Dayz Devblog and Patch notes for stable revealed

A new Dayz devblog got released yesterday after a long period of silence from the team.  With the release of the new patch, the team is now ready to move on to other aspects of the game along with optimizing and bug fixing. The new patch finally got rid of the old mouse control system that everybody was complaining about and implemented a new, more precise one. The multiplayer netcode also went through some changes. Yesterday’s devblog serves as a mini roadmap of thing to come in the following weeks.

Graphical optimization is in progress that should improve client-side FPS especially in big cities. The Developers offered no ETA on these changes but it’s good to know that they are working on it. The latest patch resolved some of the desync issues, although some rubber-banding might be present in the current build, mainly because of low server FPS. This will be resolved by performance optimization in the future.

The DayZ devteam is currently experimenting with the loot system with some great results. The team already identified some optimization possibilities that could change how loot is managed by the server and even make it respawn. After they can implement a basic respawn system the team will focus on persistent items, such as tents.

A lot of work has been done by the art department. A new city is in the making that will rival the size of Cherno and Elektro. A new office building and an ornate municipal building will become the new city’s landmarks as the team is focusing on giving the newly created areas a unique look. Graveyards are also coming to DayZ in the near future, enhancing the current nighttime experience.  Animals are nearing completion by the Bratislava studio so hunting is not far either. We might see fishing added to the game’s survival features as the team is experimenting with fish  and fishing pole models. Police, GORKA-E uniforms and riot gear are also on the list of the art department. Ready to gear up like Glenn from the Walking Dead (TV Show)?

The team is also working on some new weapons. The long-awaited AKM is close to being finished, although we don’t know when it will be introduced to the game. As the M4, the AKM will feature many attachments, including 75 round mags and PSO scopes. The Longhorn pistol is also being completed to add more variety to the games weapon arsenal. It will use .30 cal rifle ammo and will come with its own long range scope. Animation for the new weapons are also being worked on. Bows got a new animation that now syncs the bowstring with the player’s hands. This animation will be synced to the network allowing other players to see if the bow is drawn or not.

As you can see, the DayZ team is busy with provide us with new content and better performance. We’ll have to wait and see when these changes will appear in the game though. Until that time we can check out what the new Dayz patch has to offer:

Known Issues:

• Binoculars not functioning properly in crouch and prone states.
• Thrown objects moving at a slow frame rate during peak server load
• Crossbow damage higher than desired
• Player breathing in first person is louder than desired
• Ongoing melee balancing has zombies more resilient to body impacts. (Aim for the head)
• Accelerated Time falls out of sync after extended uptime (disabled for this update)

New:

• Actions: Melee attacks added to frying pan and cooking pot
• Actions: Recipe for bow crafting added
• Items: Dexterity of shotguns, pistols and rifles configured
• Items: Tracksuit Jackets and Russian Officer Hat configured and added to loot spawns
• Items: Binoculars configured and added to loot spawns (known issues above with this item)
• Items: Implemented Crossbow + bolts.
• Server: Basic item bullet physics enabled (known issues tied to server performance)
• Server: New guaranteed messaging system for network traffic
• Server: New player spawn locations near Klen, Chernaya Polana, Orlovets
• Server: Accelerated Time implemented for gameservers
• Systems: 1:1 Mouse control / movement
• World: New Ash Tree model
• World: New village “Karmanovka” has been added

Fixed:

• Actions: Crafting with medical items – splints, blood bags, blood testing
• Actions: Removed force feed and force drink from epinephrine and morphine
• Actions: You can no longer turn on flashlight or defibrillator laying on the ground without battery being attached to it
• Actions: You can no longer empty magazines or ammunition boxes laying on the ground (and loose ammo)
• Actions: Burlap sack removes from head properly
• Actions: Apply defibrillator action messages
• Actions: Players loading into server no longer play reloading SFX
• Actions: You can catch rain holding bottle in hand only
• Actions: moved quantity manipulation and item removal directly into action on self
• Actions: added config entries to actions for single use food and drinks
• Actions: Single use food and drink items now adding to player water and energy levels
• Actions: Injection vial cannot be consumed
• Actions: Medical items related actions on other player (proper quantity handling)
• Animations: Player now can wave (F1) when unarmed or holding one-handed item with raised hands.
• Animations: playing correct footstep sounds for 2handed melee raised run, aimed rifle run
• Animations: Removed the jerky motion when sometimes equipping a weapon/item, usually at the start of eating/drinking/bandaging
• Animations: sitting with 2 handed melee should now work properly
• Animations: Fixed an issue where you would first stand up when pressing crouch in unarmed sitting pose
• Animations: Fixed an issue where you couldn’t sit from unarmed prone directly.
• Animations: fixed missing rotation animation for unarmed crouched player
• Animations: Iron sights now use all 3 parameters for min, max and init zoom. Values of these params tweaked.
• Animations: Player’s “naked eye” max zoom level lowered. It allows for the same max zoom as iron sights.
• Gear: Improvised courier bag and taloon backpack shows their damage state in inspect window
• Gear: Green bandage stops bleeding
• Gear: Fruits no longer show 100% label
• Gear: FNX45 red dot sight optics renamed and now requires 9V battery in order to work
• Gear: Resolved chambering issue with 22 related to stack quantity
• Gear: Tablets amount in inventory slot changed from % to pills
• World: Rocks at Ship Wreck location reworked
• Zombies: Melee attack bleed chance nerfed
• Zombies: Damage is dealt to head while kneeling