PC Alpha 20 Dev Diary

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Roland said:
Because they felt it needed more work. There are many examples in the industry of studios who release incomplete updates simply because they were directed to release on the date that was given ready or not. In this case there was no official date given-- only an estimate and when that date came they decided to keep working on it internally rather than release it to experimental as it was.
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I really wasn't asking just wanted to do the impatient kid in the car thing, seems to happen every upcoming Alpha release. Honestly I don't why so many complaints, it's had updates for 8 years now and it always seems fresh with every update really giving a replay factor. 

 
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Roland said:
TFP is not an employee. They are also committed to quality over meeting target estimates. 
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As they proved so far as you explained. 

For these, who haven`t seen how it started and how it is going, here: 


Spoiler




Hell yeah !!

*shooting at the ceiling with revolver*

P.S. Thank you @skippy0330

 
faatal said:
I tried this with spotlight and shotgun turret and saw no issue.
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Because you need this. You should be able to reproduce it now 100%. Edit: Notice that you can reproduce this with every object with a camera preview, unknown if it's only the three mentioned in my report.




 
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Vapid Actions said:
Sometimes it's small things like on the first page here, changing the date of the expected release, deleting the old one as if it there never was an older timelines, sometimes it's more serious like the removal of the first video explaining the game's outline from kickstarter since the scope keeps changing.
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You are reading way too much into these actions. The replacing of the old date with the new date is completely on me and me alone and in no way meant to be some devious method of re-writing history or pretending the old estimate never existed...lol. I'm happy to take your feedback on that account and in the future will use strikeouts instead of deletion on outdated timelines so that the historical documentation can be preserved for those who care to know all the dates we missed. I also am the main one who updates and maintains the first post of the dev diary, adding whenever a developer reveals something so that a summary is available. Again, there was no intention on my part to try and hide or rewrite the historical evidence of changes made or to try and pretend that what we have now is exactly what was always planned to be. 

As for the removal of the first video-- I assume you mean from steam. It was simply because the gameplay footage no longer represented the game people were buying. That video was there forever and we received a ton of feedback over the years to please replace it with a more relevent video. We did that and then also added the live action trailer for the game as well. Lately, the requests for a new updated video have been coming in again.

As for that first video explaining the game's outline from kickstarter it is still available and hasn't been suppressed: https://v.kickstarter.com/1638406456_482cd0aabaa6fff949c191ec621142b7e293d126/projects/582117/video-267274-h264_high.mp4

 
faatal said:
I tried this with spotlight and shotgun turret and saw no issue.
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I've seen this as well. When adjusting the camera, sometimes your POV doesn't return to normal, but you now have the camera's POV for targeting. In the example shown by Blake, if you can see yourself in the camera view, sometimes when you leave the camera view, you can actually target yourself. This become apparent if you turn on the health bars via a Mod. In the screen where the (E) to pick up the frame should be, you'll see your health in the top. It's as if the camera targeting POV is hidden, but overlaid on your POV. I play Darkness Falls a lot, and run into this bug, it's more obvious what's happening. Relogging fixes it.

 
Roland said:
It is exactly the size it is meant to be. TFP has tried in the past doing smaller updates and it didn't work for them.
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The backend work TFP has done on major systems are solid examples that this update is just the size is needs to be: The work done on blocks, building menu, distant imposters, and RWG is a framework that will impact every update that comes after it. This kind of system engineering and coordination between teams has been great to see. This is a good direction to see and I hope this methodology is applied when overhauling other legacy systems.

Roland said:
No method is perfect and people will be critical of these large updates.
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Incremental creative process is about maintaining a currency of momentum and setting a course knowing it can be adjusted based on actual needs. The act of creating isn't always logical, binary, or linear -- art is never  truly 'perfect' or finished, it just gets released. Creation can sometimes be messy and feel unproductive. Failure is not just a key part of refining process or technique; sometimes in the flash of a single errant line soon to be erased you can see the clarity of vision that will dictate all future strokes. Taking a step back holds meaning when you know it lets you take another several steps forward. It's even more meaningful when you know others can take the path you've blazed or know to avoid.

It's not the size of the updates that gets people agitated, its the length time between them. TFP may not be winning any sprints, but they're still in the marathon. 

 
Blake_ said:
Because you need this. You should be able to reproduce it now 100%. Edit: Notice that you can reproduce this with every object with a camera preview, unknown if it's only the three mentioned in my report.
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Thank you. I forgot to mention that they need to be wired up. My bad.

@Blake_ Did you experience this issue by simply interacting with the electrical devices instead of having to resort to using the camera? During my tests simply entering the interface of the shotgun turret, SMG turret, spotlight, motion sensor, elec timer relay, or dart trap and then backing out caused interference with placing/picking up frames at most angles. (Note: I relogged after each consecutive test.)

