Massive Vein 0.021 Update Adds New Zombie Behavior, Improved Performance, & More

Today, Ramjet Studios released another relevant update for its 3D zombie survival FPS Vein.

Vein update 0.021 brings numerous new changes, including new zombie behavior, improved lighting, and performance enhancements, as well as several new server browser features and more. Since this update serves as the largest patch for the game yet, saves from previous updates will be incompatible, as it contains numerous future-proofing steps.

You can take a look at the full list of patch notes for Vein 0.021 and the official video below. It is also important to note that Ramjet Studios will be releasing future updates in the form of a dev blog from here on out.

• Early Access map progress
• Increase heating range for campfires/fireplaces
• You can now use grenades outside of the inventory
• New skin tone/face presets
• Better system node/item networking
• Add 5.7x28mm ammo type
• Ore, trees etc. now display hover text correctly indicating how to use them
• Calendar event system
• You can get tetanus if unvaccinated and walking on piles of rubble barefoot
• Feet damage/embedded metal and glass for walking on piles of rubble barefoot
• .45 ACP, .38 Special textures
• Trash bags can now be emptied like garbage cans
• Added Allow Pickpocketing setting
• Added Hide Code Locks setting (for streamers)
• Increase max zoom level for maps
• Add search bar to construction menu
• Add improved pickaxe item
• You can now transfer fluid between containers in your inventory by dragging and dropping onto each other
• Increase capacity of workbenches, campfires, etc.
• Rewritten save game system
• Add UN Fifty-Seven pistol
• Barbed wire fences now fuck you up if you try climbing over them
• Lower main menu train volume
• Telemetry opt-in/out in Vein main menu and game settings
• Add seizure warning
• Better damaged vehicle engine particle effect
• Better smoke effects across the map in general
• Better forge smoke effect
• Corrected bug at high elevations resulting in incorrect temperatures around fireplaces and fires
• Fix fireplaces being called campfires
• Refactored flashlight system; added Helmet w/ Headlamp item
• Improved cloud shadowing
• Add military zombies, clothing
• New military backpack art
• On-screen damage indicator when you take damage (blood splash)
• On-screen hypothermia indicator
• Add Offline Raiding setting (prevents base raiding if you are offline)
• Zombies are able to go unconscious
• Add taser weapon
• Rewrite a bunch of fluid tank code, can now wire anything to any fluid provider (wells, generators, whatever stores fluid)
• Corrected a lot of visual errors with the sky and lighting
• Modified weather seed so day 1 starts off somewhat clear
• Fix doors being unlocked backward in some locations (e.g. double doors)
• Fix dartboard placement being incorrect
• Fix frostbite occurring way more frequently than it should have
• Food cutting recipes (ability to slice pizza, bread, vegetables, whatever)
• Fix pain not being removed from condition list at zero
• If your map is not working, pressing M will give you a specific reason instead of a generic ‘cant open’ reason
• Player indicator on the map uses vehicle angle if you’re in one
• Fridges are now movable
• Fix being able to pour fluids into gas pumps and beer taps somehow
• Fix insulin spawning in unrefrigerated cupboards
• You can now drink directly from bodies of water (rivers, lakes, swamps if you are so inclined)
• Fix tarps having wood break sound when destroyed
• Fix trash bags giving you cardboard when destroyed
• New server browser tab, servers tell you their settings + can have a description/MOTD
• Fox now makes fox sounds and not dog barks
• TV can now display camera feeds (not yet in demo)
• Add police uniform, police zombies, correctional officer uniform, prison uniform
• Add put similar button – if you are looking at an inventory with stuff in it, this will store all the item types already in that inventory
• Smoother vehicle camera algorithm
• Improve persistent corpse system performance
• Fix ice machine not freezing stuff
• Thermometers inside fridges and freezers will display the correct temperature now
• Restrict max FOV to 105
• You can respawn at beds you’ve slept in instantly in singleplayer
• Add low poly background landscape so the landscape is never full of holes/unloaded
• Add option to submit save file with feedback
• AI spawnpoint system – AI should now be able to spawn in interiors easier
• Fix warehouse boxes, plastic totes having the wrong search sound
• Fix some damage not applying
• Add interior soundscapes, reverb settings
• Add build info to experimental branch watermark
• New impact/bullet impact effects
• Add starred items system: mark items as being important to you, they will bubble to the top of inventories (e.g. ammo, weapons, rare things, …)
• Add “hand” grenade
• Add sounds when bodies impact the floor
• New music, thanks Remancer!
• Fix item instances not respawning properly
• Fix grease cleaner not decaying
• Thirst and hunger now show on the HUD if they’re very positive
• Fix van deformation popping in
• Fix sprint zoom applying when flying
• Add some new collectible video discs (just vein devlogs, nothing fun)
• Code lock requirements for install/removal reduced to 5 electricity
• Add zombies, animals to admin seeall
• Slightly better turn animations
• Add RemoveAllVehicleParts cheat
