This is just a summery of my thoughts and experiances so for in Alpha 21, please note, I play almost exclusivly with a friend of mine who hosts the game.
First, the artwork, terrain generaion, random map generator. (8k)
After seeing the jump from Alpha 19 to Alpha 20, I had high hopes for Alpha 21 random gen, and TFP did NOT dissapoint, Pretty sure I have yet to find any weird terrain gen issues. One or two steep hills sure, but then if you live where I live their nothing XD. Artwork is on point and makes everything feels soo much better.
PLEASE add an option in the map generator to have a single spawn for players, running 4KM to get to eachother is NOT fun.
Lets get the controveral one out of the way.
Water changes (Drinking)
Personally I like it, I like the fact that you can now use clean water for EVERYTHING, I like we have multiple ways of getting water, looting, buying, dew collectors. I've not really had an issue with water, and when I have I can just go buy some from the traders.
I have two suggestions though.
1 - Allow water to be boiled without a cooking pot, and have the cooking pot either speed up the boiling time, or allow for multiple to be done at once.
2 - Allow us to gather water in a bucket and boil it off for x amount of waters.
That should solve any issues regaurding water.
Learn By Looting
Overall I like this approach, however it has a few teething problems that NEED to be addessed.
The tree's you spec into need to be more heavily weighted in favor of your spec, as it is right now, for some things you might as well NOT spec into them, allow me to explain.
First game me and my friend played, I went perception with rifles and lucky looter, She went strength, shotguns and Intellect daring adventurer, after two weeks we could see a VERY LARGE discrepincy between books and loot.
I had AS REWARDS...
Tier 6 pistol (before day 7)
Tier 5 Lever action rifle (day 8-9)
Tier 3 Steel Axe (day 7 if I recall)
Tier 5 Steel shovel (day-8)
Tier 5 Millietery legs (day 9)
Along with other bits and bobs.
I also was able to MAKE Tier 2 sniper rifles, Tier 5 steel spears, Tier 5 iron tools
My Friend had AS REWARDS....
Tier 3 double barrel shotgun (day 6)
2 x Tier 6 Socket wrenches (days 5-12)
She couldnt even make teir 1 stun batons or a tier 1 pump shotgun.
Second game, 1 week in.
I was specced into strenth only and tools and motherload.
She specced only into agility with 4 points in knives/pistols and bows.
By the end of the week I could make tier 5 steel tools (I could actually make tier 2 motor tools), she could JUST make tier 1 wooden bows and was stuck on bone knives and pipe pistols. This is WITH me giving her all the crafting book bundles I got from the trader.
Overall, I like the idea, and the way it's implemented, but the weighting of the weapons/tools you spec into needs to be more heavily weighted. NO OTHER weapon/tool skill should overtake the one you are specced in.
A suggestion to help with this that we came up with, A NEW perk tree.
Weapons - Upto 7 overall points for the over arching tree. Each point spent in the overall tree grants a % stamina cost reduction across all weapons and armour to match what you would get currently.
Each level in each weapon/tool/armour would give the other bonuses.
Each weapon/tool/armour type is moved into this skill tree.
This way you can pick whatever weapon you want, to go into whatever other tree you want.
Want sniper rifles and stealth, but you need better mining tools and wrenches, now you can without haivng to max out 4 different tree's.
Want to go for a fortitude build but use a shotgun and fists, now you can so much easier.
Or something along these lines, either way, books are good, need more weight when specced into multiple weapons.
Zombie spawn mechanics
I think I can speak for everyone, when I say, zombies apperating into a room, on a roof or in a closet when you cross an imaginary line 100% breaks immersion and completely destroys a stealth build. It shouldnt happen, and there are ways around it. When you enter a POI (and we can see when were in POI's now thanks to the reminder in the top right) any zombies that are set to spawn in that POI should ABSALUTLY spawn.
If performance is an issue, then have sleeper that are X away from the player be rendered in a lower poly model. There is a tier 2 house (Or is it tier 1) that you ender from the roof, you go thorugh the attic and down a folded stairwell with a closet at the bottom, If you use an arrow to pop the closet open from the top of the stairs, there is no zombie.
The SECOND you walk to the lower steps, a zombie spawns and another on the floor under the stairs. It's 100% BS.
Me and my friend were doing a tier 1 poi ranger station at night on +2 up from standard settings) You can jump onto the green roof building next to the tower and see every floor of the tower. I went there to see if I could kill the zombies on the floors up in the central lookout tower....no zombies.
got down, went up the tower with my friend.
3 of them spawned out of no where.
Having zombies appareate out of thin air is crap, lazy, immersion breaking and down right dissapointing. There is no exscuse for it.
And now a bug or two
This is kinda ammusing and so far has only happened with Trader Bob, But if your in his compound at kick out time, The game attempts to kick you out 1-2 times and if it fails it just YEETS you 2 KILLOMETERS in a random direction. We've had this happen twice now, once with just my friend, and just today with myself and my friend both being yeeted at the same time to the same spot...2KM away in the wasteland.
Zombies vanish if you hit them as their dying animation plays out...they do leave any severed limbs beind, which is humerous XD.
Overall I like Alpha 21, Some bits just need tweeking, perticually the zombie spawn mechanics, as that causes headachs, breaks immersion and just isnt fun.
Clara
