Happy Anniversary! It’s been a year since our journey on Generation Zero began and we’re so happy that you’re here with us for this milestone.
This major update brings with it some brand new features, that we based off of a variety of player feedback that appeared since launch. Like many of the features that get suggested from you all, we also had our own ideas for mhow we wanted to improve the game - and the great part is many of them overlapped or worked beautifully together, creating impactful changes. So, what did we add for our anniversary? Well…
Crafting
Something that we’ve been wanting to add for a while, and something that many players felt would be an improvement, is the ability to craft items. With this update we’re taking our first steps into allowing you to craft things within the world! As this is only the beginning, we’re starting small but will continue to add elements to this feature as time goes on - so let us know what you’d like to see!
Specifically in this update, we’re introducing the first iteration of the Crafting system - adding bonus stats to any of your apparel. Now you can apply a bonus to your favorite outfit so you can be both stylish and combat ready! We’ve created a handful of potential bonuses for your clothing, including explosive damage resistance or a noise reduction bonus. You’ll need the schematics to learn how to craft these improvements, as well as the proper materials, which can all be found throughout the world. You’ll find them inside houses, in containers, or dropped from the machines. Recycling your old equipment is also another great way to get some crafting materials.
Inventory Update
Alongside Crafting we’ve taken the opportunity to give the player inventory a bit of a facelift. There was a lot of feedback around this one in various forms and something we spent a bit of time thinking about how to approach. In the end we looked for something that would be more convenient to use, easier to understand, and less technically complicated - something that we think people will be used to and appreciate. Going forward players will now have lists of items in categories and your inventory will only be limited by item weight. No longer by number of items! Additionally we’ve done away with the stack limitations so you more easily manage all of the items you have! Just like with Crafting, this is new to you all and we’re very much open to your feedback on how it’s working.
Continued World Revamp
As part of our ongoing work to make the world feel more alive we’ve taken another pass at the beginning Archipelago region and given it quite the significant update. You’ll see more named locations, more interesting “world scenes”, and more variety in the houses. This is just the start of how we want to continue to revamp parts of the world to make each region feel more distinct and play into a larger narrative. Something that we hope pulls you into the experience even more and excites you to keep exploring.
Difficulty Options
We all know that there are plenty of different types of players out there, and we want to make sure we give our players options when it comes to their experience with Generation Zero. Since not everyone plays games for the same reasons, or in the same way, we decided to give players the option to choose the level of difficulty they want to face in the game. For example some players like to play for the challenge of overcoming odds that are stacked against them, but other players prefer to explore the world we’ve built and experience it without combat getting in the way of that journey. With that in mind, we created options around not only the difficulty level, but also if you want the difficulty to scale if more players join your game. We feel that more options make for a better experience for you, whether you’re going it alone or with friends!
From today you’ll see 3 difficulty options for you to choose from, with the Skirmish difficulty being the equivalent to the game’s status prior to this update. The other two difficulties will either increase the combat challenge (Guerrilla) or allow for more focus on the story over combat (Adventure). Let us know how they feel!
Anniversary
As you can imagine, with any anniversary there’s a celebration - and as you can guess, we want to celebrate with you all in Generation Zero. You’ll see and hear more from us in the days leading up to our anniversary day (March 26) so no sneak peeks this time. Stay tuned to our Twitter, Facebook, & Forums to make sure you find out what’s coming!
Before we go, note that the upcoming update also contains a smaller bug fix list, as this was a major feature update for us. Most of our time was spent implementing those features, but we did find time to jump on some of the most important issues. That said, with any new features there are sometimes things we don’t catch with our testing, so if you see anything not working properly let us know so we can sort it out.
Lastly - THANK YOU! We couldn’t have done all of this without your support and feedback. We hope you continue to enjoy your time in Generation Zero as much as we enjoy improving the experience alongside you. Here’s to a great continuation of 2020!
NOTE: Due to some last minute fine-tuning and organizational challenges, we will unfortunately need to split up the patch release between PC and consoles. PC is live now and we expect the Xbox and PS4 patches to come out very soon after - by our Anniversary at the latest (March 26). Stay tuned for more info in our channels!
Bug Fixes
UI
- [Community Report] Fixed an issue where the hidden glasses would not appear in your inventory when you picked them up (players that previously picked them up will see them in their inventory now)
- Fixed an issue where not all instances of explodable tanks (ex. gas tank) could be looted
- Fixed an issue where a lockpick would be consumed even if the player had the correct key to a locked door
- Fixed an issue where the interaction trigger location on skills was inconsistent
- Fixed an issue where the Worn Leather Gloves would obscure the player’s view when aiming down sights
- Fixed an issue where shotgun shells could sometimes get out of sync with the reload animation
- Fixed an issue where the transition between standing and crouching would be instant when aiming with iron sights
Missions
- [Community Report] Fixed an issue where the Tank would not spawn in the Last Resort Side Mission
- Fixed an issue where the objective marker for the Gas Run Side Mission was in the wrong place
Machines
- [Community Report] Fixed an issue where machine corpses would sometimes disappear before players could loot them
- [Community Report] Fixed an issue where the loot window would instantly disappear when looting machines, making it impossible to loot the machine
World
- [Community Report] Toned down the number of Boomboxes that were spawning in the world
- [Community Report] Fixed an issue where there was missing wall collision in the Björntunet spa
- Fixed an issue where it was snowing inside the Beredskapsförråd 107 underground facility
- Fixed an issue where some loot containers at Safehouses outside of a Region were not spawning loot
- Fixed an issue where some loot containers were not properly able to be interacted with
- Fixed a few instances of floating, untextured, or invisible objects
General
- Fixed a few minor text errors
//The Generation Zero Team
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