Game Engine

• Unreal Engine 4.24.3 to 4.25.3 update.
  
• Implemented Wwise Sound System.
  
• Minor improvement for save files to reduce risk of corrupting save data.
  

Optimisation

• Optimized textures with higher compression and lower resolution.
  
• World tile size has been increased x3 to reduce load and unload performance spike (spikes will still occur, but much less often).
  
• Leaf foliage changed to a low poly version.
  
• Reduced the density of foliage around Hanouten.
  
• Improved optimisations on Skylight system.
  
• Significant cleanup of redundant elements in Character/Controller.
  

Player

• Trystan is now a playable character that can be unlocked by relevant Kickstarter backers and early adopters with a product key. Trystan will be available to all players upon official Steam Early Access release (when the game leaves pre-Alpha).
  
• Characters can now fight with fists to defend themselves in close quarters. Consecutive punches can knock down enemies.
  
• Characters can now perform stealth takedowns on enemies by approaching from behind (currently knife is automatically used, but will be introduced as an equipable item at a later date).
  
• Character’s attributes now affect gameplay:
  
`Speed - affects characters top speed.`
`Energy - affects the amount of energy the character has from an average person to an athlete. `
`Stealth - affects how hidden a character is in camo or foliage cover`
`Constitution - affects the amount of damage the character will take and chance of bleeding.`

  
• New SFX for landing
  
• Added bleeding system. Taking damage from melee, projectiles and explosions have a chance of causing bleed damage.
  
• Added new recoil visuals for shooting weapons in first person.
  
• Water wading animation reintroduced.
  
• Added player bark system, for characters to respond to actions, interactions and situations.
  
• Added SFX when siphoning fuel from vehicles.
  

Quests

• Scavenger quests added to the noticeboard, collect items for NPCs in supplied backpacks and return to collect rewards.
  

UI & Menus

• New start up menu, with updated character selection and credits screens.
  
• New bleeding visual on player health display.
  
• New colour scheme for vitals on the HUD.
  
• Each protagonist will now have their own saves.
  
• Stealth tutorial added, when reaching the top of the stone stairs from the starter beach.
  
• Inventory filter system, click on the icons next to “Auto Manage” to filter items in your inventory by category.
  

Items

• Bandages now only stop bleeding and replenish 25% well-being.
  
• Added three tiers of respirators. Can be equipped to prevent coughing and disorientation.
  
• Added gas mask. Can be equipped to prevent coughing, disorientation and blurred vision.
  
• PainKillers - stats been updated. Will now give replenish 40% health & 25% wellness.
  
• Adjusted prices on full and empty Jerry Cans.
  

AI/NPCs

• New models for infected (stage 2 only).
  
• New SFX for infected.
  
• New kill mechanics for headshots on infected (shooting in the head will cause spore clouds that will cause the player to cough and have blurry vision unless face and eye protection is equipped).
  
• New heart shot instant kill mechanic added.
  
• NPCs will no longer completely body block the player in combat.
  
• Introduced sleeper infected who may (or may not) be triggered by your presence and stand up to get you.
  
• Infected now become empowered by water when in shallow water as well as rain.
  
• Vehicle recovery system implemented - talk to Liam in the Backwater Safe Zone if you lose any type of engined vehicle. Liam will recover your vehicle and bring it back to the safe zone 23 hours later.
  
• Jess Arling has now been renamed to Jess Foster.
  
• Added a new welding mask which Liam will wear while welding.
  

Environment

• Bird disturbance system added. Creep past flocks of crows to prevent them notifying nearby enemies of your presence.
  
• Added loot spawns to all new car models.
  
• Added exile camp added between Hanouten and Bayou, ready for hostile ‘Exile’ characters to be added with high tier loot.
  
• Skeleton near starting location moved nearby to new shed location.
  
• New skeleton added to beach area.
  
• Added environment inspection areas (will display with a UI magnifying glass, to indicate something can be examined)
  
• Moved west safezone entrance blockade so the west entrance can be used by vehicles.
  
• Added 4x4 Jeep vehicle.
  
• Lighting adjustment to make the world look less washed out.
  
• Moved an ATV spawn to near the starting location.
  
• Adjusted foliage blocking ladders on building ruins.
  
• Added climbable radio towers (ready for new mechanics).
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed weapon sometimes disappearing after using the ST-RV watch.
  
• Fixed invisible body parts after hitting spacebar and left/right mouse button to change perspective to third person when in first person.
  
• Fixed infected vaulting on fire from molotovs and fire arrows.
  
• Fixed being unable trade with Haymish
  
• Removed Liam's dodgy sitting animation with arm twist.
  
• Fixed weapon condition not updating on popup.
  
• Fixed placeholder barks being audible after interaction/trade.
  
• Directional keys moving character when using them with the building menu.
  
• Fixed some cabinets in houses not being lootable despite glowing.
  
• Fixed floating STRV widget is sometimes visible floating inside the character's waist.
  
• Fixed Amy respawning with incorrect trousers, if trousers other than the prison scrubs have been equipped.
  
• Fixed throwables not being removed from the character’s hand in some instances.
  
• Improved issues affecting character’s ragdoll.
  
• Fixed issue where changing perspective whilst looking at vitals would show character with no arms and STRV display incorrectly.
  
• Fixed infected audio not stopping after death.
  
• Fixed Player Building Tool delete utility not turning off if player exits building bar by pressing [ B ].
  
• Fixed loot highlight visuals appearing incorrect after using the Player Building delete utility.
  
• Fixed Player Building delete utility still being visible after closing the Building Bar.
  
• Fixed only getting only one bullet when buying ammunition.
  
• Fixed high sell prices on hide and being able to buy them back for free.
  
• Fixed being able to buy backpack for free
  
• Fixed prices on Jerry Cans where Empty Jerry Can was worth more than a Full one.
  
• Fixed small cube appearing inside the burning barrels.
  
• Fixed embers from the fire barrel having a 'sun ray' coming from them when looking North.
  
• Fixed player character holstering their firearm when skipping quests.
  
• Fixed weapon HUD incorrectly displaying after holstering firearms when initiating dialogue with NPC.
  
• Fixed issue with crafted improvised health kit not displaying third ingredient for crafting.
  
• Fixed items not being present in ATV’s inventory after loading a saved game.
  
• Fixed purchased ATV spawning in with no parts or fuel.
  
• Fixed various NPC related errors occurring
  
• Fixed Spark Plugs and Oil Filters stacking instead of swapping out inside vehicles.
  
• Fixed number of noticeboard quests the player can take after reloading the game having completed quests in the past. The number of quests the player can take from the noticeboard at any one time should be one.
  
• Fixed un-equippable items appearing in the Character Management Window
  
• Fixed dead NPCs making a noise when running them over in the vehicle.
  
• Vehicle skins now included in save data.
  
• Fixed issue when leaving a trader on the ‘Sell’ tab, interacting with them again opened on the ‘Buy’ tab but UI functionality was locked to ‘Sell’.
  
• Various text grammar/spelling issues on popup messages, NPC dialog and item descriptions.
  
• Fixed taking a second notice board quest after completing the first but not getting credit for it.
  
• Fixed [Q] & [E] only rotating placeable items in one direction.
  
• Fixed Amy having no feet when wearing shoes.
  
• Fixed setting Fullscreen Mode causing the game to crash on startup.
  
• Fixed typo on loading screens.
  
• Fixed loading a saved game where the player has skipped the initial Sen quest, causing the Sen quest to appear on the UI after reloading the game.
  
• Sen's basement door has red locked text even if you have the key to open it.
  
• Fixed not being able to recycle vehicle parts.
  
• Fixed issues where character would immediately re-enter vehicles after pressing [F] to exit.
  
• Fixed the ‘Buy Vehicle’ UI remaining on the last skin you inspected when leaving and re-entering the trade UI.
  
• Fixed missing siphoning tool tip which would appear as a white box.
  
• Fixed not being able to loot some chests around the world.
  

Known Issues

• Can sometimes see facemasks when looting and crouching in first person.
  
• Some double tiered garages still have no interiors.
  
• Some houses are still using random item location spawners.
  
• Dumpster near a slice of life not culling at reasonable distance, may need replacing.
  
• Inventory does not add extra rows as it gets full causing issues when taking items at full capacity.
  
• Torch doesn’t illuminate directly towards the center of the screen making it difficult to examine objects in close spaces.
  
• Mouse wheel sometimes stops being responsive in the building menu.
  
• Game is missing left-handed support.
  
• Safezone music stops when moving towards Kenneth house.
  
• Mouse sensitivity while dragging the map around can be difficult.
  
• Occasionally safezone guards keep their guns holstered.
  
• Various issues with UI text in crafting menus.
  
• Discrepancies with save game names.
  
• In rare circumstances, the player's weapon may appear invisible or inside the character's head.
  
• Swapping an item with a Jerry Can in the fuel slot on the quad causes the other item to be placed in the fuel slot.
  
