We've released 1.8.43 on our experimental branch via steam. This build will be moved to the stable branch as v1.9 if no major issues are found by players. Harvesting tweaks have been made along with other tweaks. Balancing will be made with community feedback. You can find our patch notes below. Please report bugs and issues in game using the F1 menu.
If you'd like to track the patch progress and follow more closely with development, check our changelog and feel free to join our Discord.
How to get into experimental branch:
Open Steam and go to your games library.
Right click on STN and select "Properties"
Navigate to the "Betas" tab and select "experimental" in the drop down menu.
Disabled water bottles drops to simplify the water systems overall.
Added AA batteries to barber and bar locations.
Set the empty water bottle to non spawnable.
Added more server regions for server list.
Fixed damage and death image effects not working
Damage effect now gets more intense when health is low
Placement mode now stays active to allow continued placement without having re-open the inventory.
Searching the server list now turns off 'show popular servers' so that results are more accurate.
Server config now accepts string quotes around starting items. It also still works without.
Removed double slash when cycling through previous chat inputs.
Overall health now has a low of -5 instead of 10.
Scrolling through weapons is now much faster.
Scrolling through weapons/tools now skips empty slots and scrolls directly through weapons in the same order they are sorted in.
Removed the use of expert spawners that are out in the wild.
Increased the threshold for the guide completion spawn point to get relevant players back to the spawn camps when they don't know how to play the game.
Shift pickup items now pickup on interact key down so that shift doesn’t need to be pressed when releasing the key
Added new dynamic stamina tweaks that mean the player never becomes fully exhausted from sprinting and performing average tasks.
Shadows from fires are now properly affected by the quality settings.
Campfire now places on inclines more easily.
Name tags now disable when a player dies.
Name tags now move down when the player is in a vehicle.
Players are now placed at the step out position when they die to prevent rag doll conflict with the vehicle.
Players backpacks now fall to the floor when the player is killed.
Can now use sharpening stones on the equipped item. The same as using a cleaning kit.
Shift pickup items now pickup on interact key down so that shift doesn’t need to be pressed when releasing the key
Increased the threshold for the guide completion spawn point to get relevant players back to the spawn camps when they don't know how to play the game.
Inventory management
Changed machine parts filter to -parts.
Machines now auto filter compatible parts when opening the inventory.
Changed the little search icon to a button when in the crafting tab.
Fixed issue where closing the inventory while items were filtered would freeze the player in position.
Clicking on the top category tabs now clears the search field.
Clicking the search field now pushes you to the all items tabs for clarity.
Weapons are now placed inside of backpacks when players are killed.
Can now use sharpening stones on the equipped item. The same as using a cleaning kit.
Increased the max stack size from 10 objects to 50.
Nail boxes now hold 500 instead of 75.
Screw boxes now hold 500 instead of 75.
Screws and nails are now taken from part boxes before using new boxes.
Ammo is now taken from part boxes first.
Resource based items like nails and screws are now combined on pickup to stop multiple part boxes.
Filtering items in the inventory now shows clearly when the filter returns nothing.
Button for cycling between ‘all' ‘favs’ and 'help’ have now been converted to toggles.
Using the search field no longer clears all the craftables but instead starts with a full list and narrows down.
Tools and recipe items can now be selected to navigate to that items recipe.
Improved layout of tools and recipe.
Greyed craftables now highlight to make it clear to the player that they can still be clicked to see the recipe.
Items on the right page now only have the 'search' icon when there are recipes that include the item.
Pinned craftables icons are now correct way around.
‘All' ‘Fav’ and 'Help’ tab are now saved between sessions.
Fortified Structures
Locks no longer need to be snapped closed for a structure to qualify as fortified.
Fully fortified flag to stop zombies spawning in structures is now more lenient.
Fully fortified structures no longer spawn loot.
Harvesting
Reworked majority of harvest machines
Added standardized loot to all junk piles and harvest machines (Wood, Scrap Metal and Cloth)
Removed harvest settings with multiple pointless props like empty water bottles and tinder
Added small, medium and large variants to appropriate small, medium and large junk piles and props
Added harvesting to various new items
Added item hovers to various objects like sofas/bushes to make harvesting more clear
General Item hover positions improved on harvest machines
Optimized various trash pile models
Optimized cargo containers with trash piles
Beds no longer serve as log out machines but instead are used for harvesting rags
UI
Updated the stat descriptions in the inventory.
Overall health is now displayed as a progress bar instead of just values.
Horde map icon is now clearer and shows direction of horde.
Death Icon on the map is now clearer so that it is not confused with horde icon.
Updated look of UI used for displaying weapon information and moved UI to bottom right corner.
Information in weapon UI now goes slightly red when ammo or condition is low and fully red when at zero.
Weapon UI now displays name of the equipped weapon.
Same UI is now used for both guns and melee weapons.
Added filter shortcut to allow players to quickly improve their most critical stat.
