The Thursdoids continue. They will not be stopped.

We released Build 38 last Friday and people have been getting their first tastes of Riverside, the new worldview features and much else beside. (Release notes here).

As you would probably expect, a lot of this week has involved collating and fixing up the various issues that arose when 38 was revealed to the wider public audience. To this end we’ve released 38.16, 38.17, 38.18 and 38.19 in the interim to patch things up.

Most critical issues have now been resolved, but there are still MP issues that we still need to get to the bottom of (generators faltering when players log out, magically unlocking doors etc) amongst other gremlins that need battering (zombie-proof windows, misplaced radio sounds, some Linux-y stuff).

As such we anticipate 38.20 tomorrow, and likely some follow-ups and a GOG release next week. Blindcoder is also in the process of updating the official PZ Map with Riverside and the Knox Heights Country Club – it takes a very long time to process the map into an image, however, so it too will hopefully be surfacing at some point next week.





Elsewhere work continues on our next build – which will be the first release of the vehicles initially constructed by EasyPickins, and now being knocked into shape by General Arcade’s Yuri and our own RJ.

We released Vehicles Build 21 last week, and discussed much of its keys/hotwire/loot content in the Thursdoid. Vehicles Build 22, meanwhile, will be released once the bug-chasing on the main public build slows down a bit.

Vehicles 22 will introduce ‘Zombie thump’ when zeds flock round a car, meaning that they will act in the same way that they currently do around building windows and doors – as opposed to their current habit of falling over next to the car and taking damage themselves. It should also sync up motor activity for different players in co-op, as well as hopefully put an end to lost trunk loot.

After various calls for more vehicle variety, meanwhile, the build will also feature a new modern car, an SUV, a two door smaller car and a taxi that Martin has created, and Mash has textured up. Many of these can be seen in the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwO0fOsSil4

From another community request, emergency vehicles will also now have sirens and flashing lights alongside as a part of their UI – which will clearly be something of an attractant for zed-kind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SkmlXkLKL8

Finally, shown here in full WIP mode, are the beginnings of how the Mechanic Skill and Car Repair will work. Clearly there’ll be less references to ‘rubber bands’, the car diagram will be improved and only max-level characters will be able to see percentages in this way – but as you can see it’s much like how the current Health panel works. [As you can probably tell, this still needs a fair amount of work and won’t be a part of the next Vehicle Build.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyZuCYcp7lk

A general list of stuff added to PZ, and vids of features being worked on, is kept here – so you don’t have to plough through endless dev blogs for info. The Block of Italicised Text would like to direct your attention to the PZ Wiki should you feel like editing or amending something, and the PZ Mailing List that can send blogs like this and patch notes direct to your mailbox. We also live on Twitter right here! Our Discord is open for chat and hijinks too.

The Thursdoids continue. They will not be stopped.

We released Build 38 last Friday and people have been getting their first tastes of Riverside, the new worldview features and much else beside. (Release notes here).

As you would probably expect, a lot of this week has involved collating and fixing up the various issues that arose when 38 was revealed to the wider public audience. To this end we’ve released 38.16, 38.17, 38.18 and 38.19 in the interim to patch things up.

Most critical issues have now been resolved, but there are still MP issues that we still need to get to the bottom of (generators faltering when players log out, magically unlocking doors etc) amongst other gremlins that need battering (zombie-proof windows, misplaced radio sounds, some Linux-y stuff).

As such we anticipate 38.20 tomorrow, and likely some follow-ups and a GOG release next week. Blindcoder is also in the process of updating the official PZ Map with Riverside and the Knox Heights Country Club – it takes a very long time to process the map into an image, however, so it too will hopefully be surfacing at some point next week.





Elsewhere work continues on our next build – which will be the first release of the vehicles initially constructed by EasyPickins, and now being knocked into shape by General Arcade’s Yuri and our own RJ.

We released Vehicles Build 21 last week, and discussed much of its keys/hotwire/loot content in the Thursdoid. Vehicles Build 22, meanwhile, will be released once the bug-chasing on the main public build slows down a bit.

Vehicles 22 will introduce ‘Zombie thump’ when zeds flock round a car, meaning that they will act in the same way that they currently do around building windows and doors – as opposed to their current habit of falling over next to the car and taking damage themselves. It should also sync up motor activity for different players in co-op, as well as hopefully put an end to lost trunk loot.

After various calls for more vehicle variety, meanwhile, the build will also feature a new modern car, an SUV, a two door smaller car and a taxi that Martin has created, and Mash has textured up. Many of these can be seen in the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwO0fOsSil4

From another community request, emergency vehicles will also now have sirens and flashing lights alongside as a part of their UI – which will clearly be something of an attractant for zed-kind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SkmlXkLKL8

Finally, shown here in full WIP mode, are the beginnings of how the Mechanic Skill and Car Repair will work. Clearly there’ll be less references to ‘rubber bands’, the car diagram will be improved and only max-level characters will be able to see percentages in this way – but as you can see it’s much like how the current Health panel works. [As you can probably tell, this still needs a fair amount of work and won’t be a part of the next Vehicle Build.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyZuCYcp7lk

A general list of stuff added to PZ, and vids of features being worked on, is kept here – so you don’t have to plough through endless dev blogs for info. The Block of Italicised Text would like to direct your attention to the PZ Wiki should you feel like editing or amending something, and the PZ Mailing List that can send blogs like this and patch notes direct to your mailbox. We also live on Twitter right here! Our Discord is open for chat and hijinks too.

Build 38 has been released to the public, the details of which can be found below.

Build 39 will be the current vehicles test build (Vehicle Build 19 available for you to play and feed back on here), which will be moved into our normal public IWBUMS beta branch once the dust has settled on 38 in terms of patching.

Please note that from this point the traditional Mondoid blog will be moving to Thursday – henceforth to be known as ‘Thursdoid’. This is intended to fit in better with the work schedules of the 3-4 extra contractors we now have working on PZ, provides a better lead-in times for releasing new builds and also because we ran out of Monday puns a long time ago.

If you come across any annoying bugs then our tracker lives here. Thank you!




Riverside Map Expansion



New map area added! The spawn-point town of Riverside, the nearby Knox Heights Country Club, Spa and Golf Course, and many/varied wilderness areas are now ripe and ready for exploration.

• Found west of West Point, and is of equivalent size.
• Contains new building types, architecture and item tiles.
• Includes Riverside lootable map

World View update

• The homes, businesses, advertizing hoardings and outhouses are now seen in all their glory – rooftops and all. Building levels above the player are ONLY hidden for the ‘current building’.
• Windows must now be peeked through by walking up to them, and looking through.
• Higher levels blocking your view are removed on approach, and hen zombie hazards are present.
• Exterior walls are no longer stencilled to transparent when you’re outside unless they are actually blocking the view of your character.

