VEIN experimental beta revamps zombies, greenhouses, and vehicles
The latest VEIN development update, "Stunlocks & Speedometers," details work-in-progress changes headed to the experimental Steam beta branch rather than the main game. A final hotfix for 0.024 is expected soon, while 0.025 is still being rounded out.
Zombies, melee, and combat
- Zombie pathfinding through buildings has improved significantly. Zombies no longer prioritize animals as much as humans, no longer collide with each other like players, and no longer stagger or stunlock each other when swinging at a target, so groups can squeeze through doors and windows more easily.
- The .38 Special now supports round-by-round reloading instead of forcing the full reload loop.
- Weight-variant items arrive in 0.025: items like dumbbells can be used as melee weapons, with damage and swing time varying by weight. Heavy melee items require a Strength threshold; below it, swings are twice as slow and deal half damage.
- Machete-styled bladed melee animations are finished, and long/blunt melee animations are integrated, with remaining similar weapons still to be updated. Animation work continues on the double-barreled shotgun and Fifty-Seven pistol.
World, building, and vehicles
- Backyard greenhouses are now functional and keep plants growing through winter as long as the glass is intact; player-built greenhouses are planned.
- HLODs (distant whole-map stand-ins for unloaded buildings, trees, and mountains) are working on the experimental branch, reducing world loading without sacrificing visual quality — a meaningful performance gain, especially on dedicated servers and in local multiplayer.
- Every building now has maintenance components for checking status and repairs; they may take up existing space, but furniture can be moved out of the way.
- New loft buildables are being added as replacement options for pallets while official multi-tier base-building art is in development. The team is also reviewing save files sent through the in-game feedback reporter for base-building ideas like walls and dividers.
- Physical stress and structural supports mean that stacking too high without support collapses the whole structure, and strong vehicle impacts can detach things from a vehicle.
- Vehicles get a new, less grating horn; interior-muffled impact, horn, and alarm sounds; openable trunk/hood/glove box; animated gear shifting and steering wheel/speedometer/tachometer; and openable doors. The vehicle art work is heavily WIP.
- Winter snow material now varies by region, map markers are higher contrast, and 0.025 map work continues with unique interiors, furniture, and exterior detailing such as fences, parking lots, and streetlights.
Bugfixes and community
- Permadeath fixes include respawn UI, death screen behavior, and dead-character HUD location.
- UI fixes include group menu issues, medical menu jitter, and item key-value wrapping.
- Positional VOIP got buffering and quality improvements; handheld radio receive beeps are gone and radio audio quality is improved.
- Fixed characters floating after sitting or lying down while crouched, such as in tents.
- Players are shown on the host/admin map only when "See All" is enabled in admin settings.
- Community translations have opened via Crowdin after complaints about incomplete or wrong translations. VEIN says it does not use AI and uses a translation agency, which missed context; one example cited is the Russian settings menu translating "No" as "Yes."
- A survey asks which radio-station music players want next, the official VEIN wiki is available, and the studio is hiring an intermediate programmer and a UI/UX designer ([email protected]).
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