PC v1.x Developer Diary

[GigglingZombie]

Not seeing any update for the stable version...

This always confuses me. Steam does indeed show 1.1 Stable as latest. You have to choose latest experimental to get 1.2 b27

So you will install a mod to change lighting, but you won't move a slider from 50% down to 25%?

I played at 25% this weekend and it was great. I had to actually use torches in a basement to see (new game).

Light effects how far they can see you, so there is a big detection difference from light to dark.

Well, bug fix patches are not supposed to take long as crossplay had already passed. PS5 approval took minutes. Maybe MS is backlogged and they don't give us times.

i've used the true lighting mod in quite a few playthroughs since 1.x made outside lighting so bright at night. (i don't use it to improve indoor lighting but outside at night time). at some point i'll try a new playthrough without the true lighting mod, but as i say, so far i've seen nothing bad about the mod's effects on things.

I do love the game (a hell of a lot), i sometimes lose track of how far i get with the various combinations of versions ~

7 Days to Die a21.2 (b37) Hotfix with Joke Mod
7 Days to Die a21.2 (b37) Hotfix with Outback Roadies Mod
7 Days to Die a21.2 (b37) Hotfix with Preppocalypse Mod
7 Days to Die a21.2 (b37) Hotfix with Random Wandering Hordes Mod
7 Days to Die a21.2 (b37) Hotfix with Wild West Mod
7 Days to Die a21.2 (b37) Hotfix
7 Days to Die v1.0 (b316) EXP b317 Hotfix with Guppy Zombies
7 Days to Die v1.1 (b14) Stable with Guppy Zombies
7 Days to Die v1.1 (b14) Stable
7 Days to Die v1.2 (b24) EXP b25 Hotfix
7 Days to Die v1.2 (b27) Stable with Guppy Zombies
7 Days to Die v1.2 (b27) Stable

and each one has various combo's of mods. but my point isn't about mods but how much i love (and play) the game itself ; (and that list doesn't even cover the playthroughs i've finished and deleted, or how many different saves in in some of those)

 

[HB_H4wk]

This always confuses me. Steam does indeed show 1.1 Stable as latest. You have to choose latest experimental to get 1.2 b27

Still not showing up. I just wonder why say the stable version has released and been over 7 hours for me and still nothing. No worry it'll show up tomorrow..lol **EDIT** having to select None in the Beta to update a Stable Version is rather stupid but it worked.

 

[Riamus]

Still not showing up. I just wonder why say the stable version has released and been over 7 hours for me and still nothing. No worry it'll show up tomorrow..lol **EDIT** having to select None in the Beta to update a Stable Version is rather stupid but it worked.

View attachment 32906

None is normal.  If you select a specific version like 1.1, it lets you keep playing that version without updating.  And latest experimental is just for experimental.  So None makes sense to play the latest normal version of the game.  Any of your other games will be set to None as well unless you change it to use a different version.

 

[HeLLKnight]

Now that 1.2 is stable, I'm curious all these new performance optimizations. I did a quick test and didn't find any little difference in medium fps or 1% lows. Last big jump in FPS was when TFP enabled GFX Jobs by default.

As I have a powerful Cpu (I7 13700k) I assume these 1.2 optimizations are more for consoles or medium-low end PCs. Guys did you experience any improvement? There were some atrocious performance reports in consoles when 1.0 was released

@faatal Did you do any 1.2 benchmark or comparison in consoles? are new 1.2 optimizations CPU side? any major optimizations coming in 1.3 or 2.0?

 

[firewalker101]

so xbox yestarday got the 1.2 update... logged into my save game ... didn't appear to notice anything different.. was in the game 2 to 4 in-game days and weather was as normal as whatever other stuff prior to update... i have my main base in the wasteland (burning area) .  Is weather not in this update? it was a 10.6 or so gigabyte download, so was pretty big for an update.. what should i be looking for that it changed?  lighting? 

 

[Roland]

so xbox yestarday got the 1.2 update... logged into my save game ... didn't appear to notice anything different.. was in the game 2 to 4 in-game days and weather was as normal as whatever other stuff prior to update... i have my main base in the wasteland (burning area) .  Is weather not in this update? it was a 10.6 or so gigabyte download, so was pretty big for an update.. what should i be looking for that it changed?  lighting? 

There's a thread right by this one that says 1.2 stable update. The very first post in that thread lists all the changes to look for. Weather and biome survival won't change until 2.0.

The biggest change would be if you try connecting to someone playing on a PS5 or a PC, you'll actually get somewhere with that now. It's a pretty significant change depending on who you know.

 

[Roland]

Still not showing up. I just wonder why say the stable version has released and been over 7 hours for me and still nothing. No worry it'll show up tomorrow..lol **EDIT** having to select None in the Beta to update a Stable Version is rather stupid but it worked.

It's not stupid. People who have selected one of the beta versions don't want their games to suddenly update to a different version unless they choose to make that happen. It works the same whether you are playing the latest experimental beta or the A16 beta. It's actually very nice knowing that if you have selected a particular beta then you don't need to worry about your game updating unless and until you choose make that happen.

