PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[Quantum Blue]

I forgot blue, its there too.

(I have even trying to keep up every day... sorry for the delay.)

It's probably a good thing I missed the 'no blue' post in real time.

I can easily forgive forgetting about trains, but blue?

Confirmed for A18: Blue still a thing.

(Why? Isn't this Arizona? Is there really anything truly blue in Arizona?)

Just make sure to keep blue 'rare' so it's truly appreciated... (get it?). ; - )

 

[TSBX]

(I have even trying to keep up every day... sorry for the delay.)
It's probably a good thing I missed the 'no blue' post in real time.

I can easily forgive forgetting about trains, but blue?

Confirmed for A18: Blue still a thing.

(Why? Isn't this Arizona? Is there really anything truly blue in Arizona?)

Just make sure to keep blue 'rare' so it's truly appreciated... (get it?). ; - )

Nope you blue it.

 

[Ti2xGr]

Stupid comment.
Nvidia are beyond overpriced, which only gives the appearance of AMD being cheap.

5700 XT is $800AU for perf between a 2070S/2080S depending on title.

2070S is 999 - 1150. 2080S 1249 - 1479. 2080Ti -1699 - 2299.

This is nothing but the result of greediness from NV because why not?

I paid 1150 for my 1080 when it released.

I paid 800 for my 780 when it released.

Its all got out of hand.

All platforms have issues.

I just returned a brand new 5700 XT because of how poorly it worked with 7 Days to Die. I was hoping to save $100 and have nearly the same performance as an RTX 2070 Super. It was bad (not usable). My newly ordered MSI RTX 2070 Super Ventus OC will be here...hopefully soon - https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?125210-Radeon-RX-5700-XT-Graphic-Artifacts

 

[SylenThunder]

No because most AAA games are not risk taking, they just polish the lug nuts and do new locations and call it a new version. Same core game with very little change between versions.

It's like CoD. They just make DLC and release it as a new game every year, and then add little DLC tidbits to it. And people still buy that trash over and over.

 

[Arma Rex]

@MadMole, very late question but this has to do with you guys removing the fur shader from animals, why did you guys remove that? Honestly animals don't look that great without them, they look too smooth and kind of bland. If it was for performance issues, why not have it toggle able? I'm sure many people liked that, and I hope to see it back sometime.

 

[DUST2DEATH]

I just returned a brand new 5700 XT because of how poorly it worked with 7 Days to Die. I was hoping to save $100 and have nearly the same performance as an RTX 2070 Super. It was bad (not usable). My newly ordered MSI RTX 2070 Super Ventus OC will be here...hopefully soon - https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?125210-Radeon-RX-5700-XT-Graphic-Artifacts

rule #1 of hardware/PC/ especially Microsoft:

Never be day 1.

Anyone remember 2080 launch? Good times.

All platforms have issues, all drivers have issues.

Nvidia TDR anyone?

 

[BlashaKente]

but what are the arguments against simply using days alive to drive gamestage? It seems the most logical to me since you would then want to get the XP to kinda beat the clock, to always stay a step ahead of the zombies.

I thought days alive is already part of the gamestage calculation? That, kills, and difficulty?

But to try and answer your question, builder focused playstyles would be at a disadvantage. The world around you grows more dangerous while you're mostly keeping to yourself and have day length set to minimum. Doesn't seem like a fair metric alone for scaling difficulty.

I dunno I'm pretty ignorant on this topic so I'll return to lurking n' learnin eep:

 

[Mechanimal]

The XBOX 360 when it released was actually ahead of PC tech at the time.The GPU had new shader functionality etc that was not available to PC at the time.

All consoles up to this point were sold at a loss to the holders (sony/ms).

Only since the move to x86-64 with the xbox 1 and PS4 were using "off the shelf" hardware, did console makers actually make profit from day 1 hardware sales.

We may see this shift begin to change because console makers simply cant keep up with hardware.

This is where new SKU's appear and will hopefully help shift the baseline (XB1 X etc).

