WhatZ Next

UNSTABLE PLANS

So what does the Unstable release currently look like, and what will happen during the beta once it’s out there?

Well, the scores on the doors are currently this:

As many have assumed, we are currently working on getting Unstable out before Christmas.

We feel like we will be in a good place for this, but clearly the closer we get – the shorter the window for any necessary patching before the Christmas season.

If we need to, we will choose to delay – but right now the enjoyment we’re seeing from our testers certainly would seem to suggest that the build will be in a good enough state for wider consumption. (And if it were to slip, at this point in time it’s hard to imagine it slipping far into the New Year.)

If anything were to happen to change our minds, you would be the first to know.

INTERNAL BETA TEST IMPRESSIONS

We’ve had around 30 people on the internal beta giving feedback now, and overall the response has been very positive. Which, as we mentioned last time, has been a relief.

With the feedback too has come a clear spotlight on what we need to be polishing, both now while we finalise the build – and what we will be turning our attention to during the Unstable update process.

Testers have certainly seemed to enjoy the way the game feels now – with it playing more smoothly, and the world feeling more ‘alive’.

They universally have responded well to the new lighting, new map additions, new lore, animals, optimization, underground areas, dynamic music, player vocals, corpse dragging, farming and many other of all the manifold things that are in 42.

Our changes to the flow of PZ – with our rebalanced zed spawns, combat building up muscle strain and fresh focus on the player having to sneak by crowds – have also been welcomed.

This said, this is certainly a change likely to cause some debate in the community (it does switch things up quite a lot) but we would much rather balance things within the mainframe once we have something playable out in the wild.

It makes the game a little slower, more tactical and zombies more of a threat – especially now you also have the darkness to contend with. Those who prefer to go a little more Action Jackson might disagree, however, so we’ll see how it all shakes out once everyone gets their hands on it. (And, of course, sandbox will always be available to modify, or disable, aspects that folk don’t like.)

Given that rural and some residential areas have less zeds (though we are still balancing this and pumping a few more in) there’s also a vague feeling that the overall game might be a little easier for experienced players now but, again, we will tighten this up once we have more universal feedback from the playerbase at large.

People really seem to enjoy the animals too – both when running them over, and caring for them. Having deer and rabbits wander along their paths through woodland also gives the world a lot of life, but in terms of the actual hunting gameplay itself there’s a feeling that there’s much room for improvement. As such, this will be a focus during the Unstable process.

Currently deer migrate over the map along paths preordained at the game’s start, and they leave