PC Alpha 20 Dev Diary

[madmole]

I've really been enjoying A20. I think builders will have a blast with all the new toys.

1.) New shape menu
2.) Stability shader shows in real time which is really nice.
3.) Loads of new shapes... LOADS.
4.) Wood is decent to build with.
5.) Upgrade path is simple and less frustrating, less pounding/time wasted upgrading to a million materials.

6.) Land claim seems very generous, I don't know if this has changed though.
7.) All shape menus are the same.

8.) Building with particle board is a huge win versus the transparent frames. You can see exactly what you are building now, like before getting a wedged incline block rotated the right way was tricky because you couldn't see very well.
 

Overall building is vastly improved. It's really nice not getting in the dev menu to get the blocks you want, and much easier to find/navigate IMO.

 

[Yeppi]

@ Faatal / Madmole 

Can you please tell us what are the minimum requirements for a PC so that the a20 / 21 / gold runs smoothly in HD and at least medium or high graphics settings? Is the i-3570K (4x3.8ghz), RX480 8GB, 16 RAM DDR3 still sufficient or is it called "Game Over" for such an old PC from a20? Well for 1-2 years I wanted to keep it until DDR5 becomes the standard ... and since A19.2 I sometimes have "mini-stuttering" (at 48 -56 FPS) and if it freezes for 1 second before the horde comes / spawns. Will it get worse from the A20? And how many cores does 7d2d use? Does it make a difference whether you have, for example, a new CPU with 12 or more cores or the game is only used with a maximum of 4, 6 or 8 cores?

 

[dcsobral]

I've really been enjoying A20. I think builders will have a blast with all the new toys.

1.) New shape menu
2.) Stability shader shows in real time which is really nice.
3.) Loads of new shapes... LOADS.
4.) Wood is decent to build with.
5.) Upgrade path is simple and less frustrating, less pounding/time wasted upgrading to a million materials.

6.) Land claim seems very generous, I don't know if this has changed though.
7.) All shape menus are the same.

8.) Building with particle board is a huge win versus the transparent frames. You can see exactly what you are building now, like before getting a wedged incline block rotated the right way was tricky because you couldn't see very well.
 

Overall building is vastly improved. It's really nice not getting in the dev menu to get the blocks you want, and much easier to find/navigate IMO.

Maybe you changed LCB settings to 71 blocks? 

 

[Blake_]

I've really been enjoying A20. I think builders will have a blast with all the new toys.

1.) New shape menu
2.) Stability shader shows in real time which is really nice.
3.) Loads of new shapes... LOADS.
4.) Wood is decent to build with.
5.) Upgrade path is simple and less frustrating, less pounding/time wasted upgrading to a million materials.

6.) Land claim seems very generous, I don't know if this has changed though.
7.) All shape menus are the same.

8.) Building with particle board is a huge win versus the transparent frames. You can see exactly what you are building now, like before getting a wedged incline block rotated the right way was tricky because you couldn't see very well.
 

Overall building is vastly improved. It's really nice not getting in the dev menu to get the blocks you want, and much easier to find/navigate IMO.

That's very nice. Have you tried the new generator quest? Is it good?

 

[Matt115]

I've really been enjoying A20. I think builders will have a blast with all the new toys.

1.) New shape menu
2.) Stability shader shows in real time which is really nice.
3.) Loads of new shapes... LOADS.
4.) Wood is decent to build with.
5.) Upgrade path is simple and less frustrating, less pounding/time wasted upgrading to a million materials.

6.) Land claim seems very generous, I don't know if this has changed though.
7.) All shape menus are the same.

8.) Building with particle board is a huge win versus the transparent frames. You can see exactly what you are building now, like before getting a wedged incline block rotated the right way was tricky because you couldn't see very well.
 

Overall building is vastly improved. It's really nice not getting in the dev menu to get the blocks you want, and much easier to find/navigate IMO.

