Survivors,

The wait is over and the beta is open! Jump right in, have your fill, and share your thoughts through the feedback survey (found on the title screen).

We love it when we hear how much you enjoy the game. We love it even more when we hear your valuable ideas to make God Save Birmingham even better!

If you have not requested access yet, it’s time to head to our store page and click on the “Request Access” button right now!

If you already requested access, but do not see the God Save Birmingham Playtest app in your library, try completely closing and relaunching Steam to force a refresh.

Once you’re in, you will now see the following apps in your Steam library: God Save Birmingham Playtest and God Save Birmingham Playtest Dedicated Server. The playtest app is what everyone should download for beta testing. The dedicated server app is required only when you are hosting a server–more details can be found later in this post.

We worked on expanding and improving upon the earlier beta build in June, and bring you some highly-requested features including:

• Save/load system utilizing an auto-save slot

• Expanded survival systems

• Smarter zombies

• Character customization

• UI/UX/quality-of-life improvements

• And an alpha state multiplayer mode!

For a more detailed list of changes, check out the patch notes.

Your feedback is crucial for us to continue improving the game and adding new features! Please make sure you fill out the feedback survey, which can be found on the bottom left of the title screen.

For any bugs, please utilize the in-game bug reporting feature, powered by BetaHub. The bug submission button is located on the Esc menu, so please report bugs immediately as they happen. If you include logs and video clips, they help our team to investigate and fix those bugs!

As a friendly reminder, please note the beta test schedule. Once the test ends, the app will become unplayable and hidden from your library.

We are bringing multiplayer to God Save Birmingham! Please note that this feature is still in an alpha state and an active work in progress. There currently is no in-game text/voice chat, so we highly recommend that you coordinate with friends. If you're looking for public lobbies, feel free to find a group on our Discord server[discord.gg], where we will also have some voice chat channels that you can use.

For co-op, you may join a server or open your own for others to join:

• If you plan to join someone else’s server, you need their server information to use in-game to join

• If you plan to host a server for others to join, you would need to set up a dedicated server

There are 2 different methods for creating a dedicated server. Please note that you only need 1 server for the session!

We outlined the general process for each method below. Please refer to the co-op guide[oceandrive.studio] for more detailed instructions!

1. Nitrado* Requires creating a Nitrado account
   For Beta #2, we partnered with Nitrado to facilitate dedicated server setup! Visit our Discord server with this special link[discord.com] and click the button for a chance to receive a Nitrado voucher along with instructions on how to redeem it. The voucher gives you access to a God Save Birmingham dedicated server on Nitrado until the end of Beta #2! Due to the limited number of vouchers, please be respectful of others and only claim a voucher if you are hosting the server. Guests do not need a voucher!

2. Dedicated Server AppAlternatively, to set up a server on a machine you own, you can use the God Save Birmingham Playtest Dedicated Server app, which is granted together with beta access. The app requires port forwarding and firewall whitelisting, outlined in the co-op guide[oceandrive.studio]. If you encounter issues, please reach out to ODS staff on our Discord server[discord.gg].

For any questions or issues during the beta, please do not hesitate to reach out to us on Discord[discord.gg]!

- ODS Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3073940/God_Save_Birmingham/

\[11/2 - Updated the Known Issues section & added information on Nitrado]

\[11/3 - Updated hotfix information for game version #527 CL128641 & server version #150 CL 128641]

Co-op requires the game version and the server version to match. When there is a patch, please make sure that everyone in the co-op session have the latest version.

If you host a server, you may want to restart the server after patching.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed the issue where DLSS Multi Frame Generation could cause the game to crash

• Fixed the issue where the game would sometimes crash at closing

Survivors,

It’s almost time for Beta #2! We have come a long way since the Closed Beta in June, so we would like to share some of the key changes made over the past few months.

Your feedback has played a crucial role for us to make these improvements! On top of that, the recent Core Group Test also helped us make necessary adjustments and changes to bring you this beta.

Please note that this is still a beta. A lot of the features are still actively being developed and expanded, including the co-op, which is still in a very early stage.

