PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[meganoth]

While giving the noobie a helping hand every once in a while is necessary imo (journal entries, etc.), allowing the process of self-discovery is, imo, a valuable "feature" to have. If a new player is in a situation where they are outgunned by tougher zombies because they leveled too quickly, they could then deduce that maybe they should leave those settings on default.
Another example is the wasteland; even now, experienced [enough] players know to avoid that biome so long as they are lacking the weapons, armor, etc. to fend off the threats it presents. Oh, and at some point, they would have discovered that naturally spawning landmines in the wasteland are a thing. While having any newbie player get their head chewed off five seconds after entering the wasteland biome would be poor game design imo, letting them discover this for themselves (that maybe they should gear up for the wasteland before daring to venture into it) through personal experience is a whole part of the natural learning process that must take place in some way, shape, or form. Again, imo.

Or maybe additional "tooltips" are needed, idk. *Shrugs*

Wasteland is different than gamestage progress. Wasteland provides a visual clue and you can test it easily by going in and out. Gamestage could simply be derived from time elapsed, a new player has nearly no chance to understand this (except through carefully observing the gamestage value in the multiplayer tab for quite some time).

And really, players should have no need to know the internal algorithms the game uses to generate an immersive and fun world. MM himself said players should not know how the breadcrumb system works in detail, it demystifies the zombies and the game .

The wasteland is a good incentive to "git gud" so you can finally enter it. Gamestage, if known by the player, is a negative incentive as it practically says "don't git gud, only better equipped".

 

[OzHawkeye]

I still think everyone's getting paranoid about the public response to the experimental release of an alpha. Yes fine, there are a few children in adult's bodies on steam forums and reviews. No one is acknowledging the majority who are much more forgiving about bugs (especially given the context) and just want to play a good game. Why are we giving man children intolerant of a few bugs crying on the steam forums so much power here? Realistically their opinion shouldn't matter here, because it doesn't.
/snip

Apologies if I've not stated my position well here. The vast majority of people get what Early Access means, get what Alpha means, and even more so get what an Experimental Alpha means. I just point out that there will always be that small cadre that don't, and tend to be noisy about it at the same time.

As for me personally, I'm hyped for A18, Madmoles got me sold on it, and though I'll likely be overseas when it releases, I'll be keen to try it out once I get back, and understanding what I'm playing when I do, it'll be 18.1 (at least!) before I make a "keeper game" on A18.

 

[MechanicalLens]

Affordance comes to mind again then, if the journal has a new entry, it ought to be very obvious to the player that it's there and waiting for them. Making the icon flash is a good suggestion I think.

Thank you, I agree as well. While I no longer need to rely on the journal entries for vital information (I never have had the need to, actually; I have been watching 7D2D videos for years, blah blah blah), but occasionally I open up the journal entries tab just out of curiosity, and I notice that I didn't miss 3 entries, but probably a whopping 30+)

@madmole Feature suggestion: Regarding the pen icon for the journal entries tab, maybe having it flash yellow when there are unread entries could be a good idea? I almost never check the quests tab myself (and when I do, it's purely out of curiosity and not out of required assistance), but if and when I (rarely) do, I find that there are dozens of unread entries that slipped by unnoticed. Some visible or audio indication, such as the suggestion I just made, that the journals tab has more entries could encourage new players to read them, and would ensure that they would never miss any entries?

 

[Prisma501]

I still think everyone's getting paranoid about the public response to the experimental release of an alpha. Yes fine, there are a few children in adult's bodies on steam forums and reviews. No one is acknowledging the majority who are much more forgiving about bugs (especially given the context) and just want to play a good game. Why are we giving man children intolerant of a few bugs crying on the steam forums so much power here? Realistically their opinion shouldn't matter here, because it doesn't.
Have any of you actually read the negative reviews on steam? The top rated negative reviews of recent speak little to none on the state of bugs in the game, they complain much more about the changes made to 7DTD itself (apparently a lot of people have beef with the perk system, personally i like perks way more). I remember scrolling through the negative reviews on A17 release and realizing that the vast majority of the complaints were with game design choices, not the bugs. The vast majority of people understand that bugs in games exist and that developers work to get rid of them. Those who don't understand that will be overshadowed by people judging the actual game design itself.

A18 I think is going to bring people back on the game design front. A handful of MFs and man children on the forums isn't going to ruin public perception of A18, that all depends on what people think of the changes coming around this alpha. Which I predict will be good, this seems like a good direction for 7DTD.

I'm not sure how to end this mini rant, my point is this: No one cares about some guy on the steam forums.

Stop trying so hard to get it this friday

The devs seem to care and have a "soft landing" and a handfull of MUST FIX (<- look at that description closely) bugs are obviously important enough to them to not release before they are actually fixed.

It will come grasshopper...in time. Friday or nah.

Cheers

 

[MechanicalLens]

Affordance comes to mind again then, if the journal has a new entry, it ought to be very obvious to the player that it's there and waiting for them. Making the icon flash is a good suggestion I think.

Another thought I had would be the introduction of an entirely different set of journal entries. Survival Tips, basically. Examples could be, "XP AND YOU", "SPENDING PERK POINTS WISELY", "TIPS ON MELEE COMBAT", "GAMESTAGE: AN EXPLANATION", "A GUIDE ON INFECTION", etc.

 

[crazywildfire]

OH SNAP! lol

I'm offended. Why you picking on bald men for?

 

[ZombieSurvivor]

I believe if you're going to complain about bugs and do nothing to help fix them then you are just being a nuisance.

Those that put in the work to submit detailed bug reports and works along side someone from the Q&A testers to help identify bugs or whatever. Those people I think can then complain about bugs but those who actually take the effort to help, will not complain.

