PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary
- Thread starter madmole
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Thanks for the update, sounds like a good time indeed. And I imagined you having a rush of paternal pride when they jumped over the wall, "damn, when did -you- get so smart! I'm proud of you guys, good job!" "Now stop it! or it's a time out for you!" :biggrin1: 
Adam the Waster
Well-known member
im on day 26 and i got a nice amount of weapons, a Level 1 hunting rifle (i love the new animation), my level 6 blunderbuss with weapon mods! (my best weapon!), and a Old steel Club!yes! On day 3.
But I was lucky enough and was able to kill them one by one with my level 1 primitive bow and wooden arrows hiding on top of a random dumpster - it took me about all the night (and nearly all my arrows), but it was fun
q123
Active member
I found a lvl 1 hunting rifle and lvl 2 blunderbuss on day 4.
The next doggy horde is welcome, I'm prepared now (blunderbuss is waaay better than I remember it from older alphas)
Adam the Waster
Well-known member
yes 100% though i was kinda sad that i could not put a shotgun choke on it. though it does make sense why! i want to pimp out my Blunderbuss! (i call mine "Blunderbuster")I found a lvl 1 hunting rifle and lvl 2 blunderbuss on day 4.
The next doggy horde is welcome, I'm prepared now (blunderbuss is waaay better than I remember it from older alphas)
Fren
Member
So far I think it's a nice update. Great graphics, nice lights. Perhaps something must be adjusted to the lights cause somehow it seems darker in some places if I turn up brightness a little, but that doesnt bother me. More creapy 
Anyway..found a Blunderbuss on day 1 and Pistol, shotgun on Day 2. Perfect start. Indeed Dogpack on day 3, but seems less agressive then first but manage to survive it. Blunderbuss is feeling good Hardly ever used it before in the 4000 hours I spend in this game.
But probably have to restart when Experimental goes into Stable
I think traders are getting better but can be adjusted more. Few friends just scrap enough stuff, sell it to the trader, buy weapons and stuff and I think that's boring and not a real survival game. Should be more difficult to get good prices from a trader and make less money or make stuff more expensive to boost players to think more for themselves, gather more, craft more etc etc.
Anyway..found a Blunderbuss on day 1 and Pistol, shotgun on Day 2. Perfect start. Indeed Dogpack on day 3, but seems less agressive then first but manage to survive it. Blunderbuss is feeling good
Hardly ever used it before in the 4000 hours I spend in this game. But probably have to restart when Experimental goes into Stable
I think traders are getting better but can be adjusted more. Few friends just scrap enough stuff, sell it to the trader, buy weapons and stuff and I think that's boring and not a real survival game. Should be more difficult to get good prices from a trader and make less money or make stuff more expensive to boost players to think more for themselves, gather more, craft more etc etc.
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On stamina: For experienced but sloppy players like me it is spot on. In my SP game I did not get any dig quests at first and missed buying the food the only time the food machine was filled with food.
The other mistake I (probably) made was underestimating the stamina use of targeting with a bow. If you don't notice that you can easily find yourself in the situation of always being hungry and not knowing why.
Consequently I'm down below 40% food for most of my first 5 days and will have a long journey getting out of this hole as there are no fast ways to get food. But I think I know what I have to change now.
Sadly I expect lots of new players to protest in the coming weeks and you probably will adjust stamina back somewhat, which I think is the wrong adjustment. The right adjustment would be to provide an expensive safety valve for people getting low on food. A food item called soylent green that can't be cooked, has unknown ingredients and is sold by the trader for horrenduous prices. The only good thing about it is it is available in quantities and fills you up.
The other mistake I (probably) made was underestimating the stamina use of targeting with a bow. If you don't notice that you can easily find yourself in the situation of always being hungry and not knowing why.
Consequently I'm down below 40% food for most of my first 5 days and will have a long journey getting out of this hole as there are no fast ways to get food. But I think I know what I have to change now.
Sadly I expect lots of new players to protest in the coming weeks and you probably will adjust stamina back somewhat, which I think is the wrong adjustment. The right adjustment would be to provide an expensive safety valve for people getting low on food. A food item called soylent green that can't be cooked, has unknown ingredients and is sold by the trader for horrenduous prices. The only good thing about it is it is available in quantities and fills you up.
