While ZPS was being updated to 3.0.2, people playing on 3.0.1 could join the 3.0.2 server, and test our latest changes, and give feedback in real time. These tests are announced on our Discord Server.
Code
Added ability to drop half of your armor when using "Half Mag Amount"
Added Armor drop on death, if the player have, or had, any armor
Updated ZPAC functionality
Updated Workshop updater for servers
Updated MP5 to use pistol ammo instead of rifle
Updated Game Description from "Zombie Panic! Source" to "ZPS 3.0.2" (Custom servers will show "Custom" at the end automatically)
Fixed where FMOD refused to mute itself when ZPS was not in focus (If "Disable audio when not in focus" was enabled)
Fixed lobby shuffling bug#2
Fixed where the round would end prematurely
Fixed where spamming F1 or F2 when joining could cause the server to crash
Fixed where StopMP3 wouldn't stop the music if the user would bring up the mainmenu while in game
Fixed a bug where the "cl_panicmode 1" would switch to IED, phone or emptyhand if the user had no melee weapon
Fixed where "cl_togglewalk 1" didn't work as intended
Fixed where zombies would go T-Pose on spawn
Fixed side stepping exploit
Fixed doors having a large "use cooldown" when opened
Fixed where the headshot sound would play if you were on fire
Fixed the jump height being the wrong value
Fixed crouch jumping adding X more height
Fixed weapon recoil for MP5, M4 and AK47
Fixed barricade props having too much physresistance
Increased the damage for all survivor melee weapons
Removed spectate and fade commands
Reduced the human's gibs from 33 to 11
Reduced the headshot damage for zombie arms
AngelScript
Added hook ClientConnectedToServer
Added hook OnPlayerSpawn
Added hook OnPlayerInfected
Added hook OnPlayerInfectedCompleted
Added GrabPing() object for CHL2MP_Player@
Added GrabValue(PlyValue PlyValue) object for CHL2MP_Player@
Added Global object GetRandomPlayer(int iTeam) to grab a random CHL2MP_Player@ from specified team
Updated the API ( https://api.zombiepanicsource.com/ )
Maps
zps_town
Some props updated to static
Prop_door_rotating fixes
Clipped off barricaded stairs
Added a bit more random_ammo entity
Some func_door_rotating updated to prop_door_rotating
zps_sapidcerebrum
Door Fixes
Added Doors
Zombie Ladder to Light Booth
Basement fixes
Camera adjustment in lobby (camera was buried)
zpo_shreddingfield
Removed last ZM spawn inside the building
zpo_subway
Fixed control room buttons not starting locked
Added filters and branches to make sure those buttons are unusable until the right time.
Fixed issue where the easter egg door would block off the vent path above it.
zpo_tanker
Reduced the C4 timer by 1 minute
Changed 2 non breakable doors to breakable state @ the lower levels
Added 1 more door in the lower levels
Added pistol ammo and medkits at the island
zpo_keretti
Fixed where the last objective was activated prematurely
Check our latest announcement about v3.0 update here:
http://steamcommunity.com/games/zps/announcements/detail/2818553429468545226
Follow us on social media at:
Ushering In A New Era!
It's finally here! It has been a long road, with a lot of obstacles and trials. Our team could not have foreseen the enormous amount of work this update would be when we first set out to bring this game an update it truly deserves. But we kept going because all of you supported us - this update is a testimony to what a dedicated community such as ours can achieve!
Or check our Frequently Asked Questions thread for more information about the v3.0 update, or ask us any questions.
We'll need your help!
In our last announcement, we explained how many problems we ran into with code that was ported over from ZPS v2.4, and that it forced us to rewrite many sections of code in attempt to get things working properly. We had very little time to playtest these changes before release, and we even had to make last-minute fixes/changes - which means it's very likely that there will be bugs/issues that we weren't aware of.
In order for us to fix these issues, we'll need your help reporting them to us!
We've already received a ton of useful reports from all of you, and we've even been there in-game with you to witness some of these issues ourselves. Many of them have been fixed, and we're working on fixing even more of them. Thanks for all of your help, please keep the feedback coming!
SourceMod Banned due to Security Breach!
Due to a high security breach regarding our gamebans, we've come to the decision that SourceMod will now be fully banned from being used in Zombie Panic! Source. This ban will likely be permanent, because users can perform extremely malicious actions with the aid of SourceMod, and this absolutely cannot be allowed to happen. If these issues with SourceMod ever get addressed, then perhaps we can revert the ban, until then this ban will be permanent.
This breach would allow users to spoof their own SteamIDs, completely bypassing our gamebans, as well as server bans. Besides being completely immoral, this is also against the Steam Subscriber Agreement (SSA), and Steam Online Conduct (SOC). Any users found to be doing this will be reported to Valve by us, and have their accounts completely banned.
If you encounter anyone abusing this cheat/exploit, please gather evidence (preferably video from in-game) proving that this occurred, as well as a link to their Steam Profile, and any other pics or links that might be necessary. E-mail them to us at "support@zombiepanicsource.com".
We've decided to postpone the implementation of this ban for 3 weeks in order to give you all time to program your plugins in AngelScript. You may currently be unable to do some of the things required for your plugins to work, but AngelScript is still very early in its implementation into ZPS. You can send us your requests and suggestions for new hooks for your plugins under the Ideas & Suggestions sub-forums on either our Steam Community Hub Discussion Boards, or our new official forums.
We're very sorry to have to punish all of you because of the actions of a few. But due to the amount of malicious things one could do with SourceMod, this was the only option we had to completely solve the problem. We hope that you all understand, we didn't want to do this, but because of Uncle Fred we've been forced to.
Addressing Abusive Behavior Within Our Community
With the v3.0 update will come the removal of several community members who have been proven extremely abusive and disruptive beyond forgivable measure. These members will have their accounts permanently banned from playing Zombie Panic! Source with this update (in a few weeks once we kill SourceMod). We'll also be prepared to take action regarding any similar situations that occur in the future, should it be necessary.
Most notably of these members is (SL) Uncle Fred, owner of the SL CABIN and SL COMMUNITY servers. He spoofed his and others Steam IDs to get them unbanned from the game (the reason we've had to ban SourceMod). He was also proven, through a large community investigation, to be the main culprit behind the ocean of server attacks that have hit servers all over the community over the past years. This was done by taking advantage of an exploit related to the server's RCON (Remote Control) port on the Source 2007 Engine.
An extraordinary amount of evidence was collected and brought to us to review. Our team agreed that it proved him guilty, thus we made the decision to permanently ban him from playing ZPS. We have also permanently banned other community members who were proven to be abusing this exploit too.
