PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary

[Adam the Waster]

@madmole 

so anything new with Alpha 19? big or small 

All counts in our book!

 

[Jugom]

I agree with most of it... but have you seen streamers the first time they try to fly a gyrocopter? Or second, third? 

In my experience, the majority of People I've seen struggling with the Gyro are because the refuse to aknowledge that it is indeed a Gyrocopter and not a Helicopter… Change the model for a plane and leave the same mechanics and they will probably fly it much better instantly.

 

[Odetta]

Hah try Rusts, now that takes some serious practice. It pretty much kills you when it goes down unless you bail at the right time and get far enough away it explodes. You don't craft them though,  they spawn randomly so they can be brutal about it. Pretty rewarding once you master it though, but it is literally 50x harder than ours.

Flying helicopters and planes in the Battlefield franchise was rage inducing too. But man when you got good at it you wrecked the battlefield.   We need a snake mod for the gyro lol

 

[Ralathar44]

Flying helicopters and planes in the Battlefield franchise was rage inducing too. But man when you got good at it you wrecked the battlefield.   We need a snake mod for the gyro lol

I remember those days.  Someone would TK you for a vehicle and crash it immediately because they couldn't fly .  It was like "yo, at least go practice in single player a little first".

 

[khzmusik]

This means that melee WILL be far less effective vs them than vs zombies unless the game cheats heavily in our favor by not allowing them to have ranged weapons, balancing their ranged damage pitifully low, making their melee hits not apply effects to us (stun/bleed/knockdown), etc.

Or... they can have different versions of bandits, with different weapons, and just not spawn the bandits with upper-tier ranged weapons until you reach a certain game stage.

 

[XCOUNTRY]

I just want bandits in A19, even if I have to spawn them in...with functioning hit boxes. The AI can come later. I'll manage.

 

[Endy Gainer]

So... how's that new framework that allows for smaller updates every few months instead of once a year going? Been over six months since the last real content update, does that mean we're do for an update soon?

 

[sillls]

nope... originally once a player was infected he/she had 7 days to get a cure or die. back in the day the infection hit you in 3 stages the first slowed you down (much like me now with arthritis) and the 2nd even more and health slowly ticked down and the 3rd being the final nail for your coffin. antibiotic was rare and or took a long time to make (25 minutes). but things have changed since then.

In Alpha 9.3 I could get them by the stack from supply drops. Those supply drops could be set for every 8 game hours. Good times. 

 

[madmole]

I just want bandits in A19, even if I have to spawn them in...with functioning hit boxes. The AI can come later. I'll manage.

Definitely not happening.

So... how's that new framework that allows for smaller updates every few months instead of once a year going? Been over six months since the last real content update, does that mean we're do for an update soon?

The framework allows it, but over scope and the desire to ship a better build every alpha keeps that from becoming a reality. That said A19 will take less time than 17 or 18 did. We'll be in content lock soon and you guys will certainly have a stable 19 before the Steam summer sale.

 

[Aldranon]

You could probably learn by doing that.

...

LBD in for A20! 

As we currently have "Learn by Killing" and "Learn by Building"... Why not?  

Of course, I would say, restrict/limit LBD in some way so the pile of stone axes on the floor is not a thing.  Maybe LBD can get you to the first skill level in (some) things?

 

[kebab39]

I just want bandits in A19, even if I have to spawn them in...with functioning hit boxes. The AI can come later. I'll manage.

Could we get some more buff triggers from those? Would be extra helpful to mod some nasty player traps with. Also will it be possible to get block id/tag character is looking at and use it in buff?

onSelfItemCrafted, //Hook Up
    onSelfItemRepaired, //Hook Up
    onSelfItemLooted, //Hook Up
    onSelfItemLost, //Hook Up
    onSelfItemGained, //Hook Up
    onSelfItemSold, //Hook Up
    onSelfItemBought, //Hook Up

    //onSelfDiscoveredPOI, //Hook Up
    //onSelfDiscoveredArea, //Hook Up

    //onSelfEnteredPOI, //Hook Up
    //onSelfExitedPOI, //Hook Up

    //onSelfEnteredArea, //Hook Up
    //onSelfExitedArea, //Hook Up

    //onQuestStart, //Hook Up
    //onQuestLocationReached, //Hook Up
    //onQuestLocationLeft, //Hook Up
    //onQuestCompleted, //Hook Up
    //onQuestFailed, //Hook Up

    //onGameBloodmoonStart, //Hook Up
    //onGameBloodmoonEnd, //Hook Up
    //onGameDayStart, //Hook Up
    //onGameNightStart, //Hook Up
    //onGameRainStart, //Hook Up
    //onGameRainEnd, //Hook Up
    //onGameSnowStart, //Hook Up
    //onGameSnowEnd, //Hook Up
    //onGameFogStart, //Hook Up
    //onGameFogEnd, //Hook Up

 

[Roland]

I just want bandits in A19, even if I have to spawn them in...with functioning hit boxes. The AI can come later. I'll manage.

