PC Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

[Skykemn]

I am still playing to get my overall opinion but this I know without further Gameplay. I did fix the Graphic settings though, I think it was the Gamma that got buffed for players afraid of the dark. Scaredy Cat'sZombies Need Loot Or A Reward

I will use the Stone Analogy, remember the Small Stones, Medium Stones, Large Stones, XL Stones & XXL Stones. They were useless Assets that took up Space & redundant so they changed it to 1 Stone for all. They look like they are different sizes in game but 1 Asset.

By taking away Loot you turned Zombies into the Old Stones, a Useless Asset with no function but try to kill you. Why even deal with them any more, Buzzards don't give Feathers & are the New Z Dog attack that Noob's Avoid.

Let us at least get a chance of getting something besides XP for Killing Z's. Lets go back to how it used to be where Strippers give you Cash etc., Utility Workers could give Tools, Nails, etc., Cops & Soldiers Weapons & Ammo & Put the Feathers back on the Buzzards.

Every Z does not need Loot, just a chance & this could be a Perk where you level up to find greater chances & better Loot, I like Reward better & a rare-err chance of getting.

Yeah buzzard still give feathers i don't know what you are talking about , and about loot i like it this way but i would like zombies to give different experience depending on how hard they go down

 

[Luzifer]

Thanks for the tip! Is that possible with a laptop you think?
I just carried out an update for my GPU (last update was 2 years ago.. woops).. Gained 1-2 FPS, so that's also viable!

If it is a Laptop you can open up from the bottom and Access the insides that way-

And ofc if the system supports more RAM then yes go for it.

I upgraded from 8 to 16 gigs half a year ago and performance went Fluid.

 

[Gnomaana]

It has a keyboard, and a screen. The left CTRL-key doesn't work anymore..
Ahum, sorry.. I'm at work currently, but I'm having a 8 Gb RAM i7 from the top of my head, with an NVIDEA 740 something something if I remember correctly.

Sorry but I don't see this game ever being optimized for that. I totally understand not being to upgrade. Money is tight so I feel for you. But a 740 is just not a gaming graphics card and 8gb is not really enough RAM these days. I hope they get enough optimization done you can play but I wouldn't be very optimistic.

Edit: With those specs I would even attempt to turn on shadows. Also, have you turned off VSync? That helped a lot on my PC.

 

[DatDamnDutchie]

It's a non existent issue that quite a lot of servers are going to shut down and people will stop playing because the max server count will be 20 or something with such a tiny map? Then again, what do TFP care, right? They already got the money from these people.

Hi, I havent played 7D for over a year, kinda skipped A16, and now I read that RWG is getting smaller and smaller. It used to be pretty much endless in A10-11 etc, then it got capped and now its even smaller apparantly.

I also am pretty bummed out about that, RWG is what kept me playing 7D (or any game like it).

That said, 7D alpha has always been aimed at a MP number of max 8 players, or that's what was always said in the old days.

In fact, Madmole has always focussed on SP way more, and Navez, I never saw him show RWG much love. There was always "MP has been improved" messages for the following patch but I never saw much improvements other than some height fixes and then suddenly there was a map limit. IMO, MP exploration was at its peak around A10-11.

Eventough I agree that smaller maps, or even limited maps for RWG are very dissapointing, I find it a bit too optimistic to expect an Alpha voxel game work well for 40-50 people and then on a huge map even.

 

[meganoth]

Have you tried it? lol I have. For a map slightly smaller than the A16 default, it's a 1.6GB download for each person the first time they connect. And, they can't connect. lol Once the map is downloaded, it just sits there at "creating player". ...l

Like a lot of other systems in A17 the new RWG is neither finished nor polished nor complete. Look at mods for another example, there are 3 tool mods but 6 possible slots. But this is experimental, this is to be expected, this isn't any different to previous experimentals. It is NOT for the end consumer. You act like an end consumer who just wants to play the finished product. Go play Fallout67, that is a finished product. Play A16, which isn't but at least had some polish applied.

Or play A17E and stop whining. Make a bug report and expect to wait for solutions, there is no Santa Clause with a magic wand on the other side.

 

[Gnomaana]

Like a lot of other systems in A17 the new RWG is neither finished nor polished nor complete. Look at mods for another example, there are 3 tool mods but 6 possible slots. But this is experimental, this is to be expected, this isn't any different to previous experimentals. It is NOT for the end consumer. You act like an end consumer who just wants to play the finished product. Go play Fallout67, that is a finished product. Play A16, which isn't but at least had some polish applied.
Or play A17E and stop whining. Make a bug report and expect to wait for solutions, there is no Santa Clause with a magic wand on the other side.

