PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[Damocles]

Possibly, Proably put the finishing touches to perks by 19, 18 feels really pretty tight. We'd like to code in telemetry so we know what perks everyone buys so we can identify the weak ones and give them some love.

I think the vehicle perks are problematic. Especially in singleplayer, everyone is kind of forced to invest points to unlock those, as a vehicle is pretty much needed, and there are no reliable alternatives (like finding parts).

At least not without risking having to walk for much longer.

Cant you add the vehicle abilities in alternative versions? Something like a salvaging brach, wich increases the chance to find vehicle schematics in cars, or something like that.

Or in other words. What alternative ways can the game offer to get a bicycle within the first week.

(Quest-reward, purchasable / standard stock at traders)

 

[kuratowakiru]

The key word there is random. I've watched many BMs of A18 and seen them do a variety of things as intended.

sorry Fataal, but I've tested it. 3/4 zombies immediately run for the weak block. 1/4 will stick to the first block they encounter FOR a few seconds before most of those 1/4 goes for the weak block too (as it get damage).

https://imgur.com/a/p6wFTwy

21 zed, 15 goes for the weak block, 6 stick around their spot for a bit until the weak block get about 50% damage and then all but 1 goes for the weak block. as soon as one of the weak block break, the last 1 also goes there (which is fair enough) to beat on the last weak block.

Current: https://imgur.com/a/4HveLJB

it just imo, I would make zombie ai ignore block max hp when calculating path, treating all block as the same, so it would first make a B line to you instead of work out which block is the weakest.

https://i.imgur.com/7VZ39Io.jpg

THEN each time the path is update (or about 10~20 second), if there is no changes (no block get destroy and updating the path), have the AI check 2-3 block next to them https://i.imgur.com/lr2swcD.jpg , if it have been damage, it would switch https://i.imgur.com/cEYXfrP.jpg, and when a new path open up, zed would use that path https://i.imgur.com/dS9c7F5.jpg.

this way zed would slowly concentrate on a few spots https://i.imgur.com/cEYXfrP.jpg, instead of the whole horde concentrate on a single spot as soon as a block get damage. https://i.imgur.com/BODrN5G.jpg

 

[Aldranon]

Most people like it I think. Its here to stay.

I prize the few crop plots I have, they're on the roof of my strongest non-BM fort. My ultimate plan is to feed myself from the crops before the "can good" supply stops.

There is a "Race against time" thing going on.

 

[Slingblade2040]

so just did day 28 blood moon. I'm level 47, nomad difficulty, game stage was 102 and max alive was 16.

the blood moon lasted till 2:44am. lots of cops, lots of spiders, a few wrights, and about 6 glowing spider zombies.

I had to do repairs on the steel bars since once of the cops exploded and wrecked most of the barb wire I had to slow them down so they got close and beat on the bars but I only had to repair 2 bars throughout the whole event.

I went through 800 rounds of AP 7.62 ammo and about 100 of regular 7.62 ammo. I gained 3 levels and used 3 experience elixirs. I mainly used barb wire fence since it slow's them down a lot and makes getting head shots very easy.

going to make it a habit of streaming this stuff more often.

 

[faatal]

sorry Fataal, but I've tested it. 3/4 zombies immediately run for the weak block. 1/4 will stick to the first block they encounter FOR a few seconds before most of those 1/4 goes for the weak block too (as it get damage).
https://imgur.com/a/p6wFTwy

21 zed, 15 goes for the weak block, 6 stick around their spot for a bit until the weak block get about 50% damage and then all but 1 goes for the weak block. as soon as one of the weak block break, the last 1 also goes there (which is fair enough) to beat on the last weak block.

Current: https://imgur.com/a/4HveLJB

it just imo, I would make zombie ai ignore block max hp when calculating path, treating all block as the same, so it would first make a B line to you instead of work out which block is the weakest.

https://i.imgur.com/7VZ39Io.jpg

THEN each time the path is update (or about 10~20 second), if there is no changes (no block get destroy and updating the path), have the AI check 2-3 block next to them https://i.imgur.com/lr2swcD.jpg , if it have been damage, it would switch https://i.imgur.com/cEYXfrP.jpg, and when a new path open up, zed would use that path https://i.imgur.com/dS9c7F5.jpg.

this way zed would slowly concentrate on a few spots https://i.imgur.com/cEYXfrP.jpg, instead of the whole horde concentrate on a single spot as soon as a block get damage. https://i.imgur.com/BODrN5G.jpg

21 zombies is a small group. I want small groups attacking the same spot. That is why zombies get a group bonus for others near them. You have to break up the group. That is part of the challenge.

You are also testing small obstacles with short paths, so long path randomness is not doing much. You are also testing the same type of zombies, which have similar random intelligence levels, so similar paths.

You need to actually watch blood moons of 100+ zombies with larger bases. BMs rotate the attacks from different directions leading to more variety.

