I'm already up to date with the current posts/updates for Dead Frontier 2 even before these recent posts, it's just that time wasn't on my side to make posts about them here. Nevertheless, I feel like taking a dive down the updates and posts so far from February till August. Now, let's take a trip down history...
Let's start from where we left off...
February 18th, 2018
It seems like there was an update just 8 days after my post, and it's about Dead Frontier 2's Steam Page going live.
AdminPwn then had to make a short gameplay video, as per Steam's requirements. You can check it out at the Creaky Corpse Blog, link below.
DF2 Gameplay Video, Steam Page & Release News
And here's the Steam page for Dead Frontier 2 below...
Dead Frontier 2 Steam Page
The release date was changed from April 2018 to July 2018, or somewhere close to that. As stated in my February 10th post; a delayed game to make it complete is better than a rushed mess, but we also can't be placing too many delays.
Not everyone is patient, and some are quick to flip out when even the slightest hiccup happens. Luckily, no one was angry about delays for a much completed/polished game.
Option B was chosen, which is to release a 'closed alpha test' in April and have a small group to test the game. We'll get back to this later in June...
Anyways, the game's got some progress done. Some improvements are: Active skills such as kicking/sneaking/dodging, Missions and NPC/boss systems were complete and the game's UI and menu designs has been finished.
Kicking is pretty useful to give yourself some breathing room if the zombies get too close, dodging is self-explanatory and sneaking is something I imagine working out like Fallout 3/NV/4 type sneaking mechanics.
March 30th, 2018
The most interesting update to the Dead Frontier 2 development blog; potato mode.
What is it? Well, it's basically the most basic graphic settings available in the game; disables most of the settings available. And lemme tell ya, that's a life-saver right there.
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| If I was still using my ol' craptop, the last option will come in useful... |
I'm not even joking... throughout my years of living, the games I've used to play were pretty low-spec. Granted, I did play Fallout 3/NV on a freaking netbook once... but that's beside the point.
The point is that not everyone has a beefed-up supercomputer that can run everything at 60 FPS 4K. The laptop I'm using should be able to handle the game around Medium settings, but it's always nice to have a backup "basic" mode lying around.
Now, to the other set of news...
Servers. This is also a pleasant thing to see, now the servers used should be able to handle up to 20K [that's 20,000] players at launch.
But the best part about this update is multiple servers across the globe. No more will we have that damned "no-hit" lag which caused me to play Singleplayer Mode while playing DF3D. Servers located in North America, United Kingdom, Poland, South America and Singapore. That's quite a lot of coverage; missing only the Middle Eastern/African areas, Russia, China, Canada and of course, Australia.
Not sure if these other zones will have their own servers, but it'll probably be implemented only if the playerbase in said areas are quite big.
Work on the game is going well, as written by AdminPwn. There's only a handful of features missing from the game, and he plans to complete them by Summer. The missing features were Clan Systems, Competitions, Item-to-Item Trading, Outpost Attacks and Barricading.
So far his focus is on the game's core aspects; like looting, hunting zombies, missions, boss fights and level ups. This is to make the game as fun and engaging as possible on release.
And then we have some screenshots. The game's looking good as from previous screenshots...
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| I think the rain effects look amazing, same goes for the fire FXs. |
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| A sneak-peak at the character screen; note the multiple characters you can have. |
5th May, 2018
We're greeted to a sneak peak of a boss players might encounter out in the game; the Tendril.
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| These 'painfully fast' freaks are back again in DF2... |
A DF3D enemy that's notorious for being a pain in the neck, along with Spiders due to it's speed and quick attacks. They also deal quite the damage, too...
And now the Tendril's here in DF2 as a boss. This is going to hurt...
Anyways...
Some changes in the plans; AdminPwn decided to launch the game as an 'Early Access' tittle on Steam, as he doesn't want to delay the game any further. The plan is to have an Alpha Testing period first to for bug-fixes/internal testing before rolling out the Early Access. The missing features from March 30th's post will be done later down the line.
I suppose this is okay, at least there's a closed Alpha Test before the Early Access release. Think of it as "Open Beta" for the Early Access that's free and not one of those DayZ types of 'Early Access'.
Then there's the Dead Frontier 2 Discord server that was set up to interact with players/fans better. I wanted to join in on this, but busy schedule kinda got in the way... plus, I don't really use Discord nowadays... unless I'm playing/chatting with friends.
And then there's some other development news: the amount of players in multiplayer instances was increased from 4 to 8, effectively doubling the amount. This is to make it feel more like an MMO rather than a co-op survival game.
There was also a sale at the one of the server companies' Singapore data-center, so Admin took the chance to get some extra servers. These new ones should help with the ping for folks over in Australia and East Asia.
Last but not least; some awesome concept art. There's quite a selection, but I'm gonna go ahead and pick just one that I fancy...
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| Looks like an early 'Reaper'... |
Check out the rest of the concept art over at the Creaky Corpse blog post, link below...
Dead Frontier 2: Tendril Boss, Concept Art & More!
And that's all for this post! There's still a bunch to cover, so stay tuned for that.
-Zombie Sniper-
