PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary

[Nugetti]

About the ADS thing with specifically bows (haven't tried crossbows):
Is there a way to NOT reload after firing a shot to keep ADS in effect? I'd like to see where my arrow lands when firing long range shots to compensate for the drop, but right now it's impossible due to the auto-reload (render range is longer when you are ADS).

 

[STyK_]

So dont play on insane nightmare. Problem with what you want is it will throw the balance off the other difficulties. Why is it that all these too hard not fair complaints come from players on insane nightmare 25 percent loot? Shouldn't you WANT the difficulty? You're literally playing the game at its max hardest settings.

I'm not asking for easy, I want it hard. I'm playing on masochist settings, I know you can't turn up the hardest difficulty so it should be hard. Is it supposed to be beat-able though? Cause when it comes down to 'you need this and this or you don't have a chance' the odds become slim or not at all. If people are cheating to beat it, though modded servers to manipulate pathing or nerd polling to stay off the ground is that where the difficulty should be? I'm going to do it anyway but others won't.

I guess you know this because you seem like an expert player... but I'll say it anyways: I always hit their legs and most of the time I can cripple them so they start limping and going slower. Maybe you should try this while fighting them bikers. First strike them on the same leg over and over until they start limping... then bleed them out or just go for the kill-hit.  :smokin:

Well the cherry on top of my difficulty is permadeath and to be honest I always go for the face. To get that close with the knife and hope to cripple, it either works or I'm dead but thats where I'm at right now so I'll try it if he catches me off guard.

This next time around I'm just going to keep putting the points I make into agility and deep cuts till its lvl 3 with 15% slow. Also abandon trader missions if I see him.

 

[bobross]

About the ADS thing with specifically bows (haven't tried crossbows):
Is there a way to NOT reload after firing a shot to keep ADS in effect? I'd like to see where my arrow lands when firing long range shots to compensate for the drop, but right now it's impossible due to the auto-reload (render range is longer when you are ADS).

Well, that's exactly what I'm complaining about with Crossbow, so if you really do want that switch to crossbow. You'll even get an option for a scope.

That said, even if the shot is perfect, you're going to have to re-aim because there's a change for recoil for some strange reason. Never really understood that - if anything, my bow is lower after I release (IRL I mean) because you're not gripping the stave unless you want to screw up your aim - but it rises fairly significantly. Never much bothered me though from a gameplay perspective.

 

[SnowDog1942]

So dont play on insane nightmare. Problem with what you want is it will throw the balance off the other difficulties. Why is it that all these too hard not fair complaints come from players on insane nightmare 25 percent loot? Shouldn't you WANT the difficulty? You're literally playing the game at its max hardest settings.

God forbid they... *GASP*  turn down the difficulty if its too hard for them on the hardest possible settings.

 

[Adam the Waster]

Have you tried the tier 3 compound crossbow? You are probably thinking it got nerfed but there is a new crossbow AFAIK. Its visuals are like the old for now I think, but it is a different named item.

need i say more?

 

[STyK_]

God forbid they... *GASP*  turn down the difficulty if its too hard for them on the hardest possible settings.

I'm trying to take it as far as it will go. I'm guessing you've beat it then? How did you go about it? What settings? Did you cheat or cheese it? Do you have vids of it. Some insight from someone who's beat it the way it currently is would be useful. Have you tried it or just trolling?

 

[spud42]

need i say more?

 

[Sam_Neill]

Spawn 'randomness' is from the name you chose for the world. Pick another name or add some numbers to it.

So in a multiplayer world everyone is spawning at the same place ? Or how is spawning handled there ? Would be nice to know if it could rotate. Like if you do a PVP server and have 8 different spawnpoints you want the first 8 players on a different spot each.

 

[madmole]

Imo mines could use a slight rework. I came across a new POI and saw a lootbox, jumped on a Dumpster that should have allowed me to jump over the wall only to find out... there were mines on that tiny wall. Instant death. 

It's not even a big deal, and that's the issue. I died so fast and out of nowhere that I shrugged thinking "what a ridiculously cheesy death", and kept going. I honestly think getting one-shot by a landmine is an unfun mechanic. It would have felt wayyy more punishing but also way more fair if it had let me live with a sliver of health, with a broken leg and maybe a broken arm. "Hey, you're crippled because you didn't pay attention, but we didn't just one shot you". 

