PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[Pegasus]

Probably not that hard but lets leave some work for the modders to do. Thats kind of a hardcore personal tastes mod, that I would install myself, but average guys need simple farming.

Oh, this reminds me ... any chance of getting grow lights? They have to be hooked to power and such, but you could grow your farms underground....

 

[madmole]

My biggest gripe over 17 overall was the reduction of a need to go out and interact. Dungeons are awesome and still are I feel. I just want a reason to do them besides a chest with a pistol and 15 bullets. And this looks like it will hit that area nicely which I am grateful for.

18 is looking very promising. With the books etc all coming I suspect a lot of others feel the same way.

Yes I agree, which is why all the top tier weapons will be find, buy or schematic craft only, and I added 100+ books with collector perks (more reason to find them all).
I'm not 100% satisfied with guns, but I don't think we have time to change them for A18, but hopefully one small overhaul with random ranges will spice things up and the introduction of legendary items.

 

[madmole]

I've learned not to get too excited by what promises or ideas are made...I'd rather not be let down.

Sorry...just the truth...

A18 doesn't look any more 'promising' than A17 did. Hard to trust that kind of statement or thought.

All I want to hear about is bandits and Ai - I can just mod the rest...About the only thing that's gonna make this game last beyond my Alpha trial each time is a clear, fun challenge and I need some bandits shooting at me to do it at least. I'll mod them how I need to as far as accuracy and aggression but I need some proper ones. I don't care about anything else frankly. I need the game to be hard again.

TLDR.. I don't care about anything else for A18 except bandits..that's what I expect for it. Small little tweaks to various systems..who cares..we do that ourselves..I want to be shot at..I want to feel threatened.

Good thing you won't be disappointed, bandits are not coming until after A18.

 

[madmole]

It's a little more complicated than a global precipitation variable but not by much and the frame-rate impact would be very low as clouds don't tend to move that quickly.
I'd say the global precipitation variable is too simplified. Just because you're on the final stretch is no reason to cut corners. There seems to be a tendency recently to grind down details instead of polishing them.

LOL, no we're being sensible professional designers. Over design is a noob designer trap. More complex means more bugs, harder to implement, and harder for players to understand. The magic under the hood is of no concern, just know that it might rain and thats good enough.

Sometimes grinding down details is the right call. Too many moving parts makes the game harder to balance, and players are wondering why they are freezing but there's 10000 variables at play. It was overdesigned in pre 17 and broken in 17. We'll land on something more simple that works and doesn't break immersion.

 

[Lonestarcanuck]

Yes I agree, which is why all the top tier weapons will be find, buy or schematic craft only, and I added 100+ books with collector perks (more reason to find them all).
I'm not 100% satisfied with guns, but I don't think we have time to change them for A18, but hopefully one small overhaul with random ranges will spice things up and the introduction of legendary items.

Collector Perks? I like it, I always enjoyed doing Archeology quest in WOW to get the special Perks. so a reason to find sets of books/schematics in order to earn a rank/perk/status would be cool.

I still think there is room for level specific items like clothing that shows your a level 100 with X kills = zombie skull on a stick mod for a club or something.

 

[Laz Man]

Would be funny if the game gave call outs too;
"Roland was crushed by "The Peoples Hammer"

"Roland was cut to ribbons by "McStabby"

"Roland had his melon popped by "Rusty Trombone"

+1 but instead...

"Roland was killed by Gazz with The Lubricator"

 

[The Gronk]

<snipped for space>

I'd say you were choosing quick over quality but that's a judgement call.

The complexity and attention to detail is what first drew many of us to the game in the first place.

Why bother having smooth terrain? It's been a constant source of long-standing bugs, is complicated, and has caused many issues with frame rate. You do it because you know in the end it's innovation that sets the bar higher for everyone else to follow.

It's a sad day to see someone constrained by boundaries they could easily brush aside.

 

[Lonestarcanuck]

+1 but instead...
"Roland was killed by Gazz with The Lubricator"

there was a mod called "Death Announce Mod" or something like that in Rust a few years back that did just that. some something like "Quicken hit Roland in the head/hand/arm/foot/♥♥♥♥/ass/leg/ankle/foot/etc. with a spear from 20 meters causing his death - not good" as you can see with the many body parts you could get some fun combos with tools+body part.

 

[Tin]

LOL, no we're being sensible professional designers. Over design is a noob designer trap. More complex means more bugs, harder to implement, and harder for players to understand. The magic under the hood is of no concern, just know that it might rain and thats good enough.
Sometimes grinding down details is the right call. Too many moving parts makes the game harder to balance, and players are wondering why they are freezing but there's 10000 variables at play. It was overdesigned in pre 17 and broken in 17. We'll land on something more simple that works and doesn't break immersion.

heh, I just hope you don't forget to also add in a 'check' to the system that forces it to stop raining after 'X' amount of time, along with having a 'check' that makes it rain after 'X' amount of time.

One of the downfalls of the old system was, rain (along with the constant fog that came with it) got stuck every so often and just stayed, till you exited the game and restarted it (or you loaded the game onto a server, and ran it that way).

The old weather system wasn't terrible, it just needed to have a global effect system as well, instead of being fully biome driven.. well imo.

