PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary

[madmole]

Okay ... I do have a question though ... and I've not seen an answer to it.

Why does being dead give these zombies superhuman senses?

How is it possible that a zombie can sense me when I am sitting at bedrock under a mountain?  It can somehow hear me/smell me/sense me through 3,000 feet of dirt and rock.

By the same token, I can't figure out how rain can get through a vault hatch either, and sunlight get through that same 3,000 feet of dirt and rock.

But seriously, how do the zombies sense you that far underground?  I mean a tried and true method of zombie avoidance in zombie films is to find someplace to hide and stay really really still.

In the lore it is something like "on the 7th day on the blood moon the zombies have heightened senses and can find you anywhere".

The simple answer it is because the game is boring if you are safe. So our main design goal is to not ever have the player be 100% safe, without a boat load of work anyway. Obviously 20 meters of steel in every direction and you could AFK several hordes and laugh about it, if that is what you call fun.

Undead cannot be explained by science, so their abilities don't need explained, it just is.

 

[MechanicalLens]

No I don't need 100k because I'm not burning it up in forges and grinding sand. I'll buy it from the trader if I'm short of mats, 200,000 dukes in my safe isn't helping me.

No, but having a million plus dukes in stock is mighty satisfying. Even then, I'm rather pinchy with my spendings.

 

[madmole]

I bit of kind advice. If you like building, this is the game for you. There is many ways to make your base look awesome. I build all the time and mainly for the look. I am a vanity builder and I have no problem making my base look good. If you see something you want and you cannot craft it in the normal menu, take note of a similar item's resource cost and throw it on the floor then put one in from the cm.

I'm a vanity builder too on some builds. I was talking about extreme vanity, like every block made available cannot be done for performance reasons, coffee pots are 14000 triangles and players cannot be trusted with them

But hey install a mod and have at it, or use the cm. We might be able to add more down the road, we'll see.

 

[Pegasus]

In the lore it is something like "on the 7th day on the blood moon the zombies have heightened senses and can find you anywhere".

The simple answer it is because the game is boring if you are safe. So our main design goal is to not ever have the player be 100% safe, without a boat load of work anyway. Obviously 20 meters of steel in every direction and you could AFK several hordes and laugh about it, if that is what you call fun.

Undead cannot be explained by science, so their abilities don't need explained, it just is.

Okay, that makes sense.  Which also explains why on the blood moon they go all weird and nutso.

It just always seemed weird to me that they could find me no matter where I hid.  

Is the lore part of what is being worked on with the backstory campaign y'all are working on?  I can't wait for that to come out.

But can y'all maybe work on making it so hatches and windows don't let in the rain and snow?  I mean I can understand a regular window maybe leaking a bit ... but a steel vault hatch?  Or bullet proof glass?

 

[madmole]

Buwhahahahaha ... 7 x 7 ...  my base has closets bigger than 7x7 ...

You play a zombie game with some building.  I play a building game with inconvenient zombies.   Speaking of which, that new crawling one gives me nightmares.  You guys need therapy....  and drugs.  I wish I'd recorded my reaction the first time I saw one.  You guys would laugh til you peed your pants.

That is a great way to see it. I do both btw, my castle is huge, but I have a 7x7 down the road. Just saying Most builds get broke and I have to start over so I don't get the time to build a proper beast base.

 

[Pegasus]

That is a great way to see it. I do both btw, my castle is huge, but I have a 7x7 down the road. Just saying Most builds get broke and I have to start over so I don't get the time to build a proper beast base.

I usually play multiplayer, so we usually have a 'horde' base somewhere ... and I build my base for my tastes.  But I also give it general defenses for regular zombies, not for horde nights because I don't spend horde nights at home because it makes me sad when they break the pretties.  

 

[madmole]

Okay, that makes sense.  Which also explains why on the blood moon they go all weird and nutso.

It just always seemed weird to me that they could find me no matter where I hid.  

Is the lore part of what is being worked on with the backstory campaign y'all are working on?  I can't wait for that to come out.

But can y'all maybe work on making it so hatches and windows don't let in the rain and snow?  I mean I can understand a regular window maybe leaking a bit ... but a steel vault hatch?  

That is faatal territory. Probably.

 

[Pegasus]

That is faatal territory. Probably.

Faatal, I will send you cookies if you will fix the hatches and windows not letting in the rain and snow any more.  And you tell me where you are so I can send them. 

Or a bottle of rum.  Or both.

 

[Gazz]

Some people are hacked off because there not recipes in the vanilla game for every possible block combination and decoration known to man.  The devs have stated that they cannot add those recipes right now because 1) it would take away from developing key features of the game and 2) because having that many recipes in the crafting menu would cause significant lag.

Has everyone forgotten the crafting menu lag from around a16?  Have you forgotten the approximately 857 billion posts from hacked off players because every time they opened their forge menu their game crashed or stuttered? 

