Dead Island North American Steam Version Incomplete, Patch Coming Today

It seems there is some controversy surrounding the version of the Dead Island build that was released via steam. dead island launch issues on PC

First off, some gamers who have dug into the code have found some evidence that this was not a final version stating it was probably a developer build. This could just be a matter of some code being reused or some lines not being removed over time, or not.

Here are some of the lines that show it might be an Xbox 360 port:

< X b o x L i v e S u b m i s s i o n P r o j e c t V e r s i o n = " 2 . 0 . 5 0 3 3 0 . 0 " x m l n s = " h t t p : / / w w w . x b o x l i v e . c o m / x l a s t " >

< G a m e C o n f i g P r o j e c t n a m e = " D e a d I s l a n d D i s c X b o x 3 6 0 " t i t l e N a m e = " D e a d I s l a n d D i s c X b o x 3 6 0 " p r o j e c t V e r s i o n = " 1 . 0 0 . 0 9 3 4 . 0 " s c h e m a V e r s i o n = " 1 . 0 8 . 0 0 0 0 . 0 " v a l i d a t e A g a i n s t = " . . . . . . . . . . U s e r s t e c h l a n d A p p D a t a L o c a l M i c r o s o f t X b o x L i v e 4 B 4 D 0 7 D F . p a r t n e r . . . . 4 B 4 D 0 7 D F . p a r t n e r . . . . 4 B 4 D 0 7 D F . p a r t n e r . . . . 4 B 4 D 0 7 D F . p a r t n e r D e a d I s l a n d . x l a s t " c l a s s i f i c a t i o n = " B a s e G a m e " t i t l e I d = " 0 x 4 B 4 D 0 7 D F " m u l t i p l a y e r = " t r u e " t i t l e T y p e = " 1 " a r n = " 0 x 5 5 E 2 C 5 D 2 F 1 4 A F 9 " >

But just because that code is in there does not mean that it’s a ported version of the Xbox 360 version, on the contrary, there are several games that reference the platform in the PC versions.

Also in the code, they’ve found what appears to be the authorization code:

TimeOut( 60 )
AuthorizationServer( "AuthServer.techland.pl" )
//AuthorizationServer( "AuthServer1.techland.pl" )
//AuthorizationServer( "AuthServer2.techland.pl" )

It also seems that some debug code was left in the game (press Y to go into Noclip mode) which is the basis for everyone’s beliefs that this is a dev version and not the final. Now after a lengthy discussion and look at the code in the game in the Steam Forum, a Deep Silver staff member, Gadwyn, posted the following on the Dead Island forums:

We deeply regret that it was not possible to make the final patched version of Dead Island available to players at launch in North America.
We apologize for any issues you may have experienced while playing the game, the final patched version will be made available to North American players today.

Other territories are not affected by this situation, the fully patched game will be available on Friday as announced.

So it seems they admit that the version sent to Steam was not the final, yet instead of delaying the release or alerting the gamers, they simply pushed it out, as if no one would notice. In the end, the decision was a poor one and now they’ve been caught red-handed.

A patch is set to be pushed out to North American PC version owners today. Destructoid received a list of fixes that would be in the day one patch for the game and here’s everything you can expect.

Fixed map synchronization when player joins during map load.
Fixed saving player re-spawn position when playing in co-op mode.
Fixed occasional inability to complete sidequests in Laboratory.
Improved enemy awareness (zombies).
Fixed occasional bug with NPC’s hands bend (IK)
Fixed spawning enemies in some quests after joining co-op game.
Fixed showing locations on invisible NPCs.
Fixed potential path blocker when quest "Knockin’ on heaven’s door" was completed before talking to Dominik during the "On the air" quest.
Fixed displaying gather rings near some doors.
Fixed enemy reaction to fire.
Fixed enemies’ health and stamina bars in co-op.
Fixed filtering of games in lobby.
Volume of pickup’s engine has been increased.
Fixed a number of issues causing game instability.
Fixed the switching of maps upon player death.
Fixed enemies unable to reach the player on some arenas.
Thrown items cannot be picked up by co-op players for five minutes.
Items from freshly opened containers cannot be picked up by other players for five seconds to prevent theft.
Fixed animation glitch when trading with team members.
More than one player can use a ladder at the same time.
Fixed stomping execution animation when target’s attacked by a second player.
Fixed the infinite respawning of shooting enemies.
Fixed not hiding menu if players die inside a vehicle.
Fixed item level calculation when playing New Game Plus.
Added information about players requesting pause in co-op.
Fixed A.I. animation glitch after fast-traveling or using a map portal.
Added distinction between quest checkpoints and other types of saves.
Fixed bug causing all inventory to disappear.
Fixed reloading and kicking. After the clip goes in, the reload is a success.
Purna can gain bonus rage from both "Grim Inspiration" and "Inspiring Kick".
Only "Walker" type enemies increase the extra XP of the "Combo" skill from Xian’s Survival skill tree.
Health regeneration is disabled during grabs.
Focus on items in shops not changing after selling or buying.
More HP for NPCs in escort missions.
Butcher enemies won’t spawn at all during escort missions (hooray!)
Fixed tracking after loading checkpoint.
Increased minimum vertical distance to count a waypoint as passed for NPCs (they no longer wander back-and-forth).

So now only did Techland and Deep Silver know the game had some serious issues, they knew exactly what they were and again, instead of pushing out the release date, simply pushed out a broken game or rather, an unfinished product. No, it’s not the first time a company has done it, and will probably not be the last, but it’s starting to become a bad habit for the industry.