Mod Request Is there any project that aims to de-dungeon POI's?

[-Holo-]

Is there any projects working on removing the dungeon style POI's from the randomgen mixer?
Best case would be if the POI's were 'restored' back into a normal POI without the 'follow this path and get candy at the end' design, like how most POI's were before A17.

 

[zztong]

Is there any projects working on removing the dungeon style POI's from the randomgen mixer?
Best case would be if the POI's were 'restored' back into a normal POI without the 'follow this path and get candy at the end' design, like how most POI's were before A17.

I'm not aware of a project of that type. I believe TFP's design process involves a path, but I've not talked to them about it and I'm just speculating based on my observations. There are some 3rd party POI designers who don't include a designed path in their POIs. You could add their POIs to your game. I don't generally follow the path when I play, so I don't tend to design one into my POIs as it feels more natural to me.

Having just played A16 to remember what it was like, those POIs were so plain and simple that a path didn't make sense. When I was done, I flew through the POIs in a settlement to look at the POIs and most were like 3 rooms with as many zombies. I don't think going back to that would be popular. The most complex POI I saw was a trader.

 

[-Holo-]

I'm not aware of a project of that type. I believe TFP's design process involves a path, but I've not talked to them about it and I'm just speculating based on my observations. There are some 3rd party POI designers who don't include a designed path in their POIs. You could add their POIs to your game. I don't generally follow the path when I play, so I don't tend to design one into my POIs as it feels more natural to me.

Having just played A16 to remember what it was like, those POIs were so plain and simple that a path didn't make sense. When I was done, I flew through the POIs in a settlement to look at the POIs and most were like 3 rooms with as many zombies. I don't think going back to that would be popular. The most complex POI I saw was a trader.

Some were simple indeed but they all had the feeling of being a normal building in a world (that does not revolve around the player) and we're just there scavenging.
The current design with clearly lit paths to follow just feels so horribly 'unnatural' and game-y that it distracts from the world :/

I regulary return to play some A14, 15 and 16 and having a great time as it's pretty much a different game then what A17 changed it into (for better or worse) Unfortunatly each of those Alphas have their share of showstopping issues/bugs but I'm yearning to bring what me and my friends though were the good parts of the game to current Alpha. My skills only go so far as basic xpathing modding so my hope's up for the skilled modders out there to pick up the task!

 

[zztong]

My skills only go so far as basic xpathing modding so my hope's up for the skilled modders out there to pick up the task!

I don't think XPATH will provide an option for you. The path is ultimately an arrangement of blocks. Even the sleepers are placed blocks. The arrangement of blocks is a binary file, not XML.

You're basically talking about redoing something like 750-1000 of TFP's POIs. I can provide some metrics for comparison. I've made 230 POIs between the middle of A19 to now with hobby-level effort. What is that, about 5 years? That would be around 230 / 5 ... say 50 POIs a year per person. If we assume TFP had 750 POIs to convert, you would need a team of 750 / 50 = 15 people matching my productivity to have your change in a year, just in time for 3.0 which probably changed a bunch of those POIs and added some new ones.

That said, I know that's a bit of an overestimation as there are a number of pathless remnant POIs and filler POIs, so perhaps a team half that size... 7 aggressive designers might need a year make a good optimistic count.

I'll go one step further. If we assume that removing a path from a POI only involved removing or rearranging a few blocks, then maybe you get to a team of 3 or 4 for a year. Maybe 1 or 2, but I shudder to think of doing that to hundreds of POIs by myself. I guess it really depends on how simply you choose to go with removing a path. When you start removing things like barricades where survivors may have tried to defend themselves then you get into harder decisions and that slows things down.

 

[-Holo-]

I don't think XPATH will provide an option for you. The path is ultimately an arrangement of blocks. Even the sleepers are placed blocks. The arrangement of blocks is a binary file, not XML.

You're basically talking about redoing something like 750-1000 of TFP's POIs. I can provide some metrics for comparison. I've made 230 POIs between the middle of A19 to now with hobby-level effort. What is that, about 5 years? That would be around 230 / 5 ... say 50 POIs a year per person. If we assume TFP had 750 POIs to convert, you would need a team of 750 / 50 = 15 people matching my productivity to have your change in a year, just in time for 3.0 which probably changed a bunch of those POIs and added some new ones.

That said, I know that's a bit of an overestimation as there are a number of pathless remnant POIs and filler POIs, so perhaps a team half that size... 7 aggressive designers might need a year make a good optimistic count.

I'll go one step further. If we assume that removing a path from a POI only involved removing or rearranging a few blocks, then maybe you get to a team of 3 or 4 for a year. Maybe 1 or 2, but I shudder to think of doing that to hundreds of POIs by myself. I guess it really depends on how simply you choose to go with removing a path. When you start removing things like barricades where survivors may have tried to defend themselves then you get into harder decisions and that slows things down.

Oh yes, ofcourse. Xpath won't do the trick it was just the level I was on and saying that POI building is above my skillset :/
I suppose removing the obvious lights that points the way could be a start. Hmm.
I'll keep dreaming ^^

 

[EvilPolygons]

Personally I enjoy POI's that have a well-designed path built into them, but I'm not a fan of using flashlights as breadcrumbs. I generally dislike ANY kind of breadcrumbs or quest indicators in PC games. I much prefer it when you have to actually look for the path; explore, try different doors, solve puzzles, find keys, etc, etc.

 

[zztong]

I suppose removing the obvious lights that points the way could be a start.

I recall hearing about a mod that turned off all of the lights. It would be a code mod, so anti-cheat would have to be off. I can't remember who mentioned that mod to me. It might have been @stallionsden as we were probably talking about POIs with overlapping radii and shadows.

 

[stallionsden]

there is a mod called darker nights on nexus makes everything dark and you need a headlight