Without AI they would just stand there...

Just call trees and cacti "Bandits" and you've got your A19 bandits with zero AI...

 

[Ralathar44]

Without AI they would just stand there...

Just call trees and cacti "Bandits" and you've got your A19 bandits with zero AI...

 

[Laz Man]

Without AI they would just stand there...

Just call trees and cacti "Bandits" and you've got your A19 bandits with zero AI...

Can the devs allow us to dress them up in clothes then?  You know...for immersion....

Edit: Guy above me beat me to it lol....

 

[TheSilenceOfSteel]

I like the new neutral colored zombie models. Makes the game way more immersive and scary. Seeing the more colorful zombies becomes an eyesore when you have 3-4 of the exact same zombies walking towards you.

 

[DaVegaNL]

Did you want smaller or did you want real....?

I do want what the pimps themselves stated

Definitely not happening.

The framework allows it, but over scope and the desire to ship a better build every alpha keeps that from becoming a reality. That said A19 will take less time than 17 or 18 did. We'll be in content lock soon and you guys will certainly have a stable 19 before the Steam summer sale.

So we have a stable 19 in 1.5 months..?

You want ketchup with those words, sir?

 

[toores]

That is one of the more realistic parts of the game.  

The gyro hard to fly because the controls are messed up and you can't cahnge them. Please add sepparately changable keybinds.

Tilting your nose should be W - down and S - up.

 

[Khulkhuum]

Whew... Finally caught up with this thread... -Rubs his forehead from sweat.- Time to stir this cauldron of discussion some more...

To resurrect a previous convo... I've been playing No Man's Sky from around a year or more after release (first big update i guess) and was coming back to the game every couple months. I always explored a lot, built a base, gathered resources and established a somewhat stable point until i got bored. Each time though, i played longer, did MORE (in view of quests, discovering"words", exploring various planets, gathering resources, etc.) and enjoyed myself longer. Doesn't mean i'm still playing... Maybe i'll come back in another few months, but i think the game CAN be quite enjoyable (the latest iteration took me LONG TIME through "tutorial" levels and beyond to story) compared to when it first appeared. I propose those who didn't play, check it out themselves and make their own opinion.

Considering ZOMBIES... I remember maniacally playing first Dead Space, finishing the game on hardest difficulty, going at it again and again... One thing i can say is way different when you go into NG+ is the equipment you have. When you first encounter Necromorphs none of your weapons is upgraded in any way, you basically struggle to kill them off (unless you know how). Dismembering is crucial to kill them. But when you're close to finishing the game or enter NG+, you can literally shoot them without dismembering to put them down. NO JOKE. Something you'd have trouble or use up LOTS of ammo is more or less on a silver platter when you're using fully upgraded weapons.

With that in mind... It shows it IS a game and you can't really predict every little detail. HP of Necromorphs was properly set up to make them hard to kill, but not impossible (or bullet spongy). Having a great weapon doesn't diminish it in no way, even killing them through chest shots. If i have a basic laser cutter i don't expect dealing much damage, but when i got all the upgrades hell yeah... MY POINT: You want to kill Zs by stabbing their toes? Go ahead, you'll need quite a few hits, but it's plausible as in most games. BECAUSE THEY'RE GAMES.

Whew... Back to lurking... -Grumbles.-

 

[Steve Gad]

Looking good. Let's have it bro. 

 

[XCOUNTRY]

Without AI they would just stand there...

Just call trees and cacti "Bandits" and you've got your A19 bandits with zero AI...

I meant the basic AI that was there a few Alphas ago (17? they talked and walked, but nothing else was hooked up). More than anything I was maybe possibly definitely trying to steer the conversation somewhere else.  I'll continue to patiently wait. Got anymore "Everdeen-esque" clues for awesome features we may not be aware of for A19?

 <snip> Just make them then, modding tools / xpath is getting better each alpha.

I forget a lot more goes on under the hood. More than I admit I'm willing to learn right now. I'll stick to my xml editing for now.

Definitely don't want a walking auto turret. Wouldn't surprise me if the first iteration of bandits that makes it to the game is melee and non firearm weapons with projectiles that have travel time.