We understand that this is a controversial decision as it jeopardizes the future of the SL servers, where a lot of players go to play. That is why we invite you all to review and discuss the evidence that we can publicly share. Please be sure not to violate Steam Rules & Guidelines when posting - we may have been a bit lenient when these posts were made due to the situation, but we will be stricter this time. We don't want there to be any arguing, or rude/inappropriate posts made regarding this subject.
We also advise that you stay away from Uncle Fred, and his servers. Because by playing there you are inadvertently supporting his actions, and behavior - which have caused great harm to the community, and will certainly continue to do so. This is your community, and it is what you make it. We urge you all to protest against Uncle Fred and the SL servers for his malicious, unforgivable actions.
We want to thank every single one of you who have helped in bringing this behavior to justice. We specifically want to show our deep gratitude to Silence and Janaz Leonheart, of the now late Vertigo Gaming Community, for helping us understand and fix the exploit, as well as helping the community protect their servers against the attacks. We sincerely apologize for not acting on this matter sooner.
Achievements
It's important to note that we've included a number of conditions that must be met in order for the achievements to be enabled. This is to prevent players from gaining an unfair advantage in earning them through custom content, such as maps or gameplay modifying plugins.
Since the achievements are designed around official content, we simply can't vouch for the balance being proper in custom maps, or on servers with modified gameplay. Therefore, the achievements can only be unlocked while playing on unmodified official maps (with unmodified map scripts).
We've created this thread to explain what those conditions are, and to answer any questions you may have about them.
Feedback and suggestions are exactly what turned ZPS into what it is today, and your opinions will continue to help mold this game during our journey into the future together! We look forward to hearing your opinion!
AngelScript Plugins
We understand that the capability of AngelScript, and the amount of available plugins are pretty limited right now. But AngelScript is very early in its implementation into ZPS, there will be many more improvements to come. We'll be awaiting your requests and suggestions for new plugins (as long as they fit stock gameplay or we see a use for them, if not perhaps someone else from the community will create it for you), and hooks required to create your own plugins.
Phase 1 of the ModDB 2017 Mod of the Year Awards has ended, and Phase 2 has begun. This means the Top 100 have been selected, and there will be another 10 days of voting to determine the victor of 2017!
Last year we ranked in at # 85, and we made it into the Top 100 again this year thanks to all of you! We're very grateful to have such an amazing and supportive community! But we're going to need your help again this year ranking better in Phase 2, let's see if we can do it!
Tell your friends that Zombie Panic! is back from the dead!
See you in-game,
- Zombie Panic! Development Team
Follow us on social media at:
v3.0.1 Changelog
Update: We're re-releasing a new patch with additional fixes for the annoying shuffle bug, zpo_keretti regarding the radio obj and updates for ZP Anti Cheat (ZPAC)
Code
Fixed an exploit where if you spammed F1, or F2, you it would skip some functions
Fixed an exploit with explode and kill commands
Fixed where gagging someone didn't work
Fixed where vote ban and vote gag would crash the server if the client has left the game beforehand
Fixed VR related crash (Steam VR will still show when going to the Options, nothing we can do about that)
Fixed where the score board would cause a crash if it wasn't fully initialized
Fixed admin gag and ungag timer values
Fixed where Game Instructor would cause server to freak out with 17 or more players.
Fixed where cl_playerspraydisable would ignore if it was disabled
Fixed where on round end, it would print "Survivor Win" even tho the survivor(s) died
Fixed the music volume bar not setting the music volume properly
Fixed a vulnerable security issue, that could overwrite VAC or GameBans.
Fixed crosshair convar not working properly
AngelScript
Updated Engine.EmitSound to play from the player and not from the world, and fixed the dB levels
Added forward function HL2MPRulesInitialize()
Added Globals.CurTime
Maps
zpo_subway
Moved I/O for plan B door to different ent hopefully fixed premature opening
Changed security room door to a breakable prop_door_rotating
Changed obj list text to Train Leaves Very Soon insted of Few Minutes
zpo_zomboeing
Scaled back capturepoint speed multipliers cuz they were too fast
Changed scripting on starting zombie spawns in conveyor area to work more betterz
Fixed texture on police tape
zpo_tanker
Added player respawn delay, which automatically updates on playercount
zpo_keretti
Fixed two granades getting stuck on the truck.
Fixed one minor bug on final obj trigger escape/win.
zps_deadend
Fixed police line brush not being not solid
zps_keretti
Fixed two doors stuck at same location in second floor offices.
Fixed soundscapes not playing
Updated fire sounds at zombie spawn.
zps_policestation
Adjusted some zombie spawns
Tweaked AS balance script
Update the loading screen and changed spawn point of observer camera
zps_sapidcerebrum
Fixed zombie spawn doors
Fixed the elevator
Fixed the missing texture in the conference room
Disabled the shadows for the curtains in the costume shop
Models
Fixed models/custom/aircondition.mdl reading a broken VMT
Weapons
Updated weapon_chair animations
Updated weapon_shovel and weapon_sledgehammer attack rate (Reduced by 1 seoond)
v3.0 Changelog [End of the 2.4 Era]
It has been awhile since Zombie Panic! Source got it's major update, but after such a long wait, it's finally here! We have all enjoyed v2.4, but everything has to come to an end, but this time, it's for the better.
Disclaimer
Windows XP Support
Windows XP is no longer supported in Zombie Panic! Source because of it's binaries and some third party libraries being used are not compatible with Windows XP.
In order to play Zombie Panic! Source, you can either upgrade your computer or use another one that runs Windows Vista or higher.
We're deeply sorry about this issue.
