Greetings survivor! So as the ‘Merry month of May’ approaches we continue to frolic our way down the road to new the Survival mode. Much of what we are up to is not ready for public viewing and the backend work is just not very pleasing to the eye unless you get a buzz from code.
Back End Stuff
Work by the backroom boffins includes the development of systems that save and load your character’s progress, so you can pick up where you left off after you log out.
NPC AI interaction is being expanded for both Faction and Infected (zombie) NPCs. This will allow us to have more complex behaviours in the game and give NPC’s the ability to ruin your day far more effectively.
Huzzah! A new button has been added that allows players to disconnect from the game and return to the menu screen. Something I’m sure you have all had sleepless nights over…I know I have!
We are also continuing to improve, tweak and polish the new player character UI which will give players far more control over inventory, gear and look of their characters.
A new building generator has been built that will help us to create a larger variety of constructions within the game and also provide much greater detail and variety to the buildings in DOTI. Work continues on adding in textures and other refinements to make them look nice ‘n’ pretty.
Our new character model should be ready for playtesting sometime next week so you will get your hands on it when the Survival mode is launched. We plan to give you a better look you next week. Character customisation and cosmetics will be focused on as we move forward.
Vehicles
The Chinook helicopter model is now complete and will soon be ready for flight tests. It will be player piloted and have the capability to carry groups of players across the map and drop them off where and when they are needed. As for when you will get our hands on it within the game world, only time will tell, we aim for sooner rather than later!
Bitesize Lore
A new feature to the blog that will give you some insight into the world, it’s inhabitants and the situation in which you the player will be plunged when Survival mode is launched.
Introduction to the story
Day of the Infected is set in and around the County of Canard and it’s capital Canard City somewhere in the depths of the good old USofA
In time-honoured apocalyptic tradition, a strange and currently unidentified viral infection is sweeping the area. Families have been torn apart and the counties infrastructure has collapsed. As a result, law and order are failing with groups of armed vigilantes preying on the weak and helpless.
The military has stepped in to take charge and the whole area has now been placed under martial law. Many of the more violent criminal groups have been outlawed by the authorities and warrants raised for their arrest, these outlaws now survive in the wilderness, hunted fugitives.
Meanwhile…the infected horde grows exponentially as they brutally attack and feed on their families, friends and neighbours.
Lore Factoid 1
The Zombies, AKA the ‘Infected’ are not actually dead, they are suffering from a disease that both disfigures and induces psychotic behaviour in those infected by an unknown virus. So, as you empty your magazine into the crazed and manic creature running and screaming in your direction, please take a moment to consider that it may be someone’s mother, father or child and that, if only a cure could have been found, you may have been able to have saved them and precious ammunition!
Latest updates:
Added – Character; ability to load server specific characters
Added – Player Spawn; load character’s previous inventory on spawn
Added – Player Lifecycle; life cycle steps to disconnection.
Added – Survival; saving character position on disconnect loading it on spawn, clearing character inventory on death, clearing character position on death
Added – Game Menu; now there is a disconnect button to go back to the menu
Added – Player Lifecycle; added rules to handle player death
Added – Player; autosave mechanism
Added – GameModeBehaviour for AI; WIP
Changed – UI; survival HUD icon improvements, inventory icon improvements
Fixed – VoiceChat; the character would show errors if voice chat was not present
Fixed – Menu Scene; global audio can be unchecked again
Other:
Chinook is now complete
Our new building generator (version 1) is complete.
Currently in the works:
vehicle audio improvements
character overhaul and database migration
character clothes
character zombification shader
saving character state between sessions
improving AI performance
survival map setup
building textures