I know, explosion damage reduction from heavy armor is a thing. I simply think it should reduce the crit chance / allow for a sprained leg instead of a broken one, and reduce damage; but I don't like the fact I can go from 100 to 0 with one careless step, it's simply unfun.

Then don't walk on land mines lol. Don't jump over fences without looking on the other side, etc. If we remove every lethal threat in the game and pad it then you won't ever feel at risk which is a core pillar to a good survival game. We've even added a delay so if you are quick you can reduce the damage. I haven't been killed by any mines for a while and it isn't when I set them off, it is when a zombie sets one off and I was too close. Also if they aren't lethal early game you won't have any sense of reward surviving one later game when you know that exact same move would have killed you if not for your increased hp pool from leveling and your armor resistance.

And just think about what you are asking. It isn't a bear trap, or a nail sticking out of a board it is a land mine.

 

[fragtzack]

Any timeline estimates on a19 going to stable release?

 

[Kattla]

And just think about what you are asking. It isn't a bear trap, or a nail sticking out of a board it is a land mine.

Bear traps sounds like a cool idea. Perhaps not cool for the bear though.

 

[madmole]

Not Gazz, but if you right-click, ADS toggles on. If you right-click-and-hold, it goes into ADS until you release the right mouse button. Otherwise pretty much the same.

EDIT: And I see Roland beat me to the punch. Reading fail on my part.

I don't recall ever seeing a journal entry, I just sort of stumbled across it early on because I've always stealthed POIs.

It is a poor feature that will be better as an optional toggle. By default it will just be hold the zoom button once the fix is in, like every other good shooter. Then it is impossible to be stuck in zoom and you cannot run away from a zombie because you are stuck in zoom and don't even know it, like for a pistol that has a very small FOV zoom it is hard to tell why you can't run, am I crouched, am I zoomed? You are getting tagged by a zombie. Auto reload is crap too, if I want to reload I'll press fire on an empty or press R to actually reload when I want to, so I'm not stuck moving slow or forced to change weapons to get out of my slow movement speed state, because being able to move when you need to is key to survival in combat.

 

 

[beHypE]

Then don't walk on land mines lol. Don't jump over fences without looking on the other side, etc. If we remove every lethal threat in the game and pad it then you won't ever feel at risk which is a core pillar to a good survival game. We've even added a delay so if you are quick you can reduce the damage. I haven't been killed by any mines for a while and it isn't when I set them off, it is when a zombie sets one off and I was too close. Also if they aren't lethal early game you won't have any sense of reward surviving one later game when you know that exact same move would have killed you if not for your increased hp pool from leveling and your armor resistance.

And just think about what you are asking. It isn't a bear trap, or a nail sticking out of a board it is a land mine.

It just feels bad is all i'm saying. It doesn't have to be lethal to give you a "oh @%$*#!" moment, I actually would have been happy while way more annoyed with a broken leg rather than a death. I doubt many noobs walking over a hub cap will think it's nice that they are getting killed instantly without any warning, especially since it doesn't even explode properly in your own death anim. Suddenly you're just gone.

Realism seems to be one hell of a concern when it fits the argument... but maybe indeed, filling the world with bear traps would be better...

 

[madmole]

I'm not asking for easy, I want it hard. I'm playing on masochist settings, I know you can't turn up the hardest difficulty so it should be hard. Is it supposed to be beat-able though? Cause when it comes down to 'you need this and this or you don't have a chance' the odds become slim or not at all. If people are cheating to beat it, though modded servers to manipulate pathing or nerd polling to stay off the ground is that where the difficulty should be? I'm going to do it anyway but others won't.

Well the cherry on top of my difficulty is permadeath and to be honest I always go for the face. To get that close with the knife and hope to cripple, it either works or I'm dead but thats where I'm at right now so I'll try it if he catches me off guard.

This next time around I'm just going to keep putting the points I make into agility and deep cuts till its lvl 3 with 15% slow. Also abandon trader missions if I see him.

You just need to be creative and pick your battles until you are ready to fight. Shall we make the first rank of bare knuckle boxing good enough to go against nightmare zeds? No, you hide from them, loot garbage and do whatever you can to level up until you are ready to fight them.

