Roland
Community Moderator
This ancient relic from 7 BC (Before Covid) was dredged up by community member in an attempt to show how far behind TFP is in delivering the game they first envisioned. However, upon watching the video I was struck by how much the current game matches their original vision and how the systems we currently have so exactly fulfill their plans. The visual aspect of things may be different than they thought they were going to do and in some cases the procedure or exact gameplay of a feature may have evolved or changed but, still, the overall plan remains and most promises are already 100% fulfilled with just a few needing to come together. Below I listed the claims the video makes and my assessment of fulfillment. Someone asked me to pin this so I will at least for a time. (some people hate pinned threads...)
Claim #1: 7DTD is an open world voxel sandbox based game
This claim is 100% fulfilled. It is true that for a pure sandbox experience the player should enable the creative menu and liberally use Godmode but even without that there are many ways to play and have fun in the world.
Claim #2: 7DTD is a unique mix of 1st person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role playing games
This claim is 100% fulfilled. There is no other game on the market that fuses these genres in the way our game does which is why after 9 years in development it continues to grow in popularity. There are elements of all of these genres very much apparent in the game and they work well together to make something greater than the sum of its parts.
Claim #3: The game has multiple biomes and hundreds of POIs that are fully explorable including cities and skyscrapers
This is claim is 95% fulfilled. The number and method of spawning biomes has changed over development but there are still desert, snow, wasteland/burnt, forest/plains/mountains, and water with radiation zones still planned to come. For example there used to be a dedicated plains biome whereas now within the overall forest biome there are areas of flat plains and areas of mountainous terrain but these variations of landscape are still present and can be explored.
Claim #4: A story
This claim is 10% fulfilled. There are notes and decorations and POIs that tell stories and give clues about what happened but they are all separate and a complete story is not yet implemented. The beginnings of two factions that will help drive the story are currently in development and are the foundation for the story that will be a part of the game. The main focus points of the story have been revealed: Noah of the Whiteriver Clan and The Duke and his henchmen. I will note that in the original video the story of the game was simply going to be a sequence of linking notes that could be found and I believe the story structure we will end up getting will be more dynamic and robust than the simple one promised in the video.
Claim #5: You will need to survive by finding food and water and managing health, stamina, hunger, and hydration. You will be able to boost your stats through character development.
This claim is 100% fulfilled. Even the new dew collector and water survival rules show they are still committed to making the survival aspect of the game interesting and fun and not just a tedious job.
Claim #6: You can farm crops and hunt wild animals
This claim is 100% fulfilled. These activities also have supporting perks to go with them.
Claim #7: Day and night cycles that dramatically affect the strength and speed of the zombies
This claim is 100% fulfilled. Stronger feral zombies spawn at night and the zombies move faster at night than they do during the game. The bloodmoon has the biggest effect of all every 7 days.
Claim #8: You can build traps and defenses for your base
This claim is 100% fulfilled. Not much else to say about it.
Claim #9: You can loot, mine, and craft
This claim is 100% fulfilled. All three elements are part of the game. Granted the spatial crafting was replaced by list crafting but the essence of the promise is fully fulfilled. In A21 crafting is going to get a huge boost thanks to the new magazine system that separates it from the perk trees. The loot rebalance also means you will be crafting weapons and tools at least as often as finding them in loot.
Claim #10: You'll be able to craft generators, machines, and vehicles
This claim is 100% fulfilled. With five craftable vehicles including one that grants flight, robotic drones and turrets, and electrical devices connected to generators the game delivered on this promise big time.
Claim #11: Enemies can sense you and are relentless in their pursuit of you
This claim is 100% fulfilled. I admit that some specific senses have been abstracted together into a general sense of the player rather than specific smelling of meat which is unfortunate in my opinion but the idea of having enemies that sense you and hear you and come to investigate noises they hear and once they see you they pursue you to kill you is all there. There is also a feral sense mode you can select to make them even more sensitive to your presence.
Claim #12: There will be special enemies
This claim is 100% fulfilled. There are several special enemy types with specialized attacks beyond the basic zombie abilities.