MP and Co-op Improvements

• Zombie placement and movement data shared between players heavily optimized to address cases of zombie lag, zed teleportation, unfair bites and general server strain.
• ‘Server Save’ pause server option for larger servers that pauses the action when saving, reducing instances of sudden zombie lag.
• Added a “Level Up” button on the player stats UI to quickly level up a perk without using global point.
• Added a n easy way for modders to add columns to their scrolling lists.
• Added an UI for admin to manage player’s inventory.

Corpse Management

• You can now dig graves with a shovel and bury multiple corpses inside.
• New carpentry crafting items: wooden cross, a cairn and a wooden memorial picket to go alongside the graves you dig.
• Large piles of rotten corpses will make you feel ill and sad if you stay close to them for extended periods.

New Sandbox options:

• Generator Spawn: Increase/decrease the chance of electrical generators spawning on the map.
• Generator Fuel Consumption: Impacts how much fuel is consumed by generators. A generator that needs no fuel should be set to 0.0. (Replaces GeneratorFuelConsumed server option)
• Randomized House Chance: Increase/decrease probability of discovering randomized safe houses on the map: either burnt out, containing loot stashes, dead survivor bodies etc.
• Annotated Map Chance: Impacts on how often a looted map will have annotations marked on it by a deceased survivor.
• Zombie Construction Damage: Governs whether or not zombies can destroy player constructions and defences.
• Free Trait Points: Adds free points during character creation.
• Player-built Construction Strength: Gives player-built constructions extra hit points so they are more resistant to zombie damage.
• Day/Night Active Zombies: Governs whether zombies are more active during the day, or whether they act more nocturnally. Inactive zombies will be slower, and tend not to give chase.
• Nocturnal Darkness: Governs how dark it gets at night.
• Injury Severity: Increase and decrease the impact that injuries have on your body, and their healing time.
• Bone Fracture: Enable or disable broken limbs when survivors receive injuries from impacts, zombie damage and falls.
• Time Before Corpse Removal: Number of in-game hours before zombie corpses are automatically removed from the map. (Replaces former HoursForCorpseRemoval server option).
• Decaying Corpse Health Impact: Governs impact that nearby decaying bodies has on the player’s health and emotions
• Clothing Degradation: Governs how quickly clothing degrades, becomes dirty and bloodied – or if it does at all.
• Randomization of zombie Speed, Strength, Toughness and Cognition. (Or just Strength, Toughness and Cognition.)
• Fire spread (previously ‘No Fire spread’ in server options): governs whether or not fire can spread.

Clothing Degradation

• Clothing can now become dirty over extended periods, dependant on your activities.
• Fighting zombies will make your clothing bloody.
• If you’re wearing dirty or bloody clothing over an open wound then chances of infection (normal infection, not zombie) will increase.
• Clothing now also has durability, every time you get hit you’ll lose a little.
• Some clothing is more resistant than others.

Optimization – in preparation for incoming Vehicles build

• Optimized Garbage Collection.
• LightingJNI optimized.
• Fixed surge in memory usage of 2-300 MB that can stall the game.
• Optimized map loading.
• Fixed Voice Manager being enabled in SP. [Should give an improvement in FPS, especially on slower systems]

Custom Map Loading change

• New “Select spawn location” screen after map mod selection
• All map mods now load, including spawnpoints.
• A ‘multi-map’ mod no longer needs to be created. ‘Map Mod Priority order’ setting added to highlight which maps are given precedence if there are geographical overlaps and conflicts, with warnings also given to player.

Balance Changes

• Increased nutrition values of fish and berries slightly.
• Increased player construction hit points.
• TV and Radio programmes now have an impact on the character’s moodles. If watching an instructional show then an XP multiplier is received.
• Sleeping outside in rain will wake players up, unless they are in a tent or under a player made structure with roof.
• First aid kits now spawn with sterilized bandages, rather than regular bandages.
• Can now sterilize bandages in a boiling pot of water.
• Mattresses can now be made using a suture needle as well as a regular needle.
• Spices now usable as the first item in pasta/rice (eg. marinara).

Fixes

• Fixed zombie memory “none” sandbox option not working.
• Fixed a bug with phases of the moon not affecting ambient light at night.
• Fixed water pouring bug.
• Fixed street lights still being active when electricity was down.
• Fixed being able to access rival player’s safehouses through cheeky carpentry cheating.
• Fixed being able to climb through windows into a player’s safehouse.
• Fixed multiple aspects of UI not working with a gamepad (foraging, lootable maps, sandbox options etc.
• Added ‘deadzone’ options to settings to alleviate problems with gamepad players sleeping.
• Large amounts of smal items will now correctly fill up container space available.
• Fixed Book Reading interrupted when player aims a weapon.
• Fixed Characters losing fraction of XP on save.
• Added missing “spawn point” options in the server settings GUI.
• Added missing ‘world filler’ sprite visuals.
• Fixed possible bug with alarm being reset.
• Fixed always raining when loading/starting a game.
• Fixed rare bug with the crafting UI.
• Fixed a bug with the getLightFoodMod() calculation.
• Fixed evolved recipe drinks not being able to be drunk when an item could be added to it (the coffee bug).
• Fixed crafting issue with Hot Cuppa.

