Zeverland 2nd Test Access Expanded! Dev Log #1

Hi, survivors!

Yesterday's launch of the second beta test kicked off with a 100-slot lottery event, and the response was incredible — we've already received 350+ sign-ups! We've drawn 100 winners, and access has now been granted!

Given how high the enthusiasm for the beta has been, we've decided to expand the number of beta slots — anyone who meets the device requirements can now join. Sign up here:

https://forms.gle/K8UaiF1ycPS2Y1c59

And to make it easier for you to get your friends in on the fun, we've got a big update: you're now allowed to publicly post videos, screenshots, and livestreams of this test! Share away! Just a heads-up — some servers are already full, so please pick a server that still has space when creating your character.

On that note — you all uncovered a ton of bugs yesterday and shared plenty of great suggestions. We've logged every piece of feedback, and this time we'll start with the curious case of the nurse.

Player Feedback FAQ

Q1: The nurse talks way too much and it's so noisy — can she pipe down?

A: We did design a "dialogue cooldown," but it isn't kicking in during rapid state-switching; we'll fix it next PT. Quick workaround for now — send the NPC out to work and she won't have time to nag in your ear.

Q2: Worried about logging off and getting your base raided while your character stays put (Rust-style)?

A: Home is safe — try to log out at home whenever you can.

Q3: Indoors / cabins are too dark and washed-out, hard to see.

A: We'll optimize this as much as we can. For now, light a torch, wear a helmet lamp, or hold a flashlight to brighten things up.

Q4: Wish the backpack had bulk-dismantle, same-type storage, and material sorting.

A: Good news — these already exist! For bulk actions, hold Ctrl to multi-select items to dismantle. Same-type storage and material sorting are in there too; we'll put out a guide soon.

Q5: I don't want to build my own base, but some quests require a home, which makes joining other people's teams kind of pointless.

A: We'll try to make those quests completable at a friend's place too.

Q6: The simple lockpick shows 100% success but won't open / the combination lock locked me out of my own door.

A: There's a bug here we haven't fixed yet — if you only have ONE lockpick in your bag it'll fail; craft a few spares and you'll be fine.

Q7: The camera is too close and makes me dizzy — can it zoom out / adjust FOV?

A: Zooming the camera out and custom FOV are things we genuinely want to do — they're already on the roadmap, and we'll get them to you as soon as we can.

Q8: Is the main story a bit short — does it just end at "The Rebuilders"?

A: The content for this test is scoped to the test itself, so that's roughly it; future versions will keep expanding it. Stay tuned for the next test!

Q9: Early-game resources feel scarce and you starve easily / food and water drain too fast.

A: This is tied to your spawn area — feel free to report your spawn location so we can pinpoint it and optimize.

There's also a wave of highly-requested wishes we've jotted down one by one in our little notebook — they're already on their way into the apocalypse, just give them a little time:

• Play with a controller / Steam Deck, kicked back and relaxed

• In-game voice / text chat to call out to teammates

• Stop binding drink/eat to the F key — we keep fat-fingering it and chugging a bellyful of river water…

• Let building auto-snap to the grid, and lay flooring a big patch at a time

• The wardrobe and dresser have the same capacity — we'd love the wardrobe to hold more

• Let the radio clip onto your backpack / bike so you can listen on the move

• Hoping territory range can be expanded a bit

• When creating your character, let us take off the hat / clothes to actually see the hairstyle

Known Issues & Fix Progress

✅ Fixed

• Main-quest issues: "Disaster Relief" quest failing, "Potential Threat" not spawning enemies, unable to dispatch NPCs for quests

🔧 Identified, fix in progress

• Getting stuck in terrain / at doors / on vehicles / on car roofs / clipping with NPCs

• Invisible character

• Generally low FPS, frame drops after long sessions, stutter while driving/cycling

• High CPU usage and overheating

• Bridge surface sitting much higher than the road, so cars have to "hop" up

• Misaligned scenes, zombies not respawning

• Vehicles vanishing

• Zombie anomalies: shooting with no model / lying down mid-walk / unkillable (note: armed zombies dealing high damage is by design)

📝 Logged, fix scheduled

• Items/microwave unusable inside territory, territory flag clipping into structures/fences, random item loss when placing 19+ blocks

• Lockpick / combination lock issues

• Purple screen / crash when entering settings or launching

🎯 Working as intended (not a bug, with notes)

• Friendly fire / NPC infighting: players of different factions can fight, and their NPCs will attack each other too

• Bow draw can't be canceled: switch weapons to cancel; grass really does block bullets and arrows

• NPCs relieving themselves on the spot: unless there's a toilet in the territory, they'll go where they stand

• "Not enough space above to lift" + can't click it from outside the trunk: by design; adjust the interactable's position in build mode

• Combat skill jumping levels after a boss: boss fights grant combat-skill EXP, by design

• Dark nights: by design (lighting tips in Q3 above)

🔍 Investigating (not yet reproduced / TBC)

• Trunk slots disappearing after taking items out: can't reproduce yet, please share repro steps

• Self-improvement (singing, etc.) training screen freezing

• Sensitivity / contrast settings not working, keybinds resetting every login

• Backpack and equipped gear vanishing after relog, suspected corrupted save

🌐 Network-related

• Server lag / disconnects / errors (Error 60+), stuck at 100% loading: mostly traced to network environment — please check your network or switch nodes and retry

Every piece of feedback has been carefully noted, and Zeverland will keep getting polished with each test and your input. Keep the suggestions and questions coming — the next one we flip might just be yours! And don't forget to toss Zeverland onto your Steam wishlist~