Hello everyone,

We’re releasing our 1.8 update to our default Steam branch today. This update is a beast. If it’s not our biggest, it’s right up there. James will take you through most of what the team has accomplished in the 1.8 Vlog. Below you’ll find a rather detailed breakdown of what has gone into 1.8.

The graphical update has been a long time coming. Andre is our environmental artist, the man responsible for the majority of general world design. While Jos handles level design, the world you walk around in is Andre's. When we started these builds quite a few years ago, Andre created the world, the vegetation maps, the height maps, all the road placement, etc. After the builds really started to come together and we went unlisted, something else happened. The rest of Survive the Nights needed development.

While James is our project manager and lead programmer, Andre in most aspects is his right hand man. Core game features redeveloping and developing in the first place. A massive first project for a 4 man team and far too much work for a single programmer. A lot of what goes into a game is never seen and a lot of those pieces fell into Andre's lap. Years of development have gone by with Andre never really getting to update his initial environment. 1.8 is the start to something we’ve wanted to do for some time now. While it’s a massive chunk of design improvements, it’s by no means our last. The team has a lot of future ideas waiting to be implemented.

The general graphical and environmental improvements are a large chunk of this update but they are not the only improvements. We’ve worked on connectivity improvements and introduced a partial solution. UPnP will be utilized via Open NAT which will help a lot of players with automatic port forwarding. This won’t solve everyone's issues since automatic port forwarding isn’t supported by some routers and in others it just doesn’t work as expected. That change combined with a slightly sleeker UI and things like automatic IP and port assignment should make connecting a bit easier for around 50% of players.

We’ve also introduced in-game friend invites via Steam Rich Presence. You’ll now be able to host and invite friends to your own server directly via the in game menu and tab list. You can also invite players via Steam's overlay or directly in the steam app via your friends list.

There are a lot more pieces to the 1.8 puzzle and, as always, you can check out most all of the changes via our Changelog. We’ll be updating to reflect current progress and adding new goals for 1.9 and beyond. Below is a recap of the last couple of months of 1.8 progress.



We have made a ton of graphical progress with 1.8. We’ve worked on replacing and adding vegetation. We’ve adjusted forest density making the woodlands thicker and far creepier to navigate. Water systems have been reworked, reflections have been reworked, interior lighting, ambient lighting, weather effects, etc. Many major changes have been implemented in 1.8 and we’re excited to let you see them.

The Issues
Water has always been a thorn in Andre's side. The team has never been happy with the original or updated water situation. We’ve had a handful of placeholders in the past few years, none of which were particularly good. A major issue the team faced with water is transparency and how out of place it looked in the world. Most of the transparency issues were caused by our fog system rendering incorrectly. It just never blended well with the world and during early development we simply didn’t have the time to dedicate to issues like this.

There are also topographical challenges on the island. Black Island has rivers that flow into oceans along with lakes and smaller bodies of water. 1.8 also introduces swamps which is another added level of complexity. It has been a challenge to make these intersecting and flowing bodies of water look good.

The Outcome
Our new reflection system is now properly simulated in real time based on different times of the day and the reflection probes created. Reflections will also be dimmed in interiors so as to not stand out. The results look rather fantastic. They’ll be part of our new Ultra graphic setting. Below are a few examples of our old system and our new reflection system on high and ultra.

The system uses a real time reflection probe and dummy assets to create a realistic looking reflection probe perfectly suitable for most situations. This system also goes hand in hand with our new water shaders, a massive improvement over the last.

We've managed to find a compromise with our fog that makes it possible to use transparent water without it looking out of place. This, in combination with the new reflection system, allowed us to finally find a different solution that looks better and isn't too heavy on performance. The transparency really brings bodies of water to life and edge blending makes the waters edge feel far more realistic. This also works well on all kinds of work surfaces. You’ll notice the change in wet pavement and stonework too.


Old reflection system on ultra graphical settings


New reflection system on high graphical settings


New reflection system on ultra graphical settings


Before and After

Ahead of weather affecting the player, (something we’ll be working on shortly) we’ve taken some time to improve our current weather effects. The system as it is now does the job but it’s rather drab. Our current rain and snow system only allows for particles to move directly downward due to performance and collision concerns. The new system allows us a bit more freedom and you’ll notice that instantly in both rain and snow. The particles now blow around and move with the storm. This dramatically changes the entire vibe of the weather system.




Before and after - wet roads and rain

Andre has completely reworked the vegetation and forest density in-game. The wilds are more dense with tall grasses, bushes and new props like deadfall. Improved rock textures tie it all together along with new stone walls. We’ve improved on tree density along with reworking tree systems to allow for trees to lean. This seemingly small detail really does wonders to bring the forest to life. We’ll be reworking tree mechanics in the coming quality of life builds.


Before and after - forest density

For some time now we’ve wanted to introduce world particles. Over the course of 1.8’s development, with the help of James, Jos was able to program and implement the initial system. This system will allow us to expand and introduce all kinds of cool looking goodies. Trash particles will now blow around the world creating a very creepy vibe. Leaves and vegetation will also flow with the air. This seemingly small effect really does a lot to improve the world. It’s something the team would love to expand on so if you have any particle ideas feel free to share them.



We’ve really gone all out when it comes to ambient lighting as well. This greatly improves the general tone of the game. Ambient lighting has the correct color to it now. This alone makes for a far more realistic look. You’ll also notice this inside structures. We are finally happy with darkness levels in structures, appearing far darker than before. You’ll notice this darkness even during the day when you’re in the interiors and walking through the forests.

