A breakdown of Development Vlog #10, posted on February 6th, 2020.
Development Vlog #10 has been posted on YouTube and an updated roadmap and some further information on the official blog. Here we'll take a look at both. We also updated our Release Date page accordingly.
We got some details about the map(s) and some of the locations, an update on the closed alpha and early access release dates, more about the underground mining complex, the interface, main menu, clothes, new weapons, Zombie AI, vehicles, animals and much more...
Author Note: This post was made during the Dead Matter development and some of the information provided may be outdated at the time of reading. Some of the images in this post are screenshots from a video, we apologize for the blurriness and low quality.
Alpha Release Delayed
The Alpha release date has been delayed again. The main reasons given are issues with the Zombie AI and performance, the new goal being June 2020. Steam Early Access is planned to launch early 2021. For the full announcement we recommend reading the blog post. You can also keep up on our Release Date page.
Calgary Will Be a Separate Map
As written in the blog post, the city of Calgary will be a separate map.
Calgary is a massive city, and a massive undertaking. We want to have a dense urban environment. We want to represent the size and scale of the city, and do it justice. In order to properly pull off the original vision we had for Calgary, we're going to separate it from the main map.
Playdeadmatter.com
Sounds like a reasonable decision, and the transition between the maps seems to be handled well. For all the details on this we recommend reading the full blog post.
Shooting From Vehicles
It will be possible to stand on, and shoot from vehicles. In the Vlog we get to see some footage of that. There seems to be no special action required to do so, you just hop onto the back of the car and you are good to go. No details were given though.
Dead Man's Flats Approaching Finalization
Dead Man's Flat is one of the settlements featured in Dead Matter, which will also be present in the Alpha release. The location received a polish pass and will go through an optimization pass next. Which means that it is close to being finished. The town/hamlet features some unique locations, an apartment complex and some motels.
Canmore Progress
Canmore, the single largest town in Dead Matter, has being worked on quite a bit. New art assets have been added to bring the town to life, some of which we showed in our Weekly News Roundup #7. Canmore features many interesting places,such as the police station, commercial buildings, a concrete plant, a large recycling facility and many other buildings. While the town center still needs a lot of work, the outskirts are largely done and will receive an optimization pass next.
Underground Mining Complex Progress
Nomad's ongoing mega project, the Underground Mining Complex, has received some more features to make the place more interactive. Lights can be turned on in various locations now, flooding / water drainage, gas venting and a lift down into the mine are some of the features. It is also mentioned that you'll be able to meet NPCs in the mine.
Airplane Crash Site
A small new point of interest that Nomad has been working on: A crashed commercial airliner, which will feature a small quest of retrieving the airplane's black box, detailing the story behind the crash...
Updates to the Inventory System
Lead programmer Nik Z has been working on the toolbelt item system, which are items that persist between deaths, such as the keyring, for storing keys, a wallet to store currency and keycards in, and various other useful items.
The Inventory in general has received a complete overhaul and facelift.
Newly added features are:
The ability to store items within other items (containers)
A dynamic weapon pouch system that grants additional weapon slots depending on what the player is wearing
Combining certain items
Stacking certain items
In-world containers, such as drawers, which will make some noise when searching through them, that can be heard by other players nearby.
Character Mesh & Clothing
The [new] character mesh has been added to the game, and with it a decent amount of clothing items. The main goal for now is that there will be a matching outfit for every occupation. Firefighter outfit, police uniform, and many more...
Along with this, some secondary animations for clothing have been added, backpacks will now jiggle around on your back when running with them.
Zombie Improvements
Gunschlinger made some changes to how zombies will approach the player. Instead of just walking towards the player, they will now try to surround and trap the player in certain situations. Zombie hoards can now split up and go after multiple targets. It is also mentioned that some voice recordings have been added to the zombies, but we don't get to hear any.
Bear & Hunting System
Gunschlinger has implemented a new animal: The bear. It looks fantastic and has great, life-like, animations. He can stand on two legs, chase and attack players.
Besides the Bear, he has also implemented base functionality for a hunting system. Skinning, gutting and everything else you'd expect.
World Interaction & Player Houses
Ways to interact with the Gameworld have been improved. Using light switches and shooting out light sources are shown. For player houses, you'll be able to use curtains to block the windows. However, when it's dark outside and you have lights on in your home, people will still be able to see your silhouette. To counter this, you'll be able to glue newspapers onto windows and block visibility completely. More barricade options are on the way.
Regarding player houses, it is also mention that the previous system to claim a house has been completely removed and will be redone. Most of the buildings in the game will be made claimable. You'll be able to disassemble, or in certain cases, reuse furniture that is present inside of the building.
Weapon Improvements
The first person animations for weapons have been changed to feel more responsive while maintaining a realistic look. Many of the weapon animations are now fully procedural, such as aiming down sights. This allows for things like reloading while aiming down the sights.
If the weapon supports it, it is now possible to switch between scope and iron sights.
Distant weapon sounds have been improved.
Magazines and weapons can now be loaded with different types of ammunition. For example Shotguns can be loaded with buckshot, shells or flare rounds.
Weapon spread has been removed, and instead, weapons fire now from an approximation from the barrel, based on procedural animation.
Grenades have also seen improvement, for easier controlling them, you can now hold the mouse button and throw when ready, or toss it using the right mouse button.
Various weapon related animations have been improved and tweaked.
Some work has been done to the vehicles in the game. They now have a functioning radio and proper first person driving animations. The static vehicles in the world have also been improved, they can now have their tires shot out, doors and trunks can be opened and closed. Opening trunks will require you to find the matching key.
UI & Engine Improvements
A UI manager was been written, which should keep UI issues to a minimum. The main menu has been rewritten and large parts of the multiplayer backend as well.
A new weather system has been added, which is based on meteorology formulae, which makes the weather truly dynamic now, there is no one weather state, everything is simulated.
A new radial menu system has been created, the VOIP system has been rewritten and the Unreal Engine has been updated to 4.24.
Work started on a new admin system for multiplayer sessions, which allow admins to observe players, teleport to players, bring player to them, and players can contact admins directly through the chat.
Gameplay Footage
This time, as a special treat, the Vlog comes with a 20 minute gameplay section at the end. It starts with general gameplay, showing off different locations and features, and it ends with Nomad giving a tour of the Underground Mining Complex he's been working on for quite some time now. It is well worth watching, it will give you a good idea about the games' current state.
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Introduction