The "none" option used to say "None-- Opt out of all betas" which perhaps made it a bit more clear.

People who were not playing any of the betas did automatically update to 1.2 without needing to select a none option. Now that you have selected the None option, your game will automatically update the next time one is pushed. However, if you go back into the beta opt-in list and select 1.2 stable once they add it, then you won't update until you choose to opt out. 

 

[meganoth]

It's not stupid. People who have selected one of the beta versions don't want their games to suddenly update to a different version unless they choose to make that happen. It works the same whether you are playing the latest experimental beta or the A16 beta. It's actually very nice knowing that if you have selected a particular beta then you don't need to worry about your game updating unless and until you choose make that happen.

The "none" option used to say "None-- Opt out of all betas" which perhaps made it a bit more clear.

People who were not playing any of the betas did automatically update to 1.2 without needing to select a none option. Now that you have selected the None option, your game will automatically update the next time one is pushed. However, if you go back into the beta opt-in list and select 1.2 stable once they add it, then you won't update until you choose to opt out. 

This is not 100% correct. If you select experimental you will often be updated automatically as well.

"none" should really be called "latest stable" or "latest release", this way almost everyone would understand it. But "none" is probably what steam sets up and if TFP wanted a different name they could only add a duplicate which would confuse as well

 

[Roland]

Good point. You will automatically update from one experimental build to the next if you have latest_experimental selected. If you were playing A16 and TFP for some reason updated that branch you would automatically get that update while opted into that version.

My point is that none of the beta opt-in versions will ever automatically update to Steam's main branch version of the game in your library unless you opt out by selecting "None" which is a nice protection for those who want to avoid automatically updating whenever Steam pushes an update out on their main branch. I agree that the chosen word isn't the best for doing that.

 

[sillls]

Why is it that the only Trader in the Pine Forest is Rex? 

 

[Jost Amman]

Why is it that the only Trader in the Pine Forest is Rex? 

Who's Rex? ,,, You mean Rekt?

 

[Riamus]

Why is it that the only Trader in the Pine Forest is Rex? 

They decided to add trader progression for RWG maps.  Only Rekt for forest, Jen for burnt forest, etc.  Some of us don't like that change, but it is assumed to tie into the future story.  I just play maps made without RWG and don't have that restriction.

 

[faatal]

Now that 1.2 is stable, I'm curious all these new performance optimizations. I did a quick test and didn't find any little difference in medium fps or 1% lows. Last big jump in FPS was when TFP enabled GFX Jobs by default.

As I have a powerful Cpu (I7 13700k) I assume these 1.2 optimizations are more for consoles or medium-low end PCs. Guys did you experience any improvement? There were some atrocious performance reports in consoles when 1.0 was released

@faatal Did you do any 1.2 benchmark or comparison in consoles? are new 1.2 optimizations CPU side? any major optimizations coming in 1.3 or 2.0?

The removal of the weapon camera made a big difference for those of us who gave me feedback. I went from 100 FPS to 120 FPS in Unity in a specific test case. Console definitely saw a boost. Every Unity camera has a good amount of main thread overhead, but if it benefits you would come down to where your bottlenecks are. Some of the other optimizations I have been doing are for FPS spilkes, like entities spawning, which do not change your average FPS.

 

[vergilsparda]

The removal of the weapon camera made a big difference for those of us who gave me feedback. I went from 100 FPS to 120 FPS in Unity in a specific test case. Console definitely saw a boost. Every Unity camera has a good amount of main thread overhead, but if it benefits you would come down to where your bottlenecks are. Some of the other optimizations I have been doing are for FPS spilkes, like entities spawning, which do not change your average FPS.

If you have the time to, would it be possible to explain (in slightly-layman's terms as I am not a game dev) why the weapon camera was causing such a performance issue? I love learning about those sorts of things!

(Also Performance mode on Xbox seems to be working fine—parent had no major hiccups or FPS drops while playing tonight! Our only issue was that it booted them off the first time they tried joining my server, and the first time I booted my game up the EOS servers were having trouble connecting to my PC version, so the server wasn't popping up on their end, probably because of all the new traffic. A lot of people were excited for crossplay so I imagine the servers are overloading at certain times lol)

 

[FramFramson]

If you have the time to, would it be possible to explain (in slightly-layman's terms as I am not a game dev) why the weapon camera was causing such a performance issue? I love learning about those sorts of things!

(Also Performance mode on Xbox seems to be working fine—parent had no major hiccups or FPS drops while playing tonight! Our only issue was that it booted them off the first time they tried joining my server, and the first time I booted my game up the EOS servers were having trouble connecting to my PC version, so the server wasn't popping up on their end, probably because of all the new traffic. A lot of people were excited for crossplay so I imagine the servers are overloading at certain times lol)

The game was always running two cameras instead of one (I believe one for the "gunsight" or zoom function, and the other for the main normal view) and transitioned between them as required. Cutting one of those two cameras means less processing power used and thus more FPS.

 

[sillls]

Who's Rex? ,,, You mean Rekt?

