PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary

Status
Not open for further replies.
The bigger problem with weapons ATM is that weapon crafting has a big WTF: You might have the parts to craft a quality 3 gun but since you perked the weapon higher you can only craft a quality 5 gun. The second lesser problem is that since you perk into your main weapon faster than you progress up the tiers means that once you got the tier3 schematic in a balanced game you will only ever craft quality 5. Because at that time you are almost guaranteed to have 4 points in the weapon.

This can be solved in a lot of different ways:

1) The user can set the quality to be crafted in the UI

2) The game crafts only the quality determined by the lower of perk and materials in the inventory.

3) The player finds weapon schematics a bit more frequently and the quality to craft is determined by the number of schematics learned for that weapon. So the player can choose quality by collecting schematics instead of reading them immediately.

4) The workbench has tools slots like the forge. But you put a stackable item (for example repair kits, weapon parts, ... ) into it and the number represents the quality.

I like solution 3 as it balances crafting better than just a single schematic (even though weapon parts fulfill the same function already).

 
That was one thing I am very grateful that got changed; I thought the same damn thing: "Oh noes my damn [shirt,bandana,shoes,pants] broke, gotta take them off repair them and put them back on" (or craft new ones lol) was really silly. Now that we can put mods in them... that would have sucked.

Something I've noticed: repair kits frequently drop out of boxes in 20+ stacks on normal loot % and they're dirt cheap to make now, just a balancing thing I noticed.
when i played 7DTD on PC i was so confused about that!  

 
It is a problem for those who want a real challenge (probably a fair amount if not majority of players) and being easily safe with exploits removes the incentive to keep playing. I recall playing A16 and was having fun until I was looting too late and had no choice but to sit on a roof top. I threw some spikes down to clog up the stair well and thought I'd be dead for sure, but all they did was spin circles and break a few blocks and make some noise. I quit playing, I thought why would I build a great fort if all you need to do is sit on a roof of an old crusty building. No challenge = no fun for me in any game.

Delete backpack on death dude. Same basic thing, 0 complaints from people though. Or just remove the repair kit from your game and maybe double the degradation of items. I actually enjoyed rebuilding my stuff when my backpack got removed before we fixed the bug. Or just use no mods, self control like the ppl dead is dead around here, and scrap your stuff when it degrades and let us know how you like it.


Delete backpack on death only helps that noobs that don't play dead is dead ;)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I support item degradation. I don't accept the delete all on death as a replacement because until I'm confident I won't die due to a bug or janky mechanics (excessive zombie reach on servers, for example) it just feels unfair. Also, I don't want to lose ALL my gear at the same time. I'm looking for a reason to keep looting after I've found all my top tier gear. I want to role play that after weeks or months of surviving against the hordes my items break down. This idea of "play 'til you get bored then restart" is so disappointing and speaks to a lack of end game design. I hope this mentality is more so because end game content is coming and not that it's the intended way to play.

For the record, I do restart fairly early - usually around day 50. I'm invested in my character and world but looting is what really drives me in this game. To get to a point where the only option is to sell everything is boring. There's no longer any choice in that.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I did let you know. I like it. I played with degradation in earlier alphas and I liked it. I do play delete all on death and I like it.

Doubling the durability of everything and disabling repair might be an interesting idea I'd be willing to try. Throwing away stuff willingly is okay but just like death is death there is a big difference in the feel of it when you know you're not in control. It's not that I can't do it but when the universe created by the game is in charge instead of me it changes it. You must know what I'm talking about since you want to add a death is death option into the game eventually.

I can do all those those things and have done them but I don't need to do them to "see if it's fun". I already know that it is.

Mod makers need hooks to make the mods-- at least those of us who are limited to xml edits. Modding out is always easier than modding in. I'd rather see an inoccuous version added that isn't offensive to anyone. THEN those who are going to be offended by anything can mod it out and those of us who want it even more impactful CAN mod it to be so. But it sounds like Madmole has categorized the whole idea as sharp sticks. If I'm a driving force behind this suggestion then he is the mass of bloodmoon vultures stopping me in my tracks. :)
No we had gun parts and repair used parts to repair and improve each part. On one hero item it probably wasn't horribly tedious. Now take that idea with anything that allows mods, and go wide with it. See how much fun it is swapping 4 mods after hundreds of clicks constantly. It is real easy to test, just don't use a repair kit in  your next game. No mods needed. Use your dead is dead style of self control to implement this. The later your game the worse it is going to feel because when you have 3-4 mods changing an item for a better one gets painful, and we unlikely going to improve that whole experience.

 
It is just more crap to confuse players with IMO. Not everyone plays the game long games like you guys do, most people wouldn't even notice it because they just upgrade, upgrade, upgrade.... then they are end game and quit or restart. I don't actually repair my stuff that much, I replace it after about 1 or 2 repairs max. I don't know the exact number of times, but most of my repair kits go to items I find and I repair them to sell them for max xp and dukes. I don't think repair comes into play except on horde nights or lengthy mining sessions. Maybe early game that lame stone axe needs repaired often... but I could just as well craft another, and often I do, because I level, and craft all new stone tools, clubs etc. Repair isn't something we actually do that much. By the time my armor is shot, I have new stuff. Repair isn't really a big part of the game, so I don't think it is worth bothering with. It wouldn't really change the experience that much IMO.

 
Hi MM,

I get restarting another playthrough and doing it again can be fun but continuing on is also a fun adventure that is enjoyable.

