PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[Damocles]

Once bandits are in, the whole base building game will change anyhow, as a base protected from (melee) zombies will not necessarily work for bandits with long range attacks.

The player will likely have to think a lot more about line-of-sight cover then.

It would be especially interesting if bandits could use bouncing grenades..

 

[Rassilon]

I dont get all the hate/negativity from the Community.

We can all agree that A17 was.. "not the best" and it was the first Alpha i got bored/tired of very quick.

But, all that i read in Madmoles Post ( Glad to see you posting frequently man!) makes me very optmistic. Maybe for the first time since the Early A16 Dev-Videos.

AI:

Fataal did an amazing jobs considering A16 to A17 and im very eager to learn how further he can improve it. Sure you can exploit it, but people will always find ways. Considering a normal, rpg-wise Playthrough i never died and failed as often as in A17. Cheers to that.

Trading:

Madmole did a good job rebalancing it for A17.2, alltough there are still some Items like "Old Beds" wich sell too good. Still, much better and less overpowered then before.

Quests:

Cool Feature. Currently unbalanced and lacks of Features, but hey: Its only the first Iteration and i got now doubt that it will see some more flesh/varity, like MM allready teased on about.

New Weapons:

Holy Moly i got twitchy Fingers thinking about C4, M60, Stun Batton and the other cool Stuff. Finally we have more varity, or improving Tiers of Weapon Class. Aaaand Railgun!! *Drools*

Repair Kits/Weapon parts:

I´m Fully behind in this one: Repair Kits was a tiring Mechanic, having Weapon Parts would make it easier and more logical in some ways.

+ it would force us out again wich is good since exploring got a bit under the wheels.

Books:

Another Comming Feature wich will make us exploring again and i like it. Especially all the Sets + its Bonuses: Very neat and eager to learn more about them ingame ( wont spoil myself with details here yet)

Perks:

While i was not opposed the general Setup of Perks in A17 i appriciate your Second Look at them see some senseful Changes. In general i would say: the more Perks to choose from, the better. Making it more Stressful to decide where to put your Skillpoints into.

Alternatevily you could think about your own variation of Diablos Paragon System:

After reaching the Point where all Skillpoints are set, you could allow Players to increase small amounts of Attributes/skills. This would benefit the 3000h+ Players if they choose to play longtime on 1 map.

What i would like to see improved/fleshed out:

Electricity needs some love/improvements in a future Alpha, aswell as the ongoing Topic "Water"

I also want to support the the Players who ask for pristine Textures.

Think about Alexandria of the Walking Dead.

You have there a neat Village in midst of the Apocalypse, this has a surreal Feeling and i like that.

Also, since its about not only exploring but also surviving the Apocalypse you could argue that its immersive that Survivors try to create "their home" in said Apocalypse and they would not only make it sturdy, but also make it comfy and beautiful to feel at home and safe in the Terror.

Sorry for the long Post.

Fun Pimps, keep up the good work.

Im really hopeful after a long time of resignation about 7 Days.

Cant wait to see A18 reaching the light

 

[agrastiOs]

I imagine it would be a good idea to name Alpha 18 Beta, so the people would know that now it's more focus on polish.

 

[n2n1]

What is an adequate zombie? )))

The one who doesn't jump out the window away from me instead of eating me.

 

[FA_Q2]

deleted - was only half my post and I thought I lost it - not that it was posted

 

[ZombieHorde]

I imagine it would be a good idea to name Alpha 18 Beta, so the people would know that now it's more focus on polish.

No, I disagree, simply because the mind game might work both ways. The masses might calm down with the name change (although I'm doubting it), but TFP's might also, too.

 

[FA_Q2]

Maybe those books that unlock them got removed?

No, the books were removed but the textures they unlocked are unlocked by default now. I assume that when the textures were updated that our access to the textures was not so whatever textures were not replaced but were added are not avlable to the player.

I know that some people are complaining about not having access to more fresh stylized paint textures and we should have some nicer looking options with which to build a sleek base but I really just want access to what you already have there. Painting has almost no effect on game play at all from a balance standpoint but has a massive impact on those that really like to build and design a sleek base. What then is the justification for not opening access to the myriad of textures in the game to players? I don't see one, particularly as it would not require a lot of work to expand what we have access to (I believe).