Yes

They decided to add trader progression for RWG maps.  Only Rekt for forest, Jen for burnt forest, etc.  Some of us don't like that change, but it is assumed to tie into the future story.  I just play maps made without RWG and don't have that restriction.

I am looking into other maps now. 

They decided to add trader progression for RWG maps.  Only Rekt for forest, Jen for burnt forest, etc.  Some of us don't like that change, but it is assumed to tie into the future story.  I just play maps made without RWG and don't have that restriction.

Sadly all the non RWG maps are locked out. 

 

[vergilsparda]

The game was always running two cameras instead of one (I believe one for the "gunsight" or zoom function, and the other for the main normal view) and transitioned between them as required. Cutting one of those two cameras means less processing power used and thus more FPS.

Ohhh, okay, that definitely makes sense then. Even on PC I do notice a difference, I'm having a lot less FPS drops myself, but that could also be the other optimization

 

[faatal]

If you have the time to, would it be possible to explain (in slightly-layman's terms as I am not a game dev) why the weapon camera was causing such a performance issue? I love learning about those sorts of things!

(Also Performance mode on Xbox seems to be working fine—parent had no major hiccups or FPS drops while playing tonight! Our only issue was that it booted them off the first time they tried joining my server, and the first time I booted my game up the EOS servers were having trouble connecting to my PC version, so the server wasn't popping up on their end, probably because of all the new traffic. A lot of people were excited for crossplay so I imagine the servers are overloading at certain times lol)

I already said the reason: "Every Unity camera has a good amount of main thread overhead"

Cameras do a lot of work to determine what to draw and then draw it. One camera vs two, means less setup costs.

The game was always running two cameras instead of one (I believe one for the "gunsight" or zoom function, and the other for the main normal view) and transitioned between them as required. Cutting one of those two cameras means less processing power used and thus more FPS.

The weapon camera drew your hands and items in your hands. It was probably setup that way to stop hands and items clipping through walls.

The UI is also another camera.

 

[SnowDog1942]

@faatal

2 things

1). How can I get as smart as you?

2). Please leave us a way to easily configure more max alive zombies on horde night, even if its a config file.  PC’s are getting faster every year and ill be playing till im dead.

 

[Mr. Perfect]

changing zombies AI or whatever Ruins players who just like to start in the wasteland because they just like the visual.  if i randomly spawn in a wasteland in beginning of the game or if i die before putting a bed down; i could likely spawn in deadland  & just keep dieing over and over again cause you have low weak gear & no weapons trying to run out of the area to get to some lowbie area.   .. this is supposed to be a simple survival game worrying about food, tempter, weather, clothes, water, defending against whatever zombies that might sniff you out or spot you .. there's enough to worry about, don't need these crazy super hardcore  requests by some of these folk here..lol

There are settings already to increase the settings as it is as of 12/9/24  to make the game harder.. one should have anything forced on them to make it harder based on some silly bio dome.

My thought of this game should be allowing the player to live where they want and have the same AI stuff in all bio domes... 

If starting to lock down bio domes is not really fair to players who perhaps don't go all out trying to find every shred of high tech gear because they have no life. Some of us have to work and might not have the bandwidth to go crazy who might be locked in a home due to some medical or restriction or perhaps they are in school / underage and have the freedom..

But not to be punished cause i might not have the time to search every nook and cranny..

I feel it should be universal fairness for all players of all learning curve walks of life..

What happens when you want to get some charcoal and it's near by in another bio dome;  taking a walk to get some charcoal and get r*ped by some creatures to die while your trying to keep your body death count low; should not be something i need to be restricted by. or punished for even thinking about trying to get a simple resource.
 

Perhaps a player likes like a dead wood area also because it matches their personality being gloomy, etc ..lol 

Just remember, this is a PVE or a PVE, not world of warcraft with their level restricted area's..lol
Lets not turn a game into something people just don't feel like playing anymore cause it just keeps getting way to many super hardcore players who have the bandwidth while leaving us casual players out in the dust. 

This should be a game to fit all, not those privileged. 

-Steve

Whoa, you're playing in the wasteland to start off? The biomes are not just visuals! Each biome is progressively harder than the last, with the wasteland as the hardest one. You're already playing the game on hardcore mode! I'm surprised you can survive in the wateland with starter gear, the pine forest (the easiest biome) is plenty hard enough as it is when you have nothing but a stick with a rock on it for a weapon.

Game difficulty is: Pine forest (0 difficulty skulls - easiest) -> Burnt Forest (+1/2 skulls) -> Desert (+1 skull) -> Snow (+1.5 skulls) -> Wasteland (+2 skulls - hardest). Each time you go up a biome, you get more zombies spawning. The difficulty of the zombies also goes up too. In higher biomes you get more of the big zombies, or the feral ones with the yellow eyes, maybe even the green irradiated zombies that heal themselves.

In the alphas there where additional difficulty in each biome with the weather. Deserts made you hot, which used more water and could kill you with dehydration. Snow zones burnt more food, and could freeze you to death with the wrong clothes. That weather system was removed for V1.0, but is on the list of things to be added back sometime next year. The wasteland will then have radiation, which will kill you if you don't have the right gear.