PC Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

  • A18 Stable is Out!

    Votes: 2 66.7%

  • <img alt=":)" data-src="" src="___base_url___/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

    Votes: 1 33.3%
  • Total voters
    3
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Fine, I thought you were having a bad fishbowl day or something over there. Dallas got hit by a tornado! Most places don't have basements in Texas either. Scary stuff.
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We had some storms here (Houston) but nothing like they got. Crazy end times.

 
Well then the other solution would still work; have degradation decrease the stats each time, thus ignoring the mod slot "issue".
Item keeps its color, this its mod slots, but the stats on the item decrease it into uselessness.

...don't let mm convince you that because one edge case scenario causes "bad design", that the inherent idea of degredation returning to weapon quality is bad.

Because it isn't.

It is possible to have your cake and eat it too. :)
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Oh for sure, I'm not against degradation. However, I think one of the challenges would be balancing it out with everything else in the game.

Imo good game design would take into consideration all of the existing activities the player is already tasked with before adding more. Things get exponentially more complicated when you consider all the variables (number of players, difficulty, available time in each day).

In software design (back when I was in college lol) I recall everything started with a diagram/flow chart to manage all the requirements even before implementation even started. So I can appreciate MMs concerns with complex ideas since everything does eventually boil down to value/dev time.

 
Any news about the performance fixes? Do you guys have a workable solution or do you need more data/testing?

Had a friend with a better system (RX580 + Intel 4.5Ghz) than me try to co-op with me yesterday but his fps was unplayable even after setting AF to off. :( Tried all the settings, but his fps drops to the floor after opening the charactersheet. Changing UMA texture setting seemed to work for half an hour, but then it went south again and no matter what we tried, it stayed in the unplayable range of fps. Now it's constantly bad, even without opening the charactersheet.

 
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It needs to say "something more useful", but I ran out of ideas so it ended up in the game for now. There is no point in crafting ore bundles unless we could sell them for a larger profit, I mean who runs out of storage space for ore with the generous stack sizes we have?
Mining perk book ideas anyone to replace the craft ore bundles thing?

Originally I wanted it to be like ammo bundles but then gazz pointed out the scrapping exploit.
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I like the idea of bundles for Ammo/Arrows - heck add it for water/food! but for Ore/Resources like Wood, meh.

maybe a perk for mining at night or ability to "sharpen" your tools for extra damage or random damage burst?

did you ever visit Blackstrap coffee to make a mining boost perk?

 
Oh for sure, I'm not against degradation. However, I think one of the challenges would be balancing it out with everything else in the game.
Imo good game design would take into consideration all of the existing activities the player is already tasked with before adding more. Things get exponentially more complicated when you consider all the variables (number of players, difficulty, available time in each day).

In software design (back when I was in college lol) I recall everything started with a diagram/flow chart to manage all the requirements even before implementation even started. So I can appreciate MMs concerns with complex ideas since everything does eventually boil down to value/dev time.
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speaking of water

what ever you do dont drink my water in my world you would probably turn into a zombie!

20191020203921_1.jpg

 
It needs to say "something more useful", but I ran out of ideas so it ended up in the game for now. There is no point in crafting ore bundles unless we could sell them for a larger profit, I mean who runs out of storage space for ore with the generous stack sizes we have?
Mining perk book ideas anyone to replace the craft ore bundles thing?

Originally I wanted it to be like ammo bundles but then gazz pointed out the scrapping exploit.
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Mad Mole: Harvest X amount more resources when below X elevation

 
Oh for sure, I'm not against degradation. However, I think one of the challenges would be balancing it out with everything else in the game.
Imo good game design would take into consideration all of the existing activities the player is already tasked with before adding more. Things get exponentially more complicated when you consider all the variables (number of players, difficulty, available time in each day).

In software design (back when I was in college lol) I recall everything started with a diagram/flow chart to manage all the requirements even before implementation even started. So I can appreciate MMs concerns with complex ideas since everything does eventually boil down to value/dev time.
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MM and I vehemently disagree because he appears to want a simple game where solutions are handed down to you over time, where I want a complicated game that challenges players to think and compensate. You know, the type of game it used to be. :)

He's going to win of course, it's his game, but I'm never going to stop fighting.

Right now weapons have stats. A low purple can be worse than a good brown, I think Gazz said? So those stats are already in the items... Have each usage of repair degrade those stats. Done.

Now you're not using the same purple that you find on day 1, because it's degrades, loot does not need to be nerfed, whiners don't need to worry about there mods rolling down a hill, and we bring back a little complication into what right now is far too simple.