 

[Auger]

Was playing tonight and I don't what happened but I was riding my bicycle and hit something on the road and shot straight up into the air about 200 ft. When I landed I lost about 60 health off my bicycle, and was at 11 hps from 107 ... was actually surprised I even lived falling from that height

 

[faatal]

Hello! Low FPS at below average settings. 17 alpha was better than twice. CPU - AMD FX-8320E, RAM - 24GB DDR3 1866, GPU - GTX750 Ti, VRAM - 2 gb. Developers, help. advise how to increase FPS!

What is low FPS? Numbers?

What screen resolution are you using? Should not be more than 1080p.

What texture quality are you using? Should be 1/8 or 1/4 with only 2 GB VRAM.

With that hardware I would start at low or medium video settings and adjust from there.

 

[faatal]

Was playing tonight and I don't what happened but I was riding my bicycle and hit something on the road and shot straight up into the air about 200 ft. When I landed I lost about 60 health off my bicycle, and was at 11 hps from 107 ... was actually surprised I even lived falling from that height

Rare bug. No dev/tester has been able to reproduce. There is logging for when that happens. Can you post your log file?

 

[Gareee]

Can someone clarify if explosive bolts, grenades, and contact grenades are supposed to do damage to structures or not? I'm testing now and they seem pretty useless unless used against zombies. Couldn't even blow up a wooden park bench.
TNT seems to do fine

They are like frag grenades.. and should probably be described like that.

 

[wolfbain5]

Madmole

in all honesty, charismatic nature in sp has no value of any kind, it affects your party members, no you and there is no party in sp. but with they way Intel is built, I dont really have an idea of what to replace it with. or instead of replacing it, give it dual purpose. 1 that affects a party for when in a pary, or one that affects npc's when not in a party. when npcs are in that is

 

[DaVegaNL]

I came a little bit, not gonna lie.

Young man! Behave yourself!

 

[kuratowakiru]

@faatal

yeah, I just test with an 20x20 wall with one weak spot and 200 zed (25x2 different type each wall), you're right, it was a lot more random damage on wall with same type of block. Sorry for doubting you. But there was still about 50~75 immediately concentrating on the weak block from the get go. idk, maybe I got unlucky :\ and got those guy for my first 7th day.

ty for help with verification, never would have though each zed type have a specific different ai, I just thought all ai just pick their path from the same pool.

 

[Auger]

Here is the output log for when my bicycle flew

Looking through it it looks like my bike went from X:45 to X:168 in about 2 seconds. So 123 blocks straight up.

output_log__2019-10-11__15-05-13.txt

 

[Gazz]

Since diamond ring mods aren't a thing I just made her a drum turret, she now holds 121 rounds to back my ass up with. Teetering on giving her my only anti-rad mod cause those bastards just started showing up. Even the duckbill fits, as does the Cripple 'Em mod, so they're in. Prob keep anti-rad on me and then top Grace off with the ol' Fore Grip... oh yeah, fillin ALL them slots tonight!

So you pretty much changed your ingame music to this?

Most do very low block damage (readily apparent from the item stats showing exactly that) because otherwise you could not use them in base defense at all as "the explosives guy".

If that stays... not sure.

In most games explosives do 0 structural damage because they have static world to begin with so it could not possibly work.

 

[Damocles]

Here is the output log for when my bicycle flew
Looking through it it looks like my bike went from X:45 to X:168 in about 2 seconds. So 123 blocks straight up.

Looks like the game thinks its stuck somehow and tries to move it up 1.2 units, but then still thinks its stuck, doing the move over and over again every frame.

 

[mr.natural]

Absolutely correct.If you use the "cheap" foods only then food poisoning will affect you much more, especially if you insist on filling up to 100%.

The higher tier foods make this much easier.

As it is now, early on ingame ALL lower tier food is useless, that's my point.

Again a misconception, poorly washed or grown in compost foods have a greater chance if contaminated with e coli see recent outbreak in Europe around cucumbers. But as game mechanics it is want ever the game play dictates.

Again, 'modern' farming uses menure that has NOT been composted, that's the reason. Composting is an art

 

[Alpacko]

I never get hit using fists. You wait until they swing first then close the gap and wail on them. I also power hit their legs and the fall every time. left left right hook. Even runners and ferals can't touch me. I noticed on youtube though that peoples aim is way off. You should be focused on the crosshairs not the zombie. I might make a video showing techniques so you can fight safely and effectively.

or they just sync animations with hitboxes. using the sledge hammer feels like poking flies with a cue(while it covers half of ur vision).

never played a game were u melee with ur crosshair. just remove it and realign animations with hit detection.

dying light and mordhau are games u want 2 look into 2c how melee is done GREAT

 

[Trankitas]

Young man! Behave yourself!

I'm sorry. I promise I wont do it again...today.

 

[Laz Man]

So you pretty much changed your ingame music to this?

 

[Sam_Neill]

No, NVIDIA 2080 w/ latest drivers

Was your map generation process ingame or using the method with starting a dedicated first, then stop it after the map is ready and then playing it ?

Maybe worth a try ?