PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[th3rookie]

Some biomes will decrease FPS more than others, since they drawn different things, but none of them should be drastically worse.
I'm trying to see if any our testers have biomes that drop FPS a lot, so I can determine what GPUs have the problem. My RTX 2070 seemed fine. The AMD HD 5770 is slow on everything (in editor), so I need to check that one in a build. The GTX 960 is no longer in my computer, but don't recall it being too bad.

Hi @faatal I can confirm that with a Radeon Fury X (4Gb) it started to lag in the snow biomes. Driver v.19.10.1 All is fine with a Vega 64.

-Tommy

 

[Xafius]

Agreed. I can play most games at max or decent graphics with the 1080 tbh. Would love to upgrade eventually though cuz like you said you need more and more Vram going forward. Even if you don't it doesn't hurt to have an excess.

 

[Thegamingprodigy51]

Can you use a gun exclusively early game? Nope. You have to mine for ammo. Some tips:
GO to rooftops and kill vultures.

Get the huntsman to harvest more from vultures. (pretty sure about that)

Chop up the nests after you loot them for even more feathers.

Go to biomes that have vultures. Injure yourself if you want, they will seek you out then.

Get the book that gets you more feathers.

Get the archery perk that lets you retrieve more arrows.

Use every other gun you have and ammo you find to conserve feathers.

I sell stacks of feathers and don't even use a bow. Like 250 every day or two just from wrecking every vulture I see. I don't loot nests either unless I'm an archer build.

What no one seems to get, is that in relation to bullets it feels unnecessary (the nerf) I don't even use bows and I'm not saying you can't because there isn't enough feathers. I was trying to say (and failed apparently) that in relation bullets it doesn't seem balanced. As you pointed out, "you shouldn't have 150 feathers on day one" but finding 200 9mm, 100 7.62, and 50 shot shells and their corresponding guns on day 1 is ok? (default settings).
To reiterate I'm not saying the feather nerf was bad in it of itself. Just that it seems weird when guns and ammo are so easily found and accumulated. But whatever. I was the catalyst for this feather nerf so I feel partly responsible for any negatives resulting. If everyone is cool with it then I'm cool with it :indecisiveness:

I hear what you saying but I don’t think you understand what madmole was saying. The reason why it’s so much ammo now is because people who wanted to use guns day one couldn’t before. You was practically forced to use bows until late game even if that’s not your playing style. You can’t craft ammo until mid late game. But with arrows you can craft them day one . So it’s only fair and a great balance to reduce nest and feathers and increase ammo. I get just as much ammo as feathers if not more feathers still. While you out and about youll bump into nest and Vultures. I’m day 9 with almost 2 stacks of feathers at base with 75 arrows on me.

 

[madmole]

Real 'men' (and women) start new a new game knowing current builds lowered gamesstages/looting.And knowing that old saves can cause problems, and to minimize complaining, forum space, etc.

KNOWING that is is experimental. Managing 'invested' expectations...

Hah, but after starting over 8,998 times I try to avoid it.

 

[MechanicalLens]

Your screens always look washed out, is your gamma jacked up or something?

My gameplay always looks great, it's when the mist/fog (weather effect) rolls in that the gamma looks like it's turned up to 200. It's rather unfortunate. (Edit: Whenever I snap a screenshot, it always end up looking slightly washed out, actually... Maybe I'll lower my gamma to 20 or 30 whenever I take them from now on.)

Edit: My gamma was 45 at the time.

Without mist, 45 gamma:

Spoiler

Mist rolls in, 45 gamma:

Spoiler

 

[Trunks_Budo]

I tried my best to condense my posts into pockets so that it wouldn't come across as a wall of text; One issue at a time, one post at a time, as concise as possible. I know you guys are super busy trying to improve your game, and I respect your hard work, and I want to help, and that's why I've posted these 4 posts in succession. I hope I have helped you guys to recognize what I believe to be some outstanding issues in the current build, and I hope that you guys agree with my points made. You've got a game that's got the potential to be an international best-seller across all consoles, I know it, everyone knows it, and I want to help you guys get there, that's all my intent is here. I'm sorry for these four consecutive posts, but as I said, I hope you realize the fact that I'm only trying to help through them.

