PC Alpha 20 Dev Diary

[HeemboGlobin]

@faatal Seeing the new awesome street prefabs used in POI towns, is it planned to make the dynamically spawned roads have similar dividing lines and look more natural at some point (or somehow replace dynamic roads with prefab chunks)? If not strictly planned is anything being considered at all regarding the roads, or has that been internally ruled out?

Also on a related note about roads, is it planned to have power lines along the dynamic roads at some point? I think Madmole may have told me a long time ago in a livestream that that was planned, not sure if things changed though.

And another unrelated question, I realize this is a fairly far-off thing to ask about seeing as even NPCs aren't in yet, but are there any broad plans to add a reputation system to the game in some form once factions are implemented? Maybe something like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. where for instance killing a certain dude might make the faction he belonged to hostile to the player but may increase rep with factions that oppose that NPC's faction?

And related to that question, will there be faction-specific NPC patrols or the like spawning out in the world in addition to bandits? Something similar to, for instance, the Brotherhood of Steel from Fallout or such. Actually come to think of it the relevancy of my previous question kind of hinges on this question, since you can't @%$# off a faction in the way I described if there are no actual killable faction NPCs wandering around lol.

If it's too early to ask about factions I understand, just thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[faatal]

@faatal Seeing the new awesome street prefabs used in POI towns, is it planned to make the dynamically spawned roads have similar dividing lines and look more natural at some point (or somehow replace dynamic roads with prefab chunks)? If not strictly planned is anything being considered at all regarding the roads, or has that been internally ruled out?

Also on a related note about roads, is it planned to have power lines along the dynamic roads at some point? I think Madmole may have told me a long time ago in a livestream that that was planned, not sure if things changed though.

And another unrelated question, I realize this is a fairly far-off thing to ask about seeing as even NPCs aren't in yet, but are there any broad plans to add a reputation system to the game in some form once factions are implemented? Maybe something like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. where for instance killing a certain dude might make the faction he belonged to hostile to the player but may increase rep with factions that oppose that NPC's faction?

And related to that question, will there be faction-specific NPC patrols or the like spawning out in the world in addition to bandits? Something similar to, for instance, the Brotherhood of Steel from Fallout or such. Actually come to think of it the relevancy of my previous question kind of hinges on this question, since you can't @%$# off a faction in the way I described if there are no actual killable faction NPCs wandering around lol.

If it's too early to ask about factions I understand, just thought I'd throw it out there.

You are asking the wrong guy. I don't really know what they are planning with any of that.

Well...I'm not going to limit @faatal so really "select zombies" means whichever zombies faatal selects. He might choose one or choose them all. Maybe he'll think it just as funny as you to watch a cop or a biker squeeze through. 

Yeah, that could go either way. I usually just make stuff up as I go based on what someone might have wanted modified by what I want.

This guy needed something different, so today he got a vomit burst attack. Artists may change those particles, since those are just mine.

 

[Adam the Waster]

So the Raidioactive boy (lets name him phill)

is a AOE attacker? or is ls just a specials move. 


Also @faatal i have some questions
 

• Is the feral weight going to stay the same in terms of ability's or is it going to stay the same
  
• is the new marksman rifle still going to uses 7.62 or 44?
  
• Are some of the things that got new models long ago (Deer, pigs, bears) will they get a new model to match the new Standard 
  

 

[faatal]

So the Raidioactive boy (lets name him phill)

is a AOE attacker? or is ls just a specials move. 

Also @faatal i have some questions

• Is the feral weight going to stay the same in terms of ability's or is it going to stay the same
  
• is the new marksman rifle still going to uses 7.62 or 44?
  
• Are some of the things that got new models long ago (Deer, pigs, bears) will they get a new model to match the new Standard 
  

It is just called the Rad zombie.

It is an AOE attacker by using its special move. It can still hit you like normal.

Feral weight?

Don't know.

Probably new models before gold.

 

[meilodasreh]

All the new weapons make it awesome and you CAN craft them from day 1 without needing a recipe so crafters can rejoice that they aren't so reliant upon loot and traders.

Really, not even locked behind a perk or anything, just have the mats and have one crafted from your backpack?

