Hi everyone,
Experimental V6.01 is now available in a beta branch. To access it, right click the game in your Steam library and hit properties. There you will find a BETAS tab, select Experimental V6.01 and launch your game as usual. Once everything is debugged and adjusted/balanced, we will deploy it to the public branch. This version have many huge changes to the gameplay and under hood so their may be some bugs still.
A new game will be required, all older saved games will not work. Please report all bugs, comments and suggestions via the “Bugs/Fixes Thread” here on Steam.
Cheers!
Map and Environment:
We have spent a large portion of time on level design. Most Islands have been remodeled, some new ones added and some removed from the game.
- Dead Island is now much larger (starter island)
- A new desert biome Island has been added (Dry Island)
- Removal of Treasure, Frost and Drake Islands
- The old Skull and Betrayal Islands have been merged with Dead Island
- 2 news Islands have now become Skull and Betrayal
- Addition of some small towns and the beginning of a road network
- All friendly AI such as the Trader and Arms Dealer are no longer on Trader Island. (More info on AI below)
- Removal of ferries to encourage the use of vehicles more often.
- More caves have been added including on Dead Island, however only iron. For other resources players still need to access the caves on other Islands. Oil Shale exclusive caves in the desert biome.
- 2 new palm trees in the desert biome that give 10 wood and 10 plant fiber. (A few scattered on the shores of other Islands)
- 2 new cactus plants in the desert Biome that give 3 plant fiber and 2 Prickly Pear Fruits. (A few scattered on the shores of other Islands)
- Prickly Pear fruit acquired from cactus plants yield 6 carbs, 12 hours perish time
- Desert Biome temperature adjusted to be hot
- Removed small pine bushes that give plant fiber.
- All trees now give 5 Plant Fiber when cut down.
Friendly and Aggressive AI:
The game now has 4 Friendly AI and the addition of a new and improved humanoid Aggressive AI.
- Trader: now spawns randomly in a barn on Dead Island
- Arms Dealer: Now spawns randomly in a store on Skull Island
- Mechanic: Spawns randomly in a garage on Dead Island
- Pharmacist: Spawns randomly in a pharmacy on Dead Island
- Aggressive AI now called Guards (not hunters anymore) roam the forests and patrol the towns. AI respawn once killed even in the towns, unlike in previous version where they did not. Thanks to Iron Belly Studios, they are developing our new AI and we are starting to deploy some of their work in this next version of the game. Although we are deploying just the basic versions of these new AIs, they now move smoother, smarter, reload their guns and not have endless ammo in their guns. They can also retreat when low on health and can call other close by AI to come assist them. We will be constantly improving upon this base AI over the next few updates.
Vehicles:
- Addition of drivable cars that can be purchased from the Mechanic for Gold.
- Changes to how the Boat is crafted. You now need to purchase a Boat Hull from the mechanic.
- Changes to how the Helicopter is crafted. You need to purchase certain components from the Mechanic.
New POIs:
- Addition of residential homes
- Addition of a Local Pharmacy
- Addition of a Local Restaurant
- Addition of a small Mechanics Garage
- Addition of Barns
- Addition of a Church
- Addition of industrial Buildings
- All barns contain a plant bed for early game use if needed.
Loot:
- Items in all container such as garbage bags etc now only spawn their inventories once opened. The result of this change improves performance but most importantly, food does not start its perish timer until players loot them.
- Players should notice a huge decrease in garbage bags and backpacks scattered around the map. All POIs now contain the bulk of loots. Most furniture and appliances can now be looted in most POIs. (Fridges, Ovens, Counters, Desks etc.)
- All loot in POIs now respawn after 10 game days.
- It is now possible to have empty loot containers, 50/50 change of it containing nothing.
Items:
- Added purchasable Cars
- Added Prickly Fruit
- Added a Boat Hull purchasable at the Mechanic.
- I have also increased the durability of most tools and weapons.
Maps and Markers:
- Added a minimap that can be toggled on/off showing player location and markers.
- New interactive larger map added in the inventory Tab. Players can add a marker to assist in reaching specific points on the map. (very useful when driving cars)
- All maps show more detail now such as towns and roads.
Bug Fixes:
I will not list all the bug fixes here because it is a very long list but many multiplayer bugs have been fixed as well as some old lingering bugs I meant to fix for a while.