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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I was watching an old Neebs Gaming video, the one where they built a base next to a canyon, and it reminded me of something.
A (hopefully small) QOL request. I know zombies take some fall damage. Is there any way to increase the dismemberment chance when they do?

Watching a horde of zombies tumble into a canyon, and seeing the blood gush as they splatter on the ground, would be satisfying.
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Possibly. Maybe when we get the special blood moon zombies they can be sturdier than the normies. The issue is people making trenches and zombies dying or turning them all into crawlers which makes the horde night a joke. So if we could do it to normal zeds it would be funny and cool, and it wouldn't matter so much if the horde zeds were more immune to things like that.

 
Huh, turns out not even I can change a profile name... bummer.
I did the best I could, even pedants can have a sense of humour :-)

Hey Roland. Any chance of changing that boring old "Colony founder" thing to something more... derogatory?
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I like word play. How about Colon Pounder? LOL

 
Very excited for A18! You guys have done some impressive work telling from the screenshots and discussions here. Thank you for your hard work! :)
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You are welcome, the guys keep amazing me.

 
Possibly. Maybe when we get the special blood moon zombies they can be sturdier than the normies. The issue is people making trenches and zombies dying or turning them all into crawlers which makes the horde night a joke. So if we could do it to normal zeds it would be funny and cool, and it wouldn't matter so much if the horde zeds were more immune to things like that.
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Have you ever played Plants vs. Zombies? The solution to your problem is right there! ;D

When the players have so many tools and freedom to build all sorts of defensive structures, eventually the zombies must adapt as well...!

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/plantsvszombies/images/d/da/HDLadderZombie.png/revision/latest?cb=20141002004324

 
I just wanna throw this idea out there. What if we got rid of all "Quality" items in the game? Purple, green, yellow, etc., and instead implemented a system that automatically adjusted the quality for the player based on their build? For example if a player is speccing into an archery build and they have max perception, when they find a compound bow the the game automatically attributes it to the player as a Max quality/Purple quality bow. This would be ONLY while being held by the player. In other words, the "quality" of the weapon would be only as good as the player's ability to use it. That means no early farming for stacks of Dukes to quickly buy high level gear and be OP by day 3 Then that way, there wouldn't be any reason to have 6 different copies of the same item in the game's data registry. We could even have a similar method for armors, and other non-weapon items.

 
Possibly. Maybe when we get the special blood moon zombies they can be sturdier than the normies. The issue is people making trenches and zombies dying or turning them all into crawlers which makes the horde night a joke. So if we could do it to normal zeds it would be funny and cool, and it wouldn't matter so much if the horde zeds were more immune to things like that.
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Fall damage separate for normal and specials would be very welcome with an xml value to change.

As an aside: lots of very awesome stuff. Thank you all for the hard work.

 
Hello, Joel!

Can you please tell if there will be forest biome rework/optimisation for making this biome spawning more plains? As far as i know, plains are now forest's subbiomes. After playing a lot of A17 i noticed, that there are a lot of trees in the forest biome, sometimes i can barely see new POI's. To be honest i miss those green grassy hills.

Best regards to you

 
There are at least 11 new weapons shipping with Alpha 18, and probably more. Over 140 schematics to find and unlock. Over 100 books. Quality now influences damage. Hyperlinking to gates in the recipe menu. All new short perk names and long perk descriptions. Loads of new abandoned and ruins pois (which improve performance and are great for game play) so if you need a place to stay for the night and don't have 3 hours to clear a POI, or its early game and your just getting started, these are for you. All new terrain textures and ground shader. Improved performance and tons of optimizations. Complete perk rebalance. No level gates. Leveling gives you 1 HP and stamina, its no longer tied to fortitude and agility. Interesting gun crafting. Tons and tons of balance work. New and updated first person animations. All new icons. New Music system. These are just off the top of my head things that are really making the experience feel unique.
I've been here the whole way listening to player feedback and thinking about what could have been better, and addressing issues many players didn't like in 17. I'm super excited for A18. I feel like we've really addressed everything where A17 fell short.

Its not beta, but we're really hoping it feels more like a beta than ever before. A ton of polish is going into stuff and its really starting to come together. We're probably 6 or even 8 weeks out, but we want to ship something special this time, a17 was a rough launch and that isn't good for anyone.
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Thanks for the update!

Small question; 140 schematics.. Does that mean you've added 140 new items to the game? Or are most of them 'old' items but locked behind schematics?

