PC How do you like A17 experimental?

[Krougal]

The issue for me is that for some odd reason every Alpha the time it takes seems to be dwindling. I thought A16 was horribly short on playtime to end game and the first week of 17 i was applauding the slower progression. Until I realized it was all a parlour trick. Its no longer. Go out and kill zeds and you can be level 60 plus by day 21, probably sooner. And the loot it outrageous. In 2 loot rns you can have all you need weapon wise to never have t loot again. Just mine for the bullets.
Its not that we expect more its that we didn't expect the game to get shorter as time went on, with so many removed and streamlined features.

You and I been playing this game since 2015! It's a long time. Yes, I am averaging 3 levels a day and I'm sure I could level faster if I pushed it harder. Others do, and even on harder difficulty than I play. New players are probably not going to level as fast as us.

It depends what you consider endgame too. For me endgame is enjoying the fruits of my labors, being maxed out (although I was bored with any single A16 playthrough long before I could max out without cheating) having a huge ornate base full of traps and chests of loot, big farm, etc. Granted that gets boring after a bit for me and then it's time to fresh start, but then that is what makes me hate level grinding to begin with, cause it's always the same thing.

Some people their game doesn't really start for them until they get to that stage; when they've turned survival mode into creative mode by conquest. The "builders" probably are not even close to bored at the same point you and I are.

 

[Doctor3D]

I agree with everything and am experiencing the same. What level are you, what difficulty and what day? GS 600 sounds really high (isn't it near the max? a level 300 player who hadn't died for 300 days would have 600 on normal I think??)
Anyways, I ask because I had a faint hope that as my GS rose further my feeling of super OPness at level 100 would perhaps depart, but your post dashes that hope.

I just loaded it up to be more accurate. My GS is actually 520 not 600. I am level 147. The difficulty is currently set to Survivalist. I started A17 at lower difficult to get a feel for it. Though probably should just leave on Insane. I figure most people are going to eventually be playing insane to try to get a threat out of it. Far more players would probably play A17 on Insane than any other after you perk up, at least. In A16 on insane the zombies took way too long to kill which would make the looting very tedious shooting the same zed over and over. But, in A17 you can take them down much faster now.

The thing is the dungeon POIs can actually be a lot of fun. I've had a good time going and doing the quests - especially at first when there was still a little threat. I took everything really quiet and cautious - laid down traps, etc I liked it. I loved having to be careful and taking each room quietly so you didn't wake up all those ferals and cops all at once. But now..I can just run through them like I'm playing Quake.

I have died 1 time - and it was because I accidentally bumped the E button when learning to fly the Gyrocopter - fell to my death.

 

[PoppaTot]

Some people their game doesn't really start for them until they get to that stage; when they've turned survival mode into creative mode by conquest. The "builders" probably are not even close to bored at the same point you and I are.

That's kind of how I feel now, I really do enjoy A17e (with gripes of my own, but I won't keep beating the dead horse. Devs know what different parts of the community want and now we wait to see what they decide for stable) but I haven't felt like the fun part has started until around level 70 for me when I've surpassed the level locks need (for me at least) to start building a big base and can mine at a reasonable pace.

 

[Doctor3D]

That's kind of how I feel now, I really do enjoy A17e (with gripes of my own, but I won't keep beating the dead horse. Devs know what different parts of the community want and now we wait to see what they decide for stable) but I haven't felt like the fun part has started until around level 70 for me when I've surpassed the level locks need (for me at least) to start building a big base and can mine at a reasonable pace.

Yeah, but that's kind of part of the problem. You can't really enjoy building to around level 60. But, by that time - you're already starting to become a zombie killing machine and the incentive to build is less than it should be. I've got lots of concrete and steel cooked up and in a box - but haven't had much desire to do any building like I normally would by now. I'm still at the same little horde base I threw together on day 14 - just with steel upgrades thrown on it now.

That goes with the balance and progression issue I have. There is too much emphasis on being a strong combat character before building even truly begins.

We need a more spread out age-system in this game. Wood should be viable for a while, stone should be viable for a while, concrete should be viable for a while, and then steel at the end.

