PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary

[Grandpa Minion]

i mean its the same cost as a normal bullet but it just goes through armor, HP rounds need more powder and tips, so it makes sense why it does as much damage as a normal round! but this just goes through armor

Nice catch. Apparently what you say is true (after a quick look) and AP should give the most damage to armored enemies +the least to non armored, HP should cause the most damage to non armored + the least to armored and normal just do normal  minus armor rating.

This is bugged since first implementation as there haven't been any significant changes to it.

This issue was reported way before ive said anything to the TESTERS. The real issue is that they assumed "its a PVP bug""Oh that can wait" : What they failed to realize this bug effects everyone not just PVP servers. This alone goes to show the preference they have in pve over pvp. I'd highly recommend the pimps to add at least one person to their testing team who plays PVP. It so bias the way the testers feel towards pvp id also recommend not going to their discord and mentioning anything about pvp as more than likely you will get banned.

 

[Blake_]

This issue was reported way before ive said anything to the TESTERS. The real issue is that they assumed "its a PVP bug""Oh that can wait" : What they failed to realize this bug effects everyone not just PVP servers. This alone goes to show the preference they have in pve over pvp. I'd highly recommend the pimps to add at least one person to their testing team who plays PVP. It so bias the way the testers feel towards pvp id also recommend not going to their discord and mentioning anything about pvp as more than likely you will get banned.

Oh ye of little faith. They are slow to fix it because "hello 700 bugs ! " and "Good Morning unfinished main features! ". It being a priority is for them to decide. I've also considered many a bug the MOST important of the century but it eventually got fixed.

To put your mind at ease I will say this: when the 1st npc is in, this bug will instantly be fixed, because they will have obvious armor ratings that come into play way often than the current entities. I mean : who the hell knows exactly which Zd has armor rating and which doesn't without cheating? The bug only becomes a bit obvious after you can afford special rounds, so it can take some time.

Edit: Also, TFP should implement the choice to get married to a Zd or an Animal entity. Equality and flexibility is completely normal and accepted in advanced societies, even on postapocalyptic ones. I can't help it if "Boarminator" turns me on with that swagging flair.  -Snowdog 2020-

 

[fragtzack]

i was thinking more of a Air rifle that shoots Junk rounds (normal AP and shells) but hey thats just me

Hello Junk Turrets already in game.

 

[Adam the Waster]

Hello Junk Turrets already in game.

This is the last time im going to talk about this before Roland SMITES ME! for going off topic!

I think (like all level trees) should have there alternatives and this is for intellect Players! Every Perk Class has (Melee, Range) but for intellect we have only one Range weapon (junk turret) can you uses a Junk turret as a long range gun? nope! can you ADS? NOPE! its a Deference and simi offence weapon all though you CAN uses it as a Heavy Junk range weapon its much better to uses it as a Deference Weapon, although We currently have only One 2 melee weapons for Intellect (Junk Sledge and Stun baton) each one does not go with each class, (one is for electrocutioner(i can't spell) and Robotics Expert) but those will be filled in! (Junk Drone and Other Batons)
 

But we don't have a REAL range weapon to compensate for intellect!

i made a post on this awhile ago but i may change some things because my Brain goes 1 mile per hour and i keep on thinking of other things.

Now i will stop before Roland Ends me!

 

[Weazelsun]

Hm... is the second stage of the iron frame blocks upgraded meant to be the same hp as the first stage? Stage one upgraded: 1000 HP, stage two upgraded:1000 HP.

 

[hiemfire]

3 things.

1. Wife and I are loving A19. Kid is going to be playing some tomorrow.

2. Holy @%$*#! the kitties got big!

3. First visit to the desert on Navesgane today, had a quest for one of the modulars in the mobile home park from Jen, and got greeted by 1 of the flying luddites (I was on a bike and had just arrived at the POI's area). Over a couple of hits I ended with a broken leg, lacerations and got an infection (had sewing kit and splints on me)... Not my first time in game receiving any of those, but getting all 3 from only one of those pieces of @%$*#! in that short of an engagement (10 seconds tops since I had to get of the bike to start swinging) is irksome, to put it as politely as I can.

 

[Roland]

I think flame thrower for T3 melee and tranquilizer rifle for T3 ranged. The tranq gun could open up non-lethal possibilities for when bandits and reputation are in. Plus you could have a variety of payloads including a tagger that could allow you to remotely activate a laser strike from a military satellite or a nanochip that could allow you to take control of the target for five minutes.
 

