Roland
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Posts posted by Roland
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On 2/11/2023 at 6:43 PM, gunner1912 said:
@faatal do you think this new crafting change will not just change the standard method of progressing from grind xp for crafting to grind quest bc why not when i can get t6 loot in a week doing quests vs lootings for 3 weeks for a t4 lower tech lv item? or is the quest system going to be reworked to balance this new system as well?
Spamming quests won’t necessarily get you the magazines you really want because they might not take you to the type of POIs that match in theme.0 -
50 minutes ago, Xtrakicking said:
Oh, how you hope that someone (anyone!) in this thread will catch that reference.
At some times more than others. It waxes and waynes.
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2 hours ago, IzPrebuilt said:
Did this ever go anywhere or were you just telling us you knew stuff?
Used to know stuff.
The picture was of literal juicy tidbits. I don't think it will go anywhere except into my own plans for my crockpot for the game this Sunday...
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Fascinating.
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17 hours ago, Riamus said:
You need to understand that players jump all over the place and with maxed parkour, the jumps are really crazy. Making a pet that walks do that isn't something they want to do and, without it, the pet would have to constantly reset it's position to follow you. Not to mention a dog climbing a ladder is kind of dumb even if they added super jumping to a dog. Yes, some dogs have been taught to climb a vertical ladder, but that also is dumb, imo.
*Maybe* you could convince them to add alternate flying "pets" as that would just be a different skin and it's different mods, but unlikely any walking pets.
Of course, they could add Q*Bert considering it is used to jumping up and down voxels. 😁
Or they could add TenSoon...
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24 minutes ago, Dimasic-Colbasic said:
thank you for responding. But I will still beg and ask the developers to be able to add a tame wolf or dog. It's just my dream to have my own pet wolf in this wonderful game. Maybe my pleas will be heard so I won't give up.
17 minutes ago, Dimasic-Colbasic said:Guys, I like your game that you gave us. 7 days to die is one of my most favorite games, but it really lacks four-legged friends. I really love dogs. I have two Rottweilers and one Czech breed dog at home. And in this game I just need a pet. I'm begging you guys, please add a pet system to the game, I'm willing to pay you for the work as much as you say. Please, I beg you, I would really like you to add the possibility of having a pet wolf or dog.
You are certainly welcome to keep asking but not quite so frequently please.
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1 hour ago, khzmusik said:
But, I never thought "they don't need to have a specific perk" was a flaw, I thought it was a feature, because that's the entire point of skill trees. You have to put points into a "branch" skill in order to gain abilities in the "leaves." Otherwise 7D2D wouldn't have attributes at all, and all the perks would be on one screen. It was a form of artificial scarcity that forced the player into making choices.
Mostly all the same trees and leaves from A20 are still there but instead of unlocking recipes they add greater ability when taking action as a player. Wherever a perk was mostly just a recipe unlock it is now a skill increase for that action and in many cases an increased chance to find magazines and parts needed for crafting.
1 hour ago, khzmusik said:And, in the end, that's what really upsets me about this change. It takes the choice out of players' hands. Their crafting skills are going to be dependent upon RWG instead. Having anything depend solely upon RWG is never as much fun as being able to make a choice - even if it's a bad choice.
EDIT: As an example - there are mods out there which separate crafting into a different skill tree. You have to spend more skill points to craft items, but they balance that by making skill points a bit easier to come by. I would prefer something like this rather than being forced to rely on looting.
It does do this to some extent. I am absolutely certain that people who are used to rushing all the recipes to T3 are going to feel frustration at not having the control to optimize their gear progression as quickly as they are used to being able to do it. It won't matter that they are finding magazines regularly and incrementally working their way up the tiers. I think that most people who don't care about rushing will find the pace enjoyable-- but I could be wrong, of course.
In this case I'm going to say the R word and say that it is actually more realistic that the players are learning to craft from reading about it rather than by spending points or even by the A16 LBD. Repetitive practice gets you really good at doing things you already know how to do but they do not reveal new knowledge you don't already have. Skillpoints earned from doing a variety of survival actions can be thought of has general knowledge that can increase your survival skills but they wouldn't reveal the secret of how to make or craft something you've never made before. But finding old world knowledge by piecing together parts of articles from magazines absolutely could be a way to learn new knowledge.
I know that people are judging the new magazine feature by what they've experienced in the past with books and schematics in this game. The magazines are nothing like those. I played Darkness Falls since I was curious about how similar the magazine feature is to that mod. It is nothing like it.
1 hour ago, khzmusik said:Plus, it actually exacerbates what I think is the real reason players didn't craft very much: by the time they could craft a high (or even medium) tier item, they were already finding higher quality items in loot. For instance, I don't know if I ever put a point into armor, because I was finding Tier 6 cloth armor in loot before I even had a skill point to spare. This, to me, is a much larger issue than any of the others that have been raised.