It won't let me give you more reputation so I'll just say, "THIS!!!"

 

[Jamie87]

Sorry but I don't see this game ever being optimized for that. I totally understand not being to upgrade. Money is tight so I feel for you. But a 740 is just not a gaming graphics card and 8gb is not really enough RAM these days. I hope they get enough optimization done you can play but I wouldn't be very optimistic.

I have amd - fx350 6 core 16gig ram and a 2gig 1050 graphic card on max setting I get 30 to 50 fps in buildings 15 to 20 is this about right for my setup no idea what fps I should be getting I just no its not the best in buildings

 

[FileMachete]

I have to make a choice.. it's difficult..
A) Full textures, low shadows, 1280*720 resolution.. Playing with an FPS of 15 inside buildings (sometimes as low as 12), or

B) Half textures, no shadows, 1280*720 resolution.. Having an increase of 2-3 FPS compared with A, but the game doesn't look as atmospheric anymore, or

C) Full textures, low shadows, 800*600 resolution.. Having an average of 30-35 FPS, but the obviously smaller screen..

What would you guys do? Honest question.

DaVegaNL, just in case: For C if you mean that the 800x600 is -not- filling the laptops LCD (there's an unused border all around the screen) then you might try connecting laptop to a standalone monitor.

It's fairly common for laptops to save space/$$ and not include all the 'normal' bits almost every standalone monitor has. Specifically the circuits that handle the math to stretch a smaller image out onto all the pixels.

Additionally when the laptops GPU is connected to an outside monitor it may offer more resolution choices.

Since it's portable you might want to charge it up and head to a Best Buy or someplace with monitors out. Hook up and see how the resolutions compare when both are in full screen.

-and since cyber monday is almost here I'd bet you could pick up a decent 24 or 27" LG or somesuch for ~$100?

oh, and if you can I'd lean towards an IPS LCD (that's In-Plane Switching), better blacks. Fair warning I haven't kept on top of LCD tech recently so there may be even better tech now at the lower price range.

--On upgrading laptops RAM, definately what Gup said; if there's an open slot to expand into then match the existing module _exactly_.

--If there's only a single slot then you'll have to first verify via manufact docs that it will support a single 16 GB stick, and again, only buy the exact make & model they recommend. If a ram maker says that X is = to Y then, maybe. Just do yourself a favor and buy from somewhere that will accept a full return, since you've probably only got a 50% chance of it working, heh

(sry this got so lengthy; to much side consulting on this kind of thing and there's always one more thing to mention...)

 

[spacepiggio]

Yeah buzzard still give feathers i don't know what you are talking about , and about loot i like it this way but i would like zombies to give different experience depending on how hard they go down

Maybe I tried to harvest the Buzzard wrong, I suggested the same thing the XP Perk for Killing & that would be a Reward & not Loot, a Trade Off I could live with.

Strippers always carry Cash though, they got to give up their Cash Stash, it's been a part of the Game & we can't just wipe out the old Game Completely.

 

[Gnomaana]

I have amd - fx350 6 core 16gig ram and a 2gig 1050 graphic card on max setting I get 30 to 50 fps in buildings 15 to 20 is this about right for my setup no idea what fps I should be getting I just no its not the best in buildings

Thats about what I'm seeing and our pcs are pretty close in specs. I think I'm getting a little higher than that in buildings but I think it was turning off vSync that upped that for me. I have shadow on but on their lowest setting.

 

[SxR]

Are you power swinging? What type of pickaxe? What are your perks? I think the dev's would need more details lol

Got EVERY Perk related to Mining. Power swinging. It's not what it should be, trust me. :f

 

[Gnomaana]

Zombies Need Loot Or A Reward

Zombies have loot and it is AMAZING loot. Yeah, it only drops a bag for every 30(I pulled this number out of thin air. I haven't actually counted.) or so zombies I kill but the loot I get from that bag is better than I got from killing 500 zombies in A16.

 

[Lonestarcanuck]

I remember when A16 came out and I complained to MM/TFP that it was to hard and eventually I figured out what worked and would run and gun all night with zombies.

