PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

  • A18 Stable is Out!

    Votes: 2 66.7%

  • <img alt=":)" data-src="" src="___base_url___/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

    Votes: 1 33.3%
  • Total voters
    3
Status
Not open for further replies.
Would a system like the Metro games have for electricity work?Also it could be added to the headlights as well to stop them from having unlimited power.

For those who don't know you have a Universal Charger(Dynamo based) which is used to generate electricity.
Click to expand...
I like it. I suppose if they didn't want to make a entire system out of it, they could put a dynamo on the butt end of the baton, and instead of just holding the baton while idle, the character is always cranking it.

 
Is this based on 17.2 or 17.0? From what I saw it non combat XP was very generous if you were perked up and had good tools.
Click to expand...
Hm... personally I only the benefits of it once I got into a higher gamestage / player level. As when I first started my main priority is with fortitude and agility to ensure survival. Now for those that immediately spec in strength and int then, yes. Most of their XP would come from gathering / noncombat related activities.

 
Problem with trains (and any large vehicle) is that it's either going to be made out of blocks, which CAN look good but can also look goofy, AND can never be "used" like:
tmp-Train1.jpg


...or you have it as an entity (like vehicles are) or blocks (like damaged vehicles are and the tank will be), in which case it's goofy because you can hit ONE spot and destroy something that takes up like 20x5x5 or something:

6d4ec6b2-1d55-4e6f-8653-69cabb803e01.jpg


Either way is not a good solution.
Click to expand...
Subway. Tracks are not so wonkey because they can go into a collapsed section. Basically, a cave like POI as they have now that just appears near skyscrapers rather than out in the countryside.

 
there will be no learn by doing of anything. I just don't get the allure to that. All it does is control min maxers destiny and you end up doing artificial or repetitive things you would never do in order to grind it up. Like just last night i found myself in skyrim blocking and letting mudcrabs hit me to level my heavy armor and block, because on harder difficulties and the mods i run, its about impossible to get hit enough to raise your skill to a decent level.
Like loot every nest and trash bag. I don't bother with that mid game, but if my looting ability was tied to grinding i'd be sure to hit every dumb trash sack and nest in the game, despite me not using a bow at all or care about eggs because i have a farm and as a sniper i get tons of meat traveling.

No matter how you design it, it ends up forcing players to grind stuff to improve their abilities and its not fun or good design.
Click to expand...
amen! Hallelujah! Speak truth to power.

:D

 
Is this based on 17.2 or 17.0? From what I saw it non combat XP was very generous if you were perked up and had good tools.
Click to expand...
I was going to say once you get forged iron and iron tools you can make 3-4 levels a night just through mining. Even at 120+ you can easily make a level or two just by gathering resources.

 
+ I'm all for a better melee detection system. And I hope a better system would allow us to hit multiple enemies with a big axe swing (I currently use an AoE effect added to it but it's not realistic)

?
Click to expand...
I'd like better hit detection as it currently just feels "off" when swinging at zeds. But being able to hit multiple enemies with an axe doesn't really make sense. If you swung a fire axe at a zed and connected, it's probably gonna stick in them a bit. At best, lop off a limb or chunk of them and fall out, but your momentum would still be pretty much stopped. I've seen a few people talking about being able to hit multiple enemies at once and it just doesn't make sense to me.

 
I'd like better hit detection as it currently just feels "off" when swinging at zeds. But being able to hit multiple enemies with an axe doesn't really make sense. If you swung a fire axe at a zed and connected, it's probably gonna stick in them a bit. At best, lop off a limb or chunk of them and fall out, but your momentum would still be pretty much stopped. I've seen a few people talking about being able to hit multiple enemies at once and it just doesn't make sense to me.
Click to expand...
Probably because a lot of them watch walking dead , where she uses a magical unbreakable vorpal katana+5 to kill multiple zombies in one swing...

