Protip: Vulkan works, but is buggy, at least on my configuration. It may work better for others. Try it. I got better performance. You can always switch back. You can switch in the game launcher.
This alpha is a SOLID update. Here are the things I like:
1) Books and schematics aren't super rare, so adventuring into buildings to loot doesn't feel grindy at all. You are almost always guaranteed to get a book or schematic of some kind if you search 1-2 houses. They are random as well, so you can end up having a chance of becoming slightly OP early game. This applies to gear as well. One of my first items was an in helmet water purifier. I built a helmet and put it in: no more dysentery from water.
2) The changes to the sleepers helps a TON. I got tired of having 20-30 sleepers spawn in Alpha 17 so I eventually just disabled them, however I felt no need whatsoever to do that in alpha 18. So far it feels more balanced.
3) I don't feel as desperate to spend skill points. Finding and looting books means what points I do spend, I tend to spend on stuff like healing factor or iron gut. Often I have 4-5 extra skill points to dump into skills if I find I need it.
4) Food poisoning isn't as big of an issue as I thought. I've gotten it once. It goes away. Still have yet to get a cooking pot though.
5) Combat in this update is incredible. Barely swiping a zombie (or two or 3) feels very fluid.
6) I don't know if those are dogs or another animal in the desert, but it's cool how they attack, and then run away when you hit them. Feels very immersive (so does the desert in general)
8) The grind of Alpha 16 and 17 are gone IMO. I felt like everything was an adventure. Even chopping trees down didn't feel like a grind. Finding little ore nodes and harvesting them was satisfying.
9) The repair kit changes help the early game without speeding it up. Nothing more annoying than a wrench you can't repair because it's gated. Finding iron/steel items no longer means you can't use them.
Here are a few showstoppers IMO that should be fixed before experimental ends:
1) The floaty mouse movement is likely the cause of the vsync issue, and it is ANNOYING as hell to deal with, even with vsync off. It is a mouse issue in general: Under Linux, enabling vsync and gsync, then switching to vulkan causes it to rear it's ugly head the most. Input events appear to get backed up, even on the main menu. Rapidly move your mouse around and the game will freeze for quite a while until it catches up. They need to fix that. Even under DX 11 it's an issue in game. There is a definite latency between moving the mouse left or right and your character moving left or right. I even wrote and ran a little on screen overlay showing mouse direction and coords. My overlay picked up on movement before the game did, sometimes up to 3 seconds that is regardless of the API and the OS.
2) Antibiotics of any kind (including honey) are near impossible to find and the whole infection system seems wildly unbalanced. In Alpha 17 you had a chance for infection to go away. In Alpha 18 it ticks up graudally. With infection gradually ticking up, it starts to interfere with dexterity, which makes it even HARDER to find antibiotics. They really need a perk to counter-act this. Antibiotics should also be a bit easier to find. I've looted over a dozen buildings, chopped down several tree stumps, checked the trader. No honey, herbal antibiotics, or antibiotics. The counter started at 0.9% and has ticked up to 25%, interfering with continuing looting efforts. It almost makes more sense to die and take the XP hit.
3) Food is far too scarce early game. I have been living meal to meal. I don't know if it is RWG or what, but I haven't found a cooking pot and have barely been able to buy food from the vending machine and the trader. Eggs are damn near impossible to find (not that I could use them) and I just found a grill 4 hours in. The forge in my trader was destroyed, so I can't craft a cooking pot. I managed to find a grill, so I can make grilled meet, but meet was slightly nerfed and animals are a bit harder to kill because they run a lot more. If I hadn't been playing this game like a pro since the beginning, I would have died multiple times from food and water.
Some tips for those who haven't quite gotten this game down based on what I saw from inexperienced streamers (even the bearded guys, who I watch quite a bit):
1) Don't destroy loot containers if look re-spawn is enabled. Less loot to loot if the loot re-spawns.
2) Throw away nothing. If you can't carry it, either put it in a loot container and mark it on the map, or place a chest and put your look in there, then mark it on the map. Even stuff like rotten flesh and sham sandwiches have a use.
3) Clean out buildings when possible. Sometimes I'll put a chest outside every building, clean out a ton of buildings, then consolidate, take back the most important stuff first, and come back later for the rest.
4) Keep a strict eye on food/water so you don't get hit with a stamina debuff.
5) Break open doors to POIs and try to lure zombies out, then beat them with clubs. Don't use guns except in emergencies.
6) Day 1 start working on a defensible base. Setting up in a POI means you are going to die or lose valuable loot.
7) Find a water source ASAP.
8) Resist the urge to scrap most items. They smelt for more in the forge, and scrapping cans can hurt you early game.
9) Find a desert, harvest aloe vera, and start collecting yucca. You'll need aloe vera for first aid stuff, and yucca for more advanced recipes.
10) Before venturing out, make sure you have close to your max food/water (150 at start), but don't waste food/water.
11) Regulate your body temperature. People don't get this. Being too hot or too cold makes you hungry/thirsty quicker. Food is important.
I could go on, but that covers pretty much most of the streamers I've seen.
12) Make a separate horde base from your main base. Make sure it's marked on map. This ensures your main base doesn't get wiped out and your supplies ruined.
13) Carry a bow and plenty of arrows with you, even mid-end game. It's the only somewhat free ranged weapon in the game. I usually carry a club of some kind, bow, gun, bandages, and maybe tools in my tool belt.
14) Don't be afraid to take half a day to break open a gun safe with a stone axe. The risk vs reward is worth it usually.
15) Don't sell Ammo unless necessary, you will need it later.
16) Duct tape is the easiest item in the game to acquire, you just have to use your head and mine skulls, remains, etc. 2 hours in I had a few hundred bones. Next to a desert so as soon as that forge gets going, I'll have glass jars. Also have a water source nearby for the water.
17) Get a farm started early. Crops take time to grow.
That's all for now. I may think of others in the mean time.
Overall, this game has sucked me in. If they get the graphical issues straightened out, it will be the best release yet.
I legit thought this was a trader on the edge of town, until I got a good look at it. (Note: I took this several in-game days ago.)