Will spikes and barber wire  get new shapes too ? ""

And is there any change about how much exp we will get for upgrading ?

And @madmole please: can you confirme newsstand POI? PLEAAAAAASE 

Btw it is true that you like medival period? i know this small offtop but whatever 

 

[ltbrunt]

Just like to give a shout out to the Fun Pimps. Love the game, seems like 8 years, way to many hours than I like to admit.

I hope the game never leaves Alpha, I usually play all the way up to the next release. The game feels like something new with every update, I have come to expect a new game with every release. I hope the Pimps find a way to monetize some aspects of the game to keep bringing in new dollars for investment back into the game. 

Bandits are the one feature I want more than anything. I see myself playing this game well into the 2030s. With the level of user customization coming in the future I can see 7DTD becoming like a linux distribution which being forked by different heavily modified user additions. Super Hyped for A20, My Christmas is anytime there is a new update to 7DTD. I am going to be an old man playing this game. I sometimes think what if TFP were to make a sequel to 7DTD in the 2030s running on unreal engine 5, 6 or whatever version is out in the next decade. Long live the Pimps...Rant over and out. 

 

[jeromeN7]

@madmoleAre The Fun Pimps or the Unity developers looking into getting 7DTD to actually take advantage of high core count CPU's?

On my CPU, the game runs best when forced to run on 4 threads from 4 separate cores. When more then 4 CPU cores are allocated to 7DTD it runs worse. There are huge performance improvements to be had by getting the game to properly use more CPU threads.

 

[madmole]

That's very nice. Have you tried the new generator quest? Is it good?

I haven't seen any yet, but there are generators you can turn on, then activate power at a fuse box that opens up some powered doors in POIs at the exit, which is nice so you don't have to back track through the entire level to get out or jump down etc.

Will spikes and barber wire  get new shapes too ? ""

And is there any change about how much exp we will get for upgrading ?

And @madmole please: can you confirme newsstand POI? PLEAAAAAASE 

Btw it is true that you like medival period? i know this small offtop but whatever 

Spikes have new models.
I'm not sure about XP, but I gained some levels building my base.
There might be a newstand POI, its probably a parts thing so it's random.
Uhhhh I live in a castle style house, have long hair and a beard, and axes and some viking collector stuff, and have a few rooms in a medieval / rustic deco style but that is the extent of it.

 

[Roland]

Uhhhh I live in a castle style house, have long hair and a beard, and axes and some viking collector stuff, and have a few rooms in a medieval / rustic deco style but that is the extent of it.

I put about 30 hours into Valheim.

That's the extent of it for me-- for both Vikings and Valheim....

 

[Matt115]

Do whatever you want, but if your barber is using "wires", I suggest you to change barber...  :suspicious:

XD nah it's looks so good , nobody can sit on you if you have wires everywhere ^^

I haven't seen any yet, but there are generators you can turn on, then activate power at a fuse box that opens up some powered doors in POIs at the exit, which is nice so you don't have to back track through the entire level to get out or jump down etc.

Spikes have new models.
I'm not sure about XP, but I gained some levels building my base.
There might be a newstand POI, its probably a parts thing so it's random.
Uhhhh I live in a castle style house, have long hair and a beard, and axes and some viking collector stuff, and have a few rooms in a medieval / rustic deco style but that is the extent of it.

OMG could you show us newstand? Pleaseeee this is soo important for me 

 

[Annihilatorza]

@faatal With the new blocks and the reduced blocks upgrades, is there anything else changing about the SI system or is it pretty as is for now?

Also what are you currently working on?

 

[Kamikaze]

@faatal Sorry for bothering you about old topic, few pages ago you were talking about audio, raycasts and not forcing anyone to set flags for every block. Would be big problem use existing "Collide - Bullet" as mentioned in spoiler? Or use HP of block how much reduce sound?

Something like Raycast from zombie/source to player if colide = bullet then reduce volume by 50% per block?