What could you do as a demolisher for five minutes....?

 

[NukemDed]

i seem to have stumbled on a horde base design that so far seems pretty much unbeatable. only done to day 21 and got bored to be honest. granted havent seen a demolisher yet but the puking cops are the only time i have been hit. and after the fight i only have about 2 minutes repair work.

does one of the devs want me to pm the design?

it seems to play on a pathing     issue?feature?whatever.

stand here and they line up there. stand there and they line up there instead. bunch up actually. the hardest part about mowing them down is compensating for recoil.

 

[Toban]

Hey @madmole, I took some of your advice with this new castle and broke up some of the walls so they don't just have the same texture. I also put some nice curves into the walls and I think it made for a very nice looking castle. If you have time, take a look and let me know what you think. Cheers from Lee.

P.S, I appreciate your time is limited so if you have time, watch my pretend drone view from  0:51 to 1:44 to get an overhead view.

 

[Jay_ombie]

i seem to have stumbled on a horde base design that so far seems pretty much unbeatable. only done to day 21 and got bored to be honest. granted havent seen a demolisher yet but the puking cops are the only time i have been hit. and after the fight i only have about 2 minutes repair work.

does one of the devs want me to pm the design?

it seems to play on a pathing     issue?feature?whatever.

stand here and they line up there. stand there and they line up there instead. bunch up actually. the hardest part about mowing them down is compensating for recoil.

I think we need the possibility of demolishers randomly turning up earlier than day 30. 

I forget, are they game stage controlled or they day determined. I know they would put a blight on base building as well but it’s kind of easy without them. Plus as I keep starting again I not yet got to actually see one first hand !  

 

[SnowDog1942]

What could you do as a demolisher for five minutes....?

Thats my nickname and It only takes 2 minutes.

 

[Danidas]

Thats my nickname and It only takes 2 minutes.

Early detonation? couldn't resist

It does seem that it can sometimes take demolishers ages to start showing up and other times they appear too soon. It would be interesting for them to start showing up in POIs earlier then they appear in hordes. Image getting one in a wood house and setting it off to destroy half the house including the loot room loot.

 

[VenomsLust]

2 out of how many volumes? If it is 2 out of 4 so you could only utilize stealth for 50% of the POI then I agree that it really invalidates the stealth points that were taken. However, if it is 2 out 10 then Stealth is great and you had a stealthy experience for 80% and an open combat experience for 20%. Sometimes there are circumstances that work against you and having to quickly adapt to a changing situation is challenging and fun-- or at least different than always playing it out the same way.

@pApA^LeGBa made the point on a different thread that there should be some sort of visual or audio cue as a logical reason that communicates the automatic wake up to the player so that they are not confused about why it happened and just think their stealth is bugged. So maybe you hear a crate fall from out of sight and the noise wakes them all up. Your stealth was fine but bad luck sent you a curve ball. I agree with pApA that having some kind of cue that explains why they all wake up would be good to have. But I think having occasional areas where things are not going to be able to be stealthed is fine. It adds variety to the gameplay.

So, the argument is that nullifying the Stealth build "adds variety" during a PoI crawl.

So, what conditions are "adding variety" (read: nullifies the build) for a Machine Gunner build? A Shotgun build? A Club/Bat build? A Brawler build? A Robotic Turret build?
Why is it Stealth is the only build that gets this, so called, "added variety"?

I mean, those of us that consistently run a Stealth build have already accepted that our build had its "added variety" during blood moon. So, now we have "variety" all over the place.

The way it plays out currently feels more like a bug.
Hmm, 5/5 Sneak with full Padded and Adv. Muffled? Ya naw, they still heard you from the next room. Have fun killing 6+ Radiated Bikers with your bow in this tiny room!

 

[MechanicalLens]

I think we need the possibility of demolishers randomly turning up earlier than day 30. 

I forget, are they game stage controlled or they day determined. I know they would put a blight on base building as well but it’s kind of easy without them. Plus as I keep starting again I not yet got to actually see one first hand !  

Day 30? What settings are you playing at? I'm always on 90 minute days + 75% EXP gain and in A19 I'm typically getting them by day 56. (I know this from experience since I play on Adventurer difficulty a couple times in early A19.)