I would assume it at least requires a workbench or some tool (wrench?).

Else, what kind of character am I supposed to be, knowing how to makeshift things like guns from scrap, but can't figure out how to make coffee or bacon and eggs without a recipe.

...oh wait,...Sheldon Cooper, right?

I see now.

Cool background story. Post-big-bang zombie apocalypse.

oh and occasionally Jen will drop a hint towards that as well.

Anything Jen drops will be much apprechiated.

 

[MechanicalLens]

Will A20 experimental be available for the public when it releases, or will it be a closed experimental that is locked behind a dedicated testing team? Just wondering.  Also, which business decision would be wiser?

 

[playlessNamer]

loooong time ago any dev announced a stamp system for biomes but i havnt hearded anything about it anymore. He say this system can spawn prebuild things into any biomes like a nice looking little stonearch in the desert or lakes in the forest. Technically a cosmetic poi spawning system into wilderness.

I think there was a screenshot of a stonearch in the desert too.

Is this still on the plan? This sounds to awesome to have little sweet designed poi everywhere in the wilderness.

I imagine a oasis in the desert, ancient stonecircles in the forest, gigantic prebuild canyon fit into landscape and also very small destroyed wood cabins in the outback, ..

I think this was years ago talked about and i cant find it anymore. You know what i talk about?

 

[onark]

Hi, I really hope devs read my personal opinion, I love this game since years ago but I'm tired of starting a new game over and over again, I want to play in a creative game for creating perdurable buildings and things such as this, wasting multiple hours for something, not for losing everything each x months. Just leave it as it is now and start to develope a new game, like 7D2D2 if you want, that way you can do every new thing you want but without the pressure of fandom.

 

[Survager]

It is just called the Rad zombie.

It is an AOE attacker by using its special move. It can still hit you like normal.

Feral weight?

Don't know.

Probably new models before gold.

Shouldn't he throw bunches aimed at the player, as the zombie Cop does?

 

[Naz]

@faatal If you have a sec could you look at these performance tweaks and share your thoughts? if they check out with you, they could give a substantial boost to performance in a20 and they're small changes. I can measure that things are better with them, but i still don't understand the "how" they work as well as they do and i don't know if there are any potential issues running the game with them.

1 is locking the game to 4 physical cores, helps more the more cores/threads you have. I saw a 20-25% improvement in Valheim with the same tweak so maybe it's a unity thing?

2 is editing a file called boot.config , this has a similar boost to the 4 core affinity tweak, however it's not compatible with eac, so currently it can only be used in sp. Using both of these tweaks substantially boost performance. I don't know how useful or practical to implement the 4 core affinity tweak could be, however the boot.config tweak is a very simple change and as long as there are no side effects it might be worth changing it in vanilla. It would also be nice to know what exactly the changes are and what they do

I'll leave benchmark numbers on 2 systems and details on the changes to the boot.config in the spoiler bellow (so i don't clutter up the thread )

 

Spoiler

All setting set to ultra except motion blurs disabled. The boot config tweak was brought up in this thread by DonDregon. The file in question is located here:
7 Days To Die\7DaysToDie_Data\boot.config


Current boot.config


Tweaked boot config


gfx-enable-native-gfx-jobs=
wait-for-native-de@%$#=0
scripting-runtime-version=latest
vr-enabled=0
hdr-display-enabled=0
gc-max-time-slice=3


gfx-enable-gfx-jobs=1
gfx-enable-native-gfx-jobs=1
wait-for-native-de@%$#=0
scripting-runtime-version=latest
vr-enabled=0
hdr-display-enabled=0
gc-max-time-slice=3

system 1
CPU: i7 6700K | GPU: 1080ti | Ram: 32GB DDR4 3000Mhz

system 2
CPU: R9 5950x | GPU: 3090 | Ram: 64GB DDR4 3600Mhz

 ​

 

[Roland]

Really, not even locked behind a perk or anything, just have the mats and have one crafted from your backpack?

I would assume it at least requires a workbench or some tool (wrench?).