Nov 16
[FEATURE] Bandages created from bloody clothing taken from Zombies, now have a small chance of causing player to become infected, if it has not been properly cleaned before being applied.
[FEATURE] Reimplemented flies buzzing near corpses.  Added flies volume Audio option.
[BALANCE] Clothes are now more likely to be bloody when coming from a zombie.
[BALANCE] Increased places where Hunting Knife can spawn.
[FIX] Removed lowest lighting option due to no performance difference between Low and Lowest.
[FIX] Converted server option WorldItemRemovalExlusionList to WorldItemRemovalList effectively changig it from a whitelist to a blacklist.
[FIX] Added obsolete tag to certain items.
[FIX] Fixed lua error picking up furniture affecting players at random. (Issues 516, 1209, 1219)
[FIX] Fixed VOIP memory usage merge glitch.
[FIX] Fixed eat sound playing when drinking HotDrink item. (Issue 1220)
[FIX] Disabled corpse sickness challenges 1/2/4/5.
[FIX] Fixed Cooking Pot with Water not heating up. (Issue 1160)
[FIX] Fixed bugs when displayName was different than username.
[FIX] Fixed teleporting splitscreen players.
[FIX] Fixed ISTextBox controller focus bug when clicking a button with the mouse.
[FIX] Fixed displayName being "Bob" for new players.
[FIX] If player is over max capcity, planks will be dropped on floor when unbarricading.
[FIX] Fixed Ctrl+A over collapsed inventory window prevents movement. (Issue 1164)
[FIX] Fixed "User Panel" "Admin Panel" etc button alignment
[FIX] Fixed IsoGridSquare.discard() not resetting haveElectricity / haveSheetRope.
[FIX] Fixed microwave looping sound not stopping sometimes in multiplayer.
[FIX] Fixed microwave timer sync in multiplayer.
[FIX] Fixed microwave sound not playing after loading a savegame if the microwave was already on.
[FIX] load() isn't called on the main thread so it shouldn't be trying to play audio.
[FIX] Typo Highlited -> Highlighted
[FIX] Fixed ZombieUpdatePacker exception. Seen when client was disconnecting.
[FIX] Fixed generators not marking squares as having electricty sometimes. When chunks near generators were loaded after the generator, squares on those chunks weren't getting the haveElectricty flag set.
[FIX] Fixed /card and /roll client command bugs with accessLevel.
[FIX] Fixed lua exception after disconnecting from server with accessLevel != none.
[FIX] Use equals() instead of startsWith() when checking server command names. (Issue 1168). Also changed handleClientCommand() to use the same argument-parsing code as handleServerCommand() (so quotes are optional in /changepwd).
[FIX] Fixed incorrect assert in ServerMap.init()
[FIX] Fixed server NullPointerException with ThunderStorm and zombified player.
[FIX] Fixed lua error after removing all entries from the server list. (Issue 1171)
[FIX] Fixed door locking/unlocking with keys in multiplayer. (Issue 1154)
[FIX] syncIsoObjectSend() was getting called before this.lockedByKey was changed.
[FIX] Fixed "NullPointer in BodyDamage breaks save"
[FIX] Corpses not being removed in mp
[FIX] lua error when selecting "spawn next to player X"
[FIX] Fixed sterilize bandages all only sterilizing one bandage
[FIX] Fixed no spawnpoint screen, new game loads current savefile.
[FIX] Fixed GameClient.ServerSpawnRegions not being cleared after disconnecting.
[FIX] Added WorldSelect UI to choose from multiple disjoint groups of maps.
[FIX] The new "SELECT WORLD" UI is displayed when there are enabled map mods whose maps don't join the game's (i.e., stand-alone maps).
[FIX] The new MapGroups class is responsible for putting each disjoint set of maps into a MapGroup.  It also has methods for reporting map-overlap conflicts.
[FIX] ModOrderUI now only displays maps with conflicts to reduce confusion to the user.  It is still possible for the number of conflicts listed to extend off the bottom of the ui, it needs fixing.
[FIX] Removed references to obsolete WorldScreen (now it's LoadGameScreen).
[FIX] Removed obsolete LastStandChallengeSelect.lua
[FIX] Removed West Point from the "Add an available map" combobox in the server-settings editor.
[FIX] Fixed default server spawnregions not including Riverside and Rosewood.
[FIX] ServerSettingsScreen do-nothing Lua fix.
[FIX] UI tweaks in MapSpawnSelect
[FIX] Fixed adding incorrect map coordinates in the Server Settings spawnpoint file editor.
[FIX] Fixed lua errors when adding mods and maps by name in the Server Settings editor.
[FIX] Fixed custom spawn regions not displaying in the Select Spawn Location screen
[FIX] The name of a spawn region was being treated as a map folder name, which isn't always the case, it's simply a human-readable label.
[FIX] Fixed setaccesslevel from server console/rcon not updating database.
[FIX] TYPO: Changed instances of "god mod" to "god mode"
[FIX] Fixed broken weapons sometimes not being marked broken after combat. (Issue 1206) This could happen with 2 hits in the same swing.
[FIX] Fixed allowing stacked crates to exceed wall height with 2x. (Issue 1208)
[FIX] Fixed IsoStove constructor adding to IsoCell.ProcessIsoObjects.
[FIX] GrabItemAction calls InventoryItem:setWorldItem(nil)
[FIX] Fixed some AlarmClock and rain-collecting-item issues.
[FIX] Fixed stopping an AlarmClock not being synced in mp.
[FIX] Fixed AlarmClock settings not changing on the server, only the clients.
[FIX] Fixed fridge/freezer works when moved outside a room before hydro shuts off. (Issue 1204)
[FIX] Dismantling a radio/walkie-talkie returns the battery and headphones. (Issue 1202)
[FIX] Fixed stash system modifying buildings after they had been visited.
[FIX] Fixed stash system not being reset after exiting a game and starting another.
[FIX] Fixed stash system exception exiting mp game after playing a sp game.
[FIX] Fixed non-working light in MP for other players after moving indoor or outdoor lamp.
[FIX] Fixed LightingJNI exception during startup before ChunkMap was created.
[FIX] Fixed IsoMetaChunk.removeZone() not removing reference to the removed zone.
[FIX] Fixed errors with Pasta created from a spice.
[FIX] Don't display savefile name in spawn-point ui in splitscreen.
[FIX] Pasta/Rice recipes not allowing any more items when creating the initial item from a spice.
[FIX] Fixed "Gode Mode" typo
[FIX] Use translated names when radio broadcasts increase a skill. (Issue 1118)
[FIX] Made perk columns as wide as needed in the Player Stats admin panel. (Issue 1147)
[FIX] Fixed spawn-with-player spawnpoints not working in splitscreen.
[FIX] Fixed ISTextBox bug with controller that broken splitscreen. (Issue 1106)
[FIX] Fixed lua error using the mousewheel to scroll through containers when the current container isn't in the list.
[FIX] Fixed position of two tickboxes in the options screen at 1280x720.
[FIX] Fixed corpses sometimes stay highlighted (again).
[FIX] Optimized rendering the inventory windows to reduce garbage creation.
[FIX] The load-game screen displays an indicator next to dead-player savefiles.
[FIX] Fixed "Continue" button showing the new-game screen for dead-player savefiles.
[FIX] Fixed not being able to enter a savefile name when there is only one spawn region.
[FIX] Fixed map screen not showing up when map is in the Loot Window.
[FIX] Fixed infinite icecream bug
[MODDING] OnZombieUpdate now triggers serverside, as well as clientside.

Oct 5

[Bug Fix]
Fixed tutorial/challenges not working.
Fixed linux version's .json.
Fixed corpses not being removed in MP.

Oct 2

[Bug Fix]
Fixed saves with map mods not able to load.


[Bug Fix]
Fixed radio sound related bugs.
Fixed some missing sounds/various fmod related problems.
Fixed zombies not being able to thump windows/barricade.
Fixed changing owner of a faction not being synced.
Fixed craftingUI recipes list not being auto-sorted.
Improved CTRL + A select all, to not be so detrimental in movement.
Fixed adding fuel in BBQ not working.

Sept 26

[New]
You can now build log wall with dirty rags.

[Balance]
Increased a tad pain killer duration.
Increased a tad soap spawn rate.
Increased soap duration (from 10 uses to 20).

[Bug Fix]
Fixed generator being reset on reload on MP.
Fixed not being able to forage (missing zones).
Fixed wrong calculation in bleeding/scratch time.
Infinite bleeding time should be fixed.
Exported new tiles in 1x (to fix some people not seeing new graves tile).
Fixed nullPointer during SleepEvent.

