PC Alpha 20 Dev Diary

[Alloc]

In short: no, it does not care about a serverconfig.xml.

- As the launcher runs the game with custom arguments it "can" not itself know about what's passed to the game.

- The launcher is for running the client, not a server. serverconfig.xml (as the name implies) is for running servers *only*. Using it to override prefs is not meant to be done by passing a config but rather the prefs themselves on the command line.

Not planning to add new prefs for logs, screenshots individually. That's what the idea of the UDF is: A place for storing files from the game (logs is a special case as the launcher has to pass the path to the executable, thus it is not aware of any custom UDF, thus always writes to the same location).

Not sure about the last question. If you mean provide a UI for selecting UDF: Maybe, but unlikely. For the regular user that's not helpful and for those that actually would use it setting the UDF pref should be sufficient, either by having one in the launcher, or even passing it to the launcher through shortcuts or batch files.

 

[Red Eagle LXIX]

I thought the command line option -configfile=<config file name> was the only way to pass many of the preference to the client.

This is the first I have ever heard that the preferences can be passed directly.  Can you shed some more insight, are all the configuration preferences supported directly on command line? 

Doesn't steam pass the command line argument to the launcher which then reads that argument and passes it on to the client.

(i.e. doesn't Steam do this (when added to command line in Steam launch options)(based on Alpha 20.3(b3)):

<GAMEPATH>\7dLauncher.exe -configfile=myconfigfile.xml

Then the Launcher does this:

<GAMEPATH>\7DaysToDie.exe -configfile=myconfigfile.xml -force-d3d11 -logfile <GAMEPATH>\7DaysToDie_Data\<LOGNAME>.txt

)

As such, the launcher does see the command line argument and just ignores it other than passing it downstream.

However, there is nothing that would prevent the launcher from reading the config file, as well as passing the argument along to the client.  Would the launcher see the directly passed method of setting the preferences you mentioned?

Also, just because the file is named serverconfig.xml doesn't mean based on the above command line option that it is forced to only the server.  It just means the source template file provided which makes a great starting point its often used for a server.  One could easily make a config file and call it SinnglePlayerConfig.xml and use the above command line argument.  The argument doesn't say only for server usage,.

 

[Alloc]

Yeah, game prefs are all supported, this had been added to A16. Mostly for server providers to force certain settings so customers would not hurt anything e.g. by setting random directories or ports, but obviously can also be used for any client.

Yes, Steam passes to launcher which passes anything non-launcher (-show-launcher, -from-steam, -skip-launcher) to the game.

But passing the arguments from within Steam does not seem like the typical case, as that would again mean you basically only have one location. Unless you'd only do it to not store anything on the default location.

As I said, it *might* consider a UDF specification, but it will definitely not read any serverconfig.xml.

 

[Ianua]

When are we getting the update for xbox one 

There is an entire thread dedicated to console and console updates. You will find your answer there.

 

[AndrewT]

the new biome layout made by the new region system is nice it adds to the realistic feel.

 

[Kalex]

Did they completely break stealth? Fully maxed out stealth, no armor, no light, crouched, not stepping on noise traps and as soon as you cross the threshold of the sleeper volume, they all wake up and come after. I know a number of streamers have been complaining about the same thing in their streams. The invisible line in some POIs is making stealth builds worthless.

 

[Jost Amman]

Did they completely break stealth? Fully maxed out stealth, no armor, no light, crouched, not stepping on noise traps and as soon as you cross the threshold of the sleeper volume, they all wake up and come after. I know a number of streamers have been complaining about the same thing in their streams. The invisible line in some POIs is making stealth builds worthless.

It's not how it works. When you enter a "trigger area" in POI, the trigger will wake up zombies, but if you stand still or move a bit away, depending on the situation, they will wander around but may not actually "see" you.

 

[Kalex]

It's not how it works. When you enter a "trigger area" in POI, the trigger will wake up zombies, but if you stand still or move a bit away, depending on the situation, they will wander around but may not actually "see" you.

This invisible triggers line completely defeats the purpose of stealth. Hell, I have been seeing them not even spawn in until AFTER the trigger point is hit. If I look into a room, I should be able to see any visible zeds and eliminate them and not have them magically appear in front of me when I bump a trigger line without lights or making noise and that is exactly what I and others have been seeing happen.

 

[Javabean867]

Did they completely break stealth? Fully maxed out stealth, no armor, no light, crouched, not stepping on noise traps and as soon as you cross the threshold of the sleeper volume, they all wake up and come after. I know a number of streamers have been complaining about the same thing in their streams. The invisible line in some POIs is making stealth builds worthless.

Part of the problem is with clear missions.  If they don't wake up at the trigger points, then it will take forever to finish those missions.  That is assuming that trigger poi ts actually exist...

There is a fun story about the borderlands game where people complained about the characters movement speed being too slow.  So they added more terrain features, didn't increase the movement speed,  and the complaints disappeared. 