Player stats UI now shows when joining game
Time UI now displays current hour and is more compact
Horde progress UI reworked and moved in with the other stats UI
Updated hints to reflect change from ‘firewood' to just 'wood’
Removed old safe logoff tips from the loading screen.
Added new highlighting system for showing harvest machines.
Stamina now syncs more accurately.
Small notifications now more compact and updated to match new UI style.
Hint notification updated to match new UI style.
New UI added for player stats that’s more compact and lines up better with the inventory.
Player stats UI now updates in real time for more accurate information.
Most critical stat now stays up in the new stats UI to show what needs fixes
Reordered stats so they show in a more understandable order.
Added highlighting to the current most critical stats.
Added filtering of item of items based on the current most critical stat.
Overall health is now displayed as a sliding scale which makes it easier to read and understand.
Sickness and mental state are now displayed as a string like ‘Anxious' or 'Sick' instead of as a value
Updated the hydration icon.
Weapons
Guns now perform a melee attack when close to an enemy.
Fixed ARG15 scope glass flashing when shooting
Added new craftable metal pipe weapon
Tweaked settings of APUG sight
Tweaked settings of Compact sight
Reduced zoom in magnification materials to reduce pixelation in scopes
Reduces glass opacity in apug slightly
FPS models tweaked for APUG and Compact sight to reduce the black border introduced by the lack of zoom, interior faces are deleted and tweaked model to reduce black border as much as possible.
Locks
All locks on doors now unlock when interacting with a door handle (Subject to players access rights on locks)
All locks now unlock when opening a a storage container (Subject to access rights)
Added smart re-lock system which closes all locks on containers/doors when finishing interaction. (Only lock automatically when unlocked using new auto unlock functionality.)
Doors can now be slammed from the handle
Crafting
Simplified crafting by removing multiple methods of crafting the same items. Items are instead now crafted using more logical progression.
Simplified the naming on several craftable objects.
Removed recipes for putting dirty rags into canteens of water.
Rags can now be cleaned using just clean water via the crafting.
Disabled the sharpening stone recipe for now. You can't get stones so this is just a frustration. (Will be properly reintroduced)
Removed Timber drop in favor of common 'Wood' item for simplicity.
Renamed tinder to sticks to make it more general and provide more diverse uses.
Renamed Firewood to Wood to simplify recipes and make the raw materials in the game more useful.
Fully disabled the hatchet to remove the complexity around having multiple tools do the same job.
Disabled rag canteens for simplicity.
Disabled washing liquid.
Rebalance of crafting progression to simplify and improve usage flow.
Environment
Fixed clipping metal sheets on dumpster trash pile.
Fixed floating bottle under bedside cabinet.
Snow and rain no longer enter the police station.
Fixed shiny wood material in the comedy club.
Fixed various floating design around the world.
Fixed various terrains and grass clipping issues around the world.
Fixed various structure mesh and texture stretching issues.
Particles
Snow particles optimized
Fixed particles popping in instantly and improved bright snow particles.
Sounds
Added sound effect when health is low to inform of low health
Fixed very loud zombie screams in police stations
Lowered loud horde zombie ambient sounds
Cooking volume lowered to fix loud cooking noises when cooking many items.
Chicken volume rebalanced.
Armory and cell doors are now affected by the volume sliders.
Thanks for the continued support and continued issue and suggestion reporting :). Below are some helpful links to anyone new and interested in the game. If you'd like to follow a bit closer, please consider joining our Discord. We're here, we're listening!
Another Friday and another update from the team. We’ve had a rather productive week. We’ve been mostly focused on bug fixes and general improvements. Nothing super exciting to showcase but general improvements always make the game better and that’s what we’ll be focusing on for the next couple of updates. As always, please remember to check our changelog out for all the details on what we’ve been up to.
Continued Placement
The community has asked for this for some time now. Currently, the player opens the inventory and places a free placed fortification. The player then needs to open the inventory again to place another fortification. James has come up with a way to easily implement continued placement while you have multiple of the same item. This solution does still rely on adding the items to the world but because of that the implementation is tiny. The player can continually place the fortification they’ve selected until they press escape.
This change should make placing fortifications more fluid and less of a chore. If you have any suggestions for further improvements to the placement and fortification system, please feel free to share your ideas below.
[previewyoutube="cw1TPSfqyRI;full"]
Weapon Melee Attacks
When zombies are all over you and too close to fire at you can now use weapons for a melee attack. Many of our supporters have requested this feature and Andre and John have sorted it out for 1.9. Melee attacks are automatically assumed when AI or players are too close to each other. You’ll automatically smack zeds unless you aim down sights. We feel this is the best solution as it still allows the player to play as they see fit. It’s incredibly useful when you’ve run out of ammo and don’t have a melee weapon.
Weapon melee attack on zombie
Weapon melee against player
Stack Improvements
We’ve had issues with item stacking since literally our first build. Nails, screws, most anything with a quantity or resource didn’t properly stack. The issue is actually quite complicated and James has worked out a solution for the time being. This is something we can improve on later should the need to do so be there.
