DayZ 1.21 Developer Stream Summary

DayZ 1.21 is set to release on Xbox and PC, with the experimental version coming out on Thursday, April 20th. The stable version will likely come out in about a month for all platforms. There is no confirmation yet if there will be a wipe coming for 1.21, but the developers will notify players on Twitter when they know more.

One change in the game is that players now spawn with more food, making it easier to get started. However, it's not clear if this change was made before the stream. Additionally, fresh spawns now come with 4 hotbar slots with default gear, so starting out is a little easier.

When loading in, players will now see tips on the bottom of the screen. The gamma has also been increased in the inventory to make items easier to see by default. A brightness slider has also been added for the UI, including inspect screens and all icons seen on the screen.

There are no map changes coming in 1.21, so there will be no NWAF update this time. Bug fixing is a significant part of most patches, and DayZ 1.21 is no exception. For example, the glitch of viewing through walls using an animation has been fixed. Additionally, the developers have worked on fixing the glitch of falling through the map, but they've asked players to let them know if they experience this bug still.

The developers are aware of duping and cheater issues and are banning players who do it. However, it's a constant battle, like any game. Explosion audio balancing has also been updated, and audio for explosions is louder now, up to a few hundred meters.

Wool gloves have been added in green and other color variants, which are likely high insulation but absorb a lot of water like the wool coat does. Fall damage changes and bone stat changes have been added, including new icons and status effects, which work as a warning to help players keep track of their leg health. The new icon has different stages based on the health of your legs, and infected can damage this stat.

The mace has been re-added to the game, one-handed like before, with this update having a medieval theme. Players can fully dress as a knight in the style of the great helm, new chainmail pants, which may have some armor stat on them, and a new chest plate. Additionally, medieval shoes and a jacket have been added.

The crossbow is confirmed for this update, with new animations and a new model. There are four different colors of crossbow, and it is huge, basically a heavy crossbow, but with realistic proportions. All western optics or NATO scopes can be attached, and bolts are reusable, so bolts stick out of bodies. However, this doesn't work on all objects and surfaces yet.

The crossbow appears to be very powerful, with a damage range of between 75 to 125 and an okay range. Additionally, the reload speed is faster than expected, and the crossbow appears to be very stealthy. Players can craft their own bolts with sharpened sticks and use them. Then, they can add new feathers from chickens to improve the stats of the projectiles, which is pretty awesome.

The distances at which lights can be seen by other players have changed, and light rendering should look better and transition smoothly at a distance, making some lights dimmer at longer distances. New options for modders to place foliage like trees, bushes, and rocks in the game without the need to add wind effects or sounds to them have also been added.

DayZ is not planned to come out on any other platforms at the moment, such as the Nintendo Switch. Rag dolls are also unlikely to come anytime soon due to synchronization issues.

Finally, switching to different accounts increases the time it takes to login. This has been added to stop exploits and meta tactics from being used.

The full DayZ 1.21 stream can be seen here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1797036338

Posted 1 year ago