Dec 20, 2013
DayZ - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Rich Stanton)

I’m crouching indoors, peeking out of a window at a man in the street. He is carefully searching this row of houses, getting closer and closer, toting an axe and wearing what looks like a clown mask. He’s looking for me. I know this because I said ‘hello’ and there was no response. DayZ is about a zombie outbreak. But there’s a clown at the door, and the undead are nothing next to the living.

Hit the jump.

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DayZ
DayZSA-image


Echoing the Christmas truces that took place along the 1914 Western Front during World War I, some DayZ players on Reddit want to spend the day with their baseball bats shouldered and their guns tucked away. Since the game often acts as a sort of laboratory for human behavior, any proposed ceasefire in the DayZ Mod or Standalone alpha will take place as a simple but maybe revealing experiment.

With its release Monday, the DayZ alpha has seen a massive influx of players and it's a time of year when people might have an hour or two to sit down with a hot beverage and explore DayZ s gorgeous, nightmarish landscape. Since so many of the survival sim s most terrifying moments usually involve encounters with other human beings rather than the game s zombie antagonists, a Christmas truce seems like the perfect way to see what the mood is like among DayZ s alpha community.

Are you like the person in the motorcycle helmet who challenged me to a pointless fistfight on a lonely hilltop the other day, or are you more apt to give a hungry survivor a cold soda and a can of beans after a long trek through the woods? I guess we ll find out. And that s sort of the strange and interesting point of DayZ for me anyway the not knowing. What would you do?
DayZ - Hicks_206
New:

Config: added anim hooks for zombie feeding(should allow for zombie to deal damage to unconscious players)
Config: greeting with 2 handed weapon now possible without disarming
UI: Inspect option in the inventory screen (shows item in 3D, draft system only)
Engine: Servers with incompatible version marked in the server browser
Engine: The „Player uses modified data“ message is removed from CHAT
Design: you can craft splint and fix broken limbs with it
Design: players who disconnect when unconscious will die
Design: players who disconnect when restrained will die
New weapon: Magnum .357 Revolver + ammo


Fixed:

Config: removed a small delay before the animation for un-shouldering a weapon starts playing when changing weapons (kneel and prone)
Config: fix a minor issue with one handed items not being correctly placed in right hand for a surrender transition
Config: m4 bolt and magazine animation improved
Config: adjusted collision shape for armed player(should fix occasional issues going up stairs)
Config: fixed an issue where unshouldering/shouldering weapon while moving forward caused the player to stop
Animations: Sprint updated (Unarmed) - Unarmed sprint faster now
Animations: Mosin Nagant Reload - Hand doesn't clip into scope when opening and closing bolt after each shot, weapon more stable now
UI: Early Access warning dialogue
Engine: Fix of players being able to talk globally when dead through Direct Chat
Design: damage is transferred from closed can to open one
Design: licking a battery now displays the battery's state properly
Design: wooden sticks model fits inventory slots better now
Crash: Occurs when pushing details twice on MP server browser
Engine: Updated rain texture with refraction
Design: Player blood and health not regenerating naturally
DayZ - Hicks_206
New:

Config: added anim hooks for zombie feeding(should allow for zombie to deal damage to unconscious players)
Config: greeting with 2 handed weapon now possible without disarming
UI: Inspect option in the inventory screen (shows item in 3D, draft system only)
Engine: Servers with incompatible version marked in the server browser
Engine: The „Player uses modified data“ message is removed from CHAT
Design: you can craft splint and fix broken limbs with it
Design: players who disconnect when unconscious will die
Design: players who disconnect when restrained will die
New weapon: Magnum .357 Revolver + ammo


Fixed:

Config: removed a small delay before the animation for un-shouldering a weapon starts playing when changing weapons (kneel and prone)
Config: fix a minor issue with one handed items not being correctly placed in right hand for a surrender transition
Config: m4 bolt and magazine animation improved
Config: adjusted collision shape for armed player(should fix occasional issues going up stairs)
Config: fixed an issue where unshouldering/shouldering weapon while moving forward caused the player to stop
Animations: Sprint updated (Unarmed) - Unarmed sprint faster now
Animations: Mosin Nagant Reload - Hand doesn't clip into scope when opening and closing bolt after each shot, weapon more stable now
UI: Early Access warning dialogue
Engine: Fix of players being able to talk globally when dead through Direct Chat
Design: damage is transferred from closed can to open one
Design: licking a battery now displays the battery's state properly
Design: wooden sticks model fits inventory slots better now
Crash: Occurs when pushing details twice on MP server browser
Engine: Updated rain texture with refraction
Design: Player blood and health not regenerating naturally
DayZ - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Nathan Grayson)

What a pleasant sunrise on this, the probable last day of my entire life.

OK, maybe those aren’t quite> the real figures, but at some point these headlines just become giant neon “LOOK AT ALL THESE IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS” signs. That said, the DayZ alpha is definitely a sprinter, not a shambler, given that it raced to 172,500 copies sold (and counting) in only 24 hours. Maybe this whole zombie fad has a chance of catching on after all, despite the fact that fairies, goblins, and poofy haired troll figurines are massively outpacing them in the pop-culture-sphere-o-scape right now.

