PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary

[Bhaaltazar]

Day 1, 2, 3.....  Bears Bears everywhere.... many times 2 within a few meters of each other.

Me thinks a little to much bear.   wolves and dire wolves too.

I have ran into 2 Cops already, as well we had 2 ferals sleepers in the same time frame.   I don't think I have ever ran into a cop much less a feral in the first 7 days.

Also seems to be many more Zeds in the wild at this early stage.  My wife commented on this on day 1, and by day 3 was like they definitely have changed the spawns.

I know Joel @madmole updated the spawns of the animals but I don't recall seeing any changes on the Zed spawn tables.

So, anyone else having similar?

Yes we started a brad new save / map, dedicated server.

Did you go into high Tier building to meet the feral? Like Shotgun Messiah factory or alike? 

 

[jdzane]

Okay, please help I'm freaking out.  I copied my a19 save game and then I followed the video tutorial on how to delete my old data so I could report a bug.  Then I moved my save back into the same file I pulled it out from....AND MY GAME DOESN'T SHOW UP IN THE "continue game" OPTIONS!

I was on day 55, and was so freaking proud of what I had accomplished, please don't tell me it's lost!

 

[LewZephyr]

Did you go into high Tier building to meed the feral? Like Shotgun Messiah factory or alike? 

I don't think it was high tier.  But I could be wrong.  It was one of the clothing stores.  Cop was in the office area and the feral was in a back room that was semi difficult to get to.    Was actually my first time to see that particular building.

The other one was a big Grocery/meglomart store with a huge hole in the middle.  My firsts to see that one as well.

 

[Laz Man]

Damn, you guys weren't fu**ing around with animal spawns. 

I can see this being a pain in the @%$*#! 1st couple days in. Since I'm already on day 12 I'm aptly able to defend myself. 

I agree, it was nerfed a lil too much. Before this, I only saw one zombie bear, one dire wolf, and a few dogs. And thats in the last month since I started playing.

Just tonight I encountered 2 bears & a wolf in Diersville, a dire wolf, 2 mountain lions & a pack of dogs along with a zombie bear in the snow biome!! And that's just one game day, 90 min days. Holy sh*t fellas!!

Madmole: "You want more food? Here you go...but you have to work for it....Muahahahahahah"

 

[MechanicalLens]

I don't think it was high tier.  But I could be wrong.  It was one of the clothing stores.  Cop was in the office area and the feral was in a back room that was semi difficult to get to.    Was actually my first time to see that particular building.

The other one was a big Grocery/meglomart store with a huge hole in the middle.  My firsts to see that one as well.

I've seen cops in those POI's before, both in my game and on some videos. They're probably premeditated spawns.

Madmole: "You want more food? Here you go...but you have to work for it....Muahahahahahah"

Really? Then where's the irradiated molotov-puking chickens?

 

[Bhaaltazar]

I've seen cops in those POI's before, both in my game and on some videos. They're probably premeditated spawns.

Oh yes he said it was clothing store... there is always a Cop over that entrance. Cops are weak, they aren't what they used to be anymore.

 

[madmole]

Kinda agree.....

I get the idea of wanting the players select different play styles, adding replayability etc., but the game is created in a way that some people fancy not restarting at all, but refurbishing a entire city over a long period of time. As one example. So that point of view is inherently flawed, at the current state of development. Perhaps this will change more, when end-game content is in, and perhaps you get accumulative bonus for completing the main quest as different character classes.  Even then though, that will probably not make a big difference.

The solution I see, is NOT starving the players for perk points. Let the pathing through the system be purely about, what is important first for survival at this gamestage. Then as gamestage progress, give more ways to unlock perks or give more perk points, so that you can more freely play the way you want, and not feel deprived by your preferred way of playing the game. So that in a reasonable timeframe, you are able to unlock all the perks you want.

Deprived? We cut a boatload of ranks needed to easily max out perks. I feel so OP by level 40 I'm pretty much done and its fluff by level 25 for me.

 

[TPrice321]

Okay, please help I'm freaking out.  I copied my a19 save game and then I followed the video tutorial on how to delete my old data so I could report a bug.  Then I moved my save back into the same file I pulled it out from....AND MY GAME DOESN'T SHOW UP IN THE "continue game" OPTIONS!

