Update 1.29 patch is rolling out on the Experimental servers today. And yes, there is a complete wipe—that wherever all your progress on the Exp servers was being wiped from records forever. The price we pay for testing things ahead of time is losing an interim.
As per the devs on Twitter, PC Experimental servers go offline at 13:00 CEST; Xbox at 14:00 CEST; with the expectation of about an hour downtime for the pushing of the update. Patch notes: soon. Now, on the other hand, the players are already having a good time entertaining thoughts of what lies ahead.
And the responses reflect a whole gambit of #hype, #snarky remarks, and a roadblock of questions. PARACHENCO straight-up demanded an update for the construction system, and the likes of Xbox Games Collections pointed off issues that are still there, like the smoke bombs refusing to render at a distance and late-in-the-game grass textures popping in. There you go, classic DayZ jankiness.
Then comes the Sakhal drama: Lee Christopher went all detective and proclaimed that the update appeared to be very Sakhal-biased during yesterday’s gameplay tests. The DayZ account countered with the notion that Chernarus should come first. Meanwhile, the consoles felt very slighted and snubbed as the devs confirmed that Sakhal won’t actually be on Xbox Experimental. Oof.
Then, comedic relief. PhlorydaMan: “Keep the glitches, because what’s DayZ without flying bears?” Tyler Ford also had a chuckle at DayZ being spiteful back at a critic who said it took four months for them to do the update. Spoiler alert: The devs said 1.28 came out not even two months ago. Apparently, math is hard.
So, what really lies within the update? The patch notes, linked by the DayZ team, hint at textures, new items, and tweaks to Chernarus. But here’s the kicker: Those are not guaranteed for 1.29 Stable. That’s the Experimental, dependent on feedback, so if you care for the future of DayZ, then hop in and report those bugs like your survival depends on it.
So yeah. If you like testing early builds and mind starting anew, here’s an opportunity. Keep in mind that Experimental servers are a wild west. Expect bugs, embrace the chaos, and get lucky with flying bears.
