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
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You seriously should keep your personal ideology out of these forums, madmole. The name of the turret perk is on topic because it's part of the game, but this rant is unnecessary and will simply generate a debate that is out of place here. I'm not gonna respond to the specifics to avoid that, but I don't appreciate that you put users in a situation where they are pressed to respond to what you just stated but don't do so to avoid derailing the thread.
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While is essence I completely agree with you, one thing people seem to forget.... his game, his forums, etc. And that I agree with more.

 
You seriously should keep your personal ideology out of these forums, madmole. The name of the turret perk is on topic because it's part of the game, but this rant is unnecessary and will simply generate a debate that is out of place here. I'm not gonna respond to the specifics to avoid that, but I don't appreciate that you put users in a situation where they are pressed to respond to what you just stated but don't do so to avoid derailing the thread.
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Fair enough. No promises though lol.

 
Its more about fascination with turrets and mechanical things, and getting angry and unleashing his fury with them. Help me think of a better name then.
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Not that I'm offended but how about...

Turret Tantrum

You know...For Kids! I mean, instead of Temper Tantrum because that's what I thought of when you described it.

 
Keep the name the way it is IMO. I mean hell, the company name has "PIMPS" in it, which isn't exactly known for good wholesome family fun... If someone is that offended by that because it hits home for them, then someone else might be offended by Pimps, and then someone else might be offended by "sexual t-rex" because something horrible happened in their life that way, etc..

Where does it stop? It stops when people stop putting their issues on everyone else and carry on with life, realizing that everything isn't aimed at them and that they aren't the center of everyone else's universe. That they can just... go somewhere else where everyone wants to cater to them if that's what they want.

 
While is essence I completely agree with you, one thing people seem to forget.... his game, his forums, etc. And that I agree with more.
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Except he has a moderator that is constantly enforcing people to stay on topic and moving discussions away from here, as well as he himself has already stated in previous posts to stay on topic, right before going on about his theological views on the world, his views on sexual harassment cases and on education, lol. No, sorry. If he wants to do that he can go to an off-topic part of his forums and rant all he wants.

 
Something else I realized that bugged me about a17...
I LOVE the ai is WORLDS better than a16 (we stopped playing that because of the zombies running in circles) BUT horde nights are just way too easy now because of the kill platform option.

You can't really build a dependable base because they'll just plough through it, and if you do take advantage of the ai, its laughably easy.

Faatal: Can a "bloodmoon frenzy" be added, so either on nights or horde nights, the ai ignores block density a percentage of the time, and just tries a direct line to the player?

Elevated tunnel traps wouldn't be viable anymore, because a percentage of the zombies would just be destroying the platform base or its defenses.

I know you have a LOT on your plate and you've done an amazing job on the ai, but maybe something simple like this would shake up bloodmoon/night hordes to make defendable bases practical again?

Its human nature to exploit game mechanics, and you can't completely stop people cheesing the system (Minecraft's zombie spawner xp farming comes to mind.) But tossing some randomness/stupidity into the horde night ai might be just enough to make the platform run defense less that 100% safe.

We used to be concerned about horde nights and now they are just safe xp shooting galleries, and the real challenge gameplay now is quest dungeon crawling.

I know you nerfed block damage to make bases more viable and attractive, but it is just too easy to cheese the bloodmoon ai as it is right now.
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The problem with straight line, is it is too simple. They would get stuck on blocks easily or drop right into holes. It needs to be pathing, but with some rules in place for limited distances, which is difficult for A*, since it checks every node for the best path and complicating that with more rules, slows it down. We will keep tweaking it.

I did make this change for A18:

Fixed SDTD-9737 Zombies don't remain in destruction mode long enough, prefer futile paths to player (AI falls will signal destroy if move pos was above, +5% chance to destroy).

 
A lot of kids these days are looking to be offended. Ruining actors careers over sexual harassment. They called it flirting back in the day. I'm sure some of them deserved ruining, but usually its a cash grab lawsuit or some nobody trying to elevate their social awareness off of someone else's name.
When I went to school teachers smacked your hand with a yardstick, duct taped people's mouths shut who wouldn't shut up in class (wrapped it around their hair and whole head multiple times), yanked people around by their arms, slapped them and scolded them. Today parents can't even spank their kids. It's molding a disrespectful easily offended culture in kids. I'm not saying all of that stuff was good, but it taught natural selection very well. Keep your mouth shut and be respectful or there were nasty consequences.
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And then there was Postal, Postal 2 and Postal 3..... Pretty sure that hit every cupcake on US soil in the face!

