PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[madmole]

It’s also nice to hit a pocket of one or two hit material that lets you carve out a space quickly. That feels rewarding and not having to switch to the shovel to do it would be bonus.

Or just one shot it with your perked up modded out pickaxe.

 

[n2n1]

Or, maybe, all these changes that Joel talks about, supposedly that they are designed to improve the gameplay - in truth, just a workaround to other, technical problems, about which he is silent ?

In truth, they want to solve the problem of texture mixing (which was mentioned here earlier). It occur on steep slopes when the underground blocks comes to the surface. I think so...

Its clear you are of the line of thinking that more is better no matter how crappy the design is. All noob designers think this way, most modders do too. /////

No, i'm not one of those. I, for myself, delete a lot of that stuff(crap) that you came up after A12.

I'm conservative. And i don't like dullness.

We know why everything is made easier and less

//// If it sucks, I'll be the first to admit it and change it. ///.

yeah, you really do that. Respect.

But only then, when this you allow the rest opportunities (as noob-modders) otherwise - leave as there is.

Its clear you are of the line of thinking that more is better no matter how crappy the design is. All noob designers think this way, most modders do too. There will still be dirt to shovel, but switching tools constantly while mining is just not entertaining. And you might actually play it before judging it, all you do is complain without even trying it. If it sucks, I'll be the first to admit it and change it. Try to have a more open mind instead of thinking you know it all. We try a lot of stuff, some changes are amazing, others not so much so we refine them and iterate until we think we've landed on the best solution.

I love the Noob who invented all it in the early Alphas.

You're not the real Joel - our Joel was taken by aliens

 

[madmole]

Well, I must admit that I have loved the sound of every change coming for A18... until this one. The mini-game of finding the gravel and clearing large pockets of weak material to reveal ore veins was quite rewarding.
Can't say that I understand the need for this change. Mining was already easy and immersive. This just feels much less so.

its not realistic, and the swapping of a shovel to mine gravel wasn't much fun. We can add faulty stone or something with less stability so that its still dangerous. There simply isn't tons of gravel underground. Maybe we're paving the way for something else.

 

[madmole]

That mean they fall rag doll style from top of buildings now ? --- something I been wanting to see for a long time. Kind of WarZ body carnage ....

No they walk off and fall normally, but I think the higher the fall, the greater the chance of them ragdolling when they hit, it looks cool AF.

 

[Damocles]

There are flashlight mods to install into armored helmets which have much better AR than the mining hat. So only early game players would do that.

I have never come across that mod. And apart from that, most of the gameplay-time is spend in those earlier stages by the average player.

Why not make those mods more abundant, and have all hats have an upgrade slot.

Hats are an important element of the players looks ...

 

[madmole]

Would be cool for the ai in a horde night - if they cant reach the player - to start attacking any player-placed items and structures, such as vehicles, crops and storage containers.
Policy of scorched earth style.

Bandits perhaps.

 

[madmole]

Will the land mines ever be removed from the wasteland biome? I don't mind if it has stronger zombies and tough bandits when they are out for alpha 18 but the landmines really seem to ruin that area. Basically get rid of the land mines and exchange them for more dogs, vultures, radiated zombies and geared up bandits. Also I won't mind if bandit bases had landmines around then like the military bases and outposts have them. It's just an entire biome with random mines placed around makes me stay out of it.

I always enjoyed fallouts, but they are better than ours. It beeps and you have a second to disarm it and then you can pick it up. Ours are bit cheap, but it is what it is. Get some heavy armor so you can take an explosion, or stay out of the wasteland. Noone is going there soon a 19 ish anyway without a full hazmat suit. It should be dangerous and it will provide the best loot as well.

 

[madmole]

I can see them removing them when bandits are in. I mean imagine bandits walking into landmines 24/7, but who knows at this point.

Most likely they will camp in their fort, and I doubt we'll remove them. Stick to the roads and your fine. I think its a decent design. Go sprinting through debris and rubble and pay the price.

 

[The Gronk]

Most likely they will camp in their fort, and I doubt we'll remove them. Stick to the roads and your fine. I think its a decent design. Go sprinting through debris and rubble and pay the price.

Bicycles are surprisingly mine resistant.

 

[PO_Man_3849]

Can be used as a cooking pot or a bedpan...

Just not at the same time, right?

 

[madmole]

I played through the first 2 days and it is definitely like a new game....thanks to the new hi def icons alone. I feel like I'm playing a different game with icons I'm unfamiliar with although they look amazing. There will definitely be a learning curve until I become familiar with the new icons.
Perked into agility to specialize in bladed weapons. Flurry of blows now increases the speed of all melee combat so it is pretty nice. I've been pwning with my bone knife while waiting to gather the materials to craft my own hunting knife which is granted by the first rank in the bladed weapon perk tree.

Stamina and Health both increase by one each time you level up so that is interesting and everything looks good and moves smoothly. I found two of the new perk books in a cabin that had a couple of book shelves and that was really nice. One granted me full immunity from encumbrance at night and the other one allowed me to craft warm clothing. Very cool....er warm.

I found 5 lockpicking tools but so far the POI's I've had time to explore have had unlocked doors which I would have been glad of before but now I've got lockpick tools burning a hole in my pocket!