• Lantern doesn’t appear in the player's hand when equipped.
  
• Save files do not properly sort by date.
  
• Baseball bats cover too much of the screen in First Person perspective.
  
• Opening inventory can cause cameras to clip through walls.
  
• When LED light runs out of battery, it unequips but does not re-enable belt chem-light.
  
• NPCs can have ‘black beams’ coming out of their eyes when running the game using FXAA.
  
• Occasionally, interacting with the bow causes pistols to reload one bullet at a time.
  
• Sleeping bags placed on foundations or flat ground can sometimes be placed at an unusual angle.
  

Player

• Players can no longer look at their ST-RV watch while in the building menu or inventory.
  
• Player buff system added. Consumables and equipment can create effects on the character to counter negative effects and buff the character’s stats. These buffs are normally temporary.
  
• Character now remains crouched after falling instead of always standing up again.
  
• Crouching no longer causes the player to always return to walking even if the character was jogging before starting to crouch.
  
• Lowering a weapon from aiming no longer stops the character from sprinting or jogging.
  
• Player no longer stands up when opening a door while crouched
  
• Added a new system that will detect if a player is in shelter from weather.
  
• Players can now use [Esc], [Tab] or [F] to leave all interactive menus including noticeboards, trading menus, campfires, containers, etc.
  
• Old game hints removed. New game hint UI implemented with tutorials for activities such as building.
  
• Player can interact with broken cars to syphon fuel from them using a syphoning kit and a Jerry Can.
  
• Re-enabled opening/closing inventory in water. Previously disabled due to character getting stuck in TP pose while in FP.
  
• Re-enabled and fixed issues caused by keybindings. (If any issues persist where the game crashes on startup, it may be due to data generated from the last patch. Delete Save\SaveGames folder or ask for assistance in the Discord channel)
  

NPCs

• Hanouten Safe Zone, now formally known as Backwater Beacon, is back in business. Visit the settlement and get to know the new cast of friendly NPCs.
  
• Implemented the first batch of ‘essential’ NPCs into Backwater Beacon safe zone. There are a total of eight essential NPCs now in the settlement.
  
• All NPCs in the settlement can be spoken with and most will offer you trade. Different people will provide different trading opportunities. Remember - trading in safe zones tends to be more expensive.
  
• Lexi the cook will offer food related trade.
  
• Jess the medic will offer health related trade.
  
• Maia the structural engineer will offer building resource related trade.
  
• Leilani the quartermaster will offer weaponry related trade.
  
• Bruce is a general trader, located centrally in the safezone.
  
• Liam will offer vehicle parts and tool related trade.
  
• Brendan will offer horses for purchase. You can access the horse trading screen through him.
  
• NPCs will offer their services during daytime hours at locations within the Safe Zone (except if they’re having a break). The settlement dwellers will then head off to bed during the night.
  
• Improved NPC navigational systems.
  
• New and improved NPC meshes for all Safe Zone NPCs. Both improved appearance and performance.
  
• New dialogue system for NPCs. Interact with NPCs to begin dialogue with them. Ask NPCs questions or ask to trade.
  
• Implemented NPC voice lines system. NPCs may audibly speak when they are talking with the player. Currently implemented on Kenneth only - additional VO and lip sync functionality to be implemented for other NPCs in near future.
  
• NPC dialogue may change depending on conditions in the world. For example, NPCs may greet you differently when meeting you for the first time.
  
• Killed NPCs will no longer respawn immediately. They will however regenerate over time. This respawn cooldown is included in the save game data.
  
• Implemented NPC turning system to make NPCs turn smoothly instead of instantly turning in their direction of travel.
  
• Infected will no longer close doors after them.
  
• NPCs will now conform to match the angle of the landscape when dead.
  
• Infected will no longer try to vault over dropped loot sacks.
  
• Added footstep SFX to safezone NPCs humans.
  

Quests

• Added additional Sheriff Sen quest “A Beacon of Hope”.
  
• Added new sides quests. Visit the Backwater Beacon Safe Zone noticeboard for a selection of random missions.
  
• Noticeboards will regularly feature quests from NPCs in the settlement. You can only take one noticeboard quest at a time.
  
• Quests will gradually reappear on the noticeboard as you complete them.
  
• Press [F] to interact with a noticeboard. Click on posted items to examine them. You can hold and drag on items posted to look them over in more detail. Click on the page again or click the cancel button to return the item back to the board.
  
• Quests have substantial rewards, normally given in Bucks.
  
• Upon taking a quest, follow the objectives in your inventory ‘Guide’. After completing the task, return to the NPC who posted the notice to collect the reward.
  
• Added two types of noticeboard quest - ‘Wanted’ and ‘Infestation’.
  
• Wanted quests ask you to take out a specific NPC. The quest will direct you where to go and who to kill.
  
• Infestation quests ask you to clear a specific area from infected enemies.
  
• Added new quest system feature that allows items, locations and dialogue responses to add quests to the players quest log.
  
• Quest objective to go to Dom’s hardware form “Welcome to Eden-Nadir” quest will now update when entering the building rather than when opening the door.
  
• Dom's Hardware objective setup changed. Doors are now always unlocked and the Wood axe only appears when the objective activates.
  

Items

• Added carryable Bee Nests (used to craft a beehive station).
  
• Added Bug Repellant (providing character with a timed buff against damage from insects).
  
• Add Honeycomb food source.
  
• Added Bee’s Wax resource.
  
• All quest items can now be picked up before requiring an objective to progress the quest.
  
• Infected will now drop a maximum of $20 instead of $100
  
• Cash registers now only give up a maximum of $100 instead of $500.
  
• Molotov's & Alcohol now way the same weight 0.2KG
  
• Plywood has now been moved to the resources category and costs two wooden logs to craft 20 boards.
  

PBS (Player Building System) Version 4.0 Beta

• Added ceiling and roof support structure (snap to walls).
  
• Added self supporting ceiling and roof supports (will snap to floors and foundations and can also stand on their own without foundation support).
  
• Ceilings and roof parts now only snap to ceiling and roof support parts.
  
• Added Half Height Pillars.
  
• Added Half Height Walls (will only snap to half height pillars).
  
• Added Half Width Walls.
  
• Added Half Ceilings / Roof.
  
• Added Angled Metal Sheet Roof.
  
• Walls will now only snap to placed Pillars.
  
• Pillars now snap in five locations on a Foundation or Ceiling/Roof, each corner and center are required to snap walls.
  
• Full and Half Pillars will snap to each other to create custom wall heights.
  
• Added directional arrow to building parts to show outside or direction of plank grain.
  
• Can now rotate items +90deg for floors and foundations. Can rotate +180deg for walls.
  
• Added Stag Head wall mounted trophy.
  
• Added Stag Antler wall mounted trophy.
  
• Added decorative placeable Small Table.
  
• Added decorative placeable Large Table.
  
• Added decorative placeable Chair.
  
• Added basic placeable Bed (base respawn point).
  
• Improved smoothness of placing down foundations.
  
• Improved snapping for building parts.
  
• Integrity system has been disabled until improved so as not to hinder the building process.
  

Environment

• Hanouten Safe Zone gates will be locked until quest “A Beacon of Hope” has been issued by Sheriff Sen via the radio.
  
• Hanouten Safe Zone layout and visuals have been completely overhauled.
  
• All Safe Zone NPC buildings have interior assets (some are cloned and will be swapped out with unique assets to the characters).
  
• Hanouten Safe Zone has a firing range (will be usable at a later date, currently the location to find the quartermaster).
  
• Backwater Safe Zone main house is now located at the back on the North East side of the Safe Zone. House is complete with interior, medical room and office (this is where Kenneth and Jess can be located).
  
• Added bees nests around the Hanouten area. These can be harvested for wax and honey comb by tapping [F] on them, or holding [F] to take the whole nest to be sold or used to craft bee hives of your own. Be sure to use bug repellent to stop bees from attacking you while carrying the nest.
  
• Added a pixel offset on road shader to make them blend with landscape more seamlessly.
  
• Post processing removed from building interiors. Used as a way of giving the effect of being darker inside buildings.
  
• Lighting and shadows adjusted to improve visuals inside buildings, making them look less flat.
  
• Improved textures for beach sand to improve both visuals and performance.
  
• Added pixel offset on road shader to improve blending with landscape.
  
• Replaced gravel and path floor landscape textures with improved visuals and performance.
  
• Bucks will no longer spawn in munitions containers.
  
• Safezone now has tree stumps surrounding it instead of trees. Improves safezone visibility looking outwards and explains where lumber for the walls came from.
  
• Added new crash site where Sen’s car is located.
  
• Adjusted collision of stairs near the starting beach.
  
• Beach trees are now harvestable.
  
• Improved visuals for transition for rain starting and ending.
  

UI

• Armour is now displayed as a thick red bar above the player's health.
  
• HUD icons now only show when notifying the player. For example only active player buffs from items consumed and equipment are shown.
  
