The DayZ Update
In good alpha software fashion, last week's "DayZ" update to 1.7.2 was quite the event. For a good chunk of the week, there were some pretty scary problems such as players losing all their gear when changing outfits and enough server instability to make a Windows admin blush but things fortunately got sorted out by the weekend and we were treated to a pretty stable 1.7.2.3 build that has brought the infected behavior one important step closer to where it needs to be.
It's now much easier to dump aggro by breaking the zombie's line of sight and going quiet and their new tendency to not attack what they can't see goes a long way toward dealing with the classic "I'm being attacked through a wall" issue, but God help you if there's a window in that wall. :)
Still, the improvements and tweaks are quite welcome and the game once again feels like it's progressing toward true greatness.
In terms of my personal adventures with it, took a trip up to "Devil's Castle" with a buddy, which was very cool to see in person and yielded a few nice items like a pair of binoculars and an ALICE pack. Also managed to hit up a barracks for an AKM and a PDW, which I'm starting to appreciate as an alternative to the Makarov. Sure, it has terrible stopping power, but you can still kill zombies with a single head shot and the fact that you can use various high-capacity 9mm magazines in it makes it feel more useful than I'd originally given it credit for being the first time I found one.
Even got to do some hunting having finally acquired all the necessities for killing, gutting and cooking animals in the wild. It's funny how excited this game can make you about finding a book of matches.
But the real coup was looting an M14 AIM with 3 DMR mags in a deer stand. I'm still kind of in shock at my good fortune with that one and now live in a constant state of fear knowing that I will eventually lose it.
All things considered, a very productive weekend and a great time for those of you interested in getting into the game with the various sales on "ARMA II" in effect. Don't know about those sales? You would if you were following me on Twitter. :)
DayZ - http://www.dayzmod.com
Shout Out: Lord of the Rings: War in the North
As promised, I have a special video shout out this week for one of the best, most overlooked co-op games of 2011.
Not sure if this will be a recurring thing or if I'll use more video here in the future. I was immediately reminded working on this how much harder and more time consuming it is to produce video content, but I certainly won't rule it out if only to keep those skills from going away completely.
I should also mention, if you're new to the blog and looking for more co-op possibilities, you may want to check out my "11 Best Co-Op Games of 2011" post as well.
Lord of the Rings: War in the North (via Steam)
Development Update
Not a lot to talk about this week. Been slogging my way through a lot of boring work with data structures, establishing how relevant game data is tracked, manipulated and stored. It's one of many totally un-glamorous yet absolutely critical aspects of game development that doesn't make for good blog posts but will absolutely make a better game, so wade through it I must. :)
Powergrids (My current iOS game)
That's it for now. Nothing to tease for next time but I have a few ideas. Have a good week folks!
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