 

[Danidas]

So, the argument is that nullifying the Stealth build "adds variety" during a PoI crawl.

So, what conditions are "adding variety" (read: nullifies the build) for a Machine Gunner build? A Shotgun build? A Club/Bat build? A Brawler build? A Robotic Turret build?
Why is it Stealth is the only build that gets this, so called, "added variety"?

I mean, those of us that consistently run a Stealth build have already accepted that our build had its "added variety" during blood moon. So, now we have "variety" all over the place.

The way it plays out currently feels more like a bug.
Hmm, 5/5 Sneak with full Padded and Adv. Muffled? Ya naw, they still heard you from the next room. Have fun killing 6+ Radiated Bikers with your bow in this tiny room!

Well it is not a bug and instead is the result of the level designer not wanting players to sneak their way to the loot room. Grant it they can do nothing about players digging or building their way backwards into POIs once they know where the loot room is.

Basically the main issues with stealth is just how inconsistent it feels vs the other play styles. With all the ways that sleeper volumes and their system resource saving tricks run counter to game play.

Now when you consider that the loud and proud brute force method just plan works the majority of time with enough firepower and a good melee weapon. Which the normal trade off is the loud and proud method requires a much larger resource investment vs how cheap a stealth build is to run with. However with ammo being so plentiful in loot as of late and sleeper volumes insuring only a limited number of zombies are involved in each fight. Adding up for it easily being possible for a net gain of resources with the loud and proud method it kinda diminishes the draw for stealth.

 

[VenomsLust]

Well it is not a bug and instead is the result of the level designer not wanting players to sneak their way to the loot room. Grant it they can do nothing about players digging or building their way backwards into POIs once they know where the loot room is.

Basically the main issues with stealth is just how inconsistent it feels vs the other play styles. With all the ways that sleeper volumes and their system resource saving tricks run counter to game play.

Now when you consider that the loud and proud brute force method just plan works the majority of time with enough firepower and a good melee weapon. Which the normal trade off is the loud and proud method requires a much larger resource investment vs how cheap a stealth build is to run with. However with ammo being so plentiful in loot as of late and sleeper volumes insuring only a limited number of zombies are involved in each fight. Adding up for it easily being possible for a net gain of resources with the loud and proud method it kinda diminishes the draw for stealth.

I know it's not a bug, as that was already stated. As I said, it feels like a bug, with the way it plays out.

Not all of the "loud n' proud" techniques require sending mass amounts of resources down range either:

Clubs/Bats... very little resource usage, no events disable this build. Brawler, same. Robotics, same (and probably the most "OP", currently).

The current system feels like an intentional gimping of the build, making it 2nd only to a Sniper/Spear build in uselessness.

To add on top that: all the other trees have additional non-combat benefits (harvesting/cooking/crafting/building/buying power/party buffs).

 

[MechanicalLens]

I've noticed that we get an "abnormally" greater amount of military armor parts than any other kind of gear parts. Or maybe this is but a coincidence on my end?  (Note: This is just an observation, nothing more.)
 



Also, if this doesn't prove that I have a manic condition for hoarding, I don't know what does.

Spoiler

 

[Jost Amman]

Now when you consider that the loud and proud brute force method just plan works the majority of time with enough firepower and a good melee weapon. Which the normal trade off is the loud and proud method requires a much larger resource investment vs how cheap a stealth build is to run with. However with ammo being so plentiful in loot as of late and sleeper volumes insuring only a limited number of zombies are involved in each fight. Adding up for it easily being possible for a net gain of resources with the loud and proud method it kinda diminishes the draw for stealth.

Except a good melee or club/sledge build can brute force POIs and use ZERO resources while the stealth build still needs to use arrows/bolts and search for feathers and craft arrowheads and so on while also having the disadvantage of being useless when volume triggers activate. Is that convincing enough for you?

 

[Jay_ombie]

Day 30? What settings are you playing at? I'm always on 90 minute days + 75% EXP gain and in A19 I'm typically getting them by day 56. (I know this from experience since I play on Adventurer difficulty a couple times in early A19.)

I need to buckle in and play beyond 30 days then... haha....

 

[MechanicalLens]

I need to buckle in and play beyond 30 days then... haha....

Go into DM mode and switch the "dial" to the max then, you'd be playing on 1-2 minute days, if that.