While our current lighting system is pretty nice looking, it’s not perfect and it’s not at all optimized. Structure lighting was always heavy on performance mostly due to the need of multiple light sources for a single light fixture. We have found ourselves often using one spot and one point light to simulate light bounce. This improvement removes the need for bouncelights by adding a cubemap mask. This will improve the general look of lighting along with making shadows/gradients easier on the eyes as well as generally just improving the performance overhead of lighting.

Vehicle headlights have been turned into a single light source instead of a spotlight and point light saving tons of batches. Exterior lighting has seen its share of improvements. We've reduced batching and implemented a 3d cookie system for a nicer overall look.


Interior lighting - before and after


Ambient lighting at sunrise


Midday ambient lighting forested area


Just after daybreak

You’ll instantly notice a difference in textures and design. We’ve updated, replaced and improved numerous textures. Along with that, we’ve not just added but also replaced props we’re not happy with. Among numerous new props and textures are kitchen cabinets, fireplaces, junk piles, etc. The vibe is creepier than ever. We’ll be continuing design improvements after our early game polish builds.


Living room - before and after


Kitchens - before and after


Fireplace - before and after

Swampland has a naturally creepy vibe to it. There are some classic horror movies and games that take place in them. The swamps on Black Island are wet, foggy and isolated. They're almost screaming out for some gators. You'll find the swamplands feel like large clusters of small islands amidst murky algae-covered water. Isolated cabins, run down shacks and thick wood lines and vegetation all add to a nice swamp vibe.

Marshland is a bit more open so you'll be able to see zeds or players coming. They're still wet like swamps and they're composed of many small islands surrounded by smelly water :p. You'll notice thick vegetation but fewer trees. Cabins populate some of the small marsh islands and you'll find new connecting walkways between them. These spots will likely be ideal in future builds especially when it comes to fishing and crabbing.


Swamp


Marshland

The introduction of our hosting/solo tabs came with 1.7 and we’ll be working the issues out as we move forward. We’ve introduced a partial solution for connection issues. This is something that should help a good deal of those. If the UPnP OpenNAT system doesn’t automatically fix your hosting issues, we’ll have a better idea as to what’s going wrong. If the UPnP system proves to not be effective enough, we’ll add a facilitator based punch through server. A facilitator server along with relay servers should make connections possible even when punch through just isn’t.

James has made some great progress this week streamlining the process and UI surrounding it.

Upon digging into the UPnP rework, he decided to further expand the implementation to give the user more feedback around port status. We’ve simplified the setup and removed the need to infill the IP manually. We’ve created a port checker that is embedded directly in the UI to check if ports are open before attempting to start and join a server.

Something that has been missing for quite some time is Steam's Rich Presence integration. The player now has access to Linux server files, additional hosts and the ability to host your own server from in-game.

Players will now have the ability to join friends directly from their Steam friend list. Along with the ability to invite and join, you’ll notice status updates. Players will be able to see what friends and other players are doing. Whether it be fortifying, healing, fighting zombies, driving or even riding shotgun, your player status should update nicely.

When we first envisioned Survive the Nights, it was as a co-op experience, a zombie survival game you could pick up with a couple of friends, hunker down and have a good time killing things. The ability to invite a friend to a game/server has been missing since launch. It didn’t seem reasonable to dedicate development time pre-hosting. Now that players have the ability to host from in-game or via a linux stand alone server/provider, it seems the perfect time to do so. We have now added a good deal of Steam integration.

You will first notice the ability to invite friends directly to the server you’re playing on. You’ll be able to do so whether you’re hosting the server or you’re on a public server. This is made even easier if you’re using the Steam Overlay (shift-tab).

James has also added the ability to invite friends directly from the game. Holding tab will bring up what was previously the in-game player list. Pressing tab now brings up the player/friends list and you’ll be able to invite any of your Steam friends from this menu. We have tried to make this process as easy and seamless as possible. As an example, if you’re hosting a password protected server your friends will be added to a dynamic whitelist. This will bypass the requirement for them to enter a password. You will also be able to join friends in this same manner via the Steam friends list or our in game player/friend list.


Updated Host Tab with Friends List


In-game friend list

The design update is really exciting for us! It will bring the graphics up to date and reflects our own development in terms of what we’re able to achieve. That being said, everyone is super excited to get finished up on the update and get it released. We have a lot planned for the future versions of the game but in the shorter term... probably Alpha version 1.9 and 2.0 we’ll be focusing on early game and quality of life fixes.

We all feel it’s time to tie up the loose ends. As nice as it is to just develop freely and work on cool features, the game needs to work nicely and have good retention for early game. That will allow the community to grow with less friction. We can’t stress enough how helpful it would be if you could let us know what your biggest frustrations are. As always, thank you for the continued support. We hope you all enjoy Alpha 1.8. We’re very excited for the coming improvement builds and growing the community with a more polished product.


Non Design Related

• Overhauled name tags so that level is displayed and always face the player. Other changes include the ability for non players to have name tags.
  
• Updated to Steamworks 1.5.1
  
• Added friend list in the host page for joining/inviting friends to server.
  
• Fixes to password field popup.
  
• Fixes for steam not thinking game is fully closed after application quit.
  
• Added steam friend inviting/joining support.
  
• Added steam rich presence support.
  
• Added session based whitelist which bypasses the need for password when joining from an invite.
  
• In game player list updated to include a friend list for inviting/joining.

Network

• Added UPnP support for automatic port forwarding.
  
• Added connection tester that should assist with server operation.
  
• Improved layout and simplification of the host tab to make starting a server easier.

General

• Swapped the animal trap requirement, now needs red instead of green berry bundles

Graphics

• Electrical lights optimized significantly with overall improved looks.
  
• Improved overall world reflections effects based on time of day.
  
• New screen space reflections on Ultra settings.
  
• General fog improvements.
  
• Improved interior ambient light to make interiors darker and more realistic.
  
• Higher quality fog effects added that ties into weather system.
  
