PC A20 Developer Diary Discussions

[Roland]

@The Dev who's Working on the Drone:

someone posted these interesting questions on Steam...  :nerd:

question 1. what can the drone do once you have built one?
question 2. can you build more than one drone?
question 3. can you have more than one drone follow you
question 4. what is its function?
question 5. how long does his battery last and how can you recharge it?
question 6. how do the zombies react to the drone when it is shooting zombies? or how they generally react when they see the drone?
question 7. does the drone have mods? if so how many and which mods
question 8. does the drone have built-in or mod cammera with which you can use the drone to explore the environment

Thanks

I tested the drone a bit today and can answer some of these without stealing the thunder of any future dev stream.

1) It follows you around and increases your storage. For those who already mod their storage to huge capacity, the drone will seem underwhelming and unnecessary. However, for those who play it straight the drone will be a nice bonus backpack.

2) You can build multiple drones and pass them out to friends and family.

3) Only one will follow you. When trying to place another I was informed that I was at the capacity of drones following. I maxed everything out and read all the tech books and still only one was allowable.

4) Extra storage in its basic unmodded version

5) As of now there is no option to recharge or refuel.

6) They ignore it and it generally hovers out of their reach anyway.

7) The drone does have mods. How many and which mods will surely be the subject of a future dev stream.

8. There is not a built in camera nor any switching perspectives or taking over the controls of the drone and flying around viewing the world from its perspective. Whether a mod camera will allow that functionality in the future is unknown.

Bonus: The drone paths extremely well. I used Godmode to quickly move through a building to a room somewhere in its interior and the drone flew around finding its way through the building to get to me. If it got blocked because a closed door was between us then it flew around in circles seemingly agitated like a puppy separated from its beloved master. It always stays behind you and never once got in the way when shooting enemies. I would say that your expectation for it should be that it is a bonus backpack which--again-- if people have been spoiling themselves for years by modding for themselves huge backpacks then the drone won't seem very spectacular. Of course there are mods for the drone and those mods turn it into a backpack with benefits. But those benefits will be shown at a later date.

 

[IzPrebuilt]

Will the increased gamestage across different biomes affect horde nights?

IDK If they've changed this but back in one of those livestreams in either November or October they said it wouldn't affect hordes. (Unfortunately IMO)

I tested the drone a bit today and can answer some of these without stealing the thunder of any future dev stream.

1) It follows you around and increases your storage. For those who already mod their storage to huge capacity, the drone will seem underwhelming and unnecessary. However, for those who play it straight the drone will be a nice bonus backpack.

2) You can build multiple drones and pass them out to friends and family.

3) Only one will follow you. When trying to place another I was informed that I was at the capacity of drones following. I maxed everything out and read all the tech books and still only one was allowable.

4) Extra storage in its basic unmodded version

5) As of now there is no option to recharge or refuel.

6) They ignore it and it generally hovers out of their reach anyway.

7) The drone does have mods. How many and which mods will surely be the subject of a future dev stream.

8. There is not a built in camera nor any switching perspectives or taking over the controls of the drone and flying around viewing the world from its perspective. Whether a mod camera will allow that functionality in the future is unknown.

Bonus: The drone paths extremely well. I used Godmode to quickly move through a building to a room somewhere in its interior and the drone flew around finding its way through the building to get to me. If it got blocked because a closed door was between us then it flew around in circles seemingly agitated like a puppy separated from its beloved master. It always stays behind you and never once got in the way when shooting enemies. I would say that your expectation for it should be that it is a bonus backpack which--again-- if people have been spoiling themselves for years by modding for themselves huge backpacks then the drone won't seem very spectacular. Of course there are mods for the drone and those mods turn it into a backpack with benefits. But those benefits will be shown at a later date.

Long shot, but are you allowed to let us know the exact stats of the drone storage at all? like how many slots it has. Probably not but just thought I'd ask for further clarification just in-case.

 

[Roland]

Long shot, but are you allowed to let us know the exact stats of the drone storage at all? like how many slots it has. Probably not but just thought I'd ask for further clarification just in-case.

Details will come in an upcoming dev stream.

 

[JCrook1028]

well honestly i'm not so sure about npc. more likly they gone work in mix of traders - friendly guys sit in warm safe place and bandits  are  animal and zombie

Wrong. Bandits will be exactly that - Human Bandits. Not friendly traders and not zombies. They will not be in A20 but A20 does a lot of stuff needed for them to be in later.