 

[Guppycur]

I have the same problem and since I travel a lot and wanted a good in-ear headset. so I got a couple of sets of these and they rock.
USB Type C Earphones, Lewoer in-Ear Noise Cancelling Earbuds Stereo Bass Gym Sports Headset with Microphone

highly rated and $20. I have two sets for travel and gaming rig.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VVJWGHP/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07VVJWGHP&pd_rd_w=iuVyN&pf_rd_p=45a72588-80f7-4414-9851-786f6c16d42b&pd_rd_wg=ZXzzn&pf_rd_r=EDKVVHWG0C639W7EDYGV&pd_rd_r=910c1829-b780-47eb-bcd9-8f8460c0c840&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFKNkcyNjgyMEcxTEMmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA0NjU2NDYzOFlHN0E0WDFJVUoyJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwOTQ1NDMyUVlNMzdCWVQxNlNGJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

The idea is to get him on a mic so he's more clear. We've also suggested blue yetis.

 

[Xafius]

Melee is broke as hell right now, following the introduction of rage mode and splash damage. I literally just miss headshot after headshot, then the splash damage/shaving damage makes enemies enter rage mode all the time. I tried using knife bleeds instead, but wouldn't you know it, those bleed ticks cause rage mode as well. There should be a toggle option for rage mode on servers, and you guys should definitely remove the splash damage feature entirely, and increase the hitbox sizes for single-target melee strikes on bodyparts. Maybe just modify the power attacks for top-tier weapons - like the steel sledgehammer, machete, or steel spear - and make those power attacks swing horizontally, and make them hit all targets in front of you for full damage and full impact. That way, top-tier players could funnel zombies through a doorway and cleave them down with great efficiency, until the surrounding doorframe was obliterated and zombies started pouring in; Don't forget, demolition zombies and cop zombies still exist, so this feature wouldn't be game-breaking. Lastly, a small issue compared to the rest: Improving zombies' movement so that they don't turn 45 degrees and can approach the player directly on a diagonal walking path would REALLY help. That 45 degree turning feature, plus these shaving damage misses, are a horrible combination. That zig zag aspect to their movement never made it impossible to enjoy the game, but that aspect, in addition to this new shaving damage mechanic, kinda does in a small way. It causes frequent irritation and I believe, well and truly, that you guys have the power to correct it.

I feel where your coming from. I had some trouble at first with melee in general because of the way you hit and swing. Before you could estimate a headshot even though it wasn't lined up with the crosshairs. Now you hit where the crosshairs are.

Its pretty easy once you get used to it. I hated it at first but love it now tbh.

 

[Trunks_Budo]

Btw guys, if you enjoy playing on 25% loot abundance like I do, here's a tip for early-game food: Put 1 point into Living off the Land and 1 point into Iron Gut, then you can harvest 2 snowberries at a time and have no chance of food-poisoning with them. It keeps you alive for those first weeks when you're grindin' out perk points and level ups!

- - - Updated - - -

I feel where your coming from. I had some trouble at first with melee in general because of the way you hit and swing. Before you could estimate a headshot even though it wasn't lined up with the crosshairs. No you hit where the crosshairs are.
Its pretty easy once you get used to it. I hated it at first but love it now tbh.

I guess I see your point, it's not impossible to be effective with melee. I just find that when fighting certain types of zombies like the lumberjack, or the hardhat zombie, they zig zag with their 45 degree turns too much to score a head shot reliably, even with practice. But the spear helps against them. It becomes an issue when you're in a poi on a quest and you can't lure them outside to have more space or else the quest will fail on you for leaving the area

 

[Laz Man]

Its already done, see my previous posts on this matter. The goal is to find more browns and oranges early game so you have incentive to craft something much better with all those parts, not to let you craft the most amazing gear in the game from garbage. Blues are outright awesome players crafting purples is just a poor design. What happens in Skyrim when you max enchanting/smithing and craft the best gear in the game? You quit playing.

This might be true, but if I already have a purple by the time I have the parts and skill points to craft the blue, I personally would never craft the blue.....UNLESS, the blue will sell for more dukes then the parts themselves.

Now if loot is balanced so that purple's become really rare and most wont have them by the time an average player has the skill/parts to craft, then crafting will become more desirable.