• Prevent vehicles interpenetrating in multiplayer – should reduce fatality of car crashes
• Fix vehicle keys not appearing in containers if the game has been loaded from a save
• More logs for server hosts (player using stuff, etc)
• Rewrote moving furniture, should fix issues with moving objects e.g. turning off lights or changing the object
• Fix bug when supplying different gas types to a large natural gas tank
• Bump up natural gas tank quantities
• Fix item icons jittering in inventory in multiplayer
• Rewrote backpacked weapons (should prevent pistols on your hip sticking after you unequip the item)
• Allow some console commands to be used on the client
• Fix description of cooked spaghetti
• Add hydraulic tool type (unused in demo)
• Disable instanced stereo (should allow some ultra low spec players to launch the game)
• Reduce network load from using items, ladders, dropping items, zombies, switches
• Fix car keys not spawning in houses in multiplayer
• Interior fog should go away when you go inside a building
• Prevent long-decaying items (like toothpaste) possibly starting rotten in containers
• Fix clothing not reflecting its color immediately when being selected in an inventory
• Fix camera sometimes going through the floor when sitting in a chair
• Fix some stuff being placed on walls incorrectly
• Pillows, tvs should fall to the ground when you destroy the shelves/couches they’re on
• Sirens no longer work without a battery
• Pet photo update
• M620 truck is now recolorable/has colors
• Fix other players loading the area around them on your PC
• Add PowerAllElectronicSystemNodes cheat
• Fix some misc. saving/loading issues
• Change “is on” to “switched on” for electronic items in the inventory
• Add vein.ItemActorSpawner.MinimumWorldTime cvar
• Fix item spawners doing strange respawning behavior
• Fix stoves functioning as a generator
• Better vehicle networking
• Fix join notifications popping up in character creation
• Speed up actor partition system
• Redo how vehicles save
• Fix check ammo animation not playing for weapons with no real check ammo animation
• Rewrite how ingame map works – should now work on different UI scales
• Tweak turn in place animation to not be too jarring
• Fix decals, sprays, blood not always aligning/rendering properly on surfaces
• Add RefreshAllDecals cheat
• Fix placement of hand grenade
• Add barbed wire buildable to secure fences
• Fix saves “leaking” between each other when you load another save from ingame
• Update map background
• Add back sun and moonlight bloom
• Fix apples being thrown crazy hard
• Fix stars being really low resolution
• Fix explosive box mesh not being easily selected
• Fix being able to pour past capacity into fluid tanks, losing the fluid you poured
• Electronics now break after you’re 80% wet, instead of instantly when you go underwater
• Fix building colors not saving
• Fix train colors not saving
• Better foot/arm item art
• Fix some camera positionings for larger vehicles
• Spawn tweaks – animals spawn less frequently
• Fix animals spawning in caves
• Fix shoving animation not playing when hosting a server
• Add waterproof headlamp helmet
• Fix flashlight, map being weird when you have multiple of the same type equipped (eg. GPS + cell phone equipped causes map inconsistency)
• Fix alarms going off every time the door is opened
• Add PowerUp cheat (makes whatever you’re looking at a generator)
• Fix broken bottles not being able to be made with whisky or gin
• Fix desync drastically
• Fix bodybag desync
• Fix clients on servers not smelling anything
• Fix using grenade when not in inventory being silent
• Add fire empty sounds to all weapons
• Increase scale of tadellini cobra, fix feet through the bottom
• Add cameras to school
• Add alarms across the entire map
• Some experimental indoors zombie spawning
• Fix selecting a haircut for someone else and the haircut sticking on them as they run away
• Prevent weather from appearing underground
• Low shadow quality preset now supports distance field shadowing
• Improved zombie pathfinding and navigation significantly
• Add rich presence to Steam for both player groups and locations
• Fix vehicle crash when flying around/moving at high speed
• Firearms are now twice as audible to zombies; add vein.Firearms.AISoundMultiplier in case we were too aggressive
• Zombies now get fall damage
• Fix zombies getting locked in climb animation loops over fences
• Fix memory leak related to item nameplates
• Master volume now defaults to 50%
• Visual quality now defaults to High instead of Ultra
• Renamed ‘RemoveAllItems’ to ‘RemoveAllMyItems’, added ‘RemoveAllItems’ to remove all dropped items
• You can now just click on a notification to dismiss it
• Kerosene heater now works like any other fluid tank (can drink from it, wire it etc)
• Soundscape improvements across the board
• Steam rich presence integration
• Correct some power desync bugs
• Fix fridge, broadcast radio facing away from you when being moved
• Seed items now tell you what planter slots they fit into
• Fix blinds appearing black/burnt
• Make soundscapes blend more smoothly
• Increase the car horn radius & zombie attraction radius
• Fix big hitch when pinning/unpinning a recipe
• If you can’t move/destroy furniture due to a nearby utility cabinet, we now tell you instead of hiding the option
• Examine Connections now uses the icon for the type of thing you’re looking at
• Fix distant sky fog glowing/being ugly at night/dawn/dusk