There are a few lingering bad ideas IMHO on decor and how it is managed in this game. As I have been lamenting, I think that we should have access to a LOT more possible textures - particularly those like the ones that allow you to label your boxes (ammo, med, food, supply etc) that would add a nice touch to my supply rooms I also think that not normalizing storage space is another limiting factor that does not improve experience but does detract from it. For instance, bookshelves are awesome. I have a ton of books and I want to store them on a bookshelf but that is not really an option. First, the paint texture to turn a box into a bookshelf was removed (and this was a poor supplement to begin with). Then, storage limits in a bookshelf are abysmal. Same goes for the ammo box, gun/wall safe, water cooler and ever other decorative block in the game. Because I needs massive storage space (I think we ALL do if we are building a base) I am essentially stuck with a bunch of ugly locked storage containers or the more expensive box. ALL decorative storage boxes should have a full inventory. Again, I do not see any gains in game play or experience that are made by not normalizing storage spaces but there are clearly game play impacts that are negative. I would love to use a wall safe or 2 as well. Another decorative storage container that stores, basically, nothing at all.

I have no idea what kind of work that requires though - if it is simply chaining a variable or if there would be of under the hood work to normalize the storage limits.

Anyway, that is my 2c on decorative limitations currently. There are a ton of players out there who will get into this game and/or continue because of the base building aspect. No reason to limit those decorative options that keep that player seriously engaged in a game like this.

 

[FA_Q2]

If I understand correctly, you are getting 17's world code, but 18's town placement and road code. Maybe the biome code, Im not super sure yet.

Awesome. Thanks for the reply. That is good news as the POI's and the roads were the largest problems in the current RWG (I assume that town placement includes what is in the town though that may not be the case).

 

[Odetta]

Watch what this guy does with the gyrocopter

This has got to be a proper thing in the future. Really cool.

 

[Pille]

As I have been lamenting, I think that we should have access to a LOT more possible textures - particularly those like the ones that allow you to label your boxes (ammo, med, food, supply etc) that would add a nice touch to my supply rooms

I'm starting to think that you're experiencing some kind of bug. Those textures are already accessible...

 

[Gamida]

I'm starting to think that you're experiencing some kind of bug. Those textures are already accessible...

I think he could access those. From what I got he wants a lot more like them.

 

[Pille]

I think he could access those. From what I got he wants a lot more like them.

After rereading, I think you're right.

@FA_Q2

Sorry didn't get it at first.^^

 

[Lonestarcanuck]

Hehe proof you watch got.
Even cnn did an article on the darkness.

CNN? fake news so it can't be dark!

Will A17.3 be out before GOT finishes (3 more episodes)? don't make me spoil Avengers Endgame (Roland Dies in the end)

 

[ecv]

He'll probably just come back as a zombie in a double feature got TV movie. Can't get rid of The Roland by simply killing it

 

[madmole]

We have 2000+ hours because the game was a new game we enjoyed after each new alpha. 17 is a setback, but you guys seem to have that in hand so let's do 18. Frack 17.3.

Na, updating is good for everybody. All those tickets smashed will make testing 18 easier and more focused.

 

[madmole]

https://imgur.com/lSy3klt
This looks like concrete and it's all over the house walls.

That is the intention, designers like to use stuff for various applications, it passes for concrete, plaster and some chaulky drywall so we can use it without restrictions and its not immersion breaking to bust it with one shot or 50.

 

[madmole]

ideally, the zombies would be a 50/50 mix of following the path of least resistance and dummies who walk through the spikes.

Possibly.

 

[Syrex]

@Madmole

It's been trying. I've leveled up a bit. Old Joel would have placed land mines in the wasteland. And he did.

Yes, and admittedly I hated you for that.. **Jumps over "bump" in wasteland, lands on mine -- boom!"**. I have PTSD from that moment.. LOL

I had hoped you would comment on points I brought up page 270>> post 4044.

 

[madmole]

I'm sorry I took this the wrong way. And I'm sorry that the post may have (I say may have 'cause Roland thinks you might be joking) been seen as catty. I was trying for humorous (although I stand by SOME of the textures being butt ugly :tickled_pink: but definitely not all) ... and I really shouldn't try to be funny because I'm really not.
Thank you for agreeing their will be more/different textures in the future, especially if you make it so we can add our own. (When I say "we" I mean someone with talent, not me.) That will be amazing.

Note: Thank you Roland. Maybe you can snip out my little panty twisted quote from yours as well?

Well yeah a game that doesn't allow simple texture modifications isn't very moddable. We want a highly moddable game so when we say goodbye you guys can do what you can dream.

 

[madmole]

@madmole, take a snickers bar, based on the ads I saw when they last ran those. It should transform you or something.

I'm fine, if I get mad I'll just leave. Otherwise I'm just messing with you guys.