PC Alpha 19 Dev Diary

[madmole]

Yeah, although if you are actually playing stealthy you are usually moving around slowly and doing POIs slower, so the exp would be as a reward for going slower and trying to get every sneak attack kill you can. 

I have not played a build like that for very long though, so it might be overkill, or there might be better ways to balance the exp gain in that type of build.  It was just a thought.

Yeah but you can pick up kills the non stealthy guy cannot, like at night I snipe everything with a bow where using a gun you will get the whole woods coming after you sometimes.

 

[Aldranon]

I'm not worried about it. People said they wouldn't use candy LOL.

I rarely use candy.  I keep 2 "Oh Sheetz" on my 8 spot in my toolbelt once I get a Gyrocopter.  But that will probably change now that I'm much better at flying the thing.  (and not hitting the "E" key!).

The other one was the Safe cracker.  But now that I have a good, fully modded auger, I don't need that.

I know some really love them, however.

 

[JCrook1028]

I suppose Trolland got tired of people hopping on their bike at the end of the horde.

You do know Roland is not a Dev right? Just a forum mod. He makes zero game decisions....

What exactly do you think you are "losing"? Yep, we're losing a quick hashed together prototype idea that used UMA stuff pasted together but in the process are gaining 12000 polygons,

and what gameplay options are those new polygons gonna cost us? Like the toasters do, and the microwaves..... Stop with eating up preformance for graphics.

People typically do not like change. I'm sure all the doubters will be silenced once they've experience the new screamer model first-hand

Not the issue at all. Yes I do like the ring girl look. It's a nice eatse egg kind of thing. Fits the theme of playing the playing off of names TFP does in store names etc. My real issue tho is they are lately concentrating so much on the graphics that they are having to cut zombies from the world to keep it running. Gameplay trumps graphics in my eyes.

Today while playing A19 I was thinking... does anyone use Moldy Bread?

I always throw it away, seems like a waste of inventory space to me.

If they remove it from the game no one will notice probably.  hwell:

over 2000 hours, never once used it.

I'm not worried about it. People said they wouldn't use candy LOL.

and I haven't....

 

[FileMachete]

Likely already on the list; an anaconda sized, venom spitting rattlesnake.

And I'd imagine with the designers super-camo-skill (I'd swear 1/3 of the zeds designs -begin- with a trashpile and they work from there) these monster snakes will blend in so well with the desert terrain that most of us will wind up climbing 'a small mound' and getting eaten..

Good excuse for a mad sound bite of the rattle. Harvest the venom sacks. Now decide if you use them to make anti-venom or make special ammo that's particularly effective against another new special.

For fun: Snakeskin boots & jacket. Got a vulture on your tail riding through the desert? Drive by one of these big bois and watch it snatch that pesky chicken right out of the air

Ladders? This thing's 30 feet long. If you build a 4 block high base in his territory you're going to turn around and see him looking you dead in the eye. Hope that's bulletproof glass not bars in the windows.

---

On the spelling/grammar bit, all good here, and I thought the immediate follow on bits were really funny

 

[Gazz]

and what gameplay options are those new polygons gonna cost us? Like the toasters do, and the microwaves..... Stop with eating up preformance for graphics.

That is not how it works.

 

[MechanicalLens]

and what gameplay options are those new polygons gonna cost us? Like the toasters do, and the microwaves..... Stop with eating up preformance for graphics.

 

[Roland]

You do know Roland is not a Dev right? Just a forum mod. He makes zero game decisions....

er....thank you for putting me in my place....

Now Trolland on the other hand is more of a philosophy. Much bigger than any one moderator or even developer....

That is not how it works.

More so the beginning and middle.

 

[EggsAisle]

and what gameplay options are those new polygons gonna cost us? Like the toasters do, and the microwaves..... Stop with eating up preformance for graphics. [...] My real issue tho is they are lately concentrating so much on the graphics that they are having to cut zombies from the world to keep it running. Gameplay trumps graphics in my eyes.

Nah, 12,000 polygons is no sweat for a computer nowadays. It's like the difference between moving your finger 1mm or 12mm. So unless you're trying to play this on like a PS2 or something, I wouldn't worry too much about the polygon count. Now (to paraphrase MM) if some modder made a 12,000 polygon coffeemaker and some genius decided to build 500 of them in his base, yeah, that'd be trouble. But under normal circumstances there are only a a few screamers around at a time. 

There *are* performance bottlenecks regarding how Unity handles things, but I don't really understand the particulars. They've talked about one of them in this thread: "something something texture streaming something something memory something" was about all I got out of it, though. Would be interested to learn more if someone felt like making an effortpost about it.

 

[JCrook1028]

er....thank you for putting me in my place....

No insult intended at all. You fulfill your role, Devs fulfill their's.

Nah, 12,000 polygons is no sweat for a computer nowadays. It's like the difference between moving your finger 1mm or 12mm. So unless you're trying to play this on like a PS2 or something, I wouldn't worry too much about the polygon count. Now (to paraphrase MM) if some modder made a 12,000 polygon coffeemaker and some genius decided to build 500 of them in his base, yeah, that'd be trouble. But under normal circumstances there are only a a few screamers around at a time. 

There *are* performance bottlenecks regarding how Unity handles things, but I don't really understand the particulars. They've talked about one of them in this thread: "something something texture streaming something something memory something" was about all I got out of it, though. Would be interested to learn more if someone felt like making an effortpost about it.

By MM's own words we cannot have the vanilla coffee maker (not anything a modder did) because it eats too many textures. Same goes for all the paints we lost.