Zombie Panic! Dev Team
General
Rebuilt ZPS from scratch using Source SDK 2013 MP Branch
Switched the install directory to 'Zombie Panic! Source'
Code
Added DiscordRPC support
Added character: Pedro Rodriguez
Added Steam achievements
Added survivors bios
Added loading logo video
Added zombie shader
Added AngelScript support
Added Linux dedicated server support
Added AFK manager system
Added built-in admin. system for server owners
Added Cascaded Shadow Mapping (CSM) (DirectX 9.0c and higher only)
Added optional anti-panic rush
Added Steam Workshop support
Added breakable doors entity
Fixed critical memory leak
Fixed security issues reported by many Steam users
Improved body hit registration
Updated the information when the player looks at their teammates
Updated how random_ entities spawn system works
Updated VBSP and VRAD compilers for maps
Updated Infection system
Particles
Added gun smokes
Added IED and grenade explosion particles
Updated muzzle flashes
Updated bullet impact effects
Animations
Updated survivor animations
Updated all melee animations
Updated and fixed firearms animations
UI
Added character selection
Added vote system (similar to Left 4 Dead 2)
Added game Instructor
Added ZP Options
Updated main menu
Updated loading screen
Updated score board
Updated kill and microphone icons, and game tips
Gamemodes
Updated Hardcore
Removed ZPA
Maps
Added zph_pithole
Added zpo_frozenheart
Added zpo_zomboeing
Updated zpo_aquatica
Updated zpo_biotec
Updated zpo_corpsington
Updated zpo_harvest
Updated zpo_keretti
Updated zpo_murksville
Updated zpo_shreddingfield
Updated zpo_subway
Updated zpo_tanker
Updated zps_asylum
Updated zps_blackout
Updated zps_cinema
Updated zps_clubzombo
Updated zps_corpsington
Updated zps_deadend
Updated zps_hauned
Updated zps_keretti
Updated zps_nightmare
Updated zps_policestation
Updated zps_ruralpanic
Updated zps_sapidcerebrum
Updated zps_silence
Updated zps_thrillvile
Updated zps_town
Updated zps_underground
Removed zpa_badbayou
Removed zpo_haunted
Removed zpa_town
Misc
Added VPK format files
Added ZPS console commands:
status_full
zps_anti_bunnyjump
zps_anti_panicrush
zps_hardcore
zps_hardcore_infection_chance
zps_hardcore_pillscure
zps_hardcore_rounds
zps_infection_chance
zps_map
zps_objective_rounds
zps_survival_rounds
zps_teambalance
zps_testmode_limitweapons
zps_waitingforplayersmode
zps_shoottrough
zps_afk_time
zps_afk_time_lobby
Updated ZPS Hammer entities:
logic_rounds
logic_player_manager
logic_hardcoretimer
logic_wincounter
logic_playercounter
logic_music
logic_script
func_precipitation
trigger_playercount
trigger_barricade
trigger_health
trigger_nojump
trigger_infect
trigger_uninfect
trigger_escape
trigger_capturepoint_zp
info_player_carrier
info_beacon
ambient_generic
item_armor (removed item_battery)
item_delivery
item_ammo_pistol
item_ammo_rifle
item_ammo_shotgun
item_ammo_revolver
filter_activator_team
filter_activator_type
prop_barricade
weapons_limit
random_ammo
random_any
random_def
random_weapon
random_firearms
random_melee
random_pistol
random_rifle
random_shotrev
game_text
Updated ammo boxes texture
Updated rain particle
Updated sv_alltalk console command
Updated random_*, item_ammo_* and weapon_* spawn entities
Updated all textures to use the new Shader System
Updated Hammer FGD's
Updated mod events
Updated VGUI
Updated plenty of models to support prop_static
Fixed many texture issues and other visual glitches
Sound
Added FMODEx middleware to handle the musics
Added CELT audio codec currently in use in TF2 and CS:GO
Added Carrier footsteps
Added 3 new soundtracks
Added zombie sound cues (Roar and Spotting)
Added new soundscapes
Added Objective mode soundcues (when escaping and reaching timelimit)
Added level specific sounddesign for zpo_frozenheart(Objective sound cue and soundeffects, item_deliver sound effects, event soundtrack)
Added level specific sounddesign for zpo_zomboeing(event soundtrack and objective sound cue)
Improved Steam Voice support
Improved M4 and Winchester reload sounds
Improved metal and wood melee weapons dropping sounds
Updated infection sound
Weapons
Added weapon_pipewrench
Added weapon_wrench
Added holster animations for melees
Added holster animation for IED and grenade
Added unload pistol animations
Added (fixed) recoil system for firearm weaponry
Updated weapon_spanner UV and textures
Updated weapon_pot textures
Updated weapon_fryingpan textures
Updated weapon_mp5 origin placement
Updated item_deliver glow system
Fixed weapon_frag duplication exploit
Humans
Added sharing ammo and weapon directly feature (press the drop button)
Added color type at player's name scaled by their HP
Added bullet teammate penetration (optional by server owner)
Added flashlight icon
Updated movement speed
Fixed where the max and current speed could be overwritten by external means
Zombies
Added Carrier feature: spotting ability
Added optional zombie respawn delay
Added zombie movement penalty when being shot in the leg
Adjusted zombie movement speed
Improved Carrier roar's glow effect
Updated zombie vision
Updated carrier textures and rig
Removed knockback in mid-air
Fixed where the max and current speed could be overwritten by external means
Reviving the Community and Prepare for v3.0 Release!
We hope everyone's as excited as our team is, as we're only 4 days away from the release of v3.0! We're working hard on the final polishing of the build, and we can't wait to share our work with you all! You can check our Frequently Asked Questions thread for more information about the v3.0 update, or ask us any questions.
We'll need your help!
As we've mentioned before, we've ran into numerous problems with code that was ported over from ZPS v2.4 which has forced us to rewrite many sections of code to attempt to get things working properly. Unfortunately, it seemed that most of the previous v2.4 code was broken, or would cause issues in some ways. In order to completely fix these issues, we went through a complete overhaul of the code about a month ago, which removed all remaining v2.4 code.
Since we only started testing this overhaul of the code around a month ago, that hasn't left us much time to find and fix issues with it. That means it's very likely that there will be bugs/issues on release that we weren't aware of. In order for us to fix these issues, we'll need your help reporting them to us! We're ready to fix any issues we missed during development as soon as we possibly can!
This also means that there is a small chance that we could possibly need to delay the release due to newly discovered game-breaking, or major issues - if any are found. We're fixing up remaining known issues, and still plan to release on December 8th, but we'll update you if this changes.
Remaining v3.0 Sneakpeeks
Sadly, the recent rebuild of the game's code, along with a string of other issues, have made it impossible to gather enough footage for a launch trailer. We plan to do one at a later date, and in the meantime will be sharing a few more sneakpeeks from the coming update;
JonnyBoy did an outstanding job creating new first-person viewmodel animations for all melee weapons and firearms while you interact with an item, button or something usable. The video also teases something we'd like to expand upon after v3.0; Making cars, drawers. closets etc. lootable, to increase immersion and put more emphasis on the survival aspect of the game.
Huge thanks to community-member and Playtester, "Zombielle", who did the Survivor and Zombie portraits!
ZPS Community-Made Projects
Apart from our own initiative to bring back the game, others have begun to bring ZPS to different games and platforms - spreading the news of its revival. We were excited to hear about these projects, and we wanted to share them with you!
It's important to remember that Monochrome, Inc holds the trademark on "Zombie Panic!", and the copyright to the IP, therefore anybody would need permission from them to monetize any derivatives of ZPS. But anybody is allowed to port and use content from Zombie Panic! for non-commercial purposes, and as long as there is nothing disrespectful, offensive, or damaging to our [both Monochrome, Inc, and us, the Zombie Panic! Development Team's] business interests. That, along with permission from us, is the reason why awesome projects like these are allowed to be created!