We’ve adjusted the quantity of most everything that has had stacking issues. Boxes of nails, screws and bolts now hold up to 500! They’ll also properly stack up when picking up partial boxes. Items like screws and nails will now always take from partial boxes before taking from full boxes.
This isn’t a comprehensive fix of the issues relating to resource stacks, however, it should greatly improve the situation without drastically increasing the chance of things breaking. In this instance it might be possible to still somehow get two part boxes but this implementation took a fraction of the time it would take to implement a fully robust way of doing what this achieves.
Harvest Improvements
As some of you know, our world is very interactable. From trees to fences, a lot of what you see can be interacted with in one way or another. The issue for some is they're not aware of this, perhaps due to the fact that it's not that common in games. We set out from the start to make nearly everything you see usable in some sense and we'll continue to improve and develop that feature. In 1.9, you'll notice that harvestable props are now highlighted. Andre has created this system and I've spent the last week or two getting back into the project and adjusting and adding new 'harvest machines' to existing props that previously didn't serve a purpose.
Harvest Highlighting
One of many new scrap metal harvest points (much requested)
Devblog 44 - Player Death Improvements | Crafting UI Improvements++
Another quick week and another good amount of progress! Andre and John spent time implementing weapon melee attack functionality. James has been working on improving quite a few quality of life issues like improving the crafting mechanic, UI and weapon scrolling. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks getting back into Unity and I’m currently working on improving the harvest machines around the world. Below we will showcase a little of what we’re working on but please remember to check out our ever changing changelog™.
Crafting Improvements
We’ve taken some feedback from the community via discussions and tickets and James has made quality of life improvements with our crafting systems. Just adding a bit of polish to the system making it more user friendly and intuitive.
Some of the improvements made; buttons for cycling through the ‘all’ ‘favorites’ and ‘help’ tabs are now toggles. The search field no longer clears all the craftables. Now when searching you’ll start with a full list and the search will narrow down the field. You’ll notice tools and recipe item icons can now be selected to navigate to the item's recipe. This adds a good deal of fluidity to the system. The greyed out items are now highlighted to make it clear that you can still view the items recipe. There’s a lot going on with the system and we can and will improve more as we move forward. The first video below showcases some of these improvements.
[previewyoutube="tVPADGcfk-4;full"]
Player Death Improvements
We’ve had some long standing, highly reported and very annoying backpack issues. They mostly revolve around the player's death and how and what happens to their backpack and weapons. We’ve had issues with floating backpacks and big troubles when players are killed inside vehicles, more so if they’re moving.
The fix for this vehicle issue was considered from the implementation time vs the end result. The solution we landed on works and was quick to implement. The player is now moved to the step out position as they die and the rag doll and backpack spawn at that location. The alternative would have been to parent or join the rag doll to the vehicle or animate him in a dead state and somehow attach the back to the player inside the vehicle. This could have been a massive can of worms, something to consider for the future perhaps. As it stands, the system works much better and you should see far less issue around the backpacks in general.
Another week has flown by and we’ve made some great progress on quality of life issues and general bug fixes. As we move forward, we think it’s important to mention that all of our vlogs, devblogs and social media posts should be considered to be works in progress. They likely very much represent what you’ll end up seeing but there can always be minor or major tweaks and changes before a feature ends up in your hands.
Weapon Sight Improvements
The community has been mentioning the zoom and blurry scope issues. Andre has spent some time this week improving all of the scopes in the game.
He has reduced the amount of zoom in the apug/compact scopes and increased the amount the FOV is zoomed in instead. This allows for more screen area to be taken up by the scope and for less pixelation caused by the magnification shader. Doing so also required some of our FPS models to be tweaked to accommodate new zoom methods.
[previewyoutube="QPycJfXrhV8;full"]
New Stat UI
We’ve reworked the entire ‘inspect’ notification system making quite a few improvements along the way. We’ve redesigned the status notifications and reorganized them. This has made them both more compact and sleek along with being more consistent with the inventory booklet. The change makes the stats look less like a hotbar.
Along with these visual changes, we’ve also improved the functionality of the inspect menu. The player will be made aware of the most critical stat and now have a hotkey option “G” to open the inventory to a stat specific item list. If you’re low on calories and you’ve got a blinking calorie stat, pressing “G” will open the inventory and show anything you can eat.
In conclusion, we feel these changes make the entire feature more useful and sleeker. The updates are in real time and the player can more easily understand at a glance just what’s going on. Next week we'll showcase the weapon UI improvements. There are more UI changes you’ll notice in 1.9 and if you have any suggestions please feel free to share them.
[previewyoutube="MQniySI9FG4;full"]
Summer Sale Reminder - 50% Off
Survive the Nights is now 50% off until Thursday, July 8th for Steam's summer sale. If you have any questions before purchasing, please join our friendly community on discord.
The team has been busy working on quality of life improvements and fixing issues you’ve all found in the 1.8 builds. Our next couple of updates will focus on getting these issues fixed and the early game improved and more importantly more fun.
