PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary

[Adam the Waster]

Speaking of changes, whose bright idea was it to add testosterone extract as part of the recipe for the cigar? I get that it probably needed a rarer crafting ingredient to help balance it out, but come on. Now that bears spawn exclusively at nighttime (and they're rare enough already; in A18 I often only saw bears 30-40 in-game days apart), the chance of me encountering one is basically zilch. Sure I could go hunting for one, but I don't have time for that. Luckily the trader was selling a cigar for 90 dukes because otherwise I would have been "locked out" on acquiring one. Note: this is more of a minor rant to get it out of my system with a small sprinkle of criticism, not me bellowing on your doorstep.

damn i didn't know that! i don't understand some items ingame, mostly with items with limited uses. Take snow berry's and Testosterone extract!

Snow berries had a use but have been fazed out! what could they be used for? More meds! Pain killers, injections and other medical items! but right now they don't have much of a use!

Testo extract has 2 USES. Steroids but i don't craft them due to me finding them more then Extract and cigars! thats it! what could it be used for? I don't know!

 

[MechanicalLens]

It is just TOO OP to not balance it. The fact is you can save 3 perks and have all the benefits of STR 10 with that one item, without actually being STR 10. Should raise the price of it too, now that crafting it is difficult.

Agreed. Perhaps increasing bear spawns would be beneficial, maybe to dire wolf levels, or very nearly? (See point above: "often only encountering bears every 30 or 40 days on average". I doubt the player has the time to go on a grand expedition to find a bear every night for 4-5 weeks. )

 

[wolfbain5]

Agreed. Perhaps increasing bear spawns would be beneficial, maybe to dire wolf levels, or very nearly? (See point above: "often only encountering bears every 30 or 40 days on average". I doubt the player has the time to go on a grand expedition to find a bear every night for 4-5 weeks. )

or add it to zombie bears?

 

[MechanicalLens]

or add it to zombie bears?

Can't, the player would just go to the burnt biome or the wasteland, or any POI that spawns zombie bears. Like I said, in my opinion, regular bears need their spawn rates increased to at least make it somewhat attractive to maybe go looking for one, and not maybe bumping into one on day 80 or 100.

 

[wolfbain5]

Can't, the player would just go to the burnt biome or the wasteland, or any POI that spawns zombie bears. Like I said, in my opinion, regular bears need their spawn rates increased to at least make it somewhat attractive to maybe go looking for one, and not maybe bumping into one on day 80 or 100.

that's the same problem with please don't feed the bears quest

 

[MechanicalLens]

Another suggestion I have is, taking this from madmole, is to increase the price of the cigar at the traders from the current 100 or so to perhaps 3000-3500 dukes, given the barter bonus attached to it. Make it more common as an item being sold, but not by much, and remove the nerdy glasses, the cigar, the shades, and the sky goggles from loot. I just find it a bit odd for consistencies sake that Strength has the piece of attire that increases the attribute by one point to be the most rare out of the 5 attributes (the barter bonus aside), when the other trees' wearables are so much more common and less expensive at the traders. Then again, Fortitude has no attire which increases it by 1 level, so idk.

Not trying to make a mountain out of a molehill here, just... spitballing, I suppose.

 

[madmole]

Agreed. Perhaps increasing bear spawns would be beneficial, maybe to dire wolf levels, or very nearly? (See point above: "often only encountering bears every 30 or 40 days on average". I doubt the player has the time to go on a grand expedition to find a bear every night for 4-5 weeks. )

The bear den has spawned in every game I've played, and the wasteland is crawling with zombie bears.

Can't, the player would just go to the burnt biome or the wasteland, or any POI that spawns zombie bears. Like I said, in my opinion, regular bears need their spawn rates increased to at least make it somewhat attractive to maybe go looking for one, and not maybe bumping into one on day 80 or 100.

Except bears are a lot nastier now than before and the forest is the starter biome.

 

[MechanicalLens]

The bear den has spawned in every game I've played, and the wasteland is crawling with zombie bears.

Zombie bears don't give testosterone extract though, at least to my knowledge; I've killed one and harvested it already. So no, they shouldn't give it to you imo; if you find a bear den on day 1, you already have a cigar in waiting pretty much.

 

[Laz Man]

If you are mining on less than 50% food, then I have to question your priorities and actions. How hard is it to read the stats on items and notice the stamina, or stamina regen qualities they have and utilize them? Its like potions in skyrim it isn't rocket science. We're failing? You are failing to read and live by the laws of the game, which aren't as bad as you make them out to be. Why should you be able to mine endlessly with a heavy iron tool as a noob?

It is a time management game, and catching your breath can be better spend scrapping items, loading your iron in the forge, crafting logs for the forge etc. Instead of expecting the game to bend to your will, you need to bend to the laws of the game and make the best of it, it isn't as bad as you make it out to be, its quite nice and rewarding when you are finally mining endlessly with a steel axe, because you earned in using game mechanics. Make sure to spend more points on sex rex, drink your coffee, cook your high quality meals, level up some more, and use the ergo grip, etc etc there are 5000 ways to make mining easier, stop trying to change my  mind about something I tested 500 hours and is good already, instead spend 10 minutes learning how to work around the issue, its much more rewarding than arguing with me I assure you

 

I hear ya madmole.  Change is tough.  I think alot of people are still under the mindset that higher tiered items + quality will always be better then their lower versions in every way.  Hard to erase that past experience.