What some people like to gloss over is that while the number of recipes has gone down, the number of craftable blocks has gone up more than ever.

There are a bunch of variant blocks that fold out into a lot of things.

 

[Toban]

I'm a vanity builder too on some builds. I was talking about extreme vanity, like every block made available cannot be done for performance reasons, coffee pots are 14000 triangles and players cannot be trusted with them

But hey install a mod and have at it, or use the cm. We might be able to add more down the road, we'll see.

I agree. On a server with others it wouldn't be fair to have someone like me on it haha. I build big or not at all haha. I completely understand why you guys have to limit players. You have a responsibility to protect your players. That's why we have our own server so I can build whatever I want without making life tough for others, and like I said, if I see something I like the look of, I add it from cm. I would advise anyone like me to do the same and get your own server and set your own rules.  

 

[Laynie]

I'm a vanity builder too on some builds. I was talking about extreme vanity, like every block made available cannot be done for performance reasons, coffee pots are 14000 triangles and players cannot be trusted with them

But hey install a mod and have at it, or use the cm. We might be able to add more down the road, we'll see.

I agree. On a server with others it wouldn't be fair to have someone like me on it haha. I build big or not at all haha. I completely understand why you guys have to limit players. You have a responsibility to protect your players. That's why we have our own server so I can build whatever I want without making life tough for others, and like I said, if I see something I like the look of, I add it from cm. I would advise anyone like me to do the same and get your own server and set your own rules.  

He's not kidding with the big builds. We had an island on ATLAS and we had people complain because we made them lagg out with how big the base was. 

 

[Laz Man]

Unlike modders the devs have the challenging task of making sure the game is performant across a wide range of computer specifications.

Out of all of the devs I have watched play in the streams, Madmole is the only real builder ive seen so I believe that he wants to do more for builders.  Let's give them some time to work their magic.

 

[Toban]

Unlike modders the devs have the challenging task of making sure the game is performant across a wide range of computer specifications.

Out of all of the devs I have watched play in the streams, Madmole is the only real builder ive seen so I believe that he wants to do more for builders.  Let's give them some time to work their magic.

Yeah. I don't envy having to keep everyone happy. 

Tbh though, I'm 98% happy so it's all good for me lol. I doubt anyone can buy or even make a game they are 100% happy with.

 

[Laynie]

The thing everyone on here has to remember is, you can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time. No matter what TFP's add to the game or take out, someone will be unhappy. 

 

[Pegasus]

The thing everyone on here has to remember is, you can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time. No matter what TFP's add to the game or take out, someone will be unhappy. 

Very true.  Because everyone has their own idea of how to play the game ... and some of those ideas are completely opposite each other.  

But, they've made the game moddable ... so each person can do their own little tweaks to make the game how they want it. 

I just want the next release... it's been forever (two weeks ... but it's like the two weeks before Christmas)...  LOL

 

[Laynie]

Very true.  Because everyone has their own idea of how to play the game ... and some of those ideas are completely opposite each other.  

But, they've made the game moddable ... so each person can do their own little tweaks to make the game how they want it. 

I just want the next release... it's been forever (two weeks ... but it's like the two weeks before Christmas)...  LOL

Haha yeah same. I personally love the game. I've played over 2000 hours and yet to get bored. However I do understand other people wanting more in the game. I'm a mindless zombie killer, so I'm easily pleased

 

[Toban]

That's true. I see loads of players loved learn by doing, but I hated it. I much prefer building at night or mining, than crafting 7000 stone axes to get my skill up lol, but that's just me.

 

[FileMachete]

MM, Gazz, just curious here; there are a few 'missing', "normal" block shapes, not decos, are those on the roadmap for a20 maybe?

(and I caught the bit about cleaning up the current R Shapes, just curious) (and Eymprion has spoiled me, soo many block shapes)

One I was looking for in a19 was a full block that has a clip out of it so if you used 1/2 blocks against it at 90 degrees the transition/clip is a 45.



Edit: realized I might be confusing how "deco" is being used. I was thinking it was the high triangle count stuff like coffee maker. If it also included additional shapes then my bad.

 

[Laz Man]

MM, Gazz, just curious here; there are a few 'missing', "normal" block shapes, not decos, are those on the roadmap for a20 maybe?

(and I caught the bit about cleaning up the current R Shapes, just curious) (and Eymprion has spoiled me, soo many block shapes)

One I was looking for in a19 was a full block that has a clip out of it so if you used 1/2 blocks against it at 90 degrees the transition/clip is a 45.

View attachment 13057

The only one I know of like that is a cabinet/cupboard corner.

 

[FileMachete]

The only one I know of like that is a cabinet corner.

doh! yep, exactly that. I went looking for it as I just barrely couldn't focus the wire tool on an e-fence, so needed just a wee bit off the top, heh. Edit: it's a block the zeds would beat on so wanted a "normal" upgradable to r-concrete block.