PC Alpha 21 Dev Diary

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BFT2020 said:
The only thing that affects would be the dropped bags from the zombies during horde night, and assuming that they drop inside the POI boundary.
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That is not the problem. For example, the parking lot of a hospital is part of the POI. If you build a small horde base there, you have the tier 5 loot bonus.

 
RipClaw said:
From the A20 Release Notes:

  • Loot Progression Improvements include a new Loot Stage System, Biome and Tiered POI loot bonuses and early game balance
It is explained in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB5-qcR5sEY&t=197s (from 3:17)
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Ok, that's what you mean.  That really isn't a big deal as it only affects zombie loot bags that are typically not going to include much better loot from the loot stage bonus.  And even if you feel it does improve the loot bags significantly enough to matter, it is still not really an incentive to use a POI.  I certainly wouldn't even consider using a POI just for that reason.  I don't really care about the loot bags from horde night other than for the ammo replacement.

And in the end, it still comes down to what people enjoy doing.  If someone likes to build a base, they'll do so.  If they like to use a POI, they'll do so.  No incentives are necessary.  And even the loot stage bonus isn't meant as incentive for the POI as a base and is only a slight side effect of its main purpose.

 
I'm not sure what the fuss is here. I've been changing it up between building my own base and taking over POI's since Alpha 6. There have always been concrete and brick building that offer a solid start to any base. Even before there were traders it was common for people (who wanted to) to take over POI's and use them as base starters.

I do it in about the same ratio as I ever did before. If anything, the incentive that drove me to more often build a base from scratch was when traders could spawn in the wilderness and there were no nearby buildings. Rather than traveling from a more distant POI that I could convert, I found it more convenient to set up my own base nearby the trader. Before traders it was pretty much as whimsy took me and ever since traders have been mostly showing up in cities it is back to that practice depending on my mood.

I remember when there was a cabin that spawned with an almost guaranteed working forge inside of it. We almost always converted that cabin to our base so there was an incentive that went against creating our own from scratch. But then all workstations were spawned broken and I think that cabin is no longer in the game or is so changed I don't recognize it anyway....so that could be seen as an incentive to just build your own place from scratch.

I really don't see much change in how people are pushed or pulled to build from scratch or reinforce a POI. Seems to still be simply a matter of preference.

 
Yeah same for me.

Thanks for bringing back memories of "Forge Ahead!" Roland :D At that time, i think most people went to certain POI's that had a high chance of a working Forge instead of trying to loot that book.

And when traders became a thing, soon after i started to build my base next to them. Really havent looked back after that, but that is a combination of learning to build my own POI faster/better (and more modular), and having a ingame incentive to do so (having a questgiver and trader right next door).

 
I have always liked building my own base and I'm sure I will continue to do so.  When the POI's had working forges, I usually at first, until I found the "Forge Ahead!" book or learned the perk to make forges, I used one of those POI's as bases.  I just like building and yes I'm one of those who misses the block upgrade progression.  I always fretted about will the cement dry before a horde showed up.  Anyway I can't wait to try out Alpha 21 and needing magazine loot or not, I'm going to build my base.

 
I like to think building a base from scratch is like building yourself a new house on a lot versus moving into a fixer upper that needs work.  Both can become great homes / bases but come with trade offs.

It definitely requires more resources to build from scratch but you have more freedom and less constraints (e.g. tearing down existing blocks, etc.)

It's great that both options are appealing in different ways and provide different experiences.  There is also nothing preventing a player from doing both in the same playthrough.  Isn't that grand? 😎

 
On a side note, and while we're waiting for A21...

Anyone want to become world famous?

Then explain how "Scary Barbie" exists!  Or better yet, WHAT it is!!

You can't call Scary Barbie a "Super Nova" as its thousands of times brighter than the brightest super nova ever recorded.

Also, the longest Super Nova lasted a couple of months, and "Scary Barbie" has been going on for years!  YEARS...

 
Roland said:
And this is your and others’ big stumbling block to being able to enjoy early access. Cuts, removals, edits, and streamlining is always part of the creative process for unfinished works. Usually we don’t see those things as we only get games in their finished form. 
 

