PC Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

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I'm a bit late on this (mainly lurk here and post on Steam) but I wanted to give my viewpoint.
IMHO there IS a solution to get that added info (with or without PERKS) AND not ruin the game by making it too much "arcadey".

It would entail more work for the artist guys @TFP though.

My idea is to add visual / visible cues directly on the BODY of zombies (or NPCs) you hit.

The more damage they receive the more scars, holes, bleeding you will see.

I think this could both be enough to know if your enemy is dying and be more immersive without the need to add health bars.

... what you guys think?
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Love it! +1

 
My idea is to add visual / visible cues directly on the BODY of zombies (or NPCs) you hit.

The more damage they receive the more scars, holes, bleeding you will see.
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The general idea was mentioned more than a few times already, not sure if scars, holes and bleed were mentioned. So TFP know.

Since the last word is that they haven't decided on the HP bar yet it could very well be that their graphics designers are working on those alternate ways.

As a fourth method color changes could be used, so normal zombies turn grey, glowing zombies loose the glow. This also would have the advantage (IMHO) that the otherwise overpowered night vision would remove these cues and players might be encouraged to use headlamps or flashlight mods again, at least against boss zombies.

 
If you use a knife or machette you could get infected by squishy tissues and blood flyin around. With clubs and its mods you get less chance. With high ranged weapon you get none. Good , goood.
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Yep, that to.

 
I'm a bit late on this (mainly lurk here and post on Steam) but I wanted to give my viewpoint.
IMHO there IS a solution to get that added info (with or without PERKS) AND not ruin the game by making it too much "arcadey".

It would entail more work for the artist guys @TFP though.

My idea is to add visual / visible cues directly on the BODY of zombies (or NPCs) you hit.

The more damage they receive the more scars, holes, bleeding you will see.

I think this could both be enough to know if your enemy is dying and be more immersive without the need to add health bars.

... what you guys think?
Click to expand...
Maybe (maybe) this IS the intention! I mean, TFP can be troll-i sometimes. The current health bar we see in the videos (and it has been hinted at) could just be a visual aid for testing. It could also be made invisible, but is "active" and used to track damage and activate events (i.e. at 75% health, Z starts oozing). Although, I think the latter version is already implemented in the current Alpha, there's just not as many visual clues. Basically once a Z gets enough damage it gets knocked down. They could tie in the limb loss stuff to the health and the further you damage a Z the more it falls apart. Then that shouldn't take too much more effort since that animation and stuff is already done.

 
Currently building a foundation, or rather, slab, is about the most effective early-to-mid base you can have. A couple of trap doors 20ish blocks from each other and you spend most of your hiding time far from the trapdoors...z's spin on the featureless surface above you doing little to no damage.
For the extremely material poor, use an existing road. Great from night 1 onward until you get to ludicrous game stages.

So, yeah, why not foundation, foundation, foundation!?

(/sarcasm mixed with /truth)
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Personally, I always like the tactical advice, 'take the high ground'. For my beginning nights I always build a scaffold between two close houses/buildings, break the stairs, and stick to bow hunting. You don't get a lot from the zombies, but my play style is to play as if I only have one life (I'd like to go a whole game never dying, but that's almost impossible).

 
We do have visual indicators of damage... Lost limbs. That same application can be extended to include more wounds.
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Yeah, I guess the dismemberment it's already a nice indicator of how much damage you've done to a zombie.

However when NPC bandits will be introduced we'll need more diverse and "finer" ways to visually check the damage we have done.

As many of you guys may already know there are small caliber weapons out there (e.g.: the 7DTD basic pistol or the light machine gun) that cause bleeding but should/can't never cause dismemberment. So if you shoot a bandit on the leg or arm you'll probably cause bleeding but no limb loss.

Anyway I don't think this kind of graphics overhaul can be done for A17, it seems like A LOT of work t me! They'd have to add dedicated "damage textures" for all zombies and NPCs in the game, so we would be lucky to see something out for A18 if ever. :-|

 
The new vids are great, thanks! Cool smooth animation on the 3rd person view. The red dot demo is very nice. Also like the hud change -> compass info.