Else, what kind of character am I supposed to be, knowing how to makeshift things like guns from scrap, but can't figure out how to make coffee or bacon and eggs without a recipe.

lol...funny but true. We cannot make bacon and eggs but we can throw together makeshift weapons with no special tool or workbench...just normal backpack crafting. Unless you perk into those weapon types you can only make the brown level of them and they are pretty garbage.  But if you get a quest reward of 150 rounds, its a nice feeling to craft up a gun that can use those rounds. Efficient way of playing and the best use of that ammo? No....but fun.

Have fun for six days and then weep on the seventh. That's my motto!

Will A20 experimental be available for the public when it releases, or will it be a closed experimental that is locked behind a dedicated testing team? Just wondering.  Also, which business decision would be wiser?

A20 will be released exactly like past alphas. There will be a streamer weekend and then the experimental will release on a Monday for anyone to play who goes to the beta opt-in interface on Steam and selects latest_experimental. Latest_experimental will not appear in the list of versions until that future Monday.

 

[Adam the Waster]

Feral weight?

i REALLY hate Auto correct 
"oh Grammarly will help you" I guess not

But what I was trying to ask was:  Will the Feral Wight get any new abilities?  

 

[Gamida]

Zombies cannot crawl through single blocks. They can crouch and duck under low roof ceilings like in the attic or through spaces that are less than two meters but more than 1 meter-- just like the player can.

Select zombies may someday be able to move through 1 meter holes horizontally but the players will always be limited to passing through 1 meter holes vertically. faatal explained that our backpacks full of vehicles and concrete prevent us from crawling through 1-meter holes. However, much like Santa, we can easily pack as much as we want up and down 1-meter holes.

any chance the ability to do it (when added for the zombies) can be turned on and off for players in xml or have a menu option. Will it be able to be modded at all or something hidden deep within the game code?

 

[Roland]

loooong time ago any dev announced a stamp system for biomes but i havnt hearded anything about it anymore. He say this system can spawn prebuild things into any biomes like a nice looking little stonearch in the desert or lakes in the forest. Technically a cosmetic poi spawning system into wilderness.

I think there was a screenshot of a stonearch in the desert too.

Is this still on the plan? This sounds to awesome to have little sweet designed poi everywhere in the wilderness.

I imagine a oasis in the desert, ancient stonecircles in the forest, gigantic prebuild canyon fit into landscape and also very small destroyed wood cabins in the outback, ..

I think this was years ago talked about and i cant find it anymore. You know what i talk about?

You don't have to look back toooo far. Just the beginning of this thread...

2) Random Generation Update

• New stamp tech that will allow artist created features such as mountains, hills, rivers, etc. to be placed in biomes. There will be a stable of different land features for the game to choose from.
  

 

[Blake_]

@faatal If you have a sec could you look at these performance tweaks and share your thoughts? if they check out with you, they could give a substantial boost to performance in a20 and they're small changes. I can measure that things are better with them, but i still don't understand the "how" they work as well as they do and i don't know if there are any potential issues running the game with them.

1 is locking the game to 4 physical cores, helps more the more cores/threads you have. I saw a 20-25% improvement in Valheim with the same tweak so maybe it's a unity thing?

2 is editing a file called boot.config , this has a similar boost to the 4 core affinity tweak, however it's not compatible with eac, so currently it can only be used in sp. Using both of these tweaks substantially boost performance. I don't know how useful or practical to implement the 4 core affinity tweak could be, however the boot.config tweak is a very simple change and as long as there are no side effects it might be worth changing it in vanilla. It would also be nice to know what exactly the changes are and what they do

I'll leave benchmark numbers on 2 systems and details on the changes to the boot.config in the spoiler bellow (so i don't clutter up the thread )

 

Spoiler

All setting set to ultra except motion blurs disabled. The boot config tweak was brought up in this thread by DonDregon. The file in question is located here:
7 Days To Die\7DaysToDie_Data\boot.config


Current boot.config


Tweaked boot config


gfx-enable-native-gfx-jobs=
wait-for-native-de@%$#=0
scripting-runtime-version=latest
vr-enabled=0
hdr-display-enabled=0
gc-max-time-slice=3


gfx-enable-gfx-jobs=1
gfx-enable-native-gfx-jobs=1
wait-for-native-de@%$#=0
scripting-runtime-version=latest
vr-enabled=0
hdr-display-enabled=0
gc-max-time-slice=3

system 1
CPU: i7 6700K | GPU: 1080ti | Ram: 32GB DDR4 3000Mhz


system 2
CPU: R9 5950x | GPU: 3090 | Ram: 64GB DDR4 3600Mhz
​

 ​

Wow. I'm telling you @faatal THAT is not spawn. And it works. 5%-15% average increase in fps on my potato GPU 780M with 4800MQ 4 core CPU. DDR3L RAM (dual channel 32gigs 1666Mhz). 