• Consuming water from a sink/etc. hooked up to a fluid tank will consume from the tank directly
• Fireplaces now have an estimated time remaining readout based on the fuel currently loaded in them
• Inventory search query persists between opening and closing the UI
• Rewrote chair exit algorithm: prevents vehicle from flinging away when exiting it when it’s pressed against a wall
• Fix needing a lighter to extinguish a candle
• Resynced movement animations to footsteps
• Save games now save mostly asynchronously
• Added a notification when autosaves occur
• Rewrote furniture, buildable placement algorithm to better fit things snugly in tight spaces
• Fix basketball hoop being sideways
• Fix typoes in foot infection conditions
• Add vehicle headlight textures to vehicles
• Vehicles are less initially damaged in the world
• Add tool ammo: some tools now require ammo like saw blades or drill bits
• Add coloration to battery percentages
• Car keys can now be used wirelessly (unlocking, locking vehicle, panic button etc.)
• Add “Demo” to the watermark if it’s the Vein demo
• Add lifetime stats to death screen (zombies killed, steps taken, etc)
• Add HTTP API for server owners
• Normalize VOIP audio – should fix VOIP being really quiet
• Add sandstone items/silica to be smelted into glass
• You can now repair glass windows using glass sheets (craftable)
• Antibiotics now give you a condition that prevents being infected from bacteria
• Increased gas pump health; made them invulnerable to most damage
• Redford and Saranac now have items spawn on store shelves
• Add recipe list to forges/charcoal kiln UI
• Stuff now falls off your vehicle instead of just being blown up if it collides with something
• You can shoot through chainlink fences
• Add Eighty-Four explosive launcher
• Add matches
• Add cannabis seeds/cannabis farming
• Add cold medicine, prevents/reduces cold duration
• Add meth
• Vastly improve explosion physics especially against zombies
• Fix fortifying double doors vanishing the other door
• Add RandomizeTime command, sets the time between 0.0 and 1.0 years from the start date
• Fix that one fence changing colors when you run it over
• Fix fans not running when first loaded in
• Prevent cars from falling through the landscape when first loaded in
• High level weapon/ammo spawns are now findable in more containers – they’re just very rare
• Reduce time items on your person are considered “newly acquired” to 5 minutes from 30 minutes (e.g. increase the amount you keep when dead)
• “W” is always up for ladders, “S” is always down for ladders
• Add tire shelf container that can store tires
• Fix being able to use anything eg. milk as engine oil
• Add some leniancy for truck rear doors to be considered blocked
• Fix item requirements in construction UI not updating
• Fix stuff attached to vehicles not loading in attached to vehicles
• Reduce GPU VRAM usage across the board
• Use options for items now display weight and stack
• Fix poor performance at dawn and dusk
• Main menu now displays news from news.vein.gg
• Fix bar (pressure) readout being incorrect
• Container size balancing (e.g. large vs small crates, dumpsters, etc.)
• Nighttime lighting changes and brightening
• Fix compass showing with a turned off phone
• Foliage LODs are slightly more aggressive
• Motorcycle helmet now uses motorcycle helmet asset instead of towel placeholder
• Road texture resolution fixes
• Fix snow not appearing on distant landscape
• Fix water sounds playing while water is frozen
• Fix being able to drive through ice
• Add icons/colors to packing up chairs, sleeping bags etc.
• Add air conditioner/heater status to vehicle HUD
• Fix zombies getting stuck on rugs sometimes
• Way better sky lighting performance, especially at dawn/dusk
• Dryers now have a UI like washers
• Add bone broth
• Perk menu close button is just an x now
• Fix free look breaking your neck if you go from third to first person
• Possibly fix the lock desync on doors
• Fix zombies sometimes not playing a death animation on dedicated servers
• Explosions no longer ignite things
• Add thermometer art
• Fix TV volume not applying to disks when you switch over to them
• Fix food spawning in at 0 C
• Forges & kilns now say ‘ignite’ and ‘extinguish’ instead of ‘turn on’ and ‘turn off’
• Fix some weird glass textures in convenience stores
• Add new mastered music tracks
• Fix broken glass not always sticking to doors on load
• Fix logic error blocking you from moving furniture into your UC area when standing outside it
• Fix server hosts turning invisible when lockpicking
• Streetlights now come on slightly earlier
• Increase capacity of specialized containers
• Some new loading Vein screens
• Performance and networking fixes across the board

Vein is a first-person zombie survival game that came to Steam back in July 2022 and could be considered a fully 3D version of the popular Project Zomboid.

Vein is coming to PC on Steam, and an extensive demo is already playable. It’s constantly updated, and it comes with enough content to be enjoyed and played extensively even before the full release. This is a user-friendly alternative to early access, allowing you to download and enjoy the current build without incurring any costs.

Vein is currently free to play on PC in early access and will also be available on Xbox Series X|S when it is officially released. You can also head over to the official Steam page for the full list of fixes, changes, and improvements coming with the update.