PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[Kage848]

Disclaimer, I don't watch any youtube videos hardly on the games I play (mostly just dont have the patience to spend the time to watch them when I could just as easily play lol) so if this is a well know thing already then I apologize in advance.
A "trick" I managed to work out helps with some of the large loot POIs(hospital, pharmaceutical building, etc) . Specifically the ones with the clustered loot containers on or near the roof. I was in my SP game and was traveling to one of the traders in my Gyrocopter and noticed that there were 3-4 sky scraper type POIs that had the flat space on the roof where the loot boxes were.

Now normally I cruise in for an extended landing, so landing on a relatively small surface was something I wasn't sure if I could pull off. However, I practiced some landing maneuvers and discovered for myself that if you come in at a really steep angle and then pull way up right before your landing zone, that you cut out almost all of your speed and have next to zero forward momentum. Done just right the Gyro stops a few feet above the surface and then gently floats down that last few feet. Doing this properly you can pretty effectively land the vehicle on a dime.

After practicing this several times to improve my accuracy and timing I went back to those tall POI buildings and managed to land right beside the loot boxes I was trying to reach. Sure there were multiple zombies sleeping on the roof but I had plenty of time to hop off the Gyro and pick it up (so it was safe from random swipes) before they finished getting up and I just kited those few around the roof until they were all dead. They were mostly all irradiated as well so it was a bit touch and go for a minute but I survived and only had to deal with that small hand full of zombies.

I was feeling super accomplished for figuring out a quick an easy way to access the roof top loot area (without resorting to nerd poling) when I realized there was now a large POI filled with zombies between me and the ground and I could already hear them getting angry on the first floors below me. Now I decided since I was a bit reckless getting on the roof initially I should go ahead and try out a different method of escape. So I cleared the roof of obstacles and broke the railings and planted my gyro on one side of the roof. It wasn't long enough to actually take off but I was hoping the elevation would help. Sure enough I got to the end of the roof and dropped off but soon after the Gyro started climbing and I soared away feeling very satisfied with myself. I then proceeded to practice on several other POIs and got pretty good with it. Even going back to my base or the trader I now use the dive and pull up landing strategy because it makes it so much easier to land where I actually want to land at.

That sounds like some bad ass flying dude. I will do that for sure, just for the cool factor lol

 

[Mechanimal]

So you would not have tou turn that option on like a wuss and instead would work for the convenience of having them on your map.
It's not a big deal at all. I'm just pointing out that there could be cool gameplay instead of an option that toggles too easy / too hard.

And I do not think there is anything even mildly wussy about having it show though, especially since airdrop content is usually more disappointing than not. But I admit the idea is growing on me in general...

 

[Kage848]

No, tin has the right solution... Biome the cities like they used to be so that you can increase the count only there where it actually makes sense. And no, my game isn't broken (and neither are the other people's who are saying the same thing), cities are loot fests. Zero additional zombie count from any other poi, and zero additional zombie count from any other biome.
Just, more pois, which means more loot boxes. And unfortunately, the same loot.

Game doesn't need any additional zombies from other pois. The towers im doing in my world are full of zombies. So much so I have stopped doing them. You spend 500 ammo to get back 100. Now I'm no math guy but that's a bad ratio.

I think the issue here is some people see killing zombies itself as the reward, i have seen it talked about here alot. I dont. I want to survive and thrive. I dont go to pois just to kill zombies, I do like the combat and killing zombies it's just not all I wanna do. I wanna build up my stockpiles and thrive. If your at a negative ammo amount after a poi that's bad. If I only wanted to kill zombies I'd go play left 4 dead 2.

I know you dont agree and thats fine. I guess I type all this for people reading the forums and TFP.

Also I'm 100% on board with any game setting added that given the player control. Like zombie count biome settings. That way everyone gets the game they want. Only thing is if the zombies are tougher in a biome the rewards should reflect that. They never have and that's an issue.

 

[Kage848]

I don't want more zombie slaying or anything. What I want is just for the game to be less predictable and more dynamic. Sleepers were "supposed" to be sprinkled among the zombies so that they can surprise the player, but what we got instead were POIs with many guaranteed sleepers, room after room. If 95% of zombies are sleepers any element of surprise is lost.

This is a valid point. So less sleepers and random roaming hordes that actually enter the poi your in?

That could be incredable.

 

[Kage848]

If I can get my coffee farm going, I think a pure brawler build might be possible. I'll find out soon. My only issue smashing is running out of stamina when in a phone booth with 3 zeds. I don't even have mods in my claws yet.