 

[crazywildfire]

I'm trying to take it as far as it will go. I'm guessing you've beat it then? How did you go about it? What settings? Did you cheat or cheese it? Do you have vids of it. Some insight from someone who's beat it the way it currently is would be useful. Have you tried it or just trolling?

You play on the hardest settings. You talk about mods in order to beat it. But you also talk about permadeath. That is a choice you are making the game doesn't offer that (at least as of now unless I missed something) so you are picking to start over when you die not the game. The game technically keeps going. So basically you are modding if you think about it. So not sure what you wanting when you are adding to the game that isn't an option. But you want balancing that will effect other difficulties? I mean I get what you are wanting but at the same time I don't know. 

 

[Laz Man]

Imo mines could use a slight rework. I came across a new POI and saw a lootbox, jumped on a Dumpster that should have allowed me to jump over the wall only to find out... there were mines on that tiny wall. Instant death. 

It's not even a big deal, and that's the issue. I died so fast and out of nowhere that I shrugged thinking "what a ridiculously cheesy death", and kept going. I honestly think getting one-shot by a landmine is an unfun mechanic. It would have felt wayyy more punishing but also way more fair if it had let me live with a sliver of health, with a broken leg and maybe a broken arm. "Hey, you're crippled because you didn't pay attention, but we didn't just one shot you". 

I know, explosion damage reduction from heavy armor is a thing. I simply think it should reduce the crit chance / allow for a sprained leg instead of a broken one, and reduce damage; but I don't like the fact I can go from 100 to 0 with one careless step, it's simply unfun.

I use to feel the same way you did but not anymore and here is why.

1) A few of the mine types would instant kill a player wearing full steal armor in A18.  They fixed this in A19 and is no longer the case.

2) There is a perk that gives players more time to avoid mines after stepped on.

3) There is a book that allows a player to step on a mine without triggering it

4) Mines can be shot/exploded.

As long as the player has a chance to see the mine beforehand to avoid/destroy it then it's fine. 

Cheesy deaths for me are the ones I feel the player has no way to avoid/overcome (e.g. quiet dog packs of the past).

Mines has multiple ways to overcome now.  FYI, I saw the same trap setup you did (Joey's carlot) but saw the hubcap mines when I jumped on the dumpster and didnt die to them.

LazMan - 1 POI Designers - 0

 

[madmole]

It just feels bad is all i'm saying. It doesn't have to be lethal to give you a "oh @%$*#!" moment, I actually would have been happy while way more annoyed with a broken leg rather than a death. I doubt many noobs walking over a hub cap will think it's nice that they are getting killed instantly without any warning, especially since it doesn't even explode properly in your own death anim. Suddenly you're just gone.

Realism seems to be one hell of a concern when it fits the argument... but maybe indeed, filling the world with bear traps would be better...

It is supposed to feel bad. I can't force people to watch where they are going when playing a survival game. I bet you look down the next time you jump over a fence though. I have no sympathy for people noobs or vets making poor choices. The fun is surviving the harsh unforgiving world. We might make them beep before they blow and add a disarm mechanic at some point, giving players a better chance to react, or make them stand out more, etc.

 

[Adam the Waster]

Any timeline estimates on a19 going to stable release?

when its is done

 

[Kattla]

need i say more?

Noobs.

That's still a QL 2-3.

Here's a QL 6.

 

[Adam the Waster]

Mines has multiple ways to overcome now.  FYI, I saw the same trap setup you did (Joey's carlot) but saw the hubcap mines when I jumped on the dumpster and didnt die to them.

LazMan - 1 POI Designers - 0

hell i only die from landmind from

A: my own if i just made a minefeild

and B: in the wasteland!

but i like landminds the way they are (allthough it would be nice if there was a military land mind that blows up like a grenade and also adds some fire)

 The fun is surviving the harsh unforgiving world. We might make them beep before they blow and add a disarm mechanic at some point, giving players a better chance to react, or make them stand out more, etc.

hell i would like it if it was more harsh!

ISS for weather like Frostbite, bruns, Heat stroke, etc

Radiation in water, some POIs and even biomes

more ways to get sick, Dysentery is a joke 

Feral zombies can get you infected faster!

more special zombies!