Sept 25

[Bug Fix]
Hopefully fix for generator in MP! (cannot really reproduce here, so tough to fix :/)

Sept 25

[Bug Fix]
Moved zone saving into meta_zone.bin, this should avoid bufferunderflow and causing map_meta to fail loading:
Fix alarms being reset
Fix safehouses being reset
May fix generator (can't be sure for now)
Removed HoursForCorpseRemoval from server options, it's now a sandbox options.
Fixed wrong Soap spawning (not able to wash clothings).
Fixed flies not being removed in case of bodies were removed by server.

Sept 24

[Balance]
Lowered flies sound threshold.
Lowered flies sound volume.

[Bug Fix]
Fixed mac version not working
Fixed black square near West Point.

Build 38 has been released to the public, the details of which can be found below.

Build 39 will be the current vehicles test build (Vehicle Build 19 available for you to play and feed back on here), which will be moved into our normal public IWBUMS beta branch once the dust has settled on 38 in terms of patching.

Please note that from this point the traditional Mondoid blog will be moving to Thursday – henceforth to be known as ‘Thursdoid’. This is intended to fit in better with the work schedules of the 3-4 extra contractors we now have working on PZ, provides a better lead-in times for releasing new builds and also because we ran out of Monday puns a long time ago.

If you come across any annoying bugs then our tracker lives here. Thank you!




Riverside Map Expansion



New map area added! The spawn-point town of Riverside, the nearby Knox Heights Country Club, Spa and Golf Course, and many/varied wilderness areas are now ripe and ready for exploration.

• Found west of West Point, and is of equivalent size.
• Contains new building types, architecture and item tiles.
• Includes Riverside lootable map

World View update

• The homes, businesses, advertizing hoardings and outhouses are now seen in all their glory – rooftops and all. Building levels above the player are ONLY hidden for the ‘current building’.
• Windows must now be peeked through by walking up to them, and looking through.
• Higher levels blocking your view are removed on approach, and hen zombie hazards are present.
• Exterior walls are no longer stencilled to transparent when you’re outside unless they are actually blocking the view of your character.

MP and Co-op Improvements

• Zombie placement and movement data shared between players heavily optimized to address cases of zombie lag, zed teleportation, unfair bites and general server strain.
• ‘Server Save’ pause server option for larger servers that pauses the action when saving, reducing instances of sudden zombie lag.
• Added a “Level Up” button on the player stats UI to quickly level up a perk without using global point.
• Added a n easy way for modders to add columns to their scrolling lists.
• Added an UI for admin to manage player’s inventory.

Corpse Management

• You can now dig graves with a shovel and bury multiple corpses inside.
• New carpentry crafting items: wooden cross, a cairn and a wooden memorial picket to go alongside the graves you dig.
• Large piles of rotten corpses will make you feel ill and sad if you stay close to them for extended periods.

New Sandbox options:

• Generator Spawn: Increase/decrease the chance of electrical generators spawning on the map.
• Generator Fuel Consumption: Impacts how much fuel is consumed by generators. A generator that needs no fuel should be set to 0.0. (Replaces GeneratorFuelConsumed server option)
• Randomized House Chance: Increase/decrease probability of discovering randomized safe houses on the map: either burnt out, containing loot stashes, dead survivor bodies etc.
• Annotated Map Chance: Impacts on how often a looted map will have annotations marked on it by a deceased survivor.
• Zombie Construction Damage: Governs whether or not zombies can destroy player constructions and defences.
• Free Trait Points: Adds free points during character creation.
• Player-built Construction Strength: Gives player-built constructions extra hit points so they are more resistant to zombie damage.
• Day/Night Active Zombies: Governs whether zombies are more active during the day, or whether they act more nocturnally. Inactive zombies will be slower, and tend not to give chase.
• Nocturnal Darkness: Governs how dark it gets at night.
• Injury Severity: Increase and decrease the impact that injuries have on your body, and their healing time.
• Bone Fracture: Enable or disable broken limbs when survivors receive injuries from impacts, zombie damage and falls.
• Time Before Corpse Removal: Number of in-game hours before zombie corpses are automatically removed from the map. (Replaces former HoursForCorpseRemoval server option).
• Decaying Corpse Health Impact: Governs impact that nearby decaying bodies has on the player’s health and emotions
• Clothing Degradation: Governs how quickly clothing degrades, becomes dirty and bloodied – or if it does at all.
• Randomization of zombie Speed, Strength, Toughness and Cognition. (Or just Strength, Toughness and Cognition.)
• Fire spread (previously ‘No Fire spread’ in server options): governs whether or not fire can spread.

Clothing Degradation

• Clothing can now become dirty over extended periods, dependant on your activities.
• Fighting zombies will make your clothing bloody.
• If you’re wearing dirty or bloody clothing over an open wound then chances of infection (normal infection, not zombie) will increase.
• Clothing now also has durability, every time you get hit you’ll lose a little.
• Some clothing is more resistant than others.

Optimization – in preparation for incoming Vehicles build

• Optimized Garbage Collection.
• LightingJNI optimized.
• Fixed surge in memory usage of 2-300 MB that can stall the game.
• Optimized map loading.
• Fixed Voice Manager being enabled in SP. [Should give an improvement in FPS, especially on slower systems]

Custom Map Loading change

• New “Select spawn location” screen after map mod selection
• All map mods now load, including spawnpoints.
• A ‘multi-map’ mod no longer needs to be created. ‘Map Mod Priority order’ setting added to highlight which maps are given precedence if there are geographical overlaps and conflicts, with warnings also given to player.

Balance Changes

• Increased nutrition values of fish and berries slightly.
• Increased player construction hit points.
• TV and Radio programmes now have an impact on the character’s moodles. If watching an instructional show then an XP multiplier is received.
• Sleeping outside in rain will wake players up, unless they are in a tent or under a player made structure with roof.
• First aid kits now spawn with sterilized bandages, rather than regular bandages.
• Can now sterilize bandages in a boiling pot of water.
• Mattresses can now be made using a suture needle as well as a regular needle.
• Spices now usable as the first item in pasta/rice (eg. marinara).

Fixes

• Fixed zombie memory “none” sandbox option not working.
• Fixed a bug with phases of the moon not affecting ambient light at night.
• Fixed water pouring bug.
• Fixed street lights still being active when electricity was down.
• Fixed being able to access rival player’s safehouses through cheeky carpentry cheating.
• Fixed being able to climb through windows into a player’s safehouse.
• Fixed multiple aspects of UI not working with a gamepad (foraging, lootable maps, sandbox options etc.
• Added ‘deadzone’ options to settings to alleviate problems with gamepad players sleeping.
• Large amounts of smal items will now correctly fill up container space available.
• Fixed Book Reading interrupted when player aims a weapon.
• Fixed Characters losing fraction of XP on save.
• Added missing “spawn point” options in the server settings GUI.
• Added missing ‘world filler’ sprite visuals.
• Fixed possible bug with alarm being reset.
• Fixed always raining when loading/starting a game.
• Fixed rare bug with the crafting UI.
• Fixed a bug with the getLightFoodMod() calculation.
• Fixed evolved recipe drinks not being able to be drunk when an item could be added to it (the coffee bug).
• Fixed crafting issue with Hot Cuppa.