Inventory Improvements
While we really do love our clean HUD and lack of anything on the screen most times, it can be really frustrating and rather confusing when your stats get critically low. This week James has set out to improve this issue. In the coming 1.9 build you’ll notice these changes, any critical stat will show on the screen. This should help when it comes to knowing exactly what’s going on, you’ll be far less likely to get caught out when you see a critical stat pop.
Along with this improvement James has implemented the ability to adjust stats directly from the stat read out in the inventory booklet. You’ll notice a search function now when hovering over any of the available stats. This really speeds up the process and makes sorting through the inventory for a required item far less time consuming and tedious.
[previewyoutube="zZy-xsamczg;full"]
Lock Improvements
If you play the game you know it can be a real pain to open a fully locked structure door. It’s also no walk in the park to open a container with more than a single lock. Our lock mechanics have been improved. James has introduced a system that allows the player to open all the locks on a structure door or container at once.
In 1.9 all locks that a player has access to are now automatically unlocked where possible. They will also re-lock in the event that they were unlocked using this new system.
The main consideration when adding this was regarding clunkiness without adding complexity. Initial concepts introduced a ‘Hold' function on doors/containers but this required extra hover information and added a step to opening the door which arguably made things once again clunky.
Ultimately James implemented the lightest weight system possible and given the easiest use possible. For all intents and purposes the player shouldn’t have to learn anything for this system to work. It should make the locks feel like a supplement overall instead of a required hindrance.
[previewyoutube="aHe1FXtCEqg;full"]
Team Changes
In 2015 we took on our second batch of interns from the Netherlands. Included in that group was a 6’7 beanstalk of a boy. Jos joined the team, fresh out of school 18 and confused most of the time he fit right in. Over the course of the last 6 years he has become family and done an amazing job working on Survive the Nights. The lion's share of the level design in Survive the Nights has been done by him. From the smallest details like trash piles right up to the latest POI's like the prison.
We’re very proud and excited to announce that Jos (affectionately known as 'Sausage' since his first day) is moving on, today in fact will be his last day with a2z Interactive. He has accepted a job with a much larger team using the skills he has honed, he’ll be working as part of a level design team at a much larger studio! We wish him all the best of luck in the future and he knows he always has a home here with a2z (not really, we actually already burned his desk/chair but don’t tell him that).
That being said, there’s no need to fret. Our team has always been small and with our focus switch to game polish, the timing hasn't hurt the project drastically. Once we phase out of Quality of Life and general polish we will be looking to hire a new level designer! This post will be advertised on our main company page.
Discord and JB
As most of you know, I’ve been the community manager for a2z forever. I’ve spent 7 days a week nearly 365 days a year on Discord answering questions and dealing praise and hate alike. Back in the early concept days and up until Jos took lead with level design, I filled that position. With Jos moving on I will be filling that role for the time being and I’m quite excited about that. It has been a blast being around for all of you but I’d really like to get my hands back on Unity and back into development. We’ll likely be changing discord up a bit, making it more of an information hub than a ‘hangout’. We’ll always be around for questions, comments and general banter but I’ll not be as quickly responsive/available as I have in the past.
Summer Sale Reminder - 50% Off
Survive the Nights is now 50% off until July 8th for Steam's summer sale. If you have any questions before purchasing, please join our friendly community on discord.
Survive the Nights is now 50% off for the Steam Summer Sale! If you have any questions before purchasing, please join our discord and speak with the developers or players within our friendly community. You can read more about our latest update here.
We’re releasing our 1.8 update to our default Steam branch today. This update is a beast. If it’s not our biggest, it’s right up there. James will take you through most of what the team has accomplished in the 1.8 Vlog. Below you’ll find a rather detailed breakdown of what has gone into 1.8.
The graphical update has been a long time coming. Andre is our environmental artist, the man responsible for the majority of general world design. While Jos handles level design, the world you walk around in is Andre's. When we started these builds quite a few years ago, Andre created the world, the vegetation maps, the height maps, all the road placement, etc. After the builds really started to come together and we went unlisted, something else happened. The rest of Survive the Nights needed development.
While James is our project manager and lead programmer, Andre in most aspects is his right hand man. Core game features redeveloping and developing in the first place. A massive first project for a 4 man team and far too much work for a single programmer. A lot of what goes into a game is never seen and a lot of those pieces fell into Andre's lap. Years of development have gone by with Andre never really getting to update his initial environment. 1.8 is the start to something we’ve wanted to do for some time now. While it’s a massive chunk of design improvements, it’s by no means our last. The team has a lot of future ideas waiting to be implemented.
The general graphical and environmental improvements are a large chunk of this update but they are not the only improvements. We’ve worked on connectivity improvements and introduced a partial solution. UPnP will be utilized via Open NAT which will help a lot of players with automatic port forwarding. This won’t solve everyone's issues since automatic port forwarding isn’t supported by some routers and in others it just doesn’t work as expected. That change combined with a slightly sleeker UI and things like automatic IP and port assignment should make connecting a bit easier for around 50% of players.
