Terminus: Zombie Survivors - 1.1 NPC Update Now Live!

Hey everyone!

The 1.1 NPC Update for Terminus: Zombie Survivors is now live!

This is the first major update since the 1.0 full release, focusing on new NPC mechanics and improvements, including hostile NPCs, combat with survivor groups, and companion AI automation. Here’s what’s new:

1. Introduction of Hostile NPCs

Now, in addition to zombies, hostile NPCs have been added. We've introduced bandits, pickpockets, and starving elders, each with unique behavior patterns.

• Bandits will threaten you for supplies—refusing them leads to a fight.
• Pickpockets attempt to steal your items—react quickly to retrieve them!
• Starving elders are non-hostile but can be given food, water, or clothing, granting a temporary morale boost.

Prepare for unpredictable encounters that add a new layer of tension to the zombie apocalypse!

2. Combat with Neutral NPCs

NPCs are no longer just traders or potential allies—you can now fight survivor NPCs. To support this, we’ve added new NPC artwork and unique voiceovers. The combat system has also been expanded: NPCs can now suffer from bleeding, sprains, burns, and other status effects. The threatened system has been reworked—an NPC’s health and status effects now influence whether a threat attempt succeeds. If successful, the NPC will flee; if unsuccessful, they will fight back.

Additionally, fortified houses—which previously served as quest hubs—can now be attacked. Break down doors or windows, or use thrown weapons to initiate combat. Defeating the survivors inside offers significant rewards, but be prepared—fighting multiple NPCs won’t be easy!

3. Companion AI Automation

The companion AI automation system has been added. When enabled, companions will automatically handle movement, combat, scavenging, crafting, repairing, eating, drinking, and sleeping. Companions will now attack enemies on their own, search furniture and corpses for items, and take care of farming and tool repairs. You can still control them directly or customize which actions are automated.

To support this feature, we’ve also added new companion animations.

📋Additional Gameplay and UI Improvements

• New attack types—Slashing, Blunt, and Piercing—have been added, further differentiating weapon characteristics.
• Critical hits can now occur, dealing approximately 5x damage when attacking the head.
• NPCs will now respawn over time in the world.
• A new sandbox mode option allows you to adjust NPC spawn rates and types.
• UI and notifications have been improved—alerts will now display companion deaths and status effects.
• The maximum number of recruitable companions has increased to four.
• You can now send a companion to the Terminus, allowing you to recruit another.
• 📝For more details, check out the full patch notes below.

This update wouldn’t have been possible without your feedback! Thank you to everyone who participated in the beta and provided valuable suggestions. As always, we appreciate your support! If you have any thoughts on the update, feel free to share them in our Discord or on the Steam forums.

We hope you enjoy Version 1.1!

Thank you!

Best,
In-geon
Longplay Studios

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1534980

Full Patch Notes:

Companion AI

• Added automation features for companions. When enabled, companions can move, attack, search, and perform tasks automatically based on player settings. Manual control remains available.
• Companions can now automatically attack zombies and NPCs.
• Companions can now automatically search furniture and corpses.
• Companions can automatically repair clothing, bags, and gloves.
• Companions can automatically repair electronics.
• Companions can continue crafting tasks automatically.
• Players can request companions to repair broken cars, boats, and helicopters. If companions have a wrench, they will automatically perform the repair.
• Players can request companions to clear debris.
• Companions can automatically consume food and water.
• Companions can automatically read books.
• Companions can automatically listen to music.
• Companions can automatically sleep.
• Companions can automatically repair tools and weapons.
• Companions can automatically plant seeds, water and fertilize crops, and harvest them.
• Companions can automatically pick up items from the ground.
• Companions can automatically use medical supplies.
• Companions can follow the player when moving between locations.
• Companions can automatically continue upgrading generators and antigen extractors.
• Companions can automatically force open locked doors and windows.
• Companions can automatically enter the terminus along with the player.

