PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary

[Laz Man]

I was thinking that maybe ALL rifles (but especially the sniper one) could have a very high chance of a critical shot that multiplies the damage.

Just throwing there ideas that have already been used and tested in other games...

Theres a perk for that..the one that increases damage with each successive shot.

Edit: Dead Eye (50% at full rank)

 

[RhinoW]

Theres a perk for that..the one that increases damage with each successive shot.

Edit: Dead Eye (50% at full rank)

Dead Eye is weak, if you don't kill a bloated walker with 1 headshot, you lose the buff. It becomes even more useless later on as everything doesn't die from 1 headshot.

 

[Laz Man]

Dead Eye is weak, if you don't kill a bloated walker with 1 headshot, you lose the buff. It becomes even more useless later on as everything doesn't die from 1 headshot.

I dunno about that, I have never have issues keeping it up in a zombie kill corridor.  

 

[Adam the Waster]

Dead Eye is weak, if you don't kill a bloated walker with 1 headshot, you lose the buff. It becomes even more useless later on as everything doesn't die from 1 headshot.

it would be cool if the Farther you hit a zombie with a Marksman weapon, the more damage it will do!

and it goes up with the perk!

 

[madmole]

Well then we disagree. I do not believe that what I am doing and what they are doing are the same. 'They' are 'pretty much' playing with cheat codes and I am making the game harder then it already is and adding mass loss and trying to play this game like a walking dead game rather then a tower defense game. Just because others don't like permadeath doesn't mean it can't be option in the settings. Apologies if the idea of this raises the bar for some.

We are still wanting to do official dead is dead settings, and maybe a softer dead is kinda dead option where lives are obtained in some kind of economy.

 

[Laz Man]

it would be cool if the Farther you hit a zombie with a Marksman weapon, the more damage it will do!

and it goes up with the perk!

That actually sounds like a great incentive to kill things farther out.  Great idea.

 

[madmole]

I  mean I didn't record myself loading in the first time no, lol. I could probably find my wooden block with a campfire and bedroll next to it in the middle of the road I spawned on if you want ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Are there plans to make Burnt Biome a bit . . .less burnt out and empty? There's basically nothing in it nor any reason to go there imo. The new lighting makes it look a lot cooler at least, but I still wouldn't ever want to live in it or the Wasteland, or even visit them honestly.

There are basically no points of interest because everything is burned, there's no loot, no living animals,  there no real resources there and aren't even many zombies etc. ATM it's just there for looks, since you can just get charcoal in the forest instead, which is a shame because the burned zombies look cool and are really unique

Wasteland is just a miserable, miserable place that isn't even there for looks. Looks ugly, feels ugly, is ugly. Both Biome have the same issue where there are basically no points of interest so there's no loot, and there's nothing to really see besides the scenery itself.  Neither have unique resources or any real draw besides just "It's been a few alpha since I lived in one of these, guess I'll try it again"

Just stop with the hyperbole. Pretty much every post is just your opinion with zero facts.

There are unique burnt POIs in the burnt forest. There are live animals in the burnt forest. There are the same POIs spawning there than in the regular forest. There is coal there easily obtained on the ground and from the burnt trees, and wood, and all ores/resources.

The wasteland will have an elevated game stage in the future, and radiation and the best loot possible.

It was never intended for anyone to live there, unless you thrive on dreary or want to stay clear of scrubs in PVP because without rad gear they won't survive long enough to get your loot.

What this game REALLY needs is a perk line, or have it added to a perk line where you get full exp from spike traps lel. 

I would totally be a lumberjack and kill most things with wood spikes if I was not losing out on huge amounts of exp.  I used to do it in one of the older builds heh. 

We don't have a way to store who made the spike (so no way to award XP) unless we turn it into a model entity instead of a block, and then we get poor performance from too many entities, draw calls, etc.

 

[Jost Amman]

Theres a perk for that..the one that increases damage with each successive shot.

Edit: Dead Eye (50% at full rank)

I was thinking more of a perk which sometimes gets you maximum damage on the first shot, not the other way around... you know, like a critical hit! 

@madmole: what is your current take/position on rifles and sniper rifles in A19?

Do you think they need improving? And if the answer is yes, have you got any idea in the oven ready to cook?

Thanks

 

[RhinoW]

Just stop with the hyperbole. Pretty much every post is just your opinion with zero facts.

There are unique burnt POIs in the burnt forest. There are live animals in the burnt forest. There are the same POIs spawning there than in the regular forest. There is coal there easily obtained on the ground and from the burnt trees, and wood, and all ores/resources.

The wasteland will have an elevated game stage in the future, and radiation and the best loot possible.

It was never intended for anyone to live there, unless you thrive on dreary or want to stay clear of scrubs in PVP because without rad gear they won't survive long enough to get your loot.

We don't have a way to store who made the spike (so no way to award XP) unless we turn it into a model entity instead of a block, and then we get poor performance from too many entities, draw calls, etc.

