'DayZ' Standalone Update Will Improve Melee Combat, Add Horticulture And More

Bohemia Interactive is adding a number of new features to zombie survival game “DayZ,” which will undergo two new updates in August -- update 0.48 and update 0.49.

The Prague, Czech Republic-based developer will add update 0.48 to “DayZ” next Wednesday.

“The hot fix is intended to address issues with melee combat, container contents, global voice manipulation, some camera clipping issues, as well as what we're sure many survivors are excited for, persistent containers and items,” Bohemia Interactive said on its blog.

“In addition, work continues on version 0.49. Within this report, Peter [Nespesny] our lead designer will be speaking on some of the design targets for this version - which include horticulture. Over the next few weeks we will be working with our game server provider partners to begin the final steps required for the central hive, and their respective back ends to support renting private shards of the ‘DayZ’ central hive, which will enable dedicated communities to create their own private ‘DayZ’ worlds.”

The developer also explained the new concept of “private shards,” which will enable dedicated communities to “create their own private ‘DayZ’ worlds.”

According to its blog, “private shards” will have the following abilities:

Can:

Password protect the server

Operate a white list (using BEC)

Ban/Kick trouble makers

Define and enforce server gameplay rules (eg: DayZRP, PvE only, etc)

Can not:

Access or modify the base game configuration (amount of loot, amount of dynamic server events, vehicles (when they are implemented), etc)

Violate the naming convention declared in the hosting rules (these will be updated to reflect the new private shard capabilities)

Have access to the database itself

Operate any 3rd party “Admin tools” aside from the approved BEC (BattlEye Extended Controls)

Access debug logs (currently these are unavailable for both user privacy, and performance)

Exceed current maximum player limits per instance (40, as of the time of the writing of this status report)

Bohemia says private shards will be flagged “private” in the server browser and will allow strong in-game communities to grow together.

Along with adding pigs to the game’s repertoire of livestock, the development team implemented plant life.

“Apart from that we started initial work on a new big feature known as horticulture. This will serve as complement to hunting and scavenging - to provide much needed food to be able to survive in the hostile environment of Chernarus,” explained designer Peter Nespesny. “You will be able to till your garden, plant seeds, care for said plants, harvest their crop and use some of the byproduct for crafting.”

He also discussed the game’s combat system.

“We all know that one of the most unpleasant things in DayZ right now is the melee system. Problems with melee can be divided into two separate issues - collision shapes and hit detection. Until recently the melee system was prototyped in script and it introduced a nice hit detection mechanic during the swing where a trace is cast directly from the weapon, however this solution is suffering from desync and lags in the multiplayer environment. Now the melee system is being redone within the engine itself so we will expand upon it and hopefully find the most ideal solution on how to retain hit detection during swing in game but the task will take some time.”

“DayZ” is a basic survival horror game, where players take on tasks to gather food, supplies, medicine, clothing and water in a 225-square-kilometer (140 miles) setting. Items can be collected in random places such as abandoned vehicles, homes and barns. Players can also pick up weapons that serve as protection from other players or the undead.

The “DayZ” standalone game began development in August 2012 following the success of the original mod. Dean Hall joined forces with Bohemia Interactive and took over as project lead. Three months later, he posted an unedited video clip of the game’s multiplayer mode to YouTube, saying that the footage “makes no effort to mask the variety of bugs.” Hall has talked about moving the game to next-gen consoles like the PS4 or Xbox One, although no specific date has been set for either system. Though the game has experienced a number of bugs, its popularity has continued to increase, with more than 2 million games sold as of May 2014.