For example, my brother and I love exploring and leveling and know once the game finally goes gold we will continue to play our worlds even after beating the main quest.  I will definitely be doing some modding so we can keep playing 7d2d for as long as possible....at least until 7d2d2 comes out....🤣

Edit: hopefully legendary items will be enough to keep looting still relevant/fun after players have peaked out in the looting game.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Not a fan of permanent degradation. It undercuts the sense of accomplishment ("good work, here's a temporary power-up!" just isn't as exciting) and discourages people from using them. The trade-off is that you potentially undercut future discoveries, like in Roland's example of how finding a blue M-60 isn't that exciting when you already have one. Speaking for myself here: I don't find that a huge problem. I'm okay if the loot hunt ends at some point, because I feel like I've made progress. It's annoying to be playing in a sandbox and have to keep re-earning all the cool toys, y'know? 
Yes, between killing your accomplishments and inventory tetris of swapping mods I can't see it as anything but adding more grind to slow people down. There is nothing wrong with reaching end game. The hordes grow in numbers/difficulty and players have enough stuff to worry about late game, time is precious.

 
When using left click attack with a ratchet on radiators it shows the hitting animation instead of the rotating motion. Should not be like that I think.

 
Is there a reason why we can wrench couches? We get the same amount of materials whether we wrench or simply axe them.
Yeah. If it gave us 1 mechanical as opposed to "axing" them I would understand. 

Because deleting the wrenching option altogether could upset the streamlined gameplay design . Also, the public water dispensers for disabled people that are in game in many POIs should be wrenchable and give the same resources as either pipe wheels or toilets.

 
It is a problem for those who want a real challenge (probably a fair amount if not majority of players) and being easily safe with exploits removes the incentive to keep playing.
Think the majority of people need to learn self control then..

If something is a "exploit" and they know it, then they can just not do that....

Kinda like whoever it was posting that they dbl dip on the poi quest resets all the time, but find it boring and a cheat and want it removed....

I couldn't believe someone would post something that dumb..

If you think it's a exploit to run away (also called a tactical retreat) then don't do it...

If you think it's a exploit to hide from the horde then don't do it..

All you are doing is limiting how players can play the game.

Personally, I think if you are not playing Permadeath/Dead is Dead, then you got no right to ask for the game to be harder to play/or make it impossible to avoid the horde.

 
Players would find riding out the horde night to not be a challenge, and try out another way the next time. Players who genuinly want a challenge will find it, be it by method, option or mod/modlet. For players wanting a challenge, riding out the horde night was never a problem, since they'd choose more challenging methods in the first place.

Beeing chased up on a rooftop and quit the game because a simple trick fooled the zombies. And afterwards introduce a system that makes the zombies ten times easier to fool around, not to mention making every POI like a fortified gun, tool and food store. And very often place those high value items high up.. Perhaps it was not a lack of challenge that caused the flying Dumbos, hmmm? 🤭

Well, that explain why someone said the reason for flying Dumbos was the some of the devs having a problem. My apology to that person, i think i might have overlooked his deeper logic😌. I apology, Jax. And no, i am neutral on the vultures attacking player-ridden vehicles on horde night, i just did not see a logic in it.

I think i gonna let this dead horse rest though. Much funnier beating (un)dead bears.
POis were a joke too. 3 seconds to loot one house, next. How was that engaging? Anything deemed too easy or an inferior experience gets worked on. No offense but your arguments are emotionally driven and have no logic.

 
It would be really interesting if there was a meaningful trade-off between keeping your best weapons fully repaired versus trying to find better weapons. As an example, you could change some POIs to have a higher loot quality bonus, but massively fewer "loot-room" containers. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
When using left click attack with a ratchet on radiators it shows the hitting animation instead of the rotating motion. Should not be like that I think.
i think it has been like that ever sense Power attacks where a thing!

TBH i don't know how you can do a "power move" with a impact driver!

 
Repair with just repair kit: loses a bit of durability, but not Q level (no point is screwing with that)

Repair with kit and x number of parts: no durability loss.

Repair with kit and xy number of parts: restore lost durability.

Even if broken, above would apply.

On horde night, I do sometimes have to make emergency repairs to the guns.

Fine.  I don't keep the spare gunparts on me, but, could keep a few if needed.

depends on the durability loss.

Lower durability means I gotta fix it more often, means lower dura.. so...

Smiple in theory, no clue whatsoever about how hard to implement.

Or, could just leave things as they are.  :D

 
It would be really interesting if there was a meaningful trade-off between keeping your best weapons fully repaired versus trying to find better weapons. As an example, you could change some POIs to have a higher loot quality bonus, but massively fewer "loot-room" containers. 
i like the idea but at the same time i got to agree with Madmole.

its a mix for me :)

 
Hi MM,

I get restarting another playthrough and doing it again can be fun but continuing on is also a fun adventure that is enjoyable.

For example, my brother and I love exploring and leveling and know once the game finally goes gold we will continue to play our worlds even after beating the main quest.  I will definitely be doing some modding so we can keep playing 7d2d for as long as possible....at least until 7d2d2 comes out....🤣

Edit: hopefully legendary items will be enough to keep looting still relevant/fun after players have peaked out in the looting game.
Legendary will be sort of like finding another tier, or be how a pink stone axe is compared to a brown iron pick. You might see a yellow legendary Iron pick that is arguably better than a pink steel pick. A choice!

 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top