Roland

[deleted lock]

No, the developers fully understand and are aware of your complaints. They are also aware of and fully understand the complaints of another large segment of the community that I know you are completely disengaged from: The console community. The developers made promises to all their customers and are working on fulfilling those promises. There is the promise that the full version of this game would be available on consoles and able to connect to the same servers that PC gamers utilize. They are working towards that and it has created a bit of a construction zone where servers are concerned. That is temporary in the grand scheme of things. The problem a lot of players have, including this streamer, is that despite claiming that they understand Early Access, deep down they just emotionally and philosophically don’t. If they did, then they would realize that TFP plans to have strong networking code that will be able to handle cross-platform play and their first assumption would be: “Ah…they’re working on this right now and obviously they aren’t finished”. That’s how someone reacts when they understand how it all works. People who don’t get it freak out and automatically assume that what was released MUST be the intended full version. Of course they do, because they just don’t understand playing a game that is indev. Not truly. Same goes for people who think cuts and removals are a sign of disaster. People who actually get it know that they are actually a normal and natural part of the editing and refining process. The netcode is under construction. There are necessary changes happening that show that TFP are engaged with ALL of their customers. The current network status is not the intended final product. If it is unbearable to play under current conditions then by all means take a break and keep checking back.

For almost 10 years there have always been short-sighted people predicting the crash and burn collapse of this game and the end of TFP. They have been wrong, they are wrong, and they will be wrong. The server issues are simply due to the necessary cross-platform infrastructure changes for the future of this game. Playing a game that is still in development is going to mean there will be periods of time where some things don’t work. If players of large MP servers love the game as much as they claim then they will be back when everything is done and running well again. That is what I see time and time again— people who for one reason or another had to shelve the game for a year or more due to development issues come back and absolutely love playing again when those issues end. Every alpha release has been bigger than the previous ones precisely because this game draws people back in addition to attracting new. Sure, some become disenfranchised because they don’t like design decisions or just finally grow bored (like with ANY video game) but the actual measurable evidence overall is that of growth. TFP is in a very good place. They are finishing up this game and have started preliminary work on two new games as well as on bringing the full version of this game to consoles with cross platform compatibility to PC servers. And, most importantly, they are doing all of this without over extending themselves as a company. The same people who rage that TFP is taking so long because they are lost would rage that TFP is rushing the game because they’re surely about bankrupt if TFP finished up the game more quickly. These people always see the worst possible scenario and present it as the facts.

I’ll leave it for now. There may be additional bullet points to add in that category after all at some point. I did edit it to note that it is included in A20.6. Thanks!

They are quite animated about the animation they are doing. And yet…those “tweaks” have had a profound affect on the game. It is going to feel fresh and new to most veterans. That being said, obviously some will enjoy the the change and some won’t, wishing the devs would have left alone stuff “nobody asked for”. I think most will like the changes but it will be interesting to see.

I am not. 😂

@schwanz9000 has made a lot of changes to the loot tables and probabilities for A21. Applying A20 xml values for loot not to mention anecdotal evidence of your own play experience of the current version to try and grok A21 is an exercise in futility.

Most likely your save file was damaged by the power outage. There could be other issues you’ll come across if you continue on that save. You might try starting a new game and try a few quests to see if the problem persists. If the new save looks clean then you’ll have to make the decision to either start over with your new game or keep going on the damaged one and just live with the quirks.

While true, I can’t guarantee anyone has had the fortitude to keep up with the conversation this long… 😉

Thread reopened. Sorry for any confusion.

