Jump to content

PUBLIC IWBUMS BETA - BUILD 41 RELEASED - Animations!


Batsphinx

Recommended Posts

sleepin-712x462.jpg

 

The public ‘I Will Back Up My Save’ beta for the long-awaited Build 41 is now open for testing by the Project Zomboid community.

HOW?

The IWBUMS beta is accessible to anyone who plays Project Zomboid. Right click Project Zomboid in your Steam library and hit “Properties”. Then, navigate to the betas tab and select the “iwillbackupmysave” branch from the dropdown menu.

iwbumshowto-768x486.gif

Those who test IWBUMS beta builds must be aware that what they’re playing is a work in progress.

If you're having problems with IWBUMS, it is advised that you try verifying the steam cache, and if that doesn't work, completely uninstall and reinstall the game (while also deleting or renaming the installation folder as well as your userfolder in C:\Users\YourUsername\Zomboid). Steam is awkward at times

The beta is put out for public consumption for player feedback and bug reports. Please direct gameplay feedback to our forum beta release thread, and bugs to this section of our forums.

For further details on what IWBUMS testing entails, please check here.

WHAT?

Build 41 is the most fundamental and wide-ranging update that Project Zomboid has ever had. We intend it to be a stable foundation for us to build on for many years ahead. For this reason too,however, we anticipate a fairly long public beta while all the various issues presented to us by community testers are spotlit and remedied.

Some key features, primarily MP, are initially disabled in the IWBUMS beta build – and will be turned on during the testing process.

Build 41 currently contains:

  • New gameplay styles: Builder, Brawler and Survivor
  • More deadly ‘Survivor’ (Survival) gameplay balance – player can be dragged down by horde and feasted upon etc.
  • New survivor abilities: sitting, sneaking, sprinting, jogging, racking, reloading, climbing, fence-jumping, collapsing and much much more.
  • New combat, new weapons, new difficulty balance.
  • New character creation – many, many different new clothing options both on spawn and discoverable in the world as loot or on zombies.
  • New zombie behaviour: feasting on recent corpses, lolling against walls, falling over fences etc.
  • Blood system that progressively bloodies bodies and clothing of survivors and zombies
  • New injury system – movement and combat visibly hampered when injured. Lacerations now possible, an injury state that lies between bites and scratches.
  • Improved gunplay: green/red aiming outline, new guns, improved racking and reloading, increased gun loot spawn.
  • Zombie Death Scenes – zombies discovered in the situations in which people died. Prayer meetings, sports-viewing parties, survivor zeds wearing backpacks etc.
  • Situational zombie type/clothing and inventories – cop zeds in police station, firemen zeds in burnt buildings, Chef zeds in restaurant kitchens, bride and groom zeds at a wedding ceremony in church etc.
  • Clothing protection: different clothing provides different levels of protection from zombie attacks.
  • Visibly ripped and damaged clothing.
  • New Sims-style cutaway vision system.
  • Vehicle handling improvements, resizing and appearance tweaks.
  • Updated, remastered and improved Kentucky-themed soundtrack. Original music still in rotation, and also accessible through game options.
  • New SFX: weaponry, zombie moans etc.
  • New water visuals – including visible flow direction.
  • New puddle system during heavy rain.
  • Broken glass and related injuries.
  • Garage doors may be opened / closed and shake when hit.
  • New Challenge maps: Film Set and Kingsmouth Vacation Island
  • 3D Store Mannequins – can be dressed however you like
  • Working washing machines and driers
  • Server-side saving: MP save system now in a server-side database. Offline SP-side, also means no more lost cars via irl power outages.
  • New game cursor
  • New level-up sound, and tweaked levelling system.
  • Faint isometric aiming cursor that shows where you’re aiming in iso space.
  • New loot balance and loot balance system: houses and stores now have loot in the containers you would expect from real life – and not in a jumble.
  • Two tiers of loot priority – allowing for more realistic ‘filler’ loot amidst the more valuable gameplay items.
  • Many, many general fixes including remedies for: floating cars, farming issues, inaudible house alarms, erosion shrubs blocking vehicles, desensitized survivors being panicked by crawlers and much more.
  • VISIBLE BACKPACKS!

Build 41 and is the first (biggest) step in our overall plan to bring more life, variety and activity to the Knox Event. From this build onwards we will be adding in (and improving) our existing AI work layer-by-layer.

Build 42, for example, will use the power of the Build 41 animations build to introduce animals and wildlife.

We will also be releasing AnimZed, our animation tool, to the community during the IWBUMS beta process – meaning that modders will receive a huge boost in what they can create within PZ.

WHAT NEXT?

During the IWBUMS beta process for Build 41 the following features will be re-enabled and/or improved.

  • Multiplayer – alongside significant MP Networking improvements
  • Improved visual fidelity of survivor character and zombies
  • Further optimization to improve performance on both low and high end systems.
  • Sprinter Zeds
  • Fire visuals
  • Tutorial
  • Zombie skin appearance/decay
  • Ability to repair ripped clothing

WHAT ELSE?

Due to the extent of engine and gameplay changes in Build 41, existing savegames will NOT be compatible.

At the time of the full build release, for those wishing to continue playing on old saves, a Steam beta branch of the current Build 40 will be available – and will continue to be available at all times.

This will be known as ‘PZ Classic’, and will also allow people to continue to play with their favourite mods until such a time as they are updated.

Click here for a sneak vision into the future beyond build 41!

whats-up-doc.jpg

 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, JDoanut said:

What are the mechanical gameplay differences between the 3 gameplay types? (brawler, builder, survivor)

 

 

 

Brawler is more combat focused, closer to build 40

Survivor is the hardcore brutal mode

Builder is more a loot game, less zombies and combat but extra pressure from low loot and increased survival needs like food / water etc.