I cracked two safes now with the lockpicks and its very rewarding. It takes some time but way less then smashing. I have't failed a lock yet maybe I got lucky. Todays stamina change is a big improvement. Finding water was difficult and the old burnt remnants that guaranteed a cooking pot on day one were nowhere to be found so I had water issues on day 2 and 3. RWG is gorgeous and the roads feel very natural. Combat feels much more rewarding with some dismemberment going on here and there. I got a double barrel and bought the shotgun hobo perk and one shotted a stripper in the face, that felt pretty rewarding.

Knowing there are hundreds of schematics and books out there and that I will need to find a lot of parts to craft a good gun has made looting a lot more interesting. Having freedom to specialize early game feels awesome. I've only bought strength perks so far except the cardio one which is under fortitude now. The POIs are great, lots of remnants but if you want good loot you have to do a dungeon crawl. The remnants help the frame rate. FPS is 60 for me, where A17 was 20-30, and it looks much better than 17.

Loads of new art making the game look amazing, new icons are fantastic. A few need improved but I put notes in on those. I had so many moments that are impossible in static world games. Explosions do massive poi damage now, so when a zombie struck a car in a garage I was in, I was in the loft above it, I fell down into the exploding room and it scared the crap out of me. Another time I was looting the top of a steeple and didn't look above, once I cracked the safe the noise woke up sleepers above me who fell on me and I was in very tight quarters. I switched to pistol and shot frantically and survived. I haven't died yet and I'm on day 4, but its been many close calls.

I do want to thank the community. A lot of the feedback has been hard to swallow, but after lots of tuning, design and balance I feel like this build will be what we had hoped 17 would be. It just plays so cohesive. We've cleaned up a lot of weird systems and things that make no sense from years ago and it just feels right now. I'm sure it will still be months of tuning but this is the beginning of something we're really proud of and I think the community will love.

Oh and lots of new animations too. Its just a lot of polish. Smooth framerate. Unitys incremental garbage collection plus our optimizations seem to have the game never pausing like it was in a17. Now its just smooth.

 

[madmole]

Some screens from my play session today:

https://twitter.com/joelhuenink?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

 

[Guppycur]

The slow reload is fine. Being stuck in the animation and unable to switch to a bandage or a melee weapon is a big problem however. All it really does is take agency away from the player to be able to solve dynamic problems that come up in combat, and feels like an oversight.

Maybe a nice solution would be to, if you DID break a reload animation to do something else, the held item madmoles onto the ground.

 

[n2n1]

I played through the first 2 days and it is definitely like a new game....thanks to the new hi def icons alone. I feel like I'm playing a different game with icons I'm unfamiliar with although they look amazing.////

Loads of new art making the game look amazing, new icons are fantastic.////

:apthy: .... i don't like it. And not because they're new "and i hate new things." They're dull and expressionless.... (like rust?). Not enough contrast and color saturation. No feeling of "candy". (i see scrnshots)

In 7dtd, there were better icons than all over the world. (an old theme sounds in my head )

Not about icons:

I think that it's not just me - people are different and they like different things.

When something new comes up - it does not always mean it is better - just someone took it and remade for themselves, and others - it is not like. And such people can be to much...simply, they not be on forum.

Why do you think that the fact that new is always better - it's just your subjective opinion

Some screens from my play session today:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1132409667697631232

 

[Captnrex]

Maybe a nice solution would be to, if you DID break a reload animation to do something else, the held item madmoles onto the ground.

wait wut?

 

[unholyjoe]

I have never come across that mod. And apart from that, most of the gameplay-time is spend in those earlier stages by the average player.Why not make those mods more abundant, and have all hats have an upgrade slot.

Hats are an important element of the players looks ...

i just finished a test game in a17.3b18 yesterday (friday) and i actually found this mod... and MM is correct... i thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but the light looked a bit sharper. (of course mileage may vary per video card and computer or potato), so yes i confirm they are in a17.3+.

 

[hiigaran]

Loads of new art making the game look amazing, new icons are fantastic. .

the roads are going to have some kind of update in terms of textures?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a1/c0/e9/a1c0e9d3d70484f594d96b59f617d936.jpg

Please Something like this!!

 

[Guppycur]

wait wut?

This is a reference to the great bow drop of a16.

 

[SnowDog1942]

I played through the first 2 days and it is definitely like a new game....thanks to the new hi def icons alone.

You should do stand-up.

 

[snoopa]

Hi madmole,

the infos and screenshots regarding A18 look and sound very nice so far!

I only have some concerns regarding earning 1 stamina and health per each level:

The idea itself sounds very good and reminds me a bit of diablo 3 (for example).

But especially concerning a long term run it doesn't sound well balanced. If it really raises that straight at each level you need 100 levels to be at 200 stamina and health.

If i play on normal settings i'm at level 100 in around 25-30 days (90 minutes per day). In a coop game even earlier because of shared xp. At this point i would say that i'm in the mid game. Having 200 stamina/health should feel like reaching awesome stats in the end game.

Why not splitting it up in different stages?

For example level 1 to 30: 1 more point. Level 31 to 60: 1 point after 2 levels. Level 61 to 100: 1 point after 3 levels and so on...

So in the beginning it raises fast until you get a decent gamestage and then later on it feels more rewarding to keep on playing.