PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary

[Khalagar]

The attribute / perk system would make way more sense if it was just broken down into the common sense roles, so people could do different builds but also get value from every point.

What if I want to be a mining character, but also use an M60 and a Spear instead of being forced to use a Shotgun and Sledge? Every single point I invested in the strength attribute itself  is completely wasted, every single one. It would be way better if the base attribute was actually useful and provided value on it's own

Fortitude = points in attribute itself raise health, and then all the perks in the tree are the damage resistance perks and healing perks

Strength = points in attribute increase block damage or increase carry load like Pack Mule, and then the perks could be a perk for each melee weapon and for mining etc

Agility = points in attribute increase default move speed or grant the parkour perk or something, and all the stamina perks could go here
Perception = points in attribute increase headshot damage and all the individual gun perks go here

Int = points unlock crafting recipes as you invest in int, and the actual perks could be stuff like the wrench perk, junk turret stuff, charisma stuff etc

You'd still have builds, but it wouldn't punish you for going after perks in an attribute tree that you don't use the weapons for. My friend always wants to max out the Parkour perk so he can jump higher, but then runs around with an Ak47 and grenades. So every single point he puts in the agility attribute is completely and totally wasted and he gets quite literally 0 value out of like 15+ levels worth of points, but had to spend all of those points on pistol and bow damage, just so he can jump higher

 

[Trunks_Budo]

Whenever that happens, I equip the wrench; When the equip option isn't there, the modify option will be. 

 

[Laz Man]

Welcome to the club, I felt like walking out of the cave when found out the new tree stumps have a chance for giving honey

(when they replaced it with not lootable, but destroyable object). I walked so many times around these, crawling and infected hoping for a light in life, encumbered as a donkey before Christmas in 12th century. 

It is cool to know everything of this game, as most of us are here for that, but discovering these little obvious things makes it better every time. 

Honey in stumps should be a loading screen tip.

 

[Trunks_Budo]

I've had issues with the modify option being gone one time I look at it and back when I look at it again.

Whenever that happens, just equip the wrench. With the equip option gone (Since it's already on your toolbelt), the modify option will be there.

The attribute / perk system would make way more sense if it was just broken down into the common sense roles, so people could do different builds but also get value from every point.

What if I want to be a mining character, but also use an M60 and a Spear instead of being forced to use a Shotgun and Sledge? Every single point I invested in the strength attribute itself  is completely wasted, every single one. It would be way better if the base attribute was actually useful and provided value on it's own

Fortitude = points in attribute itself raise health, and then all the perks in the tree are the damage resistance perks and healing perks

Strength = points in attribute increase block damage or increase carry load like Pack Mule, and then the perks could be a perk for each melee weapon and for mining etc

Agility = points in attribute increase default move speed or grant the parkour perk or something, and all the stamina perks could go here
Perception = points in attribute increase headshot damage and all the individual gun perks go here

Int = points unlock crafting recipes as you invest in int, and the actual perks could be stuff like the wrench perk, junk turret stuff, charisma stuff etc

You'd still have builds, but it wouldn't punish you for going after perks in an attribute tree that you don't use the weapons for. My friend always wants to max out the Parkour perk so he can jump higher, but then runs around with an Ak47 and grenades. So every single point he puts in the agility attribute is completely and totally wasted and he gets quite literally 0 value out of like 15+ levels worth of points, but had to spend all of those points on pistol and bow damage, just so he can jump higher

That is an incredible point to be made to the devs, so that they get an idea of what direction to go in when they choose to revise attributes next; How do you make the attribute itself useful to everyone, without being overpowered? I totally agree that wasting 10-15 levels worth of points in agility for max level Parkour is waaaaay too much, and it would be way better if agility granted something universally useful, even if it was just 2% (or even 1%) more movement speed per rank. It should never feel like you're "Wasting" points in attributes just to eventually invest points in the perks that you want, but in the current iteration of the game it feels that way, very often. If I have a level 5 machete, SMG, and desert vulture, I sure as hell don't care about anything any other attribute can give me, because I'm not going to switch my primary weapons. It means that investing in more than one attribute will always involve wasted points, just to get to the perks below them, and that's so... Ugh, it just hurts every time >_<

 

[Trunks_Budo]

Off topic, I noticed that I can no longer put a retracting stock on an SMG. What's up with that!

 

[HeavyMetalGamer8]

The attribute / perk system would make way more sense if it was just broken down into the common sense roles, so people could do different builds but also get value from every point.

