Unit and have them shoot first instead.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug where Hurt Events were also stunning the affected units*
- Fixed a bug where Hand cards would get twitchy if you put your cursor between two of them
- Fixed a bug where the Barbed Hive was giving the “Barbed” Trait to all Fallen units
- Fixed a bug where the furthest card on the right’s tooltip would be cut off during the Opening Hand selection
- Fixed a bug where units under the Cancel option during a CS couldn’t be selected
- Fixed various other visual layer issues
*Note that Bear Trap IS supposed to stun its victim and will still function as described.
A stunned Survivor will NOT trigger their Walkie Talkie if they die (or any of their items/abilities, for that matter), just FYI.
Locations
- Changed the Lumber Yard’s default lighting
The Lumber Yard’s orange-ish lighting was never meant to be its default, but it was so visually striking (even from a distance) that we had it on by default for events like PAX and Comic-Con. Now that our event run is over, the default is now what it should be.
However, you can change the environment in-match by doing something special.....
Previous Updates
- v0.13.3
- Early Access Launch - v0.13.2