PC Alpha 20 Dev Diary

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In terms of the dismemberment shown off, I'd really rather not see it in the game if it doesn't affect the zombies attack range (and don't tell me zombies can bit you from an entire meter away). It was pretty jarring to see a zombie with no arms still be able to swing his invisible arms and still hit you from a meter away

 
Doomofman said:
In terms of the dismemberment shown off, I'd really rather not see it in the game if it doesn't affect the zombies attack range (and don't tell me zombies can bit you from an entire meter away). It was pretty jarring to see a zombie with no arms still be able to swing his invisible arms and still hit you from a meter away
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This already exist in current version. I like the new system, looks good and cant wait for more polished version.

 
v3tro said:
This already exist in current version. I like the new system, looks good and cant wait for more polished version.
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Does it? I don't remember ever seeing a no-armed zombie doing that clap animation and hitting me. Maybe it was just seeing it out of context on the stream that made it seem odd but I feel like no arms should reduce reach or just disable certain attack animations

 
Doomofman said:
Does it? I don't remember ever seeing a no-armed zombie doing that clap animation and hitting me. Maybe it was just seeing it out of context on the stream that made it seem odd but I feel like no arms should reduce reach or just disable certain attack animations
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In the current game most hits do not cut off limbs, there is just a chance that it will happen (at least I remember it happening on occasion with legs). And I assume that it is the same chance to cut off the head with a headshot. Consequently you seldom see a zombie with both arms cut off because he will often be dead before random chance allows both arms to be gone. Players can't depend on it or use it as a strategy because it is not happening often enough

Now if they increased the chance for cutting limbs off (though I haven't heard of such a change) then the chance to get armless zombies would increase as well. In that case I would hope that they also change it so zombies dish out less damage (not 0 because they can still bite) when their arms are off, because players will use it as a tactic and expect it to work

 
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meganoth said:
In the current game most hits do not cut off limbs, there is just a chance that it will happen (at least I remember it happening on occasion with legs). And I assume that it is the same chance to cut off the head with a headshot. Consequently you seldom see a zombie with both arms cut off because he will often be dead before random chance allows both arms to be gone. Players can't depend on it or use it as a strategy because it is not happening often enough

Now if they increased the chance for cutting limbs off (though I haven't heard of such a change) then the chance to get armless zombies would increase as well. In that case I would hope that they also change it so zombies dish out less damage (not 0 because they can still bite) when their arms are off, because players will use it as a tactic and expect it to work
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I think they did something to increase the chance of dismemberment during the stream just for the purpose of showing it off, but I might be wrong. If I'm right then all that is changing is that you get some animation and art instead of the limb just disappearing. If I'm wrong then dismemberment might getting more common.

 
dcsobral said:
I think they did something to increase the chance of dismemberment during the stream just for the purpose of showing it off, but I might be wrong. If I'm right then all that is changing is that you get some animation and art instead of the limb just disappearing. If I'm wrong then dismemberment might getting more common.
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I'm guessing they fudged the probabilities for the demo. Dismemberment should be a semi-special event when it happens.

Wasn't dismemberment super common when they first introduced it and then got toned down later with an added perk to increase the chance? New systems like this tend to go through balance passes. Anyone remember when broken legs were first introduced? 😅

 
I didn't get to watch the stream last night.  I know there is a special dev mod you can put on any melee weapon that allows you to test dismemberment.  Looks like a candy cane.  Should be in A19 already.

 
My feedback on last night's dev stream:

New quests are cool and well done. Lathan is a cheap "mustard" and didn't show all of it under crap allegations of spoilers and the like which we might forgive when a20 is out  :D  . Very nice work though, quests are a lot of work. Twitch integration is a bit "meh" for people who doesn't use it. It's just like "McDonalds" integration: nice and fun to code but ultimately "meh". I would've liked to see more non-npc quests for this (like: "bring me 4 pimp hats and clear". "retrieve the note but don't read it", "clear and bring me 50 cloth and fetch the satchel contents", "blew up X block in a location", "discover what happened at -location- bia reading or whatever" ....etc) and NOT that "meh" feature that is Twitch integration for non-Twitch users.  

Zack's stuff sounds good. Or not. It depends on if you have a bed and 2 children or if you are standing on one leg and hopping into the sunset. Then it might sound better. Those things happen everytime, he just took the short straw this time. Nevertheless I love his work and the Blood Moon music was awesome.

Everything that Shawn did was whole, good, meaningful and amazing as always. Vehicle mods, grass, wind, weather, Zd's duck behaviour, high impact optimizations, etc. I know he is married, but still my favourite, lol.

The drone was impressive. It is a HUGE system with lots and lots of niche cases and even then he fixed and shipped them ALL (except maybe the sneaking-sound behaviour for the drone). I didn't expect it to be so polished and well done, it definitely was the right choice to wait for it to cook properly AND with mods. There's always bugs, but it was one of my favourites. Well done Steven! 

 
Can we get an option or an override to enable all footsteps? I understand you guys want sleepers to be scary, but this setting is infuriating for a lot of us. It is especially disorienting when you are staring at a zombie walking towards you and it is completely silent.

I've tried multiple times to try and edit it myself in the settings with no luck.

 
Blake_ said:
My feedback on last night's dev stream:

New quests are cool and well done. Lathan is a cheap "mustard" and didn't show all of it under crap allegations of spoilers and the like which we might forgive when a20 is out  :D  . Very nice work though, quests are a lot of work. Twitch integration is a bit "meh" for people who doesn't use it. It's just like "McDonalds" integration: nice and fun to code but ultimately "meh". I would've liked to see more non-npc quests for this (like: "bring me 4 pimp hats and clear". "retrieve the note but don't read it", "clear and bring me 50 cloth and fetch the satchel contents", "blew up X block in a location", "discover what happened at -location- bia reading or whatever" ....etc) and NOT that "meh" feature that is Twitch integration for non-Twitch users.  

Zack's stuff sounds good. Or not. It depends on if you have a bed and 2 children or if you are standing on one leg and hopping into the sunset. Then it might sound better. Those things happen everytime, he just took the short straw this time. Nevertheless I love his work and the Blood Moon music was awesome.

Everything that Shawn did was whole, good, meaningful and amazing as always. Vehicle mods, grass, wind, weather, Zd's duck behaviour, high impact optimizations, etc. I know he is married, but still my favourite, lol.

The drone was impressive. It is a HUGE system with lots and lots of niche cases and even then he fixed and shipped them ALL (except maybe the sneaking-sound behaviour for the drone). I didn't expect it to be so polished and well done, it definitely was the right choice to wait for it to cook properly AND with mods. There's always bugs, but it was one of my favourites. Well done Steven! 
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The grass shown yesterday was amazing. That sounds silly on the face of it, but there you go. Big kudos to Shawn and to the artists involved in it! But then you add the weather effects and it went to a whole other level! Awesome!

 
Laz Man said:
I didn't get to watch the stream last night.  I know there is a special dev mod you can put on any melee weapon that allows you to test dismemberment.  Looks like a candy cane.  Should be in A19 already.
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Naw they didn't use nothing special as far as items. Just a normal club and machete. But he did tell him to put in something in the console commands. I forget what it was but that is why it was happening.

 
dcsobral said:
The grass shown yesterday was amazing. That sounds silly on the face of it, but there you go. Big kudos to Shawn and to the artists involved in it! But then you add the weather effects and it went to a whole other level! Awesome!
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True that. Grass wasn't "made" by faatal, along with all the assets and POIs and the drone wasn't "made" by Steven along with the visual mods in it, but the code and the bugs, -even though less apparent at first sight- are always miles above a 30-day 3d model. Programming takes months. A whole 3d model, no matter how detailed, can be made in little less than a month, month and a half counting animations and bugs. Still waaay less than AI behaviour (both single and multiplayer), which takes 10+ months to get in top shape.

 
Blake_ said:
True that. Grass wasn't "made" by faatal, along with all the assets and POIs and the drone wasn't "made" by Steven along with the visual mods in it, but the code and the bugs, -even though less apparent at first sight- are always miles above a 30-day 3d model. Programming takes months. A whole 3d model, no matter how detailed, can be made in little less than a month, month and a half counting animations and bugs. Still waaay less than AI behaviour (both single and multiplayer), which takes 10+ months to get in top shape.
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Its cool to appreciate any given aspect of development.  However, its a team effort and there is no reason to draw lines which component is  greater/lessor.

 
Regarding dismemberment... guys, remember that Lathan often activates "max skills" before demoing, so the chance to behead and cripple was very high!  :crutch:

 
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