PC Alpha 20 Dev Diary

[Lord Morphleyes]

Anyone else running into an issue with the latest build of getting stuck in the skills menu/inventory? As in the menus show up but you can't click anything. Sometimes opening a different menu will fix it

Yes. I have had that issue a number of times.  The cursor in the search bar is still active and it won't let you click on items.  Hitting <Enter> does not clear it. It hasn't happened in a while though. 

Something I've noticed: There is no incentive to actually craft much of anything in this game aside from building shapes. All gear is easy to get from traders or looting. I just got a tier 5 steel club as a club build and I'm not even done with my 2nd week. There was no reason for me to devote any resources to crafting gear.  Before this I had just used a tier 6 stone club I found somewhere.

The situation was a bit similar back when I played a lot in A18, there wasn't much reason to craft my own stuff.

I used to agree with you more but I believe TFP have made some changes. I am playing 2hr days at 100% xp and have found crating to be extremely helpful for so far (still in the early game)  in A19 crafting was such a regretabl endeavor. 

But I am concerned about the scarcity of needle and thread. If it does not start dropping more than creating g and higher level armor will be put of the question.  I am considering just tweaking the drop rates of needle and thread so it won't be the only reason I was so late to craft armor that I am already finding it. 

 

[Doomofman]

Yes. I have had that issue a number of times.  The cursor in the search bar is still active and it won't let you click on items.  Hitting <Enter> does not clear it. It hasn't happened in a while though. 

Do you use Khaine's Lockable Inventory slot mod by any chance?

 

[Lord Morphleyes]

Do you use Khaine's Lockable Inventory slot mod by any chance?

No.  I am running ning a dedicated server and no mods.   I finally decided to do a bug report for it and then it stopped doing it. 

 

[Doomofman]

No.  I am running ning a dedicated server and no mods.   I finally decided to do a bug report for it and then it stopped doing it. 

I reported a bug for it too but because I was using that mod they basically told me to go **** myself. Kinda figured it wasn't the mod's fault though

 

[Aero]

Nobody reacted to my post about the overlapping city elements, so I tried some things.

- I uninstalled the game and renamed the savegame directory.

- Reinstalled the game. But I noticed that the game does still know all your game settings, like controls, video and how you want to run your 'server'. For some reason all of this is not removed when you uninstall the game.

- Started the pregen 10k map with a new save.

- Went into dev mode and went to the closest big city and found overlaps within seconds.

So my question was, is everybody having this problem? And if so, I guess this is known bug or am I for some reason the only one?

ps.

I also have sometimes trees disappearing. They are still there because I can't walk in those spots. But I had this problem also in A19.

 

[meganoth]

Nobody reacted to my post about the overlapping city elements, so I tried some things.

- I uninstalled the game and renamed the savegame directory.

- Reinstalled the game. But I noticed that the game does still know all your game settings, like controls, video and how you want to run your 'server'. For some reason all of this is not removed when you uninstall the game.

- Started the pregen 10k map with a new save.

- Went into dev mode and went to the closest big city and found overlaps within seconds.

So my question was, is everybody having this problem? And if so, I guess this is known bug or am I for some reason the only one?

ps.

I also have sometimes trees disappearing. They are still there because I can't walk in those spots. But I had this problem also in A19.

This would be a question for the General Support section. But as a first answer, start the game launcher, change to the tools tab, use the last option on that page. It allows you to delete old game setting, world and savegame files. Maybe after that your problems are already history.

Yes. I have had that issue a number of times.  The cursor in the search bar is still active and it won't let you click on items.  Hitting <Enter> does not clear it. It hasn't happened in a while though. 

I used to agree with you more but I believe TFP have made some changes. I am playing 2hr days at 100% xp and have found crating to be extremely helpful for so far (still in the early game)  in A19 crafting was such a regretabl endeavor. 

But I am concerned about the scarcity of needle and thread. If it does not start dropping more than creating g and higher level armor will be put of the question.  I am considering just tweaking the drop rates of needle and thread so it won't be the only reason I was so late to craft armor that I am already finding it. 

Are you maybe ignoring all those trash heaps?

 

[Matt115]

If this were a fantasy game, the cop would be an armored archer and the mutated zombie the wizard in cloth doing AoE damage spells (that green stuff is doing AoE damage, right?).

I think he is well suited for horde nights, especially since it also clouds your vision. Getting blasted from cops and mutated from all sides could do some damage I suppose.

If he were meant as a boss zombie like the demo then he would need a massive boost though.

Well nope - cop is more like beheaded green zombie from serious sam. btw honestly this reference can't work. okay let say armored archer can have 10 diffrent armors and bows and it would suits well and works good. and wizard can have diffrent spells etc, but  my point is : "realistic" 7dtd ( if you don't know make something in resident evil or back for blood style) is very limited  limited. Well skeleton and  human archer usually a lot of diffrences- in 7dtd it can be done so... ofc 7dtd need more bosses but (if behemot is too big)- add heavy armored zombie , better cop variant (deputy zombie) and this would solve problems

 

[Lord Morphleyes]

Are you maybe ignoring all those trash heaps?

Absolutely not.  We like to scavemge every scrap we can. And after we found a Tactical AR schematic in a red trash box we now get very excited whenever we see one! 

 

[meganoth]

Well nope - cop is more like beheaded green zombie from serious sam. btw honestly this reference can't work. okay let say armored archer can have 10 diffrent armors and bows and it would suits well and works good. and wizard can have diffrent spells etc, but  my point is : "realistic" 7dtd ( if you don't know make something in resident evil or back for blood style) is very limited  limited. Well skeleton and  human archer usually a lot of diffrences- in 7dtd it can be done so... ofc 7dtd need more bosses but (if behemot is too big)- add heavy armored zombie , better cop variant (deputy zombie) and this would solve problems

I was making an analogy to show that in a balanced setting a ranged fighter has to have a disadvantage to offset the advantage that he can do damage at range.

This has all to do with balance and nothing to do with what will be implemented in 7D2D.

 

[Matt115]

I was making an analogy to show that in a balanced setting a ranged fighter has to have a disadvantage to offset the advantage that he can do damage at range.

This has all to do with balance and nothing to do with what will be implemented in 7D2D.

But he if i good understand this guy- he want to change cop into boss- so : good boss need to have something op- demo is dealing high  dmg if he explode- so cop need to have are range attack with big dmg but for example be weak like boomer from l4d2. 

 

[meganoth]

But he if i good understand this guy- he want to change cop into boss- so : good boss need to have something op- demo is dealing high  dmg if he explode- so cop need to have are range attack with big dmg but for example be weak like boomer from l4d2. 

Since he didn't say anything about changing the cop I am sure you misunderstood him

 

[Tmodloader]

Adding food spoilage would solve some things wrong with food survival in 7D2D.

Counters to food spoilage could add more challenge:  Refrigeration which would need power (Ether with a generator or moving near a POI with a completed "Restore Power" quest).  

It all completes a nice plot arc.

I like the idea of food being more difficult, but I don't think spoilage is the best option, I believe personally that reducing the amount of food you find just scavenging would help. You can survive on purely scavenged food in A20 just by looting pois if you don't care about the stamina buff.

This would cause the player to be required to devote more time to hunting or trying their hand at farming, which would make food seem harder.

I'd love to see a cannery to make up for it lategame where you don't need to spend much food to create cans of food for efficiency at the cost of more time and high levels. Hell give can cooking to intelligence and leave strength as fresh food, that would be cool.

Fun can ensue in parties where the int guy keeps feeding everyone dog food.

 

[Tmodloader]

Early game seems to be punishing enough, especially for new players since coming to rage about it seems to be the leading cause of new forum account creation.

I see them as experienced players that are just upset that they can't farm limitlessly early game without a point in the skill. That seems to be the leading cause. New players wouldn't even feel the difference in food between A20 and A19, you get way hungrier ever since a few alphas ago, but food is abundant. Increasing food rarity while reversing the hunger rate change would make it more new player friendly, but I assumed this hunger rate with abundance is how the devs want it since it's been this way since I think A18 or 19.

The one trope I'm not thrilled with are all of the surprise attacks behind every closet door, or trying to avoid the trigger which causes everything to wake up and fall from the ceiling at once

My experience with this has been ok, if you sneak around when they wake up, they still don't know where you are and just either stand there or wander around. 

 

[Tmodloader]

If you demand hardcore realism you should not play a game that includes zombies in the first place but rather switch to flight simulator or something. A bear gives you 50 meat which feeds your character for 1-3 days, depending on cooking skills and activities. That are a few hours of playtime where you don't have to worry about starving. Sounds good to me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

That sounds like realism to me, I'm sure I could get a few days out of a bear too.

Only a person who has never field dressed and butchered a bear with a shard of bone in the wilderness with no refrigeration, all by themselves and with frequent wandering packs of coyotes and dire wolves would think that only getting a few meals out of it is not immersive

It reminds me of people complaining that bears have too much hp. I've never hunted but as far as I know bears are tough as nails out there and you need special equipment to hunt them. Some people think a regular pistol shot to the head would kill a bear instantly somehow. 

 

[Weazelsun]

I think the ol' laundromat was either removed or redone to the point I don't recognize it anymore. It was a great POI to get started in.

Yeah, it was redone. On the front of the poi, it's called "Gores Laundromat". However, it still does have all the laundry machines in it!

 

[Khalagar]

Lol, people debating food spoilage again? I'm pretty sure the devs have very explicitly said "Nope. No way. Not happening. Nada, nope, nah" like 4 or 5 times to food spoilage.

It just adds a bunch of annoying anti-fun mechanics that are really punishing to new players, require a lot of dev work to set up, and are a non factor late game.

Food is never an issue in any survival game past early game, that's just the nature of survival games. Which is how it should be. Balancing your food bar isn't fun. Having it be a risk if you ignore it or get stranded somewhere is good, having it be a never ending struggle for the entire game to the point where you can't even go clear a T5 PoI because all your food will expire in your bag and you'll starve to death isn't fun, it's annoying in fact and actively stops you from being able to enjoy the rest of the game because you are playing a food bar simulator

I play almost nothing but survival games, but I still can't think of a single one where food is relevant past early game, for good reason. Stamina is the same way. It's essentially just a limit on how much fun you are allowed to have before the game says "nuh uh uh, take your hand off the keyboard and stand still for 10 seconds before you can play the game again!" , and usually is mitigated as you progress to a point where you can finally actually play the game without playing the green bar simulator. They are there for the early game challenge, but then are mitigated as you advance because they are annoying and tedious later on when you are trying to actually do something beyond just scrounge in the dirt in the early game

 

[xyth]

I don't agree, food spoilage is a nice mechanic, but difficult to balance well.  Sphereii and I released a spoilage mod for previous alphas, and many enjoyed it.  If food is rare enough into late game, then I agree its not really needed. Farming kills that balance since in vanilla zombies do not destroy crops.   In Starvation mod we added that function, plus crop disease, insects etc., so farming wasn't a ez fix to food as in vanilla.  So its about feature balance.  TFP likes to keep it simple, and that way works well too.

 

[Callum123456789]

Lol, people debating food spoilage again? I'm pretty sure the devs have very explicitly said "Nope. No way. Not happening. Nada, nope, nah" like 4 or 5 times to food spoilage.

It just adds a bunch of annoying anti-fun mechanics that are really punishing to new players, require a lot of dev work to set up, and are a non factor late game.

Food is never an issue in any survival game past early game, that's just the nature of survival games. Which is how it should be. Balancing your food bar isn't fun. Having it be a risk if you ignore it or get stranded somewhere is good, having it be a never ending struggle for the entire game to the point where you can't even go clear a T5 PoI because all your food will expire in your bag and you'll starve to death isn't fun, it's annoying in fact and actively stops you from being able to enjoy the rest of the game because you are playing a food bar simulator

I play almost nothing but survival games, but I still can't think of a single one where food is relevant past early game, for good reason. Stamina is the same way. It's essentially just a limit on how much fun you are allowed to have before the game says "nuh uh uh, take your hand off the keyboard and stand still for 10 seconds before you can play the game again!" , and usually is mitigated as you progress to a point where you can finally actually play the game without playing the green bar simulator. They are there for the early game challenge, but then are mitigated as you advance because they are annoying and tedious later on when you are trying to actually do something beyond just scrounge in the dirt in the early game

food spoilage is just another micro management thing depending on how you play i think that we don't need any more things to micromanage  also i agree that having to constantly manage your food bar really wouldnt be that fun

 

[Matt115]

Lol, people debating food spoilage again? I'm pretty sure the devs have very explicitly said "Nope. No way. Not happening. Nada, nope, nah" like 4 or 5 times to food spoilage.

It just adds a bunch of annoying anti-fun mechanics that are really punishing to new players, require a lot of dev work to set up, and are a non factor late game.

Food is never an issue in any survival game past early game, that's just the nature of survival games. Which is how it should be. Balancing your food bar isn't fun. Having it be a risk if you ignore it or get stranded somewhere is good, having it be a never ending struggle for the entire game to the point where you can't even go clear a T5 PoI because all your food will expire in your bag and you'll starve to death isn't fun, it's annoying in fact and actively stops you from being able to enjoy the rest of the game because you are playing a food bar simulator

I play almost nothing but survival games, but I still can't think of a single one where food is relevant past early game, for good reason. Stamina is the same way. It's essentially just a limit on how much fun you are allowed to have before the game says "nuh uh uh, take your hand off the keyboard and stand still for 10 seconds before you can play the game again!" , and usually is mitigated as you progress to a point where you can finally actually play the game without playing the green bar simulator. They are there for the early game challenge, but then are mitigated as you advance because they are annoying and tedious later on when you are trying to actually do something beyond just scrounge in the dirt in the early game

Well i agree with you - spoilage is more annoing that fun because well- farming in 7dtd is broken now so - doing quest only to buy food sound boring xd 

I don't agree, food spoilage is a nice mechanic, but difficult to balance well.  Sphereii and I released a spoilage mod for previous alphas, and many enjoyed it.  If food is rare enough into late game, then I agree its not really needed. Farming kills that balance since in vanilla zombies do not destroy crops.   In Starvation mod we added that function, plus crop disease, insects etc., so farming wasn't a ez fix to food as in vanilla.  So its about feature balance.  TFP likes to keep it simple, and that way works well too.

Well - when TFP added tools parts they forced to spend time on looting stuff. Honestly - mining if less effective that before etc. and i know you can do mods and solve problems by that but i think the best option is to left food as it works now

 

[Matt115]

Hey good news : 7dtd beat cod vanguard on twitch