What's your gamestage? What zombies are you fighting?

I got spiked knucks in my current lp and I have been doing a brawler build, a17 of course lol. It's not really that great in a17. A18 sounds much better.

 

[Mechanimal]

Game doesn't need any additional zombies from other pois. The towers im doing in my world are full of zombies. So much so I have stopped doing them. You spend 500 ammo to get back 100. Now I'm no math guy but that's a bad ratio.
I think the issue here is some people see killing zombies itself as the reward, i have seen it talked about here alot. I dont. I want to survive and thrive. I dont go to pois just to kill zombies, I do like the combat and killing zombies it's just not all I wanna do. I wanna build up my stockpiles and thrive. If your at a negative ammo amount after a poi that's bad. If I only wanted to kill zombies I'd go play left 4 dead 2.

I know you dont agree and thats fine. I guess I type all this for people reading the forums and TFP.

Also I'm 100% on board with any game setting added that given the player control. Like zombie count biome settings. That way everyone gets the game they want. Only thing is if the zombies are tougher in a biome the rewards should reflect that. They never have and that's an issue.

I think at some point more options would be best, or maybe they'll play around and get some kind of rebalancing like you suggest. In teh first version of A17, before they tweaked the wandering hordes, I had frequent yet memorable problems with them coming in behind me. Yeah it sucked, but man did it make for a good story afterward. Getting some of that back would be fun, not as much, but occasionally it would make sense.

My play style must be quite different, I clear many POIs without firing a single round of ammo, tend to save all that for Blood Moons. I mean I do have to whip out the AK or shotty from time to time. But otherwise going stealth I can handle it all with a bow and melee. Some POIs, especially the bigger ones when you are at a late game stage, do require a lot of ammo at some point. Those should have a sweeter reward at the end, I agree, at least more ammo.

 

[Kage848]

I don't mind fist sponges. I one shotted a fat cop and gibbed his head, it was glorious. I never dreamed of brawling against a fat cop but here we are. Fortitude you are very hard to kill if you grab everything heavy armor, mod it, pain tollerance reduces damage taken, combined with wolverine health regen its actually a ton of fun and pretty viable.
I think the power curve is better now, but I'm yet to face radiated enemies. So far I'm brawling with ferals and switch to AK when things get a bit hairy or stamina is low with no problem. I cleared a T4 quest last night using mostly spiked knuckles.

For real balance you need to be battling radiated zeds. Or I'f ya dont get there balance can come in 18.1 or whatever.

I remember a17 was terribly out of balance at launch. I remember radiated wights on like day 3 lol. Good times.

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Maybe this will help in time to determine the boundaries of the quest and not fail it? This countdown is used in many games and works great.

Sorry, I am not designer =)

YES please!

 

[KingSlayerGM]

I know. You can't lean in Rust, the best selling Pvp game on steam, so I don't think we need it. Hide in the ghillie suit if you want to be a creep in pvp.

How about PUBG?

 

[SnowDog1942]

Game doesn't need any additional zombies from other pois. The towers im doing in my world are full of zombies. So much so I have stopped doing them. You spend 500 ammo to get back 100. Now I'm no math guy but that's a bad ratio. .

Maybe they will invent sledgehammers so you dont have to waste bullets on every single zombie you find.

I clear out buildings only using bullets if i get in a pretty bad situation, then im back to melee.

 

[Kage848]

I think at some point more options would be best, or maybe they'll play around and get some kind of rebalancing like you suggest. In teh first version of A17, before they tweaked the wandering hordes, I had frequent yet memorable problems with them coming in behind me. Yeah it sucked, but man did it make for a good story afterward. Getting some of that back would be fun, not as much, but occasionally it would make sense.
My play style must be quite different, I clear many POIs without firing a single round of ammo, tend to save all that for Blood Moons. I mean I do have to whip out the AK or shotty from time to time. But otherwise going stealth I can handle it all with a bow and melee. Some POIs, especially the bigger ones when you are at a late game stage, do require a lot of ammo at some point. Those should have a sweeter reward at the end, I agree, at least more ammo.

Theres a couple of things i wanna address here.

First, stealth should not be a required playstyle to do late game t5 towers.

Second, I am on high gamestage I guess as I have seen lots of radiated and I need bullets for them. Also I cant melee down zeds when theres multiple ferals and a few others in there. The shotgun messiah is a total bullet sink, and that's kinda bs considering it's a gun tower lol.