What if I want to be a mining character, but also use an M60 and a Spear instead of being forced to use a Shotgun and Sledge? Every single point I invested in the strength attribute itself  is completely wasted, every single one. It would be way better if the base attribute was actually useful and provided value on it's own

Fortitude = points in attribute itself raise health, and then all the perks in the tree are the damage resistance perks and healing perks

Strength = points in attribute increase block damage or increase carry load like Pack Mule, and then the perks could be a perk for each melee weapon and for mining etc

Agility = points in attribute increase default move speed or grant the parkour perk or something, and all the stamina perks could go here
Perception = points in attribute increase headshot damage and all the individual gun perks go here

Int = points unlock crafting recipes as you invest in int, and the actual perks could be stuff like the wrench perk, junk turret stuff, charisma stuff etc

You'd still have builds, but it wouldn't punish you for going after perks in an attribute tree that you don't use the weapons for. My friend always wants to max out the Parkour perk so he can jump higher, but then runs around with an Ak47 and grenades. So every single point he puts in the agility attribute is completely and totally wasted and he gets quite literally 0 value out of like 15+ levels worth of points, but had to spend all of those points on pistol and bow damage, just so he can jump higher

I was thinking of something like this just before alpha 19 dropped. My idea was to split the "classes" from the "perks" entirely, keep the perks as they are now but allow the player to perk into ANY of them without having to waste skill points into the classes. Then add action points to go along side perk points, each level you get an action point to put into strength,agility,fortitude etc, then you spend a perk point into ANY perk you want. 

Strength should rise armor protection by like 1% a perk, maybe max of 15%

agility should rise stamina again maybe a max of 15%

fortitude should rise HP by a max of 15% and so on. 

So using weapons such as a machete,AK,and a shotgun you are not going to waste perk points into crap you do not care about, that would mean possibly maxing out 3 different classes which is pretty much bye bye all perk points.     

 

[Trunks_Budo]

I was thinking of something like this just before alpha 19 dropped. My idea was to split the "classes" from the "perks" entirely, keep the perks as they are now but allow the player to perk into ANY of them without having to waste skill points into the classes. Then add action points to go along side perk points, each level you get an action point to put into strength,agility,fortitude etc, then you spend a perk point into ANY perk you want. 

Strength should rise armor protection by like 1% a perk, maybe max of 15%

agility should rise stamina again maybe a max of 15%

fortitude should rise HP by a max of 15% and so on. 

So using weapons such as a machete,AK,and a shotgun you are not going to waste perk points into crap you do not care about, that would mean possibly maxing out 3 different classes which is pretty much bye bye all perk points.     

One day... One day I shall be the spear-throwing, machete-wielding, ak-47 shooting badass with a shotgun for a sidearm that I want to be lol, that is my dream. The Fun Pimps could make it real one day too. As for right now though, the immediate problem I see is two things: Mining restricted to one tree, and sprinting while reloading restricted to one tree. Those two things are simply too important to be exclusive, that's like gating the boiling of bottled water to a single attribute.

 

[Guest]

Favorite feature of A19 so far???

The ability to push localization.txt to servers!!

Thanks Fun Pimps

 

[Adam the Waster]

i hope that they will kinda change the way Random gen spawns. almost every biome spawns in a Square, at the edge of the map there is this Massive Drop off, some old POIs Float.

i don't know if that bugs anyone else

 

[HeavyMetalGamer8]

Loving the new alpha so far however one thing as got me thinking, whats up with the "tiered" loot system? I know it is tied to your game stage and i agree we should not be getting M60s and Augers on day 1. Does anyone else feel that doing this is making looting boring? after getting 20 stone axes and spears i am like...."sigh" this is getting dull, looting the dungeon style POIs is possibly the best part of 7days2die. After clearing out a POI and entering the "loot" room its always exciting popping open the treasure chest and supply creates, or at least it used to be. i know end game it will be amazing FINALLY getting the high tier loot but it makes doing tier 2,3,4 POIs pointless at even day 10, which at this point i am totally ready to explore.

Also i am seeing that perk books and schematics are going to be tiered as well? that will totally destroy the fun factor of looting full stop IMO, i have been able to get a 4x4 at day 10 thanks to the schematics and being able to buy the steel for it. i have also found the auto shotgun schematic but have not made it yet due to spending all my dukes on the steel for the 4x4 and ammo for horde nights+food. 

Just think getting nothing but stone tools/weapons and the same crappy books/schematics over and over again until day 15 when you finally hit tier 2 loot. getting to those loot rooms will no longer be fun and exciting. 