Claim #13: Bandits and Boss Characters
This claim is 20% fulfilled. Bandits are being worked on presently and the Duke boss character as well as the Noah boss character have been discussed and elements of their presence in the game are already implemented. They plan to add both melee and ranged combat bandits and that there will be two factions for the player to manage as they strive to survive.
Claim #14: Structural integrity, gravity physics, and destructible structures will be part of the game
This claim is 100% fulfilled and has been for a long time...
Claim #15: As the player progresses they will be able to craft items with a higher quality level
This claim is 100% fulfilled.
Claim #16: Different food types will have different purity levels granting more or less health and other abilities to the player
This claim is 100% fulfilled
Claim #17: You can stealth past enemies and throw distractors to draw their attention elsewhere
This claim is 100% fulfilled. There is no claim that you will be 100% successful at it but there is a stealth component to the game and I believe that if you enjoy playing stealth then it is very much worth spending points to enhance your stealth skills. If you just care about the most efficient way to clear a building then stealth may not be for you. But that does not invalidate the fact that stealth is a part of the game.
Claim #18: You can craft various distractors and attractors to mess with the zombies
This claim is 0% fulfilled. Not certain if this has been abandoned or just an oversight.
Claim #19: You can gain XP and use it to purchase skills and perk upgrades in various ability trees
This claim is 100% fulfilled and closer to the original claim with the current system than it was with the LBD system in earlier versions.
Claim #20: You can even learn a special finishing move
This claim is probably 70% fulfilled as it morphed into power attacks for each of the weapons. Not everything always stays exactly the same as the original concept once development gets underway but there are power attacks for each weapon that often are finishing moves in melee combat. Depending on your expectations of this you will feel angry, ambivalent, or relieved.... <shrug>
Claim #21: Play solo, co-op, or MP in a special Nomad mode with leaderboards and where you can play as a zombie.
This claim is 66% fulfilled. Solo and co-op are in and many do play PVP MP using the base game but the dedicated MP PVP mode in which you can play as a zombie and where there will be leaderboards is not implemented yet. It is planned but may not make it in before full release.
Claim #22: Use creative tools for POI and world building
This claim is 100% fulfilled and the tools the devs are making available to players to create POI's in the editor and craft their own custom world maps is improving and gaining more functions all the time.
Claim #23: Domesticate animals
This claim is 0% fulfilled and likely won't happen. Taming a wolf to be a companion was planned at one point but they went with the drone instead. There are no plans as of now to tame boars or have chicken coops or rabbit cages.
What do you think?
Claim #1: 7DTD is an open world voxel sandbox based game
This claim is 100% fulfilled. It is true that for a pure sandbox experience the player should enable the creative menu and liberally use Godmode but even without that there are many ways to play and have fun in the world.
Claim #2: 7DTD is a unique mix of 1st person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role playing games
This claim is 100% fulfilled. There is no other game on the market that fuses these genres in the way our game does which is why after 9 years in development it continues to grow in popularity. There are elements of all of these genres very much apparent in the game and they work well together to make something greater than the sum of its parts.
Claim #3: The game has multiple biomes and hundreds of POIs that are fully explorable including cities and skyscrapers
This is claim is 95% fulfilled. The number and method of spawning biomes has changed over development but there are still desert, snow, wasteland/burnt, forest/plains/mountains, and water with radiation zones still planned to come. For example there used to be a dedicated plains biome whereas now within the overall forest biome there are areas of flat plains and areas of mountainous terrain but these variations of landscape are still present and can be explored.
Claim #4: A story
This claim is 10% fulfilled. There are notes and decorations and POIs that tell stories and give clues about what happened but they are all separate and a complete story is not yet implemented. The beginnings of two factions that will help drive the story are currently in development and are the foundation for the story that will be a part of the game. The main focus points of the story have been revealed: Noah of the Whiteriver Clan and The Duke and his henchmen. I will note that in the original video the story of the game was simply going to be a sequence of linking notes that could be found and I believe the story structure we will end up getting will be more dynamic and robust than the simple one promised in the video.
Claim #5: You will need to survive by finding food and water and managing health, stamina, hunger, and hydration. You will be able to boost your stats through character development.
This claim is 100% fulfilled. Even the new dew collector and water survival rules show they are still committed to making the survival aspect of the game interesting and fun and not just a tedious job.
