Hello all,
The team is hard at working on player found issues and developing the 1.5 patch. Below we'll be going over some of what you can expect to see in the 1.5 build. 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. We hope to have a 1.5 experimental build out within two weeks and we'll keep you updated on that in the next devblog.
Free Placed Fortifications
Something players have requested and a feature of our original concept is free placed fortifications. With the 1.5 update and introduction of our horde mechanic, we'll be expanding fortifications. We'll be introducing this mechanic alongside hordes for 1.5. Players will be able to craft and place barriers around the world. Ideally you'll be able to create an entire wall of defense around your structure. We've begun work on these mechanics. Zombies will become aware of placed objects in the world and begin attacking them. Once the object blocking the AI path is removed they will continue their hunt for their original target. Below is a gif of zombies attacking a placed fortification. This is a work in progress and you'll see that progress as we work through 1.5. You'll notice it's just our original concept barricade and there are no visual effects for destruction etc.
Zombies Attacking Fortifications
Unity 2019 Update
We're in the process of updating from Unity 2017 to Unity 2019. Unity 2019 will allow us to stay current and keep up to date with engine tech and improvements. It will allow us to improve stability with a new backend lobby system. The update will also allow us to prepare and move forward with our planned design pass, improving environmental design along with updated structures and visual effects. This update has come at a price, as they all have in the past. We started survive the nights with Unity3d 3.x we've worked through and updated the project through 3 more engine updates Unity 4,5 and 2017. With every update comes issues and we've come to expect these. Our 2019 update has set us back slightly but we should come out of it with the ability to improve and move forward more efficiently and productively than before. We've thoroughly enjoyed the engine and the community behind it and we would suggest anyone looking to get started with development to check Unity out.
New Animations
You'll likely be seeing far more zombies in the coming updates. We've improved and will continue to improve zombie characters and animations. In the 1.5 builds you'll see the start to some zombie animation tweaks. Creepier leg dragging and more fluid movement helps to add to the horde vibe. We've also spent some and started tweaking weapon animations.
Zombie Walk
Zombie Walk 2
Zombie Leg Drag
Weapon Fire Animation Tweaks
Horde UI Concept and Preview
Horde mode will feature quite a few new mechanics. One of which will be a UI to keep track of a few things including how many 'horde nights' you've survived, how many zombies you've killed, when the horde starts and stops along with the direction the horde is approaching from. These features and this UI is all in its infancy. We'll have far more information in future devblogs along with experimental patches so you can start testing these new features.
Horde UI
Server Prices and Server Files
Within the next few days, Clinton over at Allgamer will be introducing a 15 slot $15 server rental. We've spent some time optimizing and this is now possible. We're working towards releasing a neatly packed server backend so you can host from home for free. This should happen in the next few months as we work through the coming builds.
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!
Links
Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Forum: https://community.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net