The zombies we get at early game stage should have a harder time breaking wood than the later game stages where they could then chew threw it like paper and you better have stone, etc. This would greatly lengthen the progression curve and make building with different materials and advancing through tech levels more logical and fun. (in my opinion).

 

[Boa_2K7]

Expand Control of Time-Flow

Love this game, big improvement over A16! I would like to see a different implementation of time-flow though. Being able to set the period of time for day individually from night would be awesome, much like ARK and some other games do. I find the simple 24-hour period takes X realtime hours and Y hours of daylight is rather limiting. I'd love to be able to provide long days on my server with reasonable nights, particularly given the changes that IMO extend gameplay, generally in a good way. If anyone knows of a mod that does this, please direct me to it. =)

 

[Kamuchi]

A16.4, engine update, alot of balancing and vehicles would have been awesome.

Gun crafting, no more weapon parts: no reason to explore.

Weapon mods with each 6 level the same damage: silly and no reason to explore.

GPS zombies, zombies in ceilings everywhere?? and POI zombie overload with crappy loot: no reason to explore.

Skill gating: I liked A16.4 alot more, you needed some skills but were free to do what ever you wanted, after upping max level to 300, extending nub days to 2 week, no thanks.

World generating was nice in A16.4, tweaked the xml a bit and had 3 cities and 25x25km world, this random with desert-forrest-snow is sooo boring and lame.

Mining speed is horrible, I quit.

Mining and all the cave-ins: A16.4 you could atleast mine with the random cave-in of death.

Bedrock to +3: super lame.

Mining zombies: I go underground when I can't do surface stuff, need resources or don't want to play with zombies, screwed up: check, stupid slow mining and digging zombies? delete game as we ain;t getting an improved balanced A16.4 as most were expecting.

Vehicles are nice, kinda slow for their hilarius sound and in SP I did up the 4x4 to 19,23 and it was fun.

So far only thing good about this update is the upgraded engine and vehciles.

Thanks for the 1772 hours of fun, but time to remove this game and move on...

 

[Roland]

Thanks for the 1772 hours of fun, but time to remove this game and move on...

Not even going to wait to see what official A17 will be like? You did get your money's worth so that's good. But this response is mostly why the dev's keep the test builds away from the public. Good fortunes in your future gaming.

 

[gotitdone]

My 7 year old computer would not run A17 at a playable frame rate, after finally breaking down and buying a new GPU I was able to play.

I'm currently on day 6, so still new to 17. My biggest gripe so far is too many zombies. Not overly difficult, but tedious (read boring) clearing out so many dead with weak weapons. Hitting them over and over and over again while they stand in line is not fun and trying to take them out inside the buildings is asking for death.

The other issue I have is what to do at night...without a forge and the stamina issue (and lack of mining helmet light) makes underground mining frustrating that doesn't leave much else to do early stage.

 

[Corbit]

My 7 year old computer would not run A17 at a playable frame rate, after finally breaking down and buying a new GPU I was able to play.
I'm currently on day 6, so still new to 17. My biggest gripe so far is too many zombies. Not overly difficult, but tedious (read boring) clearing out so many dead with weak weapons. Hitting them over and over and over again while they stand in line is not fun and trying to take them out inside the buildings is asking for death.

The other issue I have is what to do at night...without a forge and the stamina issue (and lack of mining helmet light) makes underground mining frustrating that doesn't leave much else to do early stage.

I recommend finding a house or trader with a working forge, at least you can then start piling in the resources ready for when you're allowed to make stuff. I just started a new game and found a house with a forge in the first 10mins, got that feeling of joy and then I realised I couldn't use it. Such a let down. Found 2 traders down the road both with working forges, game definitely taking the piss. Played for about 2 hours and got bored, it was more fun than continuing playing the previous level 130 game but there is just nothing interesting to look forward to.

 

[Kamuchi]

Not even going to wait to see what official A17 will be like? You did get your money's worth so that's good. But this response is mostly why the dev's keep the test builds away from the public. Good fortunes in your future gaming.

The direction they are taking it is clearly not on improving the A16 with redoing half the game over again with stuff that worked but just needed more balancing.

