PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[Tin]

ark for example.... all the mats to make the large industrial forge you can not carry at same time... but.. the crafted forge fits in pocket no problem.... player can carry all mats for the raft... but make the raft and you can not carry it... these balance issues are in a lot of games out there. sort makes you wonder who is making all these suggestions to mess with our minds.

(Just for me personally)

I think carrying around all the individual crafting materials in large quantities is just fine, but I would like to see that once you combine certain items (like building blocks, turrets and so on..) you get hit with a serious movement penalty, to only walking speeds if you carry them in your backpack until you place them, or put them into a storage chest/box.

I think it would bring an interesting dynamic to the game, of only crafting certain things when needed, while you are out and about to keep your movement up while in the field looting stuff.

Example: You craft the bellows for the forge: obviously this wouldn't be enough to slow you down, but once you crafted the forge itself and have it on your person (in backpack/ tool-belt inventory), it lowered you movement speed.

Or you have the batteries and stuff to make a battery bank for the generator/ solar-cells, it doesn't slow you down having all that stuff individually, but once you crafted the actual battery bank, it slowed you down.

Or you have all the wood units to make frames, once you actually make the frames, it slowed you down.

Or you have everything to make a campfire, once you actually craft the campfire it slows you down.

This would also fall in line with, and complement, the having too many things in your inventory penalty system. So it wouldn't be that out sorts to grasp for new players quickly.

This will add another slight level of risk when trying to establish a base and making sure you have nothing around you that could get you, while you are slowed down.

 

[AtomicUs5000]

I think trying to change what and how much can be carried would open up a huge can of worms. Think about just a single drawbridge, forget stack sizes.

I was never a fan of the encumbrance system because of this. It attempts to provide some sense of realism for something that is impossible. It's just a way to inconvenience the player. The same thing is achieved by limiting the slots available, and then make inventory expandable. The good thing is that you can at least carry more types of items when you normally wouldn't be able to if you didn't have the slots. However, when you are playing, and even if you know this, it is not how it is perceived.

When you start making changes in the direction as described in recent posts, you then have to do things like give weight values to each individual item. Before long, we end up being able to carry only one thing, such as a drawbridge (which of course a single drawbridge is still impossible for a single person to carry). Realism on this level is just not a good fit for this game. It is a completely different game. I would just leave it alone and think of things that will improve the game based on its current systems.

 

[DaVegaNL]

The layer in the desert under the sand is chock full of stones.

Dude you stole my line!

 

[Gamida]

I think that there is no way to get a game 100% balanced. Something always seems to be off. It's just the way it is. Devs have to just get it so close as they can to fair and hope the way they have it pleases more people than it pisses off.

 

[The Gronk]

I think that there is no way to get a game 100% balanced. Something always seems to be off. It's just the way it is. Devs have to just get it so close as they can to fair and hope the way they have it pleases more people than it pisses off.

I can think of a few examples of very well balanced games. The 6th edition living rulebook of "Blood Bowl" is damn near close to perfect.

It _has_ been playtested and developed for the best part of two decades so they've had a bit of time to get it right

 

[Trankitas]

Please, please, describe why you like these icons. What you see when you look at them? What aesthetic touch they cause?

Other than high resolution, i can't see any advantage over the old ones.

Or the mere fact that they are new and have high resolution - automatically makes them attractive?

...I really want to understand why people like them.

somebody help me understand this...

I will be grateful to anyone who somehow can explain what the aesthetics of these icons.

PS: new car - I like it...

The road also looks good in the screenshot, but you can find screenshots more better, even from the previous Alphas. Let's see it in action.

I don't want to. Goodbye

 

[beerfly]

Had a whole weekend playing A17.4. RandomGen. Brilliant seed with hundreds of POis. Weather works better, but we have heat and cold issues that do not kill us and that is the only problem we have seen. No displaced structures.

You are definitely on the right way guys. I mean Pimps.

 

[beerfly]

I can think of a few examples of very well balanced games. The 6th edition living rulebook of "Blood Bowl" is damn near close to perfect.
It _has_ been playtested and developed for the best part of two decades so they've had a bit of time to get it right

This games really gives as much varieties of gameplay as the amount of players it have.

It can`t be easy for sure.

 

[Trankitas]

TFP:

Any chance of getting better (more fluid) movement in game? Also better running animations?

Love you all.

T.

 

[angrymonkey_13]

Thanks Devs .. You Rock, all of you. And thanks for a great game. Keep it going .. ositive: ositive: ositive:

 

[AlabasterW]

Why does the SMG have significantly worse base damage than the Pistol? I feel that guns that fire the same rounds should mean the same amount of damage, right (yes I know that's not totally how it works IRL but CLOSE ENOUGH)?

