Welcome to Watch Survival

Hello Bloggers and Readers and Survivalists and Gamers! I see you have found your way to Watch Survival. This web space is all about my favorite genre of video games. What you will get on Watch Survival is News and Updates on Current and Up-coming Survival Games.


Monday, December 31, 2012

Project Zomboid Monday Status Update and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year's from Watchsurvival! I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Years. Also Today was another Monday and another Project Zomboid Monday update. We get information about the new map and how more name brands are coming into the game. We also get to see a few pics of a new convenience store and a pizza parlor! The update can be found officially below at the link to the blog or you may read the copy and paste from my site here.

 http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2012/12/happynewyear/

--copy and paste--

Happy New Year to you all from all of us at The Indie Stone. Will is currently indisposed with the birth of his sprog – no word as yet on whether he has a little Willie… or a baby girl, but until then I’m afraid you’ll have to settle with a blog post written by me (Binky) and Mash. So sit back, lower those expectations, and we shall begin.
Right then. Er… what shall we talk about? And also, how are we going to identify who’s saying what?
“Andy:        Mash:      ”, proposed Marina as she delicately typed away in a Skype window, “though I suppose I’ll need to use capitalization and proper punctuation if that’s the case”.
“Marvellous”, replied Andy although in reality he didn’t and simply typed that response into the ‘add new blog’ page on WordPress while Marina was typing stuff in Skype about how my format is a stupid idea and really we should be doing it interview style – like all the other blog posts.
“Sadface”, said Andy using an emoticon suddenly realising that he ought to have clarified that “Andy” is “Binky” and “Marina” is “Mash” just in case it wasn’t apparent.
Sorry about this – this all goes so much better when Will does it. Let’s move straight onto something about the new map.  Over to you, Mash.
“Well, I think one of the modern facts of North American life is that we’re surrounded by brands and all of these brands are advertised. It clutters things up.”
*Andy nods, like a proper interviewer*
“In Project Zomboid, part of how we create a full world is to create its own brands. In previous updates players have already seen Spiffo’s and Seahorse cafes but in the future, players can look forward to visiting their local pizza chain franchise, Pizza Whirled. Or stopping in for a Slurp-Burp at Zippee Market convenience stores”
Wait, what? “Slurp-Burp”? Uhhh…
“I’ve just made that up. Making up this stuff is one of my favourites bits of PZ world-building. Another aspect of…”
Woah, slow down there. I’ve got to put the picture in to accompany this bit…
 

“Another aspect of branding is advertising - we’re surrounded by them”, (adverts I think she means), “in real life, and I think part of the reason the PZ world looks a bit too clean is that there aren’t advertisements littered around, blaring their messages at you.”
Can I just take a moment to say that “Pizza Whirled” is a brilliant name for a Pizza chain? Tell me about the process of coming up with the brands.
“I think this situation would call for a clever pun, but I’m afraid I’ve used up all my punning powers on names for shops/restaurants in the game.  If the internet has taught me anything, it’s that EVERYONE (yes, EVERYONE) loves puns”
You could have said that we just hap-pun across the… oh wait you’ve literally just made exactly the same joke in Skype and now it’s going to look like I’ve ripped you off. Um. Companeeebody knows where the — no, that’s awful. So. Anyway. Armed with this dizzying array of incredible brand names, what sort of thing are you doing with them?
 

Oh cool – an advertising billboard. And “Citr-8″ is a lot more believable as far as a fizzy drink brand is concerned than the original “pop” and “fizz” branded cans that I made back at the start.
So basically, lots more of this sort of thing?
“We just can’t get punough.”
Really, Mash? Really?
“…I have a feeling I’m coming across as insane.”
Don’t worry, I’m not including all this stuff – I’m restructuring it all so it sounds dead professional and that.
“Puns aside, I think things like running to a local Zippee Market, rather than a generic corner store, for supplies is one of those things that add flavour to the game without the player really noticing.  It may not be cars, or multi-player, or any of the other most-requested features, but it helps create the Zomboid world… and so maybe, just a little, makes that world just a little more immersive and rich.”
I completely agree – Muldraugh (and the surrounding areas as we expand) needs to feel like a real place, not just a collection of buildings sprayed into a world. One of the reasons we wanted a designed world as opposed to a random map was for precisely this sort of reason. You’re spending time in a real place that we’ve put together ourselves. We want the world to have personality in just the same way that we want characters to.
“Of course, not all the personalities will be as silly as the ones we’ve mentioned, it’s just that those are the most pun.  I mean, fun.”
Oh dear.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Zafehouse Diaries 1.1.61 Patch Update

Zafehouse Diaries recently released a new bugfix patch.  No content updates here but balances and bug squishing is always a great thing.   The official forum post can be read at the link below or you can read the copy and paste here on watchsurvival.

http://forums.screwflystudios.com/index.php/topic,253.0.html

----copy and paste----

Hello players,

Zafehouse: Diaries has been updated to v1.1.61. This is an interim patch that addresses a few balance issues and bugs with the current version.

Based on player feedback, we've done a lot of work on tweaking the difficulty of certain dilemmas involving survivors fighting NPCs. We've identified and fixed a couple of issues that could cause these fights to have unpredictable difficulty.

We've also made a few changes to the injury system, medicine consumption and resting so that they function as originally intended.

If you purchased the game directly from us or via GamersGate, please download and apply the following patch.

If you bought the game via Desura, please make sure to update the game via the Desura client.

Here's a full list of changes:
Tweak: Disabled the resolution check on start-up. Please note that at a minimum, a 1024 x 768 resolution is recommended for optimal play.
Tweak: Trap reports during combat are now much more succinct.
Tweak: Reduced the minimum number of characters for a custom survivor's surname to 1, down from 2.
Added: Anonymous data regarding your game is sent to Screwfly Studios' servers after a victory or loss. This feature can be disabled in the Options menu.
Added: Killing the trader may also result in the discovery of the map in Road Kill.
Added: It is now possible for survivors to warn the player of certain dilemmas in advance, while watching for zombies.
Added: The lynch mob and girl scout's family will now intelligently watch locations and search for the player's survivors, rather than appearing at random.
Added: The "super-zombie" will now hunt survivors as they move between locations.
Added: It is now possible to view security reports for investigated, but not entered, locations. These reports will show entrances, but only last available counts for traps, barricade parts and furniture.
Added: The screenshot function (F12) now produces JPEGs instead of PNGs. If you are using the JPEG screenshots mod, we recommend removing it.
Added: Survivors with moderate injuries will now automatically treat themselves with painkillers as required.
Added: Zombies will now trigger traps while moving around or into locations that survivors are not present at.
Added: Corpse cleaning now provides information on zombies killed by traps while the survivors were not present.
Added: The current game version is now shown and copied to the clipboard if the game crashes during the simulation.
Balance: All dilemmas involving combat with NPCs have had their difficulties revised. It should be much easier to predict the results of such combats.
Balance: Resting is now more strictly enforced and survivor resting states are preserved when the game is saved.
Balance: Survivors are now less likely to consume a large meal when they are starving.
Balance: Seeded food items (those not prepared by survivors) now provide more predictable nourishment boosts and have been increased on average.
Balance: Survivors are now generally better at modifying items, rather than sitting at either extreme.
Balance: Significantly reduced relationship boosts from the "Watch for zombies" order.
Balance: Survivors are less likely to be both uneducated and poor.
Balance: It is now harder to sever zombie limbs in combat.
Balance: Weapons that can hit more than one target no longer have this value randomised; they will always target (but not necessarily hit) the maximum number possible.
Balance: Survivors with melee weapons attacking survivors with ranged weapons will find it harder to do so.
Balance: Lacerations now apply a tiny penalty to strength while the same penalty given by contusions has been increased slightly.
Fixed: The "Trapped" dilemma will no longer fire while survivors are breaching a location.
Fixed: Some additional checks to prevent crashes when the game is exited.
Fixed: Trap attacks are no longer factored into the average accuracy stat reported at the end of the game.
Fixed: The game's icon in the taskbar should no longer disappear when restarting the game from the system menu.
Fixed: Pain suppression effects from medicines now wear off.
Fixed: Treating contusions now reduces the magnitude of the injury.
Fixed: Survivor status text is now drawn when transitioning from the map to the diary while the survivor photos are flipped.
Fixed: It is now possible to treat a survivor who suffers additional injuries of a type they already have.
Fixed: Injuries are now removed when their affliction time is exceeded.
Fixed: An issue where survivor names would be invisible in the assignment dropdown when left-clicking on an order.
Fixed: A rare crash with the tinker idle task.
Fixed: It is no longer possible to create custom survivors with identical names.
Fixed: Survivors with duplicate first names will have their surname initial shown in the order assignment menu.
Fixed: Removed redundant "what do you do?" text from a number of dilemma descriptions.
Fixed: Pressing "W" while a location is selected that the survivors have yet to enter or investigate no longer shows the security report.
Fixed: Additional checks to handle an extremely rare crash when discovering the vehicle for the first time in Road Kill