I know it sounds a little bit off in some scenarios but it could improve imersion when you hear zombie behind wall so loud or if your teammates are digging in next room.

Spoiler

I think that is collide. For example I think below it means that those things will collide with the bars (player (movement), club (melee), rocket (rocket)

<block name="ironBarsCentered">
   <code>

    <property name="Collide" value="movement,melee,rocket"/>
    

<more code>
</block>

In this one it will also stop bullets and arrows.

<block name="glassCTRSheet">
    

<even more code>

    <property name="Collide" value="movement,melee,bullet,arrow,rocket"/>
    

<last code I promise>
</block>

I am sure someone can confirm or deny this .

 

[falloutcloud]

I am very hyped to learn more about the RWG tile system! It feels like we got such a small glimpse of it on the 1st stream. Any idea if and when there will be a stream dedicated to RWG?

 

[Petrol_Forever]

I've really been enjoying A20. I think builders will have a blast with all the new toys.

1.) New shape menu
2.) Stability shader shows in real time which is really nice.
3.) Loads of new shapes... LOADS.
4.) Wood is decent to build with.
5.) Upgrade path is simple and less frustrating, less pounding/time wasted upgrading to a million materials.

6.) Land claim seems very generous, I don't know if this has changed though.
7.) All shape menus are the same.

8.) Building with particle board is a huge win versus the transparent frames. You can see exactly what you are building now, like before getting a wedged incline block rotated the right way was tricky because you couldn't see very well.
 

Overall building is vastly improved. It's really nice not getting in the dev menu to get the blocks you want, and much easier to find/navigate IMO.

Man, I can't f*cking wait for this update! You're such an awesome team and your game is amazing. Thank you guys for your hard work!  

 

[Khalagar]

which is nice so you don't have to back track through the entire level to get out or jump down

Haha Auger go brrr

Generator quest sounds very nice though, super excited for A20

 

[Laz Man]

I am very hyped to learn more about the RWG tile system! It feels like we got such a small glimpse of it on the 1st stream. Any idea if and when there will be a stream dedicated to RWG?

Could be in a week or 2.  Tonight's dev stream is the environmental and weapon artist team.  Should be a good dinner time event.

 

[Rickachae]

To bad Alarms on vehicles, houses/rooms/components and trapped items so on never got added...

TY! - A20 is looking good!  (please dont leave A21 too far if poss...)

 

[Roland]

 

[faatal]

@ Faatal / Madmole 

Can you please tell us what are the minimum requirements for a PC so that the a20 / 21 / gold runs smoothly in HD and at least medium or high graphics settings? Is the i-3570K (4x3.8ghz), RX480 8GB, 16 RAM DDR3 still sufficient or is it called "Game Over" for such an old PC from a20? Well for 1-2 years I wanted to keep it until DDR5 becomes the standard ... and since A19.2 I sometimes have "mini-stuttering" (at 48 -56 FPS) and if it freezes for 1 second before the horde comes / spawns. Will it get worse from the A20? And how many cores does 7d2d use? Does it make a difference whether you have, for example, a new CPU with 12 or more cores or the game is only used with a maximum of 4, 6 or 8 cores?

I can't give you exact answers, since PC specs vary so much. It should have similar performance. The worse case currently is in the downtown of the new RWG cities, but they are working on a point system to help keep too many high resource POIs from being together.

The game will use around 6 cores, but cores are not used equally because there are many different workloads being run. Many tasks have to be done on the main thread in Unity, which consistently takes the most amount of time per frame. The same with the graphics thread. Beyond that, other threaded tasks like mesh creation, collision mesh baking and AI pathing are on demand as needed. I have a 12 core CPU, but it certainly does not need or use all of those cores. Extra cores are nice to have, since the OS and other programs can run without using cores the game is using.

 

[Demonoid74]

View attachment 21050

Looks like the trashed version of my end of the hall weapon room