Movies are a great parallel example for this. During the editing process after all the shooting is done, there is rarely any more additional footage shot. It is almost always a process of deleting and editing out footage deemed unnecessary. 
 

The problem you have is that even though you understand that the game is not finished from an intellectual standpoint, you don’t want to believe it from an emotional standpoint. Updates during early access are not DLC expansions to a complete game. They are going to include removals that never make a return. 
 

As you say, for those who never experienced previous versions there is no disappointment or feeling of loss. That will be even truer for those who purchase the final finished product. 
 

After the game goes gold, any future updates are likely to be exactly what you want—pure content expansion. It’s very unlikely they will change or remove anything that already exists. Until that time, we are in the editing and streamlining phase and you either need to reconcile yourself to that or just put the game aside until the final product is presented. 
 

All of those negative reviews are from people who are either ignorant or don’t want to face the fact that the game isn’t finished and updates aren’t simply expansionary. They shouldn’t have participated at this stage. Early access isn’t for them. 
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Thank you for your detailled answer. Of course it is difficult to comply to each and everyones wishes, I just hope that maybe some day an option or something is added whenever you create a world which you can choose from "build path: simple" or "build path: complex". The simple build path is what it is now since alpha 20, with 4 materials, and the complex build path is somewhat how it was in alpha 17 for example, with the 11 materials (including levels). Or even just an option "blocks requires frames: yes" or "blocks requires frames: no" (rebar, metal and wood frames how it was before). For sure 99% of people truly love the features like feral sense and the improved world generation in alpha 20 but as of now I think that on the other hand, quite some people, including me, are going to go to the "older version" options in steam and switch back to alpha 16, 17 or 18, (for the sake of building) it feeling more survivalish and actually like we are constructing something (rebar frames --> has to dry --> etc etc). Progression felt slower which was great (in my opinion). Thnx 4 reading 

 
Syrex said:
Sorry, D4 comes out beginning of june, can you wait till 3rd week of june before dropping 21? <runs and hides> lol
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I'd have thought they would avoid the D4 release week, I certainly would in their shoes. While it doesn't necessarily interfere with a Streamer Weekend, it would be taking both players and eyes off A21 the day after it releases in Exp

I feel similar to Memorial Day weekend, US people probably have stuff planned so again would be losing both eyes on streams and potentially streamers. But I've heard conflicting things about how much TFP take that weekend into account

 
Its getting harder to read through this thread with the constant back and forth but just saying the same thing over and over. The amount of nonesense topics that get discussed is mind-boggling.

With the lastest topic - The game is the way it is. Some love building, some hate it. Some loved the older version of building, some love the new version. Why constantly keep defending a point that others disgree? Accept that others can disagree with your point and move on. 

 
Syrex said:
Sorry, D4 comes out beginning of june, can you wait till 3rd week of june before dropping 21? <runs and hides> lol
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LOL, naa. I've got to use 10-15 days of vacation before the end of June, or lose them. The latest A21-Experimental can be released is 12 June. That, or I'm headed to Laz Man's house (wherever that is) to work on converting my POIs.

 
There is no perfect world, no perfect life, and no perfect game. I don't understand why it's not possible to give a definite release time after publishing so much content? At least it should make me clear why? I think most people only ask for these things

 
Doomofman said:
I'd have thought they would avoid the D4 release week, I certainly would in their shoes
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I can't really see the point of this whole "aviod this or that date because it interferes with XY".

Neither D4 nor 7D2D are games that you will be done with after one or two weeks.

These are both games with high replayability.

Especially D4 is of course an everlasting grind for the best stuff you can get...so what's the point about "let's avoid the release week"?

Wouldn't it be more like "let's wait several months or even years, then interest in the game will maybe somewhat diminished"?

If you're into both of them, you will get both of them, and play both of them,

if you ask me, this is completely independent from the actual date when the game is initially available.

Of course you can't play both games at the same time, but really, what does matter at the end?

Number of copies sold long term, or a bar on steam statictics that tells you that many people playing simultaneously especially during the first few days?

 
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