Build 14 – Eye Candy Saga news - The Dead Linger

Hello Survivors!
You ready for this? Build 14 is here. Eye Candy Saga, the long-awaited performance and visual update has arrived!

Check below for the dev vlog as well as full, comprehensive patch notes! You can go download the update on Steam right now! [794MB]

It’s 35% off for the Steam Summer Sale!

Patch Notes for Build 14

“Eye Candy Saga”

Notes:
- As with most updates, you will definitely need to create a fresh, new world when you play this update to ensure you receive all the new world changes. Do not play your old worlds with the new version, though it shouldn’t let you anyway.
- This build focuses on performance upgrades and visual upgrades to the world of The Dead Linger. This means better framerate, better performance on lower end machines, and amazing new visuals. Check out the notes below for full details!

Performance Changes:

• Massive improvements to the spiral world generator. Tons more efficient to generate and load large amounts of content on the fly.
• Tree system was thrown out and replaced with SpeedTree trees. Oh yes.
• Terrain system was thrown out and completely re-written for vastly improved performance.
• Sky system we were using was thrown out and completely re-written for vastly improved performance and a much better appearance in general.
• Entirely new grass system for improved performance.
• Slightly decreased the time it takes TDL to do the initial load when starting it up.
• Fixed an issue where the GPU was running full blast in the main menu.
• The game no longer pauses and stops computing physics when you ALT+TAB or the game window loses focus. Movement is still restricted, however.
• Fixed a bug that was causing a huge framerate drop when interacting with doors.
• Fixed a bug where barricades would not stay where you left them when exiting the area and returning later on.

Visual Changes:

• Trees are now using SpeedTree-generated trees, which look and act way better than the trees from previous trees.
• New terrain system allows for much, much further view distance. Max view distance is now sitting around 8 kilometers, instead of 3 or 4.
• New terrain system has much better “erosion,” slopes, leveling, and less (if any) crazy-looking and unnatural peaks.
• New sky system is gorgeous. Let it be known.
• Massively improved lot leveling for neighborhoods, houses, and other buildings. Should be very few (if any) instances of “earthquake” terrain.
• Grass has a completely new look, and now works properly with dynamic lighting (i.e. campfires.)
• Roads have been completely reworked and improved in a number of ways.
• Roads now seamlessly connect between zones.
• Roads generally lead somewhere now. There are very few ‘dead end’ roads now.
• Suburban and Town roads now have sidewalks and curbs.
• Roads no longer float above the terrain or result in strange collision. Objects no longer fall through the road.
• Fixed a bug where roads weren’t properly aligned with the area they were leveling.
• Farm and forest roads now have properly fading dirt edges.

Gameplay Changes:

• Survivors now initially spawn with a hammer and hatchet.
• Zombies now emit (basic) blood particles when hit.
• Large fix for fall damage not giving the proper amount of damage. You will now take a bit more damage when falling off of things. Remember to roll (Left CTRL) to mitigate damage!
• Salt Shakers are locked to “Common” quality now.
• Matchboxes are locked to “Common” quality now.
• Duct Tape is locked to “Common” quality.
• Removed annoying crunching sound when walking into a door.
• New item: Oak Log.
• Fixed a small bug from 13a where the day-night cycle wasn’t quite the same length as previous builds.
• Wooden chairs can now be nailed.
• Fixed a huge bug where the game would get stuck in a “refresh world” loop when traveling long distance on a bicycle.

