zztong

I'm not a DF person, but I'm pretty sure you're going to have to provide more details than "red errors." Whoever tries to assist you would probably appreciate seeing your log file because it will contain the error messages and stack traces. Also, this probably isn't the place to make a bug report. You can find the Darkness Falls discussion here: 7 Days to Die - PC / Game Modification / Mods

Are you creating a lot of blocks? I mean, one way to get an index outside the bounds of an array of all blocks would be to try to define more blocks than the array was declared to be able to hold. That is, if the game were prepared to track up to 32 blocks, and you defined the 33rd block, the index for the 33rd block to be added would be outside the bounds of the 32 cell array. That said, I've been told the index is something like a 16-bit unsigned integer, which (if true) allows for a very large index. I've no idea how the array is defined.

It was water vapor until it condensed on a particle of dirt, dust, etc. That particle could even be something radioactive. The bigger problem is the rainwater collection, which is exposed to insects, bird poop, falling twigs, blowing leaves, and so forth that can introduce all sorts of life. We tend to fill rain barrels and cisterns from the runoff of roofs. Birds poop on the roofs. There's bacteria in bird poop. You're still going to have to boil rainwater. In Game, Boiled Water would be neat if it had like a 3% chance of dysentery, and then let Iron Gut knock that down to zero. Then change the game's "Mineral Water" into Potable Water. The best tool for making potable water in the game should be the Chemistry Station. Somebody suggested it was possible to find healthy "fresh water" in the wilderness. Moving water is better than stagnant water, but it's still full of life, minerals, and possibly contaminates.

Are you talking ModGen? I seem to recall Pseudo Posse (@psuedoposse) on YouTube talking about something that appeared to tap into game XML files, discover options, and then let you pick values that it would make into standalone modlets.

I could see doing a variation on that. That is... You can repair any item. If the item's level is more than one greater than the level you can craft, then decrease the item's level. Example: I might be able to craft a quality level 3 shotgun and maintain a level 4 shotgun. Any level 5 or 6 level shotguns I repair would lose a level after they were repaired. In this way, a character that can craft a level 5 item could maintain a level 6 item. Items would degrade, but only to a point that matched your ability to maintain them.

1. It works in A21.1 in single player, for me. I admit though I really hadn't thought it through that folks were (obviously) still playing A21.1. 2. I want to think so, but I don't know. I don't usually test with any of the overhauls because there are so many of them that I cannot keep up with their development. When I get problem reports I'll load up an overhaul and see if I can recreate the problem. I'm happy to work with an overhaul for compatibility. I moved the A21.1 version of the modlet back to the main downloads area where folks can still get it. I'll leave the A21.2 version up there as well unless it becomes a problem.

A21.2-ZZ018 has been released because I'm tired of waiting on A21.2. This release attempts to address Vanilla variety issues in Gateway and Country Residential districts. It contains... 16 new POIs: gyroport_01, lot_vacant_03, lot_vacant_04, lot_vacant_05, lot_vacant_06, restaurant_03, storage_02, store_s_03, store_s_04, store_s_05, , store_xs_16, tfp_docks_01, tfp_docks_05, trailer_02, trailer_park_04, and warehouse_04. 5 new Tiles: countryresidential_corner_zztong_01, countryresidential_corner_zztong_02, countryresidential_t_zztong_01, gateway_straight_zztong_07, and gateway_t_zztong_02.

Did you get error messages, or something? If so, what were they?

I have an alternative approach that might interest you. My modlet (ZZTong-Prefabs) comes with optional "dead" trader POIs that can be used to replace some or all of a world's traders. To do so, you edit the world's prefabs.xml file and change lines like this... <decoration type="model" name="trader_joel" position="1985,34,-2656" rotation="3"/> ... to lines like this (note the addition of an 'x' to the name)... <decoration type="model" name="trader_joelx" position="1985,34,-2656" rotation="3"/>