Nov 16
[FEATURE] Bandages created from bloody clothing taken from Zombies, now have a small chance of causing player to become infected, if it has not been properly cleaned before being applied.
[FEATURE] Reimplemented flies buzzing near corpses.  Added flies volume Audio option.
[BALANCE] Clothes are now more likely to be bloody when coming from a zombie.
[BALANCE] Increased places where Hunting Knife can spawn.
[FIX] Removed lowest lighting option due to no performance difference between Low and Lowest.
[FIX] Converted server option WorldItemRemovalExlusionList to WorldItemRemovalList effectively changig it from a whitelist to a blacklist.
[FIX] Added obsolete tag to certain items.
[FIX] Fixed lua error picking up furniture affecting players at random. (Issues 516, 1209, 1219)
[FIX] Fixed VOIP memory usage merge glitch.
[FIX] Fixed eat sound playing when drinking HotDrink item. (Issue 1220)
[FIX] Disabled corpse sickness challenges 1/2/4/5.
[FIX] Fixed Cooking Pot with Water not heating up. (Issue 1160)
[FIX] Fixed bugs when displayName was different than username.
[FIX] Fixed teleporting splitscreen players.
[FIX] Fixed ISTextBox controller focus bug when clicking a button with the mouse.
[FIX] Fixed displayName being "Bob" for new players.
[FIX] If player is over max capcity, planks will be dropped on floor when unbarricading.
[FIX] Fixed Ctrl+A over collapsed inventory window prevents movement. (Issue 1164)
[FIX] Fixed "User Panel" "Admin Panel" etc button alignment
[FIX] Fixed IsoGridSquare.discard() not resetting haveElectricity / haveSheetRope.
[FIX] Fixed microwave looping sound not stopping sometimes in multiplayer.
[FIX] Fixed microwave timer sync in multiplayer.
[FIX] Fixed microwave sound not playing after loading a savegame if the microwave was already on.
[FIX] load() isn't called on the main thread so it shouldn't be trying to play audio.
[FIX] Typo Highlited -> Highlighted
[FIX] Fixed ZombieUpdatePacker exception. Seen when client was disconnecting.
[FIX] Fixed generators not marking squares as having electricty sometimes. When chunks near generators were loaded after the generator, squares on those chunks weren't getting the haveElectricty flag set.
[FIX] Fixed /card and /roll client command bugs with accessLevel.
[FIX] Fixed lua exception after disconnecting from server with accessLevel != none.
[FIX] Use equals() instead of startsWith() when checking server command names. (Issue 1168). Also changed handleClientCommand() to use the same argument-parsing code as handleServerCommand() (so quotes are optional in /changepwd).
[FIX] Fixed incorrect assert in ServerMap.init()
[FIX] Fixed server NullPointerException with ThunderStorm and zombified player.
[FIX] Fixed lua error after removing all entries from the server list. (Issue 1171)
[FIX] Fixed door locking/unlocking with keys in multiplayer. (Issue 1154)
[FIX] syncIsoObjectSend() was getting called before this.lockedByKey was changed.
[FIX] Fixed "NullPointer in BodyDamage breaks save"
[FIX] Corpses not being removed in mp
[FIX] lua error when selecting "spawn next to player X"
[FIX] Fixed sterilize bandages all only sterilizing one bandage
[FIX] Fixed no spawnpoint screen, new game loads current savefile.
[FIX] Fixed GameClient.ServerSpawnRegions not being cleared after disconnecting.
[FIX] Added WorldSelect UI to choose from multiple disjoint groups of maps.
[FIX] The new "SELECT WORLD" UI is displayed when there are enabled map mods whose maps don't join the game's (i.e., stand-alone maps).
[FIX] The new MapGroups class is responsible for putting each disjoint set of maps into a MapGroup.  It also has methods for reporting map-overlap conflicts.
[FIX] ModOrderUI now only displays maps with conflicts to reduce confusion to the user.  It is still possible for the number of conflicts listed to extend off the bottom of the ui, it needs fixing.
[FIX] Removed references to obsolete WorldScreen (now it's LoadGameScreen).
[FIX] Removed obsolete LastStandChallengeSelect.lua
[FIX] Removed West Point from the "Add an available map" combobox in the server-settings editor.
[FIX] Fixed default server spawnregions not including Riverside and Rosewood.
[FIX] ServerSettingsScreen do-nothing Lua fix.
[FIX] UI tweaks in MapSpawnSelect
[FIX] Fixed adding incorrect map coordinates in the Server Settings spawnpoint file editor.
[FIX] Fixed lua errors when adding mods and maps by name in the Server Settings editor.
[FIX] Fixed custom spawn regions not displaying in the Select Spawn Location screen
[FIX] The name of a spawn region was being treated as a map folder name, which isn't always the case, it's simply a human-readable label.
[FIX] Fixed setaccesslevel from server console/rcon not updating database.
[FIX] TYPO: Changed instances of "god mod" to "god mode"
[FIX] Fixed broken weapons sometimes not being marked broken after combat. (Issue 1206) This could happen with 2 hits in the same swing.
[FIX] Fixed allowing stacked crates to exceed wall height with 2x. (Issue 1208)
[FIX] Fixed IsoStove constructor adding to IsoCell.ProcessIsoObjects.
[FIX] GrabItemAction calls InventoryItem:setWorldItem(nil)
[FIX] Fixed some AlarmClock and rain-collecting-item issues.
[FIX] Fixed stopping an AlarmClock not being synced in mp.
[FIX] Fixed AlarmClock settings not changing on the server, only the clients.
[FIX] Fixed fridge/freezer works when moved outside a room before hydro shuts off. (Issue 1204)
[FIX] Dismantling a radio/walkie-talkie returns the battery and headphones. (Issue 1202)
[FIX] Fixed stash system modifying buildings after they had been visited.
[FIX] Fixed stash system not being reset after exiting a game and starting another.
[FIX] Fixed stash system exception exiting mp game after playing a sp game.
[FIX] Fixed non-working light in MP for other players after moving indoor or outdoor lamp.
[FIX] Fixed LightingJNI exception during startup before ChunkMap was created.
[FIX] Fixed IsoMetaChunk.removeZone() not removing reference to the removed zone.
[FIX] Fixed errors with Pasta created from a spice.
[FIX] Don't display savefile name in spawn-point ui in splitscreen.
[FIX] Pasta/Rice recipes not allowing any more items when creating the initial item from a spice.
[FIX] Fixed "Gode Mode" typo
[FIX] Use translated names when radio broadcasts increase a skill. (Issue 1118)
[FIX] Made perk columns as wide as needed in the Player Stats admin panel. (Issue 1147)
[FIX] Fixed spawn-with-player spawnpoints not working in splitscreen.
[FIX] Fixed ISTextBox bug with controller that broken splitscreen. (Issue 1106)
[FIX] Fixed lua error using the mousewheel to scroll through containers when the current container isn't in the list.
[FIX] Fixed position of two tickboxes in the options screen at 1280x720.
[FIX] Fixed corpses sometimes stay highlighted (again).
[FIX] Optimized rendering the inventory windows to reduce garbage creation.
[FIX] The load-game screen displays an indicator next to dead-player savefiles.
[FIX] Fixed "Continue" button showing the new-game screen for dead-player savefiles.
[FIX] Fixed not being able to enter a savefile name when there is only one spawn region.
[FIX] Fixed map screen not showing up when map is in the Loot Window.
[FIX] Fixed infinite icecream bug
[MODDING] OnZombieUpdate now triggers serverside, as well as clientside.