VirtualExodus
New member
So typically I run the game at 75fps 80% of the time, however I lose 20-30fps when walking on or looking at roads? anyone else getting this?
Also I lose a lot of frames the higher up I go in tall POIs... but had this issue with past 2 alphas...
Seen a lot of talk on stamina and I will say it is more punishing to new players and or first week or 2 of the game.
I have maxed Sexy Rex and Cardio and still drain crazy fast when running or mining (No issues in combat)
I get where the Devs are going with it in this alpha and it seems to be a huge emphasis on food and drink, before it was irrelevant however now you need food and drink at all times to perform any major physical task... For me it feels the changes get you to perk differently in the beginning, I would normally max Miner69er/Motherlode/Sexy Rex, but now im taking early points in farming and early points in to cooking which isn't that bad at all.
I play Warrior difficulty 50% loot 50% exp, even on warrior dmg perks are not needed till week 2 or even week 3 for a Vet player.
All in all im enjoying a slower more gruelling playstyle but as a Vet my opinion is invalid XD
On another note here is my world seed "The Horde" (without quotation marks)
300m spawn from Trader Joel, opposite him is a bunker POI (The one underneath a vent in a fenced of greenspace) and 3 Tier 5 POIs within 500m
Also I lose a lot of frames the higher up I go in tall POIs... but had this issue with past 2 alphas...
Seen a lot of talk on stamina and I will say it is more punishing to new players and or first week or 2 of the game.
I have maxed Sexy Rex and Cardio and still drain crazy fast when running or mining (No issues in combat)
I get where the Devs are going with it in this alpha and it seems to be a huge emphasis on food and drink, before it was irrelevant however now you need food and drink at all times to perform any major physical task... For me it feels the changes get you to perk differently in the beginning, I would normally max Miner69er/Motherlode/Sexy Rex, but now im taking early points in farming and early points in to cooking which isn't that bad at all.
I play Warrior difficulty 50% loot 50% exp, even on warrior dmg perks are not needed till week 2 or even week 3 for a Vet player.
All in all im enjoying a slower more gruelling playstyle but as a Vet my opinion is invalid XD
On another note here is my world seed "The Horde" (without quotation marks)
300m spawn from Trader Joel, opposite him is a bunker POI (The one underneath a vent in a fenced of greenspace) and 3 Tier 5 POIs within 500m
beHypE
New member
While it isn't a buff per se, I'd like the cans to be more of an event than they currently are. I don't mind being on the lookout for food early game, it's actually quite the contrary as I think those days are the best. Yet I feel the food mini-game would feel way better if each can gave you say +25 food instead of +15. Make them a bit more rare to compensate, but make each can count. And the small ones like Miso could be brought up to +10 or +15. I mean, those are basically poor man's first aid bandages at that point, +5 food is really ridiculous.
It wouldn't change much in the grand scheme of things, but I'm pretty sure getting 25% of your hunger bar back per can would lower the frustration some have with the "need to chug down 6 meals a day".
Doc_mockingbird
New member
@Roland I can understand where you're coming from once I looked into a bit and ill take what I can get. I appreciate the reply
madmole
Fun Pimps Staff
madmole
Fun Pimps Staff
That isn't a horrible idea. I'm sort of against it because having to find something is good, having a way to solve it easily with money doesn't really force the player to explore, hunt or loot. However the guys all tell me in MP they are starving early game so I can sympathize with some kind of solution, but in SP I'm always swimming in food once I'm past the first week.
It's valid as long as its praise
But seriously we listen, but ultimately the decisions on how to solve things or even consider them as a problem are up to us.I feel the game is too easy but we're starting to get there. Food and primitive game stage are a big step in the right direction, and stamina felt broke being able to mine non stop with only one rank of sex rex so we made a few small adjustments. People need to not run in heavy armor, not use iron tools until you are ready with perks or food. Otherwise running is very easy with no armor, and so is mining with a stone axe. I level so fast my stamina woes disappear pretty quick, I gain 2 levels a day or more even on warrior.
AV7daystodie
New member
madmole
Fun Pimps Staff
That isn't an easy rebalance because I manually created the values and have a manual formula to decide the total calories when combined. So anything using a can that gives 25 would need rebalanced, and the cooked foods with cans are very OP already. THe easy thing to do is add some new can to the list and it has 25 calories, some kind of big can o slop thing. Like one of those gallon cans of baked beans.