Art & Animation

• Added search animations for companions.
• Added firearm attack animations (rifle, pistol) for companions and NPCs.
• Added 30 new full-body art assets for NPCs in combat scenes.
• Added electronics repair animations for companions.
• Added book-reading animations for companions.
• Added clothing repair animations for companions.
• Added crafting and repair animations for companions.
• Added eating and drinking animations for companions.
• Added walking images for hostile NPCs.
• Improved stability by switching walking animations from code-generated to pre-rendered art.
• Added animations for clearing debris by hand and with a shovel.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where some locations could not be set as bases even after all tiles were checked.
• Fixed a bug where cooking rotten meat into cooked meat reduced its satiety value.
• Fixed an issue where characters at the original location could be moved inside a fortified house when another character traveled by vehicle.
• Fixed a visual bug where flags were sometimes cut off by walls.

Content

• Added combat functionality with NPCs.
• Introduced new NPCs: "Bandit," "Pickpocket," and "Starving Elder."
• Bandits can threaten the player and initiate combat if demands are refused.
• Pickpockets can steal items from the player, requiring players to catch them to recover stolen goods.
• Players can offer food, drinks, and clothing to starving elder, receiving an immediate morale boost and the "Fulfilled" status effect.
• Players can now engage in combat with fortified houses by breaking doors/windows or throwing weapons.
• Added a new cooking recipe: "Shrimp Skewer."

Gameplay

• Added the ability to dismiss companions.
• Introduced critical hits for head attacks, dealing 5x normal damage.
• Added attack types (Slash, Blunt, Pierce). Most weapons have one type, and some have two.
• Slash deals 50% extra damage to the torso, Blunt deals 50% extra damage to legs, and Pierce doubles critical hit chances for head attacks.
• NPC combat includes effects like Bleeding from slashes and Sprain from blunt leg attacks.
• Removed the old weapon compatibility system for body parts.
• Changed the success of threatening NPCs from being probability-based to fixed outcomes.
• NPC HP and status effects now influence the success of threatening.
• NPCs immediately flee if a threat is successful.
• Failed threats result in combat.
• Players can now cover or uncover windows from outside if they are open.
• NPCs now spawn periodically.
• Fortified houses generate significantly more items than regular houses.
• Added dialogue for hostile NPCs.
• Construction workers can now throw furniture at NPCs.
• Increased the maximum number of recruitable companions to 4.
• Companions entering the terminus will now move inside. Additional companions can be recruited to replace those who have entered, and companions already inside will count towards the survivor total.
• Companions within 2 tiles of a boat or helicopter, even if not directly adjacent, can now escape together.
• Adjusted overall hit chance in melee combat. The chance to hit the head has been reduced, while removing zombie arms or legs now increases hit chance.
• Adjusted melee weapon proficiency to increase hit chance instead of damage.
• Increased hit chance by 4% for each combat stat level.

Help & Documentation

• Removed outdated help content and added new explanations about cooking.

Modding

• Fixed an issue where ending turns could fail after modifying crafting recipes in JSON to set the work amount to 0.
• Added logging functionality to help identify crash causes. Logs are saved to the game_log.log file in the installation directory.

Sandbox

• Added an option to adjust NPC spawn rates.
• Added options to control spawn rates for specific NPC types (Survivors, Bandits, Pickpockets, Starving Elder).
• Adjusted certain options (e.g., turn time scale) so that modifying them no longer prevents achievement progression, as they do not significantly affect difficulty.

Sound

• Added 9 unique hit and death sounds for different NPCs.
• Differentiated player sounds based on male and female characters.
• Updated debris clearing sounds to match the new animations.

User Interface

• The "Auto-close Attack Window" option now applies after picking up zombie heads if no zombies remain on the tile.
• Added maximum values to tooltips for character statuses.
• Reworded effects to display duration in turns instead of time.
• Added a warning popup when attacking decayed zombies to notify players of the risk of disease.
• Version mismatch warnings for save files now only appear for major version changes.
• Added notifications that include companion names when status ailments occur.
• Added a notification for when a companion dies.
• Changed debris clearing to use a menu and character animations instead of a popup.
• Improved character buttons to display status icons and HP.
• Removed the concept of character attack power and updated the attack window tooltip to display detailed factors affecting damage.
• Added a software cursor option to fix an issue where the mouse cursor was not visible when using Windows magnifier and similar features.