I could play it for another 1772 hours and keep recommending it, but this just became fortnite/battle royal with zombies, everything regarding building/crafting/mining got dumbed down into just boring.

Any reason for exploring got removed and the world is bland, what was wrong with A16 world generator? I remeber that was being a pain in the rear to begin with and now *delete* for no reason.

It's like the devs forgot that the builders under us who don't care about pvp or zombies half the time were like "Nope! here's more zombies for ya that beat through concrete like magic and dig into your underground workplace in 30 seconds!".

Yup, this forced zombie dealing clearly isn't for me.

 

[Sharky36]

Alpha 17 thoughts

I've been playing since alpha 6, so understand that everything I have to say below is from an experienced player with over 3400 hours playing.

Early Game:

I made a huge mistake early on and that was try to mine for resources with the rock axe. God that sucked! I will never do that ever again. Best thing I found to do until you get established is to run missions for trader and mine only what you need for arrows and kill kill kill. Its the best way to get the experience you need to level.

Surviving the first Horde night:

Best way I've found is to build a bridge across two buildings or hang out on top of a gas station. Keep moving around and the zombies won't spend too much time destroying the frame of the building and it will last through a couple of horde nights.

Zombies can dig better than an Auger:

I love the fact that you can not survive horde night below ground anymore.

New Skill Tree:

It took a while to get used to but I do like this new skills.

Mods:

This I really like. The ability to mod your guns and tools is awesome. I think there should be more mods added though. Maybe some for the vehicles, one or two for the crossbow.

Mining:

Currently sucks the way it is, too much gravel, not enough resources. If you want to remove the endless mining below ground then make resources more abundant. I do like being able to find all resources (lead, coal, nitrate, and iron) in the same location.

POI's:

It was wicked going into the new POI's, zombies coming from the front, zombies coming from the rear. Definitely have to keep your head on a swivel when tackling them.

Building a Base:

Just forget about building a base before you get Reinforced concrete. The horde night zombies do way too much damage to have a building survive before Reinforced Concrete. Even then its a lot of work the following day fixing all the blocks they destroyed. Wood Spikes are a speed bump, go directly to the iron spike traps, they last a bit but even then the zombies on horde night will destroy a good deal of them.

New Vehicle Physics:

My favorite part of the update. This update for vehicles is outstanding. The only problem with vehicles is when playing with a friend and sharing vehicles. When you place a code into the vehicle so that your friend can use it, even after putting the code in they can not use the storage in the vehicle. The only way around it is to pick up the vehicle, give it to your friend and let him place it in the world. Only then can he use the storage.

All in all a great update, I'm enjoying getting to know the game again.

 

[Fistfulofsteel]

Way to make people feel welcome, kudos to you :encouragement:

lol. I hate to say it but buddy, you're in the wrong here.

 

[Ornias]

Mixed feelings. 1st time through was bad/great. Once you figure out the stamina and the new POI's, not so much. 4th play thru, level 38 on day 4.5 (90) min days. Just rushing to the minibike/mining perks so I can build a base. I figure they will balance the xp gain better between zombie hunting or base building, but until then I feel its best to just kill every zombie you see. I still do not like the fact that the easiest way to level my archery/ sneak skills is to run up to zombies and hit them in the face with a club.

 

[Flix]

With stuff like

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520431921222647845/levitation.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520432740651499540/90_roads.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520431257436291082/street.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520430355984154627/water.png

This game is going in reverse, we where promised better random gen and we get near 90 degree roadways hills, parting of the seas via roads water physics, and floating POI's that crumble as soon as a tiny bit of damage occurs to them.

We went from an ok grind to level, to a massive grind slow progress leveling, the removal of the plains biome was a huge loss for many who preferred that biome to build in.

Now the good, love the vehicles, it's a shame on random gen that the vehicles are nearly worthless due to the terrain generation having to many near 90 degree hills. Having sleepers is wonderful if you can stand breaking a closet door to find multiple zombies crammed inside. The new customization stuff like window and door trims is an awesome addition.

More variety in the POI's now is sweet.

In summery the bad outweighs the positive for the people who prefer random gen and unless fixed fast I won't be following this game much longer.

