PC Alpha 18.2 one step forward two steps back

"It's not about logic, it's about balance."
Because you can have balance without any underlying logic?

I'm sorry, but that doesn't hold up. Game mechanics - indeed, balance - depend on logic.

A lathe is an excellent example! Instead of scavenging the world for "baseball bat parts," how hard would it be to build a lathe (or is that part of a workbench)??? One makes NO sense... one DOES. Only one is a game mechanic, or balanced, or even logical.
Well, looking at it logically, a zombie apocalypse would never happen. Therefore then the only way for them to make this game follow logic is to remove zombies.

 
I'm sorry, but that doesn't hold up. Game mechanics - indeed, balance - depend on logic.
Not necessarily.

A lathe is an excellent example! Instead of scavenging the world for "baseball bat parts," how hard would it be to build a lathe (or is that part of a workbench)??? One makes NO sense... one DOES. Only one is a game mechanic, or balanced, or even logical.
Even it is built in just a workbench, it requires a workbench and still a SKILL to USE a lathe. But it does not necessarily for a pickaxe grip.

You can try using a lathe without any knowledge... if you doing it wrong, be happy if you just loose a hand but doesn't kill you.

Logic and people having no idea what they are talking about...

 
As a purely SP player, not only do I completely disagree with your assessment that we need to skill into all 5 trees to be viable
I agree. We are in fact forced to put all our points in Str and Int when playing solo - or at least I am. If I want to be remotely efficient.

Int because you cannot rely on blueprints dropping and you need to tech at least to a vehicle for efficient map traversal and trader runs, and - if playing on a high difficulty and not exploiting - you probably need Steel asap. Not to mention Lucky Looter and Better Barter if you want decent gear early and early easy food.

Str because unless you are going to play nomad, you need to gather a crap-ton of Stone early for early concrete. You need a lot more concrete than before to get a decent base up. And mining without a ton of points in Miner69er and Mother Lode is super-inefficient.

I only very rarely put any point in the other trees, because I feel I can't, without a huge loss of efficiency (for my playstyle, which is to get to Insane level with a fortress base asap).

 
Well, looking at it logically, a zombie apocalypse would never happen. Therefore then the only way for them to make this game follow logic is to remove zombies.
In case you hadn't noticed, they are in the process of doing just that. The world is now in a , more or less zombieless state!

 
"one step forward two steps back" seems to be TFP's motto ever since A17. Progression still is worse than A16, and that's even ignoring the lack of Learn-by-Doing

 
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Logic and people having no idea what they are talking about...
I am curious - do you know what you're talking about? Specifically, do you know what I know since you're making a claim that I have no idea? Logic dictates that you would have to know me pretty well to know that I have no idea about something we've only just begun talking about.

Lathes are dangerous, yes... but not complicated.

Pickaxe handles are (even in this game) tapered - they needed similar shaping techniques to a baseball bat in order to achieve a decent tapering. The lathe is really only needed to make it easier to create a consistent and even taper across the length of the wooden rod.

Oh, and balance DOES require logic - one cannot claim "balance" without being able to identify a greater-than/less-than relationship - the most basic logical observation that I can think of.

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Well, looking at it logically, a zombie apocalypse would never happen. Therefore then the only way for them to make this game follow logic is to remove zombies.
I'm curious. Why do you believe that the mere existence of zombies is illogical? Or are you saying that the apocalypse part is the illogical part, not the zombies?

 
Despite the berating of the OP, I actually agree with him to a point. And agreeing with him about some things that would take common sense to figure out not needing a schematic for... Maybe the "simple" mod could be crafted from the inventory if they are comsidered simple, like a flashlight to duct tape mod than needing a complicated crafting machine to be fashioned to be used.

As for some people can't cook, well, it helps to put the smartphone down first and learn something. :)

 
Hey OP, realism comments aside, there definitely are some balancing that is still needed in some areas (e.g. crafting vs looting) but strongly disagree that A18 is "1 step forward, 2 back"
Game is much more fun as a sum of its parts for me.
Absolutely agree with you here, especially about the crafting verse looting.

 
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