DayZ Status Report Highlights – July 31st

Merlin

6 years ago

We’ve got a Release Date for the 0.63 Content Update

This latest status report is filled with a lot of information on .63 and upcoming developments for DayZ! Eugen talks about the long-awaited content update for 0.63. Martin reveals information on DayZ coming to Xbox, and Peter discusses the introduction of scopes, the continuing debate of “Aimgate” and shotguns. Additionally, we get a glance of new vehicle animations and sound features.

Eugen – 0.63 Content Update

As we know, the .63 content update has been bogged down by bugs and blockers from bringing it to stable the last couple weeks. The three main blockers were related to client freezes, crashes, and scopes, but the team is happy to say they are fixed and that the Stress Test branch has received this .63 update for testing on August 1st.

The 0.63 Content Update releases to the Stress Test Branch on August 1st.

Following that, it will be released to the Experimental Branch and community servers like DayzUnderground will be allowed to run this new .63 update! Eugen also reminded us that while they are fixing these issues, the team is continuing to work on more features on the road to BETA. The first Content Update was released to the Stress Branch on August 1st While internal tests were very stable, severe server fps issues appeared during the stress test, so it was taken down after data was gathered.

Martin – DayZ on Xbox One

DayZ is finally being tested by players outside the DayZ office via a small portion of the Xbox Insider program, and the team is excited to see console players enjoying the game. The current state of DayZ on Xbox is basically on par with the current progress of .63 on PC. There are still some minor fixes to be made (fixes to UI, the controller scheme, and getting server infrastructure ready) but we should see its first iteration to console soon.

The next step after the Xbox Insider Program will be a time period of Closed Preview “where we’ll get together a bunch of the most excited Xbox Survivors among you, and give you a chance to secure access to pre-release builds of DayZ.” This means these players will be given keys to test and provide feedback before the final step: Game Preview. Game Preview will most likely not be available until late August/Early September, but by then anyone with an Xbox One will be able to check the game out on their consoles. Due to how the development of BETA and the Xbox One have been almost identical, there is also a possibility that the Xbox Game Preview release will come before BETA comes to DayZ on PC. Finally, Martin lets us know that DayZ will be previewed for the first time on PS4 at Gamescon in Cologne. Exciting times for DayZ on console await!

Peter – Scopes, Firearms, and “Aimgate”

Scopes were the main focus of the last status report for Peter, and this one is no different..Aiming down the sights uses depth of field to blur the firearm while keeping the front sight focused as seen in this GIF.

The scoped-in view is using a circular mask to blur the surroundings and creates spherical distortion to make the magnification effect more prominent. The next GIF shows how the combination of ADS and scope is operated in a case where such possibility of firearm and scope allows it. The last mode used for precise aiming (sights or scope) is remembered and the next time the aiming action is called it switches right into it. Regarding point shooting (not precise aiming, in other words hipfire from raise), there was sway applied from the very first implementation. However, it used the same strength as in ADS which isn’t enough for such a situation. It lead to the belief that the projectiles are always landing in the exact center of the screen. Now, we have a multiplier for sway implemented, to make it harder to hit targets further away. On the screenshot below, the left target was fired at with point shooting, the right target was fired at with ADS, both using a pistol at 25 meters. You see the results displayed by the trajectory lines and their bullet impacts. By the way, due to the controversy revolving around “Aimgate”, it’s also a common belief now, that the projectile direction when fired while point shooting is drastically bend, which isn’t the case. The angle is getting smaller with larger distances. You can see two lines on the following screenshot, the white line is the direction from the camera, the orange line shows the actual direction at which the projectile was fired. Using the 3PP camera, which has the largest offset from the axis of the weapon barrel and with the target in a distance of 10 meters, the angle between the direction of the gun barrel and the fired projectile is around 2 degrees. And to display even this minimal change in projectile direction to the players, we plan to have the weapon visually realigned towards the center of the screen. Finally, Peter mentions that buckshots have been rewritten and fixed for the upcoming update