I find I am in that same predicament with A17. its is !@$% tough! now I am playing on insane mode and only level 6 but I am not dead and have 1 bandage still. I have killed a lot of zombies and found putting points in headshot and things that increased my range damage and stam to be worth it.

what gives me the OMG I am so screwed is when I walk into a room and fall through the floor to a basement full of sleepers and the only way out is through spikes and stairs that have been broken by the zombies.

PS: I tested my underground base at 10 blocks. not that great as the Z find my hatch and break in. Trying to find what will work for A17 is not as easy (yet)!

oh I also found a grip mod - that 20% reduction in stam was nice.

 

[Jamie87]

Thats about what I'm seeing and our pcs are pretty close in specs. I think I'm getting a little higher than that in buildings but I think it was turning off vSync that upped that for me. I have shadow on but on their lowest setting.

I have v sync off the fps are all over the place at the min with some more updates hopefully it will get better

 

[SnowDog1942]

Thanks for the tip! Is that possible with a laptop you think?
I just carried out an update for my GPU (last update was 2 years ago.. woops).. Gained 1-2 FPS, so that's also viable!

Screw the RAM, download an overclocking program for your CPU..

just go easy on it. turn it up nice and slow....play with it for a while and make sure it stays cool.... mmmmmmm…. i'll be back.

 

[FileMachete]

i'm thinking about mining tools. miner 69'r could give damage bonus for tool overall, not only with powerattack. it would make sense right? another idea. with quality tiers. why not improve outcome just a tiny bit. example: tier1 does 10 damage and you get 5 product, lvl 2 does 12 damage and you get 6 product etc. (don't mind exact numbers) it looks similar to a16, but really it improves mining tools. right now they are pretty weak.

any toughts about it?

Been thinking along the same lines regarding the Tiers; just a _little_ bit better un-modded Dam/Harvest/Stamina-drain/etc would be nice.

Though from MMs comments it didn't sound like the mods should be as rare as they are right now, so might be a moot point?

Also would make balancing a bit harder.

That said I'd personally still lean towards the Tiers getting just a bit better each step up, like Durability does. Which is actually nice for your high-usage items like the axe & pick. But by itself isn't enough for me to trade up (buying) from a T2 to a T3.

Anyway, who knows what'll turn up over the next few weeks Can say, "Holy Molly Sweet Baby Jebus! YES!!" to the damage staying the same across the full durability. Man. That one -really- put a smile on my face

 

[Gnomaana]

Screw the RAM, download an overclocking program for your CPU..
just go easy on it. turn it up nice and slow....play with it for a while and make sure it stays cool.... mmmmmmm…. i'll be back.

If he is running out of RAM overclocking will do absolutely nothing to help. If he is pushing that GPU past its limits then overclocking the CPU will do absolutely nothing. Given those specs his best bets for performance help are a) more RAM and b) replace the hard drive with an SSD. In a laptop there is nothing he can do with the GPU. Nothing he does is going to make it run great.

 

[JCrook1028]

I know Gazz said the power attack grunt sound is a placeholder, but I suggest to remove it completely, because when mining (sometimes for hours), you instantly grow tired of hearing this sound every second.

^^This! This! and more This! Hearing that sound is gonna drive me berserk!

 

[SnowDog1942]

I think you guys will be happy to observe our very very very very very very tentative and not accurate update schedule moving forward.

Fixed,

This was a good natured jab -- love you & A17 rocks!

 

[Blackgryphon]

Hi, I havent played 7D for over a year, kinda skipped A16, and now I read that RWG is getting smaller and smaller. It used to be pretty much endless in A10-11 etc, then it got capped and now its even smaller apparantly. I also am pretty bummed out about that, RWG is what kept me playing 7D (or any game like it).

That said, 7D alpha has always been aimed at a MP number of max 8 players, or that's what was always said in the old days.

In fact, Madmole has always focussed on SP way more, and Navez, I never saw him show RWG much love. There was always "MP has been improved" messages for the following patch but I never saw much improvements other than some height fixes and then suddenly there was a map limit. IMO, MP exploration was at its peak around A10-11.

Eventough I agree that smaller maps, or even limited maps for RWG are very dissapointing, I find it a bit too optimistic to expect an Alpha voxel game work well for 40-50 people and then on a huge map even.

But it did work pretty well in A16. with a map that was 201sq. km. With 50 people. The only issue was loading times when on a really fast mini bike. Which could probably have been fixed with a bit of work.