Zombie Panic! VR
Steam user "Darkghostterran" did a total remake of ZPS for the HTC Vive, called "Zombie Panic! VR". It has all the basic concepts of ZPS; melee weapons, the official map Biotec, and a couple of Contagion's weapons, as well as zombie AI.
A fan-based project created for Garry's Mod by "Mka0207" and his team. Branching out ZPS's avenue for players and experiences to a whole new horizon.
While ZPS is built on C++, Just Panic! is built on top of LUA, which means easier modifications and creation of new scripts. The mod also brings forth an entirely different barricading experience heavily inspired by Garry's Mod Zombie Survival. This, and more, are meant to create a fresh and unique experience for both players familiar and unfamiliar with Zombie Panic!
You can support and learn more about this work on their website here!
Note: The website isn't specifically dedicated to the "Just Panic!" project, but to the FWKZT community as a whole. The name "Just Panic!" is also not associated with KaempeLaeske nor the rest of our team. The name is simply a coincidence.
The website is also a viable place to share ideas and suggestions, as well as bugs and other issues with the game. Our team checks both - and the website, being out of direct access to players, is likely to host more serious discussions and topics compared to the community hub. The old website & forums are still up, however it has been abandoned and broken for many years.
Official Discord Server
As some of you may already know, we also have our own official Discord server! But now we're finally verified!
Here you can casually chat and banter with other players, playtesters, and developers about everything Zombie Panic! related or unrelated. Join now by clicking on this invite link: https://discord.gg/zps
Conclusion
And with that, we've brought you all completely up to date on what's happening with the Zombie Panic! title.
We are truly entering a new age for this game, and we cannot wait to start a new chapter in this game's long lifespan together with you all!
- Zombie Panic! Development Team
Follow us on social media at:
3.0 Has A Release Date! And It’s the Biggest Update Yet
We’re happy to finally be able to announce that the v3.0 update for Zombie Panic! Source will be released on the 8th of December, this year! Look to pass the time when the air is cold and the days are short? We've got you covered! A tiny bit past Fall, but not nearly during Winter!
The Challenge In Creating the Update
Understandably, many of you have been eager to know when the update will release. Many of you have also been disappointed in our refrain from giving a decisive release date. We've done this to allow ourselves to focus as much as possible on ensuring a top quality update, without having to worry too much about the large string of problems that occur and delay development.
To begin with we branded the update as an “engine-port” that seeked to fix exploits and instability, creating a solid base for us to build upon in later updates. The plan was to use the old code as the base, fix its flaws, and build new code on top. We eventually realised that this would not work as the old code present from v2.4 was incredibly broken and nearly impossible to work with on the new engine. After having already rewritten most of the old code, our lead programmer JonnyBoy0719, with the assistance of our second programmer, Shepard62fr, then had to completely reconstruct the code for the game. This caused a big delay but was entirely necessary for us to be able to implement the things we wanted, as well as expand upon the game in the future.
These continuous hiccups let to a few halts in code development, and the rest of the team sought to work on maps, models etc. while the code was being reviewed and fixed. However, there were two things which we couldn’t accurately prepare for; The headache of trying to string old code together with new, and the massive amount of attention and hype that has surrounded this update.
The v3.0 Update
As we continued work on the update, expectations grew. Former players, server owners and content creators kept expressing their excitement and hopes of this update bringing the game back to life. When issues with salvaging the original code let to temporary breaks in development, we started coming up with ideas on how to make the game look, sound and feel more modern – While still maintaining its game design that we believe is not found in many of today’s games.
At times, this led us to develop new content which was not exactly part of the original plan for the update, but that we felt needed to be in the update to make it a success, even if it slowed development down at times. It’s safe to say that we were treating the update as a one-shot-opportunity to reinstate the game. An ambition which ironically led us to become sidetracked when the schedule was affected by code issues. It sadly means that we aren't able to give everything the close attention it needs, but we have plans for more updates after v3.0. So, we do apologize but we still think you'll find the update worth the wait.
Level Design
Many of the levels were introduced on the release of ZPS in 2007, or not much longer after, and haven't been changed too much since then. At the time they looked great and were very fun to play, but naturally that isn't the case anymore. Some haven't aged too well and have become unbalanced in some ways, or come to look old and outdated.
It would be better for us to completely remake the levels from scratch, but that would take too much time to prepare the levels than we had for the v3.0 release. Instead, we decided it would be best to give the levels updates, and adjust whatever necessary. This way we could improve upon the level's issues and provide levels that are more balanced and play better for the v3.0 update.
Unfortunately we haven't been able to polish every level up to the standard we'd like to, because there are so many. Although, we believe you'll be more satisfied with the changes we're making. The levels will receive more improvements in the future as we experience and learn what works and what doesn't, as well as receive your feedback on them.
Deadend
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Our new level designer, dR.Vodker, has given zps_deadend a much needed facelift. The graveyard behind the church now feels incredibly immersive. A large number of detail and design changes have been made to make it look more like a graveyard, while creating space for zombies spawns outside of the map.
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Biotec
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NeoAssasin has devoted a lot of time to remastering zpo_biotec. By adding a ton of more detail to the environment, the map now feels like a state-of-the-art facility that has been overrun by the undead.
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Pithole
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As most of you probably remember, we announced that ZPH would be receiving its first official map. The working title is zph_pithole, and our level designer Xufe has been hard at work to ensure that the map is a good mix of regular survival and the deathrun-based gameplay which we've all come to know and love through community maps!
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Game Balance
In order for players to feel immersed, it's important that they aren't pulled away from that when the last hope of humanity is defeated by zombies spawning on top of their head, or when the experience of the zombie apocalypse is reduced to camping the exit of a bathroom!
We have touched upon the big overhaul we felt the game needed in regards to balance in various announcements. The most substantial change you'll find in-game is the removal, or inaccessibility of, most of the zombie spawns from the playable area. We have touched upon this before, yet we have not shown you what it looks like in-game.
Haunted
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dR.Vodker has also put in a lot work to make zps_haunted truly feel, well, haunted! All zombie spawns have now been moved outside of the map, while still allowing direct access to the playable area. The map is now darker and the environment is more overgrown to give zombies more cover when outside of the house.
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Biotec
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On zpo_biotec, zombies are no longer subject to spawn-camping when spawning between the helipad and lab. The zombie spawn has been moved up into a newly-crafted conference room that overlooks the courtyard where the old spawn used to be.
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Asylum
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Siggy Wiggy Woo has made a number of design changes to zps_asylum to accommodate new spawns for the zombies. This is one of them, located behind the cells and above the small park. This room can't be accessed by survivors, and the zombies have 2 exits; One leading to a high-traffic area and infamous camping spot, and the other leading to a more quiet area to allow zombies to flank the survivors unnoticed.
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The outside has also been given new visual details that both serve the immersion but also act as cover for the zombies when dealing with survivors camping the outside area.
