DayZ patch to add machetes, clapping, penalties for server-hopping

The experimental beta branch of DayZ is enjoying a new raft of features and fixes, a continuation of Bohemia's battle to wrestle DayZ from wonky-as-balls-but-still-great to just 'great'. The team are patching on two fronts, adding long-planned features and coming up with adaptive fixes to alter the way alpha players are currently exploiting the game. It means that as well as machetes and better sawed-off shotguns, there will soon be time penalties for swapping servers too quickly.

That ought to deter players who hop onto an empty server to raid the loot-heavy airfield, and then hop back to a populated server to use their gear on hapless bambis. That sort of thing makes our resident DayZ fan, Andy, very angry indeed. He may take solace from the fact we'll soon be able to paint our crash helmets different colours, point, and clap, though the full hokey-cokey emote is sadly yet to materialise. Full notes below.

For more on DayZ check out Andy's weekly adventures . As mentioned in the notes below, the final version of the patch is planned for release as early as Wednesday next week.

DAYZ PENDING UPDATE CHANGELOG

Branch: Experimental

ETA to Stable: 5-7 February 2014

Version: 0.33.114782

Known Issues:

- Spawns: Loot is not spawning in military tents

- Spawns: Some structures in Svetlo currently do not spawn loot

- Server: Servers under load can delay actions from the client

- Only 4 dynamic light sources will be rendered at one time currently

What are experimental/stable branches?

In your steam application settings, you can choose a "beta branch". This allows you to opt in to our experimental branch to try it out.

Does my saved character get affected in experimental branch?

No. It runs on a different database, so any changes will not affect your character on stable branch.

I can't find a slot while on experimental branch!

Only a small number of servers run this branch. You will need to change your game back to the stable branch and play on a normal server

Can I join a stable branch server wil experimental branch client?

No, you would need to change your client back to stable.

When will this be in stable?

We expect stable to be updated before the end of that week (by 7 February 2014).

Why has not been fixed yet when there is new content coming in?

While priorities are very important when assigning work, there is a limit to how many people can work on a complex task without making it even more complex. Also, many of the team are focused purely on content/design so while the important stuff is being fixed, they continue to provide content and design updates.

Is mouse acceleration being fixed?

It is not fixed in this update, but we plan to make control changes. It is not as simple as turning it "off" as the speed your character turns is not dictated by the mouse itself, but your movements combined with the type of weapon you have, how tired you are, etc.

New:

- Actions: chambering SKS round from pile, loading 10 rounds from pile

- Actions: You can uncuff other players with the hacksaw

- Actions: Cannot use an item (e.g. drink/eat) if it is "Ruined"

- Actions: Interactions with items reworked. Drinking/Eating/etc... more robust and user-friendly

- Actions: Restrained players cannot use inventory or action menu

- Animations: Player now can take and hide rifle in crouched run

- Animations: SKS reload animations

- Crafting: FNX45 pistol can be chambered with single round

- Crafting: Opening cans with combat knife added

- Crafting: Opening cans with machete added

- Crafting: Painting Motorbike Helmets to Black and Green

- Effects: Magnum revolver ejecting shells when reloading

- Effects: Magnum revolver sounds - gunshots, reloading

- Effects: Mosin ejecting shells when cycling

- Effects: New Mosin sounds - gunshots, cycling, reloading

- Gear: Improvised courier backpack added

- Gear: Machete added

- Gestures: Clapping Gesture added, default F5 key

- Gestures: Pointing Gesture added, default F6 key

- Login: Player queuing system introduced. Penalty waiting time added for switching server or disconnecting a server quickly.

- Server: Player spawns now cached by engine directly, increasing performance

- Spawns: Added Bubble goose jackets into the loot spawns

- Spawns: Added SKS rifle, speedloader, ammunition piles and boxes and SKS bayonet into the loot spawns

- Systems: Hunger and Thirst slightly modified.

- Systems: Notifications added to UI for hydration and high energy

- Zombies: Different types of Military zombies now have tougher attack values and improved durability

- Zombies: Engine dynamic obstacle checking (zombie, another player)

- Zombies: Svetlojarsk zombie spawns added

Fixed:

- Action: morphine injection can be used on other player effectively fixing his broken legs and item correctly positioned in hands

- Actions: Keys won't disappear after uncuffing

- Actions: loading ammo works for sprayed Mosin variants

- Actions: Read/Writing notes with paper and pen now works again

- Actions: reviving with epinephrine or defibrillator works also if player blood is below 500 units of blood

- Animations: fixed an issue where reload in prone would leave some residue sound clutter at the end of the reload animation

- Animations: Weapon reloading for magazine was not working properly when no magazine fitted

- Animations: Rifle Aimed Walk Updated, diagonal animations fixed

- Animations: sidesteping through doorway with rifle while crouching should not cause the player to get stuck now

- Config: Berries have more nutrition now

- Crafting : You can no longer saw off sawed off shotgun

- Crafting: Can spraypaint M4 to green or black

- Crafting: Damage is now transferred when items are painted

- Crafting: Improved Backpack creation only possible when Courier Bag is empty (previously items accidentally deleted)

- Crafting: Weapon cleaning kit can't be used when it's "Ruined" and won't reduce condition of a gun

- Effects: Dazed effect plays again when a player is hit/damaged/shot

- Effects: Some effects were not active locally when a player was restrained

- Fixed: Missing texture error dz\weapons\data\weapons_damage_metal_smdi.paa

- Fixed: Popping up texture error for beret models

- Gear: Spraycans won't deplete after relogging

- Gear: Book, radio, pot, pan, gas canisters, matchbox, paper, firewood and stone can be placed in hands

- Gear: Headlamp beam raised slightly

- Gear: Painted items now retain their previous quantities (i.e. Magazine ammo won't reset)

- Gear: Various item descriptions and notifications fixed for grammar, typos, more detail

- Gear: ZSh-3 Pilot helmet fixed and updated

- Gestures: Taunt defaults correctly to F4 key

- Graphics: "god rays" could cause overloaded post-processing and graphical corruption

- Graphics: fix of removing shining object from hand (switch off)

- Graphics: Roads have per pixel lights

- Graphics: Dynamic lights should be now defined with "radius" value which is maximum radius of light in meters

- Loot: Splint position in hand was wrong now corrected

- Spawns: Drastically lowered chance of backpacks spawning on the construction site

- Spawns: Loot spawn tweaks in some civilian structures

- Weapons: Mosin recoil increased

- Weapons: Sawed-off shotgun can be loaded with ammo (was broken due to changed inheritance)

- Weapons: Sawed-off shotgun: reduced size in inventory, reduced spread

- Zombies: Better filter/check of attack hits directly in engine

- Zombies: Military zombies made tougher

Hotfixed:

- Engine: Irregular crash of server in corpse garbage collector consequence of this is that the bodies will not disappear if other player is in vicinity

Tom Senior

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.