 

[Matt115]

Wrong. Bandits will be exactly that - Human Bandits. Not friendly traders and not zombies. They will not be in A20 but A20 does a lot of stuff needed for them to be in later.

i mean npc - traders guards radioman etc - you can talk with them in safe place like traders post. Bandits - mobs like  zombie or animals xd 

 

[HeLLKnight]

100% on board with more creative Zs like this one. Gives it more diversity, both visually and gameplay-wise. Awesome work indeed!

Agreed. I love special zombies in Dying Light and Left4dead and how they add different threats to gameplay, hope there are more coming to 7d2d.  I find current radiated zeds has the potential to add more zombies behaviors or special attacks, other than doing more damage or have more hp-recovering hp.

I like to let my imagination fly, a special zombie like the last revealed could do one or more of these:

- Only ranged radiation attacks, and running from you keeping distance or trying to hide

- Leave radiation puddles on his way that last a few seconds, the player takes damage if step on

- Radiated Fat tourist has gas area surrounding him that convert normal zeds with standard damage to same zeds but visually dripping radiation and doing radiation damage

- Crawler has an attack that does not hurt, but tries to grab your leg for a few seconds to prevent your movement and so other zombies kill you

- Wight zombie tries to throw you to the ground and bite you, and if succeed all the animation, always infect you

Other than that special power and attacks mad ideas, do you plan to add variations to AI pathfinding or behaviors in the future? I would like to see a combination of some smarter zeds with current a19 AI, looking for the weakest spot in your defense, while other are more fool zeds but a bit less predictable too like a16

 

[RhinoW]

I tested the drone a bit today and can answer some of these without stealing the thunder of any future dev stream.

1) It follows you around and increases your storage. For those who already mod their storage to huge capacity, the drone will seem underwhelming and unnecessary. However, for those who play it straight the drone will be a nice bonus backpack.

2) You can build multiple drones and pass them out to friends and family.

3) Only one will follow you. When trying to place another I was informed that I was at the capacity of drones following. I maxed everything out and read all the tech books and still only one was allowable.

4) Extra storage in its basic unmodded version

5) As of now there is no option to recharge or refuel.

6) They ignore it and it generally hovers out of their reach anyway.

7) The drone does have mods. How many and which mods will surely be the subject of a future dev stream.

8. There is not a built in camera nor any switching perspectives or taking over the controls of the drone and flying around viewing the world from its perspective. Whether a mod camera will allow that functionality in the future is unknown.

Bonus: The drone paths extremely well. I used Godmode to quickly move through a building to a room somewhere in its interior and the drone flew around finding its way through the building to get to me. If it got blocked because a closed door was between us then it flew around in circles seemingly agitated like a puppy separated from its beloved master. It always stays behind you and never once got in the way when shooting enemies. I would say that your expectation for it should be that it is a bonus backpack which--again-- if people have been spoiling themselves for years by modding for themselves huge backpacks then the drone won't seem very spectacular. Of course there are mods for the drone and those mods turn it into a backpack with benefits. But those benefits will be shown at a later date.

So the drone is a flying backpack by default, shouldn't the storage actually be a mod while his default behaviour would be to help you in a fight? Is the shock hit on the zombies discarded? Let's just hope it's not too expensive to craft then, because the drone really just sounds more like a gimmick than a useful craft (unlike the junk turrets).

 

[Roland]

 the drone really just sounds more like a gimmick than a useful craft (unlike the junk turrets).

That's exactly what people said about the sledge turret at first. It may not end up being something you'll see as an important addition or it may end up being something that people rant about because it is seen as so critical that they feel forced to put points into Intelligence to guarantee they can craft one. There are still unknowns and still some future iterating after it gets implemented in A20.

 

[Blake_]

That's exactly what people said about the sledge turret at first. It may not end up being something you'll see as an important addition or it may end up being something that people rant about because it is seen as so critical that they feel forced to put points into Intelligence to guarantee they can craft one. There are still unknowns and still some future iterating after it gets implemented in A20.

I see that even yourself are underestimating the drone if just a little bit. Veterans know the importance of more storage capacity far too well. That singlehandedly makes the drone the most important gizmo in this game, far above any weapon. You can survive without shooting or "meleeing" a single zd by just using traps, but without storage, there is no game.

There's no : "plz wait and you'll see" with the drone. It's just: "YAS, MOAR SPACE".

 

[BFT2020]

I see that even yourself are underestimating the drone if just a little bit. Veterans know the importance of more storage capacity far too well. That singlehandedly makes the drone the most important gizmo in this game, far above any weapon. You can survive without shooting or "meleeing" a single zd by just using traps, but without storage, there is no game.

There's no : "plz wait and you'll see" with the drone. It's just: "YAS, MOAR SPACE".