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Nightmare
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The infamous camping spot on zps_nightmare's roof has been significantly nerfed with the addition of a new zombie spawn located inside the building, next to the chimney. This way survivors can still utilize the spot, but zombies won't be at such a big disadvantage when trying to approach the area. The additional boxes work both as cover for the zombies, but also as objects to block the zombies now shortened path to the survivors.
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Thrillvile
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zps_thrillvile has had all of the zombie spawns moved out into the surrounding water. This area is off-limits to the survivors, and has direct access to both the ferris wheel, workshop and sewers.
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Hardcore Mode
We wanted to present a fully developed Hardcore Mode, but sadly we have been unable to dedicate time to develop the mode fully. However, we have made good changes to the gameplay of the mode. What has changed is that zombies are no longer bullet spunges; Headshots do close to the regular damage of zps and zpo, but bodyshots are as futile as they've ever been.
This allows us to play around with the gamemode more since survivors now actually have a chance at holding out an area from the buffed undead. These changes make the gamemode feel more like an actual "hardcore" version of regular gameplay. We want to add more depth to the gamemode but are forced to wait until later updates.
Sound
We have also worked on expanding upon the sound design of the game to streamline certain events in the game and make players feel more immersed. Our Sound Designer, KaempeLaeske, has produced sound cues and sound effects for the various in-game events, as well as 3 new soundtracks for the game's OST - Each one dedicated to the 3 new maps in the update to help set the tone of the levels and give you some new tunes to enjoy while fighting for, or against, the undead.
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Above you can listen to the soundcue for the Carrier's new ability, Spotting.
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We want to make it easier for new players to understand what's going on when playing zombie. We don't necessarily think that the solution is found in buffing the stats of the zombies, but by streamlining communication between them. It's easy to miss the glowing Carrier or the highlighted survivors on the screen if you're not looking in that exact direction. However, with a sound cue you'll be able to know when these events are taking place. This way new players are more easily guided towards the main action.
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Above you can listen to the new soundcue for the pre-existing Carrier's Roar ability.
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User Interface
Our programmer, JonnyBoy0719, has worked hard on making the game look like a standalone game. Everything from the booting of the game to the game's scoreboard has been updated and given a unique design. One of the steps to achieving this is through updated loading screens that fit and explain the game to players; Every official map now has their own dedicated loading screen, giving players a taste of what to expect as well as accounting for the map's name and dedicated gamemode - along with randomly generated gameplay tips to read while waiting for the map to load.
Through our new game menu, we've streamlined a lot of the actions a player might take when playing and/or interacting with the community on the game; The new game menu allows players to access their achievements, character selection and bios, as well as the community hub and workshop by a simple click of the mouse. On top of this, options specifically related to Zombie Panic! are now easily accessable from the main menu and not hidden away in the advanced options - with the addition of the console being available by pressing on its own dedicated button.
Did we mention that the menu now includes animated backgrounds? Because it does! Character bios have been brought back and put into the main menu. Our level designer, Casei Magnus, has rewritten them, borrowing from the old bios of Zombie Panic! Source and Contagion.
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The new loading screen.
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Part of the new menu, the character bios menu, and the achievements menu.
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Textures
We've dedicated time to fixing and improving a lot of the already existing textures, as well as adding a lot of new ones.
Our new Texture Artist, Desty, has overhauled the textures of many different things to fit better with the improved visuals and atmosphere of the game in general.
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The textures for the ammo boxes have been improved, and they have been slightly resized.
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The iconic frying pan has been re-textured to look more battle damaged. The old look simply didn't justify the amount of zombie skulls this thing has bashed in!
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Desty has also given the Revolver a slick, new texture for you to enjoy with the new update.
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Lore
"Larry's Diner", the place where it all began. In the official comic by Hential Gerpies, this specific diner is established as being the point where the original group of survivors find themselves together, by chance, against what appears to be the early stages of the outbreak. On the current 2.4 version of zps_town, this diner is not named correctly. v3.0 changes that.
Our team were all big fans of the lore that used to be in the game. Years ago, the character bios vanished as a result of the website not being maintained. The comic was never written with any dialogue, and with the established lore in the game's levels being so inconsitent, naturally a big chunk of the lore was lost with the character bios.
A significant focus for us was to reestablish the pre-existing lore, as well as expand upon it. However, just like the comic's narrative, the details are left unclear and up to the individual to interpret.
A lot of incosistencies in the game's levels makes it hard to get a feel for the story. Because of this, the map bios have all been written to account for the journey of the survivors as well as give each level a real-life location. For example, zps_policestation is now set in Boulder City, as the logo in the lobby suggests.
We've included a number of easter eggs that hint at how the survivors get from one location to the next. We have indeed mapped out their journey on a map of the United States, and put thought into considering how the survivors get from a small diner in an infested small town to the deck of a torn-in-half tanker. However, as we know a number of players like to dig into the story of the game, we are letting these to be discovered by you!
Future Plans
There's so much more we would have liked to improve upon or include in v3.0, but we unfortunately didn't have the time to begin working on them, or even continue working on them in some cases. It would have required more time for us to develop than we wanted to take, so we decided it would be best for these things to wait for future updates.
Just know that we have many more exciting things planned to come!
Acknowledgement
Finally, we want to thank you all for the massive support - not to mention the ton of really great suggestions for how we can improve the game. The backpack, penetrating bullets, Explore Mode, Human Spotting, among others, are all ideas that we've come up with from either listening to your suggestions or talking with players about random ideas when we occasionally jump on to play the game with you.
We failed to acknowledge this in the last announcement which was the result of us being forgetful in the midst of a ton of work. We apologize, and we are thankful for having such an incredibly supportive and engaging community! We are by no means a professional team, and some of us have been out of touch with the game for years. Having dedicated players giving us feedback and suggestions is a luxury which we could not afford to lose.
Now that the update is nearing completion, we are going to start dropping trailers as we inch closer to the release date.
Happy Halloween!
- Zombie Panic! Development Team
Follow us on social media at:
Summer Development Progress Update
We hope everyone is having a great Summer full of lots of fun! We're also having so much fun working on the final stages of the build. Unfortunately, we likely won't be able to reach a Summer release due to features that need to be adjusted and tweaked, as well as bugs and issues that need to be ironed out before release. So that means we'll have to release sometime in the Fall, but it should be well worth the wait.
Like our last announcement, we have so much to discuss about our development progress and what we've done the past few months. While our main priority is security and game stability - we're always working toward improving our ability to develop with the addition of new content such as entities, animations, props and textures. As development has gone on, we’ve listened to the ideas and feedback of the community, and taken the time to implement ideas that we’ve agreed with and/or have seen as possible to address without delaying the release. Let's get straight to introducing some of these things to you, shall we?
