May 2020 Status Update

May 2020 Status Update

 In Namalsk posts

First and foremost, I hope that everyone is staying safe during these challenging times. Things have taken a route only few probably expected and we all had to adjust our daily lives for the safety of everyone around us.

You may ask where is February, March and April update? Well, its all in this one. Things changed for me quite a bit this year and given the position that I have within the DayZ project, there is much more weight added to pretty much anything I write or say. But now that the embargo on the info about upcoming 1.08 has lifted (experimental build was released), let me share an update on the journey towards the release of Namalsk.

One of the items on the to-do list from the last year blog post was the fireplace. I have decided to invest much more time into this than originally planned, but that is mainly because of the fact that this feature really deserves it. It plays a major role in the cold/rainy climate survival and it is an essential tool for any wilderness survivalists. So what has changed for it?

QoL improvements, bugfixes

Upon diving into the fireplace code, lot of stuff came up as not really working or finished unfortunately. So lot of attention was put to the QoL part and bugfixes. Some things worth mentioning:

  • Attach (and for some cases also detach) action was added to all fireplace-relevant items to reduce use of the inventory.
  • You can now interact with items that were put into the cargo of the fireplace, but they receive overtime damage, eventually resulting in a complete removal.
  • Lifetimes of fireplace were overhauled (2 days for one with stone circle, 7 days for stone oven and all indoor fireplaces). Barrel fireplace remains on 45 days.
  • Tripod has been resized visually and also in the inventory.
  • All relevant fireplace items can be used to create indoor fireplaces (instead of going through the creation of a fireplace kit).
  • Fire ignition conditions were brought back to life (interior limitations, weather,..). Making fire making more immersive.
  • Stone oven could douse by rain or wind.
  • Fire barrel crafting takes more time and damages knife more. Additionally, it can be carried after fire has been created in it and went out.
  • Bark kindling slot has been unified.
  • Visual and sound effects for fireplace/cooking were often to cleaned up properly (resulting in multiple effects over each other or ghosts).
  • And many, many more…

Indoor stove

While the fire ignition restrictions have been put back in place (veterans may remember “its not safety” message), worry not as 1.08 is adding a new fireplace type – Indoor Stove. You may have seen this in several houses already, but now it is finally something you can use. Work just like the regular open indoor fireplace, except it only has one cooking slot and gives much less light in the room.

Direct cooking slots

Many of you probably got into a situation of looking at the fireplace you just started, food in your hands and a metal grill in the fireplace. Wondering why cant you just place it and cook it. Well, wonder no more, direct cooking slots allow you to do just that.

Replacing the original cooking equipment slots, this feature allows you to cook food directly without the need of cooking equipment while also retaining the option to also attach regular cooking equipment with the cooking mechanics that you are used to already.

If you are experienced survivor, living in the wilderness or within the safety of your base, you will probably welcome the stone oven and fire barrels, because they can have up to 3 direct cooking slots. This means you can even put 3 cooking pots on top of it. Speaking of cooking pot, frying pan was finally brought back in the game alongside a handy lighter for the cases, when you just cant find any matches.

If you are struggling to survive, look around for houses with indoor fireplaces. While open interior fireplace (with metal grill) has 2 slots and the metal plate on indoor stove 1 slot, the value of staying in the interior (cover from weather elements) already makes this an obvious choice for anyone.

And while you are at it, make sure to drop the meat on grill or plate and just listen to the cooking sounds. That alone makes this feature extra immersive!

Conclusion

It may have taken a bit longer than I expected, but it has been sure worth it. I can guarantee you that you will very much welcome these changes and additions whenever you get into a situation of being cold or having to prepare any amount of food.

Now you may ask, when are the other changes coming? Well I have established a ground work for lot more (but obviously only finished stuff made it into the 1.08 release), so do not worry, things are happening. I am particularly excited for the decay of item variables and stages. This seems more and more real and I am excited to talk about it more later.

For now, I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and please, hop on the 1.08 Experimental to make sure to give us feedback things that you have encountered. Stay safe out there!