.It is recommended you start a new game after updating, as saved games are not compatible or supported between versions.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Project Zomboid Monday status update 12/24/12 and Happy Holidays from Watchsurvival

Project Zomboid gives us a Christmas Eve Update today! I Also wanted to wish everyone that's been following watchsurvival a Happy Holidays! I hope everyone has a Great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank all of you for your support. Watchsurvival is getting better and better.   Anyways, The link to the new update for PZ is below. You can also view the copy and paste version below as well. 

http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2012/12/wishing-you-a-very-zombie-christmas/

---copy and paste----


Twas a bite before Christmas, and all through the safehouse – not a creature was stirring. Not even… you. Until you turned into a zombie, and tore out the throats out of all your nearest and dearest at 4AM. Happy holidays!
It’s a short Monday development blog this week, with the Zomboid team currently flung to the four corners of their respective families – and currently going through the experience known as ‘seasonal cheer’. Before the team broke from the dev bolt-hole, however, exciting stuff was being poured into Muldraugh mainframe.
Lemmy is neck deep in RC3′s character relationship system. This will let every NPC have a calculated opinion of every other character: determined by their traits, the other character’s traits, and the various things that happen to them. It’s a necessary foundation for all the survivor group social dynamics work we’ll do beyond this update, that’ll one day sow dissent, treachery and mutiny within survivor groups.
Will, meanwhile, is sketching out a post-RC3 story tutorial to cover things like camping and farming, Binks has been back on map duty, while Mash and Romain have been focussing on future updates with the new carpentry system and some lovely new sprites to match. We’ll have more on all this when we’re all back into the usual dev routine.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our community, especially you yourself, for your support and patience this year. 2013, meanwhile, should prove a fun one. Once RC3 is out of the oven and auto-updating on Desura we’ll be unleashing our lovely new website, getting the screenshot competition back into gear, announcing a PZ mod contest and (with your help) polishing, tweaking and improving the game in the run-up to its release over Steam.
VZW_Matt has also been back in touch about getting the All Things Zomboid podcast back up and running, so in terms of both game and community the New Year should provide some good, old-fashioned apocalyptic goodness. Merry Xmas!

Spiffo the Community Raccoon encourages you to have a great Christmas. (And reminds you to turn the oven off after you’ve cooked the turkey).

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Don't Starve Long Live the Queen is now released!

Don't Starve's newest update which I previewed a few posts down has been released. This update sounds like a lot of crazy survival and should be a ton of fun. They revamped spider's and it appears made them much more difficult to handle.  The blogpost and forum post for discussion can be found at the links below or you can read the copy and paste.

http://www.dontstarvegame.com/blog/new-update-long-live-the-queen/

http://forums.kleientertainment.com/showthread.php?5144-Dec-19-Long-Live-the-Queen-Release-Notes

 ---copy and paste----

New features:

  • Spider dens have a full life cycle. Tiers are more meaningful, and higher tiered dens will require strategy to overcome.
  • Spider queens come out of the highest-tier nests to wreak havoc and spread spideryness.
  • A new type of warrior spider protects high-level dens and the queen. They are resistant to kiting, so a frontal assault is not recommended.
  • Wilson can build fire darts, and light pretty much every creature on fire.
  • Wilson can build a spider hat from egg sacks that lets him control spiders. Just be careful when you take it off!
  • Wilson can build tooth traps and use them for defense or for guilt-free rabbit hunting.
  • There is a new, experimental map gen algorithm that you can use. It is a work in progress and is largely untested and unbalanced, so you may not live for very long! (Don’t worry, though - the old map gen is still the default!)
  • Pet Smallbirds will demand food when hungry, and can starve to death.
  • Wilson can build a warm hat. It... makes something happen.
  • New “epic fight” and “dawn” music.
Tuning:
  • High-level hound attacks are more intense.
  • Krampus is silent until you reach a certain threshold of naughtiness.
  • Farming takes longer.
  • Some fruits and cooked foods are a bit less potent.
  • Seeds drop less frequently.
  • The birdcage seed sorter is less reliable.
  • Pig houses wear out after a certain number of its pigs are killed.
  • Werepig monster meat threshold increased to 4, werepigs drop normal meat.
Fixes:
  • Stuff that falls out of bounds will disappear after a bit.
  • Most monsters will ignore things that are out of bounds.
  • Gobblers and Krampusses try to avoid getting caught against the edge of the world.
  • Fireflies drop individually.
  • Mobs shouldn’t get stuck in sliding animations.

Minecraft Update 1.4.6 is Released!

Minecraft has released the 1.4.6 Update! This Update has a lot of good stuff included and now we can setup our own firework shows.  This should be a lot of fun to play around with. The update included a ton of other things as well as a lot of bug fixes which I will paste below the official forums link.

http://www.minecraftforum.net/news/704-146-update-is-released/


---copy and paste----

The 1.4.6 update is now live!  There is a massive list of goodies in 1.4.6, so without further delay, let's jump head-first into all it has to offer!

Gameplay

  • Added Thorns enchant
  • Armor enchant
  • 3 tiers
  • Deals damage to attackers depending on tier
  • Wears armor out quicker
  • Improved some enchants
  • Fire Protection now extinguishes fire more quickly
  • Blast Protection now reduces explosion recoil
  • Protection no longer is as good as all specific Protection enchants combined
  • Added Touchscreen Mode setting
  • Mainly for inventories
  • You can drag and drop items
  • Press long to halve the stack before dragging
  • Added & changed many minor things
  • Made item drops and framed items render in 3D when using fancy graphics
  • Screenshot
  • Added tool highlight when switching items in the hotbar
  • After switching, its name shortly appears above the hotbar
  • options.txt:heldItemTooltips
  • Screenshot
  • Right-clicking while sneaking now uses the held item instead of the selected block
  • Dropping items while holding ctrl now drops the whole stack
  • Added a default resolution setting
  • options.txt: overrideWidth:0 & overrideHeight:0
  • Added a warning for users playing Minecraft on soon unsupported systems (PowerPCs and Java 5)
  • Death messages now appear in server log files
  • Fixed many bugs
  • Fixed passive mob spawn eggs not depleting when used on a mob
  • Fixed minecarts and falling entities flickering
  • Fixed using number keys on smelted items in furnaces not giving experience
  • Fixed boats always getting placed in the same orientation
  • Fixed switching between dimensions resetting the selected hotbar slot
  • Fixed leaves obtained using Silk Touch having the wrong tooltip and data value