Angelscript Support
Zombie Panic! Source will now have Angelscript support in v3.0, it works similar to how NUTscript works for Left 4 Dead 2 or Contagion. Angelscript was added to cut down the entdata for maps that use a lot of entities to make certain math related sequences.
At this moment, Angelscript is only supported for maps, but will have added support for plugins in the near future sometime after v3.0. For those who know C or C++, they will understand the basics of Angelscript. For those who don't, there is an Angelscript documentation to get you started once v3.0 goes live!
There will also be a ZPS API documentation for Angelscript, which will be easy to navigate. This documentation API will be available once v3.0 goes live!
Linux Build
We've been working really hard preparing Linux binaries for v3.0, we need to fix all current crashes and incompatibility issues within our build. We're doing everything we can to make Linux support happen for our Linux users out there, both server and client! We would like to give a special thanks to one of our testers, Shepard62FR, who is assisting our programmer with this huge task!
Destructible Doors
If you've watched our Twitch development streams in the past, you may already be aware that Ratboy was modeling destructible doors. You can set the HP of the door and they'll have a certain amount of stages to break through. The door will become more broken the more damage you do to it, until it breaks to pieces and falls off the hinge.
Additional Triggers
Trigger_infect/uninfect
If the player touches trigger_infect, depending on how much % the trigger is set to (example; some can be set to 10%, or others will be 25% etc), they will get infected. Also if your health is 25 or lower, you have a higher risk of getting infected.
If the player touches trigger_uninfect, their infection will be removed immediately.
Trigger_health
This trigger will either slowly or quickly heal the player, or set their health to a specific amount. But it cannot go above or beyond their actual max health.
Trigger_barricade
When this trigger is enabled it will destroy any barricades it comes in contact with.
Trigger_escape
The trigger_escape works similar to how escaping worked in Contagion. Instead of instantly triggering a Survivor win like how it normally works on objective maps, this trigger will cause the individual player who touched it to escape. Escaping results in the player being switched to the spectator team and receiving additional points for achieving their own victory, their weapons and ammo do not drop to the ground. After 30 seconds, those players can join the zombie team to help finish off the round.
This trigger will work great on certain maps by keeping them from ending abruptly when there's still lots of fun action that could unfold. It will also make it more urgent that the player successfully escape instead of trying to camp and rack up as many kills as they want, since they'll eventually get overrun and killed by the other players who already escaped. (Although that strategy of camping for kills in objective maps can never completely be prevented by us, and it will require moderation of the server if players feel that it's an issue.)
Game Instructor
The game instructor is the same one used by Alien Swarm and Left 4 Dead. It can be used to teach new players how to perform actions and abilities, and be used to relay other important information to players.
It will tell players things like how to manage their inventory as survivor, not to damage your teammates, how to Roar and Spot as the Carrier, things like that which will be important for new players to learn, or things that are important to inform the player of.
The game instructor can also display a temporary beacon with text. One of the ways we've implemented this is for when someone requests weapons or ammo, you'll see a beacon display on the player who requested the item with text explaining what they requested.
Backpack
The backpack was originally intended to serve as a visual indication that a player is carrying an item_deliver (the objective items that you carry in your inventory), for those that don't have their own world model to display. But we're still debating what other uses to implement the backpack for. For v3.0 this will likely remain its only use, but in the future this might change.
This model was developed by our modeler, Darb Dude! As some of you might be able to tell - the selection of this particular looking backpack was inspired from the backpack which was used in the original Zombie Panic! mod for Half-life.
Animations Adjustments
Creating new sexier models, props, textures, and sounds - reworking animations is in one of our future plans both before and after the v3.0 update. Jonnyboy has been working hard to improve as best as he can our survivor animations, especially the reload and idle animations, which you can see in those images below.
Carry Mode for Item_deliver
The item_deliver now has the option to be set to require two hands to carry it, making the player vulnerable and unable to attack until they drop it. This will make it important for players to be very cautious or have a teammate around when transporting these items. The idea for this was inspired from the two-handed items used in L4D, such as the gas cans and propane tanks.
Infection Adjustments
We're removing the limitations from infection, such as not being able to chat, and not being able to manage your inventory or interact with items. We've decided to remove these limitations because they don't actually prevent griefing/trolling like they were probably intended to do. The player will ultimately find some way to troll or grief if they really want, limiting the players' ability was not the proper way to try to prevent that. It just made it more frustrating to play when you were infected if you actually tried to survive as long as you could. We also feel the limitations didn't offer much in terms of immersion, it was more frustrating than immersive.
When it comes down to trolling or griefing, we'll do what we can from a development perspective to prevent it - but with this issue in particular there was no good solution that worked well. It will be up to the server owners to decide if doing things like hiding or wasting ammo before they turn into a zombie is against their rules or not. It will also be up to their own community to help enforce that rule.
To help limit a players' ability to perform actions which will give them an advantage when they turn into a zombie from infection - we've reduced the known infection time to 10-15 seconds. That means you will only get an indication of your infection 10-15 seconds before you turn. This is to reduce the time the player will have to react to their infection, giving them less time to do something which will sabotage the survivor team and give them an advantage when they transfer to the zombie team.
Starting Zombie Selection Restrictions
We've implemented some restrictions to the zombie selection code that selects which players are going to be zombie at the start of the round. We've made it so that a player will no longer be zombie twice in a row, unless they volunteer for it. The less times you've been zombie, the more chance you'll have of being chosen as a starting zombie if there's no volunteers. But also the more you volunteer for zombie, the less chance you'll have of becoming zombie against others volunteers who haven't been zombie as many times.
This is to help prevent people unfairly being chosen as a starting zombie multiple times in a row, when other players haven't been chosen at all. It will also make it more fair for people to have a chance to be a starting zombie if there's a lot of other players volunteering, so that the same few people aren't always getting starting zombie.
Bullet Penetration Through Teammates
While bullets penetrating through teammates is a bit unrealistic, we felt this was a necessary addition for multiple reasons. One issue is that you can have a room full of people like the living room on harvest, where there's not a whole lot of room to shoot past your teammates - and a lot of people end up blocking each others' bullets unintentionally. Then there's griefers who will intentionally stand in your way in an attempt to waste your ammo or get you killed.
So we've implemented bullet penetration through teammates in order to solve these issues. What bullet penetration does is allow bullets to penetrate through teammates, and reduced the damage of bullets which have penetrated through teammates. But we understand that some people might not enjoy this feature, and we've decided to make this an optional cvar that server owners can control.
Damage Drop-off
Bullets will now have drop-off damage, meaning that the further a bullet travels the less damage it will do until its damage is completely negated and reduced to 0. This is intended to keep players from being able to snipe across the map with every firearm. We can properly limit their range, thus helping to balance out the effectiveness of wide open areas.