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Maybe they will invent sledgehammers so you dont have to waste bullets on every single zombie you find.
I clear out buildings only using bullets if i get in a pretty bad situation, then im back to melee.

Some funny assumptions your making there. I melee all the time.

 

[Mechanimal]

How about PUBG?

Sure, but PvP is the main focus of that game, so it is far more important as a feature. I don't know how many people do PvP in this game, I never have, doubt I ever will, it's why I never got into Rust at all. Did play a decent amount of PUBG, but it got old. I know it's me though, just burnt out on PvP games in general, with a few exceptions.

I def would think those who do PvP would be excited about the ghillie suit, ... wait, how would that even effect PvE, does it work on the Z's and animals? I mean it's neat, but I am curious as to what the main purpose of it is in the game, how is it functionally advantageous to PvE players?

 

[SnowDog1942]

Some funny assumptions your making there. I melee all the time.

Its not an assumption, you said you use 500 ammo in a building.

 

[Mechanimal]

Theres a couple of things i wanna address here.
First, stealth should not be a required playstyle to do late game t5 towers.

Second, I am on high gamestage I guess as I have seen lots of radiated and I need bullets for them. Also I cant melee down zeds when theres multiple ferals and a few others in there. The shotgun messiah is a total bullet sink, and that's kinda bs considering it's a gun tower lol.

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Some funny assumptions your making there. I melee all the time.

Yes things certainly do require more ammo in later game stages, good point. Stealth is never really required, but I try even harder to do it in later stages to conserve ammo, especially in a monster POI like the Shotgun Messiah factory. Dude, I got to the end of that and thought I was well prepared, still had tons of ammo on me, but when I opened that door, you know the one... boy was I wrong. I went out in a screaming rambo rage, I could not fire fast enough, it was beautifully ridiculous.

And yes that POI should have a ton more ammo loot in it, like way more. I had fun doing it the one time, but see no reason to return now that I have seen it, because yeah, is too much of a bullet sink. Does feel really weird walking out of that building in particular after a victory with far less ammo, if you even take enough to begin with, that place was nuts.

 

[archergod]

you serious?
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the fun pimps are the gods I will offer my soul to you

be careful with what you wish for, Roland is good at making zombie out of anyone's soul.

 

[SnowDog1942]

MadMole, this is your son, Mole jr. I lost access to my A18, could u kindly get off your ass and private message me the info. Thx dad!

 

[Seaside]

And this is your other son MiniMole , same thing - Lol

Can't wait for A18

 

[Kage848]

Its not an assumption, you said you use 500 ammo in a building.

So your making the assumption i dont melee because I use 500 rounds in a t5 tower. And I'm informing you I do melee, a lot. I just cant melee all the radiated and multiple ferals coming at me. Those towers are pretty crazy in my game.

 

[SnowDog1942]

So your making the assumption i dont melee because I use 500 rounds in a t5 tower. And I'm informing you I do melee, a lot. I just cant melee all the radiated and multiple ferals coming at me. Those towers are pretty crazy in my game.

I guess when I melee "a lot", i dont use near 500 rounds of ammo. Melee and wood spikes take care of 99 percent of the zombies. Ammo is for Oh $hit moments. I dont have 500 ammo worth of oh $hit moments, though i do play very cautiously, because dead is dead for me.

 

[sillls]

The only penalty of thirst (until it reaches zero at any rate) is that it slows the rate at which stamina refills. If you don’t really notice that your stamina is refilling slowly and you’re not having any problems with doing stamina related actions then you don’t need to drink. When the orange teardrop appears it isn’t critical to drink especially if you didn’t really notice a slowing of the refill rate.
Thirst really is a simple and non threatening status unless you ignore it way past the orange teardrop icon.

Hunger affects how much stamina you have to work with. I’d say you can still be pretty effective with only 90% max stamina and it is very apparent that your max is lower at that point which is still before any orange warning icon appears. Having 150 fullness carries no added benefit over 100 fullness other than the amount of time you’ll have the tru maximum amount of stamina available for your actions.

Are you talking about Alpha 17 or 18?

Because in Alpha 17 hydration if drops to were you see a red icon which is around roughly 30%. You slowly lose health.

I have seen this happen twice so far.

 

[Trankitas]

Calm down, I'm sure he didn't mean to crowd your style, and please don't think I'm trying to pile up on you. The forums are jam-packed with jokes that are hard to decipher without sarcasm tags, and if everybody took them seriously, the mods inboxes would be jam-packed with reports.

Off-topic, let's move on.