  • Fixed /enchant not accepting Protection enchant id
  • Fixed the level up sound not playing
  • Fixed F3+B displaying invisible entities' hitboxes
  • Fixed the Wither's projectiles sometimes destroying the Nether Star
  • Fixed mobs being able to trample farmland when the mobGriefing gamerule is set to false
  • Fixed endermen not teleporting away when set on fire
  • Fixed endermen still being set on fire when hit with a flaming arrow
  • Fixed endermen not opening their mouth when attacked by other mobs
  • Fixed arrows shot at endermen disappearing
  • Fixed animals on fire not running away
  • Fixed staying under water in Creative still causing the drowning effects
  • Fixed animals appearing to walk through fences in SP
  • Fixed some items with multi-layer textures rendering both layers separately when on the ground
  • Fixed tools differing only in damage not being swappable in the inventory
  • Fixed some Z-Fighting with the beacon
  • Fixed a graphical issue in the trading GUI
  • Fixed /say not showing the text in the original purple color
  • Fixed Pick Block giving double slabs
  • Fixed minecarts not travelling through Nether portals
  • Fixed lightning not flashing
  • Fixed FallingSand spawners failing to save properly and causing crashes
  • Fixed the blocks in lowest layer of the map not being recognized by beacons
  • Fixed enchants not showing in item frames and on the ground
  • Fixed mobs walking slowly for a short while after being hit
  • Fixed chests becoming out of sync when a user right-clicks it twice quickly
  • Fixed flaming arrows not catching on fire immediately
  • Fixed zombies sometimes stopping their attack
  • Fixed /xp -1L not working to remove partial xp bars when between level 0 and 1
  • Fixed the cursor being positioned wrongly in fullscreen mode

    World Generation
  • Added enchanted books to village and dungeon chests

    Blocks and Items
  • Mob spawners
  • Can now spawn differently configured mobs with different spawn chances
  • Nether Brick Slabs
  • Enchanted books
  • Enchant books to receive a single enchant on them
  • Can be applied to items using anvils, consuming the book
  • Enchants can be applied to any item in Creative
  • Sold by villagers and found in dungeon and village chests
  • Can now be found in loot chests and by trading with villagers
  • Unbreaking can be applied to anything with durability
  • Efficiency and Silk Touch can be applied to shears, allowing the harvesting of cobwebs
  • Sharpness, Smite and Bane of Arthropods can be applied to axes
  • Firework Star
  • Used to create Firework Rockets
  • Combine gunpowder with dyes to get a Firework Star with those colors used for the sparkles
  • Also add glowstone, a fire charge, a diamond, a gold nugget, feather or a mob head to make the firework twinkling, big, trailing, star-shaped, bursting or creeper-shaped
  • Craft a Firework Star with dye to change the color the sparkles fade to
    Firework Rocket
  • Non-destructive, rise up in the air and create colorful patterns when shot by dispensers or placed by players
  • Combine paper with gunpowder to get a Firework Rocket
  • Also add a Firework Star to add effects or gunpowder to increase the flight duration
    Bow
  • A sound indicates when you hit a player with an arrow
  • Arrows now render from farther away

    Mobs
  • Skeletons, Zombies & Zombie Pigmen
  • The armor and enchants they spawn with now are even harder on harder difficulties

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Dead Linger Build 005 – “Feliz Navidead”

The Dead Linger has released a new update for us today. Things seem to be looking up for this game so far as more and more work gets done on it.  If you click on the link below you can see all the patch notes and what all they have been doing for the past week. They have been keeping very busy to say the least. Also below you will find the newest Dead Linger Vlog

http://www.thedeadlinger.com/archives/1389


State of Decay Q&A: Tactics/Buckle Up Followup, 12/18/2012

State of Decay has released an awesome Q&A follow up of their last post that was discussing tactics. This Q&A gives us a ton of useful information that many fellow gamers have been curious about. This game is going to be a wonderful zombie survival game, if not the best zombie survival game. I've posted a Link to the Q&A official post below or you can read my copy and paste version which is really long but sooo worth it so I posted it anyways.

http://undeadlabs.com/forums/showthread.php?4838-Q-amp-A-Tactics-Buckle-Up-Followup-12-18-2012


--copy and paste----

SURVIVORS/NPCs

Q: Chrace123: When you send one of your survivors out on a mission, how are you alerted when they get into trouble?

A: Your home base has a communication center, one that is always manned by an NPC. She will get the panicked calls for help and relay the information to “you” (meaning whatever survivor you are playing at the time).

Q: Joey: If I'm about to die or don't have what it takes to get home, may I radio for help? And is there a possibility help may die on the way?

A: If the character you are driving has earned sufficient influence with your community, you will have some resources you can draw on, for inspiration, stamina, medical advice, and more. There are some resources you will have access to in return for earning the trust/support of other NPCs. But you can’t just summon any available survivor to come to your aid when you’re out and running into trouble. Go armed, and take no shame in fleeing.

Q: K-Man: Will all the playable characters be in the world [at the beginning of the game] or will some spawn/appear only if previous characters have died?

A: There are storyline characters already in the world when you log in for the first time. Others, and I’m told the vast majority, appear as you play.

If you manage to kill everyone that happens to be in the world in one miniature apocalypse of your own making (except for whoever you happen to be playing at the time), you may meet an NPC “who knows where to find a survivor” that has hitherto escaped you. But don’t expect to find anywhere near the number of survivors as you might have otherwise found.

Q: Joey: Are there any other characters who can get me items from outside? Ie. guns, survivors, jumbo jets.

A: No jumbo jets. But yeah, there are NPCs who still have connections, as implied by the last answer.

Q: No Good Names Left: Will there be [survivors in different] age groups, like elderly, teens, kids?

A: There are no young children, and the adults are mostly in their prime, though there is some variance.

Q: [Multiple]: Can all the survivors carry the same amount of weight? Are the survivors themselves of different physical type?

A: Survivors can carry different amounts of weight based on their character traits. There is variance in height, weight, and skin tone.

Q: K-Man: Is there a limit to the number of characters that can be in a community (given that I'll be able to feed them all and give them a place to rest)?

A: That’s a pretty big given! You could theoretically rescue every survivor in the game, given the ability to house them and feed them. But that definitely won’t be easy.

Q: (Multiple people) How do we change between characters? Can we switch during combat? Can we switch while we’re actively on a mission? Do we have to be in a safe area?

A: You can switch by talking to them, or you can switch via the Journal menu. You can switch to one of your family members (a survivor in your group that trusts you completely) anytime they are not busy (e.g. on a mission, or actively hiding because they are panicked).

Q: Thornboosh: Will there be other groups of survivors out there, or any non-zombie related enemies, that might be out to get you?

A: You will encounter other small groups of survivors who have banded together. You can either try to convince them to join your community, or do a little trading with them.

For SoD, we’ve made the decision to not have any human survivors actively seeking to do you harm. They might not like you or want to help you, but you don’t need to fear getting shanked in the dark by anyone that isn’t undead.

That is, you don’t need to fear it in the initial launch of State of Decay. I make no promises beyond that point.

Q: WhiteAvatar: [Do the NPCs spawn in a consistent location?] I can imagine the main NPCs with main back stories appearing at similar land marks, but what about the minor randomized npcs? are their locations randomized as well?

A: You’ve got it exactly right. The main storyline characters appear in the same places every time you play through the game, but the semi-random characters appear... semi-randomly.

Note that survivors will group up when they can, especially if they aren’t part of your community. They will also react to their immediate environment. From Phinney, our creative director: “For example, a survivor group that (randomly) settles into a grocery store will have food for trade (in exchange for cases of ammo.. .the universal currency), while one that settles into an industrial supply store might have construction materials to offer as well.”

Q: WhiteAvatar: How many survivors can you bring on a mission?

A: Most missions you run as an individual character. (Survivors have learned that running in groups attracts unwanted attention, and stealth is a priority for them when you’re not doing the driving.) There are some specific circumstances where you can call out a specific survivor to join you, but they’re special (and you’ll recognize them when you get into them).

