HumanitZ 1.1 Spooky Update adds a headshot mode and recommends server wipes

HumanitZ update 1.1, which the HZ Team calls the Spooky Update, went live on 19 October. You don’t need a new save to play it. If you joined the Experimental Branch, switch back to the default branch, because Experimental no longer works and won’t be updated. Hotfix 1.1A followed a day later.

The headline feature only applies to single player and locally hosted multiplayer: you can now recruit NPCs you meet in the world. Finishing the Radio Tower quest unlocks recruitment. Recruits can follow you on runs, work at your base, stand guard or head out on tasks. You can also set up to two extra outposts for them. The team warns that some traits only show after a while, so not everyone is as friendly as they look.

The rest of the patch notes cover:

• Headshot Only Mode, also available as a server setting
• Dying turns you into a zeek, and you have to track down your former self to get your gear back
• Walkie-talkies with matching frequencies for your party, which others may be listening in on
• A lever-action rifle and a nail gun
• Halloween cosmetics, quests and scarecrows around the map

On the new mode, the developers put it plainly: zeeks “can be stopped by removing the head or destroying the brain”. You can also switch it on in an existing save.

Quality of life changes include a wider camera FOV, lighter models for better performance, party members riding your horse with you and NPCs getting into vehicles. Around 300 more objects on the map can be dismantled. The fix list is long and closes several item duplication exploits as well as a trick for stealing other players’ vehicles.

For people running dedicated servers, the team “highly encourages” a full wipe when moving to 1.1, since server-side changes may conflict with existing data. All official servers have already been wiped. New server settings cover weapon durability, headshot mode, car recycle days and backpack cleanup. The patch notes also say the async save system that could lose server-side progress has been fixed, along with vehicles not being unclaimed after 14 days of inactivity.

Hotfix 1.1A requires a server restart to pull the patch. It fixes lost backpacks on death with certain settings and the missing death marker on the map. It also fixes riding a horse with party members on dedicated servers and a bug in the server logs.

Next up is the Winter Update with Experimental Branch 1.2. The team plans an overhauled build system, holdable shields and a way to pick up and carry base objects. Anti-skybase rules were held back for that rebuild rather than done twice.