grieferbastard
Refugee
So I started a fresh game in A18 yesterday. All settings default save visuals, which are at ultra, solo play, Navezgane map.
I have 437 total hours played in 7DtD.
I am on day 6, haven't had my horde night. D
I did NOT powerlevel or the like; tried to play it as 'fresh' as possible, completed tutorial first, largely stuck to the 'starter house' I spawned next to.
I spawned eastern edge of map, a bit south of median, in desert biome.
General feedback:
Performance was great. Tiny hitches when loading big chunks, no problem at all.
Spears are A+, likely a huge boon to new players, javelin mechanic hugely satisfying.
New melee performance also great. At least at stone/iron levels the tradeoff between range and speed of spears vs killing power of sledge feels like a good balance, I carried both and switched between them a lot.
Bows feel a bit better, geared more toward hunting at least at lower levels.
Animals were threatening but the running mechanic was good. Hunting feels like, well, hunting and not a variant of zombie fighting.
Stamina/early resource collection feels 100x better. Thank you so much for that.
Loot doesn't feel too numerous but does feel a bit high. Day 2 I had a looted T2 iron sledge, spear, I had an AK and a stun baton, 3 pieces of iron armor. I was level 2 at the time. Food, water, schematics, crafting materials all in a good place loot wise - just enough to scrape by but I'm building a stockpile of solid weapons by day 2. Haven't even used it, saving it for 7day horde.
POIs feel great. I died 2 times in POIs, once due to tight confines I got myself into, the second to not paying attention. If I'm super cautious and on my A game I can safely do a POI without feeling 'cheesy', otherwise it's a big risk. The smaller locations have a bit of risk so I'm paying attention but it's just a couple sleepers. I approve of the balance of this as you work out 'I can handle this one right now' or 'I'm coming back here in the morning'.
Zombies are in a good place. The jog mechanic was a surprise that almost got me but it means I can't just casually solo down daytime zombies with a stone axe. They're always a bit threatening but not damage sponges. At least at my current level (level 4, day 6) I'm very happy with zombie population and performance. They're always around but not too numerous and as I said, POIs feel good.
Nights are serious ♥♥♥♥. The only reason I didn't die on night 1 while doing some 'scouting' was diving in the river to bandage and then losing my pursuers getting up a cliff, then climbing a water tower and hiding. I absolutely did NOT go out nights 2-5, as it should be.
The need to make repair kits for iron tools is less than ideal as it requires me to constantly hunt for bones to make glue to be able to craft. It functionally breaks the 'craft/farm raw materials/repair/craft' cycle.
Progression feels wonky. I'm doing some fighting but mostly crafting, repairs, exploration. I'm about to hit night 7 and because I didn't actively power level I absolutely 100% know I'm going to get utterly rekt, lose everything and get killed. No question. If I'd power leveled and played all the tricks I know I'd have been fine but if I'm just playing the game like I don't know all the tricks then in no way, shape or form will I have a fraction of the skills I need to survive even the first zombie horde night. It feels like progression is geared toward very experienced players who know exactly what build they want and how to maximize gains and exactly what night 7 base design they're working toward and not for newer players who are going to misspend some early points and in so doing be absolutely screwed.
I'll come back and update this as I get further along.
Current verdict:
I really, really enjoy it. Progression feels plodding and even just maintenance of iron tier tools feels like a chore but everything else is lovely.
Progression doesn't feel good.
I have 437 total hours played in 7DtD.
I am on day 6, haven't had my horde night. D
I did NOT powerlevel or the like; tried to play it as 'fresh' as possible, completed tutorial first, largely stuck to the 'starter house' I spawned next to.
I spawned eastern edge of map, a bit south of median, in desert biome.
General feedback:
Performance was great. Tiny hitches when loading big chunks, no problem at all.
Spears are A+, likely a huge boon to new players, javelin mechanic hugely satisfying.
New melee performance also great. At least at stone/iron levels the tradeoff between range and speed of spears vs killing power of sledge feels like a good balance, I carried both and switched between them a lot.
Bows feel a bit better, geared more toward hunting at least at lower levels.
Animals were threatening but the running mechanic was good. Hunting feels like, well, hunting and not a variant of zombie fighting.
Stamina/early resource collection feels 100x better. Thank you so much for that.
Loot doesn't feel too numerous but does feel a bit high. Day 2 I had a looted T2 iron sledge, spear, I had an AK and a stun baton, 3 pieces of iron armor. I was level 2 at the time. Food, water, schematics, crafting materials all in a good place loot wise - just enough to scrape by but I'm building a stockpile of solid weapons by day 2. Haven't even used it, saving it for 7day horde.
POIs feel great. I died 2 times in POIs, once due to tight confines I got myself into, the second to not paying attention. If I'm super cautious and on my A game I can safely do a POI without feeling 'cheesy', otherwise it's a big risk. The smaller locations have a bit of risk so I'm paying attention but it's just a couple sleepers. I approve of the balance of this as you work out 'I can handle this one right now' or 'I'm coming back here in the morning'.
Zombies are in a good place. The jog mechanic was a surprise that almost got me but it means I can't just casually solo down daytime zombies with a stone axe. They're always a bit threatening but not damage sponges. At least at my current level (level 4, day 6) I'm very happy with zombie population and performance. They're always around but not too numerous and as I said, POIs feel good.
Nights are serious ♥♥♥♥. The only reason I didn't die on night 1 while doing some 'scouting' was diving in the river to bandage and then losing my pursuers getting up a cliff, then climbing a water tower and hiding. I absolutely did NOT go out nights 2-5, as it should be.
The need to make repair kits for iron tools is less than ideal as it requires me to constantly hunt for bones to make glue to be able to craft. It functionally breaks the 'craft/farm raw materials/repair/craft' cycle.
Progression feels wonky. I'm doing some fighting but mostly crafting, repairs, exploration. I'm about to hit night 7 and because I didn't actively power level I absolutely 100% know I'm going to get utterly rekt, lose everything and get killed. No question. If I'd power leveled and played all the tricks I know I'd have been fine but if I'm just playing the game like I don't know all the tricks then in no way, shape or form will I have a fraction of the skills I need to survive even the first zombie horde night. It feels like progression is geared toward very experienced players who know exactly what build they want and how to maximize gains and exactly what night 7 base design they're working toward and not for newer players who are going to misspend some early points and in so doing be absolutely screwed.
I'll come back and update this as I get further along.
Current verdict:
I really, really enjoy it. Progression feels plodding and even just maintenance of iron tier tools feels like a chore but everything else is lovely.
Progression doesn't feel good.