I was thinking about maybe putting the high tier loot attached to traders, and tie them to high tier quests? possibly add new quests like "build and defend" or just "repair base" along side the not so great fetch/kill quests. Then chain them together, so you want an M60? you got to get to tier 3-4 trader quests and do 10 quests that are chained together in a numbered order of difficulty THEN the trader will sell the rewarded Item. This example the M60 for say ......100,000 dukes? it gives it a sense of progression and achievement knowing you WILL get that nice top tier gun without waiting for tiered loot to catch up with you. 

 

[Dethar]

I'm feeling weird. I'm pure agility, 4/5 in archery, pistols, and knife. I have 4/4 parkour and 3/3 run & gun. But the primary aspect of the tree, stealth, has virtually no appeal to me. It just feels strange lol, I'd rather walk into a POI with my level 5 SMG and pop headshot after headshot than waste time, money, and immersion sneaking around. I feel at conflict with myself over that aspect of these character builds. I think some things should have a separate list and should not be governed by attributes, primary things that every character can opt into regardless of attribute; Mining, stealth, farming, animal hunting and harvesting. I feel those aspects of the game should not be restricted to certain builds. I'd love it if I didn't have to wholly waste points into strength just to get into mining, you know? I know MM likes the attribute system but it just seems like it's way too multiplayer centric, and doesn't cater to the enjoyment of single-players. It's meant for repeat playthroughs, but I like to invest myself in one world and build all kinds of bridges and monuments and tunnels through mountains to drive through, etc. Having a "classic" perk option in the world settings would be perfect, where nothing is limited by attribute specialization, and you can specialize into different perks freely, independent of attribute investment. Let's face it, I have 1.5 megabits of internet here in the country, I'm not playing online any time soon. So I have to do everything alone. I'd love to have a single playthrough where I don't feel like I'm missing out on other things in other attributes. I had this problem with Alpha 18/17 too and it always ends up coming back to this. I'm not enjoying a stealth build, I'm enjoying an agility build. It's effective, but if I specialize in strength, for example, I can't just run around on bloodmoon night shooting and throwing molotovs, because I won't have Run and Gun from the agility tree to reload while sprinting. I can, technically, but not without weeks of dreadful zombie kill grinding to make it so. I feel like attributes themselves belong, agility, strength, etc, but putting POINTS into attributes doesn't. It would be better if the benefits of the attributes, IE headshot damage and dismemberment chance, were localized into new perks listed under the attributes. I know a lot of time and resources went into the development of this attribute system, but it just seems like a cheap way to make every player feel like they're missing out on things they want every playthrough. You can't reasonably brag about "this many hours" of play time on your game per year if you're really just psy@%$*#!gically (Psych - ologic - ally) manipulating people into engaging in multiple short-term playthroughs. 

So change it to 2 skill point per. Its what I do SP. Instead of telling how to change game for what you think game should be, there are ways to change it yourself. MM has stated he likes skill tree but may balance some more.

 

[Gazz]

Also i am seeing that perk books and schematics are going to be tiered as well? that will totally destroy the fun factor of looting full stop

And I can also tell you why that is so: Because you are assuming that it will work in the worst possible way.

 

[HeavyMetalGamer8]

And I can also tell you why that is so: Because you are assuming that it will work in the worst possible way.

Yeah i know i am jumping the gun here without seeing first hand what you guys will come up with, i usually hold off on being negative on newly added features until i get to try them out myself. i HATED the idea of wandering hordes when they were first talked about as a new feature however now i kinda like them. I am sure alpha 20 everything will come together and make more things more fun

 

[Broneigh]

I'm sorry if it's been stated or if this is a "done when done" but was stable release date stated?

 

[Adam the Waster]

I'm sorry if it's been stated or if this is a "done when done" but was stable release date stated?

when it is done........

 

[Kosmic Kerman]

I'm sorry if it's been stated or if this is a "done when done" but was stable release date stated?

MM stated on the last page that stable will be released when it's done. 

 

[Broneigh]

thank you meesa big doo doo head.

 

[Adam the Waster]

thank you meesa big doo doo head.

 

[Broneigh]

been enjoying me some Jar jar binks in the The Clone Wars animation

 

[Jarod_Silverstar]

Also i am seeing that perk books and schematics are going to be tiered as well? that will totally destroy the fun factor of looting full stop IMO, i have been able to get a 4x4 at day 10 thanks to the schematics and being able to buy the steel for it. i have also found the auto shotgun schematic but have not made it yet due to spending all my dukes on the steel for the 4x4 and ammo for horde nights+food. 

I think some limited tiering for schematics and recipies might be nice. Tier 0-1 would be basic items like plain foods, forge, workbench and similar items you need to get started. Tier 1-2 would be your basic guns and armor. Tier 2-3 would start getting into mods for everything.