We’ve also introduced in-game friend invites via Steam Rich Presence. You’ll now be able to host and invite friends to your own server directly via the in game menu and tab list. You can also invite players via Steam's overlay or directly in the steam app via your friends list.
There are a lot more pieces to the 1.8 puzzle and, as always, you can check out most all of the changes via our Changelog. We’ll be updating to reflect current progress and adding new goals for 1.9 and beyond. Below is a recap of the last couple of months of 1.8 progress.
[previewyoutube="qd32z7V_PSk;full"]
Graphical Update
We have made a ton of graphical progress with 1.8. We’ve worked on replacing and adding vegetation. We’ve adjusted forest density making the woodlands thicker and far creepier to navigate. Water systems have been reworked, reflections have been reworked, interior lighting, ambient lighting, weather effects, etc. Many major changes have been implemented in 1.8 and we’re excited to let you see them.
Water and Reflections
The Issues Water has always been a thorn in Andre's side. The team has never been happy with the original or updated water situation. We’ve had a handful of placeholders in the past few years, none of which were particularly good. A major issue the team faced with water is transparency and how out of place it looked in the world. Most of the transparency issues were caused by our fog system rendering incorrectly. It just never blended well with the world and during early development we simply didn’t have the time to dedicate to issues like this.
There are also topographical challenges on the island. Black Island has rivers that flow into oceans along with lakes and smaller bodies of water. 1.8 also introduces swamps which is another added level of complexity. It has been a challenge to make these intersecting and flowing bodies of water look good.
The Outcome Our new reflection system is now properly simulated in real time based on different times of the day and the reflection probes created. Reflections will also be dimmed in interiors so as to not stand out. The results look rather fantastic. They’ll be part of our new Ultra graphic setting. Below are a few examples of our old system and our new reflection system on high and ultra.
The system uses a real time reflection probe and dummy assets to create a realistic looking reflection probe perfectly suitable for most situations. This system also goes hand in hand with our new water shaders, a massive improvement over the last.
We've managed to find a compromise with our fog that makes it possible to use transparent water without it looking out of place. This, in combination with the new reflection system, allowed us to finally find a different solution that looks better and isn't too heavy on performance. The transparency really brings bodies of water to life and edge blending makes the waters edge feel far more realistic. This also works well on all kinds of work surfaces. You’ll notice the change in wet pavement and stonework too.
Old reflection system on ultra graphical settings
New reflection system on high graphical settings
New reflection system on ultra graphical settings
Before and After
Improved Weather Effects
Ahead of weather affecting the player, (something we’ll be working on shortly) we’ve taken some time to improve our current weather effects. The system as it is now does the job but it’s rather drab. Our current rain and snow system only allows for particles to move directly downward due to performance and collision concerns. The new system allows us a bit more freedom and you’ll notice that instantly in both rain and snow. The particles now blow around and move with the storm. This dramatically changes the entire vibe of the weather system.
[previewyoutube="n-XECDEkPWY;full"]
Before and after - wet roads and rain
Vegetation and Environmental Detail
Andre has completely reworked the vegetation and forest density in-game. The wilds are more dense with tall grasses, bushes and new props like deadfall. Improved rock textures tie it all together along with new stone walls. We’ve improved on tree density along with reworking tree systems to allow for trees to lean. This seemingly small detail really does wonders to bring the forest to life. We’ll be reworking tree mechanics in the coming quality of life builds.
Before and after - forest density
Particle Effects
For some time now we’ve wanted to introduce world particles. Over the course of 1.8’s development, with the help of James, Jos was able to program and implement the initial system. This system will allow us to expand and introduce all kinds of cool looking goodies. Trash particles will now blow around the world creating a very creepy vibe. Leaves and vegetation will also flow with the air. This seemingly small effect really does a lot to improve the world. It’s something the team would love to expand on so if you have any particle ideas feel free to share them.
[previewyoutube="9PwVuMSWi8Q;full"]
Lighting Optimizations
We’ve really gone all out when it comes to ambient lighting as well. This greatly improves the general tone of the game. Ambient lighting has the correct color to it now. This alone makes for a far more realistic look. You’ll also notice this inside structures. We are finally happy with darkness levels in structures, appearing far darker than before. You’ll notice this darkness even during the day when you’re in the interiors and walking through the forests.
While our current lighting system is pretty nice looking, it’s not perfect and it’s not at all optimized. Structure lighting was always heavy on performance mostly due to the need of multiple light sources for a single light fixture. We have found ourselves often using one spot and one point light to simulate light bounce. This improvement removes the need for bouncelights by adding a cubemap mask. This will improve the general look of lighting along with making shadows/gradients easier on the eyes as well as generally just improving the performance overhead of lighting.
Vehicle headlights have been turned into a single light source instead of a spotlight and point light saving tons of batches. Exterior lighting has seen its share of improvements. We've reduced batching and implemented a 3d cookie system for a nicer overall look.
