PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

  • A18 Stable is Out!

    Votes: 2 66.7%

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    Votes: 1 33.3%
  • Total voters
    3
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Regardless, you have to look at two sides. 500 players vs 1 million new players. And I'd hate to say it, but the majority of new players to any game are noobs. Idiots. Just saying. *Shrugs*
It's not that farming was too hard; it's just that it was too overly complex for something so simple.
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Farming is not simple. And it shouldn't be in game.

 
Will there be anything triggering my Trypophobia in A18?
(If so, please remove all of it. It's unfair that I need to suffer just to usher in some new feature.)

:nightmare:

-Morloc
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Apparently the core engine has a lot of small holes where the playable mechanics should be.

Hope that doesn't trigger you too badly :-)

 
Let's begin morning prayer with the mantra "Hommm, I have to experience it myself before commenting, hommmm", but overall I don't mind the changes. If they are detrimental, there is a long A19 dev cycle to complain about them.


I think I've got a solution to this (and it seems yes, there are players who want grindy activities to "support" others and it might make sense to not ignore them). While it is absolutely too early to post this idea, well, before I forget it:

Basic farming should be like in A18, non-grindy and just costing materials. Because lets face it, most players probably see farming as a grindy necessity, nothing more (*). But there should be a further optional level where you get more resources from your field by regularily tending to your farm plots (watering or tilling).

It could work like this:

1) harvesting a plant produces a plant OR a seed (ration 5:1). The crafting of seeds from plants is either gone or a rare recipe.

2) Watering/tilling your plant produces more plants (and maybe gives a different ratio of plant versus seed).

Result: The majority of players will not see much of a change from now, a few will decide to be farmer and trade time and grind and get more out of the farm and be self-sufficient earlier in the game. "Farmville"-type players will rejoice, everyone else will not be bothered (except players with OCD)

(*) 4 players on a co-op server, none wants to be the farmer. Not a representative sample, just what I see.
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I like your suggestion. However, I don't know if it is technically possible to either harvest seeds or crops.

The only disadvantage I see is that you accumulate a lot of seeds that you don't need anymore when the garden has reached its final size.

I am surprised that nobody wanted to be a farmer. Then probably nobody wanted to be a miner as well.

 
Oh no :upset: But if it is for better FPS I can live with it.

Disclaimer, this not an insult.

I dare you to do that in RL. I DO grow my own vegetables in RL btw.
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We have rage zombies, so its for the better. If we didn't do it, there would have been massive weeping and endless rage quitting. Should we remove rage zombies the coolest thing I've seen in years? No lets just thin the herd a little noone will even notice and pacing is important, running into a zed every 30 feet isn't fun its monotonous. The woods are still crawling with zeds, the change isn't really noticeable and I have 1000's of hours in. Least not if your on the run, I see them constantly.

 
I'm wondering, are the old-school quests still going to be in A18? (Where you have to read a note, go to x location, activate a waypoint, kill the zombies that spawn, and get paid at any trader.)

 
Why don't people start with a gun, and a mod, and a bunch of bullets in their inventory? That way they can start shooting straight away, and we don't need to have all this annoying survival stuff in between?
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You need to take a chill pill before you join your disgruntled friends on the other side of the fence, this is just being sarcastic out of context. Read what I wrote about it this morning.

 
We have rage zombies, so its for the better. If we didn't do it, there would have been massive weeping and endless rage quitting. Should we remove rage zombies the coolest thing I've seen in years? No lets just thin the herd a little noone will even notice and pacing is important, running into a zed every 30 feet isn't fun its monotonous. The woods are still crawling with zeds, the change isn't really noticeable and I have 1000's of hours in. Least not if your on the run, I see them constantly.
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I LOVE the idea of raging zombies. But I am curious... Did you mean that most zombies will rage (but not all will), or that zombies will most likely rage? There's a difference. :p

 
madmole will we have random zombie encounters in like a19 or a20 because I knida miss them but if they where re added into the game that would be good I know we still do have random encounters with zombies but only like 1-2 zombies or are you talking about random bandit encounters?

 
To each their own. *Shrugs* Opinions exist after all.
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Less zombies in a zombie game is an obvious setbacks, I don't care what side of the aisle you are on farming...

...the world is dead. I remember back in the underground argument days everyone was clamoring about how the underground was wasted opportunity for action. Now the entire world is, except for the POI's.

That's sad. And now they're going to make it even worse? Because I was just talking about a17.