LOL! I listen to my music collection off of my Plex server, but ChatGPT was happy to make up words... (Verse 1) Wake up in a world, not the one I knew, Zombie hordes are on the prowl, each night we push through. Rust and rubble underfoot, hope is hard to find, But I won’t give up, I'll fight, in this world unkind. (Chorus) 7 days to live, 7 days to fight, Under the crimson moon, we face the night. Hold on tight, we'll survive, keep the flame alive, In the world of 7 Days to Die. (Verse 2) Crafting weapons, building walls, a fortress in decay, Gather resources, find allies, keep the undead at bay. Every sunrise brings new hope, every sunset brings dread, With every passing hour, we fight off the undead. (Bridge) The wastelands, the cities, all shadows of the past, In this new world order, only the strongest can last. Traps and trenches, guns ablaze, we make our final stand, United we face the darkness, hand in hand. (Chorus) 7 days to live, 7 days to strive, With every fallen friend, we keep their spirit alive. Rise again, forge ahead, let the world decry, We're the last hope in 7 Days to Die. (Verse 3) Mysteries abound, in every crumbled town, Ancient labs, hidden secrets, answers to be found. Will we find salvation, or is this the end of days? Only time will tell, as we navigate the maze. (Bridge) Silent whispers in the night, promises of a cure, But trust is hard to come by, intentions never pure. In this broken world, where nightmares come alive, Only unity and hope will help us thrive. (Chorus) 7 days to dream, 7 days to scheme, With every challenge met, we're a stronger team. Push through fear, dry every tear, face the zombie tide, We're the survivors of 7 Days to Die. (Outro) And when the final night falls, and the hordes close in, Remember the world we once knew, and the love from within. For even in darkness, our spirit won't deny, We're the legends of the tale, of 7 Days to Die.

I don't mind travel. It's casual time that I kind of enjoy. I can think about life, sing along to the music playing, and forage. Walking, a bike, a vehicle -- they're all cool. I see the world. That's not to say I wouldn't mind the game having more events that happen while traveling, and I think some kind of encounter system would be neat, so long as it wasn't constant string of events. I wonder if something like an event system could be done with Tiles and Parts. Elaboration: Right now, at World Generation time, Tiles are selected and placed. Then, the Tile is populated, potentially with Parts. So you get a Gateway Tile out in the wilderness along a road. That Tile has an intersection on it and a Part that might be placed with an automobile accident and a bunch of zombies. What if, "Encounters" were built as a Part with slightly different behavior. Instead of being selected, or not, at World Generation time, the Encounter Part was selected during game play, perhaps linked to some event like Chunk generation and perhaps regeneration. Or maybe when a player enters a Tile for the first time, or the first time in some amount of time. Only one Encounter Part could be in play on a Tile at any given time. We've been off topic lately. Maybe this belongs in Pimp Dreams.

Stallion gave you the details of placing a driveway or wilderness roadexit. The other part of this is knowing which to use for your POI. Driveway names match up with the Districts, but different Districts have different assumptions about where those driveways are attached to the POIs. For instance, the residential district has optional driveways for the back of the lot that connects with an alley. Also, the countrytown District needs to know (via tags) if your driveways are close to the edges of your POI so that it can account for the right curb cut. (On the edges you can encounter the street narrowing and driveways can mess up the sidewalk.) There's a topic in this "Prefabs" forum called "RWG POI AND TILE GUIDE BY TFP" where you can find a document that describes some of these details. You can also edit TFP POIs and use them as examples.