 
I'd like better hit detection as it currently just feels "off" when swinging at zeds. But being able to hit multiple enemies with an axe doesn't really make sense. If you swung a fire axe at a zed and connected, it's probably gonna stick in them a bit. At best, lop off a limb or chunk of them and fall out, but your momentum would still be pretty much stopped. I've seen a few people talking about being able to hit multiple enemies at once and it just doesn't make sense to me.
Click to expand...
now that I think about it you are right

I'm too used to RPGs

 
Very inefficient with the new design. There are now melee weapons under every attribute, so you can get XP using the weapon you want and most likely would spend the perks on improving the stuff you use.
You can't design a whole system full of possibilities in a deep game like 7 Days around your one use case where it kind of makes sense to learn by doing. But then again, people might end up spam smacking grass to level up their clubs. Learn by doing forces players into a min max play style instead of just playing organically and doing the smart thing to survive. Maybe you are one of those guys who likes to punch grass. I don't want to have to take 10000 hits in combat to be the master of heavy armor, I'd rather just buy the perk get xp for most reasonable activities.

Even the old LBD system you could bypass and just buy the next rank with a perk point. So nothing has changed except we took away the senseless grinding doing boring stuff.
Click to expand...
I understand your position... The game has to appeal to a wide audience.

But really... Whats so bad about the min max meta?

No one is forceing you to max everything... And the game should reflect that (you dont need master in everything, to "win" the game).

Its like you are catering to players with OCD.

 
Is that in a destructible world?
TFP mentioned before that the issue with the idea of "follow the actual swing of the weapon" in 7D2D is that you may be surrounded by destructible blocks. Think about fighting a zombie in a tunnel. Does the hammer/axe just bonk off of the ceiling or side wall on the backswint and you lose your attack? That admittedly neat-o orange path impacts two walls - do both take damage if you miss the zed? Maybe the zed is standing in a doorway and your swing arc goes right through his head...after impacting the right-hand frame. Destroy the doorway first, then you can attack the zed?

There may be ways to solve the issue, but anywho that's what I remember TFP saying last time it was discussed.
Click to expand...
The weapons have two separate types of damage

Code: 
        &lt;passive_effect name="EntityDamage" operation="base_set" value="XX"/&gt;
       &lt;passive_effect name="BlockDamage" operation="base_set" value="XX"/&gt;
	&lt;passive_effect name="BlockRange" operation="base_set" value="XX"/&gt;
we don't have to do complicated damage calculations for the blocks.

If you hit a zombie, you have destroyed a tunnel, you may need to reduce the range of your weapon's impact on blocks or make your tunnels wider than the hell))

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Probably because a lot of them watch walking dead , where she uses a magical unbreakable vorpal katana+5 to kill multiple zombies in one swing...
Click to expand...
I guess. Haha.

I'd be fine with having an arc cast out when you attack, and whatever zed is in line to get hit first is the one to get hit. I do understand the whole hitting blocks problem, but surely it could be figured out. If anything, just make it so if your cursor isn't pointed directly at a block for the duration of the swing, you don't hit it.

Or just make it hit the blocks, and that counts as a hit and cancels the attack there. Make you be more precise and aware of your immediate surroundings before swinging all willy-nilly. That's how it is in the Souls games. Don't wanna be trying to use a halberd in a hallway. Lol.

 
I understand your position... The game has to appeal to a wide audience.
But really... Whats so bad about the min max meta?

No one is forceing you to max everything... And the game should reflect that (you dont need master in everything, to "win" the game).

Its like you are catering to players with OCD.
Click to expand...
No one is forcing you to spend your points on things unrelated to how you got the points, either. You could, say, only level up your shotgun-related perks and attribute if and when you get points by using a shotgun. But there are other things, like armor perks, where the learn-by-doing model was tedious or otherwise not fun. So it made sense to turn XP into a more abstract 'currency' that can be spent on different things.

