I've really been enjoying this mod and wanted to take some time to provide feedback. For reference I'm at lvl 115 in version 1.0 playing trader/researcher/ranger.
Greetings
Thanks for taking the time to leave some feedback, I'll get to each bit in turn.
- If you're going to require players carry 100,000+ coins with them on every trader run it would be very helpful if the stack size were increased.
I think I could increase to 50k, though I've heard there starts to become issues with larger stack sizes over 20k. I'll see about increasing the coin cap and how much you need to carry overall, hopefully it won't cause too many performance issues.
- A bigger backpack in general would also be greatly appreciated given all the new loot there is to carry.
A lot of people have requested a bigger bag - I'll be making it an optional addon once the main work is done on the mod, then people can grab it if they need it. Fennec is becoming quite loot heavy, though the size of the bag won't be as large as the WOTW one. Maybe 2 or 3 extra rows of 4 slots and a larger minibike storage will help a little bit.
- Labeling specialization papers "craftable" gives the impression you can acquire more later in the game. Players should really be aware that their first choice is permanent, and the pros and cons of each class could be more visible.
Once I have the balance right with the classes I'll be adding the descriptions into the class paper descriptions - though every now and then I turn things up/down a bit for some fine tuning so if I do the descriptions early I end up making 2x the work when I make a change. But I think for 1.1 I've almost got it sorted.
- Vulture spawns are absurdly high in the desert. They aren't that dangerous, just annoying.
They aren't dangerous? Hmm... I'll address that next
I'm someone who enjoys the early game and appreciates efforts to expand it, but level gating always feels horrible. If players are burning through your content too fast you need more content, not a treadmill. I want to have a goal I can work towards at every phase of the game, never just be resolved to: "oh I guess I'll go dig/kill zombies aimlessly to unlock some unrelated skill".
The issue is with even base A16 it's possible to have a forge, iron tools and sometimes even a hunting knife all by the end of the first day, so in the Vanilla department there's a real lack of any sort of early game progression. If you got some ideas on what to add that could expand out the early game in a more natural way, I'd be happy to try and incorporate and do some level balances.
Levelling up in 1.1 is now a lot slower, about 3x the rate though the level curve is not so severe. From playing through 1.1 so far it hasn't felt particularly grindy since the struggle is more about food and things in the early game so your days are moreso filled with trying to survive. Getting a good farming space set up is important as well since you'll need it to get seed oil for leather, as well as find some grain alcohol for the curing of leather as well. It encourages looting for your supplies early on and from playing it I've felt pretty at ease.
Currently you'll be able to use copper tools now until level 20 (they can be repaired too so not as useless), at that point you unlock the forge recipe (you can find a book or get a perk now for most things). Perhaps instead of level gates I could use quest chains instead, which would allow you to progress onwards if you have completed some of the quests.
The only issue with that is the crafting operations require you to sit in a crafting station, for example I could make it so that the forge required a 'Blacksmithing Basics' perk which you could only get upon completing a quest to make some copper tools, copper arrows, and a few other things on the firepit.
What I have found from playing 1.1 so far, is that when I loot a good iron tool off a zed or in a box, I'm actually excited to get it. Usually you go to a stiffs, find tools, and think "ehh" unless it happens to be a steel one or auger parts or something, and scrap it. But all tools I find around now I save up, since I know I'll be able to use them and when I get a perk, repair them for a better quality than my current craftable levels (which is also a lot lower initially and can't be bought straight away)
- Foxium and Fadium. I like the idea of new endgame materials, but the droprates really need adjusting if this mod is going to be at all viable singleplayer. At 5% odds you'll need 400 destroyed forges/hidden stash crate on average to get enough for a forge.
That should be addressed in 1.2. It should be noted that I made loot boxes you have to hack apart have a chance at dropping secret stash crates as well, instead of toilets. So, there is already a little bit of a higher chance of finding them around the world now but the rate may increase a little and radiated zeds may also have a chance to drop them.
If I can have my way with how some of the loot spawns, I may be able to make every POI more interesting by making those blank iron shelves have a chance at transforming into different boxes with a small chance.
- Uranium can be smelted into an alloy forge but not extracted.
I'll have a look at that for 1.1, should be easy to fix.
- There are two steel recipes, seemingly in the wrong order. But that's been addressed elsewhere in this thread.
This should be out on 1.0 as well. Try updating hopefully that will fix the recipe.
- The gigantic gold & silver deposits feel a bit unnatural. Between the Fadium/Foxium recipes and the cost of traders they're currently necessary, but perhaps all of that could be toned down together
Schematics are also a good way to make money. In 1.1 barter has a lot more effect at higher levels as well, so it will be a lot simpler. Essentially you will get rewards for working with the traders, but it won't be a 'go to trader, get steel tools day 2-3, profit' sort of deal like you can expect from Vanilla
I will have a look at vein size.
- I really like the class system in general but a few of them seem really under powered. Crafter, Culinary, and Carpenter in particular. You also have classes like researcher and athlete which are appealing in the early game but have huge opportunity costs for later.
All classes have their different qualities - I find that quicker crafting is really good if you're a builder or someone who likes to build bases. There's pretty much 3 class categories, craft skills, weapon skills, and boost skills. Culinary will be very good in 1.1 since wellness gained from food in general is a lot less but the tasty variants of some foods give you a nice wellness boost. The food system in 1.1 is completely redone
Carpenter I do plan to buff later on - how does 2000 HP blocks made from wood sound?
The carpenter will be able to craft much tougher wood blocks which can then be upgraded direct to reinforced wood (4000 HP) with some iron, then steel after that - which degrades back into the reinforced wood blocks. That's 16000 total HP, which is almost as good as 19000 total going the normal route with concrete and less dry time. Don't worry, he'll get good.
- Any quests that rely on particular animal spawns, particularly rare ones like direwolves and bears, is a huge pain.
All animal spawns have been turned up in Fennec so it should be possible to find them more easily, though if you feel I need to make bears and direwolves more common I can up their spawn rates in forest and snow biomes respectively.
- I'm not quite sure how I feel about gating certain key skills to a class without any way to unlock more classes. Being capped at 350 quality for everything you didn't specialize in can be very annoying. And Quality Joe is such an impactful perk that not taking plunderer feels like a handicap.
350 quality tools aren't so bad - you just have to go around it a different way. Working stiffs and traders become useful for higher qualities of tools. The idea is to make each experience different - what if you could do x but not do y? The same with looting - scavenging boosts the loot level as well as generally levelling up. Quality Joe 3/3 almost guarantees you get a purple item every time when you are maxed, and really, blue and green aren't really so bad. Fennec won't give you the best of everything. However...
- Perhaps Mastery skills could be purchasable? Not cheap, and perhaps gated behind level 100 of a relevant soft skill, but something to allow some diversification in the lategame. Classes would still have their unique damage/stamina modifiers, but you wouldn't need to have a large group of players just to cover the basics.
This is the bit I will be working on next - getting other class papers. Essentially, you will find skill notes around the world in some locations and I will add those to quests as well as skill points. You will also be able to scrap schematics into skill notes, the rarer ones giving a higher count of skill notes, between 1 and 5. Treasure chests may also contain some skill notes too to encourage treasure hunting. After getting about 300 of them you will be able to craft yourself a brand new class paper that will give you the mastery 1 part and unlock the quest chain to give you mastery 2.