The main thing that sticks out is that enemy HP bar.

The mere existence of the HP bar (no matter how cosmetic pleasing) dumbs the game down. One of the neat things about some FPS (and 7D2D a16-) is the lack of info the game provides if you actually killed the target or not. Sure, you seen the target fall down..but is that target going to stand again, crawl towards you, etc..To be sure, you need to get a closer look (which increases danger/risk).

That enemy HP bar removes all the uncertainty and moves the 7D2D difficult/challenging gauge towards a simple whack a mole mode. Sad addition for difficulty loving folk.

 
The new vids are great, thanks! Cool smooth animation on the 3rd person view. The red dot demo is very nice. Also like the hud change -> compass info.
The main thing that sticks out is that enemy HP bar.

The mere existence of the HP bar (no matter how cosmetic pleasing) dumbs the game down. One of the neat things about some FPS (and 7D2D a16-) is the lack of info the game provides if you actually killed the target or not. Sure, you seen the target fall down..but is that target going to stand again, crawl towards you, etc..To be sure, you need to get a closer look (which increases danger/risk).

That enemy HP bar removes all the uncertainty and moves the 7D2D difficult/challenging gauge towards a simple whack a mole mode. Sad addition for difficulty loving folk.
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I gotta say, 100% agreed. From my understanding the enemy HP bar was something the developers used in order to get certain stats right only, and that it probably wouldn't be a feature that would be included once A17 ships.

So I wouldn't flash the sirens just yet that this will be an implemented feature, though I could be wrong.

 
Yeah, I guess the dismemberment it's already a nice indicator of how much damage you've done to a zombie.However when NPC bandits will be introduced we'll need more diverse and "finer" ways to visually check the damage we have done.

As many of you guys may already know there are small caliber weapons out there (e.g.: the 7DTD basic pistol or the light machine gun) that cause bleeding but should/can't never cause dismemberment. So if you shoot a bandit on the leg or arm you'll probably cause bleeding but no limb loss.

Anyway I don't think this kind of graphics overhaul can be done for A17, it seems like A LOT of work t me! They'd have to add dedicated "damage textures" for all zombies and NPCs in the game, so we would be lucky to see something out for A18 if ever. :-|
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This can easily be done with the system they already have in place and I wouldn't think the newer item/buff system would be any different in that regard.

Entities can already have different dismemberment chances, plus you can set individual items to have an increased chance as well. They just don't have it dialed in fully.

 
Dumbing down = console

Always has been..always will be

Woop Woop...BORING ALERT ..BORING ALERT!!

Coughs* VIDEO *Coughs

 
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Personally, I always like the tactical advice, 'take the high ground'. For my beginning nights I always build a scaffold between two close houses/buildings, break the stairs, and stick to bow hunting. You don't get a lot from the zombies, but my play style is to play as if I only have one life (I'd like to go a whole game never dying, but that's almost impossible).
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It's not really impossible. I play with my girlfriend, and we have a world with about 90 hours in on the insane setting, and neither of us have died.

 
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Question for devs or people who realy know about it.

After A17 launch we need to restart the game or will be a way to convert the actual world with the new things..i know I can wipe the server and keep all players level...or i just need to wipe at all everything... Thanks in advance !!!

 
I think it would be nice if the quest dialog with the traders be put on a tab in their trade menu.

This to save the amount of clicks/button presses it takes to do a quick trade.

 
Question for devs or people who realy know about it.After A17 launch we need to restart the game or will be a way to convert the actual world with the new things..i know I can wipe the server and keep all players level...or i just need to wipe at all everything... Thanks in advance !!!
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Every alpha is completely fresh almost as a rule (yes you will have to wipe everything)

 
It’ll be a whole new game in a number of ways. Starting over is just one. But there is still plenty of time to start a new game today and play a long and fulfilling game before starting anew for A17. There is lots of development ahead still and then about a month’s worth of experimental builds (historically) which are fun to try out and do bug reports for but not worth playing as a long term game.

 
Dear Fun Pimps,

Please see this video on Unity AI :

"How many AI Agents can Unity handle?"

Please give us mooooooooore zombie.

 
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