I was on day 55, and was so freaking proud of what I had accomplished, please don't tell me it's lost!

Did you save a copy of the generated world the save was using?   That's in a different folder than the savegame itself.   You need both parts to play the save.

 

[chikorina]

1. New players should be playing on warrior or lower with jog or maybe run, this should not be a game you can just pick up and play on a high difficulty. I can hear the wolves, hear the deer you just need to play enough to know how to handle things.

They're playing on default difficulty or lower.  The number of enemy animals don't seem to change with difficulty. 

 

[madmole]

It really comes down to players not wanting to make choices.

They want the path to their preferred combination of perks all highlighted and linear with zero points "wasted" on something they consider non-essential.

There are 2 problems with that.

1. The gameplay of this game's skill system is based on making choices.

2. It's not going to change.

It's not even a problem of them being "locked out" of certain perks. You can get over 300 skill points. Their problem is that they want easy access to a very specific set of perks that makes their particular play style easier.

Putting together a new attribute for the purpose of maximum OP with least skill points invested is good material for a mod, not the vanilla game.

Pretty much this. I took a day away from the forums because 2 guys crying a river repeatedly are trying to shove their crappy ideals into the game is exhausting. It isn't going to change dramatically so save your breath. We will have to agree to disagree. I like the hard choices and so does the team.

See, that's the problem there... your approach makes no sense in real life.

When you're strong you'll inherently get benefits from being strong if you do several activities, but if you're (e.g.) a Bodybuilder it doesn't mean you'll go into a mine and start mining, though if you do DO, you'll be at an advantage over a wimpy nerd in the same situation.

That's why it makes sense to connect perks to attributes, I don't understand how you can't see it. 

Yes, it makes it easier to get good at strength related activities, and possible to get exceptional but doesn't automatically make you good at them.

 

[MechanicalLens]

Pretty much this. I took a day away from the forums because 2 guys crying a river repeatedly are trying to shove their crappy ideals into the game is exhausting. It isn't going to change dramatically so save your breath. We will have to agree to disagree. I like the hard choices and so does the team.

If I was one of those two people, then on my behalf I apologize.

 

[madmole]

Still, having attributes providing benefits beyond boosting the weapons governed by the tree would be a welcome addition. +1% movement speed for every agility point, +1% dmg reduction for every fortitude point, +1% melee/bow damage for every point in strength, +1% more gun damage for each point in perception, +1% crafting speed for each point in intelligence or something like that. 

That is just over thinking it. Ideally they could do more, but at the end of the day they will always be a gate with something small. If they did more, then the perks themselves would start to feel watered down and that is no fun buying a watered down perk. The way it is now, the attribute is the week before Christmas, and once you get through that, you have access to a variety of presents. It teaches people sometimes you have to be patient to get what you want, or pay a price, or make a choice. Something too many kids these days don't understand, but natural selection will school them eventually.

 

[jdzane]

Did you save a copy of the generated world the save was using?   That's in a different folder than the savegame itself.   You need both parts to play the save.

I have a copy of it, I forget where to put it.  But I generated it using nitrogen so I still have a copy.  I'll see where else I can throw it lol

Thanks!

 

[madmole]

• Tech 2/3 guns are not autounlocked by the weapon perk. Go find yourself a schematic. 
  

Does that mean that by spending skill points on the club in strength tree I won't be able anymore to automatically craft better clubs? Right now if you have skilled to level 2 you can craft a level 2 club.

• Chainsaw and auger are not unlocked by perkAdvancedEngineering 
  

Same here. If I want to craft chainsaw / auger now I can only do that if I find the schematic?

Do I understand that correct?

Btw I love most of those new changes

It means you have to find a pump shotgun schematic now to craft one. The perk tree doesn't unlock that technology. Not sure how that A17 style brain fart made it into the build.

 

[jdzane]

Didn't help.  It's still not showing up in my "continue game" list.  There's nothing there 

 

[madmole]

Set down a land claim block, then access the forge (press E for a second)

I thought it was hold R to see the radial options.

There are animals everywhere now  I like that!

