PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary

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madmole said:
Its one perk point. You should probably buy it if it feels like it is that important to you. There are just too many schematics to change the weight of that to be common enough that you will ever find it by the time you "feel" like you should have found it. Then you'll be wiping your butt with them like before. It is so vital to my play style I have no problem buying it. I have no problem buying some mining, some cooking, and some int stuff every single game. I jack of trades as needed to suit my build. Its like guys who want to be a good fighter need to do some strength and conditioning training. It is just part of the game. To me the schematics are great but if you can't find one the perk is there for the easy way out. Remember the minibike book frustration, forge ahead? Buy it if you can't find one.

We'll never suit every desire. You have mentioned how much you mine, and these huge forts you build, I'm sure you can enjoy the crafting speed bonus it offers, and its worth it for cheaper glue recipe :)
 
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No worries. :)  I just thought it was a bit odd that typically the first workstation in progression happens to be the least common on average. I always spec deep into Advanced Engineering anyway, so it's no big deal, just something I thought I'd point out. If this won't be changed, again, no real concern coming from me.

 
madmole said:
Sorry but your immersion needs an attitude adjustment. Raiders already raided the military base and left their shoddy clubs behind. When you fight something a little harder you will get some better loot. My point is it is very easy to make a plausible excuse for the primitive loot. Most players enjoy the new primitive stage. It doesn't last that long anyway, I'm on day 3 with an iron pickaxe and a pistol.

Future versions of the game will allow you to skip the primitive stage most likely. The idea is a loot stage slider so you can extend the primitive stage or speed up how fast the good stuff starts dropping, but this will make the game easier for sure, but that can be compensated for with difficulty settings.

Sure it is. Better is better. Some of the purple primitive items are arguably better than the next stage up. There is a choice to make which is good for game play as well.
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i'll be waiting for that slider, then. i'm just not down with cranking progression down to 1 overnight, it's really jarring.

 
madmole said:
Sorry but your immersion needs an attitude adjustment. Raiders already raided the military base and left their shoddy clubs behind. When you fight something a little harder you will get some better loot. My point is it is very easy to make a plausible excuse for the primitive loot. Most players enjoy the new primitive stage. It doesn't last that long anyway, I'm on day 3 with an iron pickaxe and a pistol.

Future versions of the game will allow you to skip the primitive stage most likely. The idea is a loot stage slider so you can extend the primitive stage or speed up how fast the good stuff starts dropping, but this will make the game easier for sure, but that can be compensated for with difficulty settings.

Been doing it for ages. Look at the icon.

Sure it is. Better is better. Some of the purple primitive items are arguably better than the next stage up. There is a choice to make which is good for game play as well.
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Raiders already raided it and left all the sleeper zombies inside intact and alive? I dare you to find plausible excuse! I can shoot any of them down! :D
But really, you can already make iron tools on day one, By day 3 I had all of them, so why fill loot tables with stone crap, that cannot be smelted, sold (for the most part) or used.

Honestly I am really not fan of the sliders. I as player want a plug and play experience when I do not need to think about it much. One slider to rule them all. I play on moderate, it gets easy - I start new game on hard, harder, hardest.

Choice is certainly good. If it is meaningful. This is not one of them. Meaningful choice is currently whether you do Str or Int build. How you build your base is meaningful choice. If you buy this item at trader and wont be able to afford the other one is meaningful. But for the most part epic item one tier bellow will win 90% of the time because it has 4 mod slots, so I would not say it actually is much of a choice. To me it boils down to: Oh new item. Uhm ok, I guess I can smelt it. It could perhaps work, but it needs balancing.

I would be careful with claiming most players like the stone age. That is hard to prove. I cannot prove most players dislike it either.

 
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SnowDog1942 said:
Not sure, I have 3 ;)
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Then shake a led then!  ;)  

If you come across a dire wolf with glowing eyes, run! I attacked one and it was a fight. I ended up winning but was down to like two health. lol

Also finding the new zombies very accommodating.  One just killed a wolf for me and then gave me it's exp, after I killed it. lol

So I got both meat and exp. Thanks buddy. 

 
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Thinking about the idea of adding an actual helicopter, I wonder if it would be interesting to add high end multi-attribute perks/schematics.

Like there would be an additional tab among the perk trees with things the Helicopter that require like 9 Int and 9 Perception, could be a way to add the game breaking stuff in a reasonable fashion.

 
Onarr said:
Raiders already raided it and left all the sleeper zombies inside intact and alive? I dare you to find plausible excuse! I can shoot any of them down! :D
But really, you can already make iron tools on day one, By day 3 I had all of them, so why fill loot tables with stone crap, that cannot be smelted, sold (for the most part) or used.

Honestly I am really not fan of the sliders. I as player want a plug and play experience when I do not need to think about it much. One slider to rule them all. I play on moderate, it gets easy - I start new game on hard, harder, hardest.

Choice is certainly good. If it is meaningful. This is not one of them. Meaningful choice is currently whether you do Str or Int build. How you build your base is meaningful choice. If you buy this item at trader and wont be able to afford the other one is meaningful. But for the most part epic item one tier bellow will win 90% of the time because it has 4 mod slots, so I would not say it actually is much of a choice. To me it boils down to: Oh new item. Uhm ok, I guess I can smelt it. It could perhaps work, but it needs balancing.

I would be careful with claiming most players like the stone age. That is hard to prove. I cannot prove most players dislike it either.
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Raiders killed everyone, took what they could and left. Not sure why that is hard to immerse yourself into.

Sliders add replay value.