Claim #6: You can farm crops and hunt wild animals
This claim is 100% fulfilled. These activities also have supporting perks to go with them.
Claim #7: Day and night cycles that dramatically affect the strength and speed of the zombies
This claim is 100% fulfilled. Stronger feral zombies spawn at night and the zombies move faster at night than they do during the game. The bloodmoon has the biggest effect of all every 7 days.
Claim #8: You can build traps and defenses for your base
This claim is 100% fulfilled. Not much else to say about it.
Claim #9: You can loot, mine, and craft
This claim is 100% fulfilled. All three elements are part of the game. Granted the spatial crafting was replaced by list crafting but the essence of the promise is fully fulfilled. In A21 crafting is going to get a huge boost thanks to the new magazine system that separates it from the perk trees. The loot rebalance also means you will be crafting weapons and tools at least as often as finding them in loot.
Claim #10: You'll be able to craft generators, machines, and vehicles
This claim is 100% fulfilled. With five craftable vehicles including one that grants flight, robotic drones and turrets, and electrical devices connected to generators the game delivered on this promise big time.
Claim #11: Enemies can sense you and are relentless in their pursuit of you
This claim is 100% fulfilled. I admit that some specific senses have been abstracted together into a general sense of the player rather than specific smelling of meat which is unfortunate in my opinion but the idea of having enemies that sense you and hear you and come to investigate noises they hear and once they see you they pursue you to kill you is all there. There is also a feral sense mode you can select to make them even more sensitive to your presence.
Claim #12: There will be special enemies
This claim is 100% fulfilled. There are several special enemy types with specialized attacks beyond the basic zombie abilities.
Claim #13: Bandits and Boss Characters
This claim is 20% fulfilled. Bandits are being worked on presently and the Duke boss character as well as the Noah boss character have been discussed and elements of their presence in the game are already implemented. They plan to add both melee and ranged combat bandits and that there will be two factions for the player to manage as they strive to survive.
Claim #14: Structural integrity, gravity physics, and destructible structures will be part of the game
This claim is 100% fulfilled and has been for a long time...
Claim #15: As the player progresses they will be able to craft items with a higher quality level
This claim is 100% fulfilled.
Claim #16: Different food types will have different purity levels granting more or less health and other abilities to the player
This claim is 100% fulfilled
Claim #17: You can stealth past enemies and throw distractors to draw their attention elsewhere
This claim is 100% fulfilled. There is no claim that you will be 100% successful at it but there is a stealth component to the game and I believe that if you enjoy playing stealth then it is very much worth spending points to enhance your stealth skills. If you just care about the most efficient way to clear a building then stealth may not be for you. But that does not invalidate the fact that stealth is a part of the game.
Claim #18: You can craft various distractors and attractors to mess with the zombies
This claim is 0% fulfilled. Not certain if this has been abandoned or just an oversight.
Claim #19: You can gain XP and use it to purchase skills and perk upgrades in various ability trees
This claim is 100% fulfilled and closer to the original claim with the current system than it was with the LBD system in earlier versions.
Claim #20: You can even learn a special finishing move
This claim is probably 70% fulfilled as it morphed into power attacks for each of the weapons. Not everything always stays exactly the same as the original concept once development gets underway but there are power attacks for each weapon that often are finishing moves in melee combat. Depending on your expectations of this you will feel angry, ambivalent, or relieved.... <shrug>
Claim #21: Play solo, co-op, or MP in a special Nomad mode with leaderboards and where you can play as a zombie.
This claim is 66% fulfilled. Solo and co-op are in and many do play PVP MP using the base game but the dedicated MP PVP mode in which you can play as a zombie and where there will be leaderboards is not implemented yet. It is planned but may not make it in before full release.
Claim #22: Use creative tools for POI and world building
This claim is 100% fulfilled and the tools the devs are making available to players to create POI's in the editor and craft their own custom world maps is improving and gaining more functions all the time.
Claim #23: Domesticate animals
This claim is 0% fulfilled and likely won't happen. Taming a wolf to be a companion was planned at one point but they went with the drone instead. There are no plans as of now to tame boars or have chicken coops or rabbit cages.
What do you think?
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