Interior lighting - before and after
Ambient lighting at sunrise
Midday ambient lighting forested area
Just after daybreak
Improved Textures and Design
You’ll instantly notice a difference in textures and design. We’ve updated, replaced and improved numerous textures. Along with that, we’ve not just added but also replaced props we’re not happy with. Among numerous new props and textures are kitchen cabinets, fireplaces, junk piles, etc. The vibe is creepier than ever. We’ll be continuing design improvements after our early game polish builds.
Living room - before and after
Kitchens - before and after
Fireplace - before and after
New Biomes Swamps and Marshland
Swampland has a naturally creepy vibe to it. There are some classic horror movies and games that take place in them. The swamps on Black Island are wet, foggy and isolated. They're almost screaming out for some gators. You'll find the swamplands feel like large clusters of small islands amidst murky algae-covered water. Isolated cabins, run down shacks and thick wood lines and vegetation all add to a nice swamp vibe.
Marshland is a bit more open so you'll be able to see zeds or players coming. They're still wet like swamps and they're composed of many small islands surrounded by smelly water :p. You'll notice thick vegetation but fewer trees. Cabins populate some of the small marsh islands and you'll find new connecting walkways between them. These spots will likely be ideal in future builds especially when it comes to fishing and crabbing.
Swamp
Marshland
Connectivity Improvements and Steam Rich Presence
The introduction of our hosting/solo tabs came with 1.7 and we’ll be working the issues out as we move forward. We’ve introduced a partial solution for connection issues. This is something that should help a good deal of those. If the UPnP OpenNAT system doesn’t automatically fix your hosting issues, we’ll have a better idea as to what’s going wrong. If the UPnP system proves to not be effective enough, we’ll add a facilitator based punch through server. A facilitator server along with relay servers should make connections possible even when punch through just isn’t.
James has made some great progress this week streamlining the process and UI surrounding it.
Upon digging into the UPnP rework, he decided to further expand the implementation to give the user more feedback around port status. We’ve simplified the setup and removed the need to infill the IP manually. We’ve created a port checker that is embedded directly in the UI to check if ports are open before attempting to start and join a server.
Something that has been missing for quite some time is Steam's Rich Presence integration. The player now has access to Linux server files, additional hosts and the ability to host your own server from in-game.
Players will now have the ability to join friends directly from their Steam friend list. Along with the ability to invite and join, you’ll notice status updates. Players will be able to see what friends and other players are doing. Whether it be fortifying, healing, fighting zombies, driving or even riding shotgun, your player status should update nicely.
When we first envisioned Survive the Nights, it was as a co-op experience, a zombie survival game you could pick up with a couple of friends, hunker down and have a good time killing things. The ability to invite a friend to a game/server has been missing since launch. It didn’t seem reasonable to dedicate development time pre-hosting. Now that players have the ability to host from in-game or via a linux stand alone server/provider, it seems the perfect time to do so. We have now added a good deal of Steam integration.
You will first notice the ability to invite friends directly to the server you’re playing on. You’ll be able to do so whether you’re hosting the server or you’re on a public server. This is made even easier if you’re using the Steam Overlay (shift-tab).
James has also added the ability to invite friends directly from the game. Holding tab will bring up what was previously the in-game player list. Pressing tab now brings up the player/friends list and you’ll be able to invite any of your Steam friends from this menu. We have tried to make this process as easy and seamless as possible. As an example, if you’re hosting a password protected server your friends will be added to a dynamic whitelist. This will bypass the requirement for them to enter a password. You will also be able to join friends in this same manner via the Steam friends list or our in game player/friend list.
Updated Host Tab with Friends List
In-game friend list
Post Version 1.8
The design update is really exciting for us! It will bring the graphics up to date and reflects our own development in terms of what we’re able to achieve. That being said, everyone is super excited to get finished up on the update and get it released. We have a lot planned for the future versions of the game but in the shorter term... probably Alpha version 1.9 and 2.0 we’ll be focusing on early game and quality of life fixes.
We all feel it’s time to tie up the loose ends. As nice as it is to just develop freely and work on cool features, the game needs to work nicely and have good retention for early game. That will allow the community to grow with less friction. We can’t stress enough how helpful it would be if you could let us know what your biggest frustrations are. As always, thank you for the continued support. We hope you all enjoy Alpha 1.8. We’re very excited for the coming improvement builds and growing the community with a more polished product.
Patch Notes - Alpha 1.8
Non Design Related
Overhauled name tags so that level is displayed and always face the player. Other changes include the ability for non players to have name tags.
Updated to Steamworks 1.5.1
Added friend list in the host page for joining/inviting friends to server.
Fixes to password field popup.
Fixes for steam not thinking game is fully closed after application quit.
Added steam friend inviting/joining support.
Added steam rich presence support.
Added session based whitelist which bypasses the need for password when joining from an invite.
In game player list updated to include a friend list for inviting/joining.
Network
Added UPnP support for automatic port forwarding.
Added connection tester that should assist with server operation.
Improved layout and simplification of the host tab to make starting a server easier.