Give us a bandaid fix like an option to enable/disable xp from environmental kills (gives all players xp, but like 50% of the entity's xp)? At least until you guys find a solution.

 

[madmole]

IMO the problem is not with the Shotgun, the problem is with all long range weapons, but it's not TFP's fault.

The problem is that rifles and sniper-rifles should shine in VERY long range hits, but the game engine is not able/programmed to load entities that far.

In an ideal world IMO you should be able to zoom-in with the scope and see (i.e.) biome spawns (or even sleepers) that are 300/400 blocks away.

Then a sniper rifle would allow you to use that weapon tactically in the proper way.

Example: if you plan to go in the Factory POI you'd first be able to climb in a nearby rooftop and snipe out all zombies near the windows.

Yes, this is the biggest issue, is that the limited range of voxels makes rifles kind of pointless, because most encounters are short to mid range. There are some uses for the rifle for sure, but it doesn't make it enticing enough to spec into.

@madmole just a quick question, zombie bears on horde night. Wondering why its not a thing? 

I thought it was on high GS.

 

[MechanicalLens]

Yes, this is the biggest issue, is that the limited range of voxels makes rifles kind of pointless, because most encounters are short to mid range. There are some uses for the rifle for sure, but it doesn't make it enticing enough to spec into.

I thought it was on high GS.

Unless you've added that in A19, no, that has never been the case. At least not for the past few/several alphas.

We don't have a way to store who made the spike (so no way to award XP) unless we turn it into a model entity instead of a block, and then we get poor performance from too many entities, draw calls, etc.

I think it's fairly balanced as is anyway. With spikes, especially whole fields of them surrounding your compound, killing zombies for you, you end up using less ammunition. The trade-off? You don't get any XP from the kills the spikes produce.

 

[Jost Amman]

Unless you've added that in A19, no, that has never been the case. At least not for the past few/several alphas.

SHUT UP! Zombie bears mixed in a BM horde sound WAY more terrifying than the demolishers!  eep:

 

[MechanicalLens]

SHUT UP! Zombie bears mixed in a BM horde sound WAY more terrifying than the demolishers!  eep:

I never said that wouldn't be the case. I was simply stating that, unless TFP changed something and didn't tell us about it, zombie bears currently do not spawn during BM hordes. They haven't since A14 or A15 I believe.

 

[Syrex]

I thought it was on high GS.

Haven't encountered zombie bears in a horde night (19 nites achieved thus far) yet either. GS is 382

 

[Jost Amman]

I never said that wouldn't be the case. I was simply stating that, unless TFP changed something and didn't tell us about it, zombie bears currently do not spawn during BM hordes. They haven't since A14 or A15 I believe.

No, no, you got it wrong... I was saying shut up in the sense "don't give Madmole ideas"! Shhh! 

 

[MechanicalLens]

Regarding mines, I fear that even if they could give XP to the player in the future, they would still remain obsolete due to their cost-to-kill ratio. Most players would rather craft grenades or pipe bombs that could net them a few to several kills vs a single mine that may grant them 1 kill, perhaps 2, but also with the chance of 0. I do not have any sort of solution to this that would make sense (other than "self-regenerating"/charging landmines, but that wouldn't make any sort of logical sense), but I thought I'd might as well point this out.

No, no, you got it wrong... I was saying shut up in the sense "don't give Madmole ideas"! Shhh! 

Madmole, you have two votes in our corner. We want zombie bears on horde night. 

 

[Laz Man]

SHUT UP! Zombie bears mixed in a BM horde sound WAY more terrifying than the demolishers!  eep:

Maybe if you run around on the ground level with the zombies meleeing but apart from that that they are a non issue for the majority of horde bases...

...Maybe if there is a flying/exploding/spitting version then sure? LOL

Edit: a fire breathing version would make things interesting but not until we get a flamethrower trap ourselves...

 

[MechanicalLens]

Maybe if you run around on the ground level with the zombies meleeing but apart from that that they are a non issue for the majority of horde bases...

...Maybe if there is a flying/exploding/spitting version then sure? LOL

Edit: a fire breathing version would make things interesting but not until we get a flamethrower trap ourselves...

Now you're making me want to fight dragons on horde night.

 

[Jost Amman]

Maybe if you run around on the ground level with the zombies meleeing but apart from that that they are a non issue for the majority of horde bases...

...Maybe if there is a flying/exploding/spitting version then sure? LOL

A giant flying pooping version maybe...  :flypig:

 

[madmole]

@madmole

Are there plans to re-visit the apartment building (sorry I dont know the POI name)  its the one thats 4 or 5 stories, very square shaped and each apartment has its own balcony.  Top floor has skylights in 2 of the apartments.

We ran into this one yesterday (hadn't seen it in a while).  It was pretty meh compared to all the new and re-vamped POI's.  But the building looks like you could do a great dungeon rework on it.  Heck even just an update that brings it on par with the other buildings.

A19 has been very solid and impressive.  The game is better than ever. 

Thanks for all of TFPs  hard work. 

I don't know, I'm not a level designer. I do know they will revisit every POI at some point.