This is also another factor that will drive SaaS platforms such as Stadia etc which in turn will push the device agnostic gaming front.

But cost a lot of R&D which didnt provide the return as they hoped.

It was hard to program for, the PS3 was limited with its RAM allocation amongst other issues.

The cell was good to be in clusters for other things but for gaming, not so much.

Good points, as to why the Cell Processor faded. And yes programming for it, as in the practicality of getting all game devs to learn how to make use of it for their game engines, was a major part of why it failed to adapt as they were hoping. Those games that did make use of it, the more customized the better, were breathtaking, but too rare for them to stick with it, yeah. It lacked an effective built-in, inherent, way to spreading an engine across the cores.

But what it did do was show the field how powerful a change like that was, and it did have a rippling effect. I loved that chip, still do, and yes it is useful in clusters, which is a big part of why. Right now the gaming board in my rig is one of the first Titan cards, which uses the same architecture/chip they made the Titan Supercomputer with in 2011. Mine is the first desktop card to use it, cost me a dang fortune at the time, the GTX Titan from 2013. They still make them under the name, but mine is the oldest, and I can still run any new game no prob even though it's 6 almost 7 years old now.

When the next gen of chips arrive, and is properly adapted, games with voxel engines, like 7DTD, are going to get a huge boost in in voxel detail, depth, and scale.

 

[madmole]

With the dumpster heap (for a long while, at least; I haven't checked in on it in months) that was Fallout 76, and like you mentioned, the astonishingly long wait between Elder Scrolls games, it has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth... But I hope you are right.

They have enough money to throw at it that I think it will work itself out over time, but until it gets persistent base building, offline mode and mod support I'll probably just keep an occasional eye on it. Human NPCs are coming so that should be a big step forward but I'll wait for quite some time before I try it again, I'm sure Outer Worlds will occupy some time I loved Fallout New Vegas.

 

[madmole]

If you ever get to the point where you want to just do new locations and polish a lug nut with the same core game, I would absolutely love to see a 7 Days to Die sequel set on a failed Mars colony with a zombie outbreak and Oxygen issues, etc. I'd contribute to that Kickstarter...
7 Days to Die: Dread Planet?

In da Ahnold Voice: Get ya ass to mars!

Yeah that would be cool, or even just a new game using our tech that is kind of like doom theme on mars meets 7 days could be cool.

 

[madmole]

Madmole,any news on this ? Did the team make a responce why we havent this ?

I think its been tried before but too many edge cases. This close to shipping you can't get anyone's ear for any idea no matter how easy or great it is.

 

[faatal]

Yeah, I don't think it was intended as the full return of a fully working smell system. And I didn't really consider it that until I thought about it more, and now my brain refuses to let it go. I invited the doubt and debate for a reason, trying to calm my brain down on the topic, so please continue to challenge it, is why I brought it up.
Whether intended to be or not that is how it is behaving. Smell does leave a molecular trail that can be followed "bread-crumb" style. Zombies would not have the mental capacity to follow footsteps or visual ques like some advanced tracker would. So I'm having issue accepting that.

One question is, if I am sneaking quietly and in the shadows then, unless it IS smell based, I should leave ZERO "bread-crumbs". If I get tracked with this new system while stealthing I am going to be super annoyed, that is bogus as hell. Unless it is smell, then I may still not like it, but would accept that logically.

Again I do not think it is the full return of a smell system, just a believable and acceptable base for it that they can elaborate on later. That's fine.

And yes I know it's the weekend, no prob waiting until Monday for any dev input. They need to step away and should as often as they want to, they are already incredibly interactive on here as it is, and for that I am super grateful. Just debating with other peeps here for now is fine, just bringing it up whilst on my mind.

AI noise investigation does not use the breadcrumb system like you think. It does not follow it.

Previously if AI heard you make a noise it would path to your position. Now if you make a noise, it picks a position from 0 to x meters back on your breadcrumb trail and paths to that single position. That means it is easier for you since the AI is less accurate at determining where your noise came from.