• Shortcuts display has now been moved to the left of the screen under the weapon selection display.
  
• Added prompts on Horse Trader UI to switch between horses using [Q] and [E].
  
• Tidied up weapon equipment HUD to display ammo and fire rate clearer. This will now also display the key used to change fire rate.
  
• Switching between weapons and tools now updates the relevant picture on the HUD.
  
• Viewing vitals when in inventory will return the camera to the first person perspective if the player was in first person perspective when entering inventory.
  
• Pose icon will now show when the player is crouched, walking or jogging/running
  
• Added on screen quest objective display, displaying the current active objectives for all active quests.
  
• KBAG (Key Bindings At a Glance) display updated for building menu to reflect the updated key bindings.
  
• 
  

Sound

• Improved floorboard footstep sound effect. Added new mix down audio for footsteps on wood and floorboards.
  
• New SFX added when interacting with notice boards.
  
• Footsteps will now have splashing SFX when raining.
  
• Footstep audio now quieter when crouching.
  
• Added new broken glass with crunching glass sound effects when stepping on it. This will also disturb any nearby enemies of your presence.
  
• 
  

Performance

• Fixed major lag spike associated with navigation generation when NPCs spawn into the world.
  
• Improved asset performance within the new Backwater Beacon Safe Zone.
  
• New NPC meshes are generally more performant and no longer require separate meshes for eyes and ST-RV watch.
  
• Added Vertex Data based animation system for static animated characters (such as the chickens in their coop).
  
• Improved performance on NPC spawn by further spreading out NPC initialisation over time.
  
• Removed several old elements from saving which are never used.
  
• Replaced leaves and ivy assets from the ground clutter layers from landscape procedural generation, with very low poly versions.
  
• Replaced birch trees with optimised variations of beech trees. These look better as well.
  
• Number of cloth simulations running on NPC meshes has been minimised for performance.
  
• Reduced number of calculations running on human NPC behaviour trees.
  
• 
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed issues associated where NPC sentries would not defend Safe Zone properly.
  
• Fixed NPCs sleeping with open eyes and facial animations.
  
• Fixed circumstances where armed NPCs may engage in combat without taking out their weapon after spawning in and out.
  
• Fixed dead NPCs sliding along the floor whilst lying down.
  
• Fixed circumstance where NPC collision may not be set.
  
• Fixed circumstances where NPC logic may still run after NPC has died.
  
• Fixed circumstance where NPC spawner would not be informed of the NPC’s death (causing horde infected not to respawn).
  
• Fixed NPCs being affected by decals.
  
• Fixed circumstance where interaction widget (showing NPC’s name on hover) could be misplaced on NPCs.
  
• Fixed circumstance causing errors on NPC despawn.
  
• Fixed circumstance causing NPC’s facial animations to run after death.
  
• Fixed infected specifically killed by a molotov animating their faces when dead.
  
• Fixed circumstances where infected can get stuck in the death animation state.
  
• Fixed camera sometimes clipping with player mesh when using a trader.
  
• Fixed not being able to rotate placeable items.
  
• Fixed issue where model/character viewer was using an incorrect model.
  
• Fixed offset crosshair widget causing player's aim to always be slightly to the left.
  
• Fixed an issue where placing a PBS part (Player Building System) would prevent players from rotating workbenches and storage items that are not part of the PBS.
  
• Fixed pressing 'M' multiple times to open the map in first person causing the character's head to go invisible and torso to lean back.
  
• Fixed pressing [Spacebar] to jump in water causing Amy to jump out of the water (looks like she may be trying to climb or vault). The camera would then get stuck in an odd position.
  
• Fixed crafting quantity field getting stuck.
  
• Fixed Hanouten house which had no collision.
  
• Fixed pressing [M] while in the build menu breaking the camera perspective.
  
• Fixed weapon shortcut display slots not updating when swapping out weapons.
  
• Fixed workbench being back to front near Dom’s Hardware.
  
• Fixed floating bushes in the Hanouten church graveyard.
  
• Fixed holding the [R] reload button to change ammo types getting stuck on screen.
  
• Fixed missing material on cloth connected to Backwater Beacon Safe Zone gate.
  
• Fixed issues causing difficulty walking up the path near the lighthouse.
  
• Fixed circumstance where player may get launched/fall through map when traversing logs on the ground.
  
• Fixed issues where returning to a selected category on the player guide/journal would not save the selected tab.
  
• Fixed overlapping radio dialogue.
  
• Fixed collision issues on bathtubs and latrines in houses.
  
• Fixed infected sometimes getting stuck in a falling animation.
  
• Fixed issues associated with ladder connected to Hanouten liquor store.
  
• Additional adjustments made to landmark quest triggers to prevent duplicate quests being issued.
  
• Fixed missing collisions from some building parts.
  
• Fixed duplicate lootable containers in Dom’s Hardware store.
  
• Fixed issue where map markers for objectives would not be removed when completing an objective after player death.
  
• Fixed character being on fire removing player’s health but not causing death.
  
• Fixed issue where rapidly opening/closing containers could lock the character.
  
• Fixed issue where the directional arrows would move the player when using the building menu.
  
• Fixed various issues where quest chains could break following player’s death.
  
• Fixed errors occurring due to Kerosene lamps on loading a save game file.
  
• Fixed missing materials on Haymish Raymonds trader.
  
• Fixed issue where removing shortcuts from 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 would clear equipment slots on the character.
  
• Fixed issue where items can be duplicated by right clicking on items in the vicinity check.
  
• Fixed crafting queue amount getting stuck.
  
• Fixed issue where player could move slightly faster in ADS if starting with ADS whilst lowering weapon out of ADS.
  
• Fixed music in safezone not being controllable with the user’s music volume setting.
  
• Fixed moon appearing fuzzy in some circumstances.
  
• Fixed floating foliage and posts around the campsite.
  
• Fixed floating foliage around Hanouten church graveyard.
  
• Fixed foliage clipping with Hanouten lighthouse near the main spawn location.
  
• Fixed situations where items would disappear as character approaches them.
  
• Fixed situation where Hazmat soldiers ignored exploding molotovs being thrown nearby.
  
• Fixed weapon crosshair being out of alignment.
  
• Fixed death bag collection in water bugging the player camera.
  
• Fixed burning barrels not heating character.
  
• Fixed circumstances where NPCs would get stuck in place due to navigation generation issues.
  
• Fixed circumstances where NPCs would not be able to move to their destinations.
  
• Fixed situations allowing players to loot up to 100,000 bucks from a single container.
  
• Fixed pickup items sometimes appearing as generic bags with incorrect materials.
  
• Fixed harvesting notifications not appearing.
  
• Fixed Infected spawning in a safe-zone when a horde storm hits.
  
• Fixed empty water bottles not appearing after drinking full water bottles + empty bottles not spawning in the world.
  
• Fixed items in the object pool spawning with incorrect data.
  
• Fixed doors not receiving instructions from the quest objective system.
  
• Fixed circumstances where infected can get stuck in the death animation state.
  
• Fixed major re-initialisation issue on pooled NPCs following their second death.
  
• Fixed collision with other NPCs not being unset.
  
• Fixed character movement component still running after death.
  
• Fixed circumstances where armed NPCs may engage in combat without taking out their weapon after spawning in and out.
  
• 
  

Known Issues

• Some double tiered garages still have no interiors.
  
• Some houses are still using random item location spawners.
  
• Dumpster near a slice of life not culling at reasonable distance, may need replacing.
  
• Inventory does not add extra rows as it gets full causing issues when taking items at full capacity.
  
• Occasional issue when dropping into water from crouched causing camera to break.
  
• Some cabinets in houses will glow but cannot be looted.
  
• Floating STRV widget is sometimes visible floating inside the character's waist region.
  
• Torch doesn’t illuminate directly towards the center of the screen making it difficult to examine objects in close spaces.
  
• Siphoning tool tip missing. Appears as a white box.
  
• Mouse wheel sometimes stops being responsive in the building menu.
  
• Game is missing left-handed support.
  
• Safezone music stops when moving towards Kenneth house.
  
• Liam is missing a welding mask and sound while welding.
  
• Mouse sensitivity while dragging the map around can be difficult.
  
• [Q]/[E] rotate building parts in the same direction.
  
• Amy respawns with incorrect trousers, if trousers other than the prison scrubs have been equipped.
  
• Occasionally safezone guards keep their guns holstered.
  
• Various issues with UI text in crafting menus.
  
• Throwables do not get removed from the character’s hand in some instances.
  
• Discrepancies with save game names.
  
• In rare circumstances, the player's weapon may appear invisible or inside character’s head.
  
• Swapping an item with a Jerry Can in the fuel slot on the quad causes the other item to be placed in the fuel slot.
  
• Lantern doesn’t appear in the player's hand when equipped.
  
• Save files do not properly sort by date.
  
• Character’s death ragdoll can appear wrong.
  