 

[lord_ahriman]

Yeah, but that's kind of part of the problem. You can't really enjoy building to around level 60. But, by that time - you're already starting to become a zombie killing machine and the incentive to build is less than it should be. I've got lots of concrete and steel cooked up and in a box - but haven't had much desire to do any building like I normally would by now. I'm still at the same little horde base I threw together on day 14 - just with steel upgrades thrown on it now.
That goes with the balance and progression issue I have. There is too much emphasis on being a strong combat character before building even truly begins.

We need a more spread out age-system in this game. Wood should be viable for a while, stone should be viable for a while, concrete should be viable for a while, and then steel at the end.

The zombies we get at early game stage should have a harder time breaking wood than the later game stages where they could then chew threw it like paper and you better have stone, etc. This would greatly lengthen the progression curve and make building with different materials and advancing through tech levels more logical and fun. (in my opinion).

I like the new perk system, but it has some problems. As you and other guys are saying, it's not fun for builders (like me). I think the biggest problem lies in the fact devs were saying we could play different ways so specialization would be a thing. That's not true at all.

 

[meganoth]

I find the simple 24-hour period takes X realtime hours and Y hours of daylight is rather limiting. I'd love to be able to provide long days on my server with reasonable nights,

What is a reasonable night? There is nothing limiting as far as I can see, with X and Y you can set arbitrary day and night durations

 

[JCrook1028]

With stuff like https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520431921222647845/levitation.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520432740651499540/90_roads.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520431257436291082/street.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520430355984154627/water.png

This game is going in reverse, we where promised better random gen and we get near 90 degree roadways hills, parting of the seas via roads water physics, and floating POI's that crumble as soon as a tiny bit of damage occurs to them.

We went from an ok grind to level, to a massive grind slow progress leveling, the removal of the plains biome was a huge loss for many who preferred that biome to build in.

Now the good, love the vehicles, it's a shame on random gen that the vehicles are nearly worthless due to the terrain generation having to many near 90 degree hills. Having sleepers is wonderful if you can stand breaking a closet door to find multiple zombies crammed inside. The new customization stuff like window and door trims is an awesome addition.

More variety in the POI's now is sweet.

In summery the bad outweighs the positive for the people who prefer random gen and unless fixed fast I won't be following this game much longer.

Two words - experimental build. The RWG system was totally redone to allow the pregeneration system and it is released to us now in an UNFINISHED state. The game is not "going backwards". We are seeing the behind the scenes of the game taking a massive leap forward.

Yes vehicles have problems with the terrain - see above^^^

 

[Kattla]

Two words - experimental build. The RWG system was totally redone to allow the pregeneration system and it is released to us now in an UNFINISHED state. The game is not "going backwards". We are seeing the behind the scenes of the game taking a massive leap forward.
Yes vehicles have problems with the terrain - see above^^^

Third word - Experimental build experiences.

This topic is about experimental experience, not what stable will become.

 

[LuckyStar]

Third word - Experimental build experiences. This topic is about experimental experience, not what stable will become.

Fourth word - The comment "This game is going backwards." isn't about experimental.

That comment was directed at the entire project.

 

[Jamey]

With stuff like https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520431921222647845/levitation.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520432740651499540/90_roads.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520431257436291082/street.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/362736531376439296/520430355984154627/water.png

This game is going in reverse, we where promised better random gen and we get near 90 degree roadways hills, parting of the seas via roads water physics, and floating POI's that crumble as soon as a tiny bit of damage occurs to them.

We went from an ok grind to level, to a massive grind slow progress leveling, the removal of the plains biome was a huge loss for many who preferred that biome to build in.

Now the good, love the vehicles, it's a shame on random gen that the vehicles are nearly worthless due to the terrain generation having to many near 90 degree hills. Having sleepers is wonderful if you can stand breaking a closet door to find multiple zombies crammed inside. The new customization stuff like window and door trims is an awesome addition.

More variety in the POI's now is sweet.

In summery the bad outweighs the positive for the people who prefer random gen and unless fixed fast I won't be following this game much longer.

I hope that you posted in the bug report thread with seed and location info for them to look at and fix the problems.