The stack trace gives us names of methods and sometimes that's enough for us without source code to guess what the game was trying to do. ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null. Parameter name: Name cannot be null at UnityEngine.Transform.Find (System.String n) [0x00009] in <4bba812690714c578170328b4ec178d0>:0 at AvatarZombieController.SwitchModelAndView (System.String _modelName, System.Boolean _bFPV, System.Boolean _bMale) [0x00000] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at EModelBase.SwitchModelAndView (System.Boolean _bFPV, System.Boolean _bMale) [0x000e8] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at EModelBase.InitCommon () [0x0002a] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at EModelBase.Init (World _world, Entity _entity) [0x000d9] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at Entity.InitEModel () [0x00061] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at Entity.Init (System.Int32 _entityClass) [0x0000d] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at EntityAlive.Init (System.Int32 _entityClass) [0x00000] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at EntityEnemy.Init (System.Int32 _entityClass) [0x00000] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at EntityFactory.CreateEntity (EntityCreationData _ecd) [0x004c2] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at EntityFactory.CreateEntity (System.Int32 _et, System.Int32 _id, ItemValue _itemValue, System.Int32 _count, UnityEngine.Vector3 _transformPos, UnityEngine.Vector3 _transformRot, System.Single _lifetime, System.Int32 _playerId, System.String _skinName, System.Int32 _spawnById, System.String _spawnByName) [0x0001b] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at EntityFactory.CreateEntity (System.Int32 _et, System.Int32 _id, UnityEngine.Vector3 _transformPos, UnityEngine.Vector3 _rotation) [0x0000c] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at EntityFactory.CreateEntity (System.Int32 _et, UnityEngine.Vector3 _transformPos) [0x00014] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at SpawnManagerBiomes.SpawnUpdate (System.String _spawnerName, System.Boolean _isSpawnEnemy, ChunkAreaBiomeSpawnData _chunkBiomeSpawnData) [0x0043f] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at SpawnManagerBiomes.Update (System.String _spawnerName, System.Boolean _bSpawnEnemyEntities, System.Object _userData) [0x00007] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at World.OnUpdateTick (System.Single _partialTicks, System.ArraySegment`1[T] _activeChunks) [0x001e6] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at GameManager.UpdateTick () [0x00073] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at GameManager.gmUpdate () [0x00331] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at GameManager.Update () [0x00000] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object at AvatarController.Update () [0x00116] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 at AvatarZombieController.Update () [0x00000] in <d7dcfa4979674f179c13273f8b30b551>:0 But I don't really have a guess as to what... AvatarZombieController.SwitchModelAndView (System.String _modelName, System.Boolean _bFPV, System.Boolean _bMale) ... is trying to do, but it calls a Find() method to look for a name. My guess there's a name in your XML that doesn't match up with something. Perhaps there's a subtle typo? I don't have any experience with the XML file you're modifying, so I don't have an answer.

Did you use any blocks that normally require electricity, like Blade Traps or non-POI versions of lights? POI's don't use electricity; you don't want those blocks. IIRC, Stallionsden has added safe versions of turrets and traps to the Custom Blocks Pack. They're not functional, but give the appearance of a formerly defended location.

This is beyond what I've look at or tried to do. I suspect messing with the forge's capabilities will involve getting to know the UI XML files and then probably code. I'm sure there are others here who know for sure, but if you get no answer then I'd be asking folks on GuppyCur's discord.

You can make it all functional with XML, but to support appearances (icon pictures and 3D assets) you either need to either use existing game assets or make them, put them where the game can find them, and then have XML refer to them. I suggest finding an existing modlet similar to what you want and explore its contents. Also, look to the game's items.xml and recipes.xml files.

I think I've extracted everything necessary from my personal water modlet... <items> <!-- Change the Hand (meleeHandPlayer) to collect water instead of drink water. --> <setattribute xpath="/items/item[@name='meleeHandPlayer']/property[@class='Action2']/property[@name='Sound_start']" name="value">bucketfill_water</setattribute> <setattribute xpath="/items/item[@name='meleeHandPlayer']/property[@class='Action2']/property[@name='Description']" name="value">lblContextActionTake</setattribute> <append xpath="/items/item[@name='meleeHandPlayer']/property[@class='Action2']"> <property name="Create_item" value="drinkJarRiverWater"/> <property name="Create_item_count" value="1"/> </append> <remove xpath="/items/item[@name='meleeHandPlayer']/effect_group[@name='Drink']" /> <!-- Change the River (Mirky) Water Stacking to 10 to match the other waters. --> <setattribute xpath="/items/item[@name='drinkJarRiverWater']/property[@name='Stacknumber']" name="value">10</setattribute> </items>

Sure, maybe for a store, but not universally. When I worked at a hardware store a long, long time ago boxes coming off the truck were not opened unless the item was going on the floor. Back in the stocks, everything remained boxed so that it didn't get dusty or damaged. The most likely thing to be sitting around open was a reusable plastic tub in which small items were shipped. The closest block we have to in the game that would be a shopping basket, but that would look weird having a bunch of those laying around in a POI. For a large active manufacturer's or distributor's warehouse a bunch of open boxes doesn't look right. When I once worked at a business that shipped things, the boxes were either sitting there all sealed up waiting on transportation, or the boxes were flat ready to be assembled. Only an order that was being filled had an open box. The shelves full of goods in inventory were all in closed boxes.