It is completely counter-intuitive because it does seem as though this change would mean less crafting and more getting gear in loot but it is just not the case. I craft all the time now. I very rarely find something better than I can craft and those moments are cool because they are so rare. There are more parts and knowledge being found than actual full working weapons. When you do find a weapon it is usually something you already have so you scrap it for parts so you can craft the next higher tier. It completely returns crafting as a pillar to the game and at the same time it makes looting a lot more rewarding and fun. I think many people who don't like looting in A20 and below will suddenly find it more appealing in A21 and beyond.
2 hours ago, khzmusik said:Now, by making crafting depend upon looting, it seems like you're making this situation worse. Will you find enough magazines to craft a Tier 5 pipe pistol before you start finding Tier 5 pipe pistols in loot (including quest loot)? Or will you have even more of a chance to find a Tier 5 pipe pistol, because the game is forcing you to do more looting?
You might find a tier 5 pistol rarely before you can craft one if pistols aren't something you perked into. But most of the time you absolutely will be crafting stuff before you find it. Of course, that will also be affected by where you scavenge. If you head into the wasteland early on then you will have a much better chance at finding better loot than you can craft but that will be a choice you will be making. But even then the ratio of working guns to parts to magazines in loot is more towards parts and magazines.
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3 minutes ago, Space4Ace said:
I don't think it will ever happen. We have the drone as a "pet". The drone follows you and helps you (and even gets in the way sometimes), like any tamed pets would do.
Roland can probably answer this better than I can; but if my memory recalls correctly, it's not planned anymore.
I already offered to buy 20 copies of the game on different accounts and give them to the devs and their children and grandchildren if they would only add ziplines so the line starts behind me...
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31 minutes ago, WhiteLion said:
@faatal in my opinion the biggest disadvantage is the multiplayer sync problem. As soon as I play with 3 or people on a privat server and some more zombies are spawned in the attacking movements of the zeds get out of sync. The zed beat animation is before or after the hit will occur - with a noticeable delay / a-sync. We do not have any potato as clients nor the server is a potato. - Will there be fixes for this in A21 or in future?
When you say "private server" are you talking about a dedicated server that is password protected to keep it private or are you talking about one person hosting the others on their own personal rig while they are playing as well? There is a huge difference in required specs to be able to host others on your own computer. It would be great for them to be able to improve things to the point that person to person multiplayer could work buttery smooth but it may end up being something not recommended for more than two players.
There are four of us who play on a dedicated server and we never suffer those delays. But if even just two of us decide to play directly hosted by the other then the client almost always suffers from those types of delays. Adding more players would make it worse.
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1 hour ago, khzmusik said:
This change doesn't seem fun to me.
Okay. You'll have a chance to confirm whether what it seems like is what it actually is like.
1 hour ago, khzmusik said:Let me ask: What problem is this solving? How is the current game mechanic "broken" in a way that needs to be "fixed?"
Not every change has to fix something that was broken. Some changes can add innovation that makes it more fun than it was. Separating the crafting recipes from the perks and giving them their own system has added a lot of fun to the game. I craft more often in A21 than I did in A20. That might feel like a fix to some but maybe not to others. Looting is a lot more fun because desirable rewards are more often found. That might be seen like a fix to some but not necessarily others.
I don't think the A20 system is broken but after having played the A21 system I can't go back to A20. I tried and I missed the learn by reading mechanic for crafting too much. That doesn't make the A20 system broken from a design perspective but at least for me I find the A21 system much more entertaining. I realize that not everyone will see it the same way as me. But that is my own experience.
1 hour ago, khzmusik said:Furthermore - if this really is a better game mechanic, then why not use it for everything? Why not get rid of XP and skill points altogether, and make "learning by looting" the only way to progress in anything?
Variety? It is more interesting with the two systems working side by side than it is just having one single system governing everything. The two systems are more fun than the single perk system and I suspect (though I can't confirm) that the two system design would be more fun than just a single magazine system for everything. There is not just one smoking gun problem that this system was used to fix. It is an evolution, a development step, a further iteration of what we had before in order to add more fun to the game. We will find out if their risk succeeds.
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6 hours ago, Laz Man said:
No concrete news yet on what those additions will be yet.
Laz Man chained to a desk pumping out five new POIs per month.
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55 minutes ago, Fanatical_Meat said:
@Roland are we going to get the new character (player) models that were displayed on twitter a month or two ago for A21?
No. A22 for new character models, bandit models, and clothing/armor. They are all interconnected.
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3 hours ago, khzmusik said:
this change is bad, and you should feel bad.