• Baseball bats cover too much of the screen in First Person perspective.
  
• Opening inventory can cause cameras to clip through walls.
  
• When LED light runs out of battery, it unequips but does not re-enable belt chem-light.
  
• NPCs can have ‘black beams’ coming out of their eyes when running the game using FXAA.
  
• Occasionally, interacting with the bow causes pistols to reload one bullet at a time.
  
• Some item descriptions require updating.
  
• Sleeping bags placed on foundations or flat ground can sometimes be placed at an unusual angle.
  
• 
  

Alpha Version 0.2.26.3a - Now live

Player

• Player no longer respawns clipping inside the tent. Player now spawns just next to the tent.
  
• On death, the respawn button will appear slightly sooner.
  
• Camera now returns to the First Person (FP) perspective after throwing a grenade if the throw started in FP.
  
• Compound Bow is now 50% more accurate compared with the basic Stick Bow.
  
• Increased accuracy for M16.
  
• Redesigned keybinding system. New system separates mappings into categories in addition to allowing players to restore their keybindings correctly.
  
• [Q] and [E] are now used to rotate placeable items. [Z] and [X] are now used to raise and lower placeable items.
  
• Flashlight will now start to flicker when it is running low on battery power.
  
• Reduced the brightness of the LED flashlight.
  
• Lowered the volume of character moving through bushes.
  
• Sound of moving through bushes is now categorized in sound settings as a "Sound Effect".
  
• NPCs
  
• Reduced waiting time between patrol paths for non-infected NPCs.
  
• Added new UI popup for interactable NPCs including name and interaction prompt.
  
• Trader will now buy and sell flashlights (only as singles).
  
• Trader will now buy and sell fabric repair kits.
  

Vehicles and Horses

• Increased delay before the character's horse will eat from its food trough after reaching full hunger.
  
• Camera now returns to FP after dismounting the horse if the player mounted in FP.
  
• Horse now produces Horse manure when idle (With Sound FX).
  
• Quad now requires using [left Alt] to free look and will automatically go back to default when released.
  

Items

• Player can craft wooden crafting hammer (required tool for some crafting items).
  
• Player can now craft sewing kits.
  
• Player can now craft empty plastic bottles.
  
• Added new fabric repair kit.
  
• Added Spray Lube item.
  
• Added Blow Torch item.
  
• Added Glass beaker item.
  
• Added Animal Fat item.
  
• Added Tallow item.
  
• Added Horse Kibble made from veg.
  
• Added craftable hay bales made from Fibre. These can be used as horse food or placed on top of each other as decor, defences, etc.
  
• Added plywood to crafting.
  
• Removed weapon crates from some high tier locations. They are now only available at heavily guarded locations.
  
• FlakVests can now be repaired with Sewing Kit and other resources.
  
• Small Candles removed leaving only large candles (Tallow Candles).
  
• All chocolate bars now only restore 5% hunder instead of 15%. Also reduces wellness/wellbeing by -2%.
  
• Item information will now show buffs and debuffs for consumables as well as displaying buff/debuff percentage (%).
  
• Cooking pots, grill and propane bottle can now be recycled for resources.
  

PBS (Player Building System)

• Defensive traps that required wire now require barbed wire instead.
  
• Added Chemistry Workstation to build menu (not functional yet).
  

Environment

• Replaced road junction in Hanouten.
  
• Improved shader material on Ambulances.
  
• Removed Trash Tyre resource from around the map.
  
• Removed floating rocks from around the boat spawn.
  
• Added new van variations around the map.
  
• Added new sedan and taxi variations around the map.
  
• Replaced scrap chairs with a folded style chair.
  
• Added new harvestable small piles of trash that will give random types of scrap resources.
  
• Added lootable glow to mushrooms.
  
• Completed populating the remaining empty garage interiors.
  
• Adjusted floating foliage around the lakeside cabin.
  
• Natural resources such as birds nests now go red when depleted.
  

UI

• Moved pause menu options about for more ease of use.
  
• Added a "Take All" hotkey. Default is [Space Bar].
  
• Taking all from a container will automatically close the inventory upon completion.
  
• Crafting notification sound only plays when inventory is open.
  
• Crafting items now display how many will be crafted from a single craft.
  

Performance

• Redesigned elements of PBS delete system which were inefficient.
  
• Removal of various unused assets loaded into memory.
  
• Complete removal of legacy AIV2 assets in the world.
  
• Fixed movement logic being unnecessarily run on the player.
  
• Replaced all remaining vehicles with Hierarchical Instanced Static Mesh versions to reduce the number draw calls on the CPU.
  
• Removed over 5k instances of trash foliage, reducing draws and over-abundance of scrap havestables.
  
• Improved performance of the high powered spotlights at the mushroom raised beds growing area at "Charlie" Dock.
  
• Improved headlights which were causing performance issues.
  
• Removed various foliage which was underground and could not be seen.
  
• Partial optimisations on derelict vehicles around the world.
  
• Optimised military trucks around the world.
  
• Optimised life-ring to use a single shader mat. Object is now instantiated in the environment (which is more performant).
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed circumstance where player may click respawn button but reload a save game instead.
  
• Fixed buckets spawning with seed bag mesh.
  
• Fixed items spawning with seed bag mesh and wrong material.
  
• Fixed unstable death camera.
  
• Fixed AI spawners sometimes losing activity data for certain types of NPCs.
  
• Fixed non-infected NPCs patrol not running correctly.
  
• Fixed issue preventing some NPCs seeing player and engaging in combat properly.
  
• Fixed NPCs sliding on floor after being hit with a molotov.
  
• Fixed bivy shelter not saving the game.
  
• Fixed delay before horse stats update in UI on after reloading a game and mounting a horse.
  
• Fixed horse food trough not saving contents.
  
• Fixed circumstances allowing horses to move at supersonic speed.
  
• Removed left-over debugging hotkey which would produce camera shake on quad.
  
• Fixed hitting deer with quad causing deer to get stuck standing on the spot.
  
• Fixed ATV damage which was not saving.
  
• Fixed animation not playing when doing some harvest animations with tools in FP.
  
• Fixed disturbance events not triggering when looting/harvesting.
  
• Fixed issues causing bows to be wildly inaccurate.
  
• Fixed offset aiming issues while in FP.
  
• Fixed ladder animations not playing when ascending ladders.
  
• Fixed issue where player could open a container and hold F to endless take the resources inside.
  
• Fixed FP clipping issues when vaulting.
  
• Fixed Hunger ST-RV bar always at 100%.
  
• Fixed collision blocking looting trace in interview room at decon zone.
  
• Fixed collision blocking looting trace in Armoury room at decon zone.
  
• Fixed collision on Decon luggage racks blocking looting trace at decon zone.
  
• Fixed not being able to [Shift] + [Right Mouse Button] items into campfire.
  
• Fixed Meat being added into an incorrect slot on the campfire.
  
• Fixed being able to stack meat higher than the allowed amount in a campfire.
  
• Fixed headless mercs spawning at the Military Zone. NPCs which now spawn are armed Hazmat enemies.
  
• Updated items which were not stacking correctly, e.g. Petrol Lighter and Iron Sulphate.
  
• Fixed negative effects not being caused when consuming items with a negative buff.
  
• Fixed Wellbeing vital never depleting or recovering.
  
• Fixed Max Craft button not working in workstations (Workbench, Smithy, Chem Bench).
  
• Fixed issues preventing player character and NPCs from climbing obstacles (most commonly around habitated areas).
  
• Fixed issue when consuming an item in the inventory then pressing auto-manage causing the wrong item to be consumed.
  
• Fixed issue where cancelling a task in the inventory would not re-enable auto-manage button.
  
• Fixed infected loot drops spawning hundreds of candy bars. This has also been balanced better.
  
• Tentative Fix for Dom’s Hardware doors not unlocking with the quest.
  
• Fixed character playing eating timer/animation for cans even if they can't open them.
  
• Fixed notifications showing the incorrect values being added to the inventory.
  
• Fixed situation when crafting a bow, where the bow is automatically placed in the weapon slot but cannot be equipped.
  
• Fixed the sound created when moving through foliage not working.
  
• Fixed campfire not lighting even when no protection is required from weather and weather is dry.
  
• Fixed PBS delete highlight not working for most manufactured items.
  
• Fixed position of lootable items in Sheriff Sens basement making them unlootable.
  
• Fixed typo on main menu character selection.
  
• Fixed horse Trader UI hotkeys not working with the new binding system.
  
• Fixed Weapon getting deselected when dropping an unequipped weapon in the inventory
  
• Fixed ST-RV Watch displaying blac
  
• Fixed quick craft not being registered after crafting from the craft menu
  

Alpha Version 0.2.25.0a - Now live

Player

• Improved character’s ability to climb on building parts such as foundations.
  
• Players can no longer change viewmode (First Person/Third Person) while climbing a ladder.
  