If you take the time to complain, damn take the time and write up a bug report, know what I'm sayin'?

- - - Updated - - -

I'm offended. Why you picking on bald men for?

Because I was forced into the balding club without choice damnit! lol *looks to the sky "why me god why"*

 

[MechanicalLens]

I'm offended. Why you picking on bald men for?

Well, I'm offended that you're offended. You should be offended because that offense is very offensive!

 

[ZombieSurvivor]

Well, I'm offended that you're offended. You should be offended because that offense is very offensive!

I'm offended that your offended that he got offended and I'm offended at the thought of being offended or offending anyone else that is not offended but would like to be offended..... :rapture:

 

[MechanicalLens]

I'm offended that your offended that he got offended and I'm offended at the thought of being offended or offending anyone else that is not offended but would like to be offended..... :rapture:

 

[ZombieSurvivor]

https://imgur.com/lFgeEiu

lol... =)

 

[Lonestarcanuck]

Its still not as efficient as a shovel, but doable. Imagine turning the pick sideways and raking out of the way.

There are different pickaxes and having a ranch I have several. some have a flat side. although the artwork does not reflect it, a standard pickaxe, similar to a "pick mattock", has a pointed end on one side of its head and a broad flat "axe" blade opposite. A gradual curve spans the length of the head. The next most common configuration features two spikes, one slightly longer than the other. this seems to be the one the TFP Art team chose to display and is the wrong type to be using for digging.

this is what I was I think TFP should design as art as it plays well into MM's description of multi-use.

 

[RipClaw]

I'm not sure how to end this mini rant, my point is this: No one cares about some guy on the steam forums.

In other words, you're impatient and want the release right away.

 

[CannedSmeef]

In other words, you're impatient and want the release right away.

Well no, I wouldn't want the game released if the MFs are so severe that it's in no state to be released. Not everything is black and white. Yes, I am impatient as many of us are. I'm not sure if that's a valid argument against mine though.

I've added an addendum to the post you've quoted, I'll add it here too just in case:

"Alright, I'm gonna clarify before people take me for some kind of fool. I understand that bugs are bad, and that TFP wants to have a "soft landing". I will not dispute that, they can have a soft landing if they want it. In fact, I hope for the same. My stipulation, however, is what constitutes a soft landing and what will cause a rough one. My argument is that a vocal minority complaining about some bugs will not determine that, not at all. Their opinion is quickly overshadowed by the majority who are going to judge the content itself, not the state of the bugs. They will have a much greater influence on whether this release will land softly or not. "

 

[wolfbain5]

There are different pickaxes and having a ranch I have several. some have a flat side. although the artwork does not reflect it, a standard pickaxe, similar to a "pick mattock", has a pointed end on one side of its head and a broad flat "axe" blade opposite. A gradual curve spans the length of the head. The next most common configuration features two spikes, one slightly longer than the other. this seems to be the one the TFP Art team chose to display and is the wrong type to be using for digging.
this is what I was I think TFP should design as art as it plays well into MM's description of multi-use.

View attachment 29118

yeppers used in construction. or better known as demolition. And ranching. spent 3 summers using one of these during my teen years

 

[meilodasreh]

I'm offended that your offended that he got offended and I'm offended at the thought of being offended or offending anyone else that is not offended but would like to be offended.....

you lost me, somewhere between the third and fourth layer of being offended

 

[sillls]

Point noted, one alpha at a time. We LBD that looting sucked in 17, thats fixed, now if lack of survival elements truly is a thing, we'll fix that next. I'm starting to feel some food crunch from pedaling my bike. Was it a huge food hog in 17 or is something broken? Does the cardio perk work with bicycles? If someone can test, let me know your results!

Hey, It took me awhile to test this and I found the following:

From start Day 1, no points spent. Alpha 17.4

Biome: snow

Food consumption in five minute test.

150-136 Food, Hard pedaling. (5 minutes)

136-136 normal movement. (5 minutes)

136-135 normal movement but got attacked by a vulture and had to dismount.

Test 2, same settings but added cardio level one.

150-131 Food consumption, hard pedaling (5 minutes)

131-131 normal movement (5 minutes)

131-131 another 5 minutes, got attacked twice but no change in food as I didn't move around while dismounted much.

Sprinting test.

Both beginner and level one test seemed about the same. My avatar could petal hard for around 20 seconds before becoming exhausted.

Traveling over rough ground took about a second away from this making it an average of 19 seconds.

All sprint test were done on level ground.

I did find that each level of agility boosted both food and stamina 10 points per level.

I can test the next level to if you want. Do you want that to?

 

[TWORDY]

Hey.

Please check out the idea for Volcanic biom and Exoskeleton with separate Respiratory System. Sounds like cliche but may fit 7dtd.

https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?125951-New-Biom-Exoskleteton-with-Respiratory-System-Scythe!

 

[Hek Harris]

Hey.
Please check out the idea for Volcanic biom and Exoskeleton with separate Respiratory System. Sounds like cliche but may fit 7dtd.

https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?125951-New-Biom-Exoskleteton-with-Respiratory-System-Scythe!

Nice

Mods will certainly offer us a lot of new biomes : 7 days to die on Mars, 7 days to die in Amazonia before deforestation, 7 days to die in Amazonia after deforestation (very similar to 7 days to die on Mars, but with brazilian music), 7 Days to die under the ground (fights against angry mad moles will be epic), 7 days to die in Manhattan, 7 days to die in a giant spaceship, 7 days to die in Arizona, err, wait, no, it's so 2013, forget it ^^.

This game is promised to a long life through many places and times

 

[madmole]

Hello have you fix this problem ?

Fixed it up, thanks!