 
@Roland Did you guys have a team meeting for A20 yet? Or is it going to be today? Last time it was announced on monday if A20 will come the following week or not.

 
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Computer games have always pushed the limits of software and hardware.

I would go so far as to say that computer games have played a large part in computer hardware development.

There isn't a perfect gaming computer software for humans yet and maybe never will be, because you have to take into account the human mind's limitations.  Perhaps some advanced quantum computer will make up its own language and make great games fast.

But not yet...

 
EffiJeffy said:
@Roland Did you guys have a team meeting for A20 yet? Or is it going to be today? Last time it was announced on monday if A20 will come the following week or not.
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Things seem promising for either this weekend or next but until an official announcement is made by The Fun Pimp it is just hopes and crossed fingers. 

 
I'm in software development myself and quite honestly Vapid Actions you should just take a breather and realise the environment TFP's employees work in is the one you wish you were employed in. The worst for everyone is when deadlines are arbitrarily set by some executive who's out of touch with what is going down behind the curtain. Pretty sure TFP's employees are just fine with the "it would be nice if it was released by Halloween but don't stress it" mindset.

I wish I had the financial and hierarchical freedom to just finetune every product I work on until I'm happy with the result. You and I both know release dates are either set because there's a tight budget (contract with a client, for example) or because there's pressure coming down for whatever regulatory/monetary reason. They don't seem to have either and that is pretty nice in my book. 

Also the backlash from a pedantic minority trying to teach them the ropes is probably easier to deal with than a community outlash if the released product is totally unplayable.

That being said, release the kraken!

 
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Roland said:
It is exactly the size it is meant to be. TFP has tried in the past doing smaller updates and it didn't work for them. What they have been doing works great for them and is obviously sustainable financially. No method is perfect and people will be critical of these large updates. But it isn't going to change. Only threat of bankruptcy would force a change and like I said...we are at the other end of the spectrum on that account.

So thanks everyone for the professional and lay advice but just stick to playing the game and giving feedback about gameplay and leave the business decisions to the guys that are observably doing a fantastic job at it. If it helps ease your minds, Joel and Rick were successful millionaire businessmen before they ever started TFP and they have brought their experience running a successful business to bear and we can see the fruits of their practices. I get that you might want a smaller update and more often, and someone else is happy to restart every month for monthly updates, and someone else wants TFP to hit an estimated release date on time. Thanks for your input. TFP is constantly looking at ways to improve what they do in a way that works for them so that they can continue to deliver content as awesome as 7 Days to Die for years and years to come.
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Well i think people are tired Roland. I mean about everything in this year - cyberpunk crap, cod crap, bf crap ( well at least they manage to fix it and it is better a lot but first impression is  important) so they want something positive. Well i know TFP doesn't have influence on this situation but i think  you can agree it is very bad year for game industry and players.  Honestly giving feedback about  gameplay can't do a lot now. Well it is just too late too make big changes right? Well they change setting - it was survival horror now we have post apo in mad max style. Can we influence about this? No. What left to do for us? Just wait for gold

SnowDog1942 said:
I got something too big.

in my pants.
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i know, things from europe or from USA are so big for people from Korea and Japan. Well for dogs everything is bigger that from human point of view ^^

beHypE said:
I'm in software development myself and quite honestly Vapid Actions you should just take a breather and realise the environment TFP's employees work in is the one you wish you were employed in. The worst for everyone is when deadlines are arbitrarily set by some executive who's out of touch with what is going down behind the curtain. Pretty sure TFP's employees are just fine with the "it would be nice if it was released by Halloween but don't stress it" mindset.

I wish I had the financial and hierarchical freedom to just finetune every product I work on until I'm happy with the result. You and I both know release dates are either set because there's a tight budget (contract with a client, for example) or because there's pressure coming down for whatever regulatory/monetary reason. They don't seem to have either and that is pretty nice in my book. 

Also the backlash from a pedantic minority trying to teach them the ropes is probably easier to deal with than a community outlash if the released product is totally unplayable.

That being said, release the kraken!
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Well - Valve have something similiar- we know about 20+ projects throw to bin. Valve is strange company- marketing side is just typical but game developing part of company is like mental asylum- everyone do what they want XD ( well i think they hire eccentrice only 😆)    so they only makes -  very good games and mistake games 

 
Doomofman said:
Ah I misread you completely.

I wonder if they know for definite yet whether it's this week or not. I guess if it's not coming this week they would tell us soon to temper expectations and if it is this week we might not know until Thursday
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We just need to wait and see :D

 
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