PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[The Gaffer]

I really do hope we can have the bigger maps again one day. Everything is just to easy to find now

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They have just release one today on the Fun Pimps Youtube channel

 

[madmole]

@Madmole
What plans do you have long-term for infection? I think it has potential to be a linchpin in this game and I imagine you and the other devs have thought the same. Significant progressive debuffs in line with slowly becoming a zombie (less intelligent, less agility, less perception, but perhaps more fortitude and strength), cool signs that you're "turning" like an increasing frequency of moans and zombie grunts, maybe an animation like when you first spawn in the world and look at your hands but this time they're starting to decay, if you don't cure yourself in time you die and watch an animation of your character writhing on the ground, fully turning, and then standing up to shuffle away as a new member of the undead.

Some of the above? All the above? More that I haven't even thought of? PLEASE tell me infection won't just be a simple debuff but y'all want to create some visceral pressure that the character is really turning into a zombie and antibiotics need to be found & used ASAP!

Yes probably most of the above. The thing we need is a way to display a cvar in any buff so players can see if they are getting better or worse. Then you can see how effective treatment is, as it won't be binary. Imagine a number increasing or decreasing next to the buff popout icon.

 

[madmole]

What are the odds we can get some more room to work before hitting bedrock in A18? You are shorting us like 50+ blocks of digging room, having bedrock at +3 makes the ores are too scarce.

Start digging on a higher location then. I think everyone would want better more varied landscapes than deeper mines, there are only so many voxels vertically.

 

[madmole]

What about adding a Water Tank trailer that can attach to the 4x4 to haul more water and Water Catchers for rain water like in Rust

Rust doesn't have 4x4's. How much meta water game do we want? Rust you just grab 5 gallon water tanks in loot and water bottles, the water catchers are a total waste of time gimmick waste of space/time feature.

 

[madmole]

Well, had a second watch on the twitch stream from you guys, this time not on my phone while going to work.
First : have your best time doing your new office your second home, have your best moments there boys.

Second : I really love the guitar touch, keep it on every video. (btw ..guitar brand and model ? )

Offtopic : the stuff you told us about the future of the game..*fistbump*

Kin ! - You are the man !

Its a fender stratocaster, I have the exact same one. I think its about 2500 usd.

 

[madmole]

You do realize that twitch saves the VOD right ?
So Alpha 18 - new graphic textures or the same white washed blocks ?

Good stream BTW - Joel’s looking ripped

OMG this is the worst shape I've been in two years, but the good thing is you can't kill a life time of hard work in a year of slacking as long as you work out a little. I ruined my shoulders and elbows lifting too heavy/frequently last year and so I had to start over on curls, bench and shoulder presses with zero pounds from 250x12,225x12, and 120x12 to 0x12 after some rehab. I'm back up to about 180,145 and 110 now, so I feel like I'm at a point where I can go all out again. I quit doing cardio because I was kind of bummed about losing my muscle and gained about 4% body fat, I was 11.8 or so and now I'm 15.8%. So I want to get under 11.5% in a couple of months.

 

[madmole]

I enjoyed that, and the A18 changes sound good. (Pity other NPCs won't be until later, but what can you do.)
One thing I did not like hearing about, is that the devs put in 50+ hours per week, up to 70 before A17 dropped. That's "crunch" and it's not good. People need a work/life balance. We can all wait another couple of weeks for the next alpha.

We don't really force it on anyone though like a lot of studios do, its more of a feeling of not letting your mates down or wanting it to be awesome. We don't have a publisher breathing down our necks so its nice.

 

[madmole]

Is no one gonna talk about how much Prime looks like Baby Cakes? He is the real life version.

LOL I don't know why he doesn't at least grow a beard, all that shaving would drive me insane.

 

[madmole]

Hey can you tell us what work is still to be done before you can release the Alpha 18 and can you update the main post with what items you still need done? and in the future What do you need the most? more texture or 2d artists? programmers or 3d mesh artists?

No we don't have time for that, unless you'd like the videos to come to a screeching halt.

 

[madmole]

Would devs consider a simple infection placeholder be put in until the system gets reworked? Perhaps one full in game day of infection until it dissipates or cured? Without infection players have learned to brawl with zombies trading blows so long as bandages are available. The threat of infection should change the way we approach an attack for fear of infection as it should be. Additionally, infection perks without infection are wasteful and broken. Going another entire alpha cycle without some kind of infection will be real bummer. A placeholder of simple timed debuff can do for now please.

I have a plan and time to implement it as long as Prime can get me a cvar display on the hud.

 

[madmole]

For the want of clothing.
I can go around and find a firearm on my first day but I can go for weeks before I find a pair of pants. Even longer to find a full set of cloths. It just seems really hard to find clothing.

I would like to recommend a clothing store in the game. That way, a player could raid it and find what they need.