 

All but Survivor, and that to a lesser extent, probably need heavy balancing still tho

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, lemmy101 said:

 

Brawler is more combat focused, closer to build 40

Survivor is the hardcore brutal mode

Builder is more a loot game, less zombies and combat but extra pressure from low loot and increased survival needs like food / water etc.

 

All but Survivor, and that to a lesser extent, probably need heavy balancing still tho

I understand brawler is supposed to be more combat focused, but in what ways? 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, JDoanut said:

I understand brawler is supposed to be more combat focused, but in what ways? 

 

 

like build 40, you can hit multiple zombies with one swing, won't get dragged down to the floor and eaten instantly by a group, no boosted rear vulnerability. More zombies to fight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love the build so far. Especially the updated fence-jump. Its much more immersive now.

Only 2 things that Id critizise so far:
- aiming 180° while walking feels sluggish compared to the old build. It was always a nice way to "look over your shoulder" and now you are forced into making this strange U-move. I really hope that changes.

- hammer combat feels a bit too slow. the speed works well for the pan, but not the hammer.

Edited by B00ze
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first impression is that it's really damn hard now. Not sure how to get around all the zombies, because usually they are everywhere and any sound draws them all to the player, who now has a much harder time with fighting them. Honestly not sure what to do once 10 zombies are behind me, because I can't even run away -- that just draws more zombies. I'm guessing the game will be much easier in multiplayer mode, where players can lure groups away and stuff.

 

Also got scratched and bitten a couple times because I've apparently swung my weapon in the wrong direction -- aiming got harder for me.

/Edit: I think my aiming troubles are caused by the mouse cursor, because the character isn't exactly rotated to where the cursor is? Like, the mouse is on a zombie, but the barely visible shadow aim thingy is in a different spot, thus I won't be hitting.

Edited by Lexx2k
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, ilikecaterpillars said:

Will the fences have the cutouts, like the houses do currently at some point, or is it difficult to implement, as they're not technically a room?

 

It's pretty nerve-wracking trying to walk behind a fence when you can't see behind them! xXx

 

yes! Not in yet but I've seen it working in dev branch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sooo...pretty weird but next time I will definitely take a screenshot. The weapon models and various other models are pretty f-ed up in the game...like the crowbar was translucent xD and the kitchen knife isn't even shiny...it's just a black chunk of coal,also the guns are almost all black with no details whatsoever. I had an issue when I went out of my start house when I first booted the game where the screen would turn black and remain black whenever I moved,but when I stopped moving it recessed to weird black screen flashes. Weirdly enough,when I got into a car the issue was gone. Moreover, I tried to solve the issue with the screen flashes and I fixed it...I just enabled the new hiding of the upper floors for individual building option and yes, it was disabled for a reason cuz it runs like poop for me, but I would like it to be disabled and stay like that. Several crashes,followed by more frequent ones and then 2 major ones where I completely lost the world. After the crashes, if i were into a house it would turn it into a almost secured survivor house with some barely boarded up windows. The game stutters a bit when I was in proximity with several vehicles --> 5,6 cars and OH YEAH

THE EATING...omfg...it took me 10 in-game minutes to finish eating a Bell Pepper,Mint Candy and a Lollipop...i mean damn...

also...like tf...smoking is way too fast AND which I found hilarious...when I started to drink a can of pop...my character kept opening the can and drinking xD I laughed my ass off to that :)))

So,in conclusion yes, it's beta because it's beta babe...but the core mechanics are there so polishing shouldn't be that hard.

One more thing...if you choose to double tap shift to sprint...it does this weird thing where when u are already running,jogging your character won't go into full sprinting motion but it would just hit the breaks...that got me killed bc the character leans a bit back when they stop sooo...a chunk right outta my neck flew and i started bleeding and that was it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i was in my teens getting hyped for this, now ima young adult and its finally out. worth the wait so far. 

pushing zombies to the ground and finishing them with a woodaxe is some of the most rewarding and satisfying shit ive ever seen in my past year or so of gaming. like jesus those animations are sooo good!! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a bit of a strange thing where my character was invisible on a reload. Then, when I went to load up a second time, it said my character was dead, so I can't provide any log reports for it. It only showed a floating circular shadow where the character would've been and I could still walk around. xXx

Edited by ilikecaterpillars
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've only played for about a half hour so far, and I'm liking it.  However, movements while walking seem too heavy(?).  like turning left/right or around takes too long/is clunky. Movement while jogging seems "easier" for the character than movements while walking.   

 

I'm not sure if its a bug or I just need time to adapt, but there seems to be a delay after actions (not sure if its timing or key presses not registering).  for example I opened a door and couldn't step back or swing my bat and immediately got chomped on by a zombie.   (this one seems more of a bug/ fine tuning issue -  same delay without the zombie in the equation, the zombie just made the delay more noticeable.)

 

Same thing after smashing a car window.  it takes a couple of seconds before i can enter the car after smashing the window. (this one I can see being more in the need to adapt category )

 

It would be nice if the isometric helper was a little more visible, I have to zoom in a lot in order to see it.

I'm not sure how much of a help it really is either because while it definitely helps with smashing prone zombies head's in, at other times it causes me to get confused perspective-wise where I didn't before.  I'm sure using it more will eliminate some of the confusion, but maybe a "smart" feature would be nice.  like it would only show up in certain circumstances or something.  

 

I hope the giant hand cursor is only a temporary one,  I think its kind of distracting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...