Build 41 is it multiplayer yet?

[SUMatt]

...

[Xgpmcnp]

No. Multiplayer is said to possibly happen more towards winter, it was mentioned in a Thursdoid. They've decided to delay it and release other updates for now to add content that was requested for a while. Soundworks for example should be coming in soon.

[SUMatt]

:(

[WiseCog]

Originally posted by SU | Matt:

:(

I feel you. I am itching like mad for this game to have MP. Right now I have taken a small break til they release tapes. I hate forcing myself to watch all shows and loose out on food and such instead. Taped shows will be amazing.

[Deadman]

You can remote play, but that means splitscreen and 2nd person uses a controller, which has a steep learning curve, but not too bad once you get the hang of it

[Tactix]

I've definitely been waiting for this as well. It's been years since I've played this with friends and I was surprised to check today to see people still saying MP coming soon. I'd like to see bots in someday again too, but they did finally put cars in, so there's that.

[Greb]

How long has Update 41 been without multiplayer? My friend said it came out at Halloween in 2019. That was almost two years ago. Has there not been any multiplayer for it for two years? How's that work? Surely that's wrong...so please correct me, lol. It sounds like it should be wrong.

I guess people are just happy with version 40 if they want to play multiplayer, though.

But yeah I hope multiplayer comes out for the up to date version of the game too, soon. This game feels a lot better with friends than it does in solo play, despite some of other oddities like nobody needing sleep and stuff. There's just something really cool about watching each others back and then going into a big building to loot it, not being able to see your friends unless you've got eye contact on them just like a zombie, there's a lot of those moments where you turn around suddenly and see them and you raise your weapon like "whoa!" and then calm down, lol. Good stuff.

Hope the MP update for Update 41 comes soon, anyway.

[sokolov]

Originally posted by Greb:

How long has Update 41 been without multiplayer? My friend said it came out at Halloween in 2019. That was almost two years ago. Has there not been any multiplayer for it for two years? How's that work? Surely that's wrong...so please correct me, lol. It sounds like it should be wrong.

There's been literally only 2 people working on the multiplayer with the recent arrival of an additional mp dev. They also haven't been working full-time on mp until January of 2020.

The entire animation system got overhauled too in build 41 so take a wild guess why it needs time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3W6BHddX4k

They're also optimizing the ♥♥♥♥ out of mp so you won't experience much lag / cheap zombie bites with hosts overseas. (build 40 mp is horribly laggy)

Is it bs that mp is taking them so long? Yes, but at least they aren't going to release a half-assed buggy mp that resembles Cyberpunk's quality.

If you want to know what mp problems they tackle or what progress they are making just browse their PZ blog website.

[Greb]

Well I decided to check the news posts anyway and it said that the "iwillbackupmysave" beta was released on the 16th of October 2019. At a glance that seems to be the last news post by them too. Do they just not bother making posts over at Steam anymore then, and just focus purely on their own website? That's not cool, if so.

Oh well. Is Update 41 just a beta then? I thought it was a full release on the main branch just with missing MP features, and the "iwillbackupmysave" part was just for testing new features being constantly added in an Update 41 beta branch before getting put onto the main branch. I thought that was how most games worked, but not really a dev so who knows really lol.

So has there been any actual content updates or gameplay improvements since October 16th 2019?

[sokolov]

Originally posted by Greb:

Well I decided to check the news posts anyway and it said that the "iwillbackupmysave" beta was released on the 16th of October 2019. At a glance that seems to be the last news post by them too. Do they just not bother making posts over at Steam anymore then, and just focus purely on their own website? That's not cool, if so.

They make posts over steam, in the discussions, not news / announcements.
Check the pinned posts for their latest Thursdoids, but it would rather be preferable to check the website every-so-often, they post once a month now with status updates to give breathing room to the mp-crew. (they used to do thursdoids every week)
https://projectzomboid.com/blog/news/

Originally posted by Greb:

Oh well. Is Update 41 just a beta then? I thought it was a full release on the main branch just with missing MP features, and the "iwillbackupmysave" part was just for testing new features being constantly added in an Update 41 beta branch before getting put onto the main branch. I thought that was how most games worked, but not really a dev so who knows really lol.

Yes, build41 is a beta, build40 is the stable version.

imo it is better to allow users to be able to access the beta and stable version at any given moment instead of rolling them periodically (see Minecraft's snapshots for example, all of them are still available for download from the launcher itself since 2010)

It also kind of helps to "appease" the community by letting players access the content early without waiting for a stable release, if multiplayer was available as a beta people would go crazy over it.