Oct 5

[Bug Fix]
Fixed tutorial/challenges not working.
Fixed linux version's .json.
Fixed corpses not being removed in MP.

Oct 2

[Bug Fix]
Fixed saves with map mods not able to load.


[Bug Fix]
Fixed radio sound related bugs.
Fixed some missing sounds/various fmod related problems.
Fixed zombies not being able to thump windows/barricade.
Fixed changing owner of a faction not being synced.
Fixed craftingUI recipes list not being auto-sorted.
Improved CTRL + A select all, to not be so detrimental in movement.
Fixed adding fuel in BBQ not working.

Sept 26

[New]
You can now build log wall with dirty rags.

[Balance]
Increased a tad pain killer duration.
Increased a tad soap spawn rate.
Increased soap duration (from 10 uses to 20).

[Bug Fix]
Fixed generator being reset on reload on MP.
Fixed not being able to forage (missing zones).
Fixed wrong calculation in bleeding/scratch time.
Infinite bleeding time should be fixed.
Exported new tiles in 1x (to fix some people not seeing new graves tile).
Fixed nullPointer during SleepEvent.

Sept 25

[Bug Fix]
Hopefully fix for generator in MP! (cannot really reproduce here, so tough to fix :/)

Sept 25

[Bug Fix]
Moved zone saving into meta_zone.bin, this should avoid bufferunderflow and causing map_meta to fail loading:
Fix alarms being reset
Fix safehouses being reset
May fix generator (can't be sure for now)
Removed HoursForCorpseRemoval from server options, it's now a sandbox options.
Fixed wrong Soap spawning (not able to wash clothings).
Fixed flies not being removed in case of bodies were removed by server.

Sept 24

[Balance]
Lowered flies sound threshold.
Lowered flies sound volume.

[Bug Fix]
Fixed mac version not working
Fixed black square near West Point.

And so begins a bold new era of… Thursday.


We realise the 38 release has been built-up a fair amount, it’s been on the brink for so long while we mop up this bug and that – but on the approach to release on Monday we realised that some aspects of the build’s optimizations hadn’t been properly integrated in recent 38 builds, and as such as a whole the ‘release candidate’ hadn’t received sufficient public testing. There’s a lot of changes under the hood in Build 38, and the last thing we want is for an unironed version to go out and disrupt people’s ongoing games.

It’s all in place now, however. As such, if you’re an IWBUMS tester or fancy being one for the day, please jump into the latest beta – let us know how it runs for you, and we’ll press ‘go’ when we see enough green lights.


As mentioned in a previous Mondoid, we now have various people working on Build 39 (the vehicles build) so have a ‘gameplay’ coder and Bitbaboon Steve doing general optimizations – all alongside Yuri’s existing ‘nuts and bolts’ engine and physics work.

As such, Vehicles Build 21 has been released with a bunch of stuff intended to gel our vehicles ever tighter to PZ gameplay. This includes:

• Simulated gear shifts are now based on your engine rpm, the number of gears your car has and the max speed. Previously it would just work on the speeds you hit.

• You’re now slowed and have less traction if you’re driving off-road. [In future builds constant off-road driving will also reduce a vehicle’s condition.]

• Car keys are now a more important aspect of the game. They are mandatory when it comes to starting an engine or turning on headlights, and have a (small) chance of spawning already in the ignition or in the glove box. A ‘car locked’ sound is also heard, rather than the characters say ‘locked’ out loud like a weirdo would.

• If you have Level 2 Electrical Skill then you can Hotwire a vehicle if you can get inside. Better and more modern cars are trickier to hotwire, and a failed attempt will result in damaging the ignition.

• In larger vehicles like vans and emergency vehicles you can fit more characters inside in MP – and rear seats can also be used as containers now.

• Vehicles are no longer empty of ‘life detritus’. They now have loot tables that reflect their past owners. Every day vehicles might have bags of rotting groceries inside, uneaten candies and old magazines. Meanwhile there’s a small chance that a pick-up might have a fisherman’s equipment, while a pick-up could have been a carpenter’s work vehicle – and as such have a trunk full of items that reflect his work.

• General changes: gas consumption now dependent on what gear you’re in, and more forgiving. Reduced chances of stalling. Balanced vehicle storage capacities. Vehicles audible from a greater range. Can no longer drive through double doors. (Sorry )

A few threads have popped up on the forum saying that we could do with a bit more variety in vehicle models to make things look a little bit more realistic – and as such Martin has been modelling up some different variants on existing car models, as well as creating a few new ones, for Mash to paint up some textures for.

These won’t appear in Build 39, most likely, but will pop up in the relevant areas in the versions that follow





A general list of stuff added to PZ, and vids of features being worked on, is kept here – so you don’t have to plough through endless dev blogs for info. The Block of Italicised Text would like to direct your attention to the PZ Wiki should you feel like editing or amending something, and the PZ Mailing List that can send blogs like this and patch notes direct to your mailbox. We also live on Twitter right here! Our Discord is open for chat and hijinks too.

And so begins a bold new era of… Thursday.


We realise the 38 release has been built-up a fair amount, it’s been on the brink for so long while we mop up this bug and that – but on the approach to release on Monday we realised that some aspects of the build’s optimizations hadn’t been properly integrated in recent 38 builds, and as such as a whole the ‘release candidate’ hadn’t received sufficient public testing. There’s a lot of changes under the hood in Build 38, and the last thing we want is for an unironed version to go out and disrupt people’s ongoing games.

It’s all in place now, however. As such, if you’re an IWBUMS tester or fancy being one for the day, please jump into the latest beta – let us know how it runs for you, and we’ll press ‘go’ when we see enough green lights.


As mentioned in a previous Mondoid, we now have various people working on Build 39 (the vehicles build) so have a ‘gameplay’ coder and Bitbaboon Steve doing general optimizations – all alongside Yuri’s existing ‘nuts and bolts’ engine and physics work.

As such, Vehicles Build 21 has been released with a bunch of stuff intended to gel our vehicles ever tighter to PZ gameplay. This includes:

• Simulated gear shifts are now based on your engine rpm, the number of gears your car has and the max speed. Previously it would just work on the speeds you hit.

• You’re now slowed and have less traction if you’re driving off-road. [In future builds constant off-road driving will also reduce a vehicle’s condition.]