At the same time, it is a bit of buzz kill to find a higher tiered/quality item only to find out it feels slower then your existing equipment.  I bet it feels like a punishment to some...

I haven't done much mining yet so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Edit: this might sound silly but maybe user experiences like this is a good opportunity for a stamina tip on the loading screen.  Not everyone will see it but perhaps it will help...

 

[madmole]

Zombie bears don't give testosterone extract though, at least to my knowledge; I've killed one and harvested it already. So no, they shouldn't give it to you imo; if you find a bear den on day 1, you already have a cigar in waiting pretty much.

This is true, I double checked after I wrote what I wrote and noticed that. I don't see any harm with it, so I added it to the zombie bears.

 

[Adam the Waster]

Zombie bears don't give testosterone extract though, at least to my knowledge; I've killed one and harvested it already. So no, they shouldn't give it to you imo; if you find a bear den on day 1, you already have a cigar in waiting pretty much.

maybe you could find some in the Pop and pills stores? or maybe you could get some from bears and Mutated Animals, like Grace!

 

[PoloPoPo]

I have found that coveted cigar during the first week already. Lucky me, I guess

Moreover, I agree with madmole on the mining issue. A player should not be able to mine 24/7 with iron tools right at the beginning without running into severe problems.

 

[Adam the Waster]

This is true, I double checked after I wrote what I wrote and noticed that. I don't see any harm with it, so I added it to the zombie bears.

wow that was fast lol

 

[MechanicalLens]

This is true, I double checked after I wrote what I wrote and noticed that. I don't see any harm with it, so I added it to the zombie bears.

Alright, thank you. I agree, it should be a difficult ingredient to acquire, but it shouldn't be so hard that the player throws their hand up in the air and goes, "Well, I'm never getting a cigar then." Lol

The player wouldn't have guns for a while anyway, and then it's up to RNG to give them a Bear den or a construction site POI (the one with the cave), and then they have to find the Urban Combat book to craft a cigar anyway.

 

[madmole]

I hear ya madmole.  Change is tough.  I think alot of people are still under the mindset that higher tiered items + quality will always be better then their lower versions in every way.  Hard to erase that past experience.

At the same time, it is a bit of buzz kill to find a higher tiered/quality item only to find out it feels slower then your existing equipment.  I bet it feels like a punishment to some...

I haven't done much mining yet so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I feel like they aren't using the tools available to mitigate the problem effectively. If it sucked I'd be the first to notice and it wouldn't have gone out the door. It doesn't, I am the resident miner/builder but I also manage to do loads of looting, killing etc.

Another pro tip: Even basic teas elevate your stamina regen by 15%, so drink up, and then mine. Using too much food mining? Sex rex: waste not want not, and if that still isn't working for you, iron gut extends buff duration and uses less food from exertion.

Alright, thank you. I agree, it should be a difficult ingredient to acquire, but it shouldn't be so hard that the player throws their hand up in the air and goes, "Well, I'm never getting a cigar then." Lol

The player wouldn't have guns for a while anyway, and then it's up to RNG to give them a Bear den or a construction site POI (the one with the cave), and then they have to find the Urban Combat book to craft a cigar anyway.

Right. Hopefully we can get more uses for these weird and rare ingredients, I hate inventory clogging booger pickers as Rick calls them as well.

 

[Jay_ombie]

Dont know if this is what you class as a bug or its just a quirk my end.

Anyone seeing an odd black line/shadow on some tree's. This was is the snow biome at night/blood moon.

 

[Adam the Waster]

I feel like they aren't using the tools available to mitigate the problem effectively. If it sucked I'd be the first to notice and it wouldn't have gone out the door. It doesn't, I am the resident miner/builder but I also manage to do loads of looting, killing etc.

Another pro tip: Even basic teas elevate your stamina regen by 15%, so drink up, and then mine. Using too much food mining? Sex rex: waste not want not, and if that still isn't working for you, iron gut extends buff duration and uses less food from exertion.

i agree with you now. i took you're tips and i went out at night and hunted some wolfs and got me some Meat!, now i can mine "granted with a few breaks of course"

 

[Gazz]

I hear ya madmole.  Change is tough.  I think alot of people are still under the mindset that higher tiered items + quality will always be better then their lower versions in every way.  Hard to erase that past experience.

That approach has been in A18 and is essentially the same in A19.

What changed is that you needed almost no "help" with stamina in A18. It was trivial to get to a point of infinite mining with steel tools.

 

[MechanicalLens]

Question: Are zombie bear spawns present in the burnt biome? Just curious since I'm thinking of settling there at the start in my next game, which won't be for a while anyway.

 

[Adam the Waster]

has anyone lost all there engines in there generators? i came back on and my Land claim block was "inactive" and i went to check my generator and the engines where gone? (note i play single player!)

i guess the duke came back and took my engines lol