PC Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

[Damocles]

Just balance it to make the gun noise will attract zombies from far away. (this is realistic too) Maybe even feral randomly.

This way the player can use a gun, but will have a disadvantage doing so when raiding a POI.

 

[faatal]

https://i539.photobucket.com/albums/ff356/stanshome/Untitled.png
please tell me this isnt going to remain. They pop in when you get near camps and it kinda looks ridiculous. They would be better randomly walking places. Not to mention they don't attack if you leave them alone so you can walk past them and loot right next to them. They cant move through door ways so range attacks can easily kill them to then get lots of meat and hide. I found a camp with 6 and did this and no longer need food.

Other then that I have been enjoying all of A17 so GREAT work.

I have never seen those in game, but I'd guess some unfinished xml settings.

 

[SnowDog1942]

I saw a flamethrower trap in the creative menu, but I can't find anyway to build it.... is that intended?

 

[faatal]

Noted: Cold weather makes you vulnerable to vultures. Also noted: You cannot outrun a vulture on a bicycle.
Confirmed - bicycle riding vultures. I almost corrected the above sentence, but what fun would that be.

Vultures will aggressively attack vehicles. Best option is exit vehicle and kill them.

 

[faatal]

Just balance it to make the gun noise will attract zombies from far away. (this is realistic too) Maybe even feral randomly. This way the player can use a gun, but will have a disadvantage doing so when raiding a POI.

Guns are already the loudest noises in the game. Sleeper volumes are different, since designers do not want every zombie waking up and destroying the place, when you walk in the front door and fire a few rounds. You have to touch a volume before those zombies will react to noise.

 

[faatal]

Yeah. Happens a lot to me too. I think it may be if they heard you, they go into the InvestigateSound mode, then once they don't find you, they revert back to a normal Wandering mode that you would normally find and don't go back into a wandering horde mode which they started out in. I've had them keep walking twice, but both times was me sitting in my base looking through perks, so I was making zero sound. Every other time, I had been crafting, gathering resources, base building, something that makes noise and they end up checking it out then wander around.

That is how it works. Hordes travel by investigating a far off point when spawned. If distracted they no longer have that point and just wander.

 

[sillls]

I saw a wolf attack a total of three zombies and none of them fought back.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1573475086

 

[wolffblood]

That is how it works. Hordes travel by investigating a far off point when spawned. If distracted they no longer have that point and just wander.

Oh, okay. I was not sure if that was intended or not. Good to know, and glad I was smart enough to figure it out, haha. Though I did run into a wandering horde already wandering while I was on the bicycle. Is the InvestigateSound only triggered by player made sounds? Just seemed odd I was never in that area and ran into one.

 

[sillls]

Guns are already the loudest noises in the game. Sleeper volumes are different, since designers do not want every zombie waking up and destroying the place, when you walk in the front door and fire a few rounds. You have to touch a volume before those zombies will react to noise.

Trying to smash through a door even in stealth seems to make as much noise as a firearm (in this game). I had cleared out part of the house and was trying to get to the kitchen when five of them come strolling into the bathroom.

 

[faatal]

part of the problem is and has been in the sleeper volume sizes. this was true for a16 also.
larger volumes would help make up for that "lag".

i personally rarely see this issue on SP, but see it more on MP. larger volumes do help to negate this.

https://puu.sh/C70A9/8c87e8593f.jpg

There is an 8m XZ and 1m Y padding around volumes when zombies start spawning. And just making the volumes bigger for interior spaces makes a mess of overlapping volumes and then sleeper blocks would often be in multiple volumes, but are only supposed to be inside 1 volume.

 

[Jugginator]

6 hours of zombies would just be too hard early on. Their block damage would overwhelm more so than it already does. Less block damage, but more zombies could work, but we are still doing a ton of balance changes. It is Saturday, but many of us are chatting away on Skype about all these issues. Give it a few weeks and I think it will be much better balanced, but there will always be people who don't like where we end up.

Ah, too true. I noticed they went through cobblestone like it was butter. Perhaps, to fill the "stop swarming", to add tiny-groups of 2-3 every so often? Well, actually, I guess it kinda makes sense having it stop; every horde night procedurally getting harder / lasting longer, eventually lasting all the way till daylight. Sometimes I forget that I've been around the block and know what to do in case of emergencies.

 

[sinkler]

I can no longer seem to be able to pick up the LandClaim block with holding "E".

It has ton of HP so breaking it is a real hassle.