Something weird has just happened to me though. I have died (thought I could take on the "special infected zombs quest" too early) and therefore my XP dropped for the next minutes. When my XP bar reached 0 XP though (the very left side of the bar) I got a skill level up which should not have happened I guess. Maybe something for the bug report forum but to be honest, it is too complicated to report bugs here so...

Don't get too excited, it needs a huge nerf yet.

I said boiled meat or bacon and eggs, grilled meat would be a waste, its actually been pretty useless since they got rid of wellness.
Honestly this is because people don't take the time to hunt and because the animals go into the water so they are hard to find kill. Fix water don't flood the world with meat! A very good part of the game is struggle, you just eliminated that and made the game easier.

What we are doing is a temp solution for MP. We will do something that scales for servers in A20. No matter what I do it will probably be easier for single players but we'll see. I have some ideas yet we can try.

 

[MechanicalLens]

That is just over thinking it. Ideally they could do more, but at the end of the day they will always be a gate with something small. If they did more, then the perks themselves would start to feel watered down and that is no fun buying a watered down perk. The way it is now, the attribute is the week before Christmas, and once you get through that, you have access to a variety of presents. It teaches people sometimes you have to be patient to get what you want, or pay a price, or make a choice. Something too many kids these days don't understand, but natural selection will school them eventually.

That's instant gratification for ya. An unfortunate psy@%$*#!gical vessel that plagues much of the youth today, even myself to a degree. At least I had began calling @#%$%&@ on it from a very young age, but even that's not quite enough to win the tightrope contest of nature vs nurture; as with all things however, refinement is the key. I look back at previous standards, such as the ones that Madmole lives up to, and I take inspiration from them and I try to incorporate them into my own life. It's good to know that such ways have not truly died out. I by not means have a strengthened backbone but hey, at the very least I aspire to be better than I am; it seems that most youth today do not.

 

[Marinxar]

Pretty much this. I took a day away from the forums because 2 guys crying a river repeatedly are trying to shove their crappy ideals into the game is exhausting....

Well, that's the problem with creating a game this good. You will always have fans that is just as passionate about the game as you, but with opposing interests and views. 

You should not see it as an attack, or battle that should be tiring. Appreciate the intent, and be happy of the success that is leading people to be this enthusiastic. 

 

[canadianbluebeer]

b163 drops. did all the updates.  fire up the server. Have 2 treasure maps to do that dropped on horde night.

Hop on the bicycle. go half a block.  ooohh a bear.

Shoot bear. take a bit of claw damage. Loot bear.

get on bike, go another block... oh another bear.  shoot, loot. keep going.

A wolf. more fresh meat.

Get to where the treasure is. Bear is guarding it. Kill bear.

Loot treasure. (much digging)

head back to base, to start 2nd treasuremap.

Enter town. Hey, didn't I kill that bear?  bangbangbang... need a better pistol.

Where did YOU come from? (bear hiding on other side of building)

Yes 5 bears couple wolves just on that one run (800m from base)

Next treasure map got a couple more. Town pretty much cleared out.

Take the quest to go to the next trader.

Bears, wolves, boars, stags, and 2 chickens. (those get clubbed)

So in 2 days, the 2 of us got the meat pile up from about 60 to 840!!

wee bit much.

Now, I hope all that largesse was just because it was the new update, and it was populating the critters for the first time, and I won't have that as a daily thing.

(otherwise, I'll be doing 5 thousand steaks for MM again)  

It was fun though!

 

[madmole]

Well... please, @madmole setting the animal respawn to 3-4 days ONLY in multiplayer would be more than enough. The actual amount of animals at a given time was always ok since those freaky ancient alphas.  The 7 day animal respawn was what resulted in scarcity in worlds ranging from 3 to 8 players, not the abundance.

Also, automatically scaling the animal count when 3,4,5,6,7 and 8 players are in the game would be the ideal way to go but requires more code.

Wolves, bears and Mountain lions should not spawn at day the first few days, and should always be the rarest.

No @%$*#! Sherlock, but I don't have any code and we are in feature freeze. I'm trying to hack my way around this with existing xml for now.

I was thinking rabbits and chickens can spawn every day, so if you work for it you can always find them, and then big game will spawn very rare on a slower interval could work well for sp and mp, for now until we get something that scales it based on server pop.