From what I’ve seen everyone on the team is optimistic and excited to get these changes in the hands of the players. Nobody is feeling bad. All I feel is amazed that such an unorthodox and unexpected set of changes has resulted in a game that is so much more fun than it was.We should feel lucky this team is willing to take risks and experiment with their designs instead of being limited by execs that care more about delivery dates and sticking to existing and known and safe mechanics. I think A21 will blow everyone away. It’s definitely a risk though and could result in failure but that will make the success that much more sweet.
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29 minutes ago, KhaineGB said:
You can even dismember it if you want
Oh...I want.
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5 hours ago, bdubyah said:
Khaine has a mod for it. It works, but it isn't perfect by any means. But I don't see why they couldn't have polished it up over time, though the model itself just seems odd to me, even in this game. I like the demo and its mechanics more.
A separate modlet than Darkness Falls? If so, I'll go looking. I'd like to see this for myself...haha
As for how appropriate it is, I think it fits more now with the new Spider and Screamer models than it did back when it was created.
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47 minutes ago, Old Crow said:
It never stopped being active. I can answer question 3 - there was one, the Behemoth. As I understand it, they couldn't get it working right (yet modders have no issue getting it to work), so it was removed and and replaced with the demolisher zombie.
What mod has a working Behemoth? The Behemoth files were never completed and while its coding was still present but commented out there were some modders who added it to the game but even in those mods it could not be damaged. In the next update they removed it from the code and I've never seen it in any mod since. I wouldn't mind downloading a mod that somehow still has it just for kicks and to see if it actually does have all of its pathing issues fixed. I am skeptical that it actually exists since the model has not been in the code to be utilized by modders for years now. But I would be happy to be wrong.
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@Jugginator @unholyjoe what are your impressions from testing A21? Anything you can share that is your favorite change?
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13 hours ago, SnowDog1942 said:
huh??????????????
Anyways - you will always be super to me.
You promised never to bring that up.
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They're just juicy tidbits. One is extra juicy.
36 minutes ago, Laz Man said:The number is still in flux but there should be an updated count soon. Apart from the new power station POI I mentioned before, I am excited to see what players think of some of our updated POIs.
For example, I am currently working on updating ranger_station_01. I believe that one was originally a T1 POI, but is now updated to T3 with restore power quest support.
There are many old POIs such as this one getting the Tier / gameplay bump alongside its art update.
The numbers are in flux but can you give us an idea of whether there are any new T4 and T5 Poi's or are you guys focusing on T1 - T3? Do you personally prefer narrow passages and tight corners or wide open arenas when designing levels? Do you like doing things that trick players (at least on their first playthrough)? Got anything mean planned for us?
What goes into bumping a T1 to the T3 level and adding a new quest type support? I take it that it is more than adding sleepers and slapping a generator somewhere in the POI...
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@Laz Man can you give us the number of new POIs broken into tiers for A21? How many old POIs got updated for A21? What's the total count for fully updated POIs now?
Which one of yours are you most excited to see players explore?
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I'm not super any longer but I do still remember some juicy tidbits not yet revealed.
Spoiler
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6 hours ago, Laz Man said:
Small correction, maybe in the past you might run across something like steel painted as wood, but not anymore. There are a few legacy POIs still out there though but they should get updated eventually.
There are some exceptions to the rule though. For example, a brick building can be painted with a brick texture on the outside and a drywall texture on the inside.
Players however can paint stuff however they want though. 😎
Okay then! I've never liked to "follow the light trail" and instead been happy to break through walls and doors and go my own way and I could swear there were faux wood walls in the interior of buildings that were actually concrete or steel making me follow the designated path. But maybe that was before. I will be tapping those interior walls to see if they really are what they look like.
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On 12/13/2022 at 6:07 AM, unchartedcaptin said:
But as the game stands now it is an enjoyable game
That's how you have to look at it. An enjoyable game that is going to remain in its current state much like many other video games on consoles that don't follow an ongoing update path and are forever locked into whatever they are.
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16 hours ago, Boop said:
Some things stood out to me in this playthrough.
The skill system feels poorly structured. Some skills are very weak and fill only a temporary niche in early game (like tracking and lockpicking). I don't see a need to track large creatures as by the time I can kill them my boxes are overflowing with food already. These skills came across as traps more than anything else. I feel like a tree structure for each skill category would make far more sense, such as getting access to robotics only after unlocking advanced engineering T3 for instance, and having a bit more sync between the skills. I also found it odd that every governing attribute (str, int, agi etc) had the same function but for different weapons. It would seem more reasonable to bake those effects into the weapon skills, and have the attribute points instead increase what you would expect them to increase, id est STR increases carry capacity, fortitude reduces stamina drain from running/actions, AGI increases jump height, and so on. In my game, I considered intelligence and strength to be critical skill categories, while perception, agility, and fortitude were completely optional with no critical skills. Unlocking schematics through skills also seems strange, as it kinda reduces the need for scavenging, and some of the schematics they unlock really are critical for progress (crucible for instance). I'm happy that's going away in A21, and I'm hoping it is replaced with something that better aligns with an organic development of the gameplay experience instead of taking away from it.