I don't think the modders' opinions were "dismissed out of hand" any differently than the critics of this change dismissed the developers' decisions out of hand. The choices the devs made were after many hours of discussion and trial implementations and testing. Then within a few hours of my posting the news we have people dismissing the decision and off the cuff presenting alternative designs that they proclaim to be much better than what was decided. Granted, there has been a lot of brainstorming and thought exercise going on since then but still nothing compared to the time put into what we have now and by a group of people who have a clear picture of A21 and the future roadmap. I'm not saying that the devs are infallible or that their design is the best possible for everyone, but I do find it interesting that when people pushed back against the modders you saw that as dismissing the opinions of people who have spent a lot of time thinking about the game and that there should be respect afforded to those people. What about the developers and testing team? I'm not asking for adulation but if we should show an amount of respect and trust to people who think about the game a lot is it only modders who fit that mold or might the devs, themselves, possibly qualify? And if you are willing to accept the alternate ideas that Khaine and Guppy (who admitted his ideas came in a moment's thought while pooping) without challenge or dissenting remark--why is it so hard to accept the change wrought by the TFP team without dismissing it out of hand? How can we even really tell via text communication whether anyone dismissed the modders' opinions or the developers' decisions "out of hand"?

I was talking about boats. Rafts are totally different. Im not sure about the status and future of the raft.

How many drinks would a canteen hold? 10? Well you can have a stack of 10 water so basically the same. For visiting the desert you can easily take plenty of drinks in with you. For living in the desert you can build dew collectors and be just fine.

The gore blocks that the zombie bodies morphed into were completely different from the harvestable bodies strewn about the world. The original gore blocks gave no bones and simply needed to be cleaned up after horde nights to avoid piles messing with your defenses. They had nothing to do with glue production. I don’t even think we had glue or duct tape as items in the game back then,tbh. So the addition of new gore blocks that could be harvested for bones had nothing to do with the removal of the old gore blocks and wasn’t a hastily patched solution. I look forward to you being able to play with the new water mechanics and seeing how large scale glue production will be handled. Hopefully you will find it entertaining. If you find it unbalanced, let us know. The water changes aren’t going to be reconsidered until after experimental yields some actual test case feedback.

Makes sense!

It was discovered that glue made from murky water was not as adhesive as glue from pure water. We wanted you to have the stickiest glue possible so that your duct tape would never fail you. Thus, the recipe was changed to pure water. In A21 you won’t have to boil it all. You will have a few dew collectors producing lots of pure water per day. If you use that for the glue and boil the water you drink then double boiling should never be an issue you have to deal with. (The goal is only semi-realistic survival)

They have not been added to the test trunk yet. @faatal is being stingy with them.

All efforts are going toward bandits. Hopefully they make it.

Maybe and no. There is a yacht POI that is in the files but still a WIP and it may or may not show up in A21 Boats as water vehicles are not planned.

You’re welcome. Glad to confirm that the devs haven’t been making the game easier and easier with each update and that how easy it is now is simply a product of your experience. That wouldn’t be my preference. The game is a good blend of survival aspects and arcade action. I’d like to see more survival elements emphasized, personally, but even so the devs have never been trying to make this game a survival sim or all out arcade game.

I dare not go back to A17 because it would make me too nostalgic for the perfect AI zombies. They were so much more fun than these stupid idiot zombies we have now.

Try plates or look in the shape menu until you find the thinnest block shape and use advanced rotations to place it horizontally on the ground to cover the trench where terrain and building blocks meet.

New players don’t report that the current game loop is particularly easy. You’re just a veteran player. I’ve gone back to previous alphas and played with no difficulty on default settings. There was a bit of remembering different mechanics but once done no more or less difficulty to survive.

I was just teasing. I didn’t mean the comment maliciously or actually trying to catch you in some kind of lie to one up you. Apologies. I can see you are deadly serious about your comments and past the point of any kind of banter.

I’m not annoyed in the least by the brainstorming of alternative ideas. I haven’t chided anyone for coming up with alt scenarios or poo-pooed ideas (other than disagreeing that simply changing stack sizes would have the same effect) What annoys me is the speculation about the motives behind the changes and the assumptions of thoughtlessness and laziness just because they disagree. Some personality types automatically assume the worst in other people and can’t imagine any other explanation than that the devs are either lazy, inept, dishonest, and/or hateful of the fans.