Hit up a school, the lockers have enough clothing for a small army. Also the washers/dryers and laundry baskets and dressers are pretty well loaded.

 

[madmole]

those motel POIs are usually good for clothing. thats all they are really good for. well, they also have a lot of bathrooms too so good for early wrenches and glass bottles.

Oh yeah not to mention the huge suitcase piles we have now, and books that allow clothing crafting.

 

[madmole]

Madmole, do the perk classes have an overall summary? For example the brawler class summary would explain getting in close with zombies with fists?

Yes if you watch the video I posted you can read some of them.

 

[madmole]

More than being able to gauge distance, what we really need from a throw arc is some way to know whether the thrown thing is going to make it over the edge of the block/railing/etc. Because the avatars do not bend at the waist or lift their arms on screen or give any other indication of where, exactly, the throw is going to go, it's very easy to think you're going to clear a 1-block high railing in front of you, only to have it hit the railing instead. And either explode or light you on fire.

Yes I think we made some progress there but I need to check again.

 

[madmole]

Madmole
we are looking forward to a new video

I'll try to get something going before the holiday.

 

[MelT]

OMG this is the worst shape I've been in two years, but the good thing is you can't kill a life time of hard work in a year of slacking as long as you work out a little. I ruined my shoulders and elbows lifting too heavy/frequently last year and so I had to start over on curls, bench and shoulder presses with zero pounds from 250x12,225x12, and 120x12 to 0x12 after some rehab. I'm back up to about 180,145 and 110 now, so I feel like I'm at a point where I can go all out again. I quit doing cardio because I was kind of bummed about losing my muscle and gained about 4% body fat, I was 11.8 or so and now I'm 15.8%. So I want to get under 11.5% in a couple of months.

I know it's off-topic with the thread, just wanna say:

You might want to try calisthenics instead, if you don't do it already.

Myself, I used to do weights and nearly wrecked my joints regularly over time. Also got to the (in)famous point where I gained muscle mass like crazy, but couldn't lift my arms just to comb my hair due to severe nerve pain.

I can totally recommend the convict conditioning stuff by Paul Wade and information by Matt Schifferle. No advertising here, just my own experience. Anything else didn't really do much for me. But following those training styles, I was able to eliminate all the body pain I had before and really became stronger and fitter in general.

 

[Odetta]

Its a fender stratocaster, I have the exact same one. I think its about 2500 usd.

Nice! Gonna get me my Martin (acoustic) pretty soon! Can't wait. Btw have you tried a Les Paul?

 

[madmole]

I know it's off-topic with the thread, just wanna say:You might want to try calisthenics instead, if you don't do it already.

Myself, I used to do weights and nearly wrecked my joints regularly over time. Also got to the (in)famous point where I gained muscle mass like crazy, but couldn't lift my arms just to comb my hair due to severe nerve pain.

I can totally recommend the convict conditioning stuff by Paul Wade and information by Matt Schifferle. No advertising here, just my own experience. Anything else didn't really do much for me. But following those training styles, I was able to eliminate all the body pain I had before and really became stronger and fitter in general.

Thanks!

I was lifting through the pain, now when something starts feeling that way I reduce the weight about 20% and just do more reps instead of grinding through pain or however much it takes to not hurt at all, so far I've been injury free for over a year but I'm not lifting the seriously heavy stuff yet. I'm doing more stretching and lots of warm up work and I'm swimming laps now (I have a 60' pool), which I think is pretty good on the joints as long as you don't go all out. Great cardio.

 

[madmole]

Nice! Gonna get me my Martin (acoustic) pretty soon! Can't wait. Btw have you tried a Les Paul?

You should try Taylor for acoustic guitars, they sound and play so much better than Martin's IMHO. A 700 dollar Taylor seems better than a 1500 dollar martin. I settled on the 1700 dollar Taylor then they got a 2500 dollar one I'm drooling over a few months later, lol. Oh well, its very nice. I had to get a humidifier for the house it got some warpage over winter and I had to get it adjusted.

 

[Odetta]

You should try Taylor for acoustic guitars, they sound and play so much better than Martin's IMHO. A 700 dollar Taylor seems better than a 1500 dollar martin. I settled on the 1700 dollar Taylor then they got a 2500 dollar one I'm drooling over a few months later, lol. Oh well, its very nice. I had to get a humidifier for the house it got some warpage over winter and I had to get it adjusted.

Thanks for the advice. I'm a finger picker (think Chet Atkins) and love the low-mid ranges. I was going with a Martin OMC-15ME just because of the warmth, but if a Taylor can sound just as good for less then hell ya. Ya Texas is super humid so I'm not surprised and the winters are that wet cold that chills to the bone.

Anyway, super excited for A18 especially as my brothers are getting into PC gaming and building their rigs as we speak so we can all play it together. Hope you have an awesome Independence Day!