Q: Swood: Is there some way to instruct the characters around you to do tasks; say, if you were in a scavenging group and also wanted to set up an ambush?

A: SoD does not feature an NPC ordering system, not like that. You can have other survivors come out and scavenge resources in an area you’ve discovered, and they will perform their appointed tasks at your home base. The will also take their cues from you in the field. If you shoot, they’ll feel free to shoot. If you are being stealthy, they’ll be stealthy.

Q: Major Warpath: Will NPCs know how to conserve ammo also or will they just completely Rambo it and waste resources quickly? Will they also be able to use bombs, landmines, grenades, and molotovs? Or are those just items that you use [when you’re playing as a character]?

A: NPCs (in this answer, I use the term to mean a survivor that is not currently being played by you) use guns and weapons, but do not use other items. NPCs are also pretty careful about using guns, mostly because it makes a ton of noise. They’ll look to you to open up the shooting.

Q: Thornboosh: Say your base begins to get attacked and overwhelmed. Is there an evacuate/abandon order you can give for everyone to get the hell out of there and run for their lives? Maybe set up a rendezvous point for your survivors to get to, or a second base to meet at?

A: Just a nit: You won’t be able to have a second official home base. You can have a base (with facilities you can add and upgrade) and you can have as many outposts as your base can support (no facilities besides supply storage). You can change bases if you find one you like better, but you can’t have two.

But the answer to the question you actually asked is no.

 HEALTH/INJURIES

Q: No Good Names Left: Will bones break and if they do, does your character limp?

A: Says Phinney: “Characters who suffer long-term injuries cannot be taken out for missions, but you may see them staggering around your home, looking for somewhere to lie down. (Dude, build an infirmary already!)”

Q: Joey: If I'm low on stamina, is there a way of regeneration? Finding a bed and barricading the room? Energy bars?

A: Yes, and you got the answer on the first try..

Q: Joey: Is there a way to heal myself in combat?

A: There are consumables. They work better if the character in question has some sort of medical skill.

 WEAPONS

Q: [Multiple]: Can jammed/degraded weapons be repaired? How?

A: Yes, assuming you’ve at least built a workbench at your base. A machine shop upgrade would be even better.

Q: Madmock: Will we be able to repair/maintain melee weapon durability at our base, or can we do it on the fly?

A: You’ll need to do repairs at your home base.

But since this is a Q&A about tactics, let me remind you that repairs can be done in a very tactical way. Repairing something takes a proper facility, a survivor with the proper skill to do the job, and time. Time passes in the world when you’re offline.

So play hard when you’re online, bring your busted up weapons back to base, tell your repairman to get to work, and log off. He’ll slave away while you sleep, and when you log back in, you’ll be ready to rock.

Q: Vulpesveritas, Joey: Will we be able to use a gun as a club if we run out of ammo?

A: No. Also, Phinney notes for the record that guns are far, far too valuable to abuse in that way.

Q: Garret: Will there be different types of ammunition?


A: Yes. We’ve tried to be reasonably accurate with guns and ammo types. Some types will be harder to find than others. Brant says, “To be clear, at this time we differentiate by caliber, we don’t have variances within a caliber, like HP, +P, FMJ, JHP or things like that.”

Remember that ammunition is a resource to be managed. You can’t just roll into Walmart and buy cases of the stuff.

Q: Major Warpath: Will guns jam less if you are more experienced?

A: Yes.

Q: Aaron Shift, Major Warpath: Will we be able to clean guns, in order to use them longer?

A: In SoD, cleaning is included in maintenance and repair activities.

Q: Aaron Shift: [It was] stated that we could take multiple zombies out with one shot of an assault rifle. Can we expect zombies to be a 1 to 2 shot kill to the head/ 1 shot kill to the head or chest with a shotgun at close range?

A: Depends on the type of ammunition, and how close the range is.

Q: [Multiple]: Can found objects be used as melee weapons (such as pipes, rocks, etc)?

A: There are hundreds of melee weapons to be found and used in the game world. Some of them are items like pipes, yes, but they’ve been coded as weapons so the game will recognize them. You can’t just pick up any old pipe and have it work, if you see what I mean. It’s a limit of the technology at this time.

Q: Sutt9: Can you put a [suppressor] on every weapon except the shotgun?

A: Over to Brant: “No, revolvers and shotguns are excluded completely, there are a couple rifles that are excluded and probably a pistol as well. These are the high caliber weapons that require specialized machine shops to manufacture. Also, suppressors for the big .50s are about diffusing point sources for sound and dust signatures, not for significantly limiting the dBs.”

Q: Panther: If we're crouching in water, will our guns jam more easily?

A: No, water mainly affects movement. Once you reach a certain depth, you will not be able to fire. It does not affect maintenance/degradation at this time.

 ITEMS

Q: Vulpesveritas: Will there be anything like an airhorn grenade or something that makes a lot of sound to attract zombies to it? Portable radio maybe?

A: Yes. You’re going to enjoy trying different objects out.

Q: Vulpesveritas: Will swiss army knives be available?

A: No.

Q: Bullet Saint: As guns have ammunition and melee weapons have durability, will some food stuffs spoil / have an expiration date of sorts?

A: Phinney again: “First and foremost, all of your resource stockpiles are subject to being used up over time. Construction materials are used to reinforce defenses, fuel is used to run generators (if you go that route), and food, medicine, and ammo all serve as a part of your community's daily needs.

“But food is also a special case. Food spoilage isn't a huge concern initially, but the longer your community survives, the more important it is to start preserving food (via curing, salting, pickling, or refrigeration).

“Don't stress too much about your personal inventory of energy-boosting snacks, though. Those twinkies in your backpack are good for another millennium at least.”

 MISC. GAME

Q: Vulpesveritas: Will there be "one bite and you're dead" or anything of the like, such as a hardcore mode?

A: Not a one-bite mode. In SoD you’d last about ten minutes with that. Just “you’re dead and you’re dead” mode.

Q: Silent Bob: When in stealth mode will there be a silent takedown button?

A: Yes, there are special stealth kills if you manage to sneak up behind a zombie (or two, if you’ve got the right skills) while you are stealthed.

Q: Bullet Saint: Will there be any zombies that are actually in possession of items and/or packs?

A: No, as you would expect in a real zombie apocalypse, none of the zombies are carrying around sweet loots.

Q: White Avatar: It has been said that areas surrounding bases are relatively safer, but do areas generally have specific ratings? Maybe ranked by colour coding from green zones to yellow to red? This has generally got to do with the tactic of sending survivors out on missions: How do we know how safe they are going to be travelling through certain areas. Or is safety indirectly proportional to distance traversed from the main base?

A: There is no color coding, but you can still learn a lot from looking. There is a visible safe zone on the map around bases and outposts, and the radius of that zone depends on many factors. You can see how many safe zones you've established, and gauge whether the path for NPCs on missions is likely to be safe or hostile.

Hordes will be visible on your map if they are within a reasonable visual range, and the surveying skill will also help you spot trouble without first running into it. If you’ve got strong base defenses, you will be able to repel the zombies that are attracted to the light and noise of your activities.

Other than that, you should just assume that the world is unsafe.

Q: White Avatar: If my strategy for one of my playthroughs would be to establish a self sustaining community within my home base (a la grow your own food / distill and purify your own water from a natural water source / scavenge for materials to make your own ammunition) would this be possible in class 3?

A: If you do not trigger any of the main storyline missions, which sometimes will result in world changing events that ratchet up the pressure, you could theoretically play for quite a long time. State of Decay is a sandbox, after all, and there’s no reason a properly built community shouldn’t be stable and self-sustaining. I look forward to seeing how long you last.