• Added illumination to the tip of burning Fire Arrows.
  
• Increased accuracy of Steel Arrows.
  
• Energy drain now naturally depletes slowly. The rate of depletion increases while Stamina is regenerating. Energy no longer only depletes when Stamina is at zero.
  
• Hunger is now directly affected by energy and stamina being used.
  

NPCs

• Added a new horde storm world event. Occasionally during the night the weather will transition into a powerful storm, empowering the infected who will continually hunt you down until the storm passes. Outlast the onslaught or die trying. The infected spawning in the horde are separate from the normal infected spawns.
  
• Improved NPC’s ability to navigate player-built structures by climbing.
  
• Hazmat NPCs now drop loot bags mostly containing health and ammo related items.
  

Traders

• Traders will no longer refuse to sell items to the player until the integrity system is fully implemented.
  
• Trader stock quality has been tweaked. Poor, common and uncommon items have a 100% stock chance, Rare 90%, Epic 80% and Legendary items have a 50% chance of being stocked.
  
• Trader now supplies "Extreme Survival Backpack".
  
• All goods purchased from traders now start at 100% condition.
  

Items

• Houses now have manually placed item spawn locations to improve item spawning.
  
• Houses now have 30 possible locations where items can spawn.
  
• Loot from houses will now only spawn within the following categories: Domestic Kitchenware, Domestic Trash and Ammo. Clothing has been removed (now only found as a non-physical spawn in chests and drawers etc.).
  
• Updated the UI visuals when looking at a world item.
  
• Improved the location of the focus icon when focusing on a world item.
  
• Redesigned loot bag item spawn system to be more efficient and integrate better with upcoming skills system. Consequently, item drop balance will have changed.
  
• "Extreme Survival Backpacks" can now be repaired.
  
• Moved the starter handgun onto the boat and added Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) to the boat’s driving dash (for testing).
  

PBS (Player Building System)

• Plyboard building parts now require plywood boards to craft in addition to original resources.
  
• Added a Smithy Workstation to the build menu.
  
• Moved Storage Containers to the basic survival category.
  
• Campfire will now light when under protection of any viable weather protection e.g. floors, buildings and etc.
  
• Workbenches reorientated to face the player during placement.
  

Environment

• Added interiors to most garages with manually selected spawn locations. All remaining garages will be added over the next few patches.
  
• Dom’s Hardware exterior expanded with a claimable build area.
  
• Replaced store fire escapes with a simpler solution using ladders.
  
• Added building interior post-process for ambient lighting.
  
• Added ambient SFX triggers to trigger ambient animal sounds.
  
• Lighting adjustments to improve skylight capture, moon style and phase.
  
• Removed floating foliage around the cliff face near Hanouten bridge.
  

Vehicles

• Adjusted first person perspective on the ATV (quad bike).
  
• Can now look around while in First Person Perspective on ATV. Improve the lights on the ATV.
  
• Added new camera shake when impacting NPCs with the ATV.
  
• ATV now only needs four parts and fuel to start. Relevant slots provided in UI when interacting with the ATV.
  

Quests

• Added Sheriff Sen’s updated dialogue audio for the “Welcome to Eden-Nadir” quest.
  

UI

• Added recycle popup to queue up multiple recyclables.
  

Performance

• Disabled shadow casting from pathways and roads.
  
• Decreased draw distance on pathways and roads.
  
• Replaced basement houses all along beach road in Hanouten with better optimised types.
  
• Replaced street power lines using cable actors for more performant ones.
  
• Removed distance blur to improve visuals and performance.
  
• Optimised pine trees. Reduced draws calls and number of instance types used.
  
• Replace wall splines with landscape splines to reduce the number of calls on the draw thread.
  

Bug Fixes

• Temporary fix to stop stacks of meat vanishing when shift clicking into the campfire (shift click disabled in campfires until fix found).
  
• Fixed brambles causing climbing/projectile trace issues.
  
• Fixed storm ending shortly after it begins.
  
• Fixed terrain grip not showing in the details panel for footwear.
  
• Fixed container timer slots animating in all containers when using campfires and workstations.
  
• Fixed an issue where hunger was never going down.
  
• Fixed wind SFX playing when weather was not triggering a heavy storm.
  
• Fixed slots for ATV that needed correcting.
  
• Fixed trader not seeing all items for sale.
  
• Fixed being able to sell clothing equipped at the trader.
  
• Fixed loading game not saving inventory item shortcuts.
  
• Fixed environment decals appearing on character and NPCs
  
• Fixed character being able to freely rotate while on ladders.
  
• Fixed clipping issues occuring when mounting, dismounting and climbing ladders in First Person.
  
• Fixed character’s head clipping/missing while swimming in First Person.
  
• Tentative fix to prevent Infected audio cutting off prematurely.
  
• Fixed issue where deer corpses may be invisible to some players.
  
• Fixed missing footstep SFX while walking in first person with a bow equipped.
  
• Fixed inability to delete player built containers, garden plots and work benches.
  
• Tentative fix for window hatches not being removed when deleting windows.
  
• Fixed circumstance causing deleted player built objects to reappear when reloading a save game.
  
• Fixed NPC movement behaviours which would stop working if their destination is too far off the ground (e.g. if moving towards the player who is stood in a tall player-build structure).
  
• Fixed pickup items spawning with the wrong material.
  
• Fixed various NPC related errors.
  
• Fixed ATVs flying off NPCs when ramming into them.
  
• Fixed trader NPC sometimes spawning with floating weapon attachments on his back.
  
• Fixed arrow sometimes not appearing in character’s bow, often happening after changing arrow type.
  
• Fixed issue where fire effect would not appear on the tip of the Fire Arrow.
  
• Fixed issue causing arrows fired from the bow to spawn offset.
  
• Fixed bow not changing its arrow type unless requipped.
  
• Fixed audio attenuation of M16 bullets to not sound suppressed when heard at a distance.
  
• Fixed clipping in First Person when interacting with trash containers.
  
• Fixed issue preventing looking up or down while climbing a ladder in First Person.
  
• Fixed circumstance causing the player to stand still while switching weapons or reloading after having interacting with a ladder.
  

PATCH NOTES 0.2.24.2a

DEVELOPERS NOTES

HOTFIX 0.2.24.7a

FIXES

ADDITIONS

ADJUSTMENTS

PERFORMANCE

Alpha Version 0.2.23.0a

PATCH (HOTFIX) NOTES 0.2.23.3a

Player

• First Person camera FOV now adjusts using player settings.
  
• Redesigned weapon handling in first person
  
  
  
  • Camera no longer jumps position when entering Aim Down Sight (ADS).
    
  • Weapon now is now smoothly raised and lowered to the player's head position when entering and exiting ADS.
    
  • Improved camera position in ADS so that the ironsight/optics of the weapon are properly usable.
    
  • Reworked overall weapon visuals in ADS.
    
  • Player’s hands now grip weapons in First Person.
    
  • Added slight weapon sway in ADS.
    
  • Improved weapon rotation while turning.
    
  • FOV will now smoothly increase slightly when entering ADS.
    
  • Players can no longer look at their STRV watch while in ADS.
    
  • Players can no longer start ADS while looking at their STRV watch.
    
  • Players can no longer select grenades while aiming simultaneously.
    
  • Player now exits FP when aiming a grenade throw.
    
  • Redesigned camera movement for melee attacks in First Person.
    
  
  
• Player now automatically enters Third Person when mounting a horse.
  
• Player will remain in First Person if mounting a Quad in First Person.
  
• First person camera position is no longer dependent on animation position. This has stabilized the camera position making aiming in first person more viable.
  
• Various animation improvements to prevent the player’s body clipping with the camera while doing activities in First Person.
  
• ST-RV Watch weighted and rigged to character skeleton instead of being attached as a Static Mesh to the arm. This improves the shaking issue characters have when looking at the ST-RV watch.
  
• Improved mechanics which check if an item can be crafted.
  
  
  
  • This should eradicate the bug with tools.
    
  
  
• Right-clicking an item in the inventory will now use the item instead of transferring it to a container.
  
• Workbenches no longer display their container detection area. This will be functional at a later date.
  
• Game Hints now auto hide when entering the inventory, containers or building mode.
  
• Stamina regeneration can now be increased by taking a knee (crouching).
  
• Stamina regeneration now has an impact on hydration and hunger.
  
• Character no longer needs to reach a crafting level to craft Heavy Duty Rope (Subject to change when skills are re-enabled).
  
• Players can now see all available crafting recipes from the inventory, but not all will be able to be crafted in the inventory.
  
• Players can now craft burning torches from inventory.
  
• Players can now craft weapon repair kits from the workbench.
  
• Increased overall weapon damage for melee weapons.
  

NPCs

• Fixed issue preventing NPCs from registering disturbances from unless the player moves in to their line of sight.
  
• Fixed issue causing NPCs to bolt in a random direction after spawning.
  
• Fixed issue causing NPCs to run at the player after spawning.
  