Opinion all you want, we aren't removing the primitive stage. We will be adding pipe rifles so it isn't just bows and blunderbusses and it might make more sense when bandits are seen. This is just a first draft, maybe we will shorten it or mix in a low chance to get better stuff so it isn't always primitive. I level so fast it doesn't matter to me, it is a short distraction.

The harder biomes in the future will have higher GS and higher loot stage, so if you don't want to wait you can go there and try to get better stuff.

 
Vintorez said:
Thinking about the idea of adding an actual helicopter, I wonder if it would be interesting to add high end multi-attribute perks/schematics.

Like there would be an additional tab among the perk trees with things the Helicopter that require like 9 Int and 9 Perception, could be a way to add the game breaking stuff in a reasonable fashion.
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it could be a upgrade or just a new vehicle 

and it could look like this

it could be a 3 seats! but the more people the heavier/slower it will be!

I can believe someone could make a car, gyro or a Chopper like this. but not a big chopper like a Blackhalk! more like a Hughes 

maxresdefault.jpg


 
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gurutar said:
there shouldn't be a primitive stage at all, as far as loot goes. you make stone tools because you woke up naked in a field. civilized humans use real tools and real weapons. the "primitive" stage makes sense in a game like ARK, where you're literally a neanderthal waking up in the stone age. in a modern setting it's totally immersion shattering to raid a military base and find a stash of b-busses and wooden clubs. and it makes looting a worthless endeavor at early game stages, which is the primary draw for a lot of players, me included.
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Fully disagree, for me stone age is still fun and rewarding. Getting that next quality stone tools feel the same as getting next quality T3 weapon, what` s different? I don` t perk into strength, so I can`t craft better tools and that Q2 to Q6 stone axe/ shovel progression is fun for me and makes perfect sense from realism and gameplay aspect. Not to mention your gamestage increases really fast and you fly by that stone age real quick.

That said, I hope that books will not be affected much by gamestage, as that would feel too "gamey" and forced to find the same books/schematics multiple times. There are soo many books/schematics that finding that T3 schematic is already a rare and lucky thing, same goes for all the foods. Unlocking best food recipe doesn`t mean jack @%$*#! if you cant get enough resources to make it. So what if you got T3 weapon schematic early game, you still need to wait and loot for that weapon parts before you can start making them.

The only exception I could think of is armor pocket mod schematics because they are easy to make and to get triple pocket mod schematic early game completely bypasses armor pocket mods 1 and 2.

 
@madmole Topic aside. Are the level designers considering making gigantic "1 time spawn" structures (ex: airports, mall + cinema rooms, military airfield, hypermarkets, big warehouses)? I truly believe the game would take an insane leap with it's immersion with these "common" places, that make the player feel like a tiny ant in a ravaged world. 

Seeing a real scale mall, overgrown, looted, stores shut down with metal grates, decrypt, missing/flickering lights, filled to the brim with zombies that can come from anywhere would make up for such an interesting expedition, especially with the new lighting system. Just imagine the main area of the mall, multiple floors, with the giant skylight window letting the moonlight in, zombies wandering, some hiding behind closed stores, and being able to search through the very guts of the mall (that we aren't allowed access in real-life) is just great to think about.

Though i'm not sure how that would be possible to add without mauling everyone's FPS.

 
madmole said:
Raiders killed everyone, took what they could and left. Not sure why that is hard to immerse yourself into.

Sliders add replay value.

Opinion all you want, we aren't removing the primitive stage. We will be adding pipe rifles so it isn't just bows and blunderbusses and it might make more sense when bandits are seen. This is just a first draft, maybe we will shorten it or mix in a low chance to get better stuff so it isn't always primitive. I level so fast it doesn't matter to me, it is a short distraction.

The harder biomes in the future will have higher GS and higher loot stage, so if you don't want to wait you can go there and try to get better stuff.
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Well ok you bested me. And they did not put a bullet through their head because they resisted.

As I see it with primitive parts if you really want to keep it, then dont try to shorten it but instead make it better. It has aspects I like. It feels imho exactly as it should. You are out of your element, thrust into inhospitable world. Stuff is scarce. Doing things takes effort. Imho if it would not be stone age but instead scrap age It would solve most of the problems with immersion. You jury rig a shovel from a street sign, spear from knife and broom handle, sledghammer from rebar and concrete, simple pistol from pipe and some wood etc. As bonus even if you find this (S)crap inside loot you can at least smelt it. Or sell it for few caps... I mean dukes. 

 
madmole said:
What are the ugly terrain blobs for? What is supporting your auto turret platforms, the terrain?
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The ugly terrain blobs (dirt blocks) are merely cheap placeholders for upcoming structures, plus the zeds dont really prioritize them so its limiting a side that they attack - at least thats how it appears.. The auto turrets are held up with "plates", one facing the ground and the plate above that is facing the opposite direction (creates a field that you can walk within - zeds still target the plates, just not as much). My team punished me for going to sleep on them early yesterday, when i woke they left me with D84 horde nite. The demolishers definitely punished some of my decisions lol. 908 total credited kills -horde nite alone - though! (HD is still processing).


Spoiler



 
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I do think it would be more thematic if the primitive tier was rebranded as the scrap tier. A bent Yield street sign for a shovel, a shard of glass wrapped in cloth handle instead of a bone knife, I think it would be harder to try to make a shovel with a rock than anything else available in a post-apocalypse setting

 
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I have noticed that you can't eat / drink more than your max anymore. If I have 100 / 122 food for example and eat something with +30 food, do the 8 food that are "too much" still get used somehow or are they lost?

 
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