Jul 30, 2021
Survive the Nights - a2z Interactive
We’ve had a productive week. We’ve spent time cleaning up the issue tracker while gathering new and duplicated backlogged issues alike. The team has put together the attack plan for our next version. We’ve decided while there may be major issues fixes going in, we’re not moving to a major build and will continue to use the 1.10.44 format. Our next version will be called 1.10.
James has released the 1.9 devlog which we posted on YouTube. We updated the last devblog to showcase the video but we’ll include it in the post below in case you’ve missed it.
This week's devblog will be a bit different. As we’ve mentioned above, the team has spent the week taking notes and planning for 1.10 and setting up our workflow. We’ve concepted a few ideas for quality of life improvements and have put together a massive bug fix list. Below we’ll go over just a few of the planned fixes and additions, a preview for 1.10.
Menu guide concept
Interaction based guidance will trigger when near a fire
We’ve concepted a new chat and think it will work much better. We’ve introduced a gradient style background matching that of our inspect menu and the coming help system. They system will be sleeker while at the same time being clearer to use. We’ll be removing the console clutter as well. Information like “Jayty has joined the server” will now display in the small notification area on the top left side of the screen. Below is a concept of our plan for the new chat and you should see that in the 1.10 build. Keep in mind, this is all subject to change and we’ll be doing our regular weekly updates to keep you up to date with exactly what is going on.
Chat Concept
Hardcore
Hardcore mode will now truly be so. We'll be introducing a proper perma death system. Your player and world will completely refresh on death the database will be removed and you’ll need to start from scratch. We’ll be improving and fixing some horde issues. We’ll be making hordes more difficult and tweaking horde numbers. Previously, there were some balance issues with hordes making later stages impossible to complete. This will be addressed and sorted out in 1.10. We’ll likely introduce more hardcore features in this build and we’ll keep updated via our weekly devblogs.
Standard Gameplay
Looking for a more casual experience? We have the ability to accommodate both play styles even with our small team this doesn’t really slow us down. Most of us (a2z) prefer the hardcore game mode. This is how we envisioned the game, however, not everyone is looking for a hardcore experience. It’s a lot easier to make things easy when you’ve already made them difficult, if that makes sense. We’ve decided to give the player that option. Standard gameplay will be a far more casual experience while still retaining the challenge and gameplay creepiness.
The major difference between the modes is permanent death and the ability to ‘claim’ a home base. The concept as it stands will allow the ‘standard gameplay’ player to respawn at a fortified base. This base or ‘home’ system will also disable spawning zombies without the need for fortifications. These are early concept ideas and as mentioned above we’ll be expanding on these ideas during the development cycle. If you have any ideas for hardcode and standard gameplay features, feel free to share them.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/541300
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!
https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive
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
James has released the 1.9 devlog which we posted on YouTube. We updated the last devblog to showcase the video but we’ll include it in the post below in case you’ve missed it.
This week's devblog will be a bit different. As we’ve mentioned above, the team has spent the week taking notes and planning for 1.10 and setting up our workflow. We’ve concepted a few ideas for quality of life improvements and have put together a massive bug fix list. Below we’ll go over just a few of the planned fixes and additions, a preview for 1.10.
Early Game Improvements
A big part of the early game experience is well, the first hour or so of the game. Quite a few players seem to struggle with early game mechanics and game flow. This is something we’ve wanted to address for some time and 1.10 seems a perfect time to do so. We’ll be introducing a sleek and simple help system. This system as we’ve concepted it will be interaction based along with a complete menu system. New players will be guided with simple easy to understand gifs and also have access to a built in menu based game guide. This will be toggle based and returning players shouldn’t worry about annoyance. We’ll include a couple of concept shots below. Please keep in mind we're in the first days of concepts here and all of this is subject to change as we move forward. Menu guide concept
Interaction based guidance will trigger when near a fire
Swimming
After careful consideration, we’ve decided to remove the water entirely and replace it with lava. This removes the need to swim at all... ːsteammockingː Swimming has been an issue since the start and we’ll be addressing that issue in 1.10. We’ll be introducing a basic swimming system, it won’t be over complex. We may or may not initially introduce a diving system. We’ll have to see how it goes. We’ll likely introduce the mechanic with a velocity based dive system so you go under when jumping from heights adding a bit more realism. The player will swim along the surface of the water plane until they run out of stamina at which point they will start taking damage and drown. This will answer some abuse concerns right off the bat and we’ll tweak the mechanics should there be a need to do so. Chat Improvements
As you know, the in game text chat can be useless at times. There are a good amount of issues with the current system, enough in fact to require a total rework. The chat in the game now is dark, the text is hard to read and there is a good deal of console information cluttering it up. The system doesn’t match the inspect style and just doesn’t provide a good experience. We’ve concepted a new chat and think it will work much better. We’ve introduced a gradient style background matching that of our inspect menu and the coming help system. They system will be sleeker while at the same time being clearer to use. We’ll be removing the console clutter as well. Information like “Jayty has joined the server” will now display in the small notification area on the top left side of the screen. Below is a concept of our plan for the new chat and you should see that in the 1.10 build. Keep in mind, this is all subject to change and we’ll be doing our regular weekly updates to keep you up to date with exactly what is going on.
Chat Concept
Hardcore and Standard Game Modes
There’s a divide, a pretty big one actually. The community seems split between hardcore and casual players. A couple of updates ago, we introduced our game mode system and in 1.10 we’ll be expanding on both sides of the token too. We’ll be introducing new mechanics to standard game modes and hardcore modes. The ability to easily develop both modes will allow us to trial and error some of the features you see in coming builds. Nothing is set in stone here and, as always, we’ll take community feedback and adjust as we see fit. Hardcore
Hardcore mode will now truly be so. We'll be introducing a proper perma death system. Your player and world will completely refresh on death the database will be removed and you’ll need to start from scratch. We’ll be improving and fixing some horde issues. We’ll be making hordes more difficult and tweaking horde numbers. Previously, there were some balance issues with hordes making later stages impossible to complete. This will be addressed and sorted out in 1.10. We’ll likely introduce more hardcore features in this build and we’ll keep updated via our weekly devblogs.
Standard Gameplay
Looking for a more casual experience? We have the ability to accommodate both play styles even with our small team this doesn’t really slow us down. Most of us (a2z) prefer the hardcore game mode. This is how we envisioned the game, however, not everyone is looking for a hardcore experience. It’s a lot easier to make things easy when you’ve already made them difficult, if that makes sense. We’ve decided to give the player that option. Standard gameplay will be a far more casual experience while still retaining the challenge and gameplay creepiness.
The major difference between the modes is permanent death and the ability to ‘claim’ a home base. The concept as it stands will allow the ‘standard gameplay’ player to respawn at a fortified base. This base or ‘home’ system will also disable spawning zombies without the need for fortifications. These are early concept ideas and as mentioned above we’ll be expanding on these ideas during the development cycle. If you have any ideas for hardcode and standard gameplay features, feel free to share them.
Weeklong Deal - 35% Off Sale Reminder
Survive the Nights is currently 35% off until Monday, August 2nd. If you have any questions before purchasing, please join our friendly community on discord.https://store.steampowered.com/app/541300
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!
https://teespring.com/stores/a2zinteractive
Links
Discord: https://discord.gg/survivethenightsChangelog: 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
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3 days of Premium Time, and who are we to deny Santa? In addition to the Premium Time, we've also created a special combat mission for Christmas in July! 
This code will remain redeemable until: Mon. 02 Aug. 19:01 CEST (UTC+2)