General
Swapped the animal trap requirement, now needs red instead of green berry bundles
Graphics
Electrical lights optimized significantly with overall improved looks.
Improved overall world reflections effects based on time of day.
New screen space reflections on Ultra settings.
General fog improvements.
Improved interior ambient light to make interiors darker and more realistic.
Higher quality fog effects added that ties into weather system.
Replaced ambient occlusion effect which stops light reaching areas it shouldn't. This also improves performance.
Eye adaption effect added.
Improved anti aliasing system which looks better when moving. Weapons no longer leave trails and movement is no longer jarring.
Reduced extreme vignetting and some basic tweaks to contrast/exposure and color.
Removed stretching from cloud textures.
Particles
All new environment particle systems.
New rain particles and effects.
New snow particles and effects.
Terrain
Replaced all terrain textures with improved variants.
Dirt effect added under all roads and intersections to blend roads into terrain
Dirt splats painted under all roads to help roads blend into terrain
Vegetation
Replaced nature renderer system for rendering terrain details.
Improved vegetation and terrain detail design in all biome types.
Increased density of all vegetation and terrain details in the wild.
Increased density of trees in the wild.
Added random tilt to all trees. Previously all trees were completely upright.
Vegetation and terrain details now cast shadows.
Vegetation now features normal maps, reflections and translucency.
We've released 1.7.39 on our experimental branch via steam. This build will be moved to the stable branch as v1.8 if no major issues are found by players. You can find our patch notes below. Please report bugs and issues in game using the F1 menu.
If you'd like to track the patch progress and follow more closely with development, check our changelog and feel free to join our Discord.
How to get into experimental branch:
Open Steam and go to your games library.
Right click on STN and select "Properties"
Navigate to the "Betas" tab and select "experimental" in the drop down menu.
Close the properties window.
Experimental Patch Notes - Alpha 1.7.39
Non Design Related
Overhauled name tags so that level is displayed and always face the player. Other changes include the ability for non players to have name tags.
Updated to Steamworks 1.5.1
Added friend list in the host page for joining/inviting friends to server.
Fixes to password field popup.
Fixes for steam not thinking game is fully closed after application quit.
Added steam friend inviting/joining support.
Added steam rich presence support.
Added session based whitelist which bypasses the need for password when joining from an invite.
In game player list updated to include a friend list for inviting/joining.
Network
Added UPnP support for automatic port forwarding.
Added connection tester that should assist with server operation.
Improved layout and simplification of the host tab to make starting a server easier.
General
Swapped the animal trap requirement, now needs red instead of green berry bundles
Graphics
Electrical lights optimized significantly with overall improved looks.
Improved overall world reflections effects based on time of day.
New screen space reflections on Ultra settings.
General fog improvements.
Improved interior ambient light to make interiors darker and more realistic.
Higher quality fog effects added that ties into weather system.
Replaced ambient occlusion effect which stops light reaching areas it shouldn't. This also improves performance.
Eye adaption effect added.
Improved anti aliasing system which looks better when moving. Weapons no longer leave trails and movement is no longer jarring.
Reduced extreme vignetting and some basic tweaks to contrast/exposure and color.
Removed stretching from cloud textures.
Particles
All new environment particle systems.
New rain particles and effects.
New snow particles and effects.
Terrain
Replaced all terrain textures with improved variants.
Dirt effect added under all roads and intersections to blend roads into terrain
Dirt splats painted under all roads to help roads blend into terrain
Vegetation
Replaced nature renderer system for rendering terrain details.
Improved vegetation and terrain detail design in all biome types.
Increased density of all vegetation and terrain details in the wild.
Increased density of trees in the wild.
Added random tilt to all trees. Previously all trees were completely upright.
Vegetation and terrain details now cast shadows.
Vegetation now features normal maps, reflections and translucency.
Vegetation and terrain detail render distances increased. (Possible due to performance improvements in rendering system)
UI
All new menu scene added.
Updated and modernized main menus.
Some improvements to usability of drop downs in quality settings
Borderless and fullscreen options added
Performance
Terrain vegetation and details now have LOD'ing to improve overall performance.
Ambient occlusion effect replaced with system that has improved performance.
Environment
All new water for rivers and ocean. Part or a greater change 1.9 will introduce improved design around water ways.
New swamp and marsh biomes added.
Power lines added throughout black island.
Strip mall and shop windows now have closed shutters covering the windows.
Improved trash piles around the wild.
Props
Improved fireplaces in most houses.
Added roller shutter for stores.
Updated wall UV's of most houses/cabins to fit the height of a texture to improve look of textures on walls
Fixed extreme stretching on strip mall model
Bevels added to industrial door frame
Updated picnic table using new assets.
Updated fixed campfire using new assets.
Updated the campfire drop.
Updated exterior trash bins using new assets.
Updated paper decal using new assets.
Replaced floor lamp with improved version.
Replaced desk lamp with improved version.
Replaced dryer with improved version.
Replaced washer with improved version.
Replaced radiator with improved version.
Replaced bath tub variants with improved version.