Support for Community Content
It is no secret that our team’s priority is to develop the original design of the game. It is undoubtedly the design we cherish and wish to expand upon. However, this doesn't mean that we look at custom content with ill intentions.
We understand that the reality of the new update breaking a lot of custom content is scary but it is by no means intentional. It’s a matter of the two engines being different. Triggers, events, and entities are named differently, updated or just don’t exist anymore so naturally most SourceMod plugins won’t know what’s up or down.
Our team is not going to spend time updating all custom content. We simply don’t have the time. It has always been the community’s responsibility to update their own content. We'll be releasing our Mod Tools completely updated once the v3.0 update rolls out. From there, you'll be able to create your own maps and upload them to the Workshop!
SourceMod for 3.0
For the past 4 or so months, Janaz Leonheart, owner of Vertigo Gaming, has been working on updating SourceMod so that it is ready when the update launches. He is currently awaiting some finalization of our Linux build to continue his work. He has also been helping us with his extensive knowledge of exploits used to attack other servers, making sure that the build is as secure as possible. Once his work is complete, he has agreed to release it, along with a guide and whatever plugins he may have updated in the testing phase, publicly for the entire community to use.
His work is not part of our development, they are two separate processes. We are merely overseeing his work while we focus on our own.
Other News
Twitch Development Streams When we first started our development streams, we planned to be streaming weekly on Fridays. But due to our schedules, the lack of work suitable for streaming and people willing to stream - we're unable to deliver on that promise. From now on the streams will be as we're able to do them, which we'll inform you of through Tweets and the Channel Feed on our Twitch Page, as well as posting a Steam Event once we're live.
YouTube Channel While we don't have much of anything uploaded to our YouTube channel yet. We plan to be uploading our teasers, trailers, and other videos to this channel. We would appreciate it if you'd all help support the channel by going and subscribing to it for future content.
We're very thankful of the huge support everyone has been giving us, it means a lot to us!
-Zombie Panic! Development Team
Follow us on social media at:
Start Up Issue Fixed!
We've managed to fix the start up issues caused by changing depots. Changing the depots caused the new build to not be able to read VPK-files, once again stressing how crucial it is for the update to be released so we can get the game off this broken, old engine!
Our new depots are now sorted and ready for the release of 3.0. We still don't have a release date, but the update is shaping up nicely and will see a release within the scheduled release window. That's all the news about 3.0 for now.
Your game should update automatically and install the fix. If you don't see a pending update, restart Steam.
If you installed the first update but are still getting errors related to "hl2.exe", then note that this has also been fixed and only requires a second update.
Once again, We are sorry for the inconvenience,
Happy Gaming!
- Zombie Panic! Development Team
ZPS Start Up Error - Switching depots
We are currently switching the depots for the game, rendering the game largely unplayable because of an unforeseen issue.
We are currently working on solving it. This is on our end, and you do not need to reinstall the game, verify game cache or any of the sort. Steam will automatically update once we fix the issue. This is not the 3.0 release, but it is preparations for it.
Sorry for the inconvenience,
- Zombie Panic! Development Team
v3.0 Info, Release Window, & Now Accepting Team Applications!
The development has been, and still is, an incredibly taxing but also enjoyable experience. Despite our team consisting of people from different cultures, with different ideas, opinions and talents, we all share the same passion for ZPS which allows us to be a very productive team.
We have reached a point in the development where we feel comfortable enough to share the news that you have all been waiting for!
Progress of v3.0
The update has come a long way from its beginnings, and JonnyBoy has put together a small showcase of the builds' progress over the months. The video also shows several new features that we are excited to properly introduce!
It's important to take note of a few things in the video though:
The features teased in the video are still subject to change, remember that this is the progress of the work over time. Most things have been changed or are still being tweaked in ways.
The Workshop for ZPS will not be implemented with the release of v3.0, even though it appears to be a selectable option in the video. However, it will be implemented later once the dedicated server is able to download and update the maps from the Workshop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOiLIKYLg8E
We've added many new features and entities as well as made changes to existing ones for several different reasons. We wanted to give more options and add more variety, make it easier to balance things, and give the level designer more control. Some things were suggested by community members, others were just created out of necessity from common sense or issues and ideas that arose through testing.
New Features
Cascaded Shadow Mapping (CSM):
We've announced this feature before, but CSM is a new and improved shadow system similar to what CS:GO uses. They dynamically draw the shadows, meaning that a moving objects will have its shadow change depending on the angle the lighting is coming from. CSM can be toggled on/off depending on your preference.
One minor issue we've ran into with CSM is that certain shades of light have a very noticeable green tint to them. There doesn't seem to be anything we can do about this, the only solution seems to be using a different shade of color if you don't want the green tint.
New "ZP Options" menu:
We've created a new options menu where you can find all the adjustable cvars and settings that are exclusive to ZPS. These setting were previously stored under Options - Multiplayer - Advanced, but we decided it would be better to make a new menu which wasn't so hidden.
Awaiting More Players Mode:
The first player that joins the round will now be able to walk around and explore the map while waiting for more players. Once another player joins the round, everything will reset and the round will start like normal.
Stats and achievements will not count while the player is waiting, and the score and items will reset once the round has actually begun. If the map uses "logic_rounds OnRoundStart" then this might keep certain objectives from activating, keeping you from exploring the map completely.
Spotting Ability:
A unique ability that allows only the Carrier to temporarily highlight survivors for the zombie team to see, at the cost of feed-o-meter. This helps relay their position to your zombie minions, so you may all converge on their location. Making it easier to cooperate without the need to communicate.
Optional Zombie Respawn Delay:
Implemented to help balance particular sections of levels where the zombies spawn very close to survivors, and/or where zombies have a close quarters advantage. This is only adjustable by the level designer via the logic_player_manager entity. You can specify the zombie respawn delay up to a maximum of 5 seconds.
Ammo Requesting & Sharing:
When a player uses the "Need Ammo" or "Need Weapon" voice commands, you can share the item directly with them by looking at them and dropping the requested item (when within range). You can only give them one weapon or one box of ammo per request, if they need more they'll have to request more.
HUD Icon for Flashlight:
This was implemented so that as a survivor you can tell at a glance how much battery is remaining in your flashlight. Giving you the ability to easier manage its remaining power. However, in hardcore mode the battery level of your flashlight is not shown.
New Zombie Vision Shader:
The method for which the old zombie vision shader was implemented no longer works on the 2013 engine. So JonnyBoy had to implement a new and improved zombie vision shader.
This zombie vision is a dynamic_light attached to the zombie which when activated lights up the surrounding area for that zombie only. Since it's a dynamic light, it's a lot harder on performance than the previous zombie vision. But we've implemented some control over the range the light extends to help keeps things at an acceptable performance for lower-end PCs. You can set these values under the new ZP Options menu.
