H1Z1: King of the Kill’s development updates are coming as fast as the game updates, as there’s a new producer’s letter out this week hot on the heels of its Gamescom map preview. Daybreak reiterates that Z2 arena map has seen a significant overhaul. “Our plan is to take another week to focus on it and then look for an optimal time to make The Arena available on the Test server,” writes the studio. Skirmishes are also due for big changes — in fact, the Reanimation skirmish retires after this weekend, and Ignition will be moved from a game mode to a skirmish ruleset option, chiefly because “most players have gravitated back into the core experience of King of the Kill.”
Perhaps the biggest news is that the UI has seen a complete ground-up redesign. With the new UI,
“[Y]ou no longer have to select servers, just what type of game you want to play. You will have the ability to skin your character in the front end PRIOR to joining a match, so there will be no more need for weird hiding and skinning in game. You’ll be able to do the expected things like adjust your settings, but you’ll also have the ability to look at leaderboards, which will have complete search functionality. Everyone will be able to see where they are, not just the top players. The in game HUD is now built to be informative with your character info that matters to you, along with surfacing important game data to help you make the best decisions as you work your way through a match. The Inventory is really being streamlined as well. Just one large combined container to worry about, no need to worry about managing your pants pockets versus your backpack. The addition of a new, dedicated consumable slot for med-kits and bandages make it a lot easier to manage that part of the game.”