• Car keys are now a more important aspect of the game. They are mandatory when it comes to starting an engine or turning on headlights, and have a (small) chance of spawning already in the ignition or in the glove box. A ‘car locked’ sound is also heard, rather than the characters say ‘locked’ out loud like a weirdo would.

• If you have Level 2 Electrical Skill then you can Hotwire a vehicle if you can get inside. Better and more modern cars are trickier to hotwire, and a failed attempt will result in damaging the ignition.

• In larger vehicles like vans and emergency vehicles you can fit more characters inside in MP – and rear seats can also be used as containers now.

• Vehicles are no longer empty of ‘life detritus’. They now have loot tables that reflect their past owners. Every day vehicles might have bags of rotting groceries inside, uneaten candies and old magazines. Meanwhile there’s a small chance that a pick-up might have a fisherman’s equipment, while a pick-up could have been a carpenter’s work vehicle – and as such have a trunk full of items that reflect his work.

• General changes: gas consumption now dependent on what gear you’re in, and more forgiving. Reduced chances of stalling. Balanced vehicle storage capacities. Vehicles audible from a greater range. Can no longer drive through double doors. (Sorry )

A few threads have popped up on the forum saying that we could do with a bit more variety in vehicle models to make things look a little bit more realistic – and as such Martin has been modelling up some different variants on existing car models, as well as creating a few new ones, for Mash to paint up some textures for.

These won’t appear in Build 39, most likely, but will pop up in the relevant areas in the versions that follow





A general list of stuff added to PZ, and vids of features being worked on, is kept here – so you don’t have to plough through endless dev blogs for info. The Block of Italicised Text would like to direct your attention to the PZ Wiki should you feel like editing or amending something, and the PZ Mailing List that can send blogs like this and patch notes direct to your mailbox. We also live on Twitter right here! Our Discord is open for chat and hijinks too.

Hello everyone. A little bit of a short Mondoid this week. In fact the last one ever. But don’t worry, we’re still keeping up with the weekly updates.

It’s the end of an era. This Mondoid is just an announcement to say that from this point the traditional Mondoid blog will be moving to Thursday – henceforth to be known as ‘Thursdoid’.

There are several reasons for this. We know some people look forward to Mondoids to combat the back to work/school Monday blues, but as our team has grown quite dramatically over the past year, it has become more and more clear how inconvenient Monday updates are, how much harder it is to coordinate the week’s work after a weekend, and how they are ultimately of detriment to the game, player-base and developers. From the game’s side, it means we’ve had an entire weekend just prior to the most important day of the week, where it may have been more difficult to get hold of people, or work has been at its lightest. From the developers side, many of the contractors we’ve taken into the fold have families, and its a bit crappy of us to impose our historic looming Mondoid pressure onto them.

We feel that moving to Thursdays will be better for everyone, as we’ll have had several working days of preparation and week day communication to make sure the Thursdoids are on point, versions have had sufficient time in the incubators during the week, and yet we’ll still have Friday to fix up any problems that crop up before the weekend starts (that’s not to say the workaholic elements within will not continue to poke at the game during the weekend as we always have). It’s also closer to the weekend, so when versions emerge, players have less time to wait to have dedicated time to enjoy them.

Also we ran out of Monday puns a long time ago.

We had hoped to sweeten this final Mondoid with a public release of build 38, but in the last hours discovered a few issues we really need to address. As such we will warm up for a full release as soon as we can this week, and we’ll see you on Thursday!

Hello everyone. A little bit of a short Mondoid this week. In fact the last one ever. But don’t worry, we’re still keeping up with the weekly updates.

It’s the end of an era. This Mondoid is just an announcement to say that from this point the traditional Mondoid blog will be moving to Thursday – henceforth to be known as ‘Thursdoid’.

There are several reasons for this. We know some people look forward to Mondoids to combat the back to work/school Monday blues, but as our team has grown quite dramatically over the past year, it has become more and more clear how inconvenient Monday updates are, how much harder it is to coordinate the week’s work after a weekend, and how they are ultimately of detriment to the game, player-base and developers. From the game’s side, it means we’ve had an entire weekend just prior to the most important day of the week, where it may have been more difficult to get hold of people, or work has been at its lightest. From the developers side, many of the contractors we’ve taken into the fold have families, and its a bit crappy of us to impose our historic looming Mondoid pressure onto them.

We feel that moving to Thursdays will be better for everyone, as we’ll have had several working days of preparation and week day communication to make sure the Thursdoids are on point, versions have had sufficient time in the incubators during the week, and yet we’ll still have Friday to fix up any problems that crop up before the weekend starts (that’s not to say the workaholic elements within will not continue to poke at the game during the weekend as we always have). It’s also closer to the weekend, so when versions emerge, players have less time to wait to have dedicated time to enjoy them.

Also we ran out of Monday puns a long time ago.

We had hoped to sweeten this final Mondoid with a public release of build 38, but in the last hours discovered a few issues we really need to address. As such we will warm up for a full release as soon as we can this week, and we’ll see you on Thursday!

Hola gang. Here’s the latest slice of Monday.

Build 38 is fully baked, but requires two roof-rendering fixes to player-made bases from ChrisW who’s beavering away at them as we speak. We didn’t want to wreck the views of solo savegame and server player bases with a public release, and will be patching in further tweaks to the system (improved peeking, fairer window/zed visibility at NW corners etc) after release.

In the mean-time there’ll be a new public IWBUMS beta release tomorrow with other general/necessary pre-launch bug fixes from RJ and Connall.


With the current vehicles beta soon to transform into Build 39 this week we’ve had extra hands descend upon it. Yuri will continue to oversee physics issues, car shadows, visible damage and general vehicles performance – meanwhile Steve will be providing optimization support game-wide, and now RJ is in amongst it working on gameplay aspects like realistic vehicle spawning, the Mechanic skill, gas used during journeys and the like.

[In the meanwhile Turbo will continue to work on his devices code, work will begin on the next big map update and Bitbaboon Mark will continue to work with the PZ team with the new animations for integration into the build(s) that follow.]

In terms of Build 39 RJ has begun this work with Vehicle build 19 (directions on how to access here) in which he transferred aspects of Yuri’s work into the overall PZ zoning system, added Mash’s latest textures for burnt-out cars, balanced attributes of particular cars, restarted work on car keys and added various Sandbox options to let players tailor their vehicular PZ experience a little better.

Build 19 also introduced some of Yuri’s fixes to vehicles in co-op and MP, so that will hopefully make for a smoother ride online – with less disappearing cars and loot.

Over to RJ for a brief word on his automobile work:

“Up until Vehicles Build 19 properties like engine condition, maximum speed and how much gas a car had were purely dependent on where the vehicle spawned. So at the moment I’m giving each car some individuality, although spawn area still matters as a vehicle spawning in a beautiful neighbourhood won’t have the same condition as something found in a trailer park.”