Crafting. In many areas it makes a lot of sense, but in some places it feels downright wonky. The tiered system is terrible. Always being able to build everything in T5 feels wrong (I can build a T5 wooden club and then jump directly to build T5 steel?), and not being able to build T6 is even worse. What is the point of mastering a particular crafting skill if you can just find a better tier anyway? And having an extra mod slot on T6 just adds insult to injury. Either drop the crafting part entirely and just have us scavenge for new items, or make it so that investing in crafting this way actually leads to the best gear. I feel like I've wasted half of my invested points when I craft a T5 anything only to find a T6 version.
Some of these concerns will be solved or at least made less by the A21 changes. Hopefully, they will be to your liking.
16 hours ago, Boop said:Building. Building a base is so much fun; the planning, the plotting, the ideas that may or may not work out. However, the current build system is too convoluted. It took me quite a while to figure out how to put things together in a nice way, and even now I keep running into obstacles. In particular, having to plan ahead if I want to give up the ceiling space or the floor space is annoying. There really needs to be decorative and functional items that can be placed inside the 1x1 cube grid. I want to hang a light from the ceiling without having to give up all the space on the floor above. Right now I can't do that unless I skip 99% of the build options available, add an extra unit of height to each level, and build everything using the basic cube. Also, I had to enable cheat mode and use the hammer of God just to get rid of a steel cube that I misplaced. That is not good at all. There has to be an option to undo/recover building blocks, otherwise building becomes such a hassle that it loses part of its appeal. I like to build large and over-designed structures - I'm afraid to use steel because a mistake will take a long time to undo without cheat mode.
Finally, when it comes to painting, is it possible to limit the available paints to only those that fit the material? It seems strange that I can paint my steel blocks into wood, and it takes away a little of the immersion.
Building thus far has been designed largely to accommodate the level designers of POIs. If they want to steer a player a certain way rather than let them easily break through a wall then they will make the wall steel even if it is a wooden building and then they will paint it wooden to match. It's a dirty trick but one they employ shamelessly in order to make the exploration of their POIs balanced and yet still maintain the "everything is destructible" feature of the game.
17 hours ago, Boop said:Quests. T1-T3 were great. I liked those. T4 started to feel stressed, partially because of travel, as they were taking so long to finish. For early T5 I had to increase day length to maximum just to have a chance of finishing before night set in. I've gotten used to clearing all zombies and not leaving any stragglers, but I do feel it would be better if only the final room needed to be cleared, or perhaps a cap of 85% of all zombies in the building. I also believe there should be more quest variety than clear/fetch for T5. Killing a travelling horde would be fun, as would a crafting quest (hand in 5x turrets and 10x tuna sandwiches) or effect quest (turn on the local power plant - the street lights will function for a week). Either way, after doing the T5 quests a few times (and gearing up to max) they are no longer difficult to clear at speed, though I do miss a few zombies when I rush.
I'm the opposite. I love getting caught out at night and having to quickly jury-rig a place of safety so much that I usually play 40 minute days. I think it is perfectly fine for T5 quests to require the player to explore into the night and don't see that as a flaw at all. Different strokes for different folks.
17 hours ago, Boop said:I would like a little more melee weapon variety. Sledgehammer is great, it does what you expect it to do and offers a tactical approach. It also feels good to go bonk and watch zombies take a quick time out. Machetes/clubs/batons all seem to do the same thing with club being wildly superior and also acting like a mini-sledgehammer on top of it. The default spear is not so useful. The availability of ranged weapons seem to make melee weapons redundant in mid to late game, which is a shame.
There is an improvement in this area for A21.
16 hours ago, Boop said:I felt that the gear progression was a bit twitchy. I would have liked to have a slower initial gear progress, staying longer on pipe tier, with iron being a more significant upgrade down the line. As it was, wood/stone and pipe went by very fast, landing in iron, and then staying on iron for a long time until finally hitting steel. This also needs an equivalent armor tiering, as I felt there wasn't much of armor options compared to the many sidegrades of weaponry.
A21 definitely swings the way you are wanting as far as time spent in each era. Armor options should also improve like you are hoping but not until A22.
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Alpha 21 Dev Diary
in News & Announcements
Posted · Edited by Roland (see edit history)
We are here watching the pot waiting for the boiling to begin and it is taking forever!
Same as you remember..lol