 

[DUST2DEATH]

When the next gen of chips arrive, and is properly adapted, games with voxel engines, like 7DTD, are going to get a huge boost in in voxel detail, depth, and scale.

Maybe. Voxel engines will always be CPU bound though.

Unless they can start to leverage more compute/parallel processing I dont see it changing to much anytime soon.

 

[madmole]

Not a fan of OuterWorlds at all. Really hate the vibe, kinda what you describe. Also not a fan of cowboy-like settings (yes i didnt even play RedDead, sue me). For Starfield i'm expecting a Mass Effect 1 like vibe. Which i like.
What do make of the "rumors" that ElderScrolls, Fallout and Starfield are all 1 universe linked to eachother? Like one is the present, one is the past and one is the future?

Thats total BS and would be completely stupid. Where are my powers then in Fallout? I want to fry all the bandits with shock magic or turn into a vampire lord and toss them around with vampire grip lol.

I always thought it would be a cool mod, to basically be a guy from the elder scrolls worlds who ended up in a modern shooter. Imagine using magic against all the mortals with their puny guns lol. Would be pretty cool being the "weird outcast" with powers and using them for good or evil.

 

[madmole]

thought this was a forum to discuss A18 not pitch a pyramid scheme about zombie mechs and such....

Forum topic police are at it again

 

[madmole]

Unrelated to farming...Madmole, when you said you aren't done with food yet, will there be a way to turn sham into shamwiches so we can make more sham chowder? Or direct recipe to use sham in the creation of sham chowder, bypassing the sandwich step entirely?

I could just replace sham sandwich with sham and be done with it.

 

[Mechanimal]

Maybe. Voxel engines will always be CPU bound though.Unless they can start to leverage more compute/parallel processing I dont see it changing to much anytime soon.

Yes, and that's actually what I was referring to, mainly the parallel processing aspect. As you can guess that would be an amazingly powerful boost to a voxel environment if applied properly.

 

[madmole]

Ok Madmole, Todd Howard calls you up and says, "Hey Joel, I love your zumbie game and would love for you to design the next Fallout! Can you give me something right now to pitch to the guys?"
If you got the reins how would design the next Fallout?

Vehicles, and a bigger wasteland.

Disable fast travel.

Remove pc voice, go back to text so you can role play more. MY guy has an Arnold voice or is a gen 1 synth.

Restore attribute based dialogue choices: (Strength) How about I life you over my head and toss you to the ghouls?

TBH, googles new ai assistant tech has such believable vo, Imagine they implement that, and then all the voices are CG. Then modders could make quests with authentic endless new VO.

Allow scrapping and building anything and nearly anywhere, not designated camps

Build the default game on survival mode, and then optional classic mode where you don't need to eat/drink/sleep.

Enhance followers to have a wide range of morals, and allow player to be a proper bandit from the start, hang out with bandits, raid towns if you want. Kill anyone like new vegas.

Add karma or relationship stuff back in so you feel like a badass when your reputation precedes you, or a goody type if that is your role play.

 

[Mechanimal]

Forum topic police are at it again

He's not the po-po and was just being an ass instead of scrolling past what he doesn't want to read. I wasn't pitching anything, I don't work in this field. Just spitballing an idea since you and others were talking about different genres and worlds like fantasy and sci-fi, so I applied an idea to 7DTD to wonder how/if such a thing could fit.

He should leave the policing to Roland and learn how to use his ♥♥♥♥ing scroll wheel.

 

[madmole]

I feel I've missed something somewhere. Is this a trap? It feels like a trap. Am I getting banned for dropping an F-bomb?
If memory serves the great Mole said a few days ago that TFP may have faltered a little with the new farming system. Any idea what the current plan is? Is the farming system being reworked? Is the soil/block bug being worked on? Is the system being reverted... hoe and all?

Nope you guys are getting farm boxes, we're in content lock so nothing is getting changed.