• Replaced ambient occlusion effect which stops light reaching areas it shouldn't. This also improves performance.
  
• Eye adaption effect added.
  
• Improved anti aliasing system which looks better when moving. Weapons no longer leave trails and movement is no longer jarring.
  
• Reduced extreme vignetting and some basic tweaks to contrast/exposure and color.
  
• Removed stretching from cloud textures.

Particles

• All new environment particle systems.
  
• New rain particles and effects.
  
• New snow particles and effects.

Terrain

• Replaced all terrain textures with improved variants.
  
• Dirt effect added under all roads and intersections to blend roads into terrain
  
• Dirt splats painted under all roads to help roads blend into terrain

Vegetation

• Replaced nature renderer system for rendering terrain details.
  
• Improved vegetation and terrain detail design in all biome types.
  
• Increased density of all vegetation and terrain details in the wild.
  
• Increased density of trees in the wild.
  
• Added random tilt to all trees. Previously all trees were completely upright.
  
• Vegetation and terrain details now cast shadows.
  
• Vegetation now features normal maps, reflections and translucency.
  
• Vegetation wind effects quality increased significantly.
  
• Vegetation now has wind effects based on weather.
  
• Vegetation and terrain detail render distances increased. (Possible due to performance improvements in rendering system)

UI

• All new menu scene added.
  
• Updated and modernized main menus.
  
• Some improvements to usability of drop downs in quality settings
  
• Borderless and fullscreen options added

Performance

• Terrain vegetation and details now have LOD'ing to improve overall performance.
  
• Ambient occlusion effect replaced with system that has improved performance.

Environment

• All new water for rivers and ocean. Part or a greater change 1.9 will introduce improved design around water ways.
  
• New swamp and marsh biomes added.
  
• Power lines added throughout black island.
  
• Strip mall and shop windows now have closed shutters covering the windows.
  
• Improved trash piles around the wild.

Props

• Improved fireplaces in most houses.
  
• Added roller shutter for stores.
  
• Updated wall UV's of most houses/cabins to fit the height of a texture to improve look of textures on walls
  
• Fixed extreme stretching on strip mall model
  
• Bevels added to industrial door frame
  
• Updated picnic table using new assets.
  
• Updated fixed campfire using new assets.
  
• Updated the campfire drop.
  
• Updated exterior trash bins using new assets.
  
• Updated paper decal using new assets.
  
• Replaced floor lamp with improved version.
  
• Replaced desk lamp with improved version.
  
• Replaced dryer with improved version.
  
• Replaced washer with improved version.
  
• Replaced radiator with improved version.
  
• Replaced bath tub variants with improved version.
  
• Replaced dresser with improved version.
  
• Replaced wardrobe with improved version.
  
• Replaced nightstand with improved version.
  
• Replaced bookshelf tall/wide/double with improved version.
  
• Replaced bathroom bin with improved version.
  
• Replaced recliner with improved version.
  
• Replaced toilet brush with improved version.
  
• Replaced toiler paper holder with improved version.
  
• Replaced gas stove with improved version.
  
• Replaced queens bed variants with improved version.
  
• Replaced twin bed variants with improved version.
  
• Replaced book case with improved version.
  
• Replaced toilet variants with improved version.
  
• Replaced end table with improved version.
  
• Replaced trash bag, bin and dumpster props with improved variants.
  
• All terrain detail and vegetation either updated or replaced with improved variants.
  
• Added new ivy props that will grow on buildings.
  
• Improved materials to plaster house 9 and old house.
  
• Improved dining table and chair models and textures.
  
• Replaced rug textures.
  
• New Coffee table textures and model improved.
  
• Retextured wood stove.
  
• Replaced sofa/couch props.
  
• Replaced kitchen models.
  
• Household fridge textures and model improved.
  
• Stone wall texture and models improved.

Textures

• Added new textures and used in various materials:
  
  • Cabin bark
    
  • Ceramic tiles
    
  • Checkered tiles
    
  • Checkered tiles 2
    
  • Damaged ceiling
    
  • Brown roof tiles
    
  • Small bathroom tiles
    
  • Bathroom tiles 2
    
  • Wood floor 2
    
  • Wood planks no gap
    
  • Wood planks 90 degrees rotated
    
  • Blue/red/green/yellow plaster
    
  • Colored metal textures added (blue/green/orange)
    
  • Gray metal
    
  • Concrete
    
  • Concrete floor
    
  • Parquet
    
  • Textures/materials replaced/updated
    
  • Wallpaper
    
  • Dirty wallpaper
    
  • Carpet texture
    
  • Desk texture higher resolution
    
  • Plaster cracked texture
    
  • Brick materials
    
  • Blue wallpaper
    
  • black carpet
    
  • worn brick
    
  • Sidewalk
    
  • Stone wall
    
  • Dirt added to single bed
    
  • Removed tiling from worn bricks
    
  • Bricks clean tiling improved
    
  • Office ceiling updated
    
  • Wall shelf updated
    
  • Fortification atlas texture darkened
    
  • Sidewalk snow and rain tweaked

Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net
Twitter: @STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net
Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

We've released 1.7.39 on our experimental branch via steam. This build will be moved to the stable branch as v1.8 if no major issues are found by players. You can find our patch notes below. Please report bugs and issues in game using the F1 menu.

If you'd like to track the patch progress and follow more closely with development, check our changelog and feel free to join our Discord.

How to get into experimental branch:

1. Open Steam and go to your games library.
   
2. Right click on STN and select "Properties"
   
3. Navigate to the "Betas" tab and select "experimental" in the drop down menu.
   
4. Close the properties window.

Non Design Related

• Overhauled name tags so that level is displayed and always face the player. Other changes include the ability for non players to have name tags.
  