Q: Aaron: Since this game is third person, will we be able to toggle between shoulder views? Example: Aiming down left shoulder, then switch to aiming down the right. (JayTWC: I noticed in the distraction video it shifted left to right while the guy was sneaking about, don't know if that has an affect on weapon targeting.)

A: You can flip the shoulder view while using most firearms.

Q: Grand Confidant: It's mentioned that you can miss getting the headpop/lethal kill depending on what kind of melee weapon you're using; does this mean that I have to physically aim my reticule at the zombies head and then swing and a miss would be due to my reticule being too high or low or not on the head, etc.? Or is it more of a 'face the zombie and press the melee button' where then depending on my skill in whatever skills are involved in melee combat would affect the chance/probability of my character getting a headpop?

A: The latter (for melee weapons - as discussed, guns are different). Phinney went into some tantalizing detail for us:
“You don't have to aim melee attacks the way you would aim a gun, but melee is still very much about player skill. There are a variety of techniques your characters can master and tactics you can develop to finish off a zombie quicker. For example, getting behind a zed and shoving it headfirst into a wall would take it out instantly. Facing a zed, dodging its attack, and then counterattacking (if your character knows how to do that and has the right kind of weapon) can knock it down, leaving it vulnerable to a quick finishing move.”

Monday, December 17, 2012

Don't Starve Dec 19th Update Preview Long Live the Queen

The creators of Don't Starve have released another teaser trailer for us. This one looks pretty intense and full of cool stuff.  Watch the video below and be sure to check out the forum link where all the fellow Don't Starve addict's are dissecting the video and finding all sorts of tidbit's of information.


also check the forum link for more information.

http://forums.kleientertainment.com/showthread.php?4929-Dec-19-Update-Long-Live-the-Queen-Preview-Video

Project Zomboid Monday Status Update 12/17/2012

The Monday status update for Project Zomboid has arrived. This week we get to hear a podcast from the developers as well as a quick shout-out to zafehouse which is another game I've recently added to the website. They also tell us about the new website they are working on that is almost complete. All in all pretty good stuff.  Check out the Link below to see the official blog post or read the copy and paste here.

http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2012/12/on-voices-in-the-darkness/

--copy and paste---



Hello survivor! So we’re trying something a bit different this week. Will, Lemmy and RingoD have got together to have a chat about the NPCs, their meta game, what to expect in RC3 and what the system will mean to Project Zomboid in the long-term.
There’s a lot of content waiting to appear in Muldraugh, but it’s the development of this system that’s the crux of the update – and the one that needs the firmest foundation before we release. We also chat about the difference between Sandbox and Survival mode, what the rest of the team have been up to and all manner of other fun stuff besides. To have a listen simply head on over to RingoD123’s YouTube channel and get stuck in.


(The awesome game we mention in our chat, by the way, is Zafehouse Diaries, and you can buy it over on the Desura mothership. Well worth a punt.)
Elsewhere, meanwhile, Mash has been further developing tilesets for map expansion beyond RC3. These let her create artworks with pipes like the following:
And also conjure up exciting new places to be turned into a zombie like this:



On top of that Binks has been knocking bugs out of enshrinkulation – meaning that the way 3D models are rendered as sprites is a hell of a lot slicker, and crisper, than you will have found in RC 2.5. Or lovable gallic friend Romain ‘RobertJohnson’ Dron, meanwhile, has turned his mind to carpentry – and specifically on the ways your carpentry level will govern the appearance of the furniture and barricades you create. The details of this are currently being debated internally, but we’ll probably be able to explain a little more next week.
In more community-orientated news, meanwhile, or new website is very nearly complete. In the chat above we mention that we’re going to give you a sneak peek in this blog, but sadly the test build we have access to isn’t really in a super-screenshottable state. We’ll have to leave that one for next week too.
So that’s what’s happening. Let us know what you think about the Monday (Well, Monday plus forty minutes) blog’s departure into sound on the forums. More of it? Less of it? Just let us know. Cheers all!

Crawle Indie survival game Update released 0.5.3

Crawle a survival indie game has recently released a new update 0.5.3.   This patch fixes several issues and changes the world so you no longer have to start a new world every time there is a patch update. Also a rendering issue was corrected for Windows XP users, plus a few other things included. The official post from the dev's can be found below or you can read the copy and paste here.

http://sleepystudios.com/showthread.php?tid=647&pid=2969#pid2969

---copy and paste---

Changelog:

---------------
0.5.2 --> 0.5.3
---------------

[NOTE: YOU WILL REQUIRE A NEW WORLD - THIS PATCH WILL FIX HAVING TO DO THIS FROM NOW ON]

# ADDITIONS
- Added a "drop animal" button next to the equipment window.
- Eating food now adds to your blood content and energy.
- You can now change your rendering device in settings.ini (1=hardware, 2=software, 3=mixed).
- Added a launcher for XP users that allows them to use an alternate rendering device.

# CHANGES
- Items, worlds and players (in singleplayer) are now stored separately.
- Worlds are now stored as worldx, instead of world_x.
- Animals are now dropped only through clicking the "drop animal" button.
- Animals no longer get dropped after logging out.
- Reduced the amount of blood lost every tick when bleeding.
- Buildings now have collision in the first stage to prevent getting stuck in them.
- Updated the disease graphic.
- Increased the disease times by 30 seconds each and the stat take interval by 4 seconds.
- Renamed 'flint' to 'rock'.

# FIXES
- Fixed a duplication bug with branches and flint.
- Fixed branches disappearing when clicked.
- Fixed not being able to pick up animals on tall grass.
- Fixed not being able to catch diseases from held animals.
- Fixed the server disconnection timer taking too long.
- Fixed disconnected players not being cleared after being disconnected.

Highlights

You will now find this in your /bin/content/data/settings.ini:
[Image: iS4Un.png]

This will allow you to change the way Crawle renders the game. XP Users can't use "Mixed Rendering" (3) so they should try and use Hardware or Software rendering. Normal users can also change their rendering type if they want to try to see other rendering methods for improved performance.

When holding an animal this icon now appears:
[Image: ORjHP.png]

This icon will simply allow you to drop it. You can also right-click your character to drop it.

In addition to this, we've pretty much fixed all the issues identified by the community, thank you to everyone who has been reporting bugs and remember you can always report new ones here: http://sleepystudios.com/bugs

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Minecraft 12w50a and 12w50b snapshots

Minecraft has released a couple of new snapshots a couple days ago. Seems to mainly consist of bug fixes and tweaks more then new content, except maybe the new thorns enchantment that acts as a damage shield You can click on the links below for the official information or you can read the copy and paste here from my site.

http://www.minecraftforum.net/news/696-12w50a-snapshot-ready-for-testing/
http://www.minecraftforum.net/news/697-mists-of-pandaria-build-contest-results/  (end of post for 50b snapshot)


---copy and paste from wiki---
12w50b


Bug fixes[3]:
  • Fixed mobs walking slow when you hit them
  • Fixed server/client desync of chests
  • Fixed flame effect on arrows when fired into a pressure plate and player immediately engages flight mode
  • Fixed Tool highlight shows when itemstack changes
  • Fixed NullPointerException when pressing Ctrl+Q with nothing in your hand
  • Fixed zombies which sometimes stop attacking
  • Fixed the Unbreaking enchantment not working on armor
  • Fixed opening a GUI and showing the item name in the hotbar again
  • Fixed an enchanted item bug in 3D
  • Fixed the inability to remove partial XP bars from the "xp -1L" command when you're between level 0 and 1




