Vortex Gaming

· Project Zomboid's latest update, B42.17, has been released, featuring various changes and bug fixes affecting both single-player and multiplayer.
· To play the new version safely, it's recommended to start a new save file, as existing ones may encounter issues.
· If you wish to update an existing save, backing it up first is strongly advised. You can select the previous version (B42.16) via Steam's beta options if you want to continue playing on that version.

· New spawn points have been added to Sandbox mode, significantly changing how you start the game. You can now begin in various locations like Brandenburg, Echo Creek, Aaron, Pass Lake, Ecton, Martwood, and Val Station.
· For instance, starting at Val Station allows for strategic play, such as immediately heading to Louisville due to its proximity.
· However, other modes like Apocalypse mode will still only spawn players in the four default cities.

· New VHS tapes that grant skill points have been added. These VHS tapes provide bonus points for various skills, including Aiming, Trapping, Foraging, Carpentry, Electrical, First Aid, Cooking, and Metalworking.
· VHS tapes can be found in various locations such as video rental stores, cinemas, large houses, kids' rooms, living rooms, and general rooms, with a higher chance of discovery in video rental stores.
· In version B42, you can only level up skills up to level 3 using VHS tapes. We anticipate the addition of more VHS tapes to allow for higher level progression.

· Default settings for each game mode have been updated. In Apocalypse mode, the chance of finding vehicle fuel has increased, and the spawn rates for other items have also been boosted. The damage multiplier for injuries from infection has been increased.
· Item spawn rates and infection damage multipliers have also been adjusted in modes like Survivor, Plague, and Traumatic.
· In Sandbox mode, the setting for vehicle fuel spawn rate has been decreased.
· Profession point costs and provided skills have been changed. For example, 'Cook' now offers more Short Blade skill, and 'Mechanic' provides the Invention trait instead of the Dismantle skill. Point costs for 'Doctor', 'Electrician', 'Farmer', 'Veterinarian', 'Metalworker', and others have been adjusted.
· The point cost for the 'Nutritionist' trait has been reduced, the 'Thirst' trait now offers more points, and the 'Smoker' trait has also been changed to provide more points.

· The stress animals experience from zombies, rain, and noise has been reduced.
· Petting animals decreases their stress, and the threshold at which animals start destroying property due to high stress has been raised from 70 to 80.
· It's expected that animals will flee less frequently due to stress.

· DDOS protection has been added to multiplayer.
· An option for player visibility on the map has been added. With the 'Friends and Nearby Players' option enabled, you can see friends, party members, and other nearby players on both the minimap and the world map.

· The issue where servers would freeze during vehicle operation has been fixed.
· The problem preventing zombie speed changes in multiplayer has been resolved, allowing for zombie runner settings.
· Issues such as animals disappearing or bombs not dealing damage have been fixed.
· Bugs preventing players from spawning in their own base in multiplayer, characters undressing themselves, and doors closing instantly have been fixed.
· Various gameplay-related bugs have been fixed, including the lack of fatigue generation when climbing walls, body temperature not rising during exercise, and teleportation issues when hit by zombies.
· Problems with infected players not turning into zombies, and conflicts between Claustrophobia and Agoraphobia traits have also been resolved.
· Issues where zombies couldn't break fences, block windows, or dismantle doors have been fixed.
· The unstable character rotation issue when using keyboard controls has also been resolved.

· A critical bug where vehicle durability decreases abnormally fast upon collision with zombies in multiplayer has not yet been fixed. This issue has persisted since version B42.16 and significantly impacts vehicle durability. This bug does not occur in solo play.

· This B42.17 update includes numerous changes and bug fixes that have a practical impact on gameplay. The addition of skill VHS tapes, profession/trait balance adjustments, and multiplayer-related fixes are particularly noteworthy.
· The B42 build is currently being stabilized through over 17 updates, and a stable release is expected soon. This is anticipated to resolve frequent save corruption issues.
· If you are not satisfied with the B42 build, we recommend playing the currently stable version, B41.