1 hour ago, MechanicalLens said:

But it is and has been. MM himself said we cannot have the coffeemaker because it east up textures and would slow down the game itself. Same reason we lost paints. Fact is graphics HAVE cost us gameplay elements.

 

[Laynie]

Now that I think about it, maybe mistress Tilly might be be the day'time peaceful screamer with a mask! This would explains her "kids" that she needs to feed?

Exactly

Hey, your new profile pic looks sweet, kudos to whoever came up with it.

Hehe yeah they're a genius

 

[Dethar]

No insult intended at all. You fulfill your role, Devs fulfill their's.

By MM's own words we cannot have the vanilla coffee maker (not anything a modder did) because it eats too many textures. Same goes for all the paints we lost.

But it is and has been. MM himself said we cannot have the coffeemaker because it east up textures and would slow down the game itself. Same reason we lost paints. Fact is graphics HAVE cost us gameplay elements.

Because coffee makers are in game like screamers, but screamer needs update. Players adding coffee makers everywhere is big difference than occasional screamer.

Unless you are like me and have 6 forges and 2 chem stations going. I dont add deco to my bases tho.

 

[alanea]

But it is and has been. MM himself said we cannot have the coffeemaker because it east up textures and would slow down the game itself. Same reason we lost paints. Fact is graphics HAVE cost us gameplay elements.

 oh  you mean all those paints removed  in a17 ? same alpha that drastically worsened perfomance (cpu/gpu/ram wise)?

well considering how the small amount of textures left in game that still run quite awfull (and can bloat to 20GB+ ram after prolonged gameplay despite denial of  memory leaks)

its probably time to search whats rotten inside instead limiting textures.. zombie spawns ... cofee makers or anything else

 

[Xtrakicking]

But it is and has been. MM himself said we cannot have the coffeemaker because it east up textures and would slow down the game itself. Same reason we lost paints. Fact is graphics HAVE cost us gameplay elements.

Not exactly. What madmole said is that they don't want people crafting coffeemakers because they will abuse it and destroy the performance of servers by crafting and placing hundreds of them. Not the same situation with the graphical improvement of the zombies, which come with performance improvements on their own too.

 

[Jay_ombie]

Today while playing A19 I was thinking... does anyone use Moldy Bread?

I always throw it away, seems like a waste of inventory space to me.

If they remove it from the game no one will notice probably.  hwell:

What we need are way more

crafting alternatives. There to many one item = one outcome types floating around. Like mouldy bread, and glass jars etc. 

One craft tree to something is fine but if we had two or three routes to craft a item using different ingredients it would bring more verity and some could have certain perks depending on what is used to get there. 

 

[MechanicalLens]

Not exactly. What madmole said is that they don't want people crafting coffeemakers because they will abuse it and destroy the performance of servers by crafting and placing hundreds of them. Not the same situation with the graphical improvement of the zombies, which come with performance improvements on their own too.

I also recall madmole saying that they were already paying for the expense of the zombies and only now are they taking full advantage of that cost.

 

[Reckis]

The Pistol was because I'd just crafted a Q3 one the night before. (I know this is why. It's just like washing your car. Really.)

This happens to me all the damn time, LOL! That or the Q5 that I just crafted is worse than the Q3 I looted a few days ago

These days I pretty much let my wife do all the weapon/armor crafting because I literally have the WORST luck in that department

 

[Reckis]

If I misread your posts I apologize. No I dont want a lore.doc lol. I am looking forward to your story though. Like a LOT. Been playing for years and cant wait to experience the story of what I have enjoyed all this time. I thought there was a chance we wouldnt get to see that story and it shook me for a second.

I totally misunderstood this one too and made a seriously *sad face* . . .

For once Jax's doom and gloom paid off and MM explained it better . . .

 

[kebab39]

Not exactly. What madmole said is that they don't want people crafting coffeemakers because they will abuse it and destroy the performance of servers by crafting and placing hundreds of them. Not the same situation with the graphical improvement of the zombies, which come with performance improvements on their own too.

Maybe next he could remove hatches because they are used as building plate armor and 4000 of them in base cuts fps to single digits. Then doors, drawbridges and maybe all stations too. /s But seriously, anything that is not a cube can be abused to drop performance.

 

[madmole]

and what gameplay options are those new polygons gonna cost us? Like the toasters do, and the microwaves..... Stop with eating up preformance for graphics.

Not the issue at all. Yes I do like the ring girl look. It's a nice eatse egg kind of thing. Fits the theme of playing the playing off of names TFP does in store names etc. My real issue tho is they are lately concentrating so much on the graphics that they are having to cut zombies from the world to keep it running. Gameplay trumps graphics in my eyes.

over 2000 hours, never once used it.

and I haven't....

None, artists aren't programmers so upgrading art has zero impact on game play.

She still looks inpired from the original, but looks scarier.

We aren't cutting zombies to make room for new ones. We are cutting ones that you would never see in 1000 days in a real apocalypse like cheerleaders and football players. There will be more unique hd zombies than ever soon enough. Most people have better performance now than ever.
 

 

[MechanicalLens]

None, artists aren't programmers so upgrading art has zero impact on game play.

She still looks inpired from the original, but looks scarier.

We aren't cutting zombies to make room for new ones. We are cutting ones that you would never see in 1000 days in a real apocalypse like cheerleaders and football players. There will be more unique hd zombies than ever soon enough. Most people have better performance now than ever.
 

I second the last part. I'm consistently getting 100-120 FPS, other times as "low" as 60-80. I haven't gotten those numbers in a couple alphas. Kudos.