 

[Xafius]

Btw guys, if you enjoy playing on 25% loot abundance like I do, here's a tip for early-game food: Put 1 point into Living off the Land and 1 point into Iron Gut, then you can harvest 2 snowberries at a time and have no chance of food-poisoning with them. It keeps you alive for those first weeks when you're grindin' out perk points and level ups!
- - - Updated - - -

I guess I see your point, it's not impossible to be effective with melee. I just find that when fighting certain types of zombies like the lumberjack, or the hardhat zombie, they zig zag with their 45 degree turns too much to score a head shot reliably, even with practice. But the spear helps against them. It becomes an issue when you're in a poi on a quest and you can't lure them outside to have more space or else the quest will fail on you for leaving the area

Yeah I get that. The zig zag thing is def annoying sometimes haha. Makes ranged headshots a pain too lol

 

[ZombieSurvivor]

My gameplay always looks great, it's when the mist/fog (weather effect) rolls in that the gamma looks like it's turned up to 200. It's rather unfortunate. (Edit: Whenever I snap a screenshot, it always end up looking slightly washed out, actually... Maybe I'll lower my gamma to 20 or 30 whenever I take them from now on.)
Edit: My gamma was 45 at the time.

Without mist, 45 gamma:

Spoiler

Mist rolls in, 45 gamma:

Spoiler

same happens here. the fog looks like crap...makes everything look washed out

 

[HungryZombie]

Well, that was sort of my point.... if crafted purples had static stats that were average or less than average then you wouldn't be crafting the best gear in the game, you'd still have to loot them.

Purples are not awesome because of the stats. Purples are awesome because of the extra mod slot. Would you be cool if player crafted purples had better stats than blues but were missing the extra mod slot?

 

[agrastiOs]

Yeah if I used earbuds then the in game audio wouldn't be picked up on my desk mic I also use for skype.

The three headsets I used before would really burn my ears after 30 mins of using them, and then I would have to constantly readjust them. Now with my current headset, I finally can use it comfortably for hours. So I suggest you search for a headset which is designed to be comfortable as possible for people like us.

Also, can you take a look into the corn hitbox? It really sucks: you have to aim very low down to destroy it.

 

[Adam the Waster]

That's been answered in the Alpha 18 guide:
Alpha -18-General-play-answers-ideas-and-or-concepts

DAMN cuz the model was really cool looking

 

[madmole]

My gameplay always looks great, it's when the mist/fog (weather effect) rolls in that the gamma looks like it's turned up to 200. It's rather unfortunate. (Edit: Whenever I snap a screenshot, it always end up looking slightly washed out, actually... Maybe I'll lower my gamma to 20 or 30 whenever I take them from now on.)
Edit: My gamma was 45 at the time.

Without mist, 45 gamma:

Spoiler

Mist rolls in, 45 gamma:

Spoiler

Gamma is 38 by default, so that is why it looks washed out for you.

 

[edigoon]

About the FPS - Drop's:

I figuret out that it occurs if i let the

3th Forge melting/producing something.

If there are only 2 Forge's in use

there is no problem and anything works fine.

If i start the 3th Forge then the FPS

goes down to 5.

The Forge's are melting and producing

but it does not matter.

I testet all; only melting, only producing

1 melting 2 producing and so on.

Maybe it helps to find a solution

 

[madmole]

I tried my best to condense my posts into pockets so that it wouldn't come across as a wall of text; One issue at a time, one post at a time, as concise as possible. I know you guys are super busy trying to improve your game, and I respect your hard work, and I want to help, and that's why I've posted these 4 posts in succession. I hope I have helped you guys to recognize what I believe to be some outstanding issues in the current build, and I hope that you guys agree with my points made. You've got a game that's got the potential to be an international best-seller across all consoles, I know it, everyone knows it, and I want to help you guys get there, that's all my intent is here. I'm sorry for these four consecutive posts, but as I said, I hope you realize the fact that I'm only trying to help through them.

Walls of text are cured by hitting enter and making paragraphs

 

[ZombieSurvivor]

@faatal

I seen you say you do not recall your GTX 960 dipping in FPS....I have a GTX 960 4GB please do not think this card is ok its not. I would love to visit the snow biome some time but its unplayable at the moment.

Frame rates in all biomes have a look see, forgot to take a snapshot of wasteland.

Spoiler

 

[Quantum Blue]

Hah, but after starting over 8,998 times I try to avoid it.

True enough. For you (and most of TFP), not the public. Although you might need to manage your 'Real Man' expectations a little as I suspect testers are starting new games all the time... ; - )