 
Any news about the performance fixes? Do you guys have a workable solution or do you need more data/testing?
Had a friend with a better system than me try to co-op with me yesterday but his fps was unplayable even after setting AF to off. :( Tried all the settings, but his fps drops to the floor after opening the charactersheet. Changing UMA texture setting seemed to work for half an hour, but then it went south again and no matter what we tried, it stayed in the unplayable range of fps. Now it's constantly bad, even without opening the charactersheet.
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Without vital info like video settings including resolution and the hardware being used this isn't telling us too much.

A 960 could probably run faster at medium and 720p than a 2060 at ultra and 4k. Then there is the CPU and RAM to consider, and not just RAM amount but also speed. 3000MHz RAM vs 1300MHz RAM makes a difference.

But yes the game does still need some performance fixes. Last I heard there was talk of possible "over render" in the terrain and possibly too many texture layers slowing everything down.

I think they are still going to be looking at optimizing GPU use like "they did for CPU already". I think Madmole said that more GPU optimizations were planed for alpha 18.

Edit:

Things to try

Lower resolution to 900p, 768p, 720p (boost FPS)

Lower Texture quality to half if you have less than 4GB of VRAM on your GPU (will stop intermittent stutters)

Lower Shadow distance to near or off (boost fps)

Turn off SSReflection (boost fps)

Gfx af 0 (boost fps)

Turn off Vsync (boost fps and stop intermittent stutters)

Turn off depth of field and light shafts (boost fps)

If you have XMP RAM make sure it's enabled in your BIOS for full speed at "profile 1"

 
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MM and I vehemently disagree because he appears to want a simple game where solutions are handed down to you over time, where I want a complicated game that challenges players to think and compensate. You know, the type of game it used to be. :)
He's going to win of course, it's his game, but I'm never going to stop fighting.

Right now weapons have stats. A low purple can be worse than a good brown, I think Gazz said? So those stats are already in the items... Have each usage of repair degrade those stats. Done.

Now you're not using the same purple that you find on day 1, because it's degrades, loot does not need to be nerfed, whiners don't need to worry about there mods rolling down a hill, and we bring back a little complication into what right now is far too simple.
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hey i feel you!

i doubt my ideas will ever come in but i try at lease

to be fair. when madmole see's my ideas he probably says "dear god what stupid idea he has now" lol

 
What is the archery weapon progression supposed to be like? In my last game, I found a pretty excellent iron crossbow, but it just wasn’t working out for me and I ended up reverting back to a low level wooden bow.
If it is supposed to be a step up from wooden bow, I think the reload time plus the time for it to go back into aim mode plus the time for the crosshairs to narrow plus the stamina for aiming is not a better-than-or-equal-to tradeoff.

Crossbows weren’t that great in A16 or A17, but I was good with it in A16 and where most people went for the compound bow, I still preferred the crossbow. I’m not enjoying it at all now though. Something is just off about it.
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Yea, crossbows have been junked since A16. It's pretty rare to find anyone that uses them anymore. I haven't tried the new compound crossbow yet tho so hopefully that makes them useful again.

 
Without vital info like video settings including resolution and the hardware being used this isn't telling us too much.A 960 could probably run faster at medium and 720p than a 2060 at ultra and 4k. Then there is the CPU and RAM to consider, and not just RAM amount but also speed. 3000MHz RAM vs 1300MHz RAM makes a difference.

But yes the game does still need some performance fixes. Last I heard there was talk of possible "over render" in the terrain and possibly too many texture layers slowing everything down.

I think they are still going to be looking at optimizing GPU use like "they did for CPU already". I think Madmole said that more GPU optimizations were planed for alpha 18.
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It wasn't meant as a request for help, just as an example that the issue is still there turning people away. I tried pretty much every trick in the book, concerning 7days tweaking and general hardware optimizations. (ofcourse i still dont have physical access to this box, whichs sucks but still).

I know mm said he was fairly certain what the issue was, and faatal has some theories he was looking at. I was just asking for an update there. :)

As for his system, it's an RX580 8GB with an Intel i5 quad core 4.5Ghz with 16GB of DDR3. Running at 1080p. Most settings on high (except notoriously demanding ones like shadows and reflections), post processing effects OFF. And this was in the forest biome. :)

 
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to be fair. when madmole see's my ideas he probably says "dear god what stupid idea he has now" lol
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...not me. I see your posts and think "dear God, so this is what it's like when someone thinks school isn't important."

Now get back to learning. :)

 
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