Especially for those that play pretty much vanilla or mods that don't break storage capability.  Having that drone with my intelligence builds will mean less trips back out to my storage chests outside a POI that I am looting / scrapping.  If you play with mods that remove that restriction (i.e. remove any storage / carrying penalties), then this drone will be a "meh".

 

[dcsobral]

Especially for those that play pretty much vanilla or mods that don't break storage capability.  Having that drone with my intelligence builds will mean less trips back out to my storage chests outside a POI that I am looting / scrapping.  If you play with mods that remove that restriction (i.e. remove any storage / carrying penalties), then this drone will be a "meh".

Amen to that.  Was there any mention of when you are expected to get a mod? Get it early enough in the game and it will be absolutely awesome, but I'll take any inventory space you throw my way. I could see using it to store stuff like lockpicks, for example, that I want to have around but don't use that often. Things you leave in the vehicle, generally speaking. And if you don't want to waste the drone space with stuff you leave in the vehicle, then no one needs to sell you the value of extra storage.

I'm curious about the mods. Maybe there's an attack mod? An extra storage mod would also make sense, as would a medic mod, but what else could be done with it?

I know! A splint mod! Use the drone as a crutch!  

 

[RhinoW]

I don't play with mods either, and the drone still seems underwhelming. While the sledge turret did get improvements, let's not forget it's a turret made for home defense, not really a weapon to carry around (using it like that is really just for the memes).

 The drone strikes me as the third weapon type in the intelligence arsenal (baton, turrets and drone), much like in perception is explosions, javelins and rifles, and because of that I would really like to see it having more impact than what I've gathered so far. You either add it with an intent or don't. It seems that so far TFP has stayed true to their A17 re-route of the game's balancing and have made all their additions have a purpose (weapons finally having their playstyle purpose/related skills and feel imposing). I hope the drone sticks to the same formula and doesn't feel off or useless. That's just all.

But only time will tell...

 

[jorbascrumps]

There's got to be more to the drone than storage that they haven't revealed yet, otherwise they would have just given us an expanded backpack mod. Hopefully we find out soon.

 

[dcsobral]

There's got to be more to the drone than storage that they haven't revealed yet, otherwise they would have just given us an expanded backpack mod. Hopefully we find out soon.

An expanded backpack doesn't have the same coolness factor. Nor can it be shot down.

 

[jorbascrumps]

An expanded backpack doesn't have the same coolness factor. Nor can it be shot down.

I stand corrected 

 

[Roland]

An expanded backpack doesn't have the same coolness factor. Nor can it be shot down.

It is definitely cool as it zips around behind you. I never tested whether it can be shot down....

There's got to be more to the drone than storage that they haven't revealed yet, otherwise they would have just given us an expanded backpack mod. Hopefully we find out soon.

There is. I just talked about the basic drone without any enhancements. Anything beyond what I shared will have to be revealed by a developer.

 

[meganoth]

Especially for those that play pretty much vanilla or mods that don't break storage capability.  Having that drone with my intelligence builds will mean less trips back out to my storage chests outside a POI that I am looting / scrapping.  If you play with mods that remove that restriction (i.e. remove any storage / carrying penalties), then this drone will be a "meh".

Remember that the drone seems to be the tier3 robotic thingy, as such it will be available when you already have lots of perk points and lots of pockets in your clothing (except if TFP removes those pocket mods). I play vanilla without enlarged storage mods and at that time in the game I usually have neither encumbrance problems nor storage problems because of a motorbike with (what I feel is) generous storage and a tendency to scrap 80% of what I find.

For people who can't throw away anything that may still be heaven. I feel underwhelmed though and will have to see if a drone mod gets me interested.

 

[Matt115]

It is definitely cool as it zips around behind you. I never tested whether it can be shot down....

There is. I just talked about the basic drone without any enhancements. Anything beyond what I shared will have to be revealed by a developer.

Remember that the drone seems to be the tier3 robotic thingy, as such it will be available when you already have lots of perk points and lots of pockets in your clothing (except if TFP removes those pocket mods). I play vanilla without enlarged storage mods and at that time in the game I usually have neither encumbrance problems nor storage problems because of a motorbike with (what I feel is) generous storage and a tendency to scrap 80% of what I find.

For people who can't throw away anything that may still be heaven. I feel underwhelmed though and will have to see if a drone mod gets me interested.

Well honestly it's like cart from valheim but it is not op because it is quiet expensive right?

 

[dcsobral]

Well honestly it's like cart from valheim but it is not op because it is quiet expensive right?

Totally off-topic right now, but... you find Valheim's cart overpowered??? Now that is a perspective that is entirely new to me.

 

[mandeglor]

It would be great if the drone could be programmed to automatically return by itself to the base and download its content (in some kind of docking) and then return to the player.