Status Report - Week of 13 Oct 14

This week we'll talk about infected AI, and our plans for the next few months regarding these systems. Looking forward towards our October stable branch update (0.50) and on-wards to the November update we plan on slowly implementing the next iteration of A.I. for the infected into our experimental and later stable branches. The intent with this iteration is focused on several key points for gameplay: Stealth as a viable method of tactics vs infected A.I. Vastly reduced range-of-vision Smaller corner to corner cone of vision Infected hearing ability refactored to compliment stealth as viable gameplay method The impact of the intended new behavior extends past the obvious gameplay areas and into server performance and navmesh compliance. As the gameplay programming team begins the process of implementing this new system into DayZ, so will begin the process of removing the legacy A.I. system used prior. Starting fresh with this new system should reduce the load on the DayZ server process and allow us to begin experimenting with new methods of distributing the infected, as well as increasing the amount of infected spawned per server instance. As well, the changes in A.I. navigation in complex scenarios should have a strong positive impact on the positioning of infected A.I. when players attempt to trap/ditch/elude them in and around structures and terrain features. On the service side, the architecture has been completed to support and rent private shards of the central hive. We have updated our DayZ server rules for the public hive to reflect the differences between public hive and private shard servers - both of these rule sets can be viewed here: http://dayz.com/files/pdf/Server_Hosting_Rules_Public.pdf http://dayz.com/files/pdf/Server_Hosting_Rules_Private.pdf Once our partner game server providers have completed the final touches on supporting the rental of these new server types in each of their systems, you will begin to see private shard servers show up in the in game server browser. - Brian Hicks / Lead Producer Chris / Lead Artist "Tech: To follow on from last time, I received word that the bug preventing shadows from being cast onto our prototype bushrag was fixed so we will begin polishing it and generating any other assets needed for its crafting.

Weapons

Work continues on the AKS-74U and AK-74. I decided with Peter that we will keep the AK101 in the game for now and visually distinguish it by the black furniture and dark-plum magazine. By contrast, the AK74 will be given wood furniture and a brown magazine. The AUG needs a bit more time but I can tell you we have pretty big plans for it. We're exploring the idea of converting your AUG from carbine with the AUG built-in optic to an HBAR with an ACOG if you find the right parts. We'll keep you appraised of the latest developments.

Character

Work continues on women's clothing and new zombie types - in particular, a farmer zombie. He's a little pudgy but can still pack a punch." Peter / Lead Designer "We’ve got a lot of things in the pipe right now. We’ve taken a look at some of the remaining issues with struggling from restrains and burlap sack. We’ve fixed them and they look good to go. No more simple holding of the key to set you free from your restrains. No more reconnecting with burlap sack on head with ability to see through it. We will also add the possibility to restrain survivors with rope, duct tape and even wire, which was added recently for use with snare trap.