It now cost only 5 rocks so cant ppl exploit it and build a house out of it?

I only play SP and just recently started using it in my base for the large zombie spawn area prevention and to pick up my work stations.

but this block`s behavior/design seems weird to me.

Am im missing something or is this a WIP?

 

[Jugginator]

I can no longer seem to be able to pick up the LandClaim block with holding "E".It has ton of HP so breaking it is a real hassle.

It now cost only 5 rocks so cant ppl exploit it and build a house out of it?

I only play SP and just recently started using it in my base for the large zombie spawn area prevention and to pick up my work stations.

but this block`s behavior/design seems weird to me.

Am im missing something or is this a WIP?

I don't think you were ever able to pick them up. You can collect em after destroying them, and I think there's a limit to building more than 1 in an area.

 

[JollyTrooper]

As a filthy casual...I just want to say "holy crap, this game just got real."

In other words, I may not be a casual for long after this update. I'm enjoying this waaaaaaaaayyyyyy too much.

 

[faatal]

Ah, good idea, I can probably dig around in the XMLs and find it, I was just showing my son how to find those, he's getting into such things, and of course he already knew. I've worked in advanced robotics for 20 years and never touched a line of code, I'm all design and anatomy, engineering/prototyping, physical stuff. I know a few colleagues who would be shocked to hear I touched some code. I'd just tell them "But I need my tablesaw to help me survive the zombie apocalypse!", make the duh face, and walk away.
Thanks again wolffblood.

Programmers would tell you xml is not code. You could shove code into xml file and parse it if you wanted, but our xml is data and simple rules. Sorry, but you can't change xml and say you did programming. Sure you could, but don't show up at a programmer job interview and expect to not get laughed at.

 

[sinkler]

I don't think you were ever able to pick them up. You can collect em after destroying them, and I think there's a limit to building more than 1 in an area.

it has 7000+ HP , destroying it on the first week of game-play will take a full day of holding left click. that`s a no go early. u can place as much as u want now, so u can just place a new one in your new base, every new one cancel the effect of the prev placed blocks. but they are still super hard to brk so seems exploitable for building stuff.

IMHO it should have been made to be a unique item that can only have 1 instance in the world, and that u can just pick up easily.

don't see the downside to that proposition, and fail to understand the design choice here, it might be MP related though, which i know very little about.

would love to get some advice of best practices avoiding these issues of using it from other SP players that has more experience with using it. thanks

 

[Wardronex]

this does not work that setting actually affects the volume that the zeds hear when waking up says so in the sounds xml

it does not effect what comes out of your speakers at all

if any one knows how to edit the sound files please tell me I really need to lower the volume on the chainsaw and auger when Im streamin without changing the overall volume of the game

Yeah I just seen your response seems this is a really poorly written XML. It is more for what it does than actual volume adjustment.

There should be a local volume setting (there is for crouching?)

Do not add local to the chainsaw it does not work... seems they have grouped a bunch of the sounds together.

I will have to mess around with it. I assume doing the same to Augur as well.

 

[faatal]

huh, won't let me edit my post, just a wall of red. Even refreshed, closed/open browser, nada. Anyways, was going to add that the description of the bicycle and mini bike are both 10m/s, I've yet to actually get on the mini bike yet, so not sure if the actual speeds are the same.

Those just have some guesstimate numbers in them. Polish for later.

 

[Jugginator]

it has 7000+ HP , destroying it on the first week of game-play will take a full day of holding left click. that`s a no go early.u can place as much as u want now, so u can just place a new one in your new base, every new one cancel the effect of the prev placed blocks. but they are still super hard to brk so y not exploit it to build a whole base out of them?

IMHO it should have been made to be a unique item that can only have 1 instance in the world, and that u can just pick up easily.

dont see the downside to that proposition, and fail to understand the design choice here, it might be MP related though, which i know very little about.

Well if that's the case, then yeah that's a bug. I believe I heard or thought or whatever if you placed one lcb, then another couldn't be placed in the range of it. That should change for sure. And on destroying it, don't forget that you can make it fall Knock out he stuff supporting it and it'll fall and break. I've done that a few times.

 

[Jugginator]

Programmers would tell you xml is not code. You could shove code into xml file and parse it if you wanted, but our xml is data and simple rules. Sorry, but you can't change xml and say you did programming. Sure you could, but don't show up at a programmer job interview and expect to not get laughed at.

As a programming learner/student, I chuckled verily at this. xD