Laz Man

May need to start calling Faatal the Xtreme Optimization Cowboy with how efficient he is at cleaning and improving the code. 😎 Since Faatal shared about the recent terrain tool improvements, here is a small sample of some terrain sculpting I did quickly with it in the prefab editor. Sculpting something like this previously would take me much longer.

It can be a struggle to keep pumping out fresh content for a AAA MMO subscription game let alone a finite gameplay loop single purchase game like 7 days to die. One reason players enjoy the game so much is its overwhelming potential to be so many different things while there not being many other games out there with the same blend of gameplay / mechanics. I believe because of that, people can become easily upset when that potential is missed in their minds, especially when there are several others with the same opinion. The reality is, the game has been in development for a very long time and is finally nearing the finish line. Hopefully many of the missed opportunities will be considered in a future title or perhaps the games sequel.

Maybe I missed the comment about cars, but did someone say we only have one color? There is alot more color variety and then some as far as vehicle wrecks on the road in A21.

I truly empathize with your situation. Certainly, it can't be easy relying on one game primarily as a content creator. My best advice is to shelve the game for now and take a break and recharge as not doing so will just burn you out and hurt your channel. Best of luck to you.

With the perk changes in A21, FORT/STR won't be the only appealing option for direct confrontation (e.g. sexy t-rex) As far as being able to stealth a POI 100% without waking up any zombies (especially the final loot rooms), I don't think there is time to re-design / overhaul that system any further given the push for gold. I can forsee maybe some quality of life improvements to stealth maybe but nothing that is going to drastically change how POIs are designed / paced. Who knows, perhaps the next game will incorporate stealth gameplay in a more significant fashion.

Prepare your bodies for A21. I expect at least some poopy pants...lol

That sounds like a fun DLC / addon map. Like you arrived on an island via airport and now need to survive. There are alot of cool ideas that can be implemented easier in a hand crafted map versus a randomly generated one.

A Tile is 150x150 in size. A believable run way imo would need to be at least 300m in length. From an art perspective, I would imagine we would need destroyed airplane models, baggage carts, carousels, etc. just to name a few. Basically a new category of art to support one brand new type of POI. Could we hodge podge some shapes together to create some of that? Perhaps, but not at the current standards our other categories are currently at. Could still happen, just unlikely for 1.0 is all. Game has been in dev for a long time already as is.

Level design as far as player path is concerned, is mostly the same in A21 POIs when compared to A20. Apart from new and overhauled POIs, all of the old ones should be updated with all of the new art assets, doors, and new shapes. The world feels drastically more immersive further making it even harder to believe it is a fully destructible world. Easter eggs? Yes, there are quite a few new ones for players to find. There are no new dedicated cave POIs, however, a few of the new POIs make use of terrain and water. For example, one of the ranger stations I recently overhauled sits on top of a small mountain.

It is certainly a tried and true formula that many people enjoy. I agree though, not really an apples to apples comparison as each games have different features they excell at.

Ever heard of Simplicated before? 😅

I know I have heard talk of such things but no plans that I am aware of. As a side note, apparently quality variants are already in the works by modders such as Mumpfy. See his thread below for more information.

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with wanting to reach more players. Don't all game developers want more people to play their games? As far as your statement about hardcore players, now that's really harsh and would disagree with you 100%. Certainly making money is important, otherwise the owners can't hire the staff to finish the game and also make more games. If it was only about the money, the game would of been shoved out the door as 1.0 along time ago in my opinion, just like many other cash grab early access games out there. Hopefully A21, will further prove that to the fanbase. Hang in there...I know the wait sucks....

Simplification doesn't always equate to a bad thing. Keeping things simple often makes things more intuitive. Not all will agree, but games can be simple but still provide a very rewarding and deep experience. More variety will hopefully come when all of the core game features are in (e.g. bandits, story quest line, etc.). Ironically, the one area you seem to be okay with simplification is in zombie character models (variants - same zombie wearing different clothes)....😅

Maybe starfield in June? 😃

Bugs and content are 2 completely different things. Not a good analogy imo. The user who commented wasn't disappointed about general lack of content but rather the simplification of systems over the course of several Alphas. I can empathize with people who prefer a deeper simulation and wanted to point out that mods can alleviate some of that desire. (e.g. more complex recipes, resource gathering, weapon variety, skill progression, etc.) Hopefully modding becomes even more accessible the closer we get to gold so it doesn't feel like a undesirable alternative.

Thankfully the game is designed by the developers to be moddable so a greater audience of players can enjoy it for many more hours after the vanilla experience is over. 😀

Good eye...Roland would be proud...😅

Jokes aside, we are getting closer and closer every day. Hopefully there will be an announcement very soon. 😎 Just this past week, I finished up overhauling several of the ranger station POIs to our current standards. One was even upgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 3. You guys will be amazed how much more believable POIs look like with all of the new art assets and shapes. From a gameplay stand point, there are several new things that shake things up. The new door art / tech. alone is awesome given the variety we have now (types and damage states) AND the fact players can shoot / melee through them. I was playtesting a POI yesterday and got surrounded by several zeds in one encounter. After knocking down the closet one to me, I then hopped over a pallet of cattle feed and ducked out through a wooden door (closing it behind me). While I was catching my breath, the zeds started piling up on the door breaking it down bit by bit until I could see their dead faces growling at me through a hole that they made. I quickly start stabbing them in the face injuring / killing just enough before the door completely collapsed in order to finish off the rest of them. Thank you door!

Morpheus....is that you? 😆

True, however, when someone is asking for something to look less weird (no climbing animation) in exchange for something else that also looks more weird (janky climbing animation), that isn't an improvement in my book. Semantics at this point regarding "Anything" being better than "Nothing" comment...

I also would love to see an airport POI one day. However, I don't think it's in the cards for 1.0. I would imagine the big blockers is art support and RWG code support. Although we can hodge podge some airplanes and other airport assets with shapes, it wouldn't look good enough to stand toe to toe with our art standards. Regarding RWG support, we would need a way to spawn tiles in a way to support the foot print of a runway. We don't have airports in A21 but there are a couple surprises in store yet...😉