• Updated to Steamworks 1.5.1
  
• Added friend list in the host page for joining/inviting friends to server.
  
• Fixes to password field popup.
  
• Fixes for steam not thinking game is fully closed after application quit.
  
• Added steam friend inviting/joining support.
  
• Added steam rich presence support.
  
• Added session based whitelist which bypasses the need for password when joining from an invite.
  
• In game player list updated to include a friend list for inviting/joining.

Network

• Added UPnP support for automatic port forwarding.
  
• Added connection tester that should assist with server operation.
  
• Improved layout and simplification of the host tab to make starting a server easier.

General

• Swapped the animal trap requirement, now needs red instead of green berry bundles

Graphics

• Electrical lights optimized significantly with overall improved looks.
  
• Improved overall world reflections effects based on time of day.
  
• New screen space reflections on Ultra settings.
  
• General fog improvements.
  
• Improved interior ambient light to make interiors darker and more realistic.
  
• Higher quality fog effects added that ties into weather system.
  
• Replaced ambient occlusion effect which stops light reaching areas it shouldn't. This also improves performance.
  
• Eye adaption effect added.
  
• Improved anti aliasing system which looks better when moving. Weapons no longer leave trails and movement is no longer jarring.
  
• Reduced extreme vignetting and some basic tweaks to contrast/exposure and color.
  
• Removed stretching from cloud textures.

Particles

• All new environment particle systems.
  
• New rain particles and effects.
  
• New snow particles and effects.

Terrain

• Replaced all terrain textures with improved variants.
  
• Dirt effect added under all roads and intersections to blend roads into terrain
  
• Dirt splats painted under all roads to help roads blend into terrain

Vegetation

• Replaced nature renderer system for rendering terrain details.
  
• Improved vegetation and terrain detail design in all biome types.
  
• Increased density of all vegetation and terrain details in the wild.
  
• Increased density of trees in the wild.
  
• Added random tilt to all trees. Previously all trees were completely upright.
  
• Vegetation and terrain details now cast shadows.
  
• Vegetation now features normal maps, reflections and translucency.
  
• Vegetation wind effects quality increased significantly.
  
• Vegetation now has wind effects based on weather.
  
• Vegetation and terrain detail render distances increased. (Possible due to performance improvements in rendering system)

UI

• All new menu scene added.
  
• Updated and modernized main menus.
  
• Some improvements to usability of drop downs in quality settings
  
• Borderless and fullscreen options added

Performance

• Terrain vegetation and details now have LOD'ing to improve overall performance.
  
• Ambient occlusion effect replaced with system that has improved performance.

Environment

• All new water for rivers and ocean. Part or a greater change 1.9 will introduce improved design around water ways.
  
• New swamp and marsh biomes added.
  
• Power lines added throughout black island.
  
• Strip mall and shop windows now have closed shutters covering the windows.
  
• Improved trash piles around the wild.

Props

• Improved fireplaces in most houses.
  
• Added roller shutter for stores.
  
• Updated wall UV's of most houses/cabins to fit the height of a texture to improve look of textures on walls
  
• Fixed extreme stretching on strip mall model
  
• Bevels added to industrial door frame
  
• Updated picnic table using new assets.
  
• Updated fixed campfire using new assets.
  
• Updated the campfire drop.
  
• Updated exterior trash bins using new assets.
  
• Updated paper decal using new assets.
  
• Replaced floor lamp with improved version.
  
• Replaced desk lamp with improved version.
  
• Replaced dryer with improved version.
  
• Replaced washer with improved version.
  
• Replaced radiator with improved version.
  
• Replaced bath tub variants with improved version.
  
• Replaced dresser with improved version.
  
• Replaced wardrobe with improved version.
  
• Replaced nightstand with improved version.
  
• Replaced bookshelf tall/wide/double with improved version.
  
• Replaced bathroom bin with improved version.
  
• Replaced recliner with improved version.
  
• Replaced toilet brush with improved version.
  
• Replaced toiler paper holder with improved version.
  
• Replaced gas stove with improved version.
  
• Replaced queens bed variants with improved version.
  
• Replaced twin bed variants with improved version.
  
• Replaced book case with improved version.
  
• Replaced toilet variants with improved version.
  
• Replaced end table with improved version.
  
• Replaced trash bag, bin and dumpster props with improved variants.
  
• All terrain detail and vegetation either updated or replaced with improved variants.
  
• Added new ivy props that will grow on buildings.
  
• Improved materials to plaster house 9 and old house.
  
• Improved dining table and chair models and textures.
  
• Replaced rug textures.
  
• New Coffee table textures and model improved.
  
• Retextured wood stove.
  
• Replaced sofa/couch props.
  
• Replaced kitchen models.
  
• Household fridge textures and model improved.
  
• Stone wall texture and models improved.

Textures

• Added new textures and used in various materials:
  
  • Cabin bark
    
  • Ceramic tiles
    
  • Checkered tiles
    
  • Checkered tiles 2
    
  • Damaged ceiling
    
  • Brown roof tiles
    
  • Small bathroom tiles
    
  • Bathroom tiles 2
    
  • Wood floor 2
    
  • Wood planks no gap
    
  • Wood planks 90 degrees rotated
    
  • Blue/red/green/yellow plaster
    
  • Colored metal textures added (blue/green/orange)
    
  • Gray metal
    
  • Concrete
    
  • Concrete floor
    
  • Parquet
    
  • Textures/materials replaced/updated
    
  • Wallpaper
    
  • Dirty wallpaper
    
  • Carpet texture
    
  • Desk texture higher resolution
    
  • Plaster cracked texture
    
  • Brick materials
    
  • Blue wallpaper
    
  • black carpet
    
  • worn brick
    
  • Sidewalk
    
  • Stone wall
    
  • Dirt added to single bed
    
  • Removed tiling from worn bricks
    
  • Bricks clean tiling improved
    
  • Office ceiling updated
    
  • Wall shelf updated
    
  • Fortification atlas texture darkened
    
  • Sidewalk snow and rain tweaked

Thanks for the continued support and continued issue and suggestion reporting :). Below are some helpful links to anyone new and interested in the game. If you'd like to follow a bit closer, please consider joining our Discord. We're here, we're listening!

Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net
Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

Survive the Nights is now 40% off for Steam's open world sale. If you have any questions before purchasing, please consider joining our discord to speak with the developers or other players within our friendly community.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/541300/Survive_the_Nights/

Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net
Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net
Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

Hello everyone,

We’ve had a rather busy week although most of what we’re currently doing is tying up loose ends. 1.8 has been a beast and it’s a challenge to pull it together in the end. We’re aiming for an experimental build this coming week.

When we first envisioned Survive the Nights it was as a co-op experience, a zombie survival game you could pick up with a couple of friends, hunker down and have a good time killing things. The ability to invite a friend to a game/server has been missing since launch. It didn’t seem reasonable to dedicate development time pre-hosting. Now that players have the ability to host from in-game or via a linux stand alone server/provider, it seems the perfect time to do so. We have now added a good deal of Steam integration.

You will first notice the ability to invite friends directly to the server you’re playing on. You’ll be able to do so whether you’re hosting the server or you’re on a public server. This is made even easier if you’re using the Steam Overlay (shift-tab).

James has also added the ability to invite friends directly from the game. Holding tab will bring up what was previously the in-game player list. Pressing tab now brings up the player/friends list and you’ll be able to invite any of your Steam friends from this menu. We have tried to make this process as easy and seamless as possible. As an example, If you’re hosting a password protected server your friends will be added to a dynamic whitelist this will bypass the requirement for them to enter a password. You will also be able to join friends in this same manner via the Steam friends list or our in game player/friend list.


In-game player/friend list

1.8 will feature many environmental changes including new vegetation, new biomes and new weather effects. Ahead of weather affecting the player, (something we’ll be working on shortly) we’ve taken some time to improve our current weather effects. The system as it is now does the job but it’s rather drab. Our current rain and snow system only allows for particles to move directly downward due to performance and collision concerns. The new system allows us a bit more freedom and you’ll notice that instantly in both rain and snow. The particles now blow around and move with the storm. This dramatically changes the entire vibe of a storm. We’ll save the rain effects for you to see in game as the gifs don’t really showcase these effects well.


Blowing Snow

Last week we showcased some of our new environmental particles and asked for some feedback. Jos has spent some time this week adding a few more alongside working on weather effects. Additional garbage on the streets along with interior dust particles help to bring both interiors and exteriors to life either further. Jos is also currently putting some finishing touches on environmental effects like small insects and animals. This is something we’d like to greatly expand on in the future. We need a good source for rat meat after all.


Interior dust particles


Interior particles in flash light beam


Spooky nighttime garbage particles

It has been a very busy week for the team although we’ve not had all that much to showcase. The last 90% of a build is never very exciting. It’s a lot of breaking and fixing and that’s before we even hit our experimental servers. There’s going to be a vlog along with a rather massive blog covering everything that has gone into 1.8 as it’s a monster. Thanks once again for the continued support. Hope you all have a great weekend. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please reach out on our Discord.


Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net
Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

We’ve had another quick and productive week at a2z. The boys have been cracking along on 1.8 features. James spent most of the week working on rich presences and integration along with assisting Jos with the particle update.

1.8 is proving to be what is likely our biggest update yet. It seems every time we feel we’re ready, we find another area for improvement. This week Andre has spent a good deal of time optimizing our lighting system. The result is very impressive with lighting looking fantastic and more importantly being optimized better than we’ve ever had it before.

While our current lighting system is pretty nice looking, it’s not perfect and it’s not at all optimized. Structure lighting was always heavy on performance mostly due to the need of multiple light sources for a single light fixture. We have found ourselves often using one spot and one point light to simulate light bounce. This improvement removes the need for bounce lights by adding a cube map mask. This will improve the general look of lighting along with making shadows and gradients easier on the eyes. And generally just improving the performance overhead of lighting.

Vehicle headlights have been turned into a single light source instead of a spotlight and point light saving tons of batches. Exterior lighting has seen its share of improvements. We've reduced batching and implemented a 3d cookie system for a nicer overall look.


Interior lighting before and after


Hearth lighting, smooth and well optimized


Before and after - new lighting features fixture cookie and gradient


Before and after, new lighting looks far less like the mask of Sauron

Jos has spent some time this week updating our particle system. For some time now we’ve wanted to introduce world particles. This week, with the help of James, Jos was able to program and implement the initial system. This system will allow us to expand and introduce all kinds of good looking goodies. Trash particles will now blow around the world creating a very creepy vibe. Leaves and vegetation will also flow with the air. This seemingly small effect really does a lot to improve the world. It’s something the team would love to expand on so if you have any particle ideas feel free to share them.



We’re hoping to have experimental builds out shortly. 1.8 has turned into another passion project for us. This isn’t a bad thing. We’ve got hosting out and you guys have quite a put together game to explore so the more time spent here the better. We’ll have experimental builds out as soon as possible and we’ll keep you updated with these weekly devblogs. As always, thank you for the continued support and if you have any questions feel free to join us on our Discord. Have a great weekend!

Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net
Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

Hello everyone,

Another week seems to have flown by. We’ve been busy working on 1.8 and beyond. Water reworks will be discussed below along with the introduction to Steam's Rich Presence. We’re also working on the start of numerous quality of life issues. After our 1.8 update, the team will hunker down and focus on early game issues and polish. We’ll get all of your feedback and found issues taken care of before the addition of any more major features

1.8 will feature many new graphical features and improvements with one of them being improved water. The water in game now is the second of a couple of placeholders we’ve used. We’ve had quite a few challenges with water in the past. A major one is water transparency and how out of place it would look in our world. Most of that issue was caused by fog rendering incorrectly.

There are also topographical challenges on the island. Black island has rivers that flow into oceans along with lakes and smaller bodies of water. 1.8 also introduces swamps which is another added level of complexity. It has been a challenge to make these intersecting and flowing bodies of water look good.

We've also had issues in the past with over complex solutions that were too heavy on performance. Sacrificing a good chunk of performance for slightly better looking water just wasn’t an option.

I realize writing this that the first question to likely be asked will be something along the lines of “Can we swim yet?!”..No, no you can’t. That being said, water assets, shaders and the drag of knowing they’ll need sorting was a major stopping force behind swimming. Post 1.8 we will be working on a major chunk of our issues and your feedback/suggestions. Swimming will be sorted shortly, we promise.

We've managed to find a compromise with our fog that makes it possible to use transparent water without it looking out of place. This, in combination with the new reflection system, allowed us to finally find a different solution that looks better and isn't too heavy on performance. The transparency really brings bodies of water to life and edge blending makes the waters edge feel far more realistic.



Old system lacks transparency


New system with transparency


Old River


New River and Edge Blending


Old system waterfall and lake


New system with reflections and edge blending


Lake Baron old system


Lake Baron new system

Something that has been missing for quite awhile is Steam's Rich Presence integration. The player now has access to Linux server files, additional hosts and the ability to host your own server from in-game.

James has spent some time this week working on integration and things are going great. Players will have the ability to join friends directly from Steam's friend list. Along with the ability to invite and join, you’ll notice status updates. Players will be able to see what friends and others players are doing. Whether it be fortifying, healing, fighting zombies, driving or even riding passenger your player status should update nicely.


Game invite


Status updates (format likely to change, feedback welcome)

With the release of server files we were contacted by the guys over a GPORTAL. They will be handling some of our new official servers alongside Allgamer. We’ve had quite a few requests for locations in South America so we’ll be adding a couple of servers there in Brazil along with Germany, Japan and Russia. You’ll see servers labeled “Official RU1 By G-Portal”.



Things are really cracking along nicely now, we’ll be introducing our Patreon page in May. We should see 1.8 on default early in May and we’re excited for 1.9 and the future of Survive the Nights.

We’re doing our best to get 1.8 ready and into your hands. It has been a massive update so far and likely one of our biggest, if not the biggest since alpha release. A lot of the game world has changed and a lot of new features are going in. We’ll do our best to get an experimental version into your hands in the next week or two.

As always, thank you for the continued support of the game and the team. If you’d like to discuss anything in this blog or anything else at all please feel free to join our Discord Server.

Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net
Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

Hello everyone,

We’ve spent the week working on quite a few features for 1.8 and beyond. Some of you might be new here. If so, please consider joining our Discord if you’d like to chat directly to the team.

A proper reflection system is something we’ve struggled with in the past. We’ve had what can be described as a makeshift system in place for some time. Reflections have always been difficult to pull off properly due to our day and night cycle system and its effect on interior ambient lighting.

Our new reflection system is now properly simulated in real time based on different times of the day and the reflection probes created. Reflections will also be dimmed in interiors so as to not stand out. The results look rather fantastic, they’ll be part of our new Ultra graphic setting. Below are few examples of our old system and our new reflection system on high and ultra.

The system uses a real time reflection probe and dummy assets to create a realistic looking reflection probe perfectly suitable for most situations. This system also goes hand in hand with our new water shaders, a massive improvement over the last. You’ll see a little sneak peek here in some screenshots. We’ll showcase the new water system in next week's devblog.


Reflection Probe

A lot of our island will require custom probes to allow for more accurate reflections. The one below showcases one of our large lakes and Mount Baron's reflection.


Lake Reflections

The new ultra settings will allow for very accurate reflections not just in lakes and large bodies of water but smaller ones like puddles and wet roadways after storms. This system is optimized rather well. It includes a probe manager that ensures only 1 real time probe will ever be baked at the same time. It will also disable a probe and stop the baking process should the player move too far from the source. The biggest difference between the new high and ultra reflections is addition of an image effect on ultra resulting in an even more realistic reflection.


Old Reflection System


New Reflections on High Setting


New Reflections on Ultra Setting

The introduction of our hosting/solo tabs came with 1.7 and we’ll be working the issues out as we move forward. As James mentioned in last week's blog, we’re working on a partial solution for connection issues. This is something that should help a good deal of those. If the UPnP OpenNAT system doesn’t automatically fix your hosting issues, we’ll have a better idea as to what’s going wrong. If the UPnP system proves to not be effective enough, we’ll add a facilitator based punch through server. A facilitator server along with relay servers should make connections possible even when punch through just isn’t.

James has made some great progress this week streamlining the process and UI surrounding it.
Upon digging into the UPnP rework, he decided to further expand the implementation to give the user more feedback around port status. We’ve simplified the setup and removed the need to infill the IP manually. We’ve created a port checker that is embedded directly in the UI to check if ports are open before attempting to start and join a server.

Below you’ll notice improvements to last week's design, along with the addition of a friend list you’ll be able to invite buddies directly from the host screen!


Updated Host Tab with Friends List

I think it’s fair to say that we’re a rather open team. Most of you know a lot about the project and us. We share our development progress regularly with our goal being weekly devblogs. The Survive the Nights Community Forum has treated us well. It was our very first platform for speaking with everyone. With that being said, it is now rather dead with more focus on Steam and Discord. We’ll be removing our forums to save a few bucks and condense the sources of information.