It might look a little weird for a warehouse to be full of open boxes, but I'd be cool with this if they were to do it. My hope is the block name for the current blocks would be used for the "open" boxes so that we don't have to visit each POI and replace all the blocks. Then you could have new block names for the closed ones.

I do find it entertaining when two Tiles with terminated roads match up. You get a road leading to a barrier, next to a barrier, next to a road. That happens because the Tile system only knows the intended shape of the Tile. It might have placed two "corner" Tiles next to each other thinking it wanted to make something interesting but didn't have any way of knowing the Tiles actually look like a "T" but blocked one of the paths from continuing. The Tile designer has no idea what Tiles (if any) will be neighbors or what features those Tiles might have.

If you give cardboard boxes loot then there will be no filler for certain POIs, like warehouses. If there's no filler then to avoid giving out too much loot you have to make the POI empty. For POI design, there still needs to be "filler" that doesn't contain loot. Those cardboard boxes are the filler. I tried making non-loot variants of the store crates. They were not well received. Folks didn't like that they couldn't tell which crates had loot. You could make a "useless loot" table and have the cardboard boxes give out whatever is on that list, but right now everything you get in loot has a function. What would you put in a "useless loot" table? 1 Iron, 1 Plastic, 1 Cloth, 1 Lead, 1 Brass, 1 Paper, 1 Stone, 1 Grass, 1 Wood? I tried putting cobwebs in a similar loot table. That caused problems reported by overhauls that nobody looted the cobwebs so the game continued to carry around the all the inventory data. I'm open to suggestions, but right now I think it's a good thing that boxes aren't lootable.

Yes, unique features on a Tile cut both ways. Unique features are really memorable so while they're appealing, too many and you get the Flintstones/Bedrock effect of passing the same thing again, and again, and again, and again.

No. I doubt you're a noob. For me at least, this conversation has illuminated that everyone has their own concept of what scarcity is, their own style of play, their own desired level of difficulties, and their own priorities when playing. While we could compare tastes if we discussed a standard, such as Vanilla with all default settings, we would still be unable to come to consensus because we all have different priorities -- the most striking to me being one extreme (1) a group that wants to undertake a stamina/water intensive activity such as mining during the early game, another extreme (2) a group that looks to solve food and water scarcity immediately during the early game, (3) folks in the middle with other, perhaps more flexible, priorities or an opportunistic style of play. But if we want to take more concrete goals and determine under what conditions they're achievable using Vanilla with default settings, then I'd be willing to try that. Perhaps my only real point of evidence that folks might find useful is that to me as a solo player, Vanilla water production via Dew Collectors and looting of 10 water per day is the effective equivalent to "infinite water" made available via mods.

I've noticed that too. City/Town streets are part of Tiles. Tiles are created by POI Developers. I can't know for sure, but I suspect a creative element crept into the TFP Tiles. Part of that I'm sure comes from trying to fill the gaps between POIs on Tiles. Another part of the issue is TFP usually provides 1 Tile of each type, so when you zoom out and examine a map you can find areas where there's lots of repetition. Combine the creative streets with high repetition and you get some ... I'll say "insane" ... city streets. Cities in-game are far too small to get into making subdivisions with curvy streets bounded by arterial streets. You also start to experience what I call "The Flintstones / Bedrock" effect, where you keep passing the same pond time and time again. This is why I make more and more Tiles for my modlet. My Tiles tend to favor "straight through" streets, which result in a more grid-like city. This lets the TFP creative streets become less frequent and I think then more special. I also try to use lots and lots of optional Parts so that perhaps folks won't so easily recognize a repeated Tile because more than just the POIs change.

I have not. Thanks for the info.