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DayZ - Hicks_206
NOTE: You cannot connect to any LOWER server with this update (0.29), so only 113822 servers once they are running this build.


Fixed:
Animation transitions - Restrained, Prone Rifle
Greetings - Hand Position adjusted
Fixed several floating loot issues in buildings without floor geometry
fix for force feed/drink/consume medicine other players
sharp objects open food cans (not working in retail previously)
disabled reloading animation after mosin shot as it was preventing seeing fall of shot (temporary until new anim)
Various Critical security updates


New:
Magnum Reloads (magnum not yet enabled)
you can measure whether is a battery fully charged, half charged or empty by licking it (not working, delayed until next build)
DayZ - Hicks_206
NOTE: You cannot connect to any LOWER server with this update (0.29), so only 113822 servers once they are running this build.


Fixed:
Animation transitions - Restrained, Prone Rifle
Greetings - Hand Position adjusted
Fixed several floating loot issues in buildings without floor geometry
fix for force feed/drink/consume medicine other players
sharp objects open food cans (not working in retail previously)
disabled reloading animation after mosin shot as it was preventing seeing fall of shot (temporary until new anim)
Various Critical security updates


New:
Magnum Reloads (magnum not yet enabled)
you can measure whether is a battery fully charged, half charged or empty by licking it (not working, delayed until next build)
DayZ - Hicks_206
Fixed:

Drinking directly from wells now works
headwear descriptions updated
pants descriptions updated
increased battery drain by flashlight
bandaging cannot fix broken leg now
server browser shows internet tab as selected out of the box
fixed modifier messages, one message type per stage
Workshop: lowered moto helmets spawn probability. removed old proxies, replaced with memory points
Reduced level at which player becomes permanently unconscious
Increased rate players recover from shock damage
Internet set to default tab for multiplayer server browsing
improved responsiveness when side-stepping from left to right/right to left
disabled head movement for unconscious states
adjusted head bob for select animations
Various security related measures
Tweaked the tenement buildings (small and big) for spawns on the roof
improved transitions for restrained player
Removed old proxies and replaced them with memory points and new loot spawn in sheds
enabled step blending with raised rifle for better responsiveness
Roadway LOD issue fixed that caused floating loot for some buildings


New:
Temporary status indicators for state of player in the inventory screen (thirsty, sickness, hunger, etc...)
force feed other players
Rain updated - it should better correspond with the rest of scene by adding the refraction effect
New variations for main menu (Unarmed) added
Greeting animations for all stances to be replaced (Now with left hand to avoid issues when holding items)
Magnum hand IK
Opening cans with sharp tools
Dot crosshair
Damaging knife, screwdriver and bayonet used for opening cans
Loot array (with respective type of meat) added to animals configs and new types of meat added to food configs (ANIMALS DISABLED)


Central Server:
fixed performance issues on character creation and saving
fixed character creation record override
increased server response time and performance
DayZ - Hicks_206
Fixed:

Drinking directly from wells now works
headwear descriptions updated
pants descriptions updated
increased battery drain by flashlight
bandaging cannot fix broken leg now
server browser shows internet tab as selected out of the box
fixed modifier messages, one message type per stage
Workshop: lowered moto helmets spawn probability. removed old proxies, replaced with memory points
Reduced level at which player becomes permanently unconscious
Increased rate players recover from shock damage
Internet set to default tab for multiplayer server browsing
improved responsiveness when side-stepping from left to right/right to left
disabled head movement for unconscious states
adjusted head bob for select animations
Various security related measures
Tweaked the tenement buildings (small and big) for spawns on the roof
improved transitions for restrained player
Removed old proxies and replaced them with memory points and new loot spawn in sheds
enabled step blending with raised rifle for better responsiveness
Roadway LOD issue fixed that caused floating loot for some buildings


New:
Temporary status indicators for state of player in the inventory screen (thirsty, sickness, hunger, etc...)
force feed other players
Rain updated - it should better correspond with the rest of scene by adding the refraction effect
New variations for main menu (Unarmed) added
Greeting animations for all stances to be replaced (Now with left hand to avoid issues when holding items)
Magnum hand IK
Opening cans with sharp tools
Dot crosshair
Damaging knife, screwdriver and bayonet used for opening cans
Loot array (with respective type of meat) added to animals configs and new types of meat added to food configs (ANIMALS DISABLED)


Central Server:
fixed performance issues on character creation and saving
fixed character creation record override
increased server response time and performance
DayZ - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Nathan Grayson)

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Earlyaccessmas, which is the sort of buzzword holiday title that I probably deserve to be crucified for. But honestly, between Starbound, Wasteland 2, Elite: Dangerous, Blackguards, Dungeon of the Endless, and now DayZ, this is getting ridiculous. We are figuratively getting our Christmas presents early during actual Christmas. Someone must have planned it this way. That is the only possible explanation. Or everyone was just trying to capitalize on the December Dead Zone, because you can’t spell capitalize without capitalism. Wait. Never mind, just go below for a trailer and foreboding words> from the DayZ team.

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