• Infected spawns have been doubled around the map.
  
• Infected can now spawn in groups twice the size originally.
  
• Infected faces no longer animate after death.
  
• Added functionality for infected being notified of building alarms going off.
  
• Infected can be knocked down by vehicles (currently does not inflict any damage).
  

Items

• Kerosene lanterns have now been renamed to Oil/Kerosene lanterns. This is to show that Oil can be used to replenish them.
  
• Replaced old trash container assets with new ones that fit the world better.
  
• Halved the proximity character must be to a lootable object before it will shimmer/glow.
  
• New field repair system. Repair items on the go without the use of a bench.
  
  
  
  • Balancing for this with items and the repair amount will come over time.
    
  
  
• The flashlight is back. Equipable in the light slot on the character screen.
  
  
  
  • Flashlight now uses 9v Batteries and will lose condition over time as you use it.
    
  • Replenish the flashlight condition using 9v batteries in your inventory and clicking repair.
    
  
  
• Oil/Kerosene lanterns are now equipable and can be used as a holdable light source.
  
  
  
  • Other features to be added (coming Soon):
    
    
    
    • Place lantern on the ground
      
    • Enable throwing of lantern to cause fire/catch enemy on fire
      
    • Refill with craftable kerosene
      
    
    
  • Can be refilled with oil.
    
  
  
• Added payphones as a loot source for bucks and electronics.
  
• Added a new lootables highlight system.
  
  
  
  • When the player looks at a lootable object it will highlight green.
    
  • If it has been looted / when it has been looted it will highlight red.
    
  
  
• Medium to high tier military containers now have a chance of spawning NVGs.
  
• Low to medium tier military containers now have a chance of spawning Weapon repair kits.
  
• Bayou traders have a chance of stocking NVGs.
  
• The following weapons have now been added to weapon spawns:
  
  
  
  • MP5 Submachine Gun .
    
  • P90 Submachine Gun.
    
  • UMP Submachine Gun.
    
  
  
• Added 9V LED Flashlight to various loot spawns and containers.
  
• Birdsnest have had a makeover.
  

Environment

• Updated Garnet Lake Campsite with new layout and more to explore.
  
• Updated Tammerlane & Daughters Gas Station
  
  
  
  • Building is now enterable.
    
  • Fuel can be taken from fuel pumps. Use a Jerry can (partly full or empty) in combination with a garden hose or welding hose
    
  • Added alarm system.
    
  • Building can be claimed (no additional requirements needed currently).
    
  
  
• Added a new wind turbine field.
  
• Added The Willows Trailer park.
  
  
  
  • Many trailers (caravans) can be entered for loot (currently no interior furniture).
    
  
  
• Added new lootable payphones.
  
• Increase shadow gamma to 1.15 to soften colours.
  
• Increased White Balance temperature slightly to warm up the overall look.
  
• Softened shadows slightly to make them look less dark.
  
• Fuel can now be harvested from all vehicles around the map.
  
  
  
  • Use a Jerry Can (partly full or empty) in combination with a garden hose or welding hose.
    
  
  
• Building claiming (selected buildings at the moment, Dom’s Hardware & Tammerlane Gas Station)
  
  
  
  • Claiming a building can be accomplished by interacting with the house management panel (aka alarm keypad).
    
  • This allows players to build on and around claimed building area
    
  • Players can enable the alarm to alert them to entering infected or humans.
    
  • Owning players will not trigger the alarm of a claimed building.
    
  • Players can barricade house windows for resources (if the building is a house and not a commercial property).
    
  
  

Vehicles

• Reintroduced ATV (Quad) Bikes.
  
• Quad uses "Fuel Jerry Cans" as a fuel source.
  
• Quad uses "Vehicle Engine Parts" in order to enable use.
  
• These will deteriorate the more the player puts the quad through.
  
• Deep water will damage parts very fast.
  
• The quad should not submerge more than a couple of feet or so in water.
  
• Extra power given on hillsides. Vehicle setup has been tweaked to stop sliding around while trying to drive up or down hills.
  
• Quads have a speed display, fuel display and engine condition display.
  
• Working headlights and brake lights.
  
• Inventory for storage and parts (will have its own custom UI eventually).
  
• Quad will throw the player off if unable to hold on.
  
• Information widget displays will show the player which parts are needed and they are functional.
  
• SFX from an actual 400cc ATV Quad Bike used.
  
• Water VFX & SFX when in water.
  
• Quad will go slower in water deeper than a 2ft.
  
• The Quad will knock down humanoids it hits at speed.
  

System

• Engine update to Unreal Engine 4.24.3.
  
• Introduced minimum aspect ratio to prevent clipping while in First Person. If in an unusually tall aspect ratio, the game will use letterboxing to maintain a minimum aspect ratio to 16:9.
  
• Introduced mouse acceleration for improved accuracy while aiming.
  
• Setup the GameAnalytics system in preparation for Multiplayer.
  
• Added "Enable Game Hints Display" in game settings.
  

UI

• Transfer items to containers by holding [Shift] + [RMB] on the item. Just right clicking will now use the item (e.g. single [RMB] consume food).
  
• Tools and resources now display tooltips when hovered over in the crafting details panel.
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed game crashing on load (fullscreen crash). - Fix for the following temp solution: https://steamcommunity.com/app/617850/discussions/3/1740013753714885461/
  
• Fixed underlying issue with building block zones not working correctly.
  
• Fixed issue where removing a building part was not returning resources to the player.
  
• Fixed issue where you could place building parts inside each other.
  
• Fixed compass not updating when riding a horse.
  
• Fixed safezone gates blocking interaction with horse, pickups and vehicles.
  
• Fixed tabbing out of containers. Will now run the correct closing logic.
  
• Tentative fix for not being able to craft even when resources and tools are available.
  
• Fixed Trader not purchasing special items like Cigarettes or Beer.
  
• Fixed issue with loot highlight not disabling on container loot items and harvestable foliage.
  
• Fixed collision issues with lamp posts, blocking players and projectiles incorrectly.
  
• Fixed an issue with looting world containers not removing the loot after ‘Taking All’ by holding the Action button.
  
• Fixed various issues associated with reticule fading in and out.
  
• Fixed camera movement when throwing grenades in First Person.
  
• Fixed issue where character could throw a grenade with a weapon in hand.
  
• Fixed issue where player could release an arrow without drawing back the bow first.
  
• Fixed arrow shifting position slightly while drawing the bow.
  
• Fixed character’s head appears invisible when in the death-camera if the player died in First Person.
  
• Fixed primary weapons not animating.
  
• Fixed muzzle flash not syncing correctly with position of weapon barrel.
  
• Various camera fixes for interacting with a campfire in First Person.
  
• Fixed issues causing bow not to automatically reload.
  
• Fixed character placing arrow on wrong side of the bow.
  

Alpha Version 0.2.22.2a - Now live

Player

• Partial Gamepad support.
  
  
  
  • Use a gamepad to control the character. This will be extended further in the next update to include UI control as well.
    
  • KBAG (Key Bindings At a Glance) prompt automatically adjusts depending on your input device.
    
  
  
• Amy may make grunting/disgust sounds when butchering animals (see NPC updates).
  
• Reduced the stamina drain on all wooden baseball bats by 25%. The metal baseball bat causes the least drain due to its weight.
  
• Black and white screen saturation removed from damage effect.
  
• Removed floating leaves created by the character when walking on a forest floor.
  
• Harvesting stone by hand increased by 10x.
  
• Harvesting stone with a pickaxe will now give 5x the amount of harvesting by hand.
  
• Footwear now determines walk angle, by having a "Grip" value. Barefoot being the worst.
  
  
  
  • Barefoot the character will only be able to walk a 45 degree angle.
    
  • Trainers have good grip.
    
  • Boots are the best grip, allowing the character to walk at a 70 degree angle
    
  
  
• Can now move the camera up and down while riding the horse.
  

NPCs

• Introducing huntable deer NPCs. Deer have returned using the AIV3 system.
  
• New improved deer visuals.
  
  
  
  • New improved deers meshes and materials.
    
  • May spawn in a variety of sizes depending on age.
    
  • Deer may spawn as either doe or stags.
    
  • New improved deer movement animations.
    
  
  
• New improved deer sound effects.
  
  
  
  • Stags will make sounds when disturbed.
    
  • Improved hoof-impact sounds on all deer.
    
  
  
• Deer are now harvestable.
  
  
  
  • Stand near a dead deer and press [F] to interact. Harvesting will provide meat and hide.
    
  • Once skinned, deer will become visually skinned and guts will be visible.
    
  
  
• Deer are very receptive to disturbances and will flee quickly if spooked.
  
  
  
  • Deer will bolt away if they see or hear a humanoid.
    
  • Deer will flee if they see another deer being killed in it’s line of sight.
    
  
  
• Deer will patrol and graze large areas of the wildness.
  
