It’s not quite so bad as this year’s PSN outage, but Deep Silver has issued an apology for the myriad issues surrounding Dead Island on PC, and is planning to offer something by way of apology. Those affected by the launch day screw up — which saw gamers downloading a broken “debug” version of the game — will be getting a treat in the near future.
The correct version of Dead Island is now available for download, and users are urged to get it ASAP, especially as their save files on the dev build won’t be preserved. Deep Silver has said that, while saves will be wiped, a character’s chapter progress should be intact, so gamers can at least hop a little further into the game rather than start entirely from scratch.
Codes for the downloadable “Ripper” weapon currently aren’t working, and Deep Silver is aware of it. A future patch will resolve this, and is hopefully coming soon. The promised “Bloodbath” DLC is still on track and will be available to those with codes on a yet-to-be-announced date.
After all the hype, it’s a shame that Dead Island‘s launch has been such a complete clusterf*ck. That’s Techland for you, though. I hope at least some people are having fun with it, because there is fun underneath all the mess.
PC Patch Notes:
Multiplayer and Matchmaking improvements
· Maps are now correctly synchronized when player joins during map loading
· Games now filter correctly in lobby
· After joining a coop game enemies now spawn correctly
User guidance improved. (Quest guidance, UI, shop)
Additional Interface polishing
· Map tracking now works correctly after loading checkpoints
· Health and stamina bars of enemies now display correctly in coop.
· Locations of invisible NPCs are no longer shown
· More than one player can now use the same ladder simultaneously
· Focus on items in shops is not changing after operation (sell, buy)
· Additional Interface polishing
· Fixed displaying gather rings near some door
Player death behavior improved
· Respawn position now saved when playing in cooperative mode
· If player dies whilst inside vehicle, menu will now be hidden
Save game mechanics extended
· Added distinction between quest checkpoints and other saves
Minor animation fixes
· AI animation now displays correctly after fast travel or travel through portals
AI improvements
· Improved enemy awareness (zombies)
· Enemies reaction to fire adapted
· Enemies are now able to successfully reach player on some arenas
· Shooting enemies no longer spawn infinitely
Balancing changes in difficulty
· Item level will be calculated correctly when playing in second playthrough
· Kick interrupting reload now adapted; after clip is inserted reload is treated as successful
· Health regeneration is now disabled during grab.
· More HP for all escorted NPCs
· Removed all instances of Butcher during escorts
· Purna can gain bonus rage from both “Grim Inspiration” and “Inspiring Kick”
· Only “Walker” type enemies increase the extra XP of the “Combo” skill from Xian’s Survival skill tree
Pause Option added
· Added information about players requesting pause (Co-op)
Looting rules improved
· Thrown items now cannot be picked up by another player for 5 minutes.
· Items from just-opened containers cannot be picked up by another player for 5 seconds.
Minor graphical glitches fixed.
· Rectified occasional graphical glitch with NPC’s hands bending awkwardly
· Animations now display correctly when trading
· Stomper animation now displays correctly when same target is hit by another player
Sound bugs fixed
· Volume of pickup’s engine has been increased
Quest bugs removed
· All side quests in Laboratory can now be successfully completed
· Potential walkthrough blocker removed when quest “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” is completed before talking to Dominik during “On the air” quest