Optional Anti-Panic Rush:
This will make panic unavailable for the specificed duration at the beginning of the round. It is disabled by default, but server owners can choose to enable it via cvar, and specify the max amount of seconds you have to wait before panicking up to a maximum of 5.
The reason for that limit is because on many of the stock maps, you can encounter a zombie within the first 10-15 seconds of the round. In such scenarios this feature would greatly limit the survivors chance of being able to escape an attack.
Updated Glow System:
This will allow level designers to select which color the item_deliver highlight should have. Now it is no longer restricted to only the white color as it was previously.
FMOD Sound Engine:
The old MP3 Music system has been replaced with FMOD. This elimates the lag that can occur when the track changes, which creates a smoother transition between tracks. The main ZPS theme music will now also play during the first few portions of the loading screen, and slowly fade out.
This also gave us the opportunity to implement the logic_music entity. Which gives level designers the ability to override the current music playing, making "stopmp3" obsolete on maps with custom tracks.
New Menu:
The old Source UI menu has now been replaced with a new design, to make ZPS more professional and modern.
New Scoreboard:
The scoreboard has gotten an overhaul on the design because when there was a certain amount of players - The old Source UI would draw beyond the players screen.
(However, when playing on low resolution you may still encounter this issue. This is due to the Source UI code, and unfortunately we do not have the access to modify it. It is recommended to play on a higher resolution than 800x600.)
We've solved this issue by implementing another colum onto the scoreboard. In the process we've improved the look and design as well.
Updated Unload Animation for Pistols:
The pistol animations for unloading have been added back. This has also fixed the problem where the holster or draw animation would show the empty version or vise versa, when the weapon wasn't empty in the first place.
Muzzle Smoke:
Now after discharging enough bullets through a firearm, the muzzle smoke will come out of the barrel in a trail until it dissipates.
AFK Manager:
This feature first moves AFK survivors or zombies to the lobby, then kicks them from the server if they proceed to be AFK for too long. However, spectators are exempt from being kicked. The default time limits are 2 minutes before moving players to the Lobby, and 5 minutes before kicking players from the server, with a max time limit of 30 minutes. These values can be adjusted via cvar to fit each server's need.
The server owner can choose to turn this feature off via cvar if they wish. But they do so at their own discretion, because we've used this feature to balance unfair zombie spawn points throughout the maps. With this feature we've been able to place zombie spawn points in better locations, keeping zombies from spawning directly in sight of survivors. Now we no longer need to account for AFK players in the spawn placements. We can instead remove them from play so the round can continue on if they're hindering it, and then remove them from the server so they aren't taking up space or data.
Built-in Admin System:
This will work similar to SourceMod administration system. You can assign admins to certain groups, you can also specify their immunity, and forcefully set their access to certain abilities such as - reserved slot, basic immunity, kick, ban, ban removal, map change, mute/gag, mute/gag removal, and rcon.
We felt like these abilities were necessary in efficiently managing a server, so we decided to implement them directly into the game.
Simple Bot System:
This was implemented to allow server owners and level designers to test out plugins, entities and scenarios when in testmode. These bots were only programmed for the simplest of tasks. You can force them to crouch, attack, mimic your actions, or teleport them directly to you. However, for the purpose that we implemented these bots - Their ability to interact with the nav mesh was unnecessary and was removed. It is too heavy on network performance and needs to have a lot of time and effort dedicated to programming and optimizing it properly.
At that point, we would be better off going all the way and implementing fully functional bots, which is an incredibly time consuming task. The bots won’t only have to move around and shoot - They’ll need to be able to clear obstacles, pick up weapons and guns, manage their inventory and stamina, and perform objectives. This is incredibly difficult and time consuming to code, and it simply isn’t worth it for us because there's much more important things for us to be spending our time working on. Perhaps in the future at some point this could be viable, but we have no plans to implement fully functional bots.
SDK Tools for ZPS:
Includes our own ZPS Hammer, already configured and ready for level designing. You won't need to use Source SDK anymore. There's also many new models and textures that have been added, fixed, and remade.
New & Updated Entities for Community Mappers
logic_rounds:
This entity can check if the round has either started or ended, useful to make sure that only certain entities get triggered when the round actually starts.
logic_player_manager:
This is used to control the respawn delay for zombies, as well as set the weapons survivors spawn with. You can specify weapons, completely strip weapons, spawn them with only a random melee, or even give them armor.
logic_hardcoretimer:
Level designers can use this to override the hardcore timer, so it can be adjusted appropriately per map. You can also add or substract time as needed, so you can extend the time when survivors complete an objective for example.
logic_wincounter:
This will count how many times survivors or zombies have won, and will call the respective outputs when the number is reached. Allowing the level desinger to adjust things according to how a team is performing.
logic_playercounter:
We've used this entity to help balance maps according to player count. It counts how many players there are and if it reaches the specified amount or higher, it will call the respective outputs.
trigger_playercount:
Similar to logic_playercounter, this trigger will check how many players there are within it and fire the output if it reaches the specified amount.
logic_music:
This will override the current music track playing, which makes "stopmp3" obselete on maps with custom tracks.
info_player_carrier:
This entity will spawn the carrier there if the spawn exists or is valid, else the carrier will spawn at info_player_zombie.
ambient_generic:
This entity has been updated to support more than just 1 SourceEntityTarget. That way it helps save entdata by only having 1 ambient_generic for multiple sources of output throughout the level.
v3.0 Release Window!
We expect the update to be ready to release sometime between Summer and Fall of 2017. Since issues can spring up out of seemingly nowhere, we feel a release window allows us more time to fix potential problems and make sure everything works as intended. As opposed to a release date which could very likely be pushed back, to both you and our disappointment.
The final stages of development require large-scale playtests. What remains to be done is to properly test out the new features and maps, as well as old ones, and make sure they all get some needed balance tweaks.
Now Accepting Team Applications!
We know that community consists of many talented and dedicated people that we are sure would benefit the development. If you’re interested in playtesting, or want to apply for a position on the development team, you can do so in our new Team Applications sub-forum.
Weekly Development Streams on Twitch! Every Friday @ 9 PM EDT
We stream every Friday for a few hours starting at 9PM EDT. Come check out our channel if you have any questions about development, want to catch sneakpeeks or just want to hang out and discuss games in general.
You can also go and check out our past broadcasts if there's anything you've missed.
Thank You!
It’s been a while since the MOTY 2016 Nominations where we last addressed the community. Sadly, we didn’t make into the Honorable Mentions. But we did land ourselves a nice 85th place on the Top 100 Mods List. We are truly thankful for the huge, and incredibly dedicated, support that you all continue to show us. It keeps us motivated and dedicated in our work.
