Here we are dissecting the first Dev Vlog, posted on the official Dead Matter YouTube channel, on June 23rd, 2018.
A lot to go through here... some very exciting stuff. We take a look at Zombie behavior and animations, new roads, trees & foliage, train cars, new snow effects, weapon animations, new vehicles, a new NPC settlement and some new houses which feature basements.
Author Note: This post was made during the Dead Matter development and some of the information provided may be outdated at the time of reading. The images in this post are screenshots from a video, we apologize for the blurriness and low quality.
Zombie Behavior & Animations
The Zombie animations have been improved and cleared up, however they are still far from perfect and more work needs to be done. It's a small team working on the game and making animations is one of the most difficult parts, if not
the most difficult part, of game development.
Their behavior was changed as well, partly based on community feedback. Whenever there is an obstacle between you and the zombie, like a fence, they will try to reach over it to get to you, rather than taking the long route around it. Smaller objects, such as traffic cones, will not stop them anymore, they will simply knock them over. Being on a car or inside an unbarricaded building will not stop them anymore either. So, in general Zombies now have easier access to the player, which should improve their threat level.
The Zombies are very efficient, net code wise, so the engine/server should be able to handle large hordes without any hiccups.
New Roads
All roads have been replaced with new ones, that look and run much better and they blend into the terrain seamlessly, thanks to 3D artist
Shirk.
New Trees & Foliage
Shirk has also replaced all the placeholder trees with new ones he made from scratch He also added grass and bushes, which can be pushed away when an object or player is nearby. The goal is that players will leave behind a trail of flattened grass where they walked.
Train Cars
New train cars, made also by
Shank. Choo choo!
As we mentioned in one of the Development Diaries, there will be working, usable trains in the game as form of transportation.
New Seasonal Weather Effects
One of the most exiting features about the Dead Matter weather system, for me personally, are the seasons. Something I always missed in similar games.
The winters will be harsher in terms of survival and the environment will look drastically different. Here we see how everything will be slowly buried under snow.
Weapon Shaders & Animations
The shading for the weapons is being improved to make them look better and a new animator joined the Dead Matter dev team. His first work he did on the Mosin Nagant looks excellent, later on he will work on melee weapons.
New Vehicles
Dead Matter developer
Nomad has been working on implementing third party vehicle meshes into the game. Great to see such a large variety.
Church NPC Settlement
This new church will function as an NPC settlement.
New Houses with Basements
New modular residential buildings have been added, which feature basements. Basements will have some gameplay purposes, such as storing fruits and vegetables during the summer.
Character Customization
Character artist
DogToothGC has been working on male and female character models, which will allow for a large variety of customization options such as eye color, hair, facial hair, facial features and much more.
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