World Changes:

• Large changes to the world generation that make suburban neighborhoods and towns a bit more common and easier to find.
• There is a new forest zone; Oak Forest, consisting mainly of large oak trees.
• There is a new forest zone; Tall Pine Forest, consisting mainly of tall pine trees.
• The old office building is gone! There is a new and more dynamic office building present in the world. This building is created with performance and modular floor count in mind. It will play a major role in upcoming builds. You can primarily find this building in Town zones.
• The Barn has been remade for better performance, better visual quality (both near and far) and it also now has a slightly more intricate layout.
• The Silo has been remade for better performance and better visual quality (both near and far.)
• Time of day no longer resets when you quit. Time of day now saves with the world, so you will come back into an existing world at the same time you left (unless it’s running on a multiplayer server, in which case time continues to pass even when you’re gone.)
• Garbage wheely bins now spawn in all varieties.
• Garbage wheely bins now properly face the street when out by the curb.
• Garbage wheely bins now spawn behind more buildings, such as the Swerts.
• Mailboxes and other front yard objects now always tend to sit a proper distance away from the road instead of in the road.
• Grass no longer appears under barns or silos.
• Farm crops should no longer intersect barns or silos.
• Dual Silos are now slightly further apart to avoid accidental intersection.
• Prisons are slightly more frequent now.
• Grass no longer appears under Leland’s Grocery Store.
• Fixed a ton of instances of floating objects, such as trees and rocks.
• Fixed an issue where buildings would spawn with duplicate objects, creating two (or more) of everything.
• Fixed an issue (in almost all cases) where trees near a zone boundary would spawn on top of roads and inside buildings.

Menu Changes:

• The Delete World menu now has a “Delete All Worlds” button.
• Tons of new graphics options have been added to the Graphics Settings menu. (V-Sync, Framerate Lock, turning off shadows, and a whole bunch more!) You can find your settings.ini file in \AppData\LocalLow\Sandswept Studios\The Dead Linger\userPrefs.
• Graphics options screen now uses Arial font.
• New option for toggling Mouse Acceleration.
• Grayed out the Mods and Extras button, since it’s not useable anyway.
• Added SpeedTree logo to the bottom right corner of the menu.

KNOWN ISSUES:
[These are not necessarily issues we plan to fix next, but they are issues that we don't need reported in duplicate, so if you encounter something on this list, just know that we know about it!]

• Corpse waypoint doesn’t always disappear when you retrieve your items after death.
• Arrows can not be retrieved yet, and will not stick into targets — yet.
• Many animations are currently missing from third person view.
• The third person camera currently does not collide with walls.
• Some items will look a bit strange indoors as we phase in our new lighting system. These issues should be fixed over time.
• Ammo in boxes and guns do not keep correct ammo count when trading between survivors in multiplayer.
• Animations will sometimes loop or get ‘stuck’ from time to time.
• Some survivors experience black screen with hands and nothing else. We have added a fix for this, but if you still experience this issue, run in Fullscreen instead of Windowed Mode. You can also try moving the window frame, which may correct the issue as well. We will be looking at a more permanent fix for this issue.
• Sometimes the Settings menus get overlapped or otherwise crazy. Just press the ESC key or “Done” button to get the screen back to normal.
• There is a bug where you will sometimes plummet to the ground very quickly when dropping from a ledge. Holding Left CTRL right before impact will mitigate some fall damage. Watch your step!
• The game and framerate will sometimes stutter for a short duration, especially when coming up on a town or new area. Your PC is most likely fine. It’s not you, it’s us.
• Lots of other very obvious issues that we’re going to be working on. (Welcome to Alpha!)

As usual, please report bugs on our Support & Bug Reporting forum.

Roadmap Changes:
[These are always estimated values. Link to Roadmap]

• DISMEMBERMENT, GORE, AND RAGDOLL – From 10% to 20%
• DAY / NIGHT CYCLE AND SKYBOX SIMULATIONS – From 30% to 40%
• GRAPHICS SETTINGS – From 40% to 50%
• KEYBOARD BINDINGS AND MOUSE SETTINGS – From 30% to 50%

Our plans for Build 15 (“Sirens of the City”) will be new zones, some new enemies, new character and zombie models, a brand new menu system, and a whole bunch more! We’ll elaborate on that as we progress. Stay tuned to our twitter for more information on that!

Linger on, Survivors!