Survival Game Update Roundup

Last week brought a variety of changes to some of your favorite survival games and we’ve got a consolidated list of the major shake-ups right here on eTeknix.

DAY Z

To start off the list on a lighter note, Day Z released a status update on April 29th to highlight their work toward build 0.56 focusing on nixing major bugs. Day Z is an infamous, brutal survival game that made it’s origins as a modification for ARMA 2 years ago and has since exploded in popularity for its emergent, unrestricted gameplay experienced.

The 0.56 build is slated to include changes to how long-range optics are utilized on firearms, a new village store model placed across the map, refactoring police station locations, and some small changes to the Stary Sobor barn location. You can read all about it on the Status Report #29 page right here.

7 DAYS TO DIE

The same day, Seven Days to Die released Alpha Patch 11.4. 7 Days to Die is a zombie survival game that focuses more on realistic Minecraft-inspired sandbox elements with a few differences that shake up things like block physics, smooth geography, and dynamic day/night gameplay differences. Dogs, wasps, and other horrors also mix up the zombie survival experience in creative ways.

The patched that rolled out reverted default DirectX settings to DX9 following client problems with DX11. The meat of the patch was primarily network changes for better hosting and admin support by using both Unity and Steam in parallel for improved client connectivity to private servers. Windows dedicated servers now use their own registry keys so clients can expect to not have their resolution changed upon connection.

A few other improvements included some minor performance tweaks such as clearing chunk caches when all players disconnect as well as a handful of bug fixes. You can read a more in-depth list right here on their official page for Alpha 11.4.

THE FOREST

A day later, on April 30th, The Forest received an expectedly big update from their development team. The Forest is a game in which the player is forced into a forested region after surviving a plane crash and must utilize their necessary survival skills in creative ways to stay alive. Surviving The Forest is a bit more difficult, however, with the presence of native cannibals who are hell-bent on finding something to eat and you’re considered an exotic delicacy.

Last week build v0.17 was released with a focus on improving player control by reducing collision issues that have plagued players trying to navigate caves, a plethora of visual tweaks and optimizations for the newly released Unity 5 updates. Frequent players can expect to see a much more polished graphical experience as well as general movement (including swimming) upgrades. More details can be found on the update page right here on their official website.

RUST

Rust is a more traditional survival game in which you are thrown into the wilderness with only your wit and crafting know-how to survive. The game is somewhat like Day Z, only there aren’t any zombies and your primary threat is other players with animals contributed to the harsh experience.

Rust released a new build that included a new map called Hapis Island. Craig Pearson, a developer with Face Punch studios made an effort to remind players that, because the map is new, to expect bugs and issues.

“As this is only the first iteration, you can expect bugs, floating stuff, waterfalls that look like vertical rivers, and all that good stuff. Likewise, the layout of the land may change considerably as we refine it further with gameplay stuff in mind.” – Craig Pearson

The build mostly centralized around the new map but Dev Blog #58 highlighted a lot of changes that are upcoming for future releases from the entire team. Those future changes include (but certainly are not limited to) new world models for dropped items, displacement mapping for terrain shaders, animation revamps to humans and animals alike, a new SMG, and a water collection tank. Exciting news for the hardcore survival world of Rust. You can read a more in-depth list of the future changes with more pictures than you can shake a stick at right here.