  • Tweaked Fireworks effect and sounds
  • Item entities are rendered as 3d objects in the world when in Fancy graphics mode
    • This includes items placed in Item Frames
  • Items now show their enchantments when dropped on the ground
  • Added Enchanted Book to Villagers and Chests
    • Can be found in dungeons with special enchantments normally not obtainable
  • Overall Protection enchantment is no longer as effective as all the other Protection enchantments combined[5]
  • Silk Touch can now be applied to shears by using the anvil
    • Cobweb can be harvested utilizing this feature
  • Unbreaking enchantment can be applied to anything with durability using Enchanted Books
  • Added “Thorns” enchantment for armor
    • When hit by a mob, the mob will receive damage
  • Added tool highlight when switching items in the hotbar
    • Renamed items will display the changed name
    • To disable it, open options.txt and change heldItemTooltips to false.
  • Added a notice/warning for users still playing on PowerPCs or Java 5 (Java 1.5)
    • Mojang plans to drop support for Java 5 by Minecraft 1.6.[6] This is due to the most recent versions of LWJGL no longer supporting Java 5, with PowerPC also no longer supported by Apple to be made compatible with Java 6 or newer.[7]
  • When pressing CTRL+Q By defult (Or your "Drop" button if changed in controlls), you drop a full stack instead of one item
  • Removed Firework Rocket in Creative inventory
  • Added xmaschest.png, largexmaschest.png, and skis.png textures[8]
    • Chest will use these textures on December 25
Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed the Firework Star crafting recipe consuming unneeded items
  • Fixed arrows shot at Endermen disappearing
  • Fixed a bug with custom mob spawners not spawning different types of entities correctly
  • Fixed animals appearing to walk through fences in SP
  • Fixed some items with multi-layer textures rendering both layers separately when on the ground
  • Fixed tools differing only in damage not being able to be swapped in the inventory
  • Fixed some Z-Fighting with the beacon
  • Fixed some graphical issues in the trading GUI
  • Fixed /say not showing the text in the original purple color
  • Fixed placing double slabs ignoring damage value
  • Fixed minecarts being unable to travel through Nether portals
  • Fixed lightning not flashing
  • Fixed Firework Star duplication crafting recipe
  • Fixed the Nether and the End generating random client-side blocks in MP
  • Fixed FallingSand spawners failing to save properly and causing crashes
  • Fixed the blocks in lowest layer of the map not being recognized by beacons
  • Fixed enchantments not showing in Item Frames

Friday, December 14, 2012

Under the Ocean Alpha 3 Random World Generation.

Under the Ocean a unique survival game by Indie developer Paul Greasley has recently came out with a new update a couple of days ago. This one makes random world/island generation a reality and causes tons of randomness for the world you create. You can watch the video of the developers blog below.  Check it out at http://www.underthegarden.com/

   

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Don't Starve Naughty and Nice Update is released!

Don't Starve has released their latest update that I've recently showed everyone the preview for. They look like they have added some really great things to this update and I can't wait to purchase this game so I can give it a good play through as it keeps looking better and better. The link to the official post can be found at the link below or you can read the copy and paste of the notes here on watchsurvival.

http://www.dontstarvegame.com/blog/naughty-nice-update/

---copy and paste----

Klei Entertainment presents, a very special Don’t Starve update. Let’s be honest…It is hard to be good. But you must be good, lest you provoke the KRAMPUS!
If you are good, you can do good things, like build a bird cage for your fine
foodfeathered friends. Or you could
eatfoster a
delicious poor abandoned egg. Whichever path you fancy for yourself, just remember…Krampus is watching.
NEW FEATURES
  • Krampus will punish you if you are too naughty.
  • Don’t make the bees angry.
  • Spider nests are crawling with activity.
  • Bird and rabbit traps are more animal friendly.
  • You can build a bird cage.
  • You can hatch Tallbird eggs to gain a new friend.
  • Steam client runs at 60hz on fast computers.
  • Game saves on exit. It also auto-saves every mornings.
  • Updated minimap art to make biomes more readable.
GENERAL FIXES:
  • Traps should work properly again.
  • Dead pigs respawn more slowly
  • Tweaked the fire fuel values a bit (they were too high after the hot fixes)
  • Cooked mandrakes actually have effects now.
  • Tallbird eggs are no longer stackable.
----end copy and paste----

The Dead Linger Build 004 Released "Breach Point"

Good afternoon survivors! The Dead Linger has released an update for us, build 004. It has a ton of content and bug fixes. Along with a list of notes as long as my arm they also released a new Developers Video.  I'll post the video here for everyone to see, which describes most the new content and bug fixes but there is more in the patch notes. As usual you can check out the link below to read the entire list of patch notes. This game is starting to shape up into what I believe will be a fine zombie survival game.

http://www.thedeadlinger.com/archives/1366


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Zafehouse Diaries Patch 1.1.6

The text/map based tactics survival game Zafehouse has recently released a new patch.  I've yet to play this game yet but I gotta admit the style and everything about it just looks really awesome. It feels to be a really tactical survival game. I'll have to pick it up and play it soon. The link to the update can be found below or you can read the copy and paste.

http://www.zafehouse.com/2012/12/patch-v1-1-6-out-now-play-road-kill-an-all-new-game-mode/

---copy and paste----

It’s patch time again folks, and v1.1.6 is a beauty!
The most exciting addition is an entirely new game mode, called “Road Kill”. Search the town and scavenge for parts for a broken-down vehicle. Your survivors will then have to fix the vehicle before they can drive themselves to safety. To support this new mode, we’ve not only added new content, but modified existing dilemmas and events to reflect the altered objective.
The best thing about Road Kill is that rescue is now entirely in your hands — the game won’t end unless you drive out… or die. Even if you do make it out alive, relationships and the supplies you’ve gathered play an important role in just how well you do. How these affect the end result, well, you’ll have to play and find out!
Road Kill represents the largest addition to the game since its release; it really changes the way you approach the game. You’ll have to re-examine those rock-solid strategies that served you well in Classic mode and try different tactics if you want to succeed.
For players who like to share their games, you can now enable sharing functionality via the options menu. When active, hovering over diary entries will show a “copy to clipboard” button. This should make it easier to quickly paste text into forum posts or documents. We hope to expand this feature in the future to support popular social media sites.
As usual, a complete list of fixes, changes and improvements can be found on the forums.
Direct purchasers and GamersGate customers, the patch can be downloaded from our support page. For Desura users, please use the Desura client to update the game.


State of Decay Info

Hello everyone, Undead Labs has graced us with some more State of Decay information regarding tactics. A lot of it maybe rehashed from other posts but I found it a good read all the same. I'll post the link to the post below. Not gonna copy and paste this one because it is a long read.

http://undeadlabs.com/2012/12/news/welcome-to-the-end-of-the-world-or-buckle-up-yall-shit-just-got-real/#more-5623

Monday, December 10, 2012

Project Zomboid Monday Status Update

Well well. Project Zomboid has released their new info for their monday update. This game just keeps getting better! Today we learned about how the new combat system works and how you can strafe around using the mouse.  We also learn more about camping and how that works and what is needed to sleep in tents. This is all great stuff and I can't wait to get my hands on it! The official post can be found at the link below or you can read the copy and paste here.

http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2012/12/of-strafing-and-sleeping-beneath-the-stars/

---copy and paste----


Good evening survivor. Do not be afraid. We come bearing PZ videos, and this suspicious looking wound was from falling over a log and DEFINITELY not a zombie biting us. No sirree. Not us. We’re as uninfected as the day is long.
The closer we get to RC3’s release the more fun videos we can show you and, in general, the less cool new ‘stuff’ we can tell you about that you don’t know about already. This said, here’s some info on some cool ‘new’ stuff you probably didn’t know about already! These two nuggets of fun have made their way into the PZ build while Chris’ climactic work on making the NPCs behave is being fed into the mainframe.
Before we delve too deeply, however, a quick note for Binky’s sake to underline that these vids were taken prior to his crisp-ifing enshrinkulation work on the sprites (first word mine, second word his). Annoyingly a fair amount of time this week has been lost to developer injuries, and nightmare sprite export lua bugs – but all is fixed now! Huzzah!
First up, then – strafing in-game, and the sad demise of Baldspot’s trademark moonwalk. All combat now works using left mouse button and WASD. Holding the left mouse button will start you aiming toward the mouse cursor, and WASD will then strafe pointing in that direction until you release the mouse button to swing. This means that aiming beyond the heads of zombies is back, since we now don’t have to rely on that old mouse click position to ensure that combat against a throng of deadheads is nightmarishly difficult. Clicking on zombies will still work though, obviously. Oh, and if you play with mouse-control alone then right-click will still move you around – though we’re still working on how to let you strafe at the same time. It all looks a little like this:
 