EAC was off and it was worse before modifying the boot. I'm not sure why it runs that much better for free, but I suspect telling the boot exactly what to do frees CPU and therefore increases performance to various degrees depending on your hardware.

It was like this for me: AVG-low: 24fps AVG-high: 94fps // And after applying the boot AVG-low: 32fps Avg high: 108fps. I didn't use a fps program (hence, the "Average" thing) but it was noticeable at plain sight. 

My video settings are that of a peasant of course, VSync off, Half quality textures and almost everything turned off except shadows, which are near, and view distance (high).

 

[Roland]

First post updated with link to the stream video, reveals from the stream bullet pointed below, as well as A20 experimental release date estimate from Rick.

Let me know if you feel I missed something important.

 

[MechanicalLens]

• All legacy zombies have been converted to new HD standard
  

What about the soldier? We haven't seen any mention of that one AFAIK

First post updated with link to the stream video, reveals from the stream bullet pointed below, as well as A20 experimental release date estimate from Rick.

Let me know if you feel I missed something important.

Trader balance - pushed to A21

 

[faatal]

Hi, I really hope devs read my personal opinion, I love this game since years ago but I'm tired of starting a new game over and over again, I want to play in a creative game for creating perdurable buildings and things such as this, wasting multiple hours for something, not for losing everything each x months. Just leave it as it is now and start to develope a new game, like 7D2D2 if you want, that way you can do every new thing you want but without the pressure of fandom.

Features and the data formats that back many features will continue to change until beta. Beta should happen before gold. That means previous alpha's worlds usually won't load. The simple way to lock in and not break your worlds is to not update the game, which would be similar to us saying hey we are done now and everything in the future is 7dtd 2.

Now if you locked in to a version, you would be missing all the new features. Like the massive pile of new block shapes coming in A20 and shape UI that goes with it.

Shouldn't he throw bunches aimed at the player, as the zombie Cop does?

I'd prefer new zombies not act like old zombies, since then it is just a reskin, which is boring.

But what I was trying to ask was:  Will the Feral Wight get any new abilities?

Maybe, but not planned.

 

[faatal]

@faatal If you have a sec could you look at these performance tweaks and share your thoughts? if they check out with you, they could give a substantial boost to performance in a20 and they're small changes. I can measure that things are better with them, but i still don't understand the "how" they work as well as they do and i don't know if there are any potential issues running the game with them.

1 is locking the game to 4 physical cores, helps more the more cores/threads you have. I saw a 20-25% improvement in Valheim with the same tweak so maybe it's a unity thing?

2 is editing a file called boot.config , this has a similar boost to the 4 core affinity tweak, however it's not compatible with eac, so currently it can only be used in sp. Using both of these tweaks substantially boost performance. I don't know how useful or practical to implement the 4 core affinity tweak could be, however the boot.config tweak is a very simple change and as long as there are no side effects it might be worth changing it in vanilla. It would also be nice to know what exactly the changes are and what they do

1 Makes sense since you want the main thread and graphics threads on the the best cores by themselves. Don't know how we would make Unity do that. Added to TODO list.

2 boot.config is generated by Unity during a build. We do not change it directly. gfx-enable-gfx-jobs=1 is already in A20's because graphics jobs is a player setting that was turned on months ago. I did not notice a performance boost, but it would depend on what your bottlenecks are.

Thanks

 

[faatal]

First post updated with link to the stream video, reveals from the stream bullet pointed below, as well as A20 experimental release date estimate from Rick.

Let me know if you feel I missed something important.

I added and edited a few things too.