If it rained in the forest, it needed to rain/snow in the other biomes at varying levels.

Another area that needed adjusting (for me at least):

Was/Is how you are using the different spectrum filters for every biome, which was the cause of the flickering when you had dithering between them.

The dithering was -> immersive <- because then you didn't feel like you just crossed over an invisible barrier and got transported into a new area. Instead the dithering allowed you to ease into the new biome.

Solution:

Use the different spectrum filters like you use the blood moon spectrum (which gets applied globally), and use the different spectrum(s) every couple/few days. Use them globally instead of just per biome, and keep the dithering between biomes.

 

[sillls]

Then you go another 10 feet and its raining again. My point is say you have 3 or maybe even 4 intersecting biomes its kind of immersion breaking to change spectrums and its suddenly not raining by leaving that biome. I'd rather the rain make it colder and there is no way out of it. The whole server should be talking about the ♥♥♥♥ty weather not one guy in one biome. From a survival standpoint if rain makes it colder then its better game play if there are no real known ways to escape that.

So are you planning to make it so the whole map is having the same weather then?

 

[BadabingbadaBOOMSDAY!]

That sounds alright. Maybe 2 would be fine tbh. Why ask for 19 when 18 isn't done?

Probs because 17.3 doesn't have a confirmed date yet let alone 18, so he shot for the stars. Ugh that sounds ♥♥♥♥y I know, but I'm STARVED for content, I wanna blow zombies up with a rocket launcher again!

 

[Dimpy]

It's a little more complicated than a global precipitation variable but not by much and the frame-rate impact would be very low as clouds don't tend to move that quickly.
I'd say the global precipitation variable is too simplified. Just because you're on the final stretch is no reason to cut corners. There seems to be a tendency recently to grind down details instead of polishing them.

Usually I'm the one vying for as much realism as possible, but in this case, I don't see what it would add to the game. It doesn't seem like there's any way that players would actually interact with this system that they wouldn't with a global precipitation system.

 

[The Gronk]

Usually I'm the one vying for as much realism as possible, but in this case, I don't see what it would add to the game. It doesn't seem like there's any way that players would actually interact with this system that they wouldn't with a global precipitation system.

One of the simplest interactions I can think of is the ability to predict bad weather. By looking at the clouds in the distance you can tell if the weather is likely to be fine for a bit or if you're just about to head off scavenging in a storm.

There's also the option to try and run from or bypass bad weather. With a global variable you know that no matter which direction you go the weather will be the same, a perlin map allows for dry pockets and the possibility to avoid the storm.

 

[Damocles]

One of the simplest interactions I can think of is the ability to predict bad weather. By looking at the clouds in the distance you can tell if the weather is likely to be fine for a bit or if you're just about to head off scavenging in a storm.
There's also the option to try and run from or bypass bad weather. With a global variable you know that no matter which direction you go the weather will be the same, a perlin map allows for dry pockets and the possibility to avoid the storm.

You dont really need 3D Perlin-noise or something similar complex then. The player will only have a very limited view of the world anyhow (its not a flightsim). A simple cluster of "bad weather cloud models" should do the trick. With them moving slowly about the map. They can also have different LOD representations then.

(simplified world model: )

 

[AtomicUs5000]

In this context only, will I consider agreeing with Flat-Earthers.

 

[Trankitas]

Try the Winter Project mod by sphereii. It's awesome and is available in the mod launcher.

I'll check it out then

 

[Crater Creator]

Collector Perks? I like it, I always enjoyed doing Archeology quest in WOW to get the special Perks. so a reason to find sets of books/schematics in order to earn a rank/perk/status would be cool.

Will the locations of all these new books be segregated, though? The gameplay for books had been to simply loot every bookshelf you find and read every book you find immediately, unless your buddy wanted/needed it more. Collector perks, by themselves, won’t change that. Whether you collect a full set will be down to RNG luck.

The exception to this was paint magazines, but the logic for where to find which one was lost on most users.

 

[Hoshiko]

Hi !

Any possibility for a graphic update ? Optimization Update too ?

I can run Battleflied 5 extra but 7 days to die on medium ^^ ...

Thanks any way for your works.

 

[The Gronk]

<snipped for space>

That would work and produce more realistic results than a global variable.

It really doesn't take a hell of a lot of extra work and system resources to turn a "meh" mechanic into a "wow" mechanic.

 

[Ouch Quit It]

LOL, no we're being sensible professional designers. Over design is a noob designer trap. More complex means more bugs, harder to implement, and harder for players to understand. The magic under the hood is of no concern, just know that it might rain and thats good enough.
Sometimes grinding down details is the right call. Too many moving parts makes the game harder to balance, and players are wondering why they are freezing but there's 10000 variables at play. It was overdesigned in pre 17 and broken in 17. We'll land on something more simple that works and doesn't break immersion.

Madmole,

what about having certain weps do more damage to certain zeds.

Arrows for basic zs

Bullets for others

Fire for the fatties

Explosions for greenies

Etc

I think that would add a lot to the challenge of the game as well as usefulness of resources...you need a bit of everything

Ouch

Coughs* Release the Kracken!!! *Coughs