• Improved line of sight detection mechanism for all NPCs.
  
  
  
  • Humanoids now have a standard vision cone of 120° degrees.
    
  • Deer have a vision cone of 270° degrees. You have to sneak directly behind a deer to stay out of sight without cover.
    
  
  
• Traders now have special items that they will purchase for a high price but will not sell (luxuries, home comforts, animal skins)
  

Items

• Balanced loot drops from infected:
  
  
  
  • Can now drop all types of ammo.
    
  • Can now drop foraged foods, mushrooms, berries.
    
  • Can now drop high amounts of bucks.
    
  • Can now drop various resources such as feathers, alcohol, etc.
    
  
  
• Balanced loot from trash bags and small trash containers:
  
  
  
  • Will now no longer spawn any kind of food.
    
  • Will now only spawn resources.
    
  
  
• Balanced loot from luggage bag containers:
  
  
  
  • Higher chance of spawning clothing.
    
  • Lower chance of spawning food and medical supplies.
    
  • Can now spawn a high amount of bucks.
    
  
  
• Balanced loot from large trash containers:
  
  
  
  • Can now spawn tinned consumables.
    
  • Can now spawn vegetable consumables.
    
  • Can now spawn popular resources such as feathers, alcohol, etc
    
  
  
• All lootable containers and world items now have a golden shimmer to them when you are standing nearby.
  
• Clothing/equipment in face, chest, hands, back, feet, waist and legs will now all deteriorate over time the more you put the character through.
  
• Increased the size of bird nests by 50%.
  
• All clothing items now impact warmth and cold.
  
• Increased max gather amounts on scrap items.
  
• Items now display terrain grip and durability value.
  
  
  
  • Durability measures how fast an item will lose condition. The lower the displayed value the faster they will wear down when moving at increased speeds.
    
  • Terrain grip is how well the footwear will grip terrain, allowing the character to walk at a more inclined slope than normal.
    
  
  

Environment

• New pathway and radio tower added in Hanouten.
  
• New cliff faces, improved hill sides and thinned out foliage.
  
• New house models for two styles of houses in Hanouten.
  
• New pathway that leads to the marshland trader, starts at Tamerlane Gas station.
  
• New cliff faces, walls and foliage outside Tamerlane & Daughter Gas Station.
  
• New Waterfall location placed at marshland crossing still needs scene dressing.
  
• Added a Pixel Depth Dither to rocks and cliffs to make them blend with the landscape more smoothly.
  
• Re-enabled shadows on grass now the density has been lowered.
  
• Added additional bird nest locations around the map.
  
• Added new Interactable Garage doors around the world.
  
• Removed door pausing open/close animation when hitting player.
  
• Made another pass at road edges filling any gaps or holes.
  
• Both maple sapling and pine saplings are now harvestable.
  
• Added single interior to two house variations, more will come in the future.
  
• Moved the “Car accident” crime scene to Hanouten.
  

Performance

• Implementation of corpse instantiation for deer, improving performance for dead NPCs.
  
• Optimised all signposts around the world.
  
• Removed unnecessary static meshes across the map.
  
• Optimised additional houses in Hanouten, reducing draws thread calls and actor count.
  
• Optimised ground clutter on forest floors.
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed right hand door of Doms Hardware store not triggering the quest objective.
  
• Fixed door bugging out when opening or closing it.
  
• Fixed campfire displaying the incorrect details on the KBAG (Key Bindings At a Glance).
  
• Fixed holes on the side of road under Tamerlane crossing near decon area.
  
• Fixed landscape coming through building at "Charlie" Base docks.
  
• Fixed not being able to take damage from falling impact when having flak vest equipped.
  
• Fixed Notifications not displaying on some items being added to the inventory.
  
• Fixed bow and arrow not causing correct damage on hits to the body.
  
• Fixed not being able to harvest some rocks.
  
• Fixed not being able to harvest crates on beaches and lakes.
  
• Fixed condition stat not displaying the correct value.
  
• Fixed the weight display on the weapon in the character screen not changing from metric to imperial.
  
• Fixed grass maps being incorrect and rendering grass incorrectly.
  
• Fixed being able to harvest foliage after they have been depleted.
  
• Fixed path mesh displaying black when raining.
  
• Fixed character equipping weapon when mounting a horse.
  
• Fixed horse stats not being removed from the screen when dismounting the horse.
  

Alpha Version 0.2.21.1a - Now live

HOTFIX 0.2.21.3a

HOTFIX 0.2.21.2a

Player

• Halved the stamina drain on all footwear.
  
• Changed radio audio to “2D sound” to improve audibility.
  
• The character now becomes translucent when the camera gets too close to prevent the player's view clipping with character geometry.
  

NPCs

• Added Thanatos Hazmat enemies - watch out, they’ll shoot back.
  
• Human NPC enemy features:
  
  
  
  • Human NPCs are armed with firearms and will attempt to shoot you if they find you in their area.
    
  • Human NPCs will run for cover to prevent you from shooting them.
    
  • If you are in cover, Human NPCs may decide to push on your location.
    
  • Human NPCs can sprint between cover.
    
  • If you get too close, Human NPCs will attempt to hit you with a melee attack.
    
  • Human NPCs can see and hear you. Use stealth to get around them undetected. If you attract the attention of one, they will alert other NPCs in the area.
    
  • Human NPCs are susceptible to damage from grenades and other throwables. Headshots deal the greatest damage.
    
  • Hazmat enemies have a weak spot on their back. Shoot it to release compressed air and disable them briefly.
    
  
  
• Implemented a new NPC navigation system, allowing NPCs to travel further without needing to generate navigation data for the whole journey at once.
  
• Re-enabled Hanouten Safe Zone NPC spawn.
  
• Added Trader in southern bayou.
  
• Trader features:
  
  
  
  • Can now buy and sell goods with NPCs marked as traders.
    
  • Press [F] to interact with a trader and bring up the trading UI window.
    
  • Traders will only trade with you if you have sufficiently high integrity
    
  • Traders have a limited amount of bucks at any one time. Sell goods to the trader in return for bucks.
    
  • You can buy/sell single items or in bulk.
    
  • UI designed with controller support for later compatible with controllers.
    
  • Traders will markup their items, meaning prices are slightly inflated when buying items.
    
  • Item rarity will determine the chances of a trader stocking the item.
    

UI

• Repositioned the main cursor graphic to be more accurate in selections when using the mouse.
  
• Increased the size of menu sliders to improve their usability.
  
• Changed temperature display option in Settings to select Celsius or Fahrenheit.
  
• Available Recipes and Recycle item’s icons now display a tooltip about the item when hovering the cursor over them.
  
• Tooltips now have an auto-destroy function (just incase a tooltip gets stuck on the screen).
  
• Players can now change weight display from KG (Metric) to lbs (Imperial) via the game Settings menu.
  
• Game tips now have a new design, with images, descriptions and instructions.
  

Items

• Many more items are now recyclable, including Zippo Lighters.
  
• Added Blackberries, Blueberries and Raspberries as an edible source of food.
  

Environment

• Adjusted material brightness on small stones.
  
• Adjusted material setup on lotus pads in rivers.
  
• Increased the amount of sapling branches acquired from each harvest.
  
• Blackberry bushes can now be harvested for fibers and berries.
  
• Redeveloped the southern marshland into a bayou.
  
• Added raspberry and blueberry bushes around the world.
  
• Increased the brightness of shadows slightly.
  

Performance

• Improved performance of Hanouten Safe Zone NPC spawn. Performance will still stutter, but not as badly as previous patches. Additional fixes to be made in the near future to fix this issue completely.
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed instantaneous animation blend when entering water.
  
• Fixed landmark locations duplicating on the player compass.
  
• Fixed compass not showing locations after saving and loading.
  
• Fixing building parts not appearing after saving and loading.
  
• Fixed occasional issue where the character would not load and the camera would appear behind a horse somewhere else on the map.
  
• Fixed issue causing Infected to appear on fire after changing graphics settings.
  
• Fixed issues occuring when pressing [space] while crouched sometimes causing character to vault when there is nothing to vault on to.
  
• Fixed camera position not raising with character when climbing from a crouched position.
  
• Fixed collisions on large military trucks preventing character from clipping when climbing.
  
• Fixed issue where the camera would lean to the left when spamming the vaulting action.
  
• Autosave settings now save correctly.
  
• Fixed harvesting foliage for the first time saying "Depleted Resources".
  
• Fixed character flying around the map on death.
  
• Fixed death music playing a second time when respawning.
  
• Fixed item duplication with arrows and other assorted items, where items would duplicate the first stack and add it to the head slot on the character.
  
• Fixed placeables using world mesh materials when placing them down.
  
• Fixed issue where arrow projectiles would collide with spawned pickups (such as arrows already fired at the target).
  
• Tentative fix for spawned items being added to the inventory as NONE on pick up.
  

Alpha Version 0.2.20.9a - Now live

0.2.20.13 HOTFIX

• Increased arrow velocity.
  