 
Hello, Joel!Can you please tell if there will be forest biome rework/optimisation for making this biome spawning more plains? As far as i know, plains are now forest's subbiomes. After playing a lot of A17 i noticed, that there are a lot of trees in the forest biome, sometimes i can barely see new POI's. To be honest i miss those green grassy hills.

Best regards to you
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A biome density/subtype layer for the world generation would be good.

Defining:

Density of foliage (lower value skips more foliage)

Biome specific distribution at that spot (more trees or more scrubs for example)

Biome effect density (like fog, allowing smoother screen effect transitions between biomes)

Could be all encoded in a secondary 3 channel biomes2.png

 
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I just wanna throw this idea out there. What if we got rid of all "Quality" items in the game? Purple, green, yellow, etc., and instead implemented a system that automatically adjusted the quality for the player based on their build? For example if a player is speccing into an archery build and they have max perception, when they find a compound bow the the game automatically attributes it to the player as a Max quality/Purple quality bow. This would be ONLY while being held by the player. In other words, the "quality" of the weapon would be only as good as the player's ability to use it. That means no early farming for stacks of Dukes to quickly buy high level gear and be OP by day 3 Then that way, there wouldn't be any reason to have 6 different copies of the same item in the game's data registry. We could even have a similar method for armors, and other non-weapon items.
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Terrible idea imho. First, if you are playing MP and you have not specced anything into strenght (cause you are not a miner), and you have some time / need to help your miner, you should be able to use same level equipment as he does.

Same with weapons. Your friend runs out of ammo and you have two guns? Give him one of yours!

You are already getting bonuses for having the perks themself, tying quality to a perk level would be terrible idea!

 
I just wanna throw this idea out there. What if we got rid of all "Quality" items in the game? Purple, green, yellow, etc., and instead implemented a system that automatically adjusted the quality for the player based on their build? For example if a player is speccing into an archery build and they have max perception, when they find a compound bow the the game automatically attributes it to the player as a Max quality/Purple quality bow. This would be ONLY while being held by the player. In other words, the "quality" of the weapon would be only as good as the player's ability to use it. That means no early farming for stacks of Dukes to quickly buy high level gear and be OP by day 3 Then that way, there wouldn't be any reason to have 6 different copies of the same item in the game's data registry. We could even have a similar method for armors, and other non-weapon items.
Click to expand...
There is only 1 copy of an item. Quality is just a number on the item.

 
I like word play. How about Colon Pounder? LOL
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HEY! Wait a Minute! One minute we are talking about a Crotch high "Junk Turret" and now "Colon Pounder" is being tossed around?

CONFIRMED! Junk Turret only fires ammo looted from all the "Mommy's bedside nightstands" in all the houses on the map! :biggrin-new: :cower:

 
There are at least 11 new weapons shipping with Alpha 18, and probably more. Over 140 schematics to find and unlock. Over 100 books. Quality now influences damage. Hyperlinking to gates in the recipe menu. All new short perk names and long perk descriptions. Loads of new abandoned and ruins pois (which improve performance and are great for game play) so if you need a place to stay for the night and don't have 3 hours to clear a POI, or its early game and your just getting started, these are for you. All new terrain textures and ground shader. Improved performance and tons of optimizations. Complete perk rebalance. No level gates. Leveling gives you 1 HP and stamina, its no longer tied to fortitude and agility. Interesting gun crafting. Tons and tons of balance work. New and updated first person animations. All new icons. New Music system. These are just off the top of my head things that are really making the experience feel unique.
I've been here the whole way listening to player feedback and thinking about what could have been better, and addressing issues many players didn't like in 17. I'm super excited for A18. I feel like we've really addressed everything where A17 fell short.

Its not beta, but we're really hoping it feels more like a beta than ever before. A ton of polish is going into stuff and its really starting to come together. We're probably 6 or even 8 weeks out, but we want to ship something special this time, a17 was a rough launch and that isn't good for anyone.
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I'm not saying I don't believe you. I'm just saying we need to see video evidence of these features (but not all of them - keep something back as a surprise)...

 
HEY! Wait a Minute! One minute we are talking about a Crotch high "Junk Turret" and now "Colon Pounder" is being tossed around?
CONFIRMED! Junk Turret only fires ammo looted from all the "Mommy's bedside nightstands" in all the houses on the map! :biggrin-new: :cower:
Click to expand...
Direction's for use:

Open rear hatch, insert junk, fire load.

Huh, the turret and my mother both come with the same set of instructions.

 
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