The website has been redesigned over the last week or so with Jos making many needed improvements. This includes a much cleaner “Blog” section. This will now be our main resource for getting you devblogs and information. That being said, we’re always available for a chat on Discord.


New Website Layout

It has been another productive week at the office. The team is refreshed and glad to be back together. The 1.8 update will bring pretty drastic changes to the project. The time put in now will save headaches later although we’re sure there will always be issues. We’ll do our best to scrub out the larger ones before we hit default. Please keep in mind, our development isn’t always linear as we’re not always able to work on the same issue or feature. There’s constant development. We’re working on things now you’ll see in the next update and things you’ll not see for a few updates. Moving forward we’ll do our best to share more early stage development information and media if that’s something the community is interested in. Thank you all for the continued support. If you're enjoying the game, please consider writing a review or updating your current one. If you’re having any issues, remember you can always reach us on Discord.


Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net
Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

Hey everyone,

It’s been a long time since I’ve written an update! We’ve decided that this week I’ll do the update since it will cover mostly things I’ve been working on... That and JB’s garage roof has fallen in and is leaking all over…

Everything is ticking along nicely here at a2z HQ. We’re back in the studio now which allows for a greater creative environment! The guys have done an amazing job working from home however it’s simply not possible to bounce off each other in the same way as when we’re all in the same office.

There’s been a flurry of exciting new developments which we’re so eager to showcase. Some of which will be summarized below. There’s always so much going on and we’re constantly trying to develop our workflows so that JB can effectively deliver all the goodies in these weekly updates.





We’ve had an awesome opportunity to engage with well known content creator Generikb. We used to watch his content back in our Minecraft days. When he reached out to us about Streamlabs integration for STN, it seemed like a no brainer. Generikb has a developer that he collaborates with to create mods. These allow his viewers to manipulate gameplay and create rich engagement. We pretty much immediately decided that it 1would make more sense to just add this feature directly to the game. Doing so will allow more control over gameplay than a mod can with the added benefit that it would be in place to use for any streamer, 1 or 100,000 viewers.



In theory, it should be as simple as clicking ‘Authorize’. Once Authorized, the game can read event data from Streamlabs. The way I’ve implemented this means that it fully wraps our already tried and tested commands and permissions systems. This means that providing the streamer has the correct permissions, any combination of commands can be triggered based on Streamlabs alerts.


Web Browser Streamlab Auth Page

This method of implementing also means that in order to add to Streamlabs features, all we need to do is add new commands! Streamer wants some crazy feature when they get raided? No problem! All we need to do is set up a new command and the rest can be handled by the Streamlabs interface.


Main UI

We feel that this is a great opportunity to have some shared benefits from playing Survive the Nights. When streamers play the game, it gives us more exposure which ultimately supports revenue. The more revenue we generate the faster we can bring features to the game. We think it’s awesome that streamers will be able to leverage the game to also benefit themselves! Some potential use cases are shown below.


Choice of companion when someone donates with the donators nametag?


Spawn zombies when someone subs with subbers name?


A chicken for every viewer from a raid?

Name tags have been worked on for this update for a few different reasons listed below.

• There’s been a long standing issue where they don’t always face the player. Whenever I see this in-game or on a YouTube video it makes me cringe badly. It’s never been a pressing issue since there’s always bigger fish to fry. I decided to get it fixed (hopefully) while making some other neat functionality changes.
  
• We had added an area under the name tag for displaying the players level way before we ever had player leveling. That’s now all hooked up and you’ll be able to see other players levels displayed under their name.
  
• Supporter pack! As JB mentioned in the last Dev blog, we’re planning on introducing a Patreon for community members that want to support the team beyond the purchase of the game. This is something we’ve been toying with for ages but never really been able to settle on.

We’ve decided that Patreon is the way to go. We had a great meeting with them and they’ve convinced us that their platform is right for our community. That being said we want to add value for our potential contributors without adding any game ruining features (screw pay to win).

Name tags will now be able to show a small text above the username showing information about a user extra contributions to the project. This will toggle in the menus for those who want to remain anonymous in-game. There will be a bunch other rewards via Patreon but this is one example of a visual only reward.


Ideas for Patreon Supporters

While we don’t have a perfect solution right now, I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about connectivity issues. From Inception, Survive the Nights was always meant to be a game with PvP and to be played on open public servers hosted by ourselves or by people with knowledge on more advanced topics like port forwarding.

As the development has progressed, we felt that it would be wrong to not offer the most requested feature of solo and self hosted servers. With our last update, we released a pretty seamless solo experience. The self hosting, however, leaves a little to be desired simply because it’s not a 1 click solution.

In 1.8 or soon after, a part solution called UPnP will be utilized via Open NAT which will help a lot of players with automatic port forwarding. This won’t solve everyone's issues since automatic port forwarding isn’t supported by some routers and in others it just doesn’t work as expected. That change combined with slightly sleeker UI and things like automatic IP and port assignment should make things a bit easier for around 50% of players.

However it’s wrapped, firewalls and port forwarding is a ball ache and something that we want to streamline for all of you. It’s on our radar and in the near future I will implement a solution with 1 click self hosted servers that can be connected to by your friends without all the hassle.


Host Tab

The design update is really exciting for us! It will bring the graphics up to date and reflects our own development in terms of what we’re able to achieve. That being said, everyone is super excited to get finished up on the update and get it released. We have a lot planned for the future versions of the game but in the shorter term... probably Alpha version 1.9 and 2.0 we’ll be focusing on early game and quality of life fixes.

We all feel it’s time to tie up the loose ends. As nice as it is to just develop freely and work on cool features, the game needs to work nicely and have good retention for early game. That will allow the community to grow with less friction. Some of the things we’re going to address are listed below however a lot aren’t. I can’t stress enough how helpful it would be if you could let us know what your biggest frustrations are.