• Fixed invisible wanderers (tentative fix).
  
• Fixed foliage forcing player to lower their weapons.
  
• Fixed instant animation when raising bow standing.
  
• Fixed instant animation when raising bow crouched.
  
• Fixed unnatural back position when releasing from aim while reloading an arrow while crouched (most noticeable when crouched).
  
• Fixed moving faster backwards while aiming.
  
• Fixed unusual hand movement when shooting bow.
  
• Fixed clothing covering ST-RV watch.
  
• Fixed the rate in which armour condition reduces when getting hit.
  
• Made changes to the ADS DOF (Depth of Field) optics ADS so it should not be so blurred any more.
  
• Improved reticule view when in ADS with optics (feedback required).
  
• Added armour display in health bar to show amount of current armour.
  
• Added sound effect when stamina hits zero.
  
• Added text display when stamina is low or depleted
  
• Added muzzle smoke to all firearms
  
• M16 now comes with x4 ACOG and Suppressor (This is to test suppressed attachment types) suppressed weapons will not disturbe enemy units.
  
• Added Silenced firearm SFX for all firearms (Shared at the moment)
  
• Instances mailboxes around Hanouten
  
• Instanced pickup trucks around Hanouten
  
• Temporarily disabled survivor AI spawn in Hanouten Safe-Zone (while we run tests)
  
• Fixed Items spawning with incorrect materials/textures
  
• Fixed incorrect reticle material showing on optic attachment lens
  
• Fixed holes in cliff faces
  
• Fixed collision on marshland swamp
  
• Fixed material on sidewalks not showing weather effects
  
• Fixed facial animations on Wanderers
  
• NPCs now appear red in Focus Mode
  
• Removed debug lines when using Focus Mode
  

Player

• Added ability to throw grenades, molotovs, smoke grenades and blood bombs.
  
• Added Animations and sound effects for using aid and consumables.
  
• Added tool tips to vicinity and container items.
  
• Using consumables such as bandages, drinks and food now all have a cooldown before the next one can be used. This prevents spamming consumable items.
  
• Jogging with zero Stamina will start to decay Energy at 24 times higher than normal. This will quickly degenerate Energy and maximum Stamina.
  

Items

• Removed starting flashlight. A flashlight is an item which will now purchased or found. Use batteries to keep it powered.
  
• Added Chem Lights (replacing starting flashlight). You will start with a Chem Light when starting a new game.
  
  
  
  • Tap [L] for blue.
    
  • Hold [L] for Red.
    
  
  
• All pick up items are now using the "Quest Actor Register System". This allows items to run functionality in response to quest updates.
  
• All doors are now using the "Quest Actor Register System". This allows doors to change their state depending on quest updates.
  

Harvesting/Crafting

• Bushes will now give 5-10 fiber stacks each time they are harvested.
  
• Harvestable foliage now has a maximum number of uses. Eventually, this system will also remove to foliage item once it has been completely harvested.
  

Clothing

• Clothing now affects temperatures differently depending on their Thermal Conservation and Heat Resistance. These will increase and decrease the player’s tolerance to heat and cold by adjusting the tolerable temperature range.
  
• Clothing will now effect Stamina drain. Mainly footwear will increase or decrease the amount of Stamina which will drain when jogging or walking. Heavy boots may increase the drain while running shoes/sneakers may decrease the drain.
  
• Not wearing shoes will now dramatically increase Stamina consumption.
  
• Added Tactical Utility Belt. Increases base carry weight to 10kg.
  
• Added HighViz Jacket.
  
• Added Work Jacket.
  
• Added Woodland Camo Jacket.
  
• Added Winter Jacket.
  
• Added Basic Jacket.
  
• Added Hoodie in 5 colour variations: Green, Navy, Pink, Blue & White and Red & White.
  
• Added Trainers/Running shoes/Sneakers in four colour variations: Digital, Black & Orange Stripes, Green and White.
  
• Added heavy leather Punk Boots.
  
• Added three variations of FlakVest used for protection against projectiles, explosions, blunt and unarmed damage.
  

NPCs

• Implementation of AIV3 system for Infected. The AIV3 system is a significantly more reliable system for implementing all the game’s NPCs which will be built upon henceforth.
  
• Infected are now able to climb over obstacles of various heights in order to chase their prey.
  
• Infected visual improvements:
  
  
  
  • New improved meshes with a range of body sizes. Additional variations to be added in the near future.
    
  • Infected can now spawn with a variety of heights.
    
  
  
• Infected audio improvements:
  
  
  
  • Adjusted Infected audio overall to be less oppressive and more informative.
    
  • Infected now make a sound to indicate that they are in the process of attacking.
    
  
  
• Improved NPC animations:
  
  
  
  • Updated movement animations.
    
  • Improved directional hit response animations.
    
  • Improved knock-down animations.
    
  • Wanderers now react when falling shot distances.
    
  
  
• Improved combat with Infected.
  
  
  
  • Infected are less spontaneous when attacking. You can now predict their attacks both visually and audibly then move to avoid being hit.
    
  • Attacks are now somewhat slower but deal more damage per hit.
    
  • Infected will run up to you and try to stop before attacking (instead of always sticking to their targets like glue while also attacking).
    
  
  
• Infected can now be set on fire with use of a Molotov Cocktail.
  
• Infected can be damaged with grenades.
  
• Infected can alternate between exploring the area and scavenging from trash.
  
• Improved sneaking around NPCs
  
  
  
  • Avoid NPCs hearing you by crouching to reduce the amount of noise your footsteps make.
    
  • Running, shooting and landing are all loud activities which can cause a disturbance.
    
  • Light, Medium and Heavy natural cover can be used to reduce your visibility to NPCs. The higher the density of the cover, the closer you can get to NPCs before they will see you.
    
  • The density of the foliage you are hiding in will determine if you are in Light, Medium or Heavy natural cover. Try to keep close to thick clumps of plants such as reeds, bushes and wheat to remain hidden.
    
  • While crouched, you can sneak up behind NPCs.
    
  • Bumping into NPCs will alert them to your presence.
    
  • Moving in to an NPCs field of view will let the NPC see you, unless you are hidden behind suitable solid or natural cover.
    
  • Once alerted, NPCs will alert other NPCs to the disturbance.
    
  • Use of AIV3 Spawners will remove/reduce cases where NPCs can spawn in inappropriate locations and get stuck.
    
  
  
• NPCs are now integrated into the quest system, allowing NPCs to do actions in response to changes to the active quest.
  

Environment

• Adjustments have been made to world objects that the player or NPCs may get stuck on. Collisions are improved to allow characters to cleanly walk over the top certain assets such as trash and debris. Additional asset improvements to be made in the near future.
  
• Added additional grass tufts to increase the variety of foliage in the grasslands area.
  
• Adjusted material setup for sidewalks, brightening and increasing AO.
  
• Placed additional lootable cash registers inside shops.
  
• Modified gravestones to use the correct material setup.
  
• When starting a new game the time of day is now 8.30am instead of 6.30am, so the game does not start in the shadow of the cliff.
  
• Marbough and Lockcrest Island are currently under heavy development. Please be cautious about navigating around these areas as you may get stuck or fall from areas with no collision.
  

UI & Display

• Redesigned the main menu landing widget:
  
• Added social media icons and click throughs.
  
• Simplified the menu.
  
• Modified the code which handles with cursor position for screen tooltips. Tool tip positions should now work on any resolution without issues.
  
• Added a "Characters" button to the savegame list display. Clicking this will cancel loading save game and return you to the Characters Select menu.
  
• Set up Post Processing to use the new UE4.23 Depth of Field algorithm.
  

Performance

• Replaced character mesh to use low poly version.
  
• Fixed character runtime errors causing error report spamming.
  
• Reduced grass density by 50% to reduce the overall polygon draw count.
  
• Consolidated duplicate foliage types.
  
• Optimised trash bags by replacing them with the new super low polygon updated assets.
  
• AIV3 spawners have a lower runtime cost compared with their AIV2 counterpart spawners.
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed invalid index selection on radar objective component.
  
• Fixed currency (Bucks) spawning with an amount of zero. These now spawn with a random value between 10/100 bucks.
  
• Fixed Bucks icon displaying a very old version of the icon.
  
• Fixed quest items not appearing when enabled by quest objectives (Sen's basement key).
  
• Fixed quest doors not unlocking when enabled by quest objectives (Don's hardware store, Welcome to Eden-Nadir quest).
  
• Fixed inventory UI closing every time an item is dropped, this was a bug related to the inventory vicinity check system.
  
• Fixed not being able to open church doors.
  
• Fixed being able to climb through church windows.
  
• Players and NPCs should not get stuck on small pieces of foliage anymore.
  
• Fixed an underlying issue were stamina would drain at the same rate when running and jogging.
  

Game Engine

• Upgraded to Unreal Engine version 4.23.1.