Originally posted by Greb:

So has there been any actual content updates or gameplay improvements since October 16th 2019?

Content updates in beta? yes. In stable? no.

Why? Because the next "stable" verison will probably come out when multiplayer is all done I guess?

They are also actually working on actual content too, like Noiseworks overhauling PZ's entire sound system (and music too!), 3d items visible on furniture and floor and VCR tapes to change the "TV-only in first week" meta.

Some modders also joined up PZ's team to overhaul existing maps and add new maps iirc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPmbAXRditM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9VIrUgYocY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzvIO9urazk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEntIm5soIQ

[Tactix]

It's just mind boggling that literally years later, same build numbers being tossed around with the same reasons as to why this isn't onto #42 yet, or MP at least. I definitely like the game and pushed 6-7 friends into it for jolly cooperation. Current wiki for build 41 ( https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Build_41) and the page for build 42 (https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Build_42) has this as the first line: "Build 42, also known as the Hunting update, is one the oldest planned updates, behind NPCs (Kate & Baldspot) and the Louisville map expansion, mentioned as early as October 2012". The point of my comment isn't to bash the game, I really liked the game for the 100 or so hours I put into it. My friend group decided to back off, a few years ago, awaiting said update and I came here to toss them a bone saying "look! it's here!" but instead I found the same statements from years ago. I hope this project gets some progress on that end of things. I get we can play the old version in MP but we've been doing that since 2016. Some posts from times past - https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/juytln/when_can_we_expect_build_41_to_have_multiplayer/

https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/e03vux/how_to_play_build_41_multiplayer/

https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/f5cg00/when_will_the_build_41_release/

https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/o098fr/what_happened_to_build_41_multiplayer_was_it/

the final reddit link there is from like 2 months ago, someone telling the question asker they "learned their lessons on setting dates"

Why share all of this? Just so you've got a lil more info in your pocket is all. I think the game is truly one of a kind, but you ought to know the truth and there's a long thread trail to follow.

Edit: Definitely don't want it to look like I'm bashing the game/devs. I do thoroughly enjoy the concept. It is just worth mentioning to anyone who is looking to buy into this game that we got cars and weather in 2018 and nothing for multiplayer since. https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Version_history - Why is that important? There's just a lot of folks here and on the reddit that rabidly defend the title and any sort of criticism get's assaulted as haters being impatient. I imagine my group will be building multiplayer bases in KSP 2 or something else far off before we get the opportunity to test new animations out in a co op setting. Waiting 3 years for an update to play with friends is pretty wild.

[MEGA cHik1N s4cK Ca5Ro Cunn7]

It sucks that it took this long..

used to play this lots with mates on the old builds. we still play the solo builds but weve been waiting 2 years to get on mp. But because of irl stuff im not gonna be able to do pz singleplayer or multiplayer for a few years. Shame that it took this long.

[Grishnerf]

it ages like a wine. worth the wait.
release 2042

[Greb]

Originally posted by Sokolov:

Some modders also joined up PZ's team to overhaul existing maps and add new maps iirc.

Definitely glad to hear that. I remember it being a pretty common sentiment (before the addition of vehicles and guns, I think) that the modders were pretty much finishing the game for the devs and adding stuff in that was promised but never delivered on, etc.

Not really followed Project Zomboids development lifecycle much, admittedly. Heard about the game when it released in 2013, bought it in 2014, didn't really get too deep into it since I was new to PC gaming back then and it was a little overwhelming, now I'm playing it again in 2021 and a little surprised it's still in Early Access with beta branches still ongoing, etc.

Well, hopefully development is finished soon. This has got to be one of the best if not the best zombie survival games going, with all the details and stuff is has. Once it is fully released, mods will make it into a masterpiece for sure. Would love a Silent Hill mod, the fog effects are really good.

Does Project Zomboid have a trello? All good Early Access games should have one!

[Flavalicious]

PZ is a fine wine that gets better with time. Its frustrating as hell in the short term but if youve had the game long enough you start to see the big improvements in the long term. Games come light years from not having any cars, imagine hauling ♥♥♥♥ from a town like 30-45 minutes of running down a road, only to drop it off and go back for another trip. lol

It'll get there, just one of those games you leave on your list and check back every year or so until a big update drops and then you play it day and night for a few weeks, rinse and repeat lol