• Multiplayer mode

  • Multiplayer is still in alpha stage, so please note that there could be issues like characters/objects loading slowly into their saved state

  • Hosting requires setting up a dedicated server, and instructions can be found on our website[oceandrive.studio]

    • For this beta, we are also partnering with Nitrado[server.nitrado.net] to have a limited number of server vouchers available. Please refer to the beta live post for more details
      * You need to create a Nitrado account to set up the server using their service

    • Alternatively, you can use the God Save Birmingham Playtest Dedicated Server app on Steam, which you can access once the playtest starts

  • Unlike single player (where death means end of the game), multiplayer allows for respawns

  • The Leaderboard tracks the most kills and the longest survival time

• Save/load feature

  • Added one auto-save slot that allows players to resume a saved game

    • New saves will overwrite the existing save file, as there is only one save file

    • Single player and multiplayer do not share the save slot

  • Auto-save is triggered only by the following, and game progress will not be saved otherwise

    • Singleplayer

      • The game saves when you sleep

      • The game saves when you go back to title/quit the game via the Esc menu

    • Multiplayer

      • The game saves when everyone in the session sleeps

      • The server saves by saving/closing the server with the command

• Character appearance customization options

  • The saved appearance applies to all single player/multiplayer sessions

• New survival systems

  • Medicines for ailments

  • Clothes soiling and laundry

• Expanded the crafting system

  • Various craftable items that allow for better survival, such as:

    • Bags, which add carrying capacity

    • Reinforced weapons, which have higher stats

    • Medicine, which cure ailments

• Expanded cooking and food

  • Milled grain items

  • More ways to cook, such as pan-frying/grilling

  • Chicken butchering to obtain meat

• Expanded the weapon pool

  • Various everyday tools can now be used as weapons, such as knives, skillets, and rolling pins

  • Added more weapons, such as the two-handed axe and the two-handed sword

• Graphics upscaling options for smoother gameplay (DLSS/FSR/XeSS)

• In-game bug reporting system 

• GameAnalytics integration for better gameplay stats and analyses

• Improved zombie behavior

  • Differentiated zombie behavioral patterns based on the zombie type

  • Zombies can now attack latched doors/windows

  • Zombies can now climb minor height differences or open windows

  • Adjusted zombie aggro range

• More types of doors/windows can now be barricaded or latched

• Clothing now provides different warmth values based on their material

• Currently equipped items have less weight applied

• Revamped the Journal system where it feels more like a record of the player’s plights instead of being a mandatory quest tracker

• Improved various UI/UX elements

  • Revamped the Esc menu with more settings, including custom keybindings

  • You can now choose to eat all/dissemble all, when you have more than one of the same item

  • You can now queue other interactions while you are in animation

  • Revamped the moodles to provide information more clearly, including different colors for various stages

  • Revamped the Inventory UI with categorization and sorting options

  • Added in-game cues and screen effects for various statuses, such as dirtiness, coldness, and low stamina

  • And more!

• Weapon/combat

  • Improved aiming for some weapons

  • Adjusted hitboxes, animations, range, delay, and stamina cost for some weapons

  • Improved the shove/shake-off interaction with zombies

• Zombies

  • Further adjusted the zombie behavior, including pursuit speed, detection range, grab behavior, pathing, etc.

  • Zombies no longer immediately fall upon small changes in elevation

• Survival mechanics

  • Adjusted the impact of various status effects, including fatigue, exhaustion, drunkenness, and different illnesses

  • Adjusted crafting requirements, dismantling outcomes, and tool durability use

  • Improved visibility/effects for gatherable materials

• Journal system

  • Improved various Journal elements including UI, notifications, and guidance text

  • In single player, opening the Journal now pauses the game so that you can take time to read it

• UI/UX

  • Enabled keybindings for Q, E, and mouse side buttons

  • Expanded the camera sensitivity range to allow lower sensitivity options

  • Further optimized the game for a better gameplay experience

  • Improved sound effects in general, as well as how sound interacts with the environment, such as closed doors

• Other various improvements and bug fixes

• \[Fixed in #572] DLSS Multi Frame Generation may cause the game to crash

  • Players with GeForce 40 & 50 series graphics cards are advised to turn MFG off

  • To ensure it is off, please access Settings from the title menu, and relaunch the game after turning MFG off

• For co-op, having too many objects and zombies active can cause frame drops

• For co-op, players being scattered away from each other can cause optimization issues

• The Black Plague may not be accounted for in the cause of death

- ODS Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3073940/God_Save_Birmingham/