“Also now in the vehicles build the amount of gas consumed by a car is no longer static – previously you lost a set amount per-tick, but now it depends on various things: stuff like the total mass of the car and your loot, engine quality and the speeds you’re travelling at. So gas usage will really depend on how you use the car.”

“I’ve also made sure that when driving on non-tarmac surfaces cars will be slowed – and ultimately damaged if you’re driving over bumpy wilderness.”

“In terms of car spawning zones – that should now be improved, although spawn numbers will likely still need balance. Not every zone is done but where I’ve done work then cars should be appearing in more accurate places, burnt out cars should be appearing in junk yards and trailer parks, and ‘special’ vehicles like the Spiffo’s truck should be parked outside the Spiffo’s restaurant. Still to come is work that’ll make the way that they’re parked look a bit more ‘natural’.”

“Until Build 38 is released and I need to get back onto bug fixes I’m also working on engine power, car keys and locked cars, and balancing general vehicle stats. We’re also finalizing the ‘Mechanic’ skill design doc, and should be getting the sign off from the rest of the team this week.”


Optimization is currently vital as the vehicle build is careering towards a wider audience. As such Bitbaboon Steve’s opti-mission continues – chalking up two more FPS salves that we’ll test out in the Vehicles Build (Build 39) towards the end of the week, and also spotlighting something funky deep in the PZ engine rendering system that’ll require further investigation.

To aid him in his quest we’re investigating an update from lwjgl2 to lwjgl3 – which is no simple task, but has been on the ‘must do’ tasklist for a fair while. We’re at a point with it that should help Steve a fair amount when he dives deep into the rendering code, but when it reaches its full fruition then this will hopefully make for general better running of PZ, remedied display issues and general headache easing.

• Connall’s work on the ‘small things that make a big difference’ suggestion list continues, with the integration of imperial measurements (pounds, miles, Fahrenheit etc) to make our American audience feel a little less like… they’re in a European zombie apocalypse.

• We’ve stolen Nasko, our community manager, away from his actual real world workplace for a month or two to work on revamping the PZ Wiki – so it’s more accessible and better structured for community efforts. If anyone has any thoughts, or maybe even would like to help him on his quest when details need to flood the system, then please give him a shout.

A general list of stuff added to PZ, and vids of features being worked on, is kept here – so you don’t have to plough through endless Mondoids for info. The Block of Italicised Text would like to direct your attention to the PZ Wiki should you feel like editing or amending something, and the PZ Mailing List that can send blogs like this and patch notes direct to your mailbox. We also live on Twitter right here! Our Discord is open for chat and hijinks too.

Hola gang. Here’s the latest slice of Monday.

Build 38 is fully baked, but requires two roof-rendering fixes to player-made bases from ChrisW who’s beavering away at them as we speak. We didn’t want to wreck the views of solo savegame and server player bases with a public release, and will be patching in further tweaks to the system (improved peeking, fairer window/zed visibility at NW corners etc) after release.

In the mean-time there’ll be a new public IWBUMS beta release tomorrow with other general/necessary pre-launch bug fixes from RJ and Connall.


With the current vehicles beta soon to transform into Build 39 this week we’ve had extra hands descend upon it. Yuri will continue to oversee physics issues, car shadows, visible damage and general vehicles performance – meanwhile Steve will be providing optimization support game-wide, and now RJ is in amongst it working on gameplay aspects like realistic vehicle spawning, the Mechanic skill, gas used during journeys and the like.

[In the meanwhile Turbo will continue to work on his devices code, work will begin on the next big map update and Bitbaboon Mark will continue to work with the PZ team with the new animations for integration into the build(s) that follow.]

In terms of Build 39 RJ has begun this work with Vehicle build 19 (directions on how to access here) in which he transferred aspects of Yuri’s work into the overall PZ zoning system, added Mash’s latest textures for burnt-out cars, balanced attributes of particular cars, restarted work on car keys and added various Sandbox options to let players tailor their vehicular PZ experience a little better.

Build 19 also introduced some of Yuri’s fixes to vehicles in co-op and MP, so that will hopefully make for a smoother ride online – with less disappearing cars and loot.

Over to RJ for a brief word on his automobile work:

“Up until Vehicles Build 19 properties like engine condition, maximum speed and how much gas a car had were purely dependent on where the vehicle spawned. So at the moment I’m giving each car some individuality, although spawn area still matters as a vehicle spawning in a beautiful neighbourhood won’t have the same condition as something found in a trailer park.”

“Also now in the vehicles build the amount of gas consumed by a car is no longer static – previously you lost a set amount per-tick, but now it depends on various things: stuff like the total mass of the car and your loot, engine quality and the speeds you’re travelling at. So gas usage will really depend on how you use the car.”

“I’ve also made sure that when driving on non-tarmac surfaces cars will be slowed – and ultimately damaged if you’re driving over bumpy wilderness.”

“In terms of car spawning zones – that should now be improved, although spawn numbers will likely still need balance. Not every zone is done but where I’ve done work then cars should be appearing in more accurate places, burnt out cars should be appearing in junk yards and trailer parks, and ‘special’ vehicles like the Spiffo’s truck should be parked outside the Spiffo’s restaurant. Still to come is work that’ll make the way that they’re parked look a bit more ‘natural’.”

“Until Build 38 is released and I need to get back onto bug fixes I’m also working on engine power, car keys and locked cars, and balancing general vehicle stats. We’re also finalizing the ‘Mechanic’ skill design doc, and should be getting the sign off from the rest of the team this week.”


Optimization is currently vital as the vehicle build is careering towards a wider audience. As such Bitbaboon Steve’s opti-mission continues – chalking up two more FPS salves that we’ll test out in the Vehicles Build (Build 39) towards the end of the week, and also spotlighting something funky deep in the PZ engine rendering system that’ll require further investigation.

To aid him in his quest we’re investigating an update from lwjgl2 to lwjgl3 – which is no simple task, but has been on the ‘must do’ tasklist for a fair while. We’re at a point with it that should help Steve a fair amount when he dives deep into the rendering code, but when it reaches its full fruition then this will hopefully make for general better running of PZ, remedied display issues and general headache easing.

• Connall’s work on the ‘small things that make a big difference’ suggestion list continues, with the integration of imperial measurements (pounds, miles, Fahrenheit etc) to make our American audience feel a little less like… they’re in a European zombie apocalypse.

• We’ve stolen Nasko, our community manager, away from his actual real world workplace for a month or two to work on revamping the PZ Wiki – so it’s more accessible and better structured for community efforts. If anyone has any thoughts, or maybe even would like to help him on his quest when details need to flood the system, then please give him a shout.

A general list of stuff added to PZ, and vids of features being worked on, is kept here – so you don’t have to plough through endless Mondoids for info. The Block of Italicised Text would like to direct your attention to the PZ Wiki should you feel like editing or amending something, and the PZ Mailing List that can send blogs like this and patch notes direct to your mailbox. We also live on Twitter right here! Our Discord is open for chat and hijinks too.