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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Limestone could work. A lime kiln bakes limestone to produce cement essentially.
It also opens the way for a large workstation as a lime kiln. Most people set aside a forge for this anyway.
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+1

Yeah, that could work.

I already checked it (already implemented it, as ore for the production of cement).

 
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Loving everything I'm seeing so far for A18. It definitely alieves a lot of the complaints I had about A17. And, I continue to be impressed with a little details that keep coming( like the ragdoll effect of the zombies falling out of windows.)
Are there any new weapon/tool mods or rework of existing mods coming in A18?
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Not many new mods. I want give them a pass on A19. Items are so much more interesting with quality affecting damage its a big step forward I don't feel pressured to find mods. Mods are now craftable once you read the schematic and are not gated by intellect, so players can craft mods as soon as you find the schematic.

 
I eat during lunch.. I read the forums during the time im supposed to be working. Less lunch time wasted that way.
And im getting paid while reading and posting. I guess im a professional forum user.
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You and me both... Thats exactly how to do it

 
Madmole when the new ground textures get finished would be awesome to see screen shots of them. Having new ground textures will drastically improve the look of the game. The new desert ones look great

 
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.

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So much looking forward to that build. I didn't like the path A17 was taking, but I am sooooo exciterd for A18. I think it's gonna be great mix of building and fighting.

When balancing, just don't forget the newbies. Not everyone knows the ropes like we do to a varying extent, it should not be a hyper frustrating experience for newbies ;)

 
My last post was deleted. Let me simplify this. Mad Mole said that the main focus for Alpha 18 would be optimizations and bug fixes. Is that still the main focus?
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We have a lot of people working on a lot of stuff. It was never the "main" focus. It is an ongoing priority for a few of us. I've spent a good amount of time optimizing stuff over the last 6 months (for A17 and A18), but not exclusively since there are many bugs to be fixed and features to improve or add.

Case in point:

SSR effect is very demanding on GPU, which you could not turn off in A17 until 17.3 (using a console command). 17.4 now has a video option to disable it.

The SSR effect actually has a variety of values. I tested various combinations this week and A18 now has Low, Medium and High SSR settings. These have about 25%, 45% and 90% of the overhead of A17's SSR.

 
Madmole when the new ground textures get finished would be awesome to see screen shots of them. Having new ground textures will drastically improve the look of the game. The new desert ones look great
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Yes I can't wait. Justin is doing a great job.

 
So much looking forward to that build. I didn't like the path A17 was taking, but I am sooooo exciterd for A18. I think it's gonna be great mix of building and fighting.
When balancing, just don't forget the newbies. Not everyone knows the ropes like we do to a varying extent, it should not be a hyper frustrating experience for newbies ;)
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Oh we aren't. I've been playing a lot of survival games lately and I know how that first hour or two can be if you don't understand something. You have to give them time to get it, then they start doing stuff and having fun, then start challenging them and rewarding them.

 
I love the look of the new icons, but I think it looks a bit weird that they cover the durability bar some. Maybe have the bar in front of the icons?

 
Oh we aren't. I've been playing a lot of survival games lately and I know how that first hour or two can be if you don't understand something. You have to give them time to get it, then they start doing stuff and having fun, then start challenging them and rewarding them.
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Regarding this, how about a kind of Tutorial with a Series of Quests with detailed Texts?

Not meaning the "place a Bedroll" "craft Fiber Gear" Quests we have in A17, but more extended one that will give New Players a Clue on whats important, Core Mechanics etc.

 
Faatal has there been any change to the randomness to the ai pathing for a18?
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I don't think so, but there could be some general AI changes, when I do AI tasks like adding the demolisher zombie, since I tend to tweak things, when I'm near them.

 
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I'm admittedly a little late to this one, but just got caught up. I think a better idea would be a chance of the AOE knockdown like the Sledgehammer perk when they hit the ground.
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That would be hysterical. Of course, this would depend on length of fall... but nonetheless, hysterical.

 
Will A18 have any minority zombies? I think certain ethnicities are underrepresented a bit. Just randomize their skin tone and call it a day. trader rekt totally looks of asian descent to me. Also why are there no child zombies? Does the virus only reanimate adults? Need to work on your diversity. Also kid zombies are scarier in my opinion. Makes you think twice before pulling the trigger. Also cat zombies. Cause the dogs wouldn't eat them all. And Rats. And pigeons/crows. More diversity. /End rant
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Kid zombies were already answered. But why would it be scarier? And why would you think twice? Just blast the little bastard where you sent his mom a while ago.

 
Something with similar stats as gravel or destroyed stone but you can mine with a pick.
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Everybody is thinking too hard on this one, inventing new stones and geo-conglomerates....

How about just leave it as Gravel - BUT.... make it so Picks do more block damage to it than shovels in the code??

Instead of reinvent wheel - reprogram wheel.

 
Limestone is a good choice to add, makes more sense and makes cement making a bit harder as you will need to gather limestone, crush it and then process it. It also has other uses and could even contain Flint to make stone tools from. Well maybe to much for the vanilla game to have to gather Flint instead of 'stone', but hey.

But any similar to stone textured 'stone' could do honestly, players need to not be forewarned more than they notice the stone being weaker. Might also be good to add more denser (more HP) stone deeper down where more ores are, so mining deeper will require the stronger tools (which could get a bonus to this denser stone). Then miners need to take care to support their tunnels as there could be veins of weaker easily falling stone around to crush them and going deeper is not something that people can do early on unless they invest into mining perks early/get lucky with finding good tools.

 
Kid zombies were already answered. But why would it be scarier? And why would you think twice? Just blast the little bastard where you sent his mom a while ago.
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I don't know about scarier, but if kid zombies could fit through single voxel holes, it would definitely make things more intense, especially on horde night.

 
As the headshot perks both melee and ranged are very overpowered and the individual weapon types are underpowered in relation, would it not be best to give the headshot perks a stun combined with the headshot damage and add the instant kill to the weapon types. Pistols 2% instant kill with a 5% instant kill on a headshot ect...

 
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