• Swimming
  
• Tree cutting
  
• Tutorial and UI learning curves
  
• Game stutter and lag spikes that bring the frame rate to 0
  
• Structure management (Zombies/items spawning in bases)
  
• Character movement. - getting stuck on stuff, jumping over items etc.

Overall it’s been business as normal here. Andre is pushing through with the design update with support from Jos. John is hard at work tweaking and improving animation related mechanics for the future. I’m working on broken bits and pieces and larger implementations for the future.

In terms of 1.8, we’re hoping to have it with you very shortly. We’re very excited to show somewhat finalized ‘before and after’ shots however we’re committed to not doing that until we know for sure that what is shown is what you will receive.

The last 10% of any update is always the most difficult part. Rest assured that we’re working through the little problems that will hopefully resolve any new issues creeping into the build.

Stay safe everyone! Remember that you can always contact any of the team via discord however for general support, JB is your man. His work with the community allows us to focus 100% on improving the game.

Jayty

Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net
Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

Hello all,

The design update is chugging along at a feverish pace now. We've added a great deal of new design, shaders and content. Alongside the design update, we've been working on quite a few community requests, fixes and additions. Many of you have requested an alternate means to help the team out, something you could do outside of buying another copy. A couple of weeks ago we had one of our weekly meetings and decided that a Steam supporter pack (more info on this coming shortly) along with a Patreon page would do the trick. We had been contacted by Patreon and they thought their platform would be perfect for our small team.

We have gathered some ideas from the community and created a basic mockup. We have three tiers setup: gold, diamond and platinum. These are throwback to our first project as a2z(Interactive); our Minecraft a2z website and server. This Patreon page has been set up mostly for our biggest fans and. of course. any additional support is most welcome.

Every penny made will go directly to the development of the project. We plan on setting up some nice goals too, ideally being able to take on more help if the additional financial support allows us to. If you're interested in the Patreon page and have some ideas for rewards and tiers please feel free to share them over on our Discord. We will likely be launching the page in the coming week or so. Thanks much for your continued support!


Patreon page mockup

The swamplands have really taken on a life of their own. They have an amazing vibe to them. The new ambient lighting paired with some really nicely done fog brings the entire area to life. You will notice a good deal of change in the coming design update, swamps and marshland only being a small part of the entire overhaul. It should also be noted that this is by no means our last update when it comes to world design, we far more in store when it comes to Black Island.

Below are a few shots of the swamp biome and an example of some of the new ambient lighting in action. You'll also notice new and thicker vegetation. Trees no longer always stand straight up and lean with random pitch, there are a lot of small details like this that have gone into 1.8 and we're excited to get some more polish on this and get builds onto our experimental branches.


Ambient lighting sunrise


Ambient lighting midday


Swampland just after sunrise


In the muck

We've begun to clean up our UI in general, improving backgrounds like the inventory booklet and we'll continue to do so moving through the next few alpha builds. Below are some before and after shots. Andre has cleaned up the font and backgrounds for all of the main menu tabs. This makes setting up solo/host servers along with joining servers much easier on the eyes. Thank you for the feedback on menu UI. We'll continue to take your suggestions and improve as we go.


Old UI is a bit washed out


New UI crisp and easier to read

We've opted into a 3rd party seller (Teespring) to provide those that have requested it the ability to pick up some cool merch and help out the team.

https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive


Thanks for the continued support and continued issue and suggestion reporting :). Below are some helpful links to anyone new and interested in the game. If you'd like to follow a bit closer, please consider joining our Discord. We're here, we're listening!

Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net
Forum: https://community.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net
Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive

Hello all,

We're working on our 1.8 design update patch along with a few more goodies we'll be talking about in the coming devblogs. Our design update is really starting to come together and you all seem to be making out quite well with 1.7 and our solo/host update. Along with a multitude of changes to effects, textures, shaders, etc., 1.8 will feature two new biomes, swamps and marshlands.

As for an update on Linux server files and SteamCMD, we had originally made the mistake of not including the server in the store package for Survive the Nights. That's the reason you're getting a subscription error when trying to download via SteamCMD. We've sent another ticket in requesting information on anonymous login. Ideally we don't want players having to login to download. We'll let you know as soon as we hear back which shouldn't be long now as we've opened a line of communication.

Swampland has a naturally creepy vibe to it. There are some classic horror movies and games that take place in them. The swamps on Black Island are wet, foggy and isolated. They're almost screaming out for some gators. You'll find the swamplands feel like large cluster of small islands amidst murky algae covered water. Isolated cabins, run down shacks and thick wood lines and vegetation all add to a nice swamp vibe.


Swamp Camp


Looks Like Gator Country


Swampland Walkway

Marshland is a bit more open so you'll be able to see zeds or players coming. They're still wet like swamps and they're comprised of many small islands surrounded by smelly water :p. You'll notice thick vegetation but fewer trees. Cabins populate some of the small marsh islands and you'll find new connecting walkways between them. These spots will likely be idea in future builds especially when it comes to fishing and crabbing.


Marsh Walkways


Marshland Hideaway


Foggy Open Wetlands​

We've opted into a 3rd party seller (Teespring) to provide those that have requested it the ability to pick up some cool merch and help out the team.

https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive


Thanks for the continued support and continued issue and suggestion reporting :). Below are some helpful links to anyone new and interested in the game. If you'd like to follow a bit closer, please consider joining our Discord. We're here, we're listening!

Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenights
Changelog: https://changelog.survivethenights.net
Forum: https://community.survivethenights.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/STNgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STNgame
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/a2zinteractive
Website: https://www.survivethenights.net
Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive