PC Alpha 21 Dev Diary

[Laz Man]

Somehow the thing I'm most looking forward to is the art and graphics overhaul. I get so pіssed when I stream 7dtd in a discord call and people make fun of the graphics, even though that's the last priority for a game in early access. I wanted to play with someone but they didn't want to play because the graphics didn't meet their expectations (from playing a ton of modern games). But even more than the graphics, I'm excited for the fact that there's gonna be more THINGS (props) to see. That's what really makes the game so much more immersive. Some ideas I had for other props/loot:

• Trophy cases found rarely in houses/schools that contain multiple trophies and some paper
  
• Wallets with cash found on desks or on the ground where they're hard to spot
  
• More random trash props on the ground like plastic bags, candy wrappers, face masks, HD shattered glass bottles, and cigarettes
  
• Plates with crumbs and shattered plates
  
• Torn chain link fence
  
• Dirty or torn up baseball
  
• Pile of sawdust
  
• Messy pile of papers
  
• The current school buses, city buses, and trucks but they're slightly bigger, you can walk in them, close the door, break the windows, and room to place blocks like a bedroll. But its still counted as prop that you can break down and scrap
  
• Dartboard
  
• Glass sliding doors
  
• Lawnmower
  
• Hanging rope to turn on a light bulb on the ceiling (would fit well in an attic, large old closet, or secret room
  
• Car with hood up or trunk open
  
• 2 cars with jumper cables all attached and ready (the implications of seeing this in game would be kind of sad)
  
• PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD make separate terrain blocks for road lines and not just sheets on the ground that have to be broken to build on them
  
• Roof gutters
  
• Welcome mat
  
• 2 and 3 block tall wood fences that don't look like 1 block tall fences stacked on each other
  
• Wet carpet and stained carpet
  
• A whooole bunch of types of corpses (most of these might be too morbid)
  
  Head stuck in a bear trap
  
• Hanging from a noose
  
• Lying on back with most of face and chest eaten
  
• Half of a corpse that lines up with the edge of a block so you could make it look like they were crushed under any block
  
• Missing a limb or 2
  
• Just a limb
  
• Just a few bones
  
• Pool of blood
  
• Inside or hanging out of dumpster
  
• Burnt corpse
  
• Partially buried
  
• Covered in glass shards
  
• Bullet wounds
  
• More body positions and postures in general
  

If even a couple of these were added I think that would be dope

You might be pleasantly surprised...

 

[scootyman]

You might be pleasantly surprised...

My body does not have enough hormones to fully experience the reality that the new art that has been publicly shown might have only scratched the surface…

Any chance you could give us an estimate on the number of new art assets

 

[Old Crow]

Yes, they were fine. The changes were to make the number of repair kits needed to be different and reasonable for each type of vehicle.

Ah, okay. That's what I was guessing, but it's good to have confirmation. Thanks!

 

[Jost Amman]

Then I still need to invest in a weapon (I hate the bone/hunting knife, so I'm not using those early game, and I'm not a fan of fists either) and if I want to use multiple different weapons (I've done builds where I used a spear on horde nights for the reach, but clubs while raiding because they're better for that...though maybe with the spear chances this won't be the case) I have to invest points in both just to be able to reasonably use them.

It's called SPECIALIZATION, you know?

You need to make choices, you can't just be good at everything.

IMO, it makes much more sense this way.

 

[meilodasreh]

You might be pleasantly surprised...

So this new bear guy seems to get all the trash he wants.

If there ever will be a "the owls get everything they want" day,

here's my list:

-what about the "new door tech" MM was playing around quite some time ago? That disappeared without any word.

-Arrows/bolts should have a chance to pin a Z to a wall (at least the weaker ones, or the weaker the longer)...just for the fun of it

-it's about time that a proper savegame function is implemented to the game menu. Logging out to copy the folder is somewhat inconvenient, even for an alpha version.

-ETA of A21 should be changed from "2023" to "early 2023" at least pleeeeease 

feel free to surprise me pleasantly 

 

[scootyman]

So this new bear guy seems to get all the trash he wants.

I think @Laz Man was only implying that some things on my list have already been designed and were already planned to be in the update. Although yes, it was an idea dump for the purpose of a dev possibly thinking "that definitely should be a thing, lets design it"

 

[Aldranon]

• Skill magazines can be found, bought, and/or received as quest rewards. The topic of the magazine matches the location you would expect to find it in the world.
  

The second sentence is making believability great again!  Finally, a reason to go to a "Shotgun Messiah" again!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who likes a cup of immersion with his game. 

 

[meilodasreh]

to be clear, I like your ideas.

With saying "trash" I was just referring to your list specifying, well mostly literally trash lying around.

Adding more variety of random "deco" things is cool.

Btw, as I understood, this art design is mostly done by a contractor, and not something a TFP dev would waste time on

...ha, I made a funny. 

designing trash...waste of time...get it? 

 

[Morloc]

The topic of the magazine matches the location you would expect to find it in the world.

So...what might we expect to find in...The Booby Trap?  :spy:

-Arch Necromancer Morloc 

 

[Jost Amman]

So...what might we expect to find in...The Booby Trap?  :spy:

-Arch Necromancer Morloc 

Weird, I would expect that an Arch Necromancer would ask about what we could find inside coffins...  :eyebrows:

 

[Aldranon]

Weird, I would expect that an Arch Necromancer would ask about what we could find inside coffins...  :eyebrows:

That was a good one.

But thinking more on it, maybe some relic that can do damage over time against zombies (not a lot of course).

 

[meganoth]

So...what might we expect to find in...The Booby Trap?  :spy:

-Arch Necromancer Morloc 

Salvage Tools magazine for the w(r)enches

 

[Laz Man]

to be clear, I like your ideas.

With saying "trash" I was just referring to your list specifying, well mostly literally trash lying around.

Adding more variety of random "deco" things is cool.

Btw, as I understood, this art design is mostly done by a contractor, and not something a TFP dev would waste time on

...ha, I made a funny. 

designing trash...waste of time...get it? 

Not all of the new art was outsourced.  For example, the new lootable vehicles were all created internally.

 

[Roland]

So this new bear guy seems to get all the trash he wants.

If there ever will be a "the owls get everything they want" day,

here's my list:

Sorry but years and years of "Give a hoot don't pollute" conditioning has prevented us from throwing trash down in front of owls. We also hold tightly to our Tootsie Pops whenever you're posting on the forums.

 

[Doomofman]

Did the new vulture model make it into A21?

Also any other changes to the animals (behaviour or appearance)?

 

[IzPrebuilt]

I know the topic has kind of moved on, but I don't get the happiness about the removal of Sex Rex.  Instead of having to invest in one perk in one stat, I'm now forced to invest in 5 perks across 4 stats to get the same benefit to stamina for tool use that I did before.  Now, I need Salvage Operations (Wrenches), Miner 69'er (Pick/Shovel/Axe), Fists (to punch plant life), Rule 1 Cardio (presumably improved so I can still run around everywhere) and Knives (to harvest animals/gut piles.)

Then I still need to invest in a weapon (I hate the bone/hunting knife, so I'm not using those early game, and I'm not a fan of fists either) and if I want to use multiple different weapons (I've done builds where I used a spear on horde nights for the reach, but clubs while raiding because they're better for that...though maybe with the spear chances this won't be the case) I have to invest points in both just to be able to reasonably use them.

Sure, there are other benefits to investing in those perks, but I'm strictly referring to stamina use.  Sex Rex let me harvest my farm without constantly running out of stamina (sure, I could use a weapon I'm perked in to harvest, but then I'm wasting durability.)  It let me use the wrench unperked without constantly running out of stamina.  It let me run around without maxed Rule 1: Cardio without constantly running out of stamina.  The way the change is described, it's going to be like I'm playing without Sex Rex whenever using a tool/weapon I'm not perked in, and having tried that once, it's a miserable way to play the game.

I'm also not thrilled about needing to perk into a weapon early game (I usually don't until level 60-70+ when I've already got the must have QoL perks out of the way) or suffer with stamina.  I just see it as me ending up needing to use many more points to cover stamina issues than I had to previously (it was something like 12 points to max out sex rex, iirc, versus probably 50 to cover everything now.)

That's a lot of words to say "i don't like the removal of sexual tyrannosaurus because i'll have to use more perk points to achieve the same thing"

Which is the point. Sexual Tyrannosaurus is too strong, too versatile and disproportionately used. AKA Overpowered. Which is bad. They're trying to balance their video game. Also the "not thrilled about needing to perk into a weapon early game" the average player currently does that instantly. You have an uncommon playstyle that the devs did not consider when making the change clearly.

I cannot fathom why your current complaint seems to be "change bad because i have to make a decision now" I read dozens of comments related to 7dtd every day, and I see some insane playstyles, complaints, choices etc but level 70 before you take even ONE damage perk is BEYOND anything i have ever seen. Is this why people complain that "insane makes zombies too spongey"? IS THIS WHAT THEY ARE DOING? oh god

 

[Syphon583]

If there ever will be a "the owls get everything they want" day,

here's my list:

-what about the "new door tech" MM was playing around quite some time ago? That disappeared without any word.

Unless you're talking about something else, it's posted on the first page:

• Doors
  
  
  Double Doors
  
• Partially damaged doors with large holes can be shot/meleed through to damage enemies on the other side
  

 

[Laz Man]

Unless you're talking about something else, it's posted on the first page:

There was a proto type door shown in a video along time ago where there were pieces of the door flying out and rag-dolling down a stairway as it was damaged.  What we have now in A21 is similar but doesn't have the rag-dolling debris pieces.

 

[meilodasreh]

downstairs-bellyflopping Arlene in that vid is my all-time favourite 

Zs ragdolling to the ground after breaking through a door a a great feature, especially because they knock their heads into some wall/cabinet most of the time.

This is really adding to the fun of fighting Zs, great stuff!

Still, doors just vanishing into nothing when reaching 0HP instead of having a "break-open" animation, or fly off the hinges is an obviously weird thing,

but maybe its's just me...like Matt and his skeletons, so nevermind 

 

[Aldranon]

I didn't see it in A21 release notes and maybe I don't want to see it.

But...

The Auger is so massively overpowered it needs a serious relook.

Yes, get tons of ore, rock, ect and gain more exp than anything else by building (for example, my base's foundation alone is five meters high and covers the entire green zone!)  I can ignore hoard nights!

But this is common knowledge I believe

Safes, ATM and any secure chests are at least as fast with a mod'ed up auger as most lockpicking (maybe not the top tier guys).  I dont worry about a slot for lockpicks

Any buried treasure/loot is a done and done quickly with one.

Next is, I would like the easy meat in the snow biome to be downgraded.  Bears, wolves, cougars and dire wolves are just standing around (saw 3 bears and 2 wolves from one spot). I hop off the motorcycle, squat down and pull off a few shoots in seconds, done.  I have over three rows of full stacks of meat and with max farming and 3 points in cooking that whole challenge is over.

Maybe have food decay on as a setting?   It would encourage having a frig and power for it.  Never used electricity because it's not important to me, but I would if it meant preserving tons of food! 

Sorry, wall of words there.