Replaced dresser with improved version.
Replaced wardrobe with improved version.
Replaced nightstand with improved version.
Replaced bookshelf tall/wide/double with improved version.
Replaced bathroom bin with improved version.
Replaced recliner with improved version.
Replaced toilet brush with improved version.
Replaced toiler paper holder with improved version.
Replaced gas stove with improved version.
Replaced queens bed variants with improved version.
Replaced twin bed variants with improved version.
Replaced book case with improved version.
Replaced toilet variants with improved version.
Replaced end table with improved version.
Replaced trash bag, bin and dumpster props with improved variants.
All terrain detail and vegetation either updated or replaced with improved variants.
Added new ivy props that will grow on buildings.
Improved materials to plaster house 9 and old house.
Improved dining table and chair models and textures.
Replaced rug textures.
New Coffee table textures and model improved.
Retextured wood stove.
Replaced sofa/couch props.
Replaced kitchen models.
Household fridge textures and model improved.
Stone wall texture and models improved.
Textures
Added new textures and used in various materials:
Cabin bark
Ceramic tiles
Checkered tiles
Checkered tiles 2
Damaged ceiling
Brown roof tiles
Small bathroom tiles
Bathroom tiles 2
Wood floor 2
Wood planks no gap
Wood planks 90 degrees rotated
Blue/red/green/yellow plaster
Colored metal textures added (blue/green/orange)
Gray metal
Concrete
Concrete floor
Parquet
Textures/materials replaced/updated
Wallpaper
Dirty wallpaper
Carpet texture
Desk texture higher resolution
Plaster cracked texture
Brick materials
Blue wallpaper
black carpet
worn brick
Sidewalk
Stone wall
Dirt added to single bed
Removed tiling from worn bricks
Bricks clean tiling improved
Office ceiling updated
Wall shelf updated
Fortification atlas texture darkened
Sidewalk snow and rain tweaked
Thanks for the continued support and continued issue and suggestion reporting :). Below are some helpful links to anyone new and interested in the game. If you'd like to follow a bit closer, please consider joining our Discord. We're here, we're listening!
Survive the Nights is now 40% off for Steam's open world sale. If you have any questions before purchasing, please consider joining our discord to speak with the developers or other players within our friendly community.
We’ve had a rather busy week although most of what we’re currently doing is tying up loose ends. 1.8 has been a beast and it’s a challenge to pull it together in the end. We’re aiming for an experimental build this coming week.
Steam Rich Presence
When we first envisioned Survive the Nights it was as a co-op experience, a zombie survival game you could pick up with a couple of friends, hunker down and have a good time killing things. The ability to invite a friend to a game/server has been missing since launch. It didn’t seem reasonable to dedicate development time pre-hosting. Now that players have the ability to host from in-game or via a linux stand alone server/provider, it seems the perfect time to do so. We have now added a good deal of Steam integration.
You will first notice the ability to invite friends directly to the server you’re playing on. You’ll be able to do so whether you’re hosting the server or you’re on a public server. This is made even easier if you’re using the Steam Overlay (shift-tab).
James has also added the ability to invite friends directly from the game. Holding tab will bring up what was previously the in-game player list. Pressing tab now brings up the player/friends list and you’ll be able to invite any of your Steam friends from this menu. We have tried to make this process as easy and seamless as possible. As an example, If you’re hosting a password protected server your friends will be added to a dynamic whitelist this will bypass the requirement for them to enter a password. You will also be able to join friends in this same manner via the Steam friends list or our in game player/friend list.
In-game player/friend list
Improved Weather Effects
1.8 will feature many environmental changes including new vegetation, new biomes and new weather effects. Ahead of weather affecting the player, (something we’ll be working on shortly) we’ve taken some time to improve our current weather effects. The system as it is now does the job but it’s rather drab. Our current rain and snow system only allows for particles to move directly downward due to performance and collision concerns. The new system allows us a bit more freedom and you’ll notice that instantly in both rain and snow. The particles now blow around and move with the storm. This dramatically changes the entire vibe of a storm. We’ll save the rain effects for you to see in game as the gifs don’t really showcase these effects well.
Blowing Snow
Particle Update
Last week we showcased some of our new environmental particles and asked for some feedback. Jos has spent some time this week adding a few more alongside working on weather effects. Additional garbage on the streets along with interior dust particles help to bring both interiors and exteriors to life either further. Jos is also currently putting some finishing touches on environmental effects like small insects and animals. This is something we’d like to greatly expand on in the future. We need a good source for rat meat after all.
Interior dust particles
Interior particles in flash light beam
Spooky nighttime garbage particles
In Summary
It has been a very busy week for the team although we’ve not had all that much to showcase. The last 90% of a build is never very exciting. It’s a lot of breaking and fixing and that’s before we even hit our experimental servers. There’s going to be a vlog along with a rather massive blog covering everything that has gone into 1.8 as it’s a monster. Thanks once again for the continued support. Hope you all have a great weekend. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please reach out on our Discord.
