PC Alpha 18 feedback and balancing thread

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Eh. I mean, if we're talking about consequences to collisions other than using a repair kit a tiny bit sooner, then I'm okay with it - it means dodging is more challenging at times. But if we're going to do that, make shopping carts function like all the cinder piles in the burnt forest and the random logs lying around in the desert - you hit those and they get destroyed.
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We'll just put some cinder blocks in the cart so your immersion stays intact.

 
I do not really use vehicles as it is... sometimes the bicycle.
I will probably be less likely to buy a vehicle, and will probably never use its storage, if it has a breakdown/ encounter mechanic.

That does not mean I am against it, it could be funny depending on how it is done, but I will still be less likely to use them.
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By that logic you should stop using tools, guns and melee weapons too then. All it means is you use a repair kit on it.

 
XP is random. Axe is a tool so its not that awesome at killing. Clubs are super awesome I can't believe anyone thinks otherwise. Clubs are better than Sledges IMO, you can afford to miss and can take on several zeds just fine.
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I used to think that clubs were a downgrade animation wise. Not only that, I thought that they would be harder to use and not really great on the accuracy. And then I tried them. They are awesome. Now I am conflicted. Spears of clubs? ...maybe shivs? ...or fists? . Oh well.

Anyway, I love how they explode heads now and then. Can't wait to try them on living human entities lol.

 
By that logic you should stop using tools, guns and melee weapons too then. All it means is you use a repair kit on it.
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Yeah, I mean I was not bashing it or anything. Just saying I do not use vehicles now, for the most part, and will probably be less likely to use them with that mechanic. Just general feedback. The mechanic would not affect me much anyway lel.

Back when repair kits were harder to make, I would almost never use anything that required them, heh.

Now that repair kits are cheaper, I actually use guns and stuff, but I still use stone tools most of the time.

I just tend to stay low tech and conserve everything. I make a great partner in multiplayer.

 
Coming back to the game after a 2ish year hiatus and really loving the direction the game is going in. It is looking beautiful, combat feels much more responsive, the new skill specialization is a home run, and there are plenty other things that I am really just having a great time with.

I am still taking in all the new changes before I can really give anything comprehensive, but I will say that while I do enjoy the ore nodes being visible above ground now, they seem a little too prevalent considering how powerful a functional mine is. It may be good to increase their rarity, reduce the total amount of ore blocks that can be found in a single vein, or make these locations a high heat area so there is a little more risk to the reward mining presents. I always thought it would be nice to have some specific underground threat you risk by digging down too far but not sure how that would work!

The risk/reward of settling and spending time around towns seems a little off as well since proximity to buildings is all reward without a lot of increased risk. I remember being constantly hunted in towns/cities and really enjoying that dynamic of only going in to the remnants of civilization when I was well prepared and that seems to be gone now.

 
No reason? Of course there's a reason. Something broke or went wrong. Happens all the time and usually when you are on vacation with your family in an unfamiliar place on a weekend after business hours.
I used to ride my bike to work every day and there were times I had to call in that I would be late because of a flat tire or a broken chain. Bikes do "break down". The break downs will be abstracted to simply a doesn't work status that you will need to repair and your imagination can fill in the reasons and details if you really need that.
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Honestly? Random vehicle breakdows sounds kinda really unfun to me. We'll have to see how it's handled when it's implemented but it kinda sounds like one of those things that'd be neat for new players the first couple times it happens and just annoying and a waste of time for everyone else the 100th time it happens.

 
It will awesome IMO.Imagine breaking down in the middle of the wasteland where you typically just get in your car and drive off if the threat gets too crazy. I go harvest cars for fuel at night, so a break down could be scary and ♥♥♥♥ happens so its realistic or plausible.

It will give weight to the grease monkey perks, faster repair, use less repair kits etc.

It would trigger rarely just driving down the road, but probably the more common use case is you hit something or went airborn and landed hard would trigger the need for an emergency road side repair.
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okay I can maybe see this being alright, But Honestly I think if you plan to do that the wasteland need to become a bit more navigable by vehicles. as is it's impossible to drive 3 feet without hitting something in the wasteland and well, see my previous post. Constant repeated breakdowns stop being fun. Occasional dynamic ones that are avoidable through care sound like a game mechanic.