 
I'd like to see a more modern melee weaponry mechanic, where the speed, duration and swing angle were taken into account when calculating damage. What do I mean,

jHwxlnK.gif


Many games already use a similar system and this makes mele weapons really interesting.

Is there something in the plans?
Click to expand...
Yes please! :)

 
Very inefficient with the new design. There are now melee weapons under every attribute, so you can get XP using the weapon you want and most likely would spend the perks on improving the stuff you use.
You can't design a whole system full of possibilities in a deep game like 7 Days around your one use case where it kind of makes sense to learn by doing. But then again, people might end up spam smacking grass to level up their clubs. Learn by doing forces players into a min max play style instead of just playing organically and doing the smart thing to survive. Maybe you are one of those guys who likes to punch grass. I don't want to have to take 10000 hits in combat to be the master of heavy armor, I'd rather just buy the perk get xp for most reasonable activities.

Even the old LBD system you could bypass and just buy the next rank with a perk point. So nothing has changed except we took away the senseless grinding doing boring stuff.
Click to expand...
Couldn't you just make the melee skill only go up if you hit a moving entity? The game can tell the difference between a zombie and grass cant it?

I'm fine with perks or learn by doing. But maybe you could throw a bone to the hardcore learn by doing crowd. Just a thought.

- - - Updated - - -

Yes I didn't say it was perfect, which is why we are overhauling it for A17. Each attribute has 1 ranged and 1 melee weapon it governs and crafting quality is tied to that perk that governs that weapon. Players can survive with one good attribute now, and thrive with two. So theres basically about 5 main character classes now but you can mix and choose as long as you can afford attribute requirements.
Perception: Sniper/spears, Strength: Shotgun/clubs/sledge, Fortitude fists and flamethrower, Agility bows, knives and pistols, intellect is a taser baton and an a new junk turret weapon that auto aims for you. You can place it on the ground and it works if you are near. So INT players will either hold the turret and move slow and the turret kills for them, or they can lure zombies into a room nearby that has pre-placed turrets. They do not use electricity but are powered wirelessly from the player, thus have limited range. The turret shoots scrap iron.

We still need to meet with programmers on some features but hopefully its all pretty doable.

In a nutshell we're supporting snipers, melee bruiser tanks, quick run and gun characters, stealthy characters, and scientist characters who don't like to get their hands dirty and can be support roles with their medicine and crafting of tech abilities. And any other combination you might like.
Click to expand...
This stuff sounds really cool. Gonna have to balance it carefully. But I see where your going and i like it.

 
Hi,

How about the camera being able to free roam? You know when you F5 and P to view the player? Well once the player is set can we have it so we can free roam the camera? Or is there a Mod for that?

The new stuff looks very exciting and can't wait for A18.

 
Hi,How about the camera being able to free roam? You know when you F5 and P to view the player? Well once the player is set can we have it so we can free roam the camera? Or is there a Mod for that?

The new stuff looks very exciting and can't wait for A18.
Click to expand...
I'd be very interested to know if there are any plans for better "camera tools"; my wife and I record/edit in a cinematic style as best we can, and the easier that could be the easier we can step outside the mold in terms of content. I'd like to see things like:

- True Spectator mode: invisible, untouchable, and not included in calculations for game stage, waking zombies, etc (so we can load up a 3rd account to spectate/record without affecting gameplay)

- Orbital camera: I'd like to selected a fixed point (and/or entity) and anchor the camera on it so we can have a smooth rotational camera. Right now mouse-work is jagged at best.

- Follow cam: Select an entity, and your camera matches relative position for an unmanned follow cam, useful for travel shots, and getting footage without switching back and forth without having a "camera man"

Anyhoo, I know that type of stuff would be super-low priority, but would be fantastic for content creators who aim to do a bit more than the usual let's play style stuff. Right now we get by on god mode, F5/P, etc.. but any of above would make for some really engaging content.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top