It could simply be people's perception vs what is actually happening. 

 

[NekoPawtato]

If I look into a room, I should be able to see any visible zeds and eliminate them and not have them magically appear in front of me when I bump a trigger line

Regarding zombies magically spawning in your view, if you are following the "intended path", and this is a consistent thing that happens in a particular area of a specific POI, that would be a bug that you can report using the red banner at the top, I have reported a couple of those already. It's just a matter of them adjusting when the zombies spawn in.

You can see some of my example reports here, here and here all of which have been "confirmed" by the QA staff.

 

[Kalex]

Regarding zombies magically spawning in your view, if you are following the "intended path", and this is a consistent thing that happens in a particular area of a specific POI, that would be a bug that you can report using the red banner at the top, I have reported a couple of those already. It's just a matter of them adjusting when the zombies spawn in.

You can see some of my example reports here, here and here all of which have been "confirmed" by the QA staff.

Honestly, it shouldn't matter if you are using the intended path or not. If they are in the sleeper volume, they should be visible triggered or not.

 

[Syphon583]

Honestly, it shouldn't matter if you are using the intended path or not. If they are in the sleeper volume, they should be visible triggered or not.

I could very well be wrong here, but I think the issue comes down to resources. Loading a bunch of zombies into a POI (especially large POIs where the sleeper volumes can be quite numerous) is going to be taxing on the players system. There are trigger points for several reasons, the biggest likely being that loading individual volumes at a time keeps the game running as smoothly as possible.

I don't disagree with you that it would be better the other way, but in a game like this with the engine they are using, I don't think it's possible. Another option I can think of is maybe there needs to be 2 trigger volumes, one larger volume that triggers the zombies to appear in the POI but keeps them as objects only (no AI enabled), and then a second slightly smaller that "wakes" them (not literally wakes them, necessarily, but enables their AI). This might keep zombie volumes from waking up that aren't supposed to wake up until a certain point.

To your original post regarding the ability to sneak around and kill all of the zombies silently – I never disregard someone else playstyle. I for one love being able to sneak through a POI to stealthily take out all of the Z's. However, I would find the game quite boring if I was ALWAYS able to do that, especially in high-tier POIs. It's those "oh s&*t" moments that really make the game more exciting to me and I have to actually strategize the way I clear a building.

 

[Roland]

Honestly, it shouldn't matter if you are using the intended path or not. If they are in the sleeper volume, they should be visible triggered or not.

I agree that they should spawn into the volume before the player gets to it. However I don't agree that they have to all stay asleep. You can still be stealthy vs awake enemies and kill them before they are aware of you. Most of the time when the zombies wake up they are NOT aware of you. I do hope that they can fix those POIs that have zombies spawning into their spots right in front of your eyes but I disagree that "stealth" is defined as being able to kill only sleeping enemies.

 

[Kalex]

I agree that they should spawn into the volume before the player gets to it. However I don't agree that they have to all stay asleep. You can still be stealthy vs awake enemies and kill them before they are aware of you. Most of the time when the zombies wake up they are NOT aware of you. I do hope that they can fix those POIs that have zombies spawning into their spots right in front of your eyes but I disagree that "stealth" is defined as being able to kill only sleeping enemies.

Every time in the instances I was referring to, all of them in the volume are instantly aware of you and come running.

 

[Roland]

Every time in the instances I was referring to, all of them in the volume are instantly aware of you and come running.

It can seem like that and I'm not saying they weren't aware of you in those instances. But a lot of times they are aware of where they heard the noise and they start running for that and if you crouch and shift away fast enough they go to the spot you were and don't go after you at all but, of course, if you stay there or openly defend yourself they will then see you and attack you. You can even keep a rock on your belt and the instant they wake up throw the rock. They will often either go for the rock right away or they will go to the spot where the noise was and then go to where the rock landed. I have tested this over and over and many times it really seemed like they were coming right at me but they did not and if I didn't switch right away to melee or guns blazing I could remain in stealth and headshot them one by one. 

That being said, sometimes they do come right at you and there is no time to crouch into the shadows or around a corner so you are absolutely correct that it does happen.

 

[spud42]

mind you it is a bit silly to crouch just outside a door and see a line of 4 zombies that you can shoot 1 by 1 with a crossbow.

Should a zombie wake up if the zombie in front of it gets headshot and ragdolls a somersault over its head??? 

 

[meganoth]

mind you it is a bit silly to crouch just outside a door and see a line of 4 zombies that you can shoot 1 by 1 with a crossbow.

Should a zombie wake up if the zombie in front of it gets headshot and ragdolls a somersault over its head??? 

That should depend on whether the judges give the somersault a technical score better than 4.0.

 

[thornnnn]

i didnt even have arrow slits.. they could see me inside windowless base.. and shot thru walls with vomit.. damaging all my interior boxes.. if cops can shoot your boxes thru walls this game is broken..