In games with limited/rare ammunition, I'm going to want to use whichever gun gives the most damage per round, and with the right item mods you can have an automatic pistol anyway, which kind of removes the SMG's niche as the automatic 9mm weapon. Please consider standardizing damage by caliber so that guns can each shine for their own merits!

 

[Damocles]

Why does the SMG have significantly worse base damage than the Pistol? I feel that guns that fire the same rounds should mean the same amount of damage, right (yes I know that's not totally how it works IRL but CLOSE ENOUGH)?
In games with limited/rare ammunition, I'm going to want to use whichever gun gives the most damage per round, and with the right item mods you can have an automatic pistol anyway, which kind of removes the SMG's niche as the automatic 9mm weapon. Please consider standardizing damage by caliber so that guns can each shine for their own merits!

I also think, same rounds should generate the same damage.

And have the guns rather change in terms of firing rate, accuracy / burst-drift, reload times, magazine sizes, scopes and reliability.

9mm pistols could be even rarer to find (finding any gun should be a rare event), and give the player the option to make some makeshift gun in the beginning.

Some single shot pipe gun (pipe, spring, nail, wood), to have the first firing arm that can use the 9mm rounds. (until a real gun is found).

 

[AlabasterW]

A pipe gun pistol sounds great! We have the Blunderbuss for an early longarm but it kinda sucks tremendously. Who wants a gun you have to use point-blank where you'll get smacked around and probably miss during their attack animation?

Remember how bad the Sawed-off was too? I can't believe there's still a mod for it that just makes your gun objectively worse. Make that give you super-duper handling or bonus damage or something cause who wants a less-accurate gun???

 

[Gazz]

Why does the SMG have significantly worse base damage than the Pistol?

In games with limited/rare ammunition, I'm going to want to use whichever gun gives the most damage per round

You answered your own question there.

The SMG would be the better choice in every case.

And "just add more weapons to the game" is not necessarily an answer that works.

 

[Damocles]

You answered your own question there.The SMG would be the better choice in every case.

And "just add more weapons to the game" is not necessarily an answer that works.

If the SMG has a lower accuracy / higher spread and is wasting more ammunition, it would not outperform the pistol in every case, even with the same damager per round.

 

[Menace312]

I’d love to see the block bug fixed where you can inadvertently place a wood spike where you’re standing....I’ve died a couple of times early game from that. Also, pretty sure it’s the same bug when placing a flagstone block & you get entrapped in it. Think it started around A15 when the code was changed. For me, this is the most frustrating bug in the game.

This is not the first time, I've seen someone write about this.

I've never had that happen ever, while playing... I tried to provoke it after reading others getting this. I succeeded using a flagstone block, but was easily able to get free (without breaking the block). I do see how it sucks a little with the spikes .

I would be interested in seeing a video of the gameplay. Perhaps you are playing in a weird way, that I dont know of... How else could this keep happening to you?

 

[D4RKxST4R]

The smg is the best end game weapon in my opinion. If you have the correct skills or mods which you should have by that time, it outperforms the pistol in every way. Since you usually won't worry about ammo too much by that time, damage per second will be much more important than damage per round. You will not have a good time trying to take out a pack of radiated ferals with a pistol. There is also the headshot perk, that explodes heads by chance (insta kill), and that combined with the insane fire rate, you will be unstoppable. Damage won't even matter in that case since its by chance, so it might outperform the AK ass well. (Cheaper ammo, smaller noise range, similar killing power)

 

[Aldranon]

If the SMG has a lower accuracy / higher spread and is wasting more ammunition, it would not outperform the pistol in every case, even with the same damager per round.

True but if you only use a pistol, is means you don't need a firearm at all yet, unless its the first few days to defend against dogs and wolves.

SO to test this, around mid-game go up the stairs to the hospital landing pad for example, then you will see why the SMG is much better than a pistol.

 

[Gazz]

This isn't even a discussion. Just someone picking a tiny snippet out of the overall game balance and looking at it without any context. /shrug

 

[RipClaw]

SO to test this, around mid-game go up the stairs to the hospital landing pad for example, then you will see why the SMG is much better than a pistol.

I have cleared this POI several times for quests and for the roof I have always used my crossbow. With the damage bonuses from Hidden Strike, Boom Headshot and Perception, I can even kill the weaker radioactive zombies with my crossbow with a single targeted head shot. For the stronger radioactive zombies I need mostly 2 shots but that often works so well that I have already cleared the roof multiple times without even a single zombie would have woken up.