Alright, but if you're going to do breakdowns on collisions, we need to have a discussion about the physics of a motorcycle or 4x4 truck traveling at ANY speed, much less road speeds, hitting a shopping cart. Especially with the cow catchers on our vehicles in this game, that's going to be a minor inconvenience (more for the motorcycle), not a full-stop collision. Fair is fair here.
Not asking for turning them into an entity or anything like that (though "ragdolling" shopping carts would probably spawn a new sport), just make the shopping cart freaking LOSE when it gets hit, not WIN.
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Also this. Similar thing to crashing into small rocks, if collisions are gonna break vehicles, fine, but make it so that everything isn't an indestructible wall to a vehicle.

 
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Did you miss how we found level two items that were better than level fives? With that kind of RNG you need to check every item against every other item of the same kind, even comparing iron against steel. If you scrapped everything below level five you've probably thrown away some of your best gear even if it did lack mod slots.
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Generally Highly modded items end up better than lower tier ones with better stats. Mods add stats, For armor you have plating for firearms they all add damage.

 
That is only possible with armor, and still the durability and other stats will be better and not overlap.
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So what happens when your armor hits 0 durability? I usually only notice by happenstance and can't tell if there's any effect.

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as is it's impossible to drive 3 feet without hitting something in the wasteland
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The roads are there for a reason my guy.

 
Generally Highly modded items end up better than lower tier ones with better stats. Mods add stats, For armor you have plating for firearms they all add damage.
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Absolutely true as long as you have mods to put in them. But early game when scrounging is most important and your gear is the worst, it's a consideration.

But more to the point, why is stat RNG even a thing, what does it add other than standing around trying to figure out which pair of pants to wear? What's the point of having discrete levels if RNG causes them to overlap, even if it is just for armor? It seems like complexity for its own sake, and is frustrating for new players.

 
It would trigger rarely just driving down the road, but probably the more common use case is you hit something or went airborn and landed hard would trigger the need for an emergency road side repair.
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Time to polish those gyro skills . Can't hit anything in the air, and usually one choose a nice location for take-of and landing.... That and hope the random in flight malfunctions is really rare.

 
It would be relative to the damage it caused and remaining health of the vehicle. Going full stop when smashing into something hard would probably cause the most damage, hitting something that ragdolls would do a tiny bit.
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I guess the main common things that could break are tyre’s. Get a damaged wheel/tyre vehicle slows or gets irratic to turn. ?

 
It will awesome IMO.Imagine breaking down in the middle of the wasteland where you typically just get in your car and drive off if the threat gets too crazy. I go harvest cars for fuel at night, so a break down could be scary and ♥♥♥♥ happens so its realistic or plausible.

It will give weight to the grease monkey perks, faster repair, use less repair kits etc.

It would trigger rarely just driving down the road, but probably the more common use case is you hit something or went airborn and landed hard would trigger the need for an emergency road side repair.
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Looking forward to more random events like this to add to the survival challenge. One thing comes to mind though is that repair kits are easy to make and carry a bunch. So repairing breakdowns might become a slight annoyance of getting out of vehicle and watching a timer rather than changing the course of our plans.

If we had to loot/wrench for vehicle parts though, that would really make us change our plans, find nearest town/gas station to find parts. Maybe even wait till closest trader opens to buy parts. Pre a17 the vehicles had parts we could take out and repair, I always thought that was pretty cool and fun to keep vehicle in good working order.

Of course the dream would be My Summer Car levels of car maintenance :) U can't stop me from dreaming!

Please give gyro less breakdowns I kill myself plenty already flying that thing.

 
As I said, it would be from accidents primarily, or yeah the random chance starts below 75% for the random fuel filter clog or whatever. I think it will be awesome and avoidable if you drive good and maintain your vehicle.
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It would be cool to link it with random events. For example you will overheat the engine and need to cool it down. The smoke will attract some zombies and you need to fend them off before you can continue

 
Alright, I will let this ONE cat out of the legendary loot bag:
Herb's Pickaxe Legend has it this pickaxe belonged to Herb "Cackler" Dugall. One shots all ore but uses twice the stamina.
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I am a bit concerned that legendary items will overshadow most books. I think it is important that they either complement each other or have specific niches. It might be problematic if they did the same thing.

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Grease monkey governs how easily you can repair a vehicle once we get random breakdowns in. It will be like the lockpicking mini game and use repair kits instead.
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It is going to be actual minigame? Or you will just stare at your car for x seconds?

 
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