PC Alpha 20 Dev Diary

[Guppycur]

Console sold great with ugly UMA presets and zero customization. If we have a similar amount of heads it should be just fine. The CPU savings deleting all those bones/morphs/bloat data wouldn't hurt either. Anyhow this is months out as we've pushed new characters to A21 so even I don't have an answer as to what we're actually doing.

Fair enough, but I'd like to state the obvious... console gamers have MUCH lower expectations than PC gamers, as they are an inferior species.

 

[Adam the Waster]

New pipe rifle looking nice!

 

[Guppycur]

I'd like to once we get bandits in, so that somewhere along the way they try to intercept the package.

You once told this story about bandits riding up in their gun-mounted jeep harassing player bases... I know that was an idea in your head, but how close to reality is that?

 

[SheeleMara]

I'd like to once we get bandits in, so that somewhere along the way they try to intercept the package.

 A potential stand-in for the time being would be a fetch quest that you turn in to a different trader. 

 

[SheeleMara]

Could just find/harvest scrap brass and ditch the trophies, knobs, etc.

 Well if you want to go a step farther you could introduce copper, tin, and zinc deposits into the game and then have the ability to create bronze and brass through smelting. That way if you wanted to expand the early game even farther you could have "Copper" and "Bronze" Ages bridging the gap between the "Stone" and "Iron" Ages. 

 

[Spuder]

Had this alpha 16 preview video come up in my YouTube feed. Any chance we get this flamethrower trap added to the game? Looks like a model was made at one point in time.

 

[dgneo]

Hi,

first i will say thank you to all the devs!

So pls i have a Question. For me it will we massive more interresting when the Zombies are harder, so can you add "Big Boss" Zombies? I mean Boss Monters who can only killed by more than one player, like world boss?

Thank you.

 

[jasonsaffle13]

 Was looking and did not see any mention but I was wondering about weather. I miss the daytime/night time weather swings and early game not wanting to go out when it rains. The thunderstorms would scare the hell out of my wife.

 Sometimes we also go back and play old Alphas just to get the gore blocks. I know they were either loved or hated but we liked the way horde bodies could pile up until they could get over a wall but I understand they were a big performance hit.

 

[Empyreal_Eagle]

Are there plans to make the damage shown on zombies more realistic? For example like Left 4 Dead 2 you can make bullet holes in zombies and cuts with axes and swords. I would love to see the addition of visible damage on zombies from the various weapon types. Bullet holes based on the weapon used. Smaller holes for smaller caliber weapons and larger for shotguns and high power rifles. It would also be great to see more realistic animations/reactions from the zombies being shot or hit. I would also like to see more blood from the zombies when damaging them especially from high powered weapons.

 

[faatal]

 Was looking and did not see any mention but I was wondering about weather. I miss the daytime/night time weather swings and early game not wanting to go out when it rains. The thunderstorms would scare the hell out of my wife.

 Sometimes we also go back and play old Alphas just to get the gore blocks. I know they were either loved or hated but we liked the way horde bodies could pile up until they could get over a wall but I understand they were a big performance hit.

Weather changes were not planned for a20, but after noticing the state of the code, that it was not gold quality, I ended up spending a lot of December overhauling it. The overhaul is basically done, but the simulation parameters are still being tweaked and needs testing/feedback. Now the players reaction to the weather is completely separate, so this does not change what happens to the player being hot/cold/wet/etc.

This is going to seem like I'm trying to be funny, but I'm not. I would like to know

would it be possible to add an if\then parameter to the general xml files.

Abstract Example: If player vector3 property name="lightsource" >20 then wake entity Sightrange=Sightrange+20.

So if you have a flashlight on it instantly increases the sight awareness of zombies farther away.

It is very simliar to Cvar and passive_effect but would possibly extend the range of customization, it can be used with

an absolute value, a <=>, or a min max to adjust anything from AI response under certain conditions, to weather shifts,

depending on vector3 location.

The amount of logic we already run from xml adds a good amount of overhead to the game. It could be added, but it would be slow, so not likely.

 

[n2n1]

fatal, please pay attention to the random number generator algorithms.

Because of its "stuck", it often happens that events that depend on randomness are repeated.

(or a set of loot in the same types containers, if they are robbed in a row - is repeated).

 

[meganoth]

fatal, please pay attention to the random number generator algorithms.

Because of its "stuck", it often happens that events that depend on randomness are repeated.

(or a set of loot in the same types containers, if they are robbed in a row - is repeated).

Best way to reproduce it might be to look at quest rewards in a co-op scenario. In our game we often got offered the same rewards. I just didn't realize until now that that looks like it could be a bug.

 

[Nekrolysis]

Made an account because I just had to ask after noticing this in a recent play session: Will vehicle handling and the way they interact with the environment get a look over? Right now it's real easy to get stuck on slopes that very much look like they should be able to be traversed. Something I'd like to see for them would be a toggle for them to go max speed, and have a speed boost for using the roads. Maybe in the future we can get highways? og: Or weapons for my car so I can play twisted metal while I'm playing 7days. 

 

[Spuder]

With the new random gen how will the traders work with the new districts? It was mentioned in the last stream there might be 2 traders in the forest, and then 1 per the other biomes.

I guess the question I have is will the traders still be in the cities or will they move back out in the “country” so to speak like A17?

I defiantly think them moving out of the city would help make the trader quest more valuable as it would be harder to find them.

 

[faatal]

fatal, please pay attention to the random number generator algorithms.

Because of its "stuck", it often happens that events that depend on randomness are repeated.

(or a set of loot in the same types containers, if they are robbed in a row - is repeated).

A correct random number generator gives you random numbers. We use an industry standard random number generator, so it does work. Truly random does mean you could get the same thing many times in a row, which people often don't like and want something less random.

Now the seed used for the random generator could cause issues if not varied enough or reused/repeated.

 

[n2n1]

A correct random number generator gives you random numbers. We use an industry standard random number generator, so it does work. Truly random does mean you could get the same thing many times in a row, which people often don't like and want something less random.

Now the seed used for the random generator could cause issues if not varied enough or reused/repeated.

This is all clear.

But what about the nearest repeating events? It doesn't matter what's in the reasoning - now we get another negative result of work this new system.

Agree - that if something is repaired by breaking something else - this is not a good decision.

In addition, if this system works to get something few times successively - i suspect that it works and in the opposite direction, not allowing something to appear...

 

[Tahaan]

A correct random number generator gives you random numbers. We use an industry standard random number generator, so it does work. Truly random does mean you could get the same thing many times in a row, which people often don't like and want something less random.

Now the seed used for the random generator could cause issues if not varied enough or reused/repeated.

The problem is this:  If you make a copy of your save before you loot a house, and then loot it, then restore the saved game and loot it again in the exact same order, you get the exact same loot.  So it isn't very random.

FWIW I only know about this because it was reported in the Bugs report section by someone.

 

[Toy truck]

For character overhaul we talkin about character customization, beacuse im tired of the limited options we have or is this something that is not important right now.

Assuming  the only thing that makes a difference is the armor sets.

 

[petruherro]

@faatal Hello! Was the game upgraded to use the unity job system/burst compiler?

 

[JamesKirk]

A correct random number generator gives you random numbers. We use an industry standard random number generator, so it does work. Truly random does mean you could get the same thing many times in a row, which people often don't like and want something less random.

Now the seed used for the random generator could cause issues if not varied enough or reused/repeated.

So it is intented that each party member gets the same reward?? I just noticed it again in my multiplayer. My buddy and I got exact the same reward in the last four quests.