But here we are, the first version of the game where food was ever an issue really. Should we ruin this in its infancy?
wolfbain5
Well-known member
I personally think that the stamina usage on iron tools and steel tools are bit too high.
summers growing up I had a job swinging a sledge hammer and pick axe to level off land did that for 3 years.
iron is more than twice stone tools stamina usage, and steel, which isnt really harder to use than iron is more than 3 times the usage. 8, 19, 27 for stone, iron, steel. i could understand a 50% increase in stamina usage, but more than double?
i am testing out 8, 16, 24. and it seems to be smoother. havent really gotten to steel yet on my playthrough
summers growing up I had a job swinging a sledge hammer and pick axe to level off land did that for 3 years.
iron is more than twice stone tools stamina usage, and steel, which isnt really harder to use than iron is more than 3 times the usage. 8, 19, 27 for stone, iron, steel. i could understand a 50% increase in stamina usage, but more than double?
i am testing out 8, 16, 24. and it seems to be smoother. havent really gotten to steel yet on my playthrough
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Jarod_Silverstar
New member
Agreed - once you get past a certain point food is easy and no challenge any more. Need to add some things like food spoiling or rotting and plants in your garden dying or being eaten by animals at night. I know there are no simple solutions for this but I look forward to seeing what you try.That isn't a horrible idea. I'm sort of against it because having to find something is good, having a way to solve it easily with money doesn't really force the player to explore, hunt or loot. However the guys all tell me in MP they are starving early game so I can sympathize with some kind of solution, but in SP I'm always swimming in food once I'm past the first week.
It's valid as long as its praise
I feel the game is too easy but we're starting to get there. Food and primitive game stage are a big step in the right direction, and stamina felt broke being able to mine non stop with only one rank of sex rex so we made a few small adjustments. People need to not run in heavy armor, not use iron tools until you are ready with perks or food. Otherwise running is very easy with no armor, and so is mining with a stone axe. I level so fast my stamina woes disappear pretty quick, I gain 2 levels a day or more even on warrior.
MechanicalLens
New member
Stamina use on shovels is probably the only one that's on the high side, the rest seem fine to me. Blunderbuss is great but other than a few crossbows I've had no bows drop at all in 14 days. Food is in a better spot than it was in 18 but animal spawns still feel too low right now.
madmole
Fun Pimps Staff
Again, it is a non issue if you prepare for mining with coffee, and a good meal helps too, as well as perks. Coffee is quite abundant in the coffee makers and seeds too, I have an endless supply now by day 21 and I spent a whole week working on my medieval tavern. I think people need to simply adapt instead of complain that it isn't right.
Steel uses more because it is a two handed item, and it has a double head, much heavier than the iron which has just the pick on one side and is still one handed. And for gaming reasons, it has the best block damage, so it needs to cost more. By the time you can get one (at least once trader quest rewards are fixed in a20) you should have enough stamina to manage it pretty well. By that I mean level 50+ and 3+ ranks sex rex.
Damocles
New member
The problem with food is balancing a constant consumption with an aggregating income.
This will always lead to food to be to scare in the beginning, and too plentiful in the end.
There is a reason other games use food spoilage to limit the possible stock, so obtaining food is still a relevant activity later in the game.
This will always lead to food to be to scare in the beginning, and too plentiful in the end.
There is a reason other games use food spoilage to limit the possible stock, so obtaining food is still a relevant activity later in the game.
MechanicalLens
New member
@madmole I do agree with one point that they said, and that being that some canned foods only reward the player with +5 food. Perhaps those canned food types could provide the player with some hydration (ex. can of sardines), or perhaps boosting them up to +10 hunger gain would be a viable alternative?
Also, the costs of some of the canned foods are a bit inconsistent. Canned pears and canned peas provide the same stats, but the last time I checked, the latter (or was it the former?) costs a third of the price compared to the other.
Another possible option would be to make the Shamway Secret Recipe a guaranteed drop from the Wall Manager's Safe in the Shamway Factory, if it isn't already. Perhaps a line of dialogue from Trader Rekt could hint at the existence of the recipe deep in said factory, and he could even provide the player with a mini side quest to retrieve it. Upon your return he takes a copy of the secret recipe while you get to keep and read the other half. Starving players, especially new ones, could find this mission pretty lucrative.
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