Hey Stalker,
it’s time again for an update from the Sievert Zone. Once again we have lots of new information for you. Today we want to show you what has been happening in the last few months. We will first give you a rough overview and then take a closer look at topics such as the size of the map, the forests and fire geometry. Of course there are also new screenshots of some new assets and the map. And at the very end you can expect some big news. So let’s go!
Current state
First let’s move on to the current state of the map. A lot has happened in the last few months, in addition to the usual progress towards the north, the entire forests on the map have been reworked, more on that in a moment. Currently, the south of the map, especially the area in front of the zone, is being revised and brought to a final state.
More and more assets have a working collision and fire geometry, more on that in a moment. In addition, we have started to create LODs for the assets, an essential step for optimizing performance.
In the past, we have also looked at how to ensure that it gets dark in tunnels in a realistic way. For this we used the DayZ Underground trigger system, which is also used on the Livonia map. If you follow our Discord Server closely, you already know the following video.
As you can see, we are making good progress. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to do and to the beloved question, when release? When it’s done™️ The next image shows the updated state of development map.
As you can see on the overview map, we are getting closer and closer to the north. If you compare the graphic closely with the last graphic, you will notice that the object count has gone up a lot and the textures have become significantly less. The object count is due to the newly generated forests, which on the one hand have slightly more objects, and on the other hand large areas outside the playable area have now been given a forest, which previously had none. On the texture side, we have decided to sort out a lot and delete similar textures.
Map Size
In the past, the question came up how large the Sievert Zone is. The map scale on the overview map is correct, the playable area covers an area of approximately. 16×9 km. To get an even better feeling, we have an uncut video for you in which you can follow the path from the Cordon military checkpoint to the Clear Sky base in the swamp.
On the picture below you can see exactly which route was taken in the video. The other picture shows the current satellite map of the Map without any marker.
New forest
In addition to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. areas, the Sievert Zone also consists of large areas of forest. The trees were not placed by hand, but generated procedurally with SFlora. For this purpose, we created a noise map with different colors. The respective color stands for a certain combination of trees. SFlora knows from the colored areas where which tree may be placed, and using various parameters it is possible to create natural-looking forests procedurally.
At the beginning of the project, we only had access to the DayZ vanilla vegetation, but as more and more S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trees became available over time, the procedurally generated forests soon became very different from the rest of the map. In order to get a uniform look again, we decided to generate all forests again with new trees and settings. We also took the opportunity to make the forests a little more visually appealing. Here are a few before and after screenshots.
In addition to the LODs, we are currently concentrating on the correct shader (rvmats) settings for the trees. In the comparison picture you can see how the trees look with the wrong settings and on the right a result with which we are already quite satisfied. Our goal is that the trees do not differ in color and shading from the DayZ trees, so that all assets harmonize well with each other.
Fire Geometry
Another question that has arisen in the past is how our Fire Geometry will behave. In other words, how does a projectile behave when it hits a wooden wall, for example. Various factors have an influence here, on the one hand of course the material and the caliber, but also for example the angle and the distance from which it is fired. Here is a short video of how our fire geometry currently behaves. As always, all work in progress.
Asset Showcase
Over the past months, a few small hand-crafted assets have also found their way into the zone. Here are a few render images of the new assets.
Screenshots Map
Note that the Gallery has been expanded with Construction Site, Dark Valley, Forest. Sorry that you have to scroll so much now, the Gallery will be overhauled in the future. The screenshots below are a sneak peak of Old Road and Harmont, a town outside the zone inspired by the book roadside picnic.
Cooperation with Stalker Survival
Finally to the big news, we are happy and very excited to announce that we will start a cooperation with the Stalker Survival Project | SSurv Discord. First of all, this cooperation will not change our release plans. As soon as the map is finished, it will be available for everyone via Steam Workshop. Without restriction. At the same time the Stalker Survival (SSurv) Project Server will start with the Sievert Zone Map. This means you can start exploring the zone right away with the workshop release.
The Stalker SSurv Project and we both have the goal to offer a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience in DayZ that is as authentic and, above all, qualitatively refined as possible. In order to achieve this, systems should be tested as early as possible. Through the cooperation we have the opportunity to test the map under real conditions, which in turn means that the map will start a new internal test phase in the near future.
How will the cooperation work? The SSurv team will get access to the map, start testing certain systems, analyze the server performance and go into feedback loops with us. At this point it is important to emphasize that both projects will remain independent. This cooperation has come about because we have realized that both teams have similar quality standards and goals, which in the best case benefits both sides.
We do not want to ignore the fact that other promising projects have asked for cooperation in the past. We are grateful for any requests, feedback and discussions. We look forward to seeing various projects grow on the map.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us so far. Shout out to the ModFactory and many individuals who have always helped us with modding questions! And of course to the entire community.
Finally, some news that is more interesting for the German community. For context, this map, as well as the team, has its roots in the German S.T.A.L.K.E.R. RP community. We are happy to announce that we have the possibility to start our own german RP server with the release of the Map.
Thank you for your interest, stay tuned for more information and good hunting S.T.A.L.K.E.R.!