 
The problem with straight line, is it is too simple. They would get stuck on blocks easily or drop right into holes. It needs to be pathing, but with some rules in place for limited distances, which is difficult for A*, since it checks every node for the best path and complicating that with more rules, slows it down. We will keep tweaking it.
I did make this change for A18:

Fixed SDTD-9737 Zombies don't remain in destruction mode long enough, prefer futile paths to player (AI falls will signal destroy if move pos was above, +5% chance to destroy).
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You could always add an additional cost "layer" ontop of prepared nodes.

Starting out with zero dynamic cost, you could increase the movement-cost by

-other zombie already passed that route, adding cost at voxels along the path (generating alternative routes)

-zombie got killed at voxel, increasing cost in the area (zombies would avoid that spot)

-voxel in line of sigth (expensive, but enables to allow dynamically preferring voxels that have better cover)

-traps: increating cost in the surrounding / targeted area (zombies avoid that location)

its all pretty expensive in 3D, I can see that, so maybe those kind of calculation only regard the very immediate area around the player.

You can then have a range of stupid (dont consider costs), to smart (regard costs very highly) zombies.

-&gt; Or rather bandits later in that regard, in that case zombies can be reverted back to being rather stupid brawlers.

 
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The problem with straight line, is it is too simple. They would get stuck on blocks easily or drop right into holes. It needs to be pathing, but with some rules in place for limited distances, which is difficult for A*, since it checks every node for the best path and complicating that with more rules, slows it down. We will keep tweaking it.
I did make this change for A18:

Fixed SDTD-9737 Zombies don't remain in destruction mode long enough, prefer futile paths to player (AI falls will signal destroy if move pos was above, +5% chance to destroy).
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Please keep up the good work, we'll wait :) .

Just.... don't start saying:

-"everyone likes this AI", and do not start to explain how it works well, and we just do not know how to use it. :D

(I throw a stone in the MM garden. ;) )

 


In the end, there is always a win-win - return to Alpha1! Everything worked well there. The best way for zombies - is the direct way. Zombies are strong - pressure and quantity. Intelligence is for laboratory mice.

 
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Its more about fascination with turrets and mechanical things, and getting angry and unleashing his fury with them. Help me think of a better name then.
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-A human turret (A human turd ;) )

-Turret Concert

-Dirty Work Turret/Machine

-War Machine (Marvel ;) )

 
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Not that I'm offended but how about...
Turret Tantrum

You know...For Kids! I mean, instead of Temper Tantrum because that's what I thought of when you described it.
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I know people who throw tantrums. On their behalf I am offended.

 
The thing about those comedies with political incorrectness is that they become satires of people in society who act and think that way.

I’ve heard things in the game, such as the zombie stripper and language, as being called “crass”.

I think the name of the perk, as well as the stripper, could fit in better if the game as a whole was given a complete feel of being crass, grody, gory, tasteless and politically incorrect. The comedy behind it would be better received. So I vote for more blood, gore, puke, swearing, nudes, dirtier toilets, chickens that run around for a little while after their heads are cut off, slaughterhouses, and a feeling that the game is trying to be offensive for as many people as possible.

 
The problem with straight line, is it is too simple. They would get stuck on blocks easily or drop right into holes.
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I, personally, have no problem with some zombies getting stuck on blocks or drop into holes. :)

Maybe some zombies could have lighter calculations while others keep the full AI?

 
The thing about those comedies with political incorrectness is that they become satires of people in society who act and think that way.
I’ve heard things in the game, such as the zombie stripper and language, as being called “crass”.

I think the name of the perk, as well as the stripper, could fit in better if the game as a whole was given a complete feel of being crass, grody, gory, tasteless and politically incorrect. The comedy behind it would be better received. So I vote for more blood, gore, puke, swearing, nudes, dirtier toilets, chickens that run around for a little while after their heads are cut off, slaughterhouses, and a feeling that the game is trying to be offensive for as many people as possible.
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The new lengthier perk descriptions offer a sense of progression where at the lower ranks they are a little demeaning and as you rank into adequate and awesome they depict a vibe of accomplishment or asskicking.

 
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