 
My guess:Graphics bling-bling was my impression as one major culprit (more texture/shader passes). And the new buff system might be another (secret) cause. More complex AI surely cost as well. Flexibility (i.e. putting more options into the xml) did generally add cycles everywhere.
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Being a programmer, I don't get it, either. Admittedly, I'm not a gaming programmer, but still, I know how one system effects another and have a rough idea about how I'd programme something and the amount of number-crunching involved.

Probably bling is a guilty aspect, but not as much as you'd think as graphics uses the GPU processor, not the CPU.

Negative to the buff system being the culprit unless some really shoddy programming got in there.

Complex AI, yes, now that's a thing. But on horde night the computer has to process the zombies, so why restrict them during other times? And in the wilderness they don't have to navigate blocks nearly as much as horde night, so they could be dumbed down in AI.

Things TFP's should have done are:

1. Seeing as the zombie generations are XML based, a simple slider would help people have an option.

2. Plenty of options to improve the graphics or lower them. Didn't have to effect the count of Z's. Game struggles? Either turn down # of Z's or do without some graphic enhancement.

 
I had 5 biome zombies after me last night, nobody will even notice. Max alive might have been preventing that former larger value from even spawning.
Yes I am against this change in theory, but in practice you barely notice, there are still zeds mulling about and sandwiching you in POIs, yet the game feels smoother and faster. Its a win win now, and will be a win win win later when we add random encounters. I did add more than 17 has to the wasteland though, so if you feeling frisky go there at night.
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You only barely noticed because you only had five zombies in the first place. That was the actual problem that needed fixing. Had you had 20, like you should have, in a zombie game...

 
Then they could just dig a one block deep "pit" in the ground, fill it with plant boxes, surround them with upgraded wood frames and paint the frames to look like gravel or a part of their base (of the farm is inside). Problemo solved (for those who are old school). ;)
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Hey Sage,

Yeah you could but I don't like the thought of it, and lets face it, there's a lot less tedium in tilling and even fertilising 200 blocks than in crafting 200 planter boxes and digging out 200 blocks of dirt then placing 200 planters and THEN planting in them.

That will piss a lot of people off, me included. For decorative purposes and flush building designs, the planter boxes are one of the most beautiful things the Pimps have designed. I freely admit it and admire the addition, very much so.

But the idea of working big plots of land out in the wild without the whole tedium and annoyance of all that extra faff on is raw, its survivalist, it's 7D and it's what many of us love fell in love with.

Sure it's one aspect in relation to all the other freedoms we have in the game - looting, killing, mining, crafting, but it's no less special.

Planters for bases, hoe for the wild ones of us. Does me just fine 😁

 
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You only barely noticed because you only had five zombies in the first place. That was the actual problem that needed fixing. Had you had 20, like you should have, in a zombie game...
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The 15 other zombies ragequitted.

 
We have rage zombies, so its for the better. If we didn't do it, there would have been massive weeping and endless rage quitting. Should we remove rage zombies the coolest thing I've seen in years? No lets just thin the herd a little noone will even notice and pacing is important, running into a zed every 30 feet isn't fun its monotonous. The woods are still crawling with zeds, the change isn't really noticeable and I have 1000's of hours in. Least not if your on the run, I see them constantly.
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What do you mean by rage zombies? Was this a feature announcement I missed?

 
What do you mean by rage zombies? Was this a feature announcement I missed?
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Zombies now have random bursts of speed when hit, "rage-mode" basically. That way, the combat is less formulaic and not as easy to avoid getting hit.

 
You only barely noticed because you only had five zombies in the first place. That was the actual problem that needed fixing. Had you had 20, like you should have, in a zombie game...
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But that would interrupt getting to the lootboxes, I mean POIs. :eyebrows:

Loc

 
The system of farming is being removed and replaced with a crafting system. Not hyperbole.
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Nah. They just made the pile of fertilized soil a square box instead. Which, if unholy joe's screenie is correct will merge with nearby boxes. The real trick lies with the seeds, which if MM is correct, can be found or crafted(?????) if you buy a perk. Wonder what the strength and SI values of the boxs are, and if they are included in blocks zombies will target.

 
What do you mean by rage zombies? Was this a feature announcement I missed?
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it was announced yes... this is new ai where when random zombie gets random damage, they will lurch forward for something like 2 seconds which in itself is a game changer. if zombie steps on cactus or trap or another zombie slaps his buddy... this can trigger it... i have seen them fall off cliffs and buildings, land pick themselves up and run for a few seconds. so those traps to slow down zombies... can work against you if you are not careful. :)

 
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