PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[FileMachete]

Augers seem to get screamers within a matter of minutes perhaps a mod for the auger/chainsaw that cuts the Heat/activity out put by 25%/50%
call it "Powered Tool Coolant System"

a mod for A19 idk

In A17 holding down the trigger resulted in much less heat than constantly tapping it did. No idea if same in A18.

 

[DarlingCows]

Madmole, there is an archery book that allows me to craft AP arrows but it is not in the crafting tab. Is it a bug?

 

[madmole]

Some do. Others, like Nail Some Chicks, still ask you to actively go out and kill 5 random chickens you spot with a nail gun. (Hey, at least they're no longer timed.)
Perhaps you could consider replacing that quest (and the others like it, which are so few I cannot remember the others) with a passive quest instead? (Such as, "Kill 10 animals." Reward: 1000 bonus XP and 400 dukes at the trader.") I mean, no offense, but no one is going to scour the desert for chickens with a nail gun, even though the reward is 1 skill point.

These were kind of filler content prototype, I think they are kind of pointless and need to be improved or replaced with something better. Jen's/Stephan's treasure digs are fantastic, these others are just odd feeling to me.

 

[Maglore]

I must have told you a million times - do not exaggerate!

Just out of curiosity...was that a quote by Rick from the Young Ones? 'Cuz if it was...wow. LOL! It's how I heard it in my head.

 

[madmole]

Which build? We are are at b143 now, so hopefully soon? I hate playing at half texture quality but it's the only thing i can do atm to keep playing.

A lot of my optimizations went out in b143, but there are more coming, not as much, but it might help some. We optimized the terrain atlases too, so there should be some gains for people that were vram bound.

 

[MechanicalLens]

These were kind of filler content prototype, I think they are kind of pointless and need to be improved or replaced with something better. Jen's/Stephan's treasure digs are fantastic, these others are just odd feeling to me.

Now that sounds like a better idea. At the very least, removing/changing those very specific, situational quests would be a good start, imo.

Also, on a random note, I was mistaken about my gamestage during that awfully long and daunting day 21 horde. It wasn't 110+, but only 80-something. o_o

 

[madmole]

Augers seem to get screamers within a matter of minutes perhaps a mod for the auger/chainsaw that cuts the Heat/activity out put by 25%/50%
call it "Powered Tool Coolant System"

a mod for A19 idk

Or just press and hold and make 1 single heat impression per gas tank of gas.

 

[madmole]

Oh dear, what should that value be for torches? 0.5? I only have 4 torches lighting up my base, i only get screamers if I have two workstations running (2 forges, or 1 forge, 1 campfire)
I guess Cement mixers, and workbenches don't contribute to the heatmap?

All workstations are the same. I'll probably go with .5 on the torch and .25 for a candle, and set the time interval the same as campfires, so it will be much more forgiving.

 

[ZombieSurvivor]

No but torches shouldn't be doing 4x the heat of a campfire in nearly half the time intervals.

Oh I most definitely agree and I pointed this very thing out to some of the QA Testers in A17. I always felt it was waaaay to high. Glad to see it will get fixed/changed.

 

[madmole]

do you ever plan to make helmet-mounted lights, candles, torches, consumables.
to make sense to use electricity.

electricity for me, a very important part of the game, making the game attractive

p.s

I love to lay cables in 7dtd.

Helmet lights are a thing in a18. No plans to make candles run out, it turns into a bunch of constant maintenance, especially in MP where 24 game days went by after you logged out.

 

[SMiThaYe]

Hoping the replaced particle effects on digging are a placeholder until performance is addressed with A18 stable. It's quite noticeable how bad this mosaic effect is, would prefer there to be no effect in place (it did look nice in b139 with the dust etc) https://i.imgur.com/DwRUoy3.png

Also, candles leave an unnatural looking trail of light right across the screen (left to right) that just doesn't look as nice as the torch as the larger flame covers the repetition.

I may have found a nasty bug with torches creating more heat than forges and campfires.

Player torches having such a high heatmap (4.05, same as barrels since forever) is probably why a lot of people have issues with screamers, rather than running forges, as they are a far more reasonable 1.5 and same tick. Perhaps campfires are either too high at 1.5 in comparison to forges, or cement mixers are too low at 0.5.

 

[madmole]

Madmole, there is an archery book that allows me to craft AP arrows but it is not in the crafting tab. Is it a bug?

Steel arrows are AP. We probably need to rename one or the other to match.

 

[Odetta]

oh lord please no. Lets not dumb down/remove stuff just because its actually a challenge and not a walk in the park. Players need to adjust there strategies and if they are not capable of doing so, thats there fault. Game should not be dumbed down for the few. Just my opinion *shruggs*

It's not about challenge or dumbing down the game, it's about the aesthetics. Doesn't matter cause I'll just mod it anyway.

 

[Hek Harris]

In most the pois in the bathroom/toilet the cabinet above the sink is literally above the sink how is one spose to wash their hands after using the toilet when you have a cabinet sitting on top of the basin lol

Don't come in my house...

 

[Odetta]

It's not about challenge or dumbing down the game, it's about the aesthetics. Doesn't matter cause I'll just mod it anyway.

Plus when you have a helmet light who needs lighting in your base anyway.

Edit: Lmao, I didn't mean to quote myself. I'm crazy but not that crazy.

 

[ZombieSurvivor]

It's not about challenge or dumbing down the game, it's about the aesthetics. Doesn't matter cause I'll just mod it anyway.

I meant, adding in books etc. in order to mitigate the heat is in my opinion unnecessary and is just catering to unskilled players. I do agree the torches need to produce a whole lot less heat. It looks like that change will be happening in a future update (fingers crossed). I love the aesthetics of torches and do wish I could place them around my base, no doubt so I'm not objecting by any means to some of the heat producing items being nerfed.

 

[Odetta]

I may have found a nasty bug with torches creating more heat than forges and campfires.

Maybe an gas lamp that's gated with electricity(sparking the pilot light), I just like the flame and the light it gives off.

Spoiler

 

[madmole]

Hoping the replaced particle effects on digging are a placeholder until performance is addressed with A18 stable. It's quite noticeable how bad this mosaic effect is, would prefer there to be no effect in place (it did look nice in b139 with the dust etc) https://i.imgur.com/DwRUoy3.png
Also, candles leave an unnatural looking trail of light right across the screen (left to right) that just doesn't look as nice as the torch as the larger flame covers the repetition.

Player torches having such a high heatmap (4.05, same as barrels since forever) is probably why a lot of people have issues with screamers, rather than running forges, as they are a far more reasonable 1.5 and same tick. Perhaps campfires are either too high at 1.5 in comparison to forges, or cement mixers are too low at 0.5.

Should be fixed in the next build. Some upgrade to newer particle system caused it but he fixed it.

I only use 1-2 torches except on horde night when I put a bunch out to see, so that is probably why my experience isn't so bad.

 

[Odetta]

I meant, adding in books etc. in order to mitigate the heat is in my opinion unnecessary and is just catering to unskilled players. I do agree the torches need to produce a whole lot less heat, which looks like that change will be happening. I love the aesthetics of torches and do wish I could place them around my base, no doubt.

Oh ya lol, I just had to give some justification on creating a whole book series. Was a bad idea I admit. Seeing all the gas lamps and candle chandeliers in New Orleans ruined me lol. They add such a vibe.

 

[madmole]

It's not about challenge or dumbing down the game, it's about the aesthetics. Doesn't matter cause I'll just mod it anyway.

Well after the next patch you should be able to place a decent amount of them without blowing the screamer budget like now, its bugged from what I saw.