All this means the cramp-inducing ‘holding ctrl clench’ that was once integral to combat is no longer necessary, and you’ll have a lot more precision and tactical movement during combat. All this said, the old system will still work if you decide that your bread is buttered that way.
Next video to rattle to a halt deep within the Zomboid tombola, meanwhile, is a WIP peek at the integration of Romain’s excellent camping mod into the RC3 build. As well as showing off his system a smidge, it’s also a great way for everyone to get an understanding of how the new UI will make everyone’s survival in Muldraugh a little more efficient – if not necessarily easier. It’s worth noting that we will have a specific crafting panel at some point as well, however. (Please note any slow-down in the vid is down to Romain’s Fraps playing up, not the game code!)
                                        
Okay, so that’s the main orders of business over with for one Monday. Elsewhere Mash is busying designing new maps, Will’s doing fresh writing, RingoD’s scripting that writing and Romain is busying himself with a few features that’ll aid our budding gang of modders once RC3 hits.
A few nuggets of housekeeping to close – after RC3 hits we’ll be unveiling a new website (not built by us don’t worry!) and we’d like to have a spangly new forum to match it. We’ve hit on a few snags with the latter, so if you’re a forumite we’d quite like to hear your opinion on what’s going on in this thread.
Finally, we’ll be doing a full mod blog on it soon (if that’s okay Thuztor!) but the first rendition of the Vacation Island map has recently hit the boards. We love it. Please, please give it a whirl!

Watchsurvival updated a bit

I'm just posting here to let everyone know that I've changed "what is watchsurvival"  page into "Survival Games List."  I've updated the page with quite a lot of new games for everyone to check out, due to a friendly anonymous survival fan updating me on what I was missing out on. (thanks man/woman) If anyone else happens to find other survival games I should add to the list please contact me and let me know.  I may not cover all of these games on the home page with all of their updates but I will try to do what I can.   At the very least they are listed so everyone may see them and not miss out on them.   Thanks everyone for the support and please be sure to give watchsurvival a +1 on Google if you have the time. 

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Minecraft 12w49a snapshot

Another Minecraft Snapshot was recently released. We now have fireworks for minecraft! Thats really cool. They also added some enchanting books and netherbrick slabs apparently. They claim they are getting fireworks ready for New Years.  They don't have sound effects yet but those will be added soon.  You can read all about it on the forums below or you can read the copy and paste here.

http://www.minecraftforum.net/news/691-12w49a-snapshot-ready-for-testing/

----copy and paste----

It's that time again - Snapshot time!  What goodies lie in this week's test client?  Mojang had this to say about the 12w49a Snapshot:


Quote
“What’s this? This doesn’t sound like a redstone update at all!”, you say. “Indeed,” we say. Thing is, we* suddenly decided we wanted to make sure that you have fireworks for New Year’s Eve, so we’re working in several parallel branches of the code now. One is for the 1.5 “Redstone Update,” and one is now for a 1.4.6 patch update. This update will be out before Christmas, and 1.5 will wait until January (or possibly February).

*Send complaints to jeb_

Changelog:
  • Added fireworks (sound effects will come soon)
  • Added enchanted books for enchanting items
  • Netherbrick slabs?!
  • Plenty of bugs addressed!

Wait a minute - enchanting books?!  What the heck are those?  As it turns out, Dinnerbone had some pretty awesome plans for the anvil when it first came out, and they included, among other things, the inclusion of sweet enchantment books!

Posted Image
Pictured: sweet enchantment books

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Don't Starve Naughty and Nice Update Preview

Don't starve has released a new fancy video for us to watch about the goings on in the new upcoming update.   Looks like they are adding some really interesting and cool stuff, for example it appears we are going to be able to have pets and we are going to have problems with some kind of npc that's going to be stealing our loot from storage containers.  Looks like some pretty crazy stuff. Follow the Link below to watch the video and see the official post about it. Or Watch the YouTube version below.



http://www.dontstarvegame.com/blog/dec-11-update-preview-naughty-nice/

Edit:  Apprantly there is also some hidden images and codes hidden inside the video. Fans of the game in the Don't Starve forums are figuring things out.   It appears there is a hidden image of a spider queen. The name of the chest theif among a couple of other neat finds.  You can read about all of them at the forums at the link below.

http://forums.kleientertainment.com/showthread.php?3414-Dec-11-Update-Naughty-amp-Nice-Preview-Video


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Don't Starve Nov 27th Update

Don't Starve has recently released an update on nov 27th.  This game is simply wonderful to play and can become very addicting.  I can't wait to see more updates for this game as they release more mid-game and end-game content to keep longer surviving players occupied.  The Link to the official post can be found below or you can read the copy and paste information.

http://www.dontstarvegame.com/blog/nov-27-update-birds-bees-and-dogs-oh-my/

---copy and paste info----

The good people of Klei Entertainment proudly present a NEW UPDATE to their latest electronic amusement program DON’T STARVE.
Wherein our her,o the good scientist WILSON, may apply his industrious spirit to the creation of several new contrivances:
  • Incapacitating BLOWDARTS,
  • devious BEE MINES,
  • a dapper VEST suitable for all formal or survival occasions,
  • a mysterious and powerful AMULET,
  • a HELMET from that glorious pass-time of foot-to-ball,
  • and a capacious and ergonomic BACKPACK to aid in the conveyance of loot!
But he must BEWARE, for a new and terrifying threat has emerged. HOUNDS and the even angrier and more deadly FLAME HOUNDS have been spotted near his encampment, and their ravenous desire for MEAT and DESTRUCTION will not be denied!
Should you have any queries, comments, or concerns surrounding this announcement, please direct yourself to this post in our Don’t Starve forums to converse with fellow esteemed explorers and champions of science!
If your preferred method of self-enlightenment is through pictorial imagery, please direct your attention to our eye-pleasing graphical posting below! Click it for maximum magnification gratification!

---end copy and paste----

The Dead Linger pre-release reward ended and new build soon to be released.

Well Ladies and Gents, The Dead Linger seem to be chugging right along still. They recently posted about their pre-order reward the gas mask deal has ended.  They are also giving us information about the new update they are working on which can be found at the link below or read the quick copy and paste here.

http://www.thedeadlinger.com/archives/1342


-copy and paste of build 004 information---

Build 004 “Breach Point” Release Date

Build 004 will be, hands-down, the largest gameplay content update we have released so far. It contains more changes than any previous patch, and will contain more substantial gameplay changes than any patch before it. With Thanksgiving holidays, we’ve gotten a bit off schedule and still need some time to really polish these new gameplay features. We are delaying the release of Build 004 by exactly one week. Build 004 will release December 11th. Some of the stuff it will contain;
  • Zombies will break down doors now. You are less safe inside houses.
  • Physics have been greatly improved, including but not limited to a re-write of how doors work
  • Some sound falloff and distant sound fixes
  • Lots of gun changes, including proper magazine sizes, ammo box requirements, and aim-down-sights
  • Much better login screen, including the ability to play offline without being forced to sign in
  • Better stability
  • Equipped items will move with the camera when you look around, among other tweaks to the first person experience
  • Borderless Windowed mode and better windowed mode support in general
  • Loads of crash fixes!
  • Better inventory usability, and stats now display in the inventory screen with bars
  • And tons more that we don’t want to spoil yet! This is just a small helping of what we’ve been preparing for 004.
Thank you all for your support, and please remember to let your friends, family, and pets know about our game. Build 004 is going to be huge.

Catching up to the internet is hard work. State of Decay information/screenshots

Hello everyone! Still working on my new house in real life and trying to catch up watchsurvival news is taking a minute. Undead Labs released some new screenshots for us for State of Decay the other day. They can all be found at the link below. This game is looking really great so far.  These shots show us some great amount of items from the inventory as well as some good gore/skill info and a overview of a city which can be seen at a distance to identify where you can go and what you can do.


http://undeadlabs.com/2012/11/news/surveying-says-new-screenshots/#more-5588

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Project Zomboid Status Update and Watchsurvival back online.

Hello everyone! I officially have internet setup at my new home now. Everything seems to be working really smooth and great so far.  I'll continue updating the site now starting with a late but better then never project zomboid update. This information was released yesterday, this game is going to be awesome after the next update. Anyways, you can click the information below or read the copy and paste.

http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2012/12/scripting-the-apocalypse-with-will-and-ringod/

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Hey survivors. Monday always used to be the most depressing day of the week, what with the walking dead getting in the way of your commute to the office and the destruction of society as you know it. That’s why we chose this day to deposit fresh Project Zomboid news just outside your safehouse, knock on the door three times in sharp succession and run away.
Binky’s Enshrinkulator (see here for technical deets) is about 95% complete, and as I type is in testing to make sure the files it spits out are all present and correct. Lemmy’s putting together a LUA script to test it, and then we can see whether everything’s correct in-game and that we don’t have floating baseball bats and pairs of glasses everywhere – before finally getting a few of those promised RC3 videos direct to your screen.
Elsewhere Mash continues to beaver away at map tiles for future map expansion, and Romain has been developing the front-end UI (story screen, map selection etc.), putting camping and farming’s through their final test and experimenting with easy ways to create walls, doors, fences and traps into Lua. Lemmy’s work on NPCs meanwhile, very much the most vital remaining cog required in the RC3 machine, continues apace. Indeed, once it’s done we’ll hopefully be at the tipping point at which all of the content RingoD discusses below can be plugged into place.
So, without much further ado, here’s Newcastle’s finest: Mister Paul Ring.

Hey RingoD – why doncha introduce yourself a bit, and tell us how you got involved with Zomboid?
I first got involved with PZ after I first decided to make YouTube videos after being told about it by a friend at work. After seeing the planned features and Paul Soares Jr’s first test drive I just knew I wanted to start making Lets Plays of the game. After my first couple of videos I started getting some comments off Lemmy, Binky and Nickenstein thanking me for them, and saying it was great to hear someone with a similar accent to theirs making videos of their game!
Well this was news to me. I didn’t have a clue at the time that they were even from the UK, nevermind just down the road. After a few more messages backwards and forwards, we met for drinks and nerdy chats, and became fast friends. A few months later Lemmy realised the scale of what was to come with the amount of scripting that would be needed for the story modes and various NPC stuff and, after conferring with the rest of the gang, asked if i would like to join the PZ team, I obviously instantly said yes.
What sort of scenarios and dialogue has Will been sending over that are destined to be a part of RC3?
One of the major scenarios, if you like, is the expansion of the Kate and Baldspot story mode, giving Bob more quests to help his beloved Kate to get back on her feet and also introducing more characters from Knox County. It still needs to be ported over to the new map, and Kate needs a couple of new animations before it will be complete, but story mode should be back in. Certainly to the point it was at in 0.1.5d, and perhaps beyond.
The other exciting things Will has been sending over have been various NPC encounters to go along side the new map streaming mechanic. In RC3 you’re going to have the chance to come across NPC’s in many different ways, which can then play out in different ways with reams of potential different dialogue. As well as that I’m scripting up all of the group dialogue stuff for arranging a looting party, with all the various random chit chat for NPCs seeing zombies, fighting zombies, being bitten, being healed and other various chit chat.

What do you have to do to the raw copy that’s sent over?
I get all of Will’s brilliant dialogue in a screenplay format, telling me the nature of the scene and the nature of the player and the NPCs involved – then the character lines themselves. I then wrap all of these up in Lemmy’s scripting language, the same one we first saw in 0.1.5, and make sure they all connect up where they should. I also add in any extra actions that need to be performed and can be handled by the scripting language.
Everything is then passed on to Lemmy who creates the more complicated parts of the scenes around the dialogue using the Sadastic AI director and LUA. The scripting up of the story mode is a bit more involved, as I also script up all of the mission pop-ups and stuff outside of pure dialogue. I believe that stuff like tool tips will also be making an appearance in the next update.
What’s your favourite exchanges that have come over so far? What do you think people will enjoy the most when it’s finally in-game?
Wow, what a question. I could honestly spend all day answering this one. For starters there’s a brilliant random scene that has the chance to play out in a Spiffo’s Restaurant, but I’m not saying any more on that! I don’t want to spoil the surprise too much! There’s also a possible psychopath you can walk in on, or is he just a friendly guy you met at a bad time?
There really is so many more great scenarios I could talk about but I know, as a player, it’s going to be better for everyone to experience them first hand than read them here. I have to say though, most of my favourite bits of dialogue so far have been some of the random one line comments – some of which are great tongue-in-cheek movie quotes.
I think the thing people will enjoy the most isn’t just going to be having functioning and capable NPCs, but also how much more alive and real they feel – what with all the dialogue they can spout given various different situations. There’s already dialogue for different personality types going in, with tons more to be added in the future.
How much content would you say you’ve processed so far?
We have 15 different NPC-meeting scenarios – where you could, say, meet an NPC outsidem inside, in the dark or in the rain. Many of these then have branching NPC dialogue depending on your actions.  Conversations hinge on whether characters are friendly, neutral or aggressive – but increasingly Will is also creating even more work for himself by providing different dialogue according to whether they have largely ‘negative’ or ‘positive’ traits. I lose count of how many variations there could be. There’s also random dialogue for player characters or groups when put into seven or eight different situations – including when you ask to group, which again has all those different random dialogue options. All these are ready to go and be dropped into the code, so if they’re not in RC3 – then they’ll certainly be a part of a build that comes quickly after.
Then of course, there’s what I’m working on now – the NPC looting missions that Lemmy is currently working on. Those have twenty possible openings for dialogue as each one proceeds, code-wise, so the possible variations are going to be HUGE. So far I’ve done the full set of dialogue for the friendly (positive trait) characters, and am in the middle of all the others right now.

You’ve also got your YouTube channel that introduced you to us all, of course. What are your plans for that?
I love making videos for my channel. It’s something I would never have done if it hadn’t been for PZ. I’ve started to upload videos more often recently, and have started doing videos for various other games – even if I tend to try and stick to indie titles. I’ve just uploaded my first VLog last week where I talk to my subscribers about my thoughts and plans for it all. My ultimate aim is to be the premium YT channel for Project Zomboid videos, and to try and get there I‘ve decided to try and upload 2 PZ videos every week, with uploads for other great indie games i’m currently playing and enjoying coming in between. Hopefully I can get at least 7 videos a week out – people seem to like my content and constantly ask me for more. Maybe if I can get as popular with PZ as Yogscast got with Minecraft I’ll be able to do 7 a day :-)
Do you reckon that your involvement makes Project Zomboid the most Geordie zombie game of all time?
Definitely the most Geordie zombie game of all time, and in my eyes certainly the best! I say most Geordie ‘zombie’ game as I seem to remember the original Driver game being made in Newcastle, and even